Communities

I am an Induction & Transitions Adviser at the University of Glasgow. I work with students at all levels, focusing on enabling transition at key points in students’ journeys. I have a background working with adult returners and widening participation students on developing academic literacies. Other areas of interest include visual and material literacies, and reflective practice. I hold Fellowship of Recognising Excellence in Teaching (RET), which is a University of Glasgow recognition scheme aligned to the UK PSF, and Certified Practitioner (Fellow) of ALDinHE.  I am a reviewer for the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, and was nominated for the ‘Reviewer of the year’ award in 2024. In previous lives, I worked as a debt and housing adviser in the third sector, and a researcher in theology and visual culture; both continue to influence my work as a learning developer.

Ina Stan was awarded her PhD in 2008 and since then, she has been working as a senior lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University, teaching academic skills on the Foundation Year and providing one-to-one tutorials to students, developing and delivering study skills workshops and lectures, engaging in formative and summative assessment of students’ work.  Ina also supervises doctoral students and undertakes research on the students’ learning experiences in higher education.

Due to her experience in research, Ina has supported colleagues during their PhD journey as a critical friend. She has also mentored colleagues through their Advance HE fellowship applications, ethics applications and publishing in research journals. 

Awarded Certified Practitioner of Learning Development in 2009.

Fellow of Advance HE since 2015.

Jane is a learning developer at Glasgow Caledonian University, where she has worked with health and life sciences students since 2008. She is an Advance HE Senior Fellow, an ALDinHE Certified Leading Practitioner and an accredited sport psychologist. She enjoys supporting individuals to reach their potential and has mentored colleagues and contributed to the development of mentoring schemes for learning developers. She joined the ALDinHE Peer Mentoring Group in 2020. In addition to teaching academic literacies, Jane uses her psychology background to embed psychological skills, self-understanding and positive mindset in practice. She has a particular interest in how individual characteristics, most notably perfectionism, influence learning and student wellbeing and she is undertaking research in this area.

Steering Group Member

Chair of the Continuing Professional Development Working Group

Sam Thomas is an Academic Support Manager at Wrexham University. She has worked in Learning Development for over eight years. She is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE, an ALDinHE Certified Practitioner and an active member of ALDinHE. Her focus is to provide services to those with additional needs including non-traditional and distance learners, and to support colleagues to develop their skills through mentoring.

Sandra Abegglen is a Postdoctoral Associate at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada. She is an experienced educationist with a strong interest in collaboration, co-creation, and social justice. Her research focuses on digital education, hybrid pedagogy, academic literacies, creative approaches to learning and teaching, peer support, inclusion, and identity.

Sandra is the Principal Investigator for Playful Hybrid Higher Education and TALON, the Teaching and Learning Online Network, and she leads several other education research projects. She has written extensively about her research and teaching practice in a wide range of books and academic journals, and has presented her work nationally and internationally. Her inclusive, interdisciplinary, and multi-stakeholder education work has been recognised through multiple awards.

Sandra has extensive education research experience as both principal investigator and project lead, and she is happy to share that with anyone having questions about: grant proposals writing, qualitative data collection and analysis, project evaluation and reporting, ethics, and publishing.

Please visit her personal website for more information about her educational and professional background, and her expertise: https://sandra-abegglen.com

I am always keen to collaborate – and talk/write about: digital education, hybrid pedagogy, academic literacies, creative learning and teaching methods, peer support, inclusion, and identity. Please connect!

Steering Group Member
Chair of the Communities Working Group

Sandra Sinfield SFHEA and CeLP, is Senior Lecturer and University Teaching Fellow in the Centre for Professional and Educational Development at London Metropolitan University, a co-author of Teaching, Learning and Study Skills: a guide for tutors and Essential Study Skills: the complete guide to success at university (5th Edition), and one of the co-founders of the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDHE). Sandra has worked as a laboratory technician, a freelance copywriter, and an Executive Editor (Medicine Digest, circulation 80,000 doctors). With Tom Burns, she has developed theatre and film in unusual places – their Take Control video won the IVCA gold award for education – and is interested in creativity as emancipatory practice in Higher Education.

Deputy Chair of the Communities Working Group

As a Learning Developer Ursula Canton works with STEM students, arts students and education students at different universities and under different titles (Senior Lecturer / Glasgow Caledonian University; Effective Learning Tutor /Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Associate Tutor / University of Glasgow). In all of these roles she draws on her experiences from her first academic life (MA Language and Literature; PhD in Theatre Studies) and current research interests in evaluating writing interventions, writing process(es) and academic and professional literacies. She is keen on contributing to the development of Learning Development through formal and informal routes, including taking a leading role in developing ALDinHE’s mentoring programme, co-chairing of ScotHELD (Scottish Higher Education Developers) and sharing her insights through informal chats and mentoring, as well as publications.