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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57 results found

University Connectedness, Relational Depth, Wellbeing, Anxiety, and Academic Achievement in FASS Students

Project leader(s):  Gina Di Malta Naomi Moller Katy Smith

The rising numbers of university students reporting mental health difficulties – and how best to respond to this need - is a known concern in the sector.

Supporting Learners with Mental Health Difficulties

Project leader(s):  Anastasia Economou

This project aspires to provide helpful insights into how tutors can best teach and support students with mental health difficulties in a distance learning context. 

Understanding Student Learning of Emotive and Sensitive Content

Project leader(s):  Julia Downes Ruth Wall Anne Alvaer

This ongoing project investigates how diverse distance students learn about sensitive and emotive topics in an undergraduate introductory criminology module.

Running an Effective Online Gallery Visit

Project leader(s):  Lindsay Crisp Veronica Davies

We know that there are a number of both tangible and intangible ‘tried and tested’ benefits of face-to-face gallery visits.

An Investigation into the Use of Peer Observation as a Tool for Professional Development and an Aid to Developing a Professional Evaluative Culture Among Associate Lecturers

Project leader(s):  Judith Wilson-Hughes Tatiana Blackmore Liz Wright

The idea for this scholarship project stemmed from the search for alternative routes of professional development which can be offered to Associate Lecturers (tutors).  The recent changes in teaching practice following the introduction of the group tuition policy in 2016 brought a shift

How can Tutors Deliver Effective Teaching and Support to Creative Writing Students with Mental Health Difficulties

Project leader(s):  Joanne Reardon Melissa Bailey Natalie Lewis

This project arose from anecdotal evidence obtained from tutors indicating that mental health is a key factor behind students struggling to achieve their potential.

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. 

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

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

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.