22 webinar of the “9 Months, 9 Universities” series: Creative assignments in higher education: Engaging students through practice-based learning

This webinar is part of the 9 Month 9 Universities webinar series and it will be held on 28 January at 11:00 CET live on YouTube.

This webinar uses editing courses as a case study to explore how creative pedagogy can be an effective approach to teaching applied, practice-based skills in higher education. Drawing on teaching experience in editing courses at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the talk focuses on the design and implementation of non-standard creative assignments aimed at developing professional and transferable skills.

The webinar presents a range of assignments tested in undergraduate and graduate courses in editing, including tasks such as editing dictionary entries, writing fictional CVs of historical figures in the field and creating promotional teasers for edited texts. These activities encourage students to engage critically with texts and reflect on decision-making processes as well as to adapt their skills to a wide range of communicative contexts.

While the examples come from editing courses, the webinar addresses broader questions relevant to the teaching of applied humanities and other practice-based disciplines. The session discusses how creative assignments support the development of critical thinking, attention to detail, creativity and professional flexibility, while also enhancing student motivation and engagement.

The webinar is intended for lecturers and educators interested in innovative, practice-based approaches to teaching across disciplines.

About the speaker

Olha Petrenko-Tseunova is a senior lecturer in the Department of General and Slavic Linguistics at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. She holds a PhD in literary studies. She also expanded her academic expertise through the dual master’s programme Heritage Interpretation: History, Culture, Literature, jointly delivered by the Ukrainian Catholic University and the University of Nottingham. Her anthology Ukrainian authors on the writing process: from the Middle Ages to Modernism and the essay collection The Noble tradition: Cross-cutting themes of Ukrainian Culture were published in 2025.

She has been working in the publishing industry since 2017, where she has gained professional experience in proofreading; literary, academic and fiction editing; publishing; project management; and moderating literary and book-related events. Since 2021, she has been teaching practice-based courses at both the bachelor’s and master’s levels that integrate professional publishing workflows into higher education.Her bachelor’s-level courses complement the Translation and Editing certificate programme, while her master’s course focuses on collaboration with publishers, development of creative and professional skills, and students’ transition to employment in the publishing field.