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The Department
Introduction
The Department of Educational Research was established at Lancaster in 1967 and is recognised for its excellence in terms of both teaching and research. Since the first Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) in 1992, research in the department has been ranked consistently at grade 5 ('of international excellence'). Our teaching gained the highest available score (24/24) in the 2001 Subject Review conducted by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). We also received the top rating of "full confidence" in our teaching programmes from the Periodic Quality Review panel in March 2008.
The QAA reported that our Department has:
"Distinctive and highly specialised programmes which are current and academically rigorous....Well qualified and enthusiastic staff...Excellent progression and completion rates...Approachable and readily accessible administrative staff."
The Periodic Quality Review panel commended us especially for the support
we offer students, the ways in which we encourage discussion about teaching
and learning in the department and the innovative new programmes we have
developed over the last few years.
We take pride in our collegial approach, offering students a friendly,
inclusive environment in which to study. Feedback from our students confirms
that we provide an environment for successful and enjoyable study, a fact
reflected in student satisfaction surveys.
We are distinctive in the Higher Education sector as, unlike almost all
other university education departments, we have never been involved directly
in Initial Teacher Training. We focus instead on offering innovative specialist
programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Teaching
Undergraduate
The Department’s undergraduate programme plays a major role in the University's flexible degree system, offering the BSc Psychology in Education.
Postgraduate
The Doctoral Programme in Educational Research is a part-time programme leading to a PhD in Educational Research. It has been developed to meet the needs of experienced professionals in the areas of HE and FE. Students follow a four year programme where a significant portion of the work is structured, supported and assessed through modules which involve directed study and residential teaching. Students also produce a final research thesis.
The Doctoral Programme in E-Research and Technology Enhanced Learning offers a professional qualification in this specialist area. The programme aims to support the acquisition and extension of skills needed to design, produce, use and research IT-based learning resources. The structure is modular, designed for part-time study, blending home or work-based independent study with short residential periods. Tutorial support is provided through computer-mediated communication using Moodle.
Opportunities also exist for full or part-time students to follow their own research interests to MPhil or PhD level.
Research
We are a research-led department with strengths in post-school as well as school-based education. Over the years our focus in terms of thematic areas has evolved, reflecting staff changes and shifting priorities in the fields of educational policy and practice.
We benefit from being part of an interdisciplinary grouping of departments in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences , and we collaborate with colleagues in Computing, Linguistics, the Management School and Psychology. We are especially active in cross-departmental research centres in the University such as the Lancaster Literacy Research Centre.
We currently have research groups in:
- Post-compulsory Education
- Psychology in Education and
- Technology Enhanced Learning
Within and across these areas we have particular strengths in gender, literacy studies, evaluation, Higher Education and Widening Participation. We have a large number of externally funded projects and these feed into our teaching programmes. They enable us to keep up-to-date with current thinking and changes in policy and practice and to develop and market our programmes in line with these.
Psychology in Education
The department has a very strong profile of research in the application of psychology to education. This includes current and recent research projects within a range of educational contexts from pre-school through compulsory schooling to Higher Education and work based settings.
A group of staff and associated PhD students focus on applied cognitive psychology including memory, the design of technology enhanced learning, and perceptual processes in blind and visually impaired people. For example Catherine Fritz has undertaken research on memory improvement strategies and is currently leading an interdisciplinary project, funded by the ESRC, concerned with the learning and teaching of statistics. Julie-Anne Sime's research has focused on the design of software tools to support reasoning, reflection and team training. She has undertaken many industrial collaborations funded by the European Union's IST (Information Societies programme) enabling her to look at complex real-world training issues. Leanne Thompson is interested in the ways that blind and visually impaired people perceive and represent objects. Her research has focused on the design of tactual pictorial displays.
We also have a distinctive research interest in the new fusion of psychological
and sociological approaches to education. This incorporates research into
identity, gender and motivational processes. For example Yvette Solomon
has published widely on the development of mathematical knowledge with
regard to learner identities. Carolyn Jackson, funded by the Nuffield
Foundation and the ESRC, has researched the construction of laddish identities.
Jo Warin has conducted a unique longitudinal ethnographic study with children/young
people over a fourteen year period focused on the construction of their
personal identities. Colin Rogers has a long established research expertise
in motivational style, classroom behaviour and self esteem and has recently
published research, funded by DfES, on the motivational effects of ICT.
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