Congratulations to Dr Emma Hargreaves and Dr Alexandra Moores, both Senior Lecturers in Microbiology, from the School of Natural Sciences, who have been awarded a prestigious 2025 Teaching Innovation Award for their work in supporting students’ transition to university and enhancing numeracy skills through targeted interventions.
The award, presented by digital learning platform LearnSci, recognises Dr Hargreaves and Dr Moores’ commitment to improving the student experience through innovative teaching practices.
In 2020, Dr Moores first collaborated with LearnSci to create a numeracy-focused Smart Worksheet. Designed to identify incoming students’ maths skills gaps before they began their degrees, the Smart Worksheet enabled early interventions to address these gaps. This work was recognised with a Teaching innovation Award Winner in 2020. Data collected through this resource informed the design of targeted workshops and curriculum adjustments, in partnership with the University’s Student Success team. Students responded positively, reporting greater confidence in applying mathematical skills to coursework, particularly in data analysis.
Dr Moores said: ‘We are delighted to have been recognised with a Teaching Innovation Award for our work on the Smart Worksheet. Further funding from the Student Success Project has enabled us to continue supporting student success in numeracy.’
The foundation for Pre-Arrival Hub work began in 2020 as a collaborative project between Dr Hargreaves, Dr Moores, and Katherine Moss (PR Campaigns Manager at Kent). In 2022, Dr Hargreaves, Dr Moores and Mrs Candis Robers (Student Experience Manager at the time) extended their collaboration with LearnSci to co-create the Pre-Arrival Hub—a central resource offering new students essential information and support before starting university. The Hub also allowed for early identification of students who might need additional help, ensuring timely support. Following its successful launch within Natural Sciences, the Pre-Arrival Hub was adopted across the University in 2023 and won a Teaching Innovation Award in 2022.
Building on this success, Dr Hargreaves, Dr Moores, and Dr Rosalyn Masterton (Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences) are now working with local schools and colleges to support further education students—particularly those from underrepresented groups—in their transition to university. They are also enhancing support for foundation year students, introducing bespoke resources and a peer mentoring scheme, in association with the Skills for Academic Success Team, to further ease the transition to higher education.