Faith Nightingale currently serves as the Academic Affairs Director of QMES and Senior Lecturer in Scientific Engineering Skills at QMUL, while also holding the position of Deputy Director at CREME. With extensive experience in cross-cultural engineering education, she previously worked in the Middle East for eight years before joining QMUL in 2017. Her expertise lies in interdisciplinary teaching, curriculum development, and the fostering of students’ professional competencies. In addition to teaching the module QXU4112 Developing Professional Engineering Skills, she has long been dedicated to syllabus design, academic professional development, and pedagogical innovation. Recognised as one of the core faculty members, she is highly regarded by students for her contributions to education.
For cross-cultural educators, it begins with understanding culture.
“In Chinese-foreign collaborative education, the most important element is understanding culture,” Faith explained. To genuinely connect with students, she emphasised that one must deeply engage with their backgrounds. It is for this reason that she actively participates in various cultural activities organised by QMES, immerses herself in Chinese culture, and shares aspects of British culture both within and beyond the classroom. “Immersive cultural understanding,” she noted, “forms the foundation for building trust and enhancing the educational experience.”
In teaching Professional Engineering Skills, she focuses on “what students truly will need in the future.
As module convenor for QXU4112 Developing Professional Engineering Skills, Faith places particular emphasis on the key competencies engineering students must cultivate: “Innovation and creativity are paramount. Faced with the rapid advancement of Industry 4.0, students must understand industry trends and be equipped to tackle unknown problems.”
She also emphasised the importance of project management skills, the ability to coordinate time and resources effectively, and critical thinking in the context of widespread artificial intelligence adoption. “Students must learn to question and evaluate AI-generated responses, not accept them blindly. True engineering judgement comes from understanding the tools and reflecting deeply on the problem.”
Curriculum design and faculty development: How QMES safeguards educational quality
As Academic Affairs Director at QMUL, Faith plays a key role in curriculum development and the professional growth framework for teaching staff. “QMUL offers structured training programmes, opportunities for sharing teaching methodologies, and encourages structured reflection on teaching practices, all aimed at continuous pedagogical improvement,” she explained.
At QMES, the teaching team conducts regular review and refinement of module content. Additionally, a “best practice” sharing initiative is in place, enabling academic staff from both QMES and QMUL to collaborate in building a high-quality and sustainable educational framework.
Using podcasts to connect transnational classrooms: Encouraging students to “Speak Up, Connect and Grow Together”
Faith is currently leading a research initiative entitled “Podcasting Your TNE Journey”, which aims to create a new platform for student interaction within transnational education partnerships.
“The first objective is to enhance students’ oral proficiency and professional communication skills, enabling them to speak with confidence, clarity, and effectiveness in authentic contexts,” she explained.
“The second is to establish a learning community that includes QMES, Hainan BUPT Institute, and QMUL London. This initiative encourages students across campuses and disciplines to share experiences and strengthen their sense of belonging.”
Through this approach, she hopes to integrate students meaningfully into the global network of engineering education.
Her vision for the future of QMES
“I hope we can continue to drive pedagogical innovation, ensuring that both curriculum frameworks and teaching methodologies keep advancing,” Faith stated. She expressed her desire to see QMES further develop into one of China’s leading Chinese-foreign collaborative engineering education programmes.
In the view of Faith Nightingale, education has never been solely about knowledge transfer; it is a process of understanding cultures, building bridges, and unlocking potential. Through her cross-cultural sensitivity, forward-thinking educational philosophy, and deep sense of responsibility, she is helping to guide more students onto the path to becoming internationally-minded engineers.
Text and Photo: Faith Nightingale and Zhang Jiayu
Editor: Zhang Han'en and Chen Xinyan
Translator: Shen Xinyi
Reviewer: Wang Yongxin
