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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25 results found

Exploring the Use of WhatsApp in a Distance Learning Context

Project leader(s):  Zoe Doye

The focus of the proposed scholarship project is to explore the perceived advantages and disadvantages to using WhatsApp within distance education. 

(Not) On My Own: Using Online Communities of Practice (CoP) to Encourage Development of Academic Identity of Distance Tutor

Project leader(s):  Marianna Latif Malik Refaat

DE200 is in a unique position in 19J presentation as we are lowering the group size from 20 to 15, hence need to recruit a large number of ALs to cover the groups (approximately 35). This will include ALs new to the University as well as existing ALs new to the module. 

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.

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

Does peer interaction in online tutorials impact the student experience?

Project leader(s):  Eimear O'Connor Katie Rix

When studying distance learning, researchers often focus on improving the interaction between attendees (e.g. Bernard et al., 2009). However, this type of research is often based on the assumption that interaction is beneficial for all students.

Transition to Postgraduate Study: the MA in Music

Project leader(s):  Rosemary Golding Byron Dueck

This project considers some of the barriers students might face when moving onto the MA in Music, either from within the OU or with prior experience of higher education from external institutions.

The Quality of Tutor/Student Early Interaction in Post-Level 1 Modules

Project leader(s):  Wendy Humphreys Vicky Johnson

This project builds on  a previously completed project which found considerable variation in how tutors communicate with their students at the beginning of a module.