Hello!  My name is Luke and I have recently joined the Digital Education Team as a Digital Education Officer. I’m excited to assist staff and students with digital education queries, ensure that information is clear, and contribute to the wider team!

A little bit of my background- I came to Aberystwyth in 2022 to peruse a BA in Filmmaking at the university, where I specialised in practical and theoretical skills in cinematography and editing with a focus on creating period pieces. I have always been interested in the work and effort that goes into bringing film and television to life. My end of year project was a film set in the 1960s and focused on the ‘battle of the bands’ between a record label who lost their number one spot to a newly famous band! I also have a background in graphic design.

I have recently completed a masters in Behavioural Science here at Aberystwyth University where many of my projects focused on developing interventions for positive health-related behaviours and improving engagement within police, leisure and teaching settings. My master’s dissertation focused on current interest and attitudes toward emerging novel contraceptive health methods designed for men, which involved working with potential users to investigate which behaviour change informed messages where most appropriate for future advertisements and interventions to support shared responsibility.

Before my role within the Digital Education Team, I worked as a lifeguard and swimming teacher for 8 years at the sports centre here at Aberystwyth University and a leisure centre where I grew up. I taught children from the age of three to sixteen as well as adults and volunteered as an assistant coach competitive swimming club. This was a club that I was part of from the age of 6 and later re-joined as a master’s swimmer.

I have a keen interest in swimming and have more recently moved to open water swimming with hopes to enter some open water swimming races and hopefully have a go at a triathlon soon! Outside of work I enjoy motorsport and nature photography, finding nice walks and hikes with my partner, camping, and anything to do with the outdoors.  

A big thank you to everyone I have met so far for the warm welcome! I’m looking forward to meeting and working with members of staff and students across the coming months.

We’re delighted to welcome several stands across our in-person days at this year’s Annual Education and Student Experience Conference.

All stands will be in the Think Tank on Wednesday 9 September and Thursday 10 September.

AberSkills

Library Academic and Digital Services’ Non Jones will be hosting a stand to showcase the latest news from AberSkills, the home of skills development at Aberystwyth University.  We’ve got some sessions as part of the conference focusing on Skills – Jim Dickinson from WONKHE and Trish McGrath from UndebAber will be leading a session, and Joy Cadwallader and Keziah Garratt-Smithson will be launching the Digital Discovery Tool.

Education and Student Experience Award Recipients

Recipients of last year’s Education and Student Experience Awards will be staffing stands so that delegates can hear all about the projects:

• The Aber Medieval Physic Garden
• Developing a Sustainable Student Gear Hub
• Inclusivity and Accessibility in Assessment Design and Feedback Practices
• Pulling together– supporting teamwork assessment more effectively

RLF Writing Stand

On Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 September, we are delighted to welcome Samanthan Wynne-Rhydderch who will be hosting a stand.

Samantha is the Royal Literary Fellow here at Aberystwyth.

The RLF Fellowship scheme for writers was launched in autumn 1999 and is based in UK universities. About 750 writers work as Fellows at over 100 different institutions. The principal aim of the Fellow’s work is to foster good writing practice across all disciplines and media by showing students how to write with clarity and flow. Typically, a student will see the Fellow,  a professional published author, one-to-one, for 50 minutes. 

Samantha can help with: 

• Structuring an argument
• Writing clearer and more compelling prose
• Rewriting and editing
• Planning and time management
• Tackling the word count
• Critical thinking
• Paraphrasing

You can find more information about the RLF here: Aberystwyth University – Royal Literary Fund and Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch – Royal Literary Fund

Book your place online.

See our full programme on our webpages.

Welcome to our newest member of staff, Caitlin Evans, to her role as a Digital Education Co-ordinator.

Hello! It’s great to be able to introduce myself in my first blog post in my new role. I’m Dan, and I joined the Digital Education Team just after Easter as a part-time Digital Education Co-ordinator. I’ve taken on this role alongside my PhD, which I am studying at the Department of International Politics.

I moved to Aberystwyth in 2022 to start my 1+3 research course at the university. After completing the research training component of the course, I began my PhD project on ‘the multi-level governance of second homes’ in 2023. During my time as a research student at the university, I have also gained valuable experience as a seminar teacher in the Department of International Politics, and as a Study Skills Tutor with Student Services.

As I head into the final straight of my PhD project, I’m very much looking forward to taking on this exciting new role. I’m very grateful for all the opportunities that the university has given me so far and I can’t wait to contribute to the excellent work of the Digital Education Team.

Before coming to Aberystwyth, I studied my previous degrees at Cardiff University and then worked in a couple of jobs in the politics sector of Cardiff Bay. Politics is never far from my mind, so I’ll be keeping a beady eye on the Senedd election campaign over the next month!

Other than politics, I have a keen interest in sports. As someone originally from Burry Port in Carmarthenshire, I am a big fan of the Scarlets and Swansea City FC. I also enjoy participating in sport myself, and over the summer I will be using the beautiful terrain of Ceredigion to help me train for a number of triathlons that I have entered in the Welsh Super Series. Last year, I also decided to come out of my rugby retirement to join Tregaron rugby club, where I play as a full-back.

When I want to take a more leisurely break from work, I enjoy going for a walk with my partner to see the farm animals near our flat in Lovesgrove, or going for a stroll down the prom in Aberystwyth to eat some ice cream.

I’m looking forward to getting to know more staff and students from across the university over the coming weeks and months!

We are delighted to announce the winner of this year’s annual Exemplary Course Award.

Congratulations to our joint winners:

• Dr Christopher Phillips from International Politis for the award-winning course: IP25320: Warfare after Waterloo: Military History 1815-1918
• Dr Catrin Wyn-Edwards from International Politics for the award-winning course: IPM3120: Race, (Im)mobility, and Incarceration.

The panel noted exemplary practices in the following areas:

• Community ethos and student co-creation activities
• Seminar packs with clear guidance and additional materials to expand on the main topic
• Ethos of the module as part of the welcome and orientation
• Clear and accessible module structures
• Variety of source types
• A range of assessment and feedback opportunities
• Optional exercises for developing essay writing and critical thinking skills
• Reading list organised into different sections 
• Embedding learning outcomes throughout the course

Many congratulations to our highly commended and commended recipients:

Department of Geography and Earth Sciences’ Dr Tristram Irvine-Fynn and Dr Hywel Griffiths for the course GS25520: Glacial and Fluvial Processes and Theatre Film and Television Studies’ Dr Lara Kipp for the course FM22120: Production Design Skills.

These 2 courses demonstrated some excellent practices, including innovative virtual field trip activities, anonymous student feedback mechanisms, authentic assessment design, and clarity on generative AI usage. The award is assessed based on a rubric across four areas:

• Course Design
• Interaction and Collaboration
• Assessment
• Learner Support

The courses were of such a high standard, and we look forward to sharing their practices with you in due course.

Many congratulations to this year’s well-deserved recipients.