The Applied Sciences Pedagogic Research (ASPeR) group acts as a focus point for all staff in the School of Applied Sciences who undertake research to inform and improve their own teaching practice and, on a wider scale, reduce barriers to student success in higher education.
Contact us
We welcome interest and engagement from interested parties from within and outside the Higher Education sector. We have a range of expertise and experience within ASPeR and would welcome research collaborations. In the first instance you can contact the ASPeR co-leads Janice Brown (janice.brown@lsbu.ac.uk) and/or Alex Marchant (alex.marchant@lsbu.ac.uk).
Research from ASPeR is conducted at a wide range of levels, from a single teaching session level, through module, course, and institutional level, and even at multi-institutional level. Our research has had impact on student achievement and teaching practice, student support, academic standards, and wider institutional processes.
Indicative research projects
Preethi Premkumar (LSBU), Rachael Elward (LSBU), and Tony Churchill (Reading) evaluated the embedding of Student-Centred Active Learning Environment with Upside-Down Pedagogies (SCALE-UP), providing evidence of student enjoyment of collaborative learning. SCALE-UP gives students confidence in expressing their views in class and peer interactions. The findings will be published in Psychology Teaching Review. SCALE-UP is being adopted by other Schools at LSBU.
Louise Powell-Cook (LSBU) evaluated the use of peer-assisted learning between different undergraduate programmes by bringing journalism students into the level 5 forensic science classroom to enhance the literacy skills of these latter students to improve module performance, degree classifications and employability. This was supported by the LSBU employability team and employers who came in and spoke to the students regarding the importance of good communication skills to promote student buy-in. The work was presented at 2 teaching symposiums (Uni of Surrey and Uni of East London and the paper published and presented at the Future of Education Conference 2023 in Florence.
Elisa Carrus (LSBU) and Alex Marchant (LSBU) utilised a known cognitive psychological process to enhance student learning through online quizzes. Students’ performance on end of module assessments improved in both the specific content tested by the quizzes, but also on content not in the quizzes, demonstrating a transfer of advantage onto untested content, referred to as the ‘forward testing effect’. This work has been presented at several national conferences.
Liz Newton (LSBU) and Janice Brown (LSBU) interrogated institutional integrity data to inform awarding gap understanding and future student support. Subsequent research has investigated patterns of integrity across different disciplines and schools, and results presented at national EDI conferences.
Alex Marchant (LSBU), alongside Mitchel Colver (Utah State University, USA), and Kirsteen Couper (Kingston) conducted a multi-institutional transatlantic project exploring student motivations and beliefs about the purpose of higher education. This research has allowed institutions to tailor support for students with different motivational profiles to help maximise student engagement and success across institutions. This work has been presented at international conference and is about to be submitted for publication.
We collaborate with colleagues at a range of universities (e.g. University College London, Utah State University) and would value working with others – please see out contact details on the 'About' tab.
