Fellowship case study – Ryan Kromer

Ryan Kromer (MSC Engineering Geology Programme Lead and Associate Professor) is part of our 2025 class of Fellows, completing his 2-year project titled Immersive Approaches in Geoscience Education. In this case study, he shares his experience on his Fellowship project.

Route into Fellowship

When one of our physical field trips got cancelled, I ended up doing some work on extended reality (XR) with the digital education team for the creation of a virtual field trip. This reignited my interest in immersive technologies. I had previously used augmented reality in industry, but applying XR in a teaching context felt entirely different, and it made me want to spend more time developing these tools and thinking about how XR can support geoscience learning. A colleague pointed me towards the LITE Fellowship as a space to continue this project.

The process – from initially deciding to undertake this Fellowship, to the application – spanned about a year. Right at the start, I booked in a chat with a member of the LITE team, and that conversation encouraged me to think more deeply about the positive impact the project could have on pedagogy and student experience, rather than focusing solely on the technical capabilities of XR. After that early discussion, I went back to the drawing board and gathered some student feedback from my first virtual field trip intervention. The responses helped me see clearly how XR could support student engagement and learning. I used this early evidence to support my Fellowship application at the end of that year. I had a few colleagues from within and outside the University read over my application draft, who were helpful in providing an objective perspective of my proposal.

Doing the Fellowship

The shift to a more pedagogical focus led to some unexpected highlights of the Fellowship, such as the opportunity to work closely with students, and designing immersive and engaging field experiences. We had some XR sessions in HELIX, and it was thoroughly enjoyable witnessing the benefits of departing from traditional practice and getting into new technology. I also spent time visiting field sites with colleagues from the Digital Education Service to capture 360° imagery and videos, drone footage, and other 3D spatial data. Turning these into virtual field trips and immersive XR teaching materials was one of the most creative and rewarding aspects of the Fellowship.

LITE Fellowship has opened a lot of doors for me, and I don’t feel like my work is done yet

My research background is in understanding the behaviours of the earth, geohazards, and geomorphic processes, so doing pedagogical research, specifically thematic analysis, was a real departure from my usual work. Diving deep into student reflections to pull out all the ‘hidden’ observations and trends was challenging at first. Luckily, I had the help of my LITE Student Research Assistant, Eleanor Dufton, to assist me with the thematic analysis, bringing fresh perspectives to my work. I was also supported throughout resource development by colleagues at the Digital Education Service, whose expertise in immersive media and video production was invaluable.

It was also an ambitious project in terms of timeline: I was awarded a 2-year Fellowship, but I was passionate about all my objectives and didn’t want to adjust from my initial application for a 3-year project. Trying to juggle XR development, multiple teaching interventions, and pedagogical research meant that it was especially beneficial to have the support of colleagues throughout my Fellowship.

Reflections

The LITE Fellowship has opened a lot of doors for me, and I don’t feel like my work is done yet, even though the Fellowship itself is complete. I’m now contributing to the cross‑faculty Living Labs XR site‑visits project, using the insights gained during my Fellowship to help expand immersive site‑visit approaches across the University. I’m also involved in developing mixed‑reality teaching guidance through the Jisc UK XR Working Group (Jisc UK XR community), which has allowed me to apply what I’ve learned in a sector‑wide context. Seeing how positively students responded to the XR experiences during the Fellowship, particularly their engagement, enjoyment, and increased confidence, has been a big motivation in continuing this work.

XR site visits are excellent educational support tools. They don’t attempt to replace physical field trips but rather provide a complementary option for students to learn, revisit and reinforce the practices we're exploring. They can allow access to sites where we wouldn’t ordinarily be allowed to take students, as well as support those who experience barriers to fieldwork. The interventions developed through the Fellowship continue to be embedded in my modules, providing students with opportunities to revisit sites, consolidate their understanding, and engage with geoscience concepts in new ways.

My advice for anyone interested in pursuing a LITE Fellowship is to let an idea come to you organically through your practice and do some initial research on it first, using that as a jumping off point for all the thinking you need to do leading up to the application. Consider the potential impact of your project (across disciplines) and test your ideas out first if you have the chance, as these will help formulate and solidify your research questions.