Profile summary
In my role as Faculty Director of Learning and Teaching, I work closely with colleagues in our Faculty and across the University to ensure that outstanding learning and teaching is at the heart of everything that we do.
As a Principal Lecturer, within the Politics team, I aim to deliver teaching that is student-focused, creative and active, supporting our students to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills that will support them to be successful in their personal aspirations, at University and beyond.
To deliver outstanding learning and teaching, our staff need support. I am passionate about supporting our staff to be the best that they can be, through my leadership, teaching and mentoring.
Outstanding learning and teaching must also be embedded in all of our strategies and processes. To this end, my role includes representing the learning and teaching perspective on a variety of Task and Finish Groups, Panels and Committees.
Finally, our ability to continue delivering outstanding learning and teaching can sometimes require change, by individuals, groups or at an institutional level. I aim to support our staff during the process of change, drawing upon my expertise in behaviour change to ensure that deep understanding of current behaviour and effective communication of the nature of change underpin changes in learning and teaching at CCCU.
I joined Canterbury Christ Church University in December 2015. Before working at CCCU, I worked as a research manager and behaviour change consultant at Transport for London (2012-2014). I was a Lecturer in Qualitative Research Methods at the University of Kent (2006-2011); a Research Fellow in Transport and Social Exclusion at the University of the West of England (2002-2006); a Research Fellow at the University of Southampton (2000-2002); and a Research Assistant at the University of Nottingham (1998-2000).
I gained my Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (Kent) in 2008. I have a PhD in Transport Studies (Southampton), an MA with Distinction in Environmental Politics (Keele) and a BA Hons in Politics (York). I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Certified Member of the Market Research Society.
Research and Knowledge Exchange Activities:
I have expertise in the design, conduct, analysis and dissemination of research both as an academic and as a research manager at Transport for London. As such, I have experience of designing, conducting, analysing and disseminating research to meet the needs of many different stakeholders, including those in the academic, business and political environments, to deliver research insights with impact. I am experienced at collaborating across academic disciplines, with practitioners and with policy makers; and at winning funding, from funding councils and in response to Tender.
I have published and presented research in areas including:
- Transport studies, including travel behaviour, travel behaviour change and the social impacts of transport.
- The science of behaviour change.
- Qualitative research methods.
- Learning and teaching.
- Time use studies.
My current research interests include: improving learning and teaching through practical pedagogic research; behaviour change in HE; and increasing the external impact of academic research by applying insight management techniques that are more commonly used in the private sector.
I have worked with both qualitative and quantitative data, using the following methods:
- Qualitative: ethnography, focus groups, semi-structured and unstructured interviews, workshops.
- Quantitative: activity/time use diaries; questionnaires (face-to-face, self-completion and web-based).
- Evaluation of behaviour change interventions, using cross-sectional methods and longitudinal panel studies.
Teaching and Subject Expertise:
I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I am the module leader for the BA Hons Politics module, ‘Transport, Politics and Society’. Prior to my appointment as Faculty Director of Learning and Teaching, I was the Pathway Director for the MA in Education (Academic Practice), the module lead for the Pedagogic Research and Reflection module on the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP) and I taught on a range of short courses delivered with Staff and Organisational Development. Before joining CCCU, I worked for five years as a Lecturer in Qualitative Research Methods at the University of Kent.
I have taught subjects including:
- Transport studies, including travel behaviour, travel behaviour change and the social impacts of transport;
- Learning and teaching pedagogies in Higher Education;
- Research, including qualitative and quantitative methods, epistemologies and ontologies, for education professionals, social scientists and medical practitioners;
- Practical pedagogic research; and
- The science of behaviour change.