This document summarizes a project to review and improve skills teaching in natural and environmental sciences at Newcastle University. The project team conducted a skills audit across departments, held focus groups with students, and discussed skills delivery with module leaders. They identified key skills all graduates need, including academic writing, data analysis, and oral presentations. The project aims to consolidate existing resources, consider staffing, and reduce over-assessment while sharing effective teaching approaches across disciplines.

1. Reviewing undergraduate skills teaching in
Natural and Environmental Sciences
Helen Adamson, Alison Graham & Sara Marsham
School of Natural and Environmental Sciences (SNES)
Contact us: helen.adamson@ncl.ac.uk; alison.graham@ncl.ac.uk; sara.marsham@ncl.ac.uk
Thank you to Newcastle University's Innovation Fund for funding this project
Review and critique skills teaching across Stages 1 and 2 in SNES to
allow us to identify where we can consolidate existing resources,
consider staffing requirements, and remove over-assessment
o Skills audit across SNES - what skills delivered, how and when
o Focus groups with students
o Discussions with Module Leaders
Approach
Identified key
skills all SNES
graduates require
o Essential component of programme delivery within SNES
o Includes academic writing; data analysis, presentation and interpretation; oral and poster
presentations
o Combination of innovative teaching techniques e.g. flipped classroom and more traditional
approaches in a creative manner e.g. tutorial systems
o Currently three successful Stage 1, and two Stage 2 skills modules from the former Schools of
Biology, Marine Sciences, and Agriculture, Food and Rural Development
o Module Leaders expressed concern that skills taught in Stage 1 are not retained into Stages 2
and 3
Skills Teaching
Sharing of effective
approaches across
disciplines
Successes
Retention of
workshop/tutorial
delivery format
Contributions from Careers
Service, Library and Writing
Development Centre
o New Stage 1 module for 2019-2020 delivery for all Biology, Zoology and Marine Science
students
o Focus on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
o Discipline-specific skills teaching at Stage 2 from 2020-2021
Outputs