Research and Scholarship Development

I have worked in inclusive learning contexts since 1994, initially in primary and secondary school settings, before entering higher education in 2008 working with neurodivergent and disabled learners at the University of Glasgow. In 2012, I was involved with creation of a study skills service at the University of Strathclyde (now Learner Development Services), delivering induction and widening participation activities, workshops, 1-2-1 appointments, and creating online resources.  Working collaboratively with academic and university services partners, I also facilitate the development of specific academic literacies. I have been a member of the ALDinHE Research and Development Working Group since 2016.

Steering Group Member
Chair of the Events Group

Alistair joined the steering group member in 2020 as co-lead for Events, after having been previously a member of the LearnHigher, Regional Events and Research Funding working groups. He has worked in learning development for 12 years, following previous higher education roles teaching history and politics and in educational research. He is currently Head of Skills Development at King’s College, London.
His particular focus is on the intersection between learning development and academic/educational development.

Steering Group Member

Member of the Professional Recognition Working Group

Member of the Research and Scholarship Working Group

I am an Academic Mentor for Psychology at London Metropolitan University.

My role entails supporting students achieve their personal, academic and career goals through 1-1 and team coaching. My background is in Positive Psychology, Coaching and Teaching & Learning. I am keen to apply these areas in supporting students to achieve positive academic outcomes.

Since completing my PhD in 2018, I have been a lecturer in Learning Development at Bournemouth University, working within a small academic team to provide faculty level support to students. I am co-lead of the ALDinHE Research Community of Practice. I have over 20 years experience within the HE sector. Much of this time has been spent in research roles within the Widening Participation field, working within national schemes such as Aimhigher.

Finley is the Education Development Lead at Canterbury Christ Church University. Combining research and outreach experience, his work focuses on an evidence-led approach to innovative engagement and CPD strategies, and researching HE student access and success. Prior to this Finley was a Lead Research Fellow at the LASAR educational Research Centre. He passed his PhD viva in March 2023, and worked in a collaboration with the schools’ and college engagement team and Kent UniConnect Hub (KMPF) to develop award winning research-engaged widening participation practice. He has experience of developing strong research partnerships with stakeholders and undertaking desk and field-based research.

Steering Group Member
Chair of the Research and Scholarship Group

Ian has been active in ALDinHE since 2015 and a member of the peer mentoring working group since Spring 2020. He set up ALDinHE’s research community of practice at the same time, as the first CoP under the peer mentoring group umbrella, and continues to run it. The CoP provides informal peer support, critical friendship etc for research-active learning developers, and has co-authored a journal article, book chapter and several conference presentations around collaboration between learning developers. Ian is in the late stages of a professional doctorate on the framing and value of Learning Development work and also has research interests in feedback on student work and the teaching of reflective writing practices.

Namrata Rao is a Professor of Education at Liverpool Hope University.  She coordinates  postgraduate taught education programmes . Her key areas of research and publication include (but are not restricted to) various aspects of learning and teaching in higher education that influence academic identity and academic practice. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, executive member of the British Association of International and Comparative Education, member of the Research and Development group of the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education and co-convenor of the Learning, Teaching and Assessment Network of the Society for Research in Higher Education (SRHE).  Her research has been funded by organisations such as the EPSRC, HEA (now Advance HE), Jisc, SEDA, SRHE, ALDinHE and BAICE. Her recent publications include co-edited books with Bloomsbury on the experiences of International Academics (2018) and Early Career Academics (2021) and three further books on Leadership in Learning and Teaching (2023).

Shaun Bremner-Hart is a lecturer in Molecular Biosciences at the University of Glasgow. He has experience teaching and conducting scholarship research in the UK and at international institutes. Shaun is interested in the development of inclusive teaching material and decolonising the curricula in the context of molecular biology. He is a recent addition to the Research and Scholarship working group, joining in 2023.

Silvina Bishopp-Martin has been a Learning Developer at Canterbury Christ Church University since joining the institution in 2012. She is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an ALDinHE Certified Leading Practitioner. She has worked on the development of online learning materials, peer-mentoring schemes and embedding academic literacies in academic courses. She has research experience in academic literacies, critical EAP, critical pedagogies, collaborative writing and Learning Development scholarship, professionalism and identity.

Steve Rooney is a Learning Developer at Aston University. He works with students and staff across all programmes, but with a particular responsibility for supporting learning in Health and Life Sciences disciplines. He continues to enjoy a long-standing, active involvement with the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE).