Jump to Content

Keynotes

We are delighted to have two experts in the postgraduate field giving keynotes at the Symposium:

Helen Beetham, University of Manchester

Helen Beetham

Biography

Dr Helen Beetham is a lecturer, researcher and consultant in digital education, currently based at the University of Manchester. She has edited a number of standard texts including Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age (Routledge) and has published numerous peer-reviewed articles on topics from digital literacy to surveillance pedagogies, and from curriculum practice to feminist theories of technology. Helen has advised global universities on digital education strategies, and has worked for international bodies such as the EU, UNICEF, UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning. Her Digital Capabilities framework is widely used in universities around the world, and her substack, Imperfect Offerings, is known for its critical takes on AI in education.

Tom Lowe, University of Westminster

Tom Lowe

Biography

Tom Lowe has researched and innovated in student engagement across higher education for over twelve years, in areas such as student voice, retention, employability and student-staff partnership. Tom currently works at the University of Westminster as Assistant Head of School (Student Experience) in Finance and Accounting where he leads on student experience, outcomes and belonging. Tom is also the Chair of RAISE, a network for all stakeholders in higher education for researching, innovating and sharing best practice in student engagement. Prior to Westminster, Tom was a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education at the University of Portsmouth, and previously held leadership positions for engagement and employability at the University of Winchester. Tom has published three books on student engagement with Routledge; ‘A Handbook for Student Engagement in Higher Education: Theory into Practice’ in 2020, ‘Advancing Student Engagement in Higher Education: Reflection, Critique and Challenge’ in 2023, and most recently ‘Student Belonging in Higher Education: Perspectives and Practice’ in 2025. Tom has supported over 40 institutions in consultancy and advisory roles to improve student engagement, where his most recent research focuses on Student Attendance post Covid-19.

Helen Beetham Abstract

AI erodes trust: how do we build it back?

The rapid adoption of generative AI into study practice has produced interlocking crises of trust in learning, teaching and assessment relationships. This keynote looks beyond headline concerns over academic ‘integrity’ to highlight how students’ trust in learning is being undermined: their confidence in their own intellectual development, their trust in each other and in teaching staff as collaborators, and their faith in the value of higher education as a whole. At the same time, misplaced trust in AI outcomes can also have damaging consequences for their learning. Meanwhile, educators are managing their own AI-related anxieties and workloads. In rebuilding trust, Helen encourages us to look to our own disciplinary and pedagogic expertise, trusting that the apparent AI rupture in fact contains many continuities that we have the resources to address, and that the contradictions inherent in the AI project leave space for education to respond. While there are no easy solutions, she suggests a variety of strategies for reframing, decentering and even resisting AI, focusing instead on relationships of collaboration, knowledge creation and care.

Tom Lowe Abstract

Engaging Postgraduate Taught Students in a Changing Higher Education

Postgraduate students enrolled in UK and Irish higher education make an immensely positive contribution to our institutions, drawing a wide variety of academic disciplines to study on taught and research programmes. It is clear though that across Europe, the postgraduate student experience has had less attention compared to the undergraduate majority, although increasingly postgraduate students face barriers to university study, such as access to local accommodation, inconsistent funding streams and a mixture of expectations. Despite this, incentives such as the one-year Masters degree as a means to improve employability and attractive education packages offered by our universities will see students perhaps increase in the years ahead, where as academics and professional services, we must adapt our practices to improve inclusion and subsequent student success. This keynote will discuss the implications and recommendations for providing an engaging higher education experience for postgraduate students specifically. As educators we know from our own experience as teachers and learners, that when we focus on engaging students, and when students give energy to engage with the learning opportunities we organise, that generally, students are more successful. In fact, empirical research continues to support that if students are highly engaged in their education, then better outcomes relating to grades, retention and even a sense of belonging follow (Thomas and Allen, 2022; Schnitzler et al. 2021; Snijders et al 2020). It is within this context that this talk will discuss the place of contemporary student engagement in higher education for postgraduate students, its changing nature, and the critical importance prioritising authentic student development and growth at the heart of a highly relevant, inclusive and engaging curriculum in higher education.

References:

Schnitzler, K., Holzberger, D. and Seidel, T., 2021. All better than being disengaged: Student engagement patterns and their relations to academic self-concept and achievement. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 36(3), pp.627-652.

Snijders, I., Wijnia, L., Rikers, R.M. and Loyens, S.M., 2020. Building bridges in higher education: Student–faculty relationship quality, student engagement, and student loyalty. International Journal of Educational Research, 100, p.101538.

Thomas, C.L. and Allen, K., 2021. Driving engagement: investigating the influence of emotional intelligence and academic buoyancy on student engagement. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 45(1), pp.107-119.