The Keele Institute for Innovation and Teaching Excellence (KIITE) is delighted to announce that the sixth issue of the Student Edition of JADE has now been published.

KIITE is proud to sponsor this annual special student edition of The Journal of Academic Development and Education (JADE), which collects the research and reflections from the Keele Conference of Undergraduate Research (KCUR).

The KCUR Conference is an innovative undergraduate research conference that provides Keele students with a unique opportunity to gain first-hand experience of presenting at an academic conference.

This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, KCUR couldn't take place in its usual format. However, we still wanted to celebrate the hard work put in by our students and staff, and so some of the conference was brought online, as a lasting legacy and celebration of the work of our talented Keele students.

Angela Rhead, Senior Curriculum Developer in KIITE, who convenes and co-organises KCUR event each year, comments:

"I am enormously proud of the students who participated in Keele Conference of Undergraduate Research (KCUR 21) and contributed to this sixth student edition of the Journal of Academic Development and Education (JADE). They showed exceptional commitment and resilience in a challenging year for all students, generously sharing their time and research.

For undergraduate students reading this edition, we hope to inspire you to join us this year as delegates or presenters at KCUR 22, or perhaps even as published authors, by writing an article for the next student edition of JADE? This is a fantastic opportunity for you to gain first-hand experience of presenting at an academic conference and to develop your scholarship.

For staff reading this edition who are teaching undergraduates, we hope that you enjoy reading this year’s edition and will consider how your students might benefit from the opportunities KCUR 22 offers. Please do encourage students to participate, or perhaps even embed the conference in your module? We would love to hear from anyone wanting to collaborate.

Preparations are already underway for the 7th KCUR conference, taking place online and in-situ on 1st June, where we hope to regain the advantages of both previous on-campus conferences and the more recent online experiences. For more information on ways to engage please see our KCUR 22 webpage."

To read the full sixth issue of the Student Edition of JADE, visit the JADE Student Edition website