Listing all projects

Seventeen National HE STEM projects in the South West focused on HE curriculum innovation; making changes to enhance the curriculum to benefit student-learning and experience at undergraduate level.

The projects span the whole lifetime of the undergraduate experience covering transition and retention, through to student employability skills provision to ensure that STEM graduates have the skills that are attractive to employers.

One of the National HE STEM projects in the South West focused on community-based learning. It has resulted in an increased range of undergraduate projects at the University of Bristol by the development of Civil Engineering projects with local community-based partners. Students developed key skills and an understanding of the wider context of their work with ‘real-life’ problems – attributes prized by future employers. New links have been developed between universities and communities:

‘The students have brought energy, a willingness to learn, access to the resources of the University – which we otherwise wouldn’t have had’ – community partner

Another project involved students of the University of Exeter’s Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering degree programmes developing an employability audit toolkit for HE STEM curricula, with employers and HE staff. The project recognised the need for ever greater engagement with graduate employers to ensure that the employment needs of both employers and students are met in a coordinated way. Students identified where they felt employability skills could be included within courses, resulting in specific recommendations and changes to module descriptors.

‘It has… proven to me the benefits of student-led projects looking at degree courses ... [such approaches] could potentially give degrees an almost organic ability to evolve through student input’

You can find out full details about all the projects through their individual web-pages on the right (where you will also find all project-specific outputs).

17 Projects