Dr Deborah Bell

• PGCE iQTS (DL) lecturer and module leader for EDPM01
• MA Education (DL) module leader EPDM95
• Dissertation Supervisor for MA Education
• Supervisor for Professional Doctorate students
• Assessment Innovation Champion for School of Education
• Vice Chancellor Award for research into student support systems

My research interests include support mechanisms for distance learning students. I am currently working collaboratively on a paper exploring support mechanisms for students. I also have an interest in insider research and the impact of communication in the working environment.

My professional doctorate was titled Collapsing Hierarchies and Dissolving Dichotomies in Higher Education through Subject Specific Communities of Practice. The research examined the working relationships between academic and administrative staff in a Higher Education Institution (HEI) in England. There have been numerous changes within HEIs, including the rise of neo-liberalist philosophy which has brought about high levels of surveillance and top-down bureaucratic approaches to quality improvement. The findings demonstrated that the rationale behind administrative and academic staff operating in two separate silos is not only questionable, but also limiting in opening up collaborative and cooperative opportunities for improved productivity. The research concludes that subject communities of practice possess the potential to dissolve dichotomies and collapse hierarchies between the academic and administrative staff.

I have also been awarded the Vice Chancellor Teaching Fellowship award with two colleagues to conduct research surrounding student support.

• Role of communities of practice in education
• Support systems for students in education
• Qualitative research in education
• Role of Personal Academic Tutor