Case studies archive

The Student Experience case studies

Trees in Representation and Reality: An Induction Activity for English Language Students November 2010: As part of induction at the University of Gloucestershire, first-year English Language students conducted an outdoor exercise assessing the relationship between representations of trees and their physical presence.

Poetry and Sustainability November 2010: Students went on a field trip to Kingley Vale nature reserve in West Sussex as part of a module on contemporary poetry and the environment. This case study was part of the English Subject Centre's 'Bringing the Outside In' case studies initiative.

From Climate to Landscape: Imagining the Future (CLIF) November 2010: Students used a field trip to Cornwall as the basis for creative projects imagining the future impact of climate change. This extra-curricular activity, part of the interdisciplinary CLIF project, led to presentations at a major academic conference. This case study was part of the English Subject Centre's 'Bringing the Outside In' case studies initiative.

Enabling Undergraduate Research - In Search of 'The Angel in the House': Women and Domestic Culture in the Nineteenth Century - March 2010: This case study offers an account of a research-based undergraduate option offered in Year 2 at Bath Spa University. The project introduces students to primary research in a number of different settings. The study focuses, in particular, on one strand of the module which supports students in exploring representations of domestic life in literature and print culture in the period.

Developing oral skills for a changing world: the potential of Open Space facilitation: This case study describes an attempt to adapt the facilitation technique known in the business world as ‘Open Space’ to higher education, in particular to a second year English Language module ‘Language and Gender’.

Teaching Theory and the use of the Reading Diary: This Case Study looks at ways in which an assessed reading diary can help motivate students to explore the work of theorists and apply their theories in their reading of literary texts.

Studying Literary Texts: The Learning Process: This case study explores the question: What do we ‘do’ when studying Literature? What learning processes take place? Undergraduate Educational Studies students have been finding out in a module that explores the nature of learning in the specific context of studying literary texts and taking part in the conversations that constitute literary studies.