FASSTEST

FASS Centre for Scholarship and Innovation logo

FASSTEST brings together colleagues from across the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, providing a mechanism for professional development through practice-based scholarship within a mentored community.

Much of our work is organised on a project basis with project management aimed at the delivery of new educational outcomes and scholarship outcomes. FASSTEST supports a rolling portfolio of approximately 40 active scholarship projects under a number of themes which include:

  • Online and blended tuition
  • Assessment
  • Employability/careers
  • Equality, diversity and inclusion
  • Mental health and wellbeing
  • Multisensory/multimodal learning

If you are interested in learning more about a particular project or connecting with a project team, please contact us at FASS-Scholarship@open.ac.uk. 

Projects

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88 results found

Improving the Diversity of the History Curriculum

Project leader(s):  John Slight Luc-Andre Brunet

The purpose of this scholarship project is to investigate student attitudes towards the racial and ethnic diversity of the existing History curriculum, gather information about this issue from experienced ALs who teach on History modules, and consult with academics at other universities on their

Pedagogies at the Intersection of Arts and Academia

Project leader(s):  Agnes Czajka

Having co-led the Open University’s Tate Exchange initiative over the past three years, I have come to realise that a number of colleagues in FASS and other faculties have worked – or have expressed interest in working – at the intersection of arts and academia.

Evaluating the Inclusion of Academic Coaching within an Online-Only Postgraduate Module (DD801)

Project leader(s):  Lucy Wilde Kesi Mahendran Jitse van Ameijde

The central aim of the project is to evaluate the academic coaching provided in DD801.

Take a Picture of Religion

Project leader(s):  Stefanie Sinclair John Maiden

This project critically evaluated the effectiveness and wider applicability of a creative and collaborative assessment activity included in the new OU Religious Studies module A227 ‘Exploring religion: places, practices, texts and experiences’ (TMA01), presented for the first time in October 2017

Level 1 Progression and Qualification Pathways: A Case Study in History

Project leader(s):  Linda Briggs Elayne Chaplin Suzanne Forbes

Open University students usually register for a specific degree when they begin their studies, but are able to change to a different degree pathway at various points while they are studying.

Strengthening the PhD Culture in the School of Psychology & Counselling

Project leader(s):  Eleni Andreouli Simon Clarke Julian Bond

A longstanding challenge faced by students and educators alike is the difficulty in maintaining an active PhD research culture, which, in turn, can have a negative impact on doctoral students’ progression and in the quality of their studies. The reasons of this are multiple.

Next Generation Paper for Geography Education

Project leader(s):  George Revill Benjamin Newman Sonja Rewhorn

Next Generation Paper (NGP) is a technology that blends paper-based and web-based materials using a freely downloadable phone app with page recognition that was developed as part of a 36-month ESRPC-funded project between the University of Surrey and OU.

Exploring the Role of Video Pod Usage in Online Sessions

Project leader(s):  Sinead Eccles Karen Twiselton

This two-stage project is aimed at mapping a period of change within the Open University (OU) where Associate Lecturers (ALs) are encouraged to activate their camera (or video-pod) whilst delivering online tutorials.

Evaluating the Impact of ‘Write Now’ Sessions: Adapting Approaches from Academic Writing Retreats to Create a Learning Community of Student Writers on A233

Project leader(s):  Debbie Parker Kinch Anactoria Clarke Jasmine Hunter Evans

The scholarship project will pilot and evaluate ‘write now’ sessions on the Open University English Literature module A233 ‘Telling Stories: the novel and beyond’.  These will be live online sessions aimed at helping students get writing, alongside other students who form a writing community