Blog

Professor Paul Maharg reflects on a recent seminar for SCiLAB, focusing on two significant educational approaches in Law and related disciplines; the use of a new simulation platform, SIMple, along with the use of simulated clients (SCs).

What does effective mentoring look like for Practice Tutors? Our research shows how flexible, peer-informed approaches boost confidence, shape workload, and strengthen staff development at the Open University.

Students in a joint honours Criminology and Law programme found law lecturers’ feedback detailed but often blunt and demotivating, contrasting with the friendlier tone of criminology feedback. This article suggests this stems from law lecturers’ practitioner identity and recommends training and community engagement to foster a more supportive, learner-focused approach.

This blog explores how creative techniques - such as visual imagery - can reveal deeper insights into the often-overlooked role of workplace mentors in experiential learning. It will be of interest both to those involved in work-based learning and mentoring, as well as those curious about applying creative approaches in scholarly research.

Joint degree programmes at The Open University offer students a unique chance to combine two fields, developing a broad, versatile skill set. Building on findings discussed in our previous blog, this post explores new initiatives introduced to improve the joint degree student experience.

Evidence suggests that peer mentoring boosts confidence and belonging (e.g. Skaniakos et al., 2014). However, this writer’s experience is that peer mentoring’s wider benefits are often undervalued, underestimating institutional impact. This reflection urges evaluators to recognise its full potential, to unlock lasting, systemic gains.

Joint honours degrees account for around 10% of all undergraduate admissions in the UK. In this blog we ask the question, ‘what’s it actually like to be a Joint Degree student at The Open University?’

This blog focuses on what a scholarship team learnt about using WhatsApp to support a peer-mentoring project – with both expected and unexpected consequences!

This blog shares reflections from two perspectives -an intern and her supervisors - on the lived experience of a virtual university-based internship (Reid et al., 2023) run by The Open University during the 2024/25 academic year.