How to Grow a Planet: Dr Robert Sansom and Professor Giles Johnson (School of Natural Sciences)

Following a review of the way the Department of Earth and Environmental sciences functions, Robert and Giles were tasked with creating semester 1 content of a core first year unit for the joint first year of all Environmental and Earth Science undergraduate degrees. The result is 'How to Grow a Planet', which focuses on the ‘the chronological history of life on earth’ as a way of bringing together biological content that is relevant to geologists and atmospheric scientists alike. They created innovative content around this theme, running the unit for the first time online in 2020, combining student feedback and focussing on clear learning objectives.

Through making the very most of the possibilities offered by Blackboard, they created an effective mode of gathering ‘real time’ student feedback and developing a sense of online community. They established weekly activities designed to be educational but also entertaining, while also being accessible and approachable. When combined with quizzes and live assessment feedback, the course unit proved innovative and successful, receiving fantastic Unit Survey results, and is now considered the gold standard for digital learning for the department.