Imperial delegation attend US STEM learning and teaching conference

The group of staff and student representatives traveled to the United States to take part in a conference about transforming STEM education.

Transforming Undergraduate STEM Education: Implications for 21st-Century Society took place earlier this month. The conference, hosted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, focussed on developing high-quality undergraduate STEM teaching programmes.

Attending on behalf of the College were Dr Anita Hall, from the Department of Life Sciences, Dr Andrew Phillips, from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Dr Christopher John, from the Department of Medicine as well as elected student representatives, Nas Andriopoulos and Luke McCrone, Officer Trustees of Imperial College Union.

Luke and Nas during a visit to MIT

Nas Andriopoulos, President, Imperial College Union, said: “It was great to see so many universities and academic staff excited by the idea of student engagement in developing new education practice and curricula. Seeing what other institutions are doing and planning really showed Imperial is starting from a position of strength.”

The conference focussed on a number of themes around STEM teaching including educational experience, organisational change and the role universities and colleges play in the wider community.

Dr Anita Hall, Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of Life Sciences, said: “I was very lucky to be sent to this conference with four colleagues from Imperial. I quickly realised that Imperial already has many examples of outstanding STEM teaching practice and that we are lucky to have so many well-established networks of staff and students that can and do help spread teaching innovation. American colleagues I talked to were very jealous of these networks, in particular the opportunities we have to listen and respond to student opinion at our university.”

The conference was one of a number of activities taking place as the College prepares its new learning and teaching strategy. Staff and students can take part by completing the online consultation or visiting a pop up stall or attending the Town Hall Meeting on 8 December.

Professor Simone Buitendijk, Vice-Provost (Education), said: “Having Nas and Luke travel to the AACU conference with College teaching staff was a great benefit as it allowed us to solidify the partnership with our students towards innovation in our teaching.

“As we look at our own approach to STEM teaching and develop a new education strategy over the next few months, having the knowledge, voice and views of students at the strategy’s heart will be one of our key strengths.”

Find out more about the development of the new Learning and Teaching Strategy.