Dr Frands Pedersen

Dr Frands Pedersen is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Westminster, where he holds a University Teaching Fellowship. He has a track record of engaging with colleagues to share his leading practice in a supportive manner that enables them to develop their own work in the field. In doing so, he combines a passion for his discipline with a strong commitment to student learning. His ultimate goal is to give students the best possible, engaging, informative and enjoyable educational experience. Impact of work He is a strong advocate of active, experiential and immersive learning, which he argues generates a deeper understanding of theories and concepts, an improved understanding of empirical political phenomena, and enhanced student engagement and understanding by bringing issues to life. In his teaching, he employs such approaches to build students critical awareness and confidence in applying theories and concepts in the analysis of domestic and international political events. He has made a very significant contribution to innovation in learning and teaching in the discipline, especially in the use of simulations and games and community engagement (see Archive on Simulations and Games). Of special note is the interdisciplinary nature of his innovations, such as engaging journalism students in producing video reports on simulated UN negotiations and collaborating with colleagues in computer science and other disciplines in developing virtual simulation packages. He is co-founder of Serious Games@Westminster (SG@W), an inter-disciplinary research and game development group, and has contributed with his expertise and experience on simulations to summer schools, workshops and the European Youth Event at the European Parliament. His own cutting edge work with students has been shared with colleagues from other UK and overseas institutions through presentations and workshops, including Political Simulations and Gaming Workshops, conference panel presentations and scholarly output, at Political Studies Association, as well as through his promotion of students as co-creators and partners across the university and beyond. Plans for the future Frands' future plans include the dissemination of evaluations of students-as-co-creators projects, the initiation of projects on technology-enhanced active learning through the development of simulations and gaming tools and institutional innovation through co-creation and partnership.