Senior Lecturer in Computer Science
The Centre for Academic Inclusion in Science & Engineering (CAISE) supports S&E academics in embedding inclusive STEM pedagogies into their practice, with the aim of reducing awarding gaps in S&E programmes.
CAISE organises events to raise staff awareness, champion QMUL’s Principles of an Inclusive Curriculum within S&E and beyond and promote the scholarship of inclusivity.
CAISE plays a pivotal role in raising awareness of inclusivity among both staff and students. Through its series of workshops and events, CAISE not only educates participants on the importance of inclusive practices but also provides a platform for sharing successful initiatives within the faculty, thereby increasing visibility for these crucial efforts and inspiring new initiatives.
Fostering Inclusivity in STEM: Addressing Barriers and Promoting Equity through CAISE
QMUL is home to an exceptionally diverse student body, yet programmes and modules designed with a one-size-fits-all approach—despite aiming for equality—can create barriers for students from diverse backgrounds. This can hinder their success and sense of belonging, particularly in STEM fields. For example, the absence of relatable role models, especially from female and minoritised ethnic groups, can discourage many from pursuing or advancing in STEM careers.
In response to these challenges, the Centre for Academic Inclusion in Science & Engineering (CAISE) was established in 2022. CAISE supports Science and Engineering (S&E) academics in embedding inclusive STEM pedagogies into their teaching practices and promotes the scholarship of inclusivity, with the aim of improving equity and reducing awarding gaps within S&E programmes.
Elevating Inclusive Curriculum Practices through Events, Surveys, and Collaboration in S&E
CAISE is dedicated to raising staff awareness and championing QM's Principles of an Inclusive Curriculum within the S&E faculty and beyond. Key initiatives include a workshop for Programme Directors on embedding these principles across S&E programmes and the CAISE launch event, which showcased 30 posters on inclusive pedagogy practices in S&E.
CAISE also regularly participates in the Festival of Education (FoE), highlighting its role in advancing inclusive education. For example, at the 2023 FoE, CAISE hosted a panel session titled CAISE: Championing Inclusive Education in Science and Engineering, addressing key questions such as:
In addition, CAISE contributed to a workshop, Excel through Inclusion in TNE, which explored practical approaches to fostering inclusion in transnational education (TNE). Discussions focused on co-creation, student feedback, designing inclusive curricula, and promoting student wellbeing.
Awareness and Capacity Building Programme
Dr Atm Alam (CAISE lead for the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, EECS) has curated an Inclusive Curriculum Workshop Series aimed at raising awareness of inclusive practices, methods, and strategies while encouraging staff to cultivate an educational environment that respects and values the diversity of learners. This includes considerations of ability, age, learning preferences, language, race, and ethnicity. The series seeks to promote equitable access to learning through pedagogical innovation and the adoption of best practices.
Workshops in the series covered a range of critical topics, including Active Learning for Large and Small Groups, Intercultural Teaching and Learning Strategies, Developing Inclusive Education for Neurodivergent Learners, Designing Effective Group Work, Diversifying Assessment, and Aligning Assessment Practices. Tailored to meet identified needs, the six workshops were facilitated by colleagues from the Queen Mary Academy and engaged both academic staff and students. Feedback from participants highlighted the workshops as engaging and resourceful. All materials from the series are archived in the EECS Education Hub on QMplus.
In January 2023, a staff survey conducted by CAISE identified key areas for improving the delivery of an Inclusive Curriculum. In response, CAISE organised a series of faculty-wide interactive events, bringing together staff and students to address these gaps. The events centered on advancing co-creation practices, promoting the scholarship of inclusivity, and establishing best practices for incorporating AI into inclusive curriculum design.
Advancing Co-Creation Practices On June 12th, 2023, CAISE hosted a half-day, faculty-wide workshop on co-creation, igniting discussions around its transformative potential in education. The event, attended by 54 staff and students, featured presentations highlighting best practices in areas such as Peer-led Team Learning (Dr. Lesley Howell, SPCS, Gurleen Kaur Gill, SBBS); Video Assessment (Dr. Kok Choi Kong, SBBS); Immersive Learning (Dr. Marie-Luce Bourguet, EECS, Dr. Maria Romero-Gonzalez, SEMS); and Inclusive Curricula in Maths and Chemistry (Prof. Claudia Garetto & Adam Onus, SMS, Dr. Tippu Sheriff, SPCS). The workshop concluded with a lively panel discussion.
Promoting the Scholarship of Inclusivity
On January 16th, 2024, CAISE, with sponsorship from the British Council, hosted a full-day faculty-wide workshop on the Scholarship of Inclusivity, bringing together 81 staff and students. The workshop featured diverse topics, including Language-Focused Inclusive Education (Prof. Gabriel Cavalli & Mr. Alan Allman, SEMS); Diversity and Underrepresentation (Dr. Tippu Sheriff, SPCS; Prof. Claudia Garetto, Dr. Rehan Shah, Ms. Maria Fernanda Pintado Serrano, Ms. Ava Dahlia Belafonte, SMS and SEMS); Belonging and Wellbeing (Prof. Yue Chen, Dr. Mahesha Samaratunga, EECS; Dr. Ruth Rose, Dr. Timothy Fulton, SBBS); and Employability (Dr. Rehan Shah, Ms. Faith Nightingale, SEMS, Dr. Usman Naeem, EECS). The event sparked meaningful dialogue and collaboration to advance inclusivity within the faculty. Participants highlighted the workshop's value, with many praising its relevance and impact.
Attendee feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with one participant describing the session as "extremely useful and satisfying." — Attendee Feedback
“… ways to collaborate with colleagues I would not otherwise meet!” “Sharing knowledge across schools.” “Networking, examples of good practice.” “It made me aware of language issues in transnational education, such as “lost in translation” issues, which led to my involvement in a project to develop a glossary for the modules"— Student Feedback
Exploring AI Best Practices for Inclusive Curriculum Design
On June 17th, 2024, CAISE hosted a half-day faculty-wide workshop on AI Best Practices for Inclusivity, gathering 50 participants, including staff, students, and external speakers. The workshop featured insightful discussions on topics such as The Inclusive Curriculum and Digital Learning—Provocations and Implications (Prof. Chie Adachi, FDM); The Impact of Generative AI on Higher Education (Dr. Cesare Giulio Ardito, University of Manchester); Using Generative AI to Enhance Staff Skills and Knowledge for Teaching and Learning (Dr. Manish Malik, Canterbury Christ Church University); and Students' Perspectives on AI and Inclusion. This event highlighted AI's potential in fostering inclusive curriculum design and sparked further discussions on integrating AI to enhance educational practices. Feedback from participants and speakers was overwhelmingly positive, reflecting the event's success.
“CAISE invited me as the expert on GenAI and its application in creating a Just, Equitable, Diverse and Inclusive learning environment for their workshop at QMUL, where many other likeminded colleagues exchanged ideas on making STEM education more inclusive.” — Speaker Feedback
CAISE impact throughout S&E
For instance, in the School of Mathematical Science (SMS), the heightened awareness of inclusive curriculum practices among staff has enabled the Bag-Lunch Education Seminar, organised by Dr Pedro Vergel (CAISE lead for SMS), to incorporate an annual seminar focused on diversifying the maths curriculum. The seminar includes discussions on assessment practices and educational strategies through an inclusive curriculum lens, benefitting all staff, particularly new and T&S staff. Additionally, the promotion of scholarship related to CAISE has encouraged new staff members to develop their expertise in inclusivity. For example, Dr Lubna Shaheen has been developing scholarship on the educational needs of female students from minority backgrounds, addressing their specific challenges.
Diversifying the STEM Curriculum
One of the most significant faculty-wide projects aimed at diversifying the STEM curriculum has been spearheaded by Prof. Claudia Garetto from the School of Mathematical Sciences (SMS), Dr. Rehan Shah from the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS), Dr. Tippu Sherif from the School of Physics and Chemical Sciences (SPCS), Dr. Atm Alam from the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), and Dr. Matteo Fumagalli from the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences (SBBS).
This ongoing scholarship research initiative focuses on highlighting the profiles of diverse individuals, aiming to increase students’ awareness of underrepresented groups in STEM and provide positive role models. It features mathematicians, scientists, and engineers from diverse backgrounds—such as women, individuals with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ professionals—along with those who have taken non-traditional pathways in academia and industry.
These valuable resources are accessible for faculty use across undergraduate and postgraduate modules and are regularly showcased in the hallways of the schools. The STEM Champions Diversification Booklet (PDF), co-created with undergraduate student researchers and PhD candidates, contains short biographies of approximately 90 STEM Champions. These individuals are often overlooked in discussions about the history of mathematics, science, and engineering, yet they represent the diversity of professionals in these fields today.
Poster presentations have been showcased at the QMUL Festival of Education (PDF) (Best Innovation Award), as well as at the CAISE Inclusive Scholarship Workshop (PDF). The work was also featured as QMUL's entry for the Posters in Parliament (PDF). A Queen Mary Academy case study by Dr. Rehan Shah (CAISE school lead for SEMS) documents the project's impact thus far. This initiative has received nominations for both the QMUL Education Excellence Award and the President and Principal’s Prize in 2024. Moreover, SEMS undergraduate student researcher Ava Dahlia Belafonte was awarded a QMA SEED award for her significant contributions.
Dr. Atm Alam (EECS) has concentrated on diversifying the curriculum in QMUL’s Transnational Education (TNE) programs in China. This involved identifying Chinese pioneers relevant to the curriculum and systematically integrating their contributions into course materials. Banks’ “Four Levels of Integration Approach to Multicultural Curriculum Reform” served as a guiding framework. Students responded positively and were inspired to see role models from their own backgrounds. The project's findings were presented at the Reimagining UK HE Series and Conference for the Workshop theme: Decolonising Academic Practices in July 2024 in Birmingham, alongside the work of Dr. Tippu Sheriff (CAISE lead for SPCS). Additionally, the findings were showcased as a poster at the QMUL TNE Workshop in January 2024.
Dr. Shah (SEMS) has been successful in securing funding from the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) to expand the initiative even further by liaising with Dr. Brigitte Stenhouse at the Open University to run combined cross-institutional student focus groups to evaluate the resources and obtain additional feedback to develop and refine the toolkit further. He also disseminated the work when delivering an invited workshop talk on Making Diversity Count: empowering students through co-creation of inclusive STEM curricula for the UK History for Diversity in Mathematics Network meeting in Sept 2024 in Manchester.
“I was keen to be involved in this project because I think its goal of helping to make QMUL's mathematics community more inclusive is both vital and pressing. Students should feel not only comfortable in their learning environment but also reflected in the material they are absorbing, and we hope what we've begun will increase the diversity of representation of contributors to mathematics"— PhD Student Feedback
Making Diversity Count: Fixing the Leaky Pipeline
Dr. Tippu Sheriff (CAISE lead for SPCS) has secured funding of £108,000 from the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Missing Elements Grant Scheme (MEGS) for a three-year project. The project team comprises ten members—five staff and five students—drawn from QMUL, Imperial College London, and Greenwich University. The aim is to expand the Highlighting Minorities in Chemistry (HMiC) initiative, titled "Colouring the Curriculum: Inclusive National Curricula in Chemistry," to the undergraduate chemistry curriculum at these institutions. They aspire for this initiative to serve as a pilot for the nationwide implementation of inclusive curricula by making the co-created resources freely available to educators both in the UK and internationally.
In addition, Dr. Tippu Sheriff and Dr. Giorgio Chianello (SPCS) have received a grant of £20,000 from the QMUL President and Principal’s Fund for Educational Excellence 2024. This funding will support the creation of a virtual environment where students and members of the public can interact with avatars of scientists whose contributions to science have often been overlooked. This collaborative project involves Dr. Stephen Hilton from University College London, School of Pharmacy.
Inclusive Curriculum Checklist and Toolkit Development
The project, led by Dr. Atm Alam (EECS), has resulted in a self-evaluation tool designed to empower educators by helping them understand, identify, and enhance their inclusive teaching practices through an easy-to-use checklist. Developed using a multifaceted approach that included collaboration with colleagues, insights from the Inclusive Curriculum Workshop series, expert consultations, and a thorough literature review, the self-evaluation toolkit offers a comprehensive framework aligned with QMUL’s Core Values and the 8 Principles of Inclusive Practices.
This tool enhances educators' knowledge and skills in inclusive teaching, ensuring that all students benefit from equitable and inclusive learning opportunities. It provides practical steps for educators to refine their curriculum to promote greater inclusivity. The project findings were presented and discussed in a Round Table Discussion at the Advance HE Teaching and Learning Conference 2024.. The project has been implemented through a SharePoint site for testing within EECS before being rolled out more widely across the S&E Faculty.