Warwick Education Conference 2025 - Programme

Transformative Learning

Thursday 5th June 2025, 9:30am - 4:30pm

Ramphal Building

This year’s conference challenges us to view education not just as a response to change but as a driving force for it. In a time of significant change across higher education, how can we collectively create transformative learning environments that enable students, staff, and institutions to thrive?

The Warwick Education Conference invites us to explore the transformative power of learning in shaping ourselves, our students, and the world around us.

Join us in exploring how transformative learning can meet the demands of a rapidly evolving higher education sector while fostering positive change in society.

Click here to view the full conference programme.

Live stream morning keynote and afternoon panel

Conference programme - at a glance*

For full programme to include session abstracts, click here.

Registration

9:00am - 9:30am

Collect your name badge and join us for some light refreshments before the conference begins followed by the welcome

Welcome

9:30am - 9:45am

Professor Lorenzo Frigerio, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Education)

Morning keynote

Morning Keynote - 'What are we educating students for?'

9:45am - 10:45am

R0.21

Professor Paul Ashwin (Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, UK)

What are we educating students for?

Abstract

Social, economic and environmental challenges have placed significant pressures on higher education. As policymakers respond to these challenges, there is a danger that the quality of higher education will be judged simply in terms of graduates’ employment outcomes and we will lose sight of the educational purposes of engaging students in higher education. In this keynote, I will argue that, in order to reinvigorate our understanding of what we are educating students for, we need to focus on how we develop curricula that support students to develop transformational relationships with disciplinary and professional knowledge. These relationships change students’ understanding of themselves and the world and are central to the many ways in which engaging in higher education can transform students' lives and contribute to societal well-being. I will explore the implications of this argument for our educational practices.

Biography

Paul is Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, UK. Paul’s research focuses on the educational role of higher education, how knowledge transforms students’ understanding of themselves and the world, and the role of policies in shaping the education offered by higher education institutions. His recent book,

‘Transforming University Education: A Manifesto’ (Bloomsbury 2020), argues for a focus on the educational, rather than economic, purposes of university degrees. Paul is the lead author on Reflective Teaching in Higher Education (2015, 2020) written by an international team to support the development of research-informed university teaching. He is joint Editor-in-Chief of the international journal ‘ Higher Education,’ and co-editor of two Bloomsbury book series: ‘Understanding Student Experiences of Higher Education’ and ‘Enhancing Reflective Teaching in Higher Education’.

This session will be livestreamed.

Morning parallel sessions

Parallel sessions - including presentation, workshop and panel sessions

These sessions will provide opportunities for learning, sharing and hands-on activity.

11:00am - 12:00pm

Stream A | Presentations (20 mins each) | R0.12

Slow Pedagogies: transforming student approaches to time and pace How do students and lecturers ‘do’ language in teaching and learning: ‘languaging’ examples in our postgraduate teaching and learning Compassion at Warwick

Stream B | Presentations (20 mins each) | R1.15

The Climb: Cultivating interdisciplinary collaboration and co-creation Bridging the Skills Gap Between Study and the Workplace: A Project Overview Pop-up health checks: Transformative service learning for medical students

Stream C | Workshop (1 hour) | R0.14

Evolution rather than revolution: how making small changes can enhance the authenticity of an assessment strategy

Stream D | Workshop (1 hour) | R0.04

Using the student voice and staff expertise to tackle the international awarding gap

11:00am - 12:00pm

Presented by:

Thomas Greenaway and Simon Brown (Student Opportunity)

Project contributors

Wang Zi (Lecturer in Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at Shanghai University), Clytie Tian (Lecturer in Global Business Communication at AFG College with the University of Aberdeen) and Pawel Plonka (Student Project Officer)

Stream E | Panel (1 hour) | R0.21

Transforming Education? Examining the impact of generative AI on assessments and pedagogy within WMG

Stream F | Panel (1 hour) | R1.13

The Mature Student Experience: Emancipation or Marginalisation?

Lunch

Lunch and lunchtime fringe sessions

12:00pm - 1:15pm

Time and space to refresh, chat and connect - or dip into one of our exciting informal lunchtime fringe sessions to explore the conference theme in diverse and novel ways. Lunch will be provided in the Ramphal atrium as buffet. We ask that you inform us of any dietary requirements on the conference registration form.

Fringe Sessions (12:10pm - 1:10pm)

Digital Triage: Solving Teaching and Learning Challenges (R0.12) Navigating Teaching a module to 1000+ postgraduate student: Learnings and Opportunities for Collaboration (R0.14) Who wants to be a millionaire university challenge?! (R1.15) How green is your practice? (R1.13)

Afternoon parallel sessions

Parallel sessions - including presentation, workshop and panel sessions

These sessions will provide opportunities for learning, sharing and hands-on activity.

1:15pm - 2:15pm

Stream A | Presentations (20 mins each) | R0.12

Transforming Learning & Understanding of Students’ Experiences of Informal Learning Spaces. (Re-)Engaging Students from the Start The ‘STEAM’ approach in Higher Education: Reflections on Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Stream B | Presentations (20 mins each) | R0.04

Interdisciplinarity: The Key to Transformative Learning - Past, Present, and Future at Warwick Cyber Safe: Engaging students as partners in educational projects through co-creation Teaching Complexity in Sustainability in the Manufacturing Sector: A Systematic Review, and Comparative Analysis

Stream C | Workshop (1 hour) | R0.14

Humanising the World Around Us through the Warwick Belonging Framework

1:15pm - 2:15pm

Presented by:

Inca Hide-Wright (Leadership and Management), Tom Ritchie (Chemistry), Dhvani Patil (Liberal Arts), Sarah Bennett (Student Opportunity), Mark Pulsford (Education Studies and Dean of Students Office), Sarah Wilson (Warwick Manufacturing Group) and Reece Goodall (Chemistry and Faculty of Arts).

Stream D | Workshop (1 hour) | R1.13

CULTURE in Feedback: A framework for promoting feedback literacy

Stream E | Workshop (1 hour) | R1.15

Strategies for integrating enterprise into educational programmes

Stream F | Panel (1 hour) | R0.21

Inclusive assessment in STEM disciplines. Perspectives from students and staff, Warwick and beyond.

Panel

Transformative Learning in HE: Sector shifts, policy changes and implications for practice

2:30pm - 3:30pm

R0.21

About the panel

The aim of this panel discussion is to explore the topic of Transformative Learning through the lens of broader sector shifts and policy environments. We have invited experts from diverse practice and policy contexts within higher education, to examine the dynamic landscape of HE influenced by evolving government policies and priorities.

Our focus for this session is on how institutions can adapt to sector shifts, creating learning environments that are innovative and responsive to current and future opportunities and challenges. We will explore how educational communities can leverage these shifts to enhance practices and create opportunities for innovation, collaboration, growth and development. The session aims to integrate policy considerations into educational strategies, driving meaningful change and fostering positive societal impact.

This session will be livestreamed.

Ask the panel a question

Panel members

Professor Emma Flynn (Chair)

Provost, University of Warwick

Professor Rebecca FreemanDeputy PVC (Education), University of Warwick

Dr Debbie McVitty

Editor, Wonkhe

Professor Paul Ashwin

University of Lancaster

Samuel Roseveare

Director of Regional and National Policy, University of Warwick

Ask a question to the panel

We would like to invite you to ask questions around the topic of Transformative Learning.

If you would like to submit a question, please do so here.

This form will close on Monday 26 May, 2025

*Timings may be subject to change.