DrJon Fenton

I teach in the Physics department's undergraduate degree programme and am also involved in physics education research and scholarship.

I am head of year 1 and I lecture one of the largest core first year courses, Mechanics, as well as being module leader for the Mechanics & Relativity module.

I was heavily involved in the design and development of the interactive seminars which students take part in in our interactive lecture theatre, with particular involvement in the year 1 M&R module, which I still lead, and the year 2 Thermal Physics & Structure of Matter modules. Up to 2024 I also lectured electromagnetism to second-year chemistry students taking the M&P2 physics option.

I have been leading the adoption in Physics of the Lambda Feedback system for providing students with immediate automated feedback on problem-sheet content, an innovation developed at Imperial which we have been introducing with the help of five StudentShapers. From 2024-25, this has been available for most first- and second-year core courses.

I am also the Digital Learning Champion and Inclusive Pedagogy Champion for the Physics department and in these roles seek to ensure that we are making best use of technology in our teaching and learning.

I am active in the scholarship of teaching and learning and interested in the interaction between the social and cognitive dimensions of learning and the transition of students from school to university, including how to help students develop their metacognitive skills. I co-lead a Special Interest Group in student transition and progression to bring together colleagues from across Imperial and in Autumn 2022 I completed an MEd in University Learning and Teaching which I studied for part-time at Imperial from 2019-22, receiving a distinction and being awarded a prize for my dissertation which was an investigation of factors influencing problem-solving in first-year physics students. I regularly carry out evaluation work on our courses, making use of both quantitative and qualitative methods. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).