Awards and funding
The Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE) provides funding, annually, to support research activities in the University of London and member institutions and for awards for student achievements.
Teaching and Research Awards (TRAs)
Our Teaching and Research Awards (TRAs) are aimed at supporting original pedagogic research studies that can provide evidence for innovative and effective practice in distance, on-line and technology-enhanced learning, teaching and assessment.
TRAs provide support for research activities that enhance knowledge about, and methods of implementing, distance learning and teaching. They are open to staff throughout the University of London Federation and to CODE Fellows. TRAs have a value of up to £5000.
Successful Teaching and Research Award studies comprise original enquiries that will advance knowledge and improve the student experience in the field of distance and flexible learning and are normally followed by publication.
| Team members | Federation Member | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Fisher, Pedro Elston, Matthew Simmons | Queen Mary University of London | Student outcomes, satisfaction and engagement - transforming a traditional medical degree to a blended format |
| Oscar Mwaanga | CODE Fellow & University of London | Understanding AI driven teaching and learning: Examining In-depth views of students and tutors who took part in an ‘AI Tutor’ intervention on two UoLW modules |
| Patricia Gorak-Stolinska, Natalia Bednarska | London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine | Evaluation of how the use of learning technologies to teach laboratory skills affects student outcomes; retention, progression, and satisfaction, for students on a distance learning programme |
| Peter Komisarczuk | Royal Holloway University of London | Cyber educational gaming for flipped online education |
| Team members | Member institution | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Roslyn Taplin | SOAS | Action research supporting change in graduate skills via online distance learning for the UN Sustainable Development Goals |
| Michele Milner | RVC | Blended learning frameworks in healthcare curricula: Supporting innovation and success |
| Matthew Yee-King, Mark D'Inverno | Goldsmith | Evaluating an innovative approach to teaching artificial intelligence and creativity |
| David Baume | CODE Fellow | In what particular ways does UoL ODL work well? |
We made the following Teaching and Research Awards in 2020/21:
| Team members | Member institution | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Elizabeth Armitage-Chan, Kirsty Fox, Prof Stephen May | RVC | Distance learning through necessity or choice? Examining the impact on students’ engagement and achievement of learning outcomes. |
| Dr Tony Cornford, Dr Magda Hercheui, Dr Steve Smithson | LSE, UCL | Global syllabus local learning (Gloslo) |
| Dr Jane Secker, Peter Kogan, Thomas Hanley, Sarah Ney, Geraldine Foley | City, University of London | Exploring the student experience of asynchronous individual and collaborative online learning in International Politics undergraduate and postgraduate programmes |
| Dr Simon Katan, Edward Anstead | Goldsmiths, University of London | Exploring video streaming solutions for tutor-facilitated synchronous social learning sessions in the online environment |
We made the following Teaching and Research Awards in 2019/20:
| Team members | Member institution | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Liz Wilkinson | The Careers Group, University of London | Evaluating the learning design of a career learning online micro-module, focusing on the impact of ipsative assessment, self-evaluation and self-reflection in increasing learning gain and depth. |
| Tierney Kinnison Claire Vinten Ruth Serlin Ayona Silva-Fletcher | Royal Veterinary College | Is there a difference in student experience and learning on the PGCert VetEd when comparing blended and online only delivery models? |
| Alan Tait Gwyneth Hughes | Centre for Online and Distance Education; UCL | Evaluating reforms in assessment practices in University of London Transnational programmes |
| Oscar Mwaanga Reetu Kansal | University of London Worldwide | Decolonising University of London Worldwide Curricula and Pedagogies: Towards a ‘Collaborative’ and ‘Transformational’ model for Decolonisation |
We made the following Teaching and Research Awards in 2018/19:
| Team members | Member institution | Project |
|---|---|---|
Alberto Asquer Dr Inna Krachkovskaya | SOAS | Using chatbots to improve student progression and achievements in distance learning |
| Jennie Golding | UCL Institute of Education | METEA (Mathematics Education to Empower Africa) teacher educator development |
Dr Dionisia Tzavara Dr Ioannis Gkliatkis Dr Dimitrios Koufopoulos | University of Liverpool University of Hertfordshire University of London | Exploring students' perceptions about the effectiveness of simulation games in Business and Management Education |
Justin O'Brien Dr Alex Reppel | Royal Holloway, University of London | "Can a multi-media, Moodle based critical analysis skills intervention encourage final year undergraduates to engage more deeply with the University of London library's digital learning resources?" |
We made the following Teaching and Research Awards in 2017/18:
| Team members | Member institution | Project |
|---|---|---|
Dr Anna Foss Rebecca French Jenny Fogarty Alexandra Conseil | London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine | Development of a Virtual Peer Mentorship Scheme for Public Health MSc Students Undertaking a Research Project via Distance Learning |
Daksha Patel Atrid Leck | London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine | Assessment of Value Creation from MOOC Based Learning Towards Global Elimination of Trachoma 2020 (GET 2020) |
Dr Kathleen O’Reilly Anne Tholen Jenny Fogarty Dr Anna Foss Professor Graham Medley | London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine | Supporting Distance Learning Students’ Needs when Learning 'Quantitative Skills; Application to Modelling the Dynamics of Infectious Diseases |
Dr Myrrh Domingo Dr Amos Paran Dr Andrea Révész Alessandra Palange | UCL Institute of Education (IoE) | Exploring factors that influence the impact of MOOC learning on participants’ professional practice |
We made the following Teaching and Research Awards in 2015/16:
| Team members | Member institution | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Stylianos Hatzipanagos | King's College London | Designing Peer Formative Assessment with Open Badges in Online Learning Environments |
| Tim Neuman | University College London | Next generation blended learning |
| Sally Parsley | London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine | Exploring the use of text mining to support effective social learning in an international, open, online course |
| Lee-Ann Sequeira | London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine | Formative Multiple-choice Questions: how can technology-enhanced learning to be used to promote deep learning among distance learners? |
We made the following Teaching and Research Awards in 2014/15:
| Team members | Member Institution | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Steven Warburton | Kings College London | Design patterns for Massive Open Online Courses |
| Dr J Simon Rofe | SOAS | “The Motivation and the Medium”: Understanding the student’s perspective on their choice of learning medium |
| Dr Clare Brooks | IoE | Exploring the experience of learning on a MOOC |
| Maylyn Tan | Singapore Institute of Management | Investigating the benefits of a mentoring-based induction programme |
We made the following Teaching and Research Awards in 2013/14:
| Team members | Member Institution | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Clare Brooks | IOE | Integrating library literacy through distance learning module design |
| Jonathan San Diego | KCL | Learning Analytics, students’ Online participation and academic performance |
| Christine Thuranira-McKeever | RVC | Sponsored/scholarship students: Does additional support in the form of teaching and in-country institutional support have an impact on their retention, progression and level of achievement? |
| Patricia McKellar | Laws | An e-publishing platform for legal education: Phase II: A study to explore the use of e-books, e-readers and tablet computing in the delivery of learning materials to enhance the student learning experience. |
We made the following Teaching and Research Awards in 2012/13:
| Team members | Member institution | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Niall Winters, Olajide Jolugbo, Micah Matiangi, Caroline Mbindyo, Chris Joynes | London Knowledge Lab | Peer Learning and Knowledge Sharing for Distance Learning Students using Mobile Phones |
| Gwyneth Hughes, Kaori Okumoto, Elizabeth Wood | IOE | Implementing Ipsative Assessment |
| Jacqueline Bloomfield, Anne Jones | Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, KCL | Using E-Learning to support Clinical Skills Acquisition: Exploring the Experiences and Perceptions of Postgraduate First Year Pre-Registration Nursing Students |
| Alexander Finlayson, Molly Fyfe, Susannah Whitwell | King’s Centre for Global Health, KCL | Distance Peer Education for Global Mental Health: How and what are Students Learning? |
| Stylianos Hatzipanagos, Charles Kasule, Patricia McKellar, Steven Warburton | King’s Learning Institute, KCL | Open Educational Resources in Distance Education: Adopting a Model of Open Learning in Academic Practice |
| Jane Pritchard, Neil McLean | Teaching and Learning Centre, LSE | Developing a PG Certificate in Higher Education for Teachers at ICEF Moscow |
Follow the link below to read summaries of the outcomes from a selection of research projects conducted on behalf of the CDE and funded through the Teaching and Research Awards scheme between 2005 and 2010.
The Roger Mills Awards for Innovation in Learning and Teaching
The Roger Mills Award for innovation in learning and teaching is sponsored by University of London Worldwide, and is named in memory of Roger Mills, longstanding and well-loved former Fellow of the Centre for Online and Distance Education and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Open University UK. Roger made a major contribution to the support of innovation in learning and teaching in the University of London through his contribution to projects and academic policy development. This prize commemorates his contribution. It is awarded each year to the best completed University of London project related to online and distance education. It is open to members of staff of all kinds throughout the University of London and its constituent institutions.
| 2023 Award | Topic | Institution | Submitted by |
|---|---|---|---|
Winner
| Team Based Learning in Psychology – from online to hybrid approaches | KCL | James Findon, Francesca Cotier |
| Commended | Development of computational thinking skills on Codio learning platform on MSc Computer Science programme | Birkbeck | Larissa Grice |
| Commended | Making it personal: Embedding the elements of lecturer’s identity into module design as a method of student engagement | RHUL | Eranova Mariya |
| Commended | Enhancing access by distance learning students to academic content: OpenAthens Single Sign-On (SSO) | University of London | Sandra Tury |
| Commended | Enabling climate action through online pedagogy | SOAS | Tom Tanner |
| Commended | Innovative Integration in the BSc Psychology | KCL and University of London | Anna Armstrong |
| Commended | Supporting Students through Learning Mentor Groups on the Infectious Diseases MSc Programme at LSHTM – , | LSHTM | Anita Skinner |
| 2022 Award | Topic | Institution | Submitted by |
|---|---|---|---|
Winner
| Dissection at Distance: Interactive Live-Streaming of Practical Anatomy via MS Teams | RVC | Sarah Channon, Sarah Nicoll, Andrew Crook, Emma Boardman, Stephen Frean, Saira Khurshid Akhtar, Emma Driver, Michael Frill, William Stewart, Thomas Burt, Renato Previdelli, Raymond Macharia |
| Commended | Bayes Digital Learning | City University of London | Bayes Digital Learning Team |
| Commended | Professional Graduate Certificate (PGCE): Teacher Development | UCL | Kim Insley |
| Commended | Fostering interdisciplinary researchers: PhD training and support at SOAS | SOAS | Yenn Lee |
| Commended | Enhancing doctoral supervision in UCL IOE and beyond | UCL | Jennie Golding |
| 2021 Award | Topic | Institution | Submitted by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Digital Skills Awareness courses for students and staff | Bloomsbury Learning Exchange | Sarah Sherman, Nancy Weitz |
| Commended | Using escape room approaches to support personal development planning at a distance | QMUL | Faith Nightingale |
| Commended | Reimagining the BSc Business Administration Programme | RHUL | Paul Dudley |
| Commended | Innovation in action: From institutional emergency response programme to ‘blended by design’ future | UCL | Sam Smidt, Jo Stroud, Martin Compton |
| 2020 Award | Topic | Institution | Submitted by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joint Winner | Developing a blended programme of online careers and employability support for University of London distance education students | University of London Careers Group | Laura Brammar |
| Joint Winner | Designing and running a fully online Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education | Centre for Online and Distance Education, University of London | Gwyneth Hughes |
| Commended | Development, evaluation and transfer of an innovative alumni-peer mentorship scheme for MSc students undertaking a research project via distance learning | London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine | Anna Foss |
| Commended | Facilitating coding practice in the context of online teaching on an undergraduate computing degree | Goldsmiths, University of London | Simon Katan Edward Anstead |
| 2019 Award | Topic | Institution | Submitted by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Students with Diverse Educational Backgrounds: Special Support for Online Learning in the MA in Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies | School of Advanced Study | Nicolas Maple |
| Commended | Development of an innovative alumni mentorship scheme for Public Health MSc students undertaking a research project via distance learning | London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine | Anna Foss |
| Commended | Design of UoL Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education | Centre for Online and Distance Education and University of London | Gwyneth Hughes |
| Commended | Innovative practice: Introduction to Who Wrote Shakespeare, the world’s first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on the Shakespeare Authorship question | Goldsmiths, University of London | Ros Barber |
| Commended | Global MBA Programme Actions/ Initiatives from April 2018 to end of January 2019 | University of London | Dimitrios Koufopoulos |
| 2018 Award | Topic | Institution | Submitted by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joint winner | Get Interactive: Practical Teaching with Technology - Massive Online open course | BLE | Sarah Sherman |
| Joint winner | Formative Assessment in Undergraduate Laws Distance Education programmes | UoL Laws | Patricia McKellar |
| Commended | Opening up LSE to EMFSS students | LSE | Steve Bond |
| Commended | Employability in teacher education (input into the PG Certificate Learning and Teaching in Higher Education) | UoL Careers Group | Laura Brammar |
| Commended | Postgraduate Laws | UCL | Helen Xanthaki |
| Commended | Organizational Psychology and Human Resource Management International Programme | Birkbeck | Duncan Jackson |
| Commended | Philosophy Programme Seminars | Birkbeck | Florian Steinberger |
| Commended | Icarus Simulation in the Masters in Professional Accountancy | UCL | Lynsie Chew |
| Commended | Fostering an online community of students and professionals in the refugee and forced migration field | School of Advanced Study | Sarah Singer |
Student Learning Gain Award
The Centre for Online and Distance Education Learning Gain Award is for students on the UoL Postgraduate certificate Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. It is awarded by the Board of Examiners for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education to one participant from the programme in each graduating cohort. Unlike many awards that acknowledge top levels of performance, this prize is awarded to students who demonstrate the most significant improvement in their performance over the course of their study, recognising that some students start much further back in the field than others.
Dr Thando Loliwe, Senior lecturer in Financial Accounting, University of Limpopo.
Daniel Linton, Programme Leader (Foundation Year), Point Blank Music School, London.