Meaningfully Embedding Industry-Relevant Life Science Skills in the Undergraduate Biosciences Curriculum

Garden, Claire; Campbell Casey, Samantha; MacCallum, Janis

Abstract

For more than a decade I and colleagues have been working in partnership with the Scottish Lifesciences industry and other stakeholders to develop relevant, industry informed biosciences curricula at Edinburgh Napier University. This work has also been deeply impacted by upskilling initiatives I have led, funded by Skills Development Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and most recently by the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult. We sought external recognition and were proud that our degrees were among the first accredited by the Royal Society of Biology back in 2016, and were successfully reaccredited in 2022.
Recently the undergraduate bioscience courses were also recognised by the University as excellent in all five of the ENHance curriculum enhancement themes of employability, research and practice integration, sustainability, global outlook and inclusion, and the biomedical sciences course continues to be evaluated positively by students, being the top ranked biomedical sciences course in the UK according to the most recent NSS (2022).
Through the example of our undergraduate biomedical sciences curriculum, I will share lessons learned about how best to engage with stakeholders; the importance of partnership working to transfer industry-relevant knowledge skills and experience into the curriculum; how to avoid major pitfalls through dialogue and a shared sense of purpose; and the importance of maintaining focus on meaningful education experiences for the students at the heart of the process. There is still work to do, and I will also explore the need for scholarship and research to inform future curriculum development.

Citation

Garden, C., Campbell Casey, S., & MacCallum, J. (2023, June). Meaningfully Embedding Industry-Relevant Life Science Skills in the Undergraduate Biosciences Curriculum. Presented at QAA Scotland's 5th International Enhancement Conference, Glasgow

• Presentation Conference Type: Lecture
• Conference Name: QAA Scotland's 5th International Enhancement Conference
• Conference Location: Glasgow
• Start Date: Jun 14, 2023
• End Date: Jun 15, 2023
• Deposit Date: Sep 12, 2023
• Publisher URL: https://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/docs/ethemes/conference/meaningfully-embedding-industry-relevant-life-sciences-skills-in-the-undergraduate-biosciences-curriculum.pdf