Shane Dunne, a second-year chemistry student at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), has been honoured with the esteemed SEDA Student Partnership Impact Award.
Shane Dunne, a second-year chemistry student at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL)
The SEDA Student Partnership Impact Award is an international recognition celebrating students who have significantly influenced educational development at their universities. The role of student voice, representation, and partnership is increasingly vital in higher education both in the UK and globally. At Queen Mary, students now have more opportunities to drive and support educational change, and their contributions are often documented in their Higher Education Achievement Record (HEAR transcripts). This award seeks to spotlight students who have truly made a difference, recognising their exceptional contributions to educational development.
Shane Dunne (chemistry Year 2) has been awarded the SEDA student Partnership Impact Award for his contributions to developing Augmented Reality Guides to support a skills-based Chemistry Lab curriculum. In recent years the focus of our practical chemistry classes at QMUL have shifted away from getting the "right" answer and instead onto the key skills and techniques needed to get to that answer. We have identified 16 key skills that we consider essential for all year 1 chemistry students to master by the end of the academic year. To support this approach, we co-created with Shane a library of augmented reality instructional guides using the Microsoft Hololens2 technology. Students are able to book time on the headsets outside timetabled lab classes and work through the guides at their own pace and multiple times if required. This provides a low stake environment, where our students can make mistakes without it impacting final grades, that helps to build competence and confidence in these key skills.