Outputs (71)

Graduate apprenticeships are great opportunities for individuals, but are they inclusive? (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Taylor-Smith, E., Smith, S., & Varey, A. (2018, December). Graduate apprenticeships are great opportunities for individuals, but are they inclusive?. Paper presented at Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Annual Conference, Newport, Wales

Higher education-level apprenticeships can provide routes to university degrees for people without the financial resources for traditional degrees. In Scotland, the first cohorts of graduate apprentices began their studies in 2017, including cohorts... Read More about Graduate apprenticeships are great opportunities for individuals, but are they inclusive?.

Enhancing learning confidence for direct entry computing students (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Fabian, K., Taylor-Smith, E., Meharg, D., & Varey, A. (2018, December). Enhancing learning confidence for direct entry computing students. Paper presented at The Changing Shape of Higher Education: Can excellence and inclusion cohabit?, Newport, UK

Previous studies have shown that students who transfer into university from college (direct entrants) face several challenges when they enter university. In response, the Associate Student Project supports students who enter university directly into... Read More about Enhancing learning confidence for direct entry computing students.

Democratic Participation through Crocheted Memes. (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Taylor-Smith, E., Smith, C. F., & Smyth, M. (2018). Democratic Participation through Crocheted Memes. In SMSociety '18 Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Social Media and Society (178-186). https://doi.org/10.1145/3217804.3217910

In a UK city, various crocheted protest banners have appeared, containing political statements concerning planned developments in their locations. Photos of these banners are shared across social media, raising awareness and potentially playing a rol... Read More about Democratic Participation through Crocheted Memes..

STEM Apprenticeship Degrees: Motivations and aspirations of apprentices (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
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 determined by employer demand for skills and delivered by universities. Gr... Read More about STEM Apprenticeship Degrees: Motivations and aspirations of apprentices.

From work-integrated learning to learning-integrated work: motivations and apprehensions of Graduate Apprentices (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Smith, S., Taylor-Smith, E., Smith, C., & Varey, A. (2018). From work-integrated learning to learning-integrated work: motivations and apprehensions of Graduate Apprentices. In Proceedings of the 3rdInternational Research Symposium on Cooperative and Wor

Graduate Apprenticeship (GA) degrees bring new collaborations between universities and employers and new opportunities for apprentices—to gain a university degree, while also being in formal employment. In 2017, Scotland introduced funding for GAs: s... Read More about From work-integrated learning to learning-integrated work: motivations and apprehensions of Graduate Apprentices.

Investigating the online and offline contexts of day-to-day democracy as participation spaces. (2018)
Journal Article
Taylor-Smith, E., & Smith, C. F. (2019). Investigating the online and offline contexts of day-to-day democracy as participation spaces. Information, Communication and Society, 22(13), 1853-1870. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2018.1469656

Citizen-led participation in democracy is explored through studying the online and offline spaces where people work together to influence those in power and improve their communities. The concept of a participation space is introduced to describe the... Read More about Investigating the online and offline contexts of day-to-day democracy as participation spaces..

Placement or practicalities? Barriers and disincentives to work experience, as reported by computing students (2017)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Taylor-Smith, E., Smith, S., & Smith, C. (2017, December). Placement or practicalities? Barriers and disincentives to work experience, as reported by computing students. Paper presented at Society for Research Into Higher Education (SRHE) Annual Conferen

Having relevant work experience, such as a placement or internship, is valued by employers in the technology sector and can improve employment outcomes for computing graduates (Shadbolt 2016). However, gaining good work experience positions is compet... Read More about Placement or practicalities? Barriers and disincentives to work experience, as reported by computing students.

Towards graduate employment: exploring student identity through a university-wide employability project (2017)
Journal Article
Smith, S., Smith, C., Taylor-Smith, E., & Fotheringham, J. (2019). Towards graduate employment: exploring student identity through a university-wide employability project. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 43(5), 628-640. https://doi.org/10.1080/03

Students have expectations of their university education leading to graduate careers, with universities investing considerable resources in institution-wide initiatives designed to enhance opportunities for student work placements and work-related le... Read More about Towards graduate employment: exploring student identity through a university-wide employability project.

Taking education for granted: the role of placement in computing science (2017)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Smith, S., Smith, C., Taylor-Smith, E., & Gemma, W. (2017, June). Taking education for granted: the role of placement in computing science. Presented at Horizons in STEM Higher Education Conference

The importance of placements and internships was highlighted in the 2016 Shadbolt Review of Computer Science Degree Accreditation and Graduate Employability – indeed the second recommendation of the review was to extend and promote work experience .... Read More about Taking education for granted: the role of placement in computing science.

An Enhanced Route from FE to HE Graduation? (2017)
Journal Article
Meharg, D., Taylor-Smith, E., Varey, A., Mooney, C., & Dallas, S. (2017). An Enhanced Route from FE to HE Graduation?. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 5(2), 85-92. https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v5i2.269

This study explores student transitions from further (FE) to higher (HE) education through the Associate Student Project (ASP) and examines the effectiveness of this enhanced transition programme for direct entry students. Universities are expected t... Read More about An Enhanced Route from FE to HE Graduation?.