TEACHING AND LEARNING
CREATING NEW
KNOWLEDGE
PHOTO
Professor Philippa Levy
“The skills
involved in
academic
research, such
as critical
thinking,
gathering
and analysing
evidence, all
translate to the
world of work.”
PHILIPPA LEVY IS NOT ONLY NEW TO THE UNIVERSITY,
SHE IS IN A NEWLY CREATED JOB WORKING ON
NOVEL CHALLENGES AS THE UNIVERSITY ADAPTS ITS
TEACHING AND LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR STUDENTS
IN THE 21ST CENTURY.
Professor Levy has joined the University as the inaugural
Pro Vice-Chancellor for Student Learning, a role central
to implementing the Beacon of Enlightenment strategic
plan to transform teaching by making small-group
discovery central to the undergraduate experience. This
involves academics working with students to actually
research and create new knowledge, rather than just
taking lecture notes.
“The Beacon’s vision is one of the main things
that attracted me to the University,” she says. “I find it
very compelling.”
Understandably so, as Professor Levy has spent much
of her life working on ways to adapt teaching to student
learning needs, in a range of roles at the University of
Sheffield, where she first studied and then rose to a
Chair and as Deputy Chief Executive at the UK Higher
Education Academy.
“Professor Levy’s work in the UK has captured the
essence of a new paradigm in teaching based squarely
on student inquiry and research,” Professor Pascale
Quester, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President
(Academic) says.
And so Professor Levy is putting a life of learning and
teaching to good work, leading a transformation of
not just how the University teaches but also the way
student learning extends beyond knowledge to the
skills they need for a digital age.
This means big changes for everybody involved. For
academics, it includes adapting their content to blended
learning, using small-group teaching plus digital deliver B