Editorial
Angela Rhead , SFHEA Senior Curriculum Developer Keele Institute for Innovation and Teaching Excellence , Keele University
I am excited to welcome readers to the sixth issue of the JADE Student Edition , which reports on the Keele Conference of Undergraduate Research ( KCUR ), previously known as the JADE Student Learning Undergraduate Conference ( JSLUG ). KCUR is an annual event arranged by the Keele Institute for Innovation and Teaching Excellence ( KIITE ).
It is some time since our summer conference , which once again was impacted by the pandemic . Small but perfectly formed , KCUR 2021 brought together a resilient and impressive group of Keele students to share their learning , research and their social justice concerns : Whilst diverse in subject , the presentations shared a concern for the world we live in and its people , which revealed a sense of scholarship as socially responsible that is to be applauded and admired .
KCUR was held between 7th and 11th June 2021 to accommodate the digital dimensions of the event . We enjoyed eight presentations , whose abstracts are published in this edition , that spanned anthropomorphism to volcanic events , telemonitoring of heart failure to ethnicity-based discrimination and more . The commitment , passion and gravity communicated in each presentation was impressive and generated much interesting discussion . Four students also chose to develop their presentations into full papers , which follow the abstracts . Again , the diversity of the papers signals a healthy engagement with undergraduate research in each of Keele ’ s faculties , which we hope to capture even more widely this year .
This edition is timely as preparations are already underway for the 7th conference , KCUR 22 , taking place online and in-situ on 1st June . We hope to regain the advantages of both previous on-campus conferences and the more recent online experiences , and that this edition will inspire many of you to consider attending , presenting at , or writing about the conference . Most of all , I hope you enjoy reading the students ’ contributions .
Our thanks go to the students who contributed to the conference and to this issue , and for ensuring that KCUR survived the Covid-19 pandemic ; to the peer reviewers ; and thanks also to Samantha Mottram , who provides outstanding administrative support each year for both the conference and this special edition .
Angela Rhead
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