Slides from a workshop at the SEDA Autumn Conference 2023

1. Explore, Innovate and Enhance
Student Employability and Well-
being with Inspiration from a
New-Model HEI
Professor Gary C Wood, Interim Chief Academic Officer
gary.wood@nmite.ac.uk | @GC_Wood | www.garycwood.uk
Bertie Knight, Assistant Professor
bertie.knight@nmite.ac.uk
New Model Institute for Technology & Engineering

2. NMITE and HE innovation
• New, small, specialist provider in Hereford – previously
had no Higher Education Institution
• Engineering and technology focus addresses UK
shortage of engineers – need to develop ‘work-ready’
engineers (RAEng (2007, 2010, 2019); Graham (2012);
Perkins (2013); IET (2019))
• Demand from industry for graduates with more
integrated engineering capabilities
• Intended to be a significant centre for innovative,
mould-breaking engineering education.

3. Our distinctive pedagogy
• Unusual entry requirements to widen participation
• Industry-linked, challenge-led learning experiences
• Learning 9-5 in a studio environment
• Block delivery model
• Substantial educator contact time
• Significant team-working
• Varied assessment strategy, related to professional
formats/outputs
• Skills and Student Services support close by
• Graduates able to solve problems as they’re
encountered by professionals in practice.

4. Industry challenges – examples
• Optimise pipe flow for a drinks manufacturer
• Produce and validate a design for a mobile climbing wall
• Design and build a moisture sensor for a timber-framed
building
• Develop a channel model to predict whether a satellite
communications link will work
• Respecify material for a torque arm.

5. Some benefits
• Students developing technical knowledge with
capability to apply it, and agency to do so
• Enhanced employability, though understanding and
being familiar with working with industry
• Better work-life balance for students – more focus,
and higher grades
• Assessment for learning reduces stress, and enables
students to learn how to produce professional
outputs.

6. Inspired Innovation
• Choose one of four topics to focus on:
• Industry Involvement in programme design, delivery and
assessment
• Contextualised professional skills to enhance attendance,
engagement and attainment
• Assessment innovation to model workplace outputs and
make assessment part of the learning process
• Enhancing well-being by embracing innovative pedagogical
approaches.

7. In your theme group…
• Use the innovation cards
• Consider how you could apply the innovation to add
value in your own contexts
• Think creatively, out of the box, and don’t worry about
practicalities for now
• Capture your thoughts on the flipchart paper.

8. Inspired Innovation
• Choose one of four topics to focus on:
• Industry Involvement in programme design, delivery and
assessment
• Contextualised professional skills to enhance attendance,
engagement and attainment
• Assessment innovation to model workplace outputs and
make assessment part of the learning process
• Enhancing well-being by embracing innovative pedagogical
approaches.

9. In your theme group…
• Select a couple of your favourite innovation ideas
• Share them with the rest of the room.

10. Your top takeaways
• What has inspired you today?
• On your postcard, write down one or two innovations
you want to take away and try out
• For each one, write down the specific next action you
need to take to make it happen (make it manageable,
and start with a verb, so it’s immediately actionable).

11. References
Graham, R. (2012). Achieving Excellence in Engineering Education: The Ingredients of
Successful Change. London: Royal Academy of Engineering.
The IET (2019). Skills and demand in industry: 2019 Survey. Stevenage: The Institution
of Engineering and Technology. Available at: www.theiet.org/media/4812/skills-
survey2019.pdf.
Perkins, J. (2013). Professor John Perkins’s Review of Engineering Skills. Available at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/at
tachment_data/file/254885/bis-13-1269-professor-john-perkins-review-of-
engineering-skills.pdf
Royal Academy of Engineering. (2007). Educating Engineers for the 21st Century.
London: Royal Academy of Engineering.
Royal Academy of Engineering. (2010). Engineering Graduates for Industry. London:
Royal Academy of Engineering.
Royal Academy of Engineering. (2019). Engineering Skills for the Future: The 2012
Perkins Review Revisited. London: Royal Academy of Engineering.

12. Explore, Innovate and Enhance
Student Employability and Well-
being with Inspiration from a
New-Model HEI
Professor Gary C Wood, Interim Chief Academic Officer
gary.wood@nmite.ac.uk | @GC_Wood | www.garycwood.uk
Bertie Knight, Assistant Professor
bertie.knight@nmite.ac.uk
New Model Institute for Technology & Engineering