The Future of Education

Louise Powell-Cook is a Senior Lecturer, University Teaching Fellow, and Course Leader of the Foundation Year Courses in Applied Sciences at London South Bank University.

Louise is also a Senior Fellow of Advance HE.

Having completed a biology degree at the University of London, Louise went on to study law at UWE, Bristol and to qualify as a solicitor. She spent time in legal practice in both non-contentious and contentious fields of law, including that of criminal litigation before specialising in teaching law to non-lawyers. The focus of her teaching at London South Bank University lies with the three law modules of the BSc Forensic Science programme namely, an Introduction to Law for Forensic Scientists (Level 4), Criminal Law for Forensic Scientists (Level 5) and the Law of Evidence for Forensic Scientists (Level 6).

As the former Director of Recruitment for the School of Applied Sciences, Louise established widening participation activities including collaborative STEM projects with schools in Southwark to raise the aspirations of those students who might not otherwise consider studying at university.

Louise’s commitment to supporting students led to the award of a part-time teaching fellowship sabbatical in 2021-22. This allowed her to introduce a cross-disciplinary, peer assisted learning scheme into the forensic science classroom in the provision of writing workshops, to enhance the students’ literacy skills and correspondingly, their employability. Following the adoption of this into the curriculum, Louise continues to explore new ways of helping students to achieve their potential and to maximise the opportunities available to them.

Area/s of Expertise: Law, Forensic Science, Adult Education, Inclusivity, Cross-Disciplinary Student Mentoring, Confidence, Literacy