Dr Laura Hancock MChem, DPhil, MA, SFHEA

Dr Laura Hancock

School of Chemistry
Associate Professor

Contact details

Telephone
0121 414 4403
Email
l.hancock@bham.ac.uk

Dr Laura Hancock is an Associate Professor in Chemistry, and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Laura is a teaching focussed academic with experience in laboratory curriculum design, active learning techniques and authentic assessment items. She has published various journal articles and book chapters relating to the implementation and evaluation of teaching and assessment innovations.

Qualifications

  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, 2020.
  • MA (Teaching and Learning in Higher Education), Keele University, 2019.
  • DPhil (Supramolecular Chemistry), University of Oxford, 2011.
  • MChem (Chemistry), University of Oxford, 2007.

Biography

Laura graduated with an MChem from the University of Oxford in 2007, where she remained to complete a DPhil in Supramolecular Chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Paul Beer in 2011.

In 2011, she joined Keele University as a teaching fellow and translated to lecturer in 2019. In 2016, she was awarded a Keele early career teaching excellence award.

During her career at Keele, she was involved in significant curriculum redesign including leading the redesign of the 1st year practical course. This involved the introduction of a number of innovative assessment methods, including a chemistry practical exam, group projects (assessed through a combination of tutor-, self- and peer-assessment) and a scientific report writing process.

She was a founder member of the Keele Team Based Learning (TBL) group, who were the first chemistry educators in the UK to incorporate TBL into chemistry teaching, and who enthusiastically support other educators to adopt TBL. This was recognised by the award of the Royal Society of Chemistry team award for teaching excellence in higher education in 2021.

In 2019 she obtained a MA in teaching and learning in higher education from Keele University with her dissertation focussing on student perceptions of using team based learning to enhance active learning.

She joined the University of Birmingham in 2022 as a Senior Lecturer.

Research

Laura’s research interests lie in the field of chemistry education. She is particularly interested in effective learning and assessment in the chemistry laboratory, authentic assessment and ensuring students are ‘work-ready’, and methods to enhance student engagement (both in class and with assessment). Most recently, her research has examined the use of Team Based Learning as an active learning technique.

Publications

Selected publications

Hancock, L. M. (2021) Chemistry Students’ Perceptions of Active Learning, J. Acad. Dev. Educ.,13, 59-64.

Capel, N. J., Hancock, L. M., Howe, C., Jones, G. R., Phillips, T. R. and Plana, D. (2021) “Team based learning in chemistry: enhancing problem solving skills through active learning”, in G. Tsarparlis (ed) Problems and Problem solving in Chemistry. Royal Society of Chemistry. pp 279 – 319.

Hancock, L. M., Hollamby, M. J. and Jones, G. R. (2020) “Laboratory Safety for Undergraduate Chemists” in Kuzmina, O. and Hoyle, S. (eds) Challenges for Health and Safety in Higher Education and Research Institutions. Royal Society of Chemistry, pp 111-141.

Hancock, L. M. and Hollamby, M. J. (2020) Assessing the practical skills of undergraduates: The evolution of a station based practical exam, J. Chem. Educ., 97(4), 972-979.

Capel, N. J., Hancock, L. M., Haxton, K. J., Hollamby, M. J., Jones, R. H., Plana, D. and McGarvey, D. J. (2019), “Developing Scientific Reporting Skills of Early Undergraduate Chemistry Students”, in Seery, M. K. and Mc Donnell, C. (Eds.), Teaching Chemistry in Higher Education: A Festschrift in Honour of Professor Tina Overton, Trigonal Planar Press, Edinburgh, pp 333-348.

McGarvey, D. J. and Hancock, L. M. (2019) Enhancing Assessment Feedback in Mass Higher Education: A Dialogic Approach to Improve Assessment Literacy and Engagement with Feedback in Low-stakes, High-value Assessments in the Physical Sciences. New Directions, 14.

Hancock, L. M., Jones, G. R. and Plana, D. (2018) Lecture Highlights: Repurposing Lecture Capture to Provide Learning Resources for Level 6 Chemistry Students, J. Acad. Dev. Educ., 10, 104-109.