UEL Learning and Teaching Symposium 2026

Practice-Based Education: A Pathway to Career Readiness

January 12th

University Square Stratford

Learn & Get Inspired

The UEL Learning and Teaching Symposium 'Practice-Based Education: A Pathway to Career Readiness' is the university’s largest learning and teaching event of the year. Every January we invite renowned keynote speakers and presenters to discuss various aspects related to learning, teaching and assessment.

The event will feature outstanding keynote speakers Dr Carl Hendrick and Professor Lisa Taylor.

In addition to the keynote sessions, there will be parallel sessions of related papers organised into thematic panels:

Bridging the Gap to Leadership: Fostering Inclusive Spaces for Black, Asian, Mixed Heritage, and Other Minority Ethnic Students to Thrive in Higher Education and Practice Learning: Mary Makinde and Helen Carr, Canterbury Christ Church University
Ethnoacting in VR - an experiential approach to soft-skills development: Dr Evi Stamatiou, University of East London
Team-Based Learning: Dr Prabha Parthasarathy, University of East London
From Passive to Active: Transforming Stand-Alone Lectures for Diverse Learners: Dr Charlotte Maughan Jones, University of East London
Practice and work-based learning in higher education: past, present and future tense: Dr Paula McIver Nottingham, Associate Professor and Post-Graduate Research Lead for the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Middlesex University

Keynotes:

Dr Carl Hendrick

Professor of Learning Sciences at Academica University of Applied Sciences in Amsterdam and serves on the UNESCO IBE Science of Learning Advisory Board.

How Learning Happens: The Science of Instructional Design

Bio: Dr Carl Hendrick is an internationally recognised expert on the science of learning. He began his career as an English teacher in an inner-city London state school before becoming Head of Learning and Research at Wellington College. He is currently Professor of Learning Sciences at Academica University of Applied Sciences in Amsterdam and serves on the UNESCO IBE Science of Learning Advisory Board.

Carl is the author of several books, including the award-winning How Learning Happens (with Paul Kirschner), and holds a PhD in Education from King’s College London.

This talk draws on more than 100 years of cognitive science to explain how people learn and how to use that knowledge to improve teaching, training, and study. It brings together several core drivers of learning: retrieval practice, spacing, cognitive load theory, metacognition, adaptive learning and responsive instruction. The session also considers what the emergence of AI means for the science of learning. Above all, it provides clear, practical ways to apply these ideas so learning becomes more efficient, more memorable, and more aligned with how the mind works.

Professor Lisa Taylor

Professor of Employability and Learning Innovation University of East Anglia

From employability to employment – the pivotal role of work-based learning placements in higher education

Employability evolution and definition
Work readiness definition and application
Models underpinning employability
Curriculum and employability
Extracurricular activities and employability
Work-based learning placements and employability
Online work-based learning placement case study – the Peer Enhanced e-Placement (PEEP)
Conclusions
Reflection and action planning activity for the audience
Questions

Lisa will present key theory and components of employability within higher education, to support students in their transitions into employment. The pivotal role of work-based learning placements will be discussed, and an award-winning online work-based learning case study will be presented. There will be opportunity for audience reflection and action planning to support metacognition and consolidation of their learning from the keynote

The Venue

UEL's Learning and Teaching Symposium will take place at the University Square Stratford campus, located at 1 Salway Road, London E15 1NF. The campus is easily accessible by public transport and is a short walk from Stratford Station.

See Map

UEL Learning and Teaching Symposium 2026 Practice-Based Education: A Pathway to Career Readiness

Learn & Get Inspired

​In addition to the keynote sessions, there will be parallel sessions of related papers organised into thematic panels:

​

Bridging the Gap to Leadership: Fostering Inclusive Spaces for Black, Asian, Mixed Heritage, and Other Minority Ethnic Students to Thrive in Higher Education and Practice Learning: Mary Makinde and Helen Carr, Canterbury Christ Church University

Ethnoacting in VR - an experiential approach to soft-skills development: Dr Evi Stamatiou, University of East London

Team-Based Learning: Dr Prabha Parthasarathy, University of East London

From Passive to Active: Transforming Stand-Alone Lectures for Diverse Learners: Dr Charlotte Maughan Jones, University of East London

Practice and work-based learning in higher education: past, present and future tense: Dr Paula McIver Nottingham, Associate Professor and Post-Graduate Research Lead for the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Middlesex University