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Assessing Transferable Skills
Recipe details
Attributes Value Contributor Name: Dr Keeley Abbott & Dr Nadia Maalin
Job role: Associate Professor, Lecturer in Psychology
Email address: keeley.abbott@bcu.ac.uk. Nadia.maalin@bcu.ac.ukKeywords employability, transferable skills, skills audit, reflective task
This reflective activity is designed for undergraduate students to assess the transferable skills they have developed over the course of a module, such as communication, critical thinking, and leadership. It can be used near the end of a module as an individual or paired task. Students review their skill development, apply the STAR or CAR technique to evidence their experiences, and reflect on how these skills align with employer expectations. The activity supports self-awareness, employability, and confidence in articulating their skills, helping students create actionable strategies for further development and future career success. The objective is to increase career readiness and adaptability in a competitive job market.
Time duration: 30-45 minutes
Student level: Any.
Preparation time before class: 20 minutes
Additional materials or equipment needed: None
Other general tips/advice:
- This activity works well if delivered near the end of a module or course to help students consolidate and reflect on the transferable skills developed. The activity can be tailored to be more module or course specific.
- It can be run as an in-class activity, individually or in pairs.
- Provide example responses (see below) using the STAR/CAR if students struggle with the task and to move beyond vague responses.
- You could ask students to rate their confidence in each skill (e.g. 1–5) before and after the activity, to foster honest reflection and a growth mindset.
- Time permitting, allow a couple of students to share their examples with the class (or their partner) to inspire others and normalise reflection around skills and strengths.
- If possible, tie the activity into a reflective formative assessment to give it weight and relevance.
- Encourage students to keep a log/copy of this activity and repeat at different stages across their course, so they can use it as a ‘bank’ of examples for future job applications or interviews.
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Catch and Contribute: Interactive Questioning with a Foam Ball/Object
Recipe details
Attributes Value Contributor Name: Ria Rozzier
Job role: Thrive for Nursing (Academic Skills)
Email address: ria.rozzier2@bcu.ac.ukMy career in education spans more than 30 years, with teaching experience in primary schools, FE colleges, and universities. Today, I work as a Learner Developer within the BASE Academic Skills Team, helping nursing students develop the academic skills needed to succeed in their studies and future careers.
Keywords Collaborative learning, Knowledge recall, Icebreaker activity, Group discussion, Confidence building, Learner-centred approach
The use of a soft, lightweight “thrown” object such as a foam ball or cuddly toy, can significantly increase engagement in a lecture theatre. Pose a question to the group and throw the ball to a learner who volunteers to answer. After responding, they can throw it to another participant for the next question or contribution. This approach encourages active listening, maintains attention, and gives learners a sense of involvement. It can also be used for quizzes, reflections, or sharing ideas. Setting clear ground rules ensures the activity remains inclusive, safe, and focused on learning outcomes.
Time duration: approx. 10 – 15 minutes
Student level: Any
Preparation time before class: 10 minutes to set questions if led by teacher. No time if student led questions.
Additional materials or equipment needed: foam ball/cuddly toy or some other small, soft object
Other general tips/advice: Always let students know that they are NOT to throw the object forcefully.
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Consolidation Triangle
Recipe details
Attributes Value Contributor Name: Dr Chris Martin
Job role: (Currently) Senior Learner Developer, Centre for Academic Success
Email address: chris.martin@bcu.ac.ukChris’ expertise lies in academic skills development, English for Academic Purposes and Learner Psychology. He has taught across all levels within the UK education system (primary to doctoral level) and has held middle and senior leadership roles in education for the last 10 years.
Keywords Reflective task, creative approaches, metacognition
The ‘Consolidation Triangle’ is a short, impactful reflective activity that encourages students to consider the content and to set aspirational questions to extend their learning further beyond the session. When embedded as regular practice, students will become more familiar with the practice of reflection which will, in turn, support their metacognitive development.
The objective of this activity is to encourage learners to be reflective by asking questions of themselves, their knowledge, and their skillset. By embedding this practice early on in students’ learning at university, it is hoped that students will become autonomous in their reflection.
Tried and tested (used and developed over three academic years or more)
Time duration: 5-10 minutes
Student level: ALL
Preparation time before class: minimal (uploading template to Moodle)
Additional materials or equipment needed: None
Other general tips/advice:
- Some students may find the process of reflection challenging. Rather than giving a blank template, leave the prompt questions on the document to scaffold the activity for students. Those who are more at ease with reflection can disregard the questions if they so wish.
- It can be used as a regular, embedded task that students are expected to complete at the end of each session, building up a picture of their progress through the module content.
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Creating a Journal Database
Recipe details
Attributes Value Contributor Stephanie Chua
Lecturer
Stephanie.Chua@bcu.ac.ukStephanie combines cultural and cognitive psychology to explore diversity in learning. Her research aims to understand how education can adapt to meet the varied learning needs in today’s multicultural classrooms.
Keywords notetaking, academic reading, information synthesis, referencing
This activity supports students with note taking of academic journals and research articles. It helps students with first understanding what kind of information they need to take away from their independent reading and then take notes effectively so that all key information is in one place. The aim is for students to become effective and organised notetakers where they can:
- Identify key information from their independent reading and organise the extracted information systematically using an Excel database adapted to their needs.
- Clearly document and reference all sources/notes appropriately and accurately, consolidating essential details to ensure easy retrieval and academic integrity.
Tried and tested (used and developed over three academic years or more)
Time duration: 30 minutes
Student level: Any
Preparation time before class: 10 minutes
Additional materials or equipment needed: Computers/Laptops
Other general tips/advice:
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Critically assess ChatGPT
Recipe details
Attributes Value Contributor Name: Ben Colliver and Craig Kelly
Job role: Associate Professor in Criminology
Email address: Ben.colliver@bcu.ac.uk, Craig.Kelly@bcu.ac.ukKeywords artificial intelligence, reading skills, critical thinking
The activity is utilised as a multi-week project, typically embedded on the modules as part of the formative assessment and has been embedded on various modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
The activity is designed to recognise that the majority of students will engage with ChatGPT and relying on university software to detect and penalise this is rather redundant. Rather, the activity aims to demonstrate to students the deficit of such large language modules and that they cannot hit the higher mark thresholds with such technology as it is largely erroneous/ unable to engage in critical thought. As such the task is based upon encouraging use of AI.
The learning objective is quite simple: To critically assess the effectiveness of ChatGPT in the context of criminological research.
Tried and tested (used and developed over three academic years or more)
Time duration: 2-3 weeks (usually started the week prior to reading week and culminating the week after reading week)
Student level: Any but primarily used on level 6 and 7.
Preparation time before class: 5 minutes
Additional materials or equipment needed: Access to ChatGPT and Library gateway
Other general tips/advice:
- Do not tell students anything about the next stage of the process until the next stage begins.
- This feels counterintuitive as you are teaching the whole cohort to use AI. They use it anyway so just roll with it! Modules this has been used on have been a lower rates of AI in their summative assessments.
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Discovering your classmates
Recipe details
Attributes Value Contributor Piers von Berg
Piers teaches Law at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He teaches critical thinking, human rights, criminal justice and children’s rights. He is interested in and researches human rights and citizenship education.
Keywords belonging, group work, ice breaker
This is an ice breaker activity that helps students feel that they belong in the group. The purpose of the activity is to help students get to know one another by identifying shared characteristics. It can help build groups prior to groupwork as well as stimulating conversation between students. I always use it with new groups at the start of term but it can be used (or variations of it) when you put students into groups. It can also be used as a tool to introduce undergraduates to class ethos/norms (being respectful of differences, learning each other’s names) and to basic academic skills (such as listening, paying attention and taking notes).
Tried and tested (used and developed over three academic years or more)
Key words: belonging, group work, ice breaker
Further reading:
- Turkle, S. (2016). Reclaiming Conversation. The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. New York: Penguin Books.
Please complete the following key features in relation to your activity:
Time duration: 10-15 minutes
Student level: Any
Preparation time before class: 5 minutes
Additional materials or equipment needed: None
Other general tips/advice:
- It works well in pairs but if you have an odd number of students, it can work in threes.
- It is essential for students to take a note otherwise they may not remember each other’s names to use in groupwork afterward.
- It tends to work well at the start of term, with students at the start of a course, with mixed groups containing many backgrounds.
- If combined with a shuffling of the class (see attached activity) it can help to break up any cliques and involve quieter or socially anxious students (who might come out of their shells more in a one-to-one interaction).
- Some students can finish the task quickly. Have follow up questions for them.
- If you can, allow the students time to go off topic to get to know one another. In a post-Covid time of less eye-to-eye interaction, there can be benefits of them starting to form friendships.
Tried and tested (used and developed over three academic years or more)
Key words: belonging, group work, ice breaker
Further reading:
- Turkle, S. (2016). Reclaiming Conversation. The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. New York: Penguin Books.
Please complete the following key features in relation to your activity:
Time duration: 10-15 minutes
Student level: Any
Preparation time before class: 5 minutes
Additional materials or equipment needed: None
Other general tips/advice:
- It works well in pairs but if you have an odd number of students, it can work in threes.
- It is essential for students to take a note otherwise they may not remember each other’s names to use in groupwork afterward.
- It tends to work well at the start of term, with students at the start of a course, with mixed groups containing many backgrounds.
- If combined with a shuffling of the class (see attached activity) it can help to break up any cliques and involve quieter or socially anxious students (who might come out of their shells more in a one-to-one interaction).
- Some students can finish the task quickly. Have follow up questions for them.
- If you can, allow the students time to go off topic to get to know one another. In a post-Covid time of less eye-to-eye interaction, there can be benefits of them starting to form friendships.
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Introduce positionality/reflexivity as key concepts in critical study
Recipe details
Attributes Value Contributor Name: Shey Fyffe
Job role: Lecturer of Sociology & Black Studies
Email address: Shey.Fyffe@bcu.ac.ukDr Shey Fyffe is a lecturer in Sociology and Black Studies at BCU and scholar-activist; Specialising in Black political thought, community organisation for social and political change , and social justice pedagogy across academic and grassroots spaces.
Keyword reflective task; teamwork
To Introduce positionality /reflexivity as key concepts in critical study. (Appropriate for all social science humanities subjects).
Activity: Students are to, both individually, and in groups, answer a list of questions in a task named, “Exploring positionality and reflexivity” Exploring how their race, gender or social class/educational background has shaped their life experiences and perspectives so far, in addition to how they believe they are perceived in wider society.
Outcome: Students grasp how personal and structural factors shape lived experiences, and how to critically situate themselves within critical study/enquiry.
Tried and tested – used and developed over three academic years or more
Please complete the following key features in relation to your activity:
Time duration: 30 minutes
Student level: 1st and 2nd year university students.
Preparation time before class: 30 minutes.
Additional materials or equipment needed:
Slide deck or handout – Introducing positionality and reflexivity as key terms.
Discussion guide- A list of questions to support discussion.
Other general tips/advice:
Feel free to extend the discussion by choosing a social issue thataligns with each aspect of identity.
( E.G. Race- Black Lives Matter; Gender – reproductive laws/rights. Class- Minimum wage debate) and asking students to discuss how this issue could impact directly on them.
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Making the most of Mentimeter
Recipe details
Attributes Value Contributor Jason Georgiou
Senior Lecturer in Law
jason.georgiou@bcu.ac.ukSenior Lecturer and solicitor with over 20 years’ criminal defence experience, Course Leader LLM Legal Practice, specialising in criminal law practice, professional skills, and legal education at Birmingham City University.
Key words Key words: Interactive learning, Student engagement, Exam preparation
This session uses a Mentimeter MCQ quiz to help students engage with key legal topics in an interactive and supportive way. Students answer live questions, allowing them to check their understanding of core legal principles in real time. We review each question together, discuss why the correct answer applies, and address any common misunderstandings. The activity encourages participation, builds confidence, and helps students become more familiar with MCQ style assessments. By the end of the session, students should feel better equipped to identify relevant legal rules, apply them to short scenarios, and reflect on their overall exam readiness.
Under development: Used once or twice
Key words: Interactive learning, Student engagement, Exam preparation
Please complete the following key features in relation to your activity:
Time duration: 1 hour for 20 question MCQ quiz
Student level: all levels depending on complexity of questions
Preparation time before class: 1-2 hours setting up quiz
Additional materials or equipment needed: mentimeter free account. Students will need a tablet or smartphone
Other general tips/advice: Use leaderboards anonymously (students create a competitor avatar/name) to create a competitive element without showing student identities
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Promoting critical engagement and perspective taking with sensitive topics
Recipe details
Attributes Value Contributor Name: Dr Matt Kimberley Job role: Lecturer in Psychology Email address: Matt.Kimberley@bcu.ac.uk
Keywords critical thinking, inclusivity, presentation skills, creative thinking, roleplaying
This activity encourages students to critically explore topics, through roleplay and engaging with multiple/conflicting perspectives. To achieve this, the activity takes the form of a podcast/debate/chat show. Students are divided into groups (6-10 students) and are assigned a character. They are encouraged to critically engage and consider how their character would respond. They must then consider the arguments of other characters and how they can challenge assumptions. Following the initial planning portion, students take part in a sharing activity where each group must present their character’s perspective followed by an opportunity for the other groups to question the perspective.
Time duration: Minimum of 60 minutes as a seminar (with core content being delivered in a prior lecture) or an integrated seminar/lecture format works well for smaller modules.
Student level: 5-7
Preparation time before class: 15 minutes
Additional materials or equipment needed: Minimal technology is required. Some pens/paper may be useful for students to make notes/plan core arguments would be helpful.
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