iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

It was a pleasure to be involved in the “voices of belonging” podcast series and talk about our experiences of creating community for maths and stats students at a distance university. #SoTL #maths #openuniversity

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Reposted by Susan Pawley

Horizons in STEM Higher Education Conference @ukstemconf.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

We’re thrilled to welcome Dr @farhanagokhool.bsky.social (University of Bedfordshire) as our second keynote at #UKSTEMConf25! She’ll share her insights around maths anxiety, and how inclusive, empathetic support can break down barriers for underrepresented & neurodiverse STEM learners.

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

A6 Utilising distance methods and block teaching so that students can study and work at the same time. Asynchronous teaching. How to assess equitably but at a distance. #LTHEChat

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

A5 The time, funding and respect for teaching focused academics and third space practitioners to improve teaching and learning within universities. #LTHEChat

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Some of my best ideas have come out of corridor conversations - they have also probably been some of my wackiest.

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

A4 At the Open University our students have become younger, more likely to study full time, rather than part time which was our norm. They are also more likely to be working as well as studying. They are more likely to study for career purposes than interest. #LTHEChat

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

A3 The main loss for me is "corridor conversations" with my colleagues. As we all spend more time working from home, there is less chance to innovate during those random conversations that happen when you bump into people on campus. #LTHECHat.

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

A2 Assessment has started to become outcome driven rather than test driven, so we no longer assess just for the sake of it, but think about why, what and how. This means that assessment has become more equitable and rewards those who learn well rather than test well. #LTHEChat.

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

A2 The benefits and equity that good online teaching can give students. #LTHEChat

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

A1 Student focused teaching, compassionate assessment and equity. #LTHEchat

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

We've also incorporated regular breaks into the schedule, giving participants time to step away from their day job, close other windows, and fully absorb the latest in STEM-based scholarship. What’s the most engaging online event you have attended?

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

We've asked them to move away from traditional presentations and create sessions that will immerse attendees in their work, providing engaging experiences with plenty of room for discussion and debate.

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Over the next two days, we are hosting the 14th Annual eSTEeM Conference, but this year, it's going to be different. Held online, we've challenged our presenters to find innovative and engaging ways to share their scholarship.

picture of welcome slide with an image of padlet embedded with messages from attendees of conference

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

@tavoer8.bsky.social I can’t believe I got caught up in something else and forgot to log on. I’ll look forward to going through the chat tomorrow

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

@tavoer8.bsky.social is inspiring- should be an excellent #LTHEchat. Fingers crossed I make this one.

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LTHEchat @lthechat.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

Join us for this week’s #LTHEchat which will explore strategies to integrate study skills into the curriculum, with Carolina Kuepper-Tetzel @drckt.bsky.social and Emily Nordmann @emilynordmann.bsky.social on Wednesday 8-9pm GMT. Read the blog post at: lthechat.com/2025/03/16/l...

Study desk with laptop, notebook and calendar.

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The Open University @openuniversity.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Guess who just enrolled on Bluesky? 🤔 [Hint: it's us]

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OU Maths & Stats @oumathsstats.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

2/ This St David’s Day, we’re sharing an exciting OU eSTEeM project, investigating the factors which affect student engagement in bilingual Welsh/English distance-learning maths 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿➕ Find out more 👉🏻 tinyurl.com/mr2hfeb4

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Reposted by Susan Pawley

OU Maths & Stats @oumathsstats.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

1/ eSTEeM is the OU’s Centre for Scholarship & Innovation in STEM, researching new ways to enhance teaching & learning in open and distance education 📚 🔗 eSTEeM: tinyurl.com/da9apyzf

tinyurl.com

eSTEeM

Centre for Scholarship and Innovation

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

During my induction, I was introduced to second life as the saviour to community for distance learning. Never really caught on, we moved to introducing online tutorials quite soon afterwards and the need evaporated.

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

A wonderful resource of #sotl, insight and amazing innovation.

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Reposted by Susan Pawley

OU Maths & Stats @oumathsstats.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

1/ Happy Random Acts of Kindness Day! ❤️ Why not celebrate by spreading kindness and experimenting in the kitchen? 🍳 Cooking isn’t just about feeding mouths — it’s a meaningful way to connect with others. Plus, it sneaks in a bit of maths and creativity too! 🤏🏻

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Finally paper ten: Student use of asynchronous Rapid Response Forums to support continuous assessment, written by Cath brown (@notoriouscath.bsky.social), Susan Pawley and Claudi Thomas: doi.org/10.21954/ou....

doi.org

The Open University

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Paper nine: Understanding passive withdrawal behaviour on an introductory science module, written by Vic Pearson, Maria Velasco and Linda Moore: doi.org/10.21954/ou....

doi.org

The Open University

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Paper eight: Building a sense of belonging to aid retention at a distance learning, stage-2 Physics module, written by Anne-Katrin Klehe: doi.org/10.21954/ou....

doi.org

The Open University

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

The third group of papers within our proceedings considers student support- how we can help our students to succeed without changing the teaching or assessment and why do our students stop engaging. The papers were written in a supportive environment giving a positive experience to authors #SoTL

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Paper six: Can we reduce anxiety of students sitting online exams?, written by Fiona Moorman, Gemma Warriner and Becca Whitehead: doi.org/10.21954/ou....

doi.org

The Open University

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Paper five: Co-creating a more inclusive design curriculum with virtual student interns as partners, written by Nicole Lotz and Vera Hale: doi.org/10.21954/ou....

doi.org

The Open University

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Paper four: Black student experience on an introductory STEM module: Closing the awarding gap by listening to our Black students, written by Louise MacBrayne, Jennie Bellamy, Angela Richards and Elaine McPherson: doi.org/10.21954/ou....

oro.open.ac.uk

The Open University

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

The section section of the conference proceedings relate to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. These papers were written in a supportive environment, where they received encouraging and constructive peer reviews giving authors a valuable positive experience.

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LTHEchat @lthechat.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Join us for this week’s #LTHEchat which will explore designing for diverse learners with Lee Fallin @leefallin.bsky.social, Tom Tomlinson @tomtomlinson.bsky.social and Gemma Spencer @gemmaspencer.bsky.social on Wednesday 8-9pm GMT. Read the blog post at: lthechat.com/2025/02/09/l...

A diverse group learning around a table.

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Paper four: Identifying threshold concepts in final year engineering projects, written by Stephen Kershaw, Andrea Patel and James Warren: doi.org/10.21954/ou....

doi.org

The Open University

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Paper Three: Implementation of group work on a stage 1 statistics module, written by Ruth Neal and Kellee Patterson: doi.org/10.21954/ou....

doi.org

The Open University

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Paper two: Identifying competences to support evaluating and enhancing student recognition of employability skills development: Examples from postgraduate project management, written by Joan Jackson, Kay Bromley and Jill Shaw: doi.org/10.21954/ou....

doi.org

The Open University

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Paper one: Online Enrichment Workshops – Enhancing Student Engagement and Employability, written by Janet Haresnape, Heather Fraser, Hanne Brown, David Ruiz and Hannah Gandy: doi.org/10.21954/ou....

doi.org

The Open University

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

The proceedings launch went very well, the links to the first 4 papers are in the comments, all themed around employability. These papers were written in a supportive environment, where they received encouraging and constructive peer reviews giving authors a valuable positive experience.

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

We also provided guidance and peer support for reviewers, ensuring the entire process was genuinely collaborative and encouraging. I will post links to the papers over the next few days, but as a taster here is a link to the editorial. doi.org/10.21954/j82...

doi.org

The Open University

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Today we launch the inaugural proceedings from our annual eSTEeM conference (eek! 😃). The papers, were written in a supportive environment, where peer reviews were constructive and positive, allowing new authors valuable experience in academic writing whist showcasing #SoTL within #STEM.

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Another great #LTHEChat topic to look forward to this week. That mid week educational pick me up doesn’t get any better than this.

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

The greatest maths joke, and for those that know, will know why… What is a birds favourite type of maths?… Owl-gebra

media.tenor.com

a close up of a owl with yellow eyes

Alt: a close up of a owl with yellow eyes looking sidewards

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

Thank you. I have used our student support teams before, but not thought about learning developers. I particularly like the idea of using liaison librarians-after all who could be nervous of talking to a librarian.

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

A3 To identify inequalities it is important that multiple voices are heard. Students need to talk to people they trust who are not seen as being in authority. We have used other students, and staff they can identify with to get authentic representation. #LTHEChat

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

A4 Support must be varied and continuous. One or two touch points are not enough. Often inequalities are hidden- students don't like to announce them and so all staff must be constantly thoughtful and ensure they have been removed. #LTHEChat

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

I was talking to a student yesterday who was discussing a recent experience: he was the student rep in a meeting where every comment he made was responded by the chair as noted. The committee said they had a student voice, but the student didn't feel like it had any influence. The voice must be key

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

I completely agree with this - the student voice is so important, but not just a token voice. [cont...]

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

A3 At the OU we have developed an Inclusive curriculum tool, which can be used to investigate each module with the aim of building a more inclusive curriculum for the benefit of minoritised students. #LTHEChat

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Susan Pawley @spawley.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

A2 It is about lived experience, in maths we often ask students to model the action of playing tennis, or rowing, or shooting an arrow from a bow. If you haven't experienced these, then the assessment is uneven. #LTHEChat

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