Virna Rossi BA, PGCert, MTeach, PFHEA, FSEDA, NTF

Virna has been awarded the prestigious National Teaching Fellowship by AdvanceHE, JLDHE Reviewer of the Year and has been added to the SEDA Roll of Honour. In addtion, she recently won internal prizes including our Teacher of the Year Award and came runner up for the Change Maker academic award at Ravensbourne University London.

She is also the author of an innovative book (by Routledge) on inclusive learning design. You can preview or order Virna Rossi's book 'Inclusive Learning Design in Higher Education - A Practical Guide to Creating Equitable Learning Experiences' from Routledge or from Amazon.

Find out more about Virna's inclusive learning design approach at inclusivelearningdesign.com.

With an MA in Teaching (IoE) and several awards, Virna has been active in research and knowledge exchange for many years, with a keen interest in:

• Curriculum design
• Inclusivity
• Threshold concepts
• Visual representation of assessment briefs

Here is a sample of her research and knowledge exchange activities.

Books

• Rossi, V. (forthcoming) Designing Impactful PGCert in Higher Education Courses: A Practical Guide. – London: Routledge.
   
• Rossi, V. (2023) Inclusive Learning Design - Inclusive Learning Design in Higher Education. Companion website.

Published book reviews for Inclusive Learning Design

• Syska, Alicja. (2025). Transforming higher education through systematic inclusive design: Virna Rossi’s practical guide to equitable learning. Plymouth Institute of Education Open Journal. 2. 10.70156/2634-8594.1012.
   
• Khoo, S., Sum, K., Cordoves, A., Krzeski, J., & Welch, P. (2025). Book Reviews. Learning and Teaching, 18(2), 81-95. https://doi.org/10.3167/latiss.2025.180205
   
• Peat, J. (2024). Book review: Inclusive Learning Design in Higher Education: A practical guide to creating equitable learning experiences by Virna Rossi. Educational Developments, 25(3), September, p. 20. ISSN 1469-3267. https://www.seda.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Educational-Developments-25.3-September-2024.pdf
   
• Sally Brown (2024). Book review: Rossi, V. (2023) Inclusive learning design in higher education: a practical guide to creating equitable learning experiences. Abingdon: Routledge. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (30). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi30.1186 

Articles

• Rossi, V., Stevenson, C., Tilbury, A. (2024) The power of three. Educational Developments Spring 2024 issue.
   
• Rossi, V. and ChatGPT (2023) 
  Perspectives on the use of ChatGPT for PGCert courses [blog post]. thesedablog - Supporting and Leading Educational Change. SEDA, 13 February. 
   
• Rossi, V. (2023) Roots to shoots: a holistic approach to inclusive learning design. AdvanceHE. 
   
• Rossi, V. (2023) 
  Root to shoots: A holistic route to designing high quality inclusive learning environments. QAA. 
   
• Rossi, V. (2021) Just-in-time pandemic CPD using short screencast videos, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (22). doi: 10.47408/jldhe.vi22.677
   
• Rossi, V. (2020) Just-in-time CPD [blog post]. thesedablog - Supporting and Leading Educational Change. SEDA, 20 November. 
   
• Compton, M. and Rossi, V. (2019) Teaching observations, teaching quality and grading: A huge can of worms [blog post]. thesedablog - Supporting and Leading Educational Change. SEDA, 4 Dec. 

Knowledge Exchange projects

2024 to present: EE for TU Dublin, Ireland for their PGCert and curriculum design advice.     

2022 to 2024: Active member of the SAGE Pedagogy Advisory Board (a special consultancy body).

2020 to 2024: EE for BIMM Music Institute - guest speaker on the PGCert/MA at BIMM and curriculum design advice.

2020 to present: Ongoing collaboration and knowledge exchange with 
Aga Khan University.

2019: Staff development events for Morley College.

Public Speaking

2025

Jan: Cross-pollination – Keynote at Canterbury Christ University Conference.

Feb: TEL Researchers Webinar.

Jun: AHE Conference Manchester – Visual representation of assessment briefs.

Jul: MyFest2025, Better assessment for self-regulation; UoL session for PGCert students on Inclusive Learning design; Devising Conference, PUCPR University, Brazil, Developing impact literacy: building a reflective record of professional practice.

2024

May: The power of three, Island of Innovation (Liverpool University) presentation with A. Tilbury and C. Stevens; ‘Roots to shoots’ inclusive learning design workshop ICED conference Kenya.

June: Roots to shoots’ inclusive learning design, Oxford Brookes International T&L Conference. Cross-pollination for innovation, keynote speaker at Solent University and South Wales University.

July: PGCert refresher, SE Academic Development Network - UoL session for PGCert students.

September: Can we deliver effective student engagement when learners dip in and out? QAA conference.

 2023

January: Inclusive Learning Design, challenges and opportunities.
Half day workshop for UoL Student success/CODE Fellows event. 

February: Academic communities – QAA conference panel member.

July: Inclusive Learning Design, Roots and Shoots with Virna Rossi - #MyFest23. 

2022

February: How ‘contextual analysis’ helps us plan better, more personalised learning, Aga Khan University.

March: Inclusive by design, A roots to shoots approach - EDI AdvanceHE conference.

April: Inclusive Learning Design at TU Dublin -  Staff development session - TU Dublin.

July: Inclusive by design, opportunities and challenges - Centre for Distance Education, UoL.

 2021

March to April: Rear-view mirror, reflecting about practice through the lens of Universal Design for Learning principles and practices - Webinars: UoL Experiences in Digital Learning; INCLUDE.

June: Roots to Shoots, Inclusive Course Design to support wellbeing - Greenwich University; UoL.

July: Keynote, Intentionally Inclusive - University of Liverpool Learning and Teaching Conference. More information here. 

July: The case for using Threshold Concepts for Learning Design in Creative Education - 2021 Threshold Concepts conference.

September: Threshold Concepts in the context of curriculum design Speakeasy event.

 2020

April to May: Global webinar series, Starters/Main activities/Closures - Ravensbourne University London.

September: Inclusive feedback, Principles and practices - UEL Teaching & Learning Symposium.

November: Keynote 360° inclusive feedback - University of the Highlands and Islands, Assessment & feedback symposium.

• L&T Chat Show Podcast: Virna Rossi on Evidencing Impact
   
• TalkingHE Podcast: Virna Rossi on Inclusive Learning Design
   
• The Learning Development Project podcast: Virna Rossi on Designing for Inclusive Learning
   
• The Education Burrito Podcast: Unwrapping inclusive learning with Virna Rossi
   
• Treasure Island Pedagogies Podcast: Episode 9 - the one with the tree house
   
• L&T Chat Show · S5E22 - Virna Rossi on Evidencing Impact

Rossi, V. (n.d.) Educational Developer's Padlet Collection, EDTA. University of York (Canada). Available here. 

 Rossi, V. (n.d.) Quick Transition to E-Learning  [video series], INCLUDE Collaboratory. Available here.