We are pleased to announce that Dr Jennifer Cumming and Dr Victoria Burns have been awarded £10,000 by the Higher Education Academy to explore the experiences of home and international students participating in an outdoor groupwork skills course. This research forms part of the Birmingham Evaluating Skill Transfer (BEST) project, which was established in 2010 in collaboration with University Sport Birmingham, to explore how skills developed at the Raymond Priestley Centre can be transferred back to academia.

Many home and international university students lack the experience and interpersonal skills to participate effectively in multicultural groupwork and to establish meaningful cross-cultural social relationships. These issues can limit the realisation of a fully internationalised higher education environment. We will be working with students from Engineering and the Business School, to better understand how these skills can be developed and transferred to their university experience. We will then make evidence-based recommendations for the successful development and implementation of cross-cultural groupwork skills.

Birmingham Evaluating Skill Transfer project
Birmingham Evaluating Skill Transfer project