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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34 results found

How does recording affect Creative Writing tutorials:-a first-year review

Project leader(s):  Natalie Lewis Donall MacCathmhaoill Emma Claire Sweeney Lania Knight

In the first year of presentation (October 2022), the OU Level 2 module Creative Writing will record designated online tutorials.

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.

Face to Face Day schools: Understanding attendance and non-attendance on psychology modules

Project leader(s):  Caroline Kelly Katy Smith Marianna Latif Rachel Penny Paige Cuffe Madeline Knightley

This project aimed to understand attendance for optional face-to-face tuition events on psychology modules. A mixed method approach was used to capture the student voice, and the five methods are presented here.

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.

Understanding the influence of demographics on attendance and access of synchronous and asynchronous online tuition

Project leader(s):  Lindsay Crisp Melissa Bailey Hannah Lavery Donna Smith Katy Smith Joanna Robson

This project draws together a team of colleagues from across the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences to explore participation in ‘live’ online learning events and summary recordings with no students present known as ‘Learning Event Summaries’ (LES).

Trialling multiple innovations; production, pedagogy and delivery on A329, the Making of Welsh History

Project leader(s):  Richard Marsden

Independent learning is usually envisaged as something that students do alone. But on ‘A329, The Making of Welsh History’, an online distance-learning dissertation module at the Open University, the situation is quite the reverse.

Impact on formal points of tutor contact on student outcome and experience on new L1 module D120

Project leader(s):  Marianna Latif Alicia Townshend

This study aims to explore the impact of early tutor contact on the D120 module, looking at the student experience, the tutor relationship and retention and progression. D120 is a new level 1 psychology module which started in October 2023.

Learning from YouTube: Popular Culture and Geography Distance Education

Project leader(s):  Benjamin Newman Colin Lorne George Revill

The purpose of this project is to explore the potential of thinking from popular and everyday online media spaces such as YouTube.

Students' Experience of Research Methods Teaching Level 2

Project leader(s):  Jennifer Mattschey

The project investigates Psychology students’ perception of both quantitative and qualitative research methods teaching at level 2, with the aim to identify new and more effective approaches to teaching these topics.