In the first of a new blog series sharing student perspectives on higher education, SIME intern Mlendo Green shares his experience attending the LU Education Conference in July 2024.

Nervous, curious, and uncertain describe how I felt on Wednesday morning. Enlightened, inspired, and astonished capture my emotions by Thursday evening. Over these two days, I attended Lancaster University's annual Education Conference, which unites educators from the University and regional partners. During the conference, I gained insights into educators' challenges and reflected on my experiences as a student. Many lecturers who had taught me were present, with some even presenting.

Keynote

The conference began with a keynote address by Professor Radka Newton. By the end of her presentation, I had already started my application to the MSc Management programme! Professor Newton’s presentation vividly introduced human-cantered design in academia, captivating the entire room. Although targeted at educators, her talk inspired me to consider how I could incorporate human-cantered design into my life and career. Reflecting on my placement year at a retail company, I realised I could have made my dashboards more user-friendly by adding explanations and interactive features.

Professor Newton discussed strategies for implementing human-centred design to engage students, emphasising the principle ‘trust that you care’. She sees students as individuals, not statistics, which resonated with me. Often, students feel like anonymous members of a large group, unappreciated and uncared for. I started to wonder how many of my lecturers knew my name, although I knew theirs. It would be beneficial if students could learn about their lecturers before a module starts, perhaps through interactive profiles detailing their backgrounds, interests, and expectations. A sample lecture could also help students gauge the content and select elective module.

Parallel Sessions

The conference featured parallel sessions, including presentations, symposiums, and lightning talks. Choosing which sessions to attend was challenging due to overlapping schedules. From the sessions I attended I will focus on three main themes I gathered: Language, Engagement, and AI.

Language

Timothy Douglas’s presentation, ‘Why British People Are Bad at Speaking English,’ should be included in staff training and student induction at this international university. With over a billion people speaking English as a second or third language, it’s crucial to ensure clarity and avoid colloquialisms and slang unfamiliar to non-native speakers.

A lightning talk on learning student names resonated with me. Having my name correctly pronounced on the first try is a rare but appreciated experience. Lecturers learning their students’ names could foster a sense of belonging, though this may only be feasible for smaller cohorts.

Engagement

Engaging students was a recurring topic. I initially believed university was about freedom and independence, where attendance and participation were personal choices. However, I realised educators genuinely care about student engagement. While there might be ulterior motives like improving rankings, many ideas shared were valuable, including using social media and innovative classroom activities. The second keynote highlighted how unmet basic needs hinder student engagement.

A notable discussion during the closing session with LUSU (the Students’ Union) was about student voice. Initially uninterested in the student rep system, I witnessed significant changes in my modules thanks to proactive course reps. I quite agreed with some of suggestions discussed like offering incentives to reps and enhancing their training to make them more proactive and approachable could further improve student engagement.

AI

AI sparked many discussions, with presentations dedicated to the topic. I found that there is a divide among educators, with some embracing AI and others opposing it. As a student, I’ve had mixed experiences with AI. In a group project earlier this academic year, a member used AI to generate content, causing a dilemma about potential plagiarism and questioning if he indeed used it. However, I’ve found AI invaluable throughout my studies for summarising articles, debugging code, proofreading essays, and generating ideas. I think AI is a powerful tool, but it’s crucial to understand its limits.

Reflection Session

The conference concluded with a reflection session hosted by SIME members, encouraging us to digest and apply what we learned. Conversations with people from different faculties and industries were particularly enlightening. My career path is currently unclear, but I gained valuable insights. Talking to a teacher from Blackburn College made me consider secondary education, while discussions with people from accounting, finance, economics, and marketing revealed industry hurdles and necessary qualifications.

In summary, the Lancaster University Education Conference was a transformative experience. It broadened my perspective on education and engagement and provided valuable insights for my future.

About the author

Mlendo Green is a Management Science student at Lancaster University. He is currently working as an intern with SIME, helping us organise events and collect data on the Centre’s activities.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by our bloggers and those providing comments are personal, and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of Lancaster University. Responsibility for the accuracy of any of the information contained within blog posts belongs to the blogger.