Sarah Aynsley

Biography

I graduated with a BSc (Hons) degree in Biology from the University of York in 2007, and completed my PhD in immunology in 2011. After researching the role of macrophages in rheumatoid arthritis at The University of Sheffield I joined the medical school at Keele in 2012 and am now a senior lecturer with an education and scholarship focus.
My specialism is immunology and I am particularly interested in innovative approaches to teaching. A self-described ‘accidental educational researcher’ I completed my master’s in education in 2015 and have two strands of educational research currently running in gamification and mixed methods teaching.

Research and scholarship

I have two predominant threads of educational research activity as well as being involved in smaller collaborative projects

Using creative mixed methods approaches to teaching and learning

This research area is in using creative mixed method approaches to deliver teaching. Part of this theme was a longitudinal 4 year action research project enhancing learning in immunology, culminating in producing bespoke video resources to aid learning. With this research strand has come establishment of my speciality in producing bespoke resources which I disseminate through workshops at Keele and nationally.

Gamification of Learning

A long term research project in collaboration with Dr Russell Crawford investigating the use of elements of gaming to enhance engagement with learning, particularly in subjects which students struggle to understand. This research has national and international reach with publications and collaborative projects and 8 separate games supported by peer reviewed pedagogic evaluation.

Teaching

I teach across the first three years of the MBChB Medicine course as well as the MSc Physician’s Associate (PA) studies. My specialism is in the delivery of immunology and immunopathology and I lead the first year unit focusing on infection and immunology. Across the faculty I am the medicine lead for interprofessional education and teach staff workshops on creating bespoke illustrations and animations for teaching. Recently I have been involved in the redesign of the medicine curriculum as well as embedding sustainability teaching across the course.

Selected Publications

Lefroy J, Bialan J, Moult A, Hay F, Stapleton C, Thompson J, Mustafa N, Diggory C, Farrington J, Aynsley S, Jacklin S, Winterton A, Cope N. Training healthcare professionals to be ready for practice in an era of social distancing: A realist evaluation. Research Square, vol. preprint. doi> full text>
Aynsely S, Jervis J, Jacklin S. 2022. 1520 Health students, 121 Teams channel meetings What could go wrong…Running an engaging interprofessional education session in the Covid-19 pandemic. Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal, vol. 4(2). link>
Aynsley SA, Nathawat K, Crawford RM. 2018. Evaluating student perceptions of using a game-based approach to aid learning: Braincept. Higher Education Pedagogies. doi> full text>
Aynsley SA. 2018. Can we use creative free rein to enhance student skill learning?. Journal of Academic Development and Education. full text>
Aynsley S and Crawford R. 2017. Pilot evaluation of medical student perception of a novel pharmacology-based role-play game: Braincept. Educ Health (Abingdon), 97-98, vol. 30(1). link> doi>

Full Publications Listshow

Journal Articles

Lefroy J, Bialan J, Moult A, Hay F, Stapleton C, Thompson J, Mustafa N, Diggory C, Farrington J, Aynsley S, Jacklin S, Winterton A, Cope N. Training healthcare professionals to be ready for practice in an era of social distancing: A realist evaluation. Research Square, vol. preprint. doi> full text>
Aynsely S, Jervis J, Jacklin S. 2022. 1520 Health students, 121 Teams channel meetings What could go wrong…Running an engaging interprofessional education session in the Covid-19 pandemic. Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal, vol. 4(2). link>
Aynsley SA, Nathawat K, Crawford RM. 2018. Evaluating student perceptions of using a game-based approach to aid learning: Braincept. Higher Education Pedagogies. doi> full text>
Aynsley SA. 2018. Can we use creative free rein to enhance student skill learning?. Journal of Academic Development and Education. full text>
Aynsley S and Crawford R. 2017. Pilot evaluation of medical student perception of a novel pharmacology-based role-play game: Braincept. Educ Health (Abingdon), 97-98, vol. 30(1). link> doi>
Paveley RA, Aynsley SA, Turner JD, Bourke CD, Jenkins SJ, Cook PC, Martinez-Pomares L, Mountford AP. 2011. The Mannose Receptor (CD206) is an important pattern recognition receptor (PRR) in the detection of the infective stage of the helminth Schistosoma mansoni and modulates IFNγ production. Int J Parasitol, 1335-1345, vol. 41(13-14). link> doi>
Turner JD, Jenkins GR, Hogg KG, Aynsley SA, Paveley RA, Cook PC, Coles MC, Mountford AP. 2011. CD4+CD25+ regulatory cells contribute to the regulation of colonic Th2 granulomatous pathology caused by schistosome infection. PLoS Negl Trop Dis, e1269, vol. 5(8). link> doi>
Cook PC, Aynsley SA, Turner JD, Jenkins GR, Van Rooijen N, Leeto M, Brombacher F, Mountford AP. 2011. Multiple helminth infection of the skin causes lymphocyte hypo-responsiveness mediated by Th2 conditioning of dermal myeloid cells. PLoS Pathog, e1001323, vol. 7(3). link> doi>
Paveley RA, Aynsley SA, Cook PC, Turner JD, Mountford AP. 2009. Fluorescent imaging of antigen released by a skin-invading helminth reveals differential uptake and activation profiles by antigen presenting cells. PLoS Negl Trop Dis, e528, vol. 3(10). link> doi>

School of Medicine
David Weatherall building
University Road
Keele University
Staffordshire
ST5 5BG

Tel: +44 (0) 1782 733937
Email: fmhs.facilities@keele.ac.uk
Admissions enquiries: enquiries@keele.ac.uk

The Clinical Education Centre
Keele University
Clinical Education Centre
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust
Newcastle Road
Stoke-on-Trent
Staffordshire
ST4 6QG
Email us: fmhs.facilities@keele.ac.uk
CEC general enquires: +44 (0) 1782 679700

Follow the School of Medicine