Learning and Teaching Research in Social Sciences group
What we do
The purpose of the Learning and Teaching Research in Social Sciences group (LaTRiSS) is to bring likeminded learning and teaching (L&T) researchers together to:
- share our research
- support each other's research
- celebrate successes
- help disseminate our research
- increase collaboration across the faculty
- work on L&T research/projects that will enhance the L&T experiences for all students within the faculty.
Our research activity
Bailey, C. and Withers, J. (2018) What can screen capture reveal about students’ use of software tools when undertaking a paraphrasing task? Journal of Academic Writing, 8(2), pp.176-190, http://dx.doi.org/10.18552/joaw.v8i2.456
Bartholomew, S. and Withers, J. (2019) Making it at Uni: Navigate your way through the first year of your degree UK: Bartholomew and Withers Publishing Ltd.
Bown, S. Travers, A. & Walton-Ashmore, C. (2019) Why personal matters. In Newsli, the Association of Sign Language Interpreters, issue 109, pp13-21 (note: topic was Sexual Health and interpreting)
Bown, S. & Dekesel, K. (2019) Is the interpreter getting you your job?: to what extent do sign language interpreters influence interview panel decisions during interpreter mediated employment interviews? In You are (f/h)ired! Proceedings of the 26th efsli Conference Dubrovnik, 14th-16th September 2018. Kindle Direct publishing, pp26-39
Bown, S. & Dekesel, K. (2018) ‘Help or hindrance?’ Who is the real candidate during interpreter-mediated employment interviews? In Newsli, the Association of Sign Language Interpreters, issue 106, pp17-23.
Burns, A. (2019) ‘Race, Ethnicity and Diversity: British Imperial History and the Secondary School Curriculum,’ in P. Miller and C. Callender (eds.) Race, Education and Educational Leadership in England: An Integrated Analysis, London: Bloomsbury, pp. 59–77. ISBN: 978-1-3500-6859-9. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/race-education-and-educational-leadership-in-england-9781350068605/ (plus a number of other L&T articles in 2016/2017)
Burns, A (2017) Hosting Teacher Development at Historical Sites: The Benefits for Classroom Teaching Teaching History, 169, pp. 35-42. ISSN: 0040-06109, https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1166031
Hamlin. R. G., Ellinger. A. and Jones, J (2019) Evidence-Based Organizational Change and Development US: IGI Global.
Hawkins, R.A. (2016) Promoting the digital literacy of undergraduate historians using digitised historic newspapers, Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal, 1(1), pp. 1-6. ISSN: 2399-1836
Hawkins, R.A. (2018) The Use of Big Data in Historical Research’ in Giovanni Schiuma and Daniela Carlucci (eds.) Big Data in the Arts and Humanities: Theory and Practice, Boca Raton, London & New York: CRC Press, pp. 77-87. ISBN: 13-978-1-4987-6585-5
Hawkins, R.A. and Woolf, H. (2018) Good Practice in British Higher Education History Work Placement Learning in Friederike Neumann and Leah Shopkow (eds.) Proceedings of the 2016 Bielefeld Conference on Teaching History in Higher Education, Schwalbach/Ts, Wochenschau Verlag.
Housee, S. (2018) Speaking Out against Racism in the University Space. Trentham Books. ISBN: 9781858568690
Jones, D. and Ellison, L. (2018) First year law students: the impact of assessment type on attainment. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(2), pp. 283-293. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1496398
Jones, D. (2018) Legal skills and the SQE: confronting the challenge head on. The Law Teacher 53(1), pp.35-48 https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2018.1515841 This article was recently reviewed by the Law Teacher Editorial Board as one of the top 10 most downloaded articles during the past 12 months.
Jones, J., Firth, J., Hannibal, C. and Ogunseyin, M. (2019). Factors Contributing to Organizational Change Success or Failure- A Qualitative Meta-Analysis of 200 Students’ Reflective Case Studies In R.G. Hamlin., A. Ellinger., & J.Jones (Eds.). Evidence-Based Organizational Change and Development (pp. 155-178) US: IGI Global.
Rahimi, R., Akgunduz, Y., Koseoglu, M. A., & Okumus, F. (2018). Mobility Patterns of Asian Students: The Case of Tourism and Hospitality Management Students in the United Kingdom. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Education, 30(2), 85-94. doi:10.1080/10963758.2018.1436972.
Rahimi, R., & Akgunduz, Y. (2017). Driving force analysis of East European students to study tourism and hospitality in the U.K.. Anatolia, 28(2), 224-238. doi:10.1080/13032917.2017.1311273.
Rahimi, R., Nadda, V., Hyseni, B., & Mulindwa, D. (2016). Motivations of South Asian students to study Tourism and hospitality in the United Kingdom. In Advances in Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research (Vol. 12, pp. 223-234). doi:10.1108/S1871-317320160000012017.
West, M. (2018) Script Proposals in Undergraduate Supervision. Hacettepe University Journal of Education, 33, pp.1-18. DOI: 10.16986/HUJE.2018038802
Whistance, T, Bown, S, Green, K. Engaging British Sign Language/ English interpreting students through the use of situated learning. Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal, [S.l.], v. 2, n. 2, p. 149-160, jan. 2019. ISSN 2399-1836.
Sally Bartholomew and Jodi Withers presented the research that underpins their book Making it at Uni: Navigate your way through the first year of your degree at the;
- 26th National Conference on Students in Transitions, Orlando, October 2019
- Researching, Advancing, and Inspiring Student Engagement, Newcastle University, September 2019
- European First Year Experience Conference, Cork Institute of Technology, June 2019
- Well Read Symposium - Keele University, April 2019
- UK Advising and Tutoring (UKAT) Annual Conference, University of Plymouth, April 2019
Bown, S. & Dekesel, K. (2018) ‘Great expectations’: Do interpreted job interviews affect the employability opportunities of Deaf candidates? Paper presented at efsli - European Forum of Sign Language Interpreters conference, ‘You are (f/h) ired’, Dubrovnik, 14-16th September 2018
Bown, S. & Dekesel, K. (2019, 18th September) “Great Expectations” – To what extent does the use of a sign language interpreter, influence the decisions made by interview panels, when interviewing deaf applicants? [Webinar presentation], in Association of Sign Language Interpreters Webinar series. UK
Eun Sun Godwin and Gurmak Singh presented The tutor's role in cross-cultural interaction at the HEIR Conference Sept 2019
Judith Hamilton presented Creating a space to talk: an exploration of rapport-building in assessed dialogues for HEA Fellowship at the HEIR Conference Sept 2019
Ella Haruna and Rachel Slater co-convened a panel at the Development Studies Association (DSA) Conference in Milton-Keynes (June 2019) called ‘How do we know it works? Exploring methods for evaluating the impact of capacity strengthening in international development’. Ella presented a paper here entitled ‘‘X people trained: so what?”: Incentives and challenges in the measurement of international development training programmes (part of the CIDT RIG grant.) See https://cidt.org.uk/cidt-staff-contribute-to-the-debate-on-opening-up-development/
Dawn Jones and Lynn Ellison shared their findings in relation to how Law students interpret their assignment feedback, with a view to developing a learning resource on commonly misunderstood terms at the;
- FoSS Staff Conference July 2019
- HEIR Conference Sept 2019
Shirin Housee shared her research that underpins her book Speaking Out against Racism in the University Space at the;
- FoSS Staff Conference Sept 2019
- Student Union Believe, Belong, Achieve (BBA) launch Nov 2019
Jenni Jones has shared her research entitled Getting a better understanding of our BAME students: We can get them in, but how do we encourage them to stay, progress and attain? at the;
- UFHRD Conference June 2019
- HERAG Race Equality Conference July 2019
- Advance HE Annual Conference July 2019
- Also, with colleagues Debra Cureton and Julie Hughes at the HEIR Conference Sept 2019
Metka Potocnik presented her research on how best to encourage students to read at the HEIR Conference Sept 2019
Debra Wale presented her Q-methodology research at the Q Methodology Conference Sept 2019
Penny Welsh shared her research 'Mass higher education in England – a success story?' at the HEIR Conference Sept 2019
Marion West presented at Groningen University, Netherlands: 'Stepwise Advice Negotiation in Undergraduate Supervision' at a symposium on Language and Social Interaction in May 2019.
Marion West presented her research ‘I’m not going to tell you cos you need to think about this: Managing advice resistance and supporting autonomy in undergraduate supervision: a conversation analytic study’ at the HEIR Conference Sept 2019.
Marion West lead a discussion on: ‘I’m worried’ ‘I’m confused’: Who owns the ‘worry’ and ‘confusion’ in undergraduate supervision?’ at the HE Midlands Policy Network Debate October 2019.
The Writing from Sources project team shared findings on how students search for sources (UoW Annual Research Conference, June 2019) and problematic ways of incorporating sources in student writing (FoSS Staff Conference, Sept 2019)
“Writing from sources: how do students approach this challenge and how can we help them do it better?” The team includes Carol Bailey, Jodi Withers and Daniel Kinsey, with colleagues from FEHW with colleagues from FEHW and DSAS (Skills for Learning).
“Understanding University of Wolverhampton students’ reasons for, and experiences of, non-submission of assignments.” The team includes Jodi Withers, Mike Alger, Sally Bartholomew, Debra Wale, with colleagues from FSE and OVC.
“Punish Them or Engage Them? A New Approach Toward Developing Student Disruptive Behaviours Strategies at UoW.” The team includes Roya Rahimi, Samia Mahmood, Sarah Williams, Mumtaz Hussain, Richard Hawkins and FSE.
“Using video feedback through Panopto” (exact title - TBC) The team are Sam Pryke, Michael Rees with Gemma Witton, CoLT.
Carol Bailey and Jodi Withers are working (with Hazel Bowley from the Library Skills team) on a chapter entitled Weaving through the web: how students navigate information online in the 21st century for a book edited by Brendan Bartram (Education Observatory): Understanding Contemporary Issues in Higher Education: Contradictions, Complexities and Challenges.
Jane Booth is working on a ‘Dying to talk’ research project with students and another paper with the Hope Community/mental health (more details - TBC). Also working with Jenni Jones on the new SHiPPS buddying/mentoring project and hoping to write up an evaluation of this.
Sarah Bown has completed an article on the innovation of introducing sexual health into the interpreting curriculum. She is currently continuing her study on deaf women who use a sign language and their experience of the menopause/accessing health care services and treatment. Currently working towards a larger project bid in this area.
Bown, S. (2019) Deaf and hard of hearing women Menopause survey - Birmingham and Solihull results (I,II,III). Wolverhampton: University of Wolverhampton note: Durham, Leeds, Milton Keynes to follow)
Janet Firth is working on a paper entitled Developing a Leadership Programme for Staff in a University: A strategic approach.
Eun Sun Godwin is presenting The Future of inclusive, innovative and sustainable internationalisation of UK HE: developing a model for a true partnership with TNE partners at the SRHE (Society for Research into Higher Education) Conference (2020)
George Gosling is working on an article entitled Teaching with Archives: Towards an Agenda for Context-Based Learning in History to be submitted to Arts & Humanities in Higher Education later this year.
George Gosling has been asked by the Royal Historical Society to contribute to their new online Teaching Portal, which will be launched in Nov 2020. His module 5HS007 called 'Preserving the Past: History, Heritage and Identity' which engages with social, cultural and ethical issues to train our students to be critical consumers of history in museums, heritage sites and online, will feature as an example of good practice in History learning and teaching.
Shirin Housee is working (as contributor and editor) on a book proposal entitled Critical Pedagogy and Emancipation: A Festschrift in Memory of Joyce Canaan. Target publisher: Bloomsbury
Jenni Jones is working on a paper entitled; Distance travelled: Exploring ‘student outcomes and learning gain’ of a Business School mentoring programme (linked to an ERAS project)
Jenni Jones is working with Debra Cureton and Julie Hughes on a paper entitled; The Post Digital University: Can a digital system bridge the attainment gap or do we still need just a little of that human touch? for the journal in Postdigital Science and Education.
Metka Potocnik is working Hajrija Dergic, Helen Sergeant, Jane Booth and Ross Prior (and the Arts L&T Research group) on Art Wellbeing workshops; the plan is to run weekly (starting in Semester 2) art workshops for staff, and students, with the support of all participants involved and under the guidance of several artists.
Metka Potocnik, Hajrija Dergic and Helen Sargeant are working on the CFC Driving Innovation project, which has a number of L&T research strands to it, where students and staff from the Law School, Business School, School of Art and School of Performing Arts are working together, to achieve synergy in learning and research through interdisciplinary cooperation. They are running multiple projects, including workshops in the Career Development week; setting up a Record Label (with the support of Sarah Browne and in cooperation with Matt Bellingham); and workshops in the Black Country Business Festival in 2020 (to name a few).
Metka Potocnik, Hajrija Dergic, Eun Sun Godwin and Jane Booth are working on the FABSS L&T motivation project looking at triggers in staff motivation, in order to address student motivation. They are looking at how staff are role models for student engagement and perhaps understanding more about staff participation in out-of-class activities could prove useful going forward.
Penny Welsh is writing up her 'Mass higher education in England – a success story?' research for the journal of Postdigital Science and Education.
Marion West is writing up her HEIR presentation for the Journal of Postdigital Science & Education.
Marion West is writing a 200 word proposal for an article on Managing Resistance - to negotiate advice - in Undergraduate Supervision for a Special Edition of Research on Language and Social Interaction (ROLSI).
Stavroula Bibila is keen to evaluate work based learning, specifically focussing on Apprenticeships.
Janet Cash is keen to evaluate the student experience of distance learning students, the experience of late starters and also the effects of menopause in relation to teachers.
Alex Phillips is facilitating a working group with the GTAs, some Academic Coaches and Julie Hughes; potentially an opportunity for research collaborations here.
Are you looking for funding?
We have some funding available to support staff in our Faculty who are keen to carry out L&T research projects.
In addition, we always welcome enquiries from students wishing to join us in undertaking L&T research or organisations seeking to collaborate on new L&T research projects with us.
The group has a small budget available for L&T projects and activities.
The following key principles apply.
- You must be a regular contributor to the LaTRiSS
- You must contribute to related L&T sessions (e.g. lunchtime drop in L&T workshops, staff conferences etc.)
- You will be more likely to get funding if it relates to a LaTRiSS collaborative project
- We can allocate no more than £300 per person
- Allocation will mostly go towards conference fees but could cover other related activities e.g. transcribing fees
- You must be presenting at the conference that you wish to attend
- We will give priority to colleagues who don’t have access to QR/REF related funding (e.g. those on a scholarship role profile and/or not in a FABSS Research Cluster)
Contact us
Contact us for more information about Learning and Teaching Research in Social Sciences.
There are also a Learning and Teaching Research Group in the School of Education, the Education Observatory and an Arts Learning and Teaching Research Group.