Personal statement

My central area of research is higher education pedagogy. I focus on two areas: (1) intercultural competence development and (2) integrating writing instruction into teacher education programmes. In both areas, I aim my work at widening access to education for underrepresented students while improving the quality of higher education student experience for all.

I lead an international research group that develops ways to teach and assess intercultural competence. Our most current article, "Capturing Nonlinear Intercultrual Development via Student Reflective Writing," advances new qualitative tools for measuring intercultural competence. These tools operationalise reflective writing to reveal dynamic IC development trajectories, displaying nonlinearity, nondiscrete phases, and unexpected developmental pathways -- facets of IC not observable in more traditional quantiative measures. More about this work can be found at http://writeic.org. 

Currently, I serve as PI for a Carnegie-funded research project on developing academic writing among teacher education students, with a particular focus on mature students. This work is the first of its kind in Scotland. 

Research ethics -- particularly developing an expansive understanding of ethics beyond the procedural -- is an area where I have built expertise. In Strathclyde Institute of Education, I co-lead the Institute Ethics Committee, and have initated a focus on strengthening ethical learning among HE researchers and teachers. I've worked with education-sector colleagues on a SUII-funded project to develop a shared understanding of research ethics among schools, local authorities, government, and universities to forward more collaborative research practices. Finally, I'm part of an interdisciplinary team with Dr Mark Haw and Dr Jordan Kistler that focuses on using science fiction to enhance ethical imagination among STEM students & professionals. 

My teaching similarly focuses on widening access. I've led initatives in the Institute to embed academic literacies into teacher education, master's programmes, and doctoral support with an eye toward ensuring that all students have the tools they need to create meaningful language (especially to write effectively) in a higher education setting. Over the last four years, I have taught across the PGDE, BA Primary Education, MSc Education Studies, Supporting Teacher Learning MEd pathway, BA Childhood Practice, and Joint Honours courses. As well, I supervise PhD, EdD, and MSc students.

I am an honorary chaplain for the University chaplaincy, with a partiuclar focuses on creating a welcoming environment for international students. More information can be found here: https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/ourcampus/whatsoncampus/faithspiritualitysupport/. Outside the University, I serve on the governing body of the Scottish Episcopal Institute (a theological HEI).