Dr Mark Langan

National Teaching fellow 2013 Mark believes that empowering students helps them to develop and achieve their highest potential. Drawing on his early experiences of conservation expeditions, he has enjoyed over 20 years of running residential field courses, letting the living classroom be the inspiration for the science that underpins biological systems. The courses have also provided an arena for his investigations into how students learn within enquiry based learning designs, as well as providing an 'academic bubble' for students and staff to be a vibrant community that share ideas and motivations about their work. Mark is known for innovative teaching practices that are designed to develop learner inclusion and autonomy. He likes to challenge students, providing them with the tools to succeed. One focus has been long-term explorations of peer- and self-assessment strategies. He also encourages colleagues to be reflective and experiment with their teaching, supporting the development of interactive classes that empower learners. Throughout his career he has engaged undergraduates with professionals from consultancies and businesses to collaborate on 'live' projects. Students are now awarded cash prizes by consultants due to the economic value of their work. This course contributed to several Green Apple Awards for Environmental Education and he has also published several peer-reviewed articles with his students, based on their work, motivating them and many others who follow in their footsteps. Alongside teaching and research commitments, Mark now contributes and develops initiatives to improve students experiences and successes. He is best known for his research into the National Student Survey explaining ways to meaningfully interpret the surveys outputs and also developed an internal survey serving an institution of over 37,000 students. He is an active member of the Higher Education Academy, contributing to their resources and working on HEA projects, such as the development of surveys to capture information about how students engage with their courses. He has recently retired as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Bioscience Education having helped academics around the world to take their first steps on the educational research ladder.