WELS news

The Mobile Learning for Empowerment of Marginalised Mathematics Educators (3MPower) project has published three new policy briefs based on their research on how teachers in rural schools in Bangladesh use online learning for their professional development. 

Social Work student Hannah Wright has won the Apprenticeship Determination of the Year award at the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Apprenticeship awards 2023/24. The annual awards recognise apprentices who have demonstrated outstanding work and commitment to their role.

Dr Rebecca Jones has been promoted to Professor of Sociology, Sexuality and Ageing, in recognition of her ground-breaking research, centring on sociological approaches to later life, sexuality and especially sexuality in later life, and her contributions to teaching.

New research in Nepal and Nigeria, led by Professor Kristina Hultgren from The Open University’s Centre for the Study of Global Development, shows that English-medium education policies can create gender-based educational inequalities.

Elizabeth Ascroft, a PhD student in the Centre for the Study of Global Development ​recently collaborated with 12 young people (aged 14-16) in Aruba to create a sex-education e-zine. The zine was developed in partnership with Famia Planea Aruba, a sexual and reproductive health provider.

Researchers from the OU's Faculty of WELS are investigating how self-managed abortions relate to social connectedness and issues of reproductive control and autonomy. A new paper examines the experiences of self-managed abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to support available from professionals, family and friends. 

The Centre for the Study of Global Development (CSGD), has been awarded a research grant of £108,000 by the mc2h foundation to explore what activities parents, caregivers, and community groups do to engage children's interest in reading in Nigeria and Ghana. 

Two OU nursing students, Abbey Williams and Amy Graham, have been nominated in the prestigious Student Nursing Times Awards, in the Student Innovation in Practice category. The winner will be announced in late April.

The Open University (OU) has embarked on a groundbreaking study examining the impact of the Medical Examiners Service on families coping with loss.

Research at the OU finds that online dancing for unpaid adult carers proves beneficial to their mental and physical health.