Students have their say in Westminster

Posted on 27 February 2014

Two York Education undergraduates addressed social justice and language learning issues with politicians and policy makers.

Madeline Crosswaite and Martina Pentrella travelled to Westminster to participate in Posters in Parliament, an event organised by the British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR). The third year students exhibited their posters, chosen after a departmental competition, in the Jubilee room of Westminster Hall.

Madeline's research on family meal frequency and academic aspirations was completed as part of a student internship with Dr Gillian Hampden-Thompson. Martina's research on speaking skills for learners of English is part of her final year empirical dissertation.

This was a rare opportunity for our students to speak directly to politicians and policy-makers and they delivered, communicating their work confidently, enthusiastically and professionally

Dr Sarah Olive, Education

They engaged visitors including Ben Wallace, MP for Wyre and Preston North, Sean Coughlan, BBC Education Correspondent, and Professor Julio Rivera, President of the Council of Undergraduate Research in the US in discussion of their research. They also presented their work to senior academics and fellow students from 23 UK universities.

Dr Sarah Olive (Education) sits on the steering committee of BCUR and attended the event. She said 'Martina and Madeline were the first York students to participate in Posters in Parliament. I hope they have paved the way for our continued presence at the event. Both work in vitally important areas of educational research, addressing issues of social justice and language learning. This was a rare opportunity for our students to speak directly to politicians and policy-makers and they delivered, communicating their work confidently, enthusiastically and professionally'.

The event was sponsored by the British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR) in partnership with HEFCE, the HEAcademy and the University of Central Lancashire. BCUR celebrates the embedding of research in undergraduate degrees. It aims to further promote the benefits of such activity for students and stakeholders.