Institute for Education Policy Research
IEPR staff - information and contact details
E-mail: n.j.adnett@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294078
Nick is Professor of Economics at Staffordshire University Business School. His research background is in labour economics with a particular interest in policy analysis. His work in the economics of education concentrates upon developing an economic analysis of schooling market behaviour to complement the existing UK reliance upon a sociological analysis.
Emma Berndt - Clerical Assistant
E-mail: e.berndt@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 295731
Emma is the clerical
assistant within the Institute for Education Policy Research.
She handles the administrative duties associated with research projects,
including care of finance and record-keeping.
Cheryl Bolton - Award Tutor
E-mail: c.bolton@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294413
Cheryl is Award Tutor for the BA in Post Compulsory Education.
Mani Prajna Das Gupta - Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology
E-mail: m.dasgupta@staffs.ac.uk
Expertise and Experience: Research: understanding of cause and effect in infants and pre-school children; attachment and cognitive development; effects of post-natal depression on development; Self-esteem and academic ability; development of ethnic identity; bullying. Teaching: life-span development (cognitive and social). Reviewer- Cognitive Development (2004)
Professor Peter Davies
E-mail: p.i.davies@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294273
Peter is director of the IEPR. His current research focuses on economic and access issues in education policy and disciplinary contexts for assessment for learning. He is currently directing an FDTL5 project on 'Embedding threshold concepts in undergraduate economics'.
Richard Dunnill
E-mail: R.C.Dunnill@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294240
Richard is Head of Education in the Faculty of Business and Law, coordinating the education awards offered by the IEPR for trainee teachers and education professionals in schools and colleges, in particular the PGCE, BA and Masters awards. His research interests currently centre on learning-focused approaches to Education Leadership, Strategic Planning and School Improvement and in setting-up and evaluating different approaches to e-Learning.
Guy Durden
E-mail: G.Durden@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294909
Guy is Award Leader for PGCE Business Education and PGCE Business and Economics.
Heather Eggins - Visiting Professor
E-mail: h.eggins@staffs.ac.uk and heggins@btinternet.com
Heather is also Visiting Professor at the University of Strathclyde and a member of the Senior Combination Room at Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge. Her career has spanned teaching in schools, in colleges of education and in universities both in the UK and abroad. She was, until recently, Director of the Society for Research into Higher Education and Editor of Higher Education Quarterly.
Her research interests are in higher education policy and strategy and she has edited a range of books, examining aspects of these topics, notably Restructuring Higher Education (Open University Press), Arts Graduates, Their Skills and Their Employment (Falmer), Women as Leaders and Managers in Higher Education and Globalization and Reform in Higher Education (both Open University Press).
Since joining the Institute, Heather became a Fulbright New Century Scholar 2005-6, 'Higher Education - the Global Challenge'. Her research topic, entitled An Examination of the Effectiveness of Government-inspired Strategies to Widen Participation in Higher Education, was closely linked to the interests of the Institute. The work was carried out at the Institute and at Boston College, USA where she was a Visiting Scholar. She is now editing a book entitled Access and Equity: Comparative Perspectives which will bring together the research done by the Fulbright group with whom she worked.
Details of Heather's Fulbright Scholarship
David Galbraith
E-mail: d.galbraith@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294678
David is a Senior Lecturer in the Psychology Department. His main research interest is in the cognitive and social processes involved in writing, and in how research into these can be applied to the use of writing as a tool for learning and to the teaching of writing. He is also interested in the relationship between students' explanatory styles and their academic motivation and performance.
Andy Graham
E-mail: andyg@nct.ac.uk
Andy is a part-time lecturer at Staffordshire University's Centre for Economics & Business Education. He is also Head of Economics at New College, Telford and makes a substantial contribution to the teaching of the PGCE Programme.
Amanda Hughes - Research Fellow
E-mail: a.c.hughes@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: 01782 295741
Amanda graduated from Staffordshire University in 2002 with a BSc Psychology (First Class Honours) and is currently working as a Research Fellow in the IEPR. She is completing her PhD at Staffordshire University which focuses on the relationships between student motivation and self-perceptions, aspirations, and academic performance. Amanda's other research interests centre on teacher-efficacy - most specifically the extent to which training programmes designed to improve teacher expectations and self-perceptions are seen to have positive effects on pupil academic attainment.
Amanda's current research
projects include a three year project investigating the current extent
and impact of enquiry-based learning on student learning at Staffordshire
University. She has also been heavily involved with a piece of research
funded by the Sutton Trust - 'Knowing Where to Study: Fees, Bursaries
and Fair Access' (completed December 2007). Amanda has also worked on
research projects commissioned by Stoke-on-Trent Education Authority,
Cheshire Education Authority and Aimhigher.
Dr. Julie Hulme
E-mail: j.a.hulme@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294674
Julie is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology. She is interested
in cognitive neuropsychology, neuropsychopharmacology and biological psychology,
and has expertise in quantitative research methods and statistics. Within
the field of education, she has been involved in work relating to widening
participation and retention, teaching and learning in Higher Education,
student support and skills development, and Adult Basic Skills learning.
Dr Richard Jolley
E-mail: R.Jolley@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294887
Richard's research interests lie in children's making and understanding of art. He is interested in how such understanding can give insights towards cognitive, developmental, clinical, emotional, aesthetic, educational and cross-cultural issues in children's development.
Dawn Kane
E-mail: d.kane@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294085
Dawn is the Education Award Administrator and provides support for the awards taught in the Centre for Economics and Business Education (CEBE) and the IEPR.
Elaine Knox - Clerical Assistant
E-mail: E.Knox@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294085
Elaine is the Clerical
Assistant for education awards and handles associated administrative duties
.
Dr Helen Lee
E-mail: h.a.n.lee@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294673
Helen Lee is a lecturer in critical psychology. She is interested in the social construction of knowledge and the role of psychology in relation to [in]equality. Her research involves using discourse and rhetorical analyses to examine written and spoken forms of text. She is interested also in participation action research. Currently, Helen is supervising doctoral research students who are bringing a critical qualitative approach to education.
Michelle Lowe - Senior Award Tutor
E-mail: m.lowe@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294216
Michelle Lowe is the Post-Graduate Education Awards Leader and the Senior Award Leader for the BA (Hons) Education. Her research interests currently centre on Workforce Remodelling , Professionalism and Teaching Assistants and learning-focused approaches to Foundation Degrees.
Lynn Machin - Award Tutor
E-mail: l.b.machin@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294166
Lynn is the Award Tutor for Initial Teacher Training in the Lifelong Learning Sector awards.
Jean Mangan
E-mail: j.t.mangan@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294096
Jean is a Principal Lecturer in the Faculty of Business and Law. Her research interests are in the economics of education. She is currently the project manager of an FDTL5 project on 'Developing first year undergraduates' acquisition of threshold concepts in economics'.
Dr Stephen Merry - Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Health and of Sciences
E-mail: s.merry@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: 01782 294692
Stephen is a Senior Lecturer within the Faculty of Health and Sciences at Staffordshire University where he has been on the staff since 1993. He teaches cell biology and immunology. His educational research interests concern the use of assessment practices such as formative feedback and peer and self assessment to enhance student learning. He is a University Learning and Teaching Fellow.
Brief CV with Qualifications and Recent Publications
John D. Noble - Research Fellow
E-mail: J.D.Noble@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294908
John joined Madeley College of Higher Education in 1973 following a 12
year engagement in the RAF and graduated from Keele in 1977 with B.Ed
(Hons). He then went on, in 1984, to do a part-time MSc in Education Management
(CNAA). John joined the Institute for Access Studies in January 2004 following
a 26 year teaching career.
In January 2007, John took up responsibilty for the co-ordination of the Student Associates Scheme.
Kevin O'Connor - Part-time Lecturer
E-mail: k.o'connor@staffs.ac.uk
Kevin lectures on the BA in Education.
Mr Paul Orsmond
E-mail: p.orsmond@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294692
Candice Poole - Award Administrator
E-mail: c.poole@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 295975
Candice is responsible for providing administrative support for awards taught within the Centre for Economics and Business Education (CEBE) and the IEPR.
Professor Geoff Pugh
E-mail: g.t.pugh@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294092
Geoff is Professor of Economics and manager of the Centre for Local Enterprise and Skills. His interests in education economics focus on trends in school improvement and the effectiveness of faith schools.
Jim Pugh - Senior Award Tutor
E-mail: J.Pugh@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294349
Jim is Senior Award Tutor for the Foundation Degree for Teaching Assistants and award tutor for the BA in Education.
Kim Slack
E-mail: k.b.slack@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 295741
Kim Slack is a Research Fellow in the Institute for Access Studies. She is currently undertaking a part-time PhD in the field of widening participation, which adopts a life history approach to examine young people's decision-making in relation to opportunity structures. She has worked in the Institute since its inception, and has been involved in the majority of the research conducted in the IAS. She has also worked extensively with young people locally. Her recent projects have included work for HEFCE examining partnerships to widen participation, The Learning and Skills Research Council, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Universities UK and the DfES.
Dr Lorna Uden
E-mail: L.Uden@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01785) 353276
Lorna is Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Technology
Katy Vigurs
E-mail: k.vigurs@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294270
Katy has a BA in English Literature and Cultural Criticism (First Class Honours) from Cardiff University and an MProf. in Leadership for Sustainable Development from Middlesex University. She is currently completing her PhD at Staffordshire University. Katy submitted her PhD thesis - Rethinking Partnerships for Community Learning - in October 2007.
Katy acted as part of the Learning Brokerage Project research team (completed December 2004), and has also project managed a research and development initiative for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (completed in September 2005). This latter project looked to promote community dialogue and facilitate intergenerational understandings by employing community arts methods in a village context. Katy has also been a member of the research team that has conducted evaluations of Aimhigher Staffordshire and Aimhigher Lincolnshire. Most recently, she has been involved in a piece of research funded by the Sutton Trust - 'Knowing Where to Study: Fees, Bursaries and Fair Access' (completed October 2007).
Tom Ward - Publications and Finance Administrator
E-mail: t.ward@staffs.ac.uk
Phone: (01782) 294902
Tom has responsibility for the dissemination of the activities of the IEPR and outputs and reports arising from projects, both in printed form and on the web. This includes the production and distribution of the Journal for Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning published by the Institute for Access Studies. He also has responsibility for managing budgets and financial forecasting and planning associated with projects indertaken by the IEPR and managing conferences and seminars.
