Meet the Educational Development Team

Dr Duna Sabri, Associate Director, Educational Development Team

Role: Duna joined the UoN in June 2024 to establish and lead a new educational development team which builds on the work undertaken as part of Nottingham's Curriculum Transformation Programme. She has held roles relating to educational development at King's College London, University of the Arts London and the University of Oxford. Taking a collegial and evidence-based approach, her focus is on building an educational development team which is attentive to our University strategic objectives and highly relevant to the needs of all those who teach and support students' learning. 

Background: Her academic interests are in the sociology of higher education, critical pedagogy, interdisciplinary education, and institutional and national HE policy practices and their geopolitical context.  Her published work critiques HE policy in England relating to students, academics and institutional practices, most recently analysing approaches to addressing inequality in students’ outcomes. She has a Visiting Research Fellowship at the Centre for Public Policy, King's College London and is a Principal Fellow AdvanceHE.

Dr Ellie Kennedy, Senior Educational Developer, Educational Development Team 

Role: A key aspect of Ellie's role is providing evidence-informed advice and resources on specialist areas relating to programme-level design; evaluation; inclusive teaching; and assessment to a range of stakeholders across the university. She also supports practice-exchange, dissemination and communities related to teaching, learning and assessment; and she analyses relevant data to ensure the team’s work is evidence-based.

Background: Ellie joined in January 2023 from Nottingham Trent University. In her decade at NTU she made core contributions to strategic projects which helped to transform and revitalise learning and teaching. She was instrumental in the roll-out of whole programme design; the adoption of inclusive and authentic assessment; a shift away from transmissive pedagogies to active collaborative learning; and the embedding of inclusive design and practice into learning, teaching and assessment. She also helped develop and grow the Trent Institute of Learning and Teaching, a supported community of practice which promotes a culture of evidence-based scholarship of learning and teaching. Ellie began in academia as an Assistant Professor in German Studies, where she taught and researched queer and feminist approaches to language, literature and culture. She then moved into English for Academic Purposes: teaching study skills to prepare international students for higher education in the UK. Through this work she became interested in how the design of learning, teaching and assessment can help remove barriers that can prevent intelligent and able students reaching their full potential.A common thread through all her work is positive change-making. She believes that we can support students to become proactive champions of ethical, sustainable and inclusive practice and equip them with the skills to be leaders and change-makers in work and society.Ellie has a PhD from Queen's University, Canada, and is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE. 

Arwa Abdelrahman, Educational Developer, Educational Development Team

Role: Arwa is an Educational Developer within the Educational Development team. Arwa's primary responsibility involves leading the engagement of the broader University learning and teaching community in discussions, sharing best practices, and driving curriculum-related changes, ensuring that all UoN communities are well-versed in curriculum transformation initiatives.

Background: With extensive experience in educational technology, Arwa initially worked as a support application engineer in Sudan, assisting various universities and schools in enhancing their educational systems. Also, she served as an educational researcher in Germany with an organization focusing on providing nonformal educational training for migrants. Arwa recently completed a Master of Arts in Digital Teaching and Learning at the University of Nottingham.

Dr Ella Wydrzynska, Educational Developer, Educational Development Team

Role: Ella works closely with Academic Educational Development Advisors across the university with a primary focus on student co-creation and engagement. Using her experience in teaching and research within the Higher Education environment, Ella combines scholarship with practical work with students to support the implementation of co-creation strategies in curriculum and assessment design.

Background: Ella studied at the University of Nottingham for nearly a decade and completed her BA, MA and PhD in the School of English, where she also worked as a Teaching Affiliate in the field of Applied Linguistics. Since finishing her PhD, Ella joined Aston University as a Teaching Fellow in English and remains part of the University as a Visiting Research Fellow where she explores stylistic strategies for interactivity and engagement in contemporary children’s literature. Ella is an Associate Fellow of Advance HE and, alongside her academic commitments, is an award-winning radio presenter and producer with previous experience working for BBC Local Radio across the East Midlands.

Arwa Bayoumy, Curriculum Review Manager, Educational Development Team

Role: Arwa is Curriculum Review Manager supporting Curriculum Nottingham. She leads on the delivery of a review mechanism that will encompass a range of metrics to help inform programme-level review.

Background: Arwa has worked for over 15 years in Higher Education professional services. At the University of Nottingham, Arwa has worked in the Education Excellence and Educational Development teams supporting various quality assurance and review functions including monitoring, periodic review and transnational education reviews.

​​​​​​​Rachael Pemberton, Senior Administrator, Educational Development Team

Role: Rachael is the Senior Administrator supporting the Educational Development Team, working with the Associate Director and Educational Developers on the implementation of the teams work. Rachael also supports governance committees relating to the work of the Educational Development team. 

Background: Rachael has worked at the University for 10 years, in both school and centrally based teams. She has experience of the student journey, supporting students in all aspects of administration from their registration through to graduation. She also has experience of recruiting and working with student ambassadors on university events such as open days and offer holder days.