Direct entrants as route guides to the higher education landscape
Conference Proceeding
Taylor-Smith, E., Meharg, D., & Fabian, K. (in press)
Direct entrants as route guides to the higher education landscape. In SRHE International Conference 2022
Students who study for an HND at further education college and then join the university directly into the 3 rd year of their honours degree are a valuable segment of our acade...
Transactional distance in the context of online and blended learning
Presentation / Conference
Fabian, K., Smith, S., Taylor-Smith, E., & Meharg, D. (2022, September)
Transactional distance in the context of online and blended learning. Paper presented at Association for Learning Technology Annual Conference, Manchester
Moore’s (1993) transactional distance theory recognises that communications and psychological distance between learner and teacher are affected by course structure, dialogue b...
Identifying factors influencing study skills engagement and participation for online learners in higher education during Covid-19
Journal Article
Fabian, K., Smith, S., Taylor-Smith, E., & Meharg, D. (2022)
Identifying factors influencing study skills engagement and participation for online learners in higher education during Covid-19. British Journal of Educational Technology, 53(6), 1915-1936. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13221
The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted education across the world as campuses closed to restrict the spread of the virus. UK universities swiftly migrated to online delivery. The exp...
An exploration of degree apprentice perspectives: A Q methodology study
Journal Article
Fabian, K., Taylor-Smith, E., Smith, S., Meharg, D., & Varey, A. (2022)
An exploration of degree apprentice perspectives: A Q methodology study. Studies in Higher Education, 47(7), 1397-1409. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2021.1897094
Degree apprenticeships have recently been introduced in the UK, representing a significant shift in approaches to degree-level study: from traditional models of higher educati...
Facilitating computing students' transition to higher education
Conference Proceeding
Fabian, K., Taylor-Smith, E., Meharg, D., & Varey, A. (2019)
Facilitating computing students' transition to higher education. In UKICER: Proceedings of the 1st UK & Ireland Computing Education Research Conference. https://doi.org/10.1145/3351287.3351298
Students who progress to higher education from further education colleges are faced with academic, social, and logistical challenges during their transition. In general, they ...
Bridging the Digital Skills Gap: Are computing degree apprenticeships the answer?
Conference Proceeding
Taylor-Smith, E., Smith, S., Fabian, K., Berg, T., Meharg, D., & Varey, A. (2019)
Bridging the Digital Skills Gap: Are computing degree apprenticeships the answer?. In ITiCSE '19 Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education. , (126-132). https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319744
This paper describes a study investigating whether apprenticeship computing degrees in Scotland are attracting additional entrants who will become IT professionals and fill a ...
"We're coming from different worlds" : exploring student identity during transition
Conference Proceeding
Meharg, D., Varey, A., & Cairncross, S. (2018)
"We're coming from different worlds" : exploring student identity during transition. In SRHE Newer and Early Career Conference 2018 Proceedings
This study presents empirical work examining the student journey from further to higher education in computing degrees in Scotland and seeks to understand the complex formatio...
STEM Apprenticeship Degrees: Motivations and aspirations of apprentices
Presentation / Conference
Smith, S., Taylor-Smith, E., Meharg, D., Smith, C., & Varey, A. (2018, June)
STEM Apprenticeship Degrees: Motivations and aspirations of apprentices. Paper presented at Horizons in STEM Higher Education, Hull
Using the Apprenticeship Levy, England piloted Degree Apprenticeships in 2014 and Scotland followed with Graduate Apprenticeships in 2017. In Scotland, the apprenticeships are...
A Comparative Study of Transitional Support: Identifying Best Practice
Conference Proceeding
Marr, S., & Meharg, D. (2017)
A Comparative Study of Transitional Support: Identifying Best Practice
This study shares the findings of a comparative case study, examining support for students transitioning from further education institutes (FEIs) to advanced entry in universi...
Belonging: Blurring the Boundaries
Journal Article
Meharg, D., Craighill, S., Varey, A., & Cairncross, S. (2017)
Belonging: Blurring the Boundaries. Scottish Educational Review, 49(1), 89-103
This paper applies Whitchurch’s (2008) concept of the ‘third space’ to the emergent territory occupied by further education college students as they ‘cross the boundary’ to co...