LITE Podcasts

Welcome to the final episode of the first LITE Methods mini-series: a Q&A special with members of the LITE Research Team!Robert is joined by colleagues Izzy Harvey, Matthew Bachmann and Lucy Hemingway to discuss your questions on all things pedagogical research. From collaborative methods, 'safe(r)' spaces and working with pre-university students, to the relationships between generalisability and reflexivity - we've got your questions covered.You can find links to resources discussed in the episode categorised below.Information and outputs from LITE Fellowships:You can access Jenna Isherwood's story circles toolkit here.You can read more about Barbara Kempf's Fellowship here, and Rachael O'Connor's Fellowship here.Reflexivity:You can access Lucy's reflexivity resource here.U-18s research guidance:You can read more about the Ethical Research Involving Children guidance here.You can read the UK Government's guidance on research with children and young people here.You can access University of Leeds guidance on research integrity here.You can explore the National Centre for Research Methods website here. LITE also hosts examples of creative qualitative research methods, which you can read about here,

In the second episode of LITE's new methods-mini series, Robert's guests reflect on the use of story circles in pedagogical research. He is joined by:Beth Norfolk (mature BA student, School of English) andJenna Isherwood (Deputy Head of International Student Office)Join us to reflect on what makes story circles such a powerful way of involving students in pedagogical research, consider tips and tricks for using it in practice, and share ambitions for its involvement in future student education work.You can read more about Jenna's LITE Fellowship here and view her story circles toolkit here.Please submit your question for our Q&A special here! Deadline: 25th April, 11am.

In the latest episode of LITE Bites, Emma Peasland is joined by Samantha Stark (Digital Education Service) to discuss what she learned during her recent LITE fellowship.Samantha's research set out to evaluate the efficacy of a new pedagogical framework to support the design of online master’s degree modules at the University of Leeds, with a focus on building capacity for active learning.You can read more about Samantha's fellowship here, and explore other LITE fellowships here.

In the first of our 'En-LITE-ning Dialogues', a new occasional series of in-depth discussions exploring educational topics, Leeds Institute for Teaching Excellence (LITE) Director Gabriel Cavalli is joined by two guests with a shared interest in sustainable innovation and design.The first guest is Margaret Bearman, Research Professor at the Centre for Research Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE), Deakin University. Margaret was in Leeds to attend the Student Education Conference 2025, and to deliver the keynote presentation titled 'Exploring sustainable innovation in university teaching and learning'.The second guest is Jeff Grabill, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Student Education at the University of Leeds. Prior to joining Leeds, Jeff was the Associate Provost for Teaching, Learning, and Technology at Michigan State University.As with each episode in this series, guests are joined by a member of the LITE team (Robert Averies) to provide an additional reflective lens.Join us as we 'let the magic emerge'...Music credits: Taste of saxophone by Fresh_Morning on pixabay

In the fifth episode of the LITE Bites series, Emma Peasland asks Emily Crosbie about her recently completed fellowship investigating the impact of in-module student engagement with business professionals through the Leeds University Business School Leaders in Residence Programme. Emily shares insights from students and business professionals and shares recommendations for those wanting to offer similar opportunities.

Hear from LITE Fellow Gillian Proctor who discusses her fellowship: Authenticity and Connection Online. Gillian has spent two years researching the psychology of online learning using the interesting method of Action Research Groups. Gillian shares the findings from the research as well as discussing outputs that educators can use to structure synchronous online sessions. You can see more of our research fellowships here, and read more about Gillian's research and access the outputs here.

Hear from LITE Fellow Michelle Schneider who discusses her research into student and staff perceptions of the Learning Development team's provision here at Leeds. You can see more of our research fellowships here and read more about Michelle's research here. The Learning Development Team at Leeds aims to develop the academic literacies of all taught students through a dual model of embedded and co-curricular support. This study focuses on the centralised co-curricular Skills@Library offer, the ethos of which is developmental, supportive and complementary to the curriculum rather than ‘generic’, ‘remedial’ or ‘bolt on’, which are critiques generally associated with non-embedded skills development. This small-scale research project aimed to better understand how the Skills@Library cocurricular service is perceived by academic staff and students, with a particular focus on the latter.