Outputs (16)

Apprentices' longitudinal perspectives of the tripartite collaboration at the heart of degree apprenticeships (2022)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Taylor-Smith, E., Smith, S., & Fabian, K. (2022, September). Apprentices' longitudinal perspectives of the tripartite collaboration at the heart of degree apprenticeships. Paper presented at Organisational Learning, Knowledge and Capabilities, OLKC 2022,

Purpose: In degree apprenticeships, the tripartite collaboration between the apprentice, the employer, and the university is key to success. As the apprentices are at the centre of the degree, their lived experience and reflections are essential to... Read More about Apprentices' longitudinal perspectives of the tripartite collaboration at the heart of degree apprenticeships.

Transactional distance in the context of online and blended learning (2022)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
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 between lecturers and students, and learner’s autonomy. These factors affect... Read More about Transactional distance in the context of online and blended learning.

Degree Apprentices’ Lockdown Survey: Reflections on working and studying from home (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Taylor-Smith, E., & Fabian, K. (2021). Degree Apprentices’ Lockdown Survey: Reflections on working and studying from home. In SRHE International Conference on Research into Higher Education

During the first UK lockdown period, degree apprentices in two universities in Scotland were invited to complete a short qualitative survey with their reflections on starting to work and study from home. They were encouraged to complete the survey o... Read More about Degree Apprentices’ Lockdown Survey: Reflections on working and studying from home.

How are we positioning degree apprenticeships? Analysis of adverts (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Fabian, K., Taylor-Smith, E., & Smith, S. (2021). How are we positioning degree apprenticeships? Analysis of adverts. In SRHE International Conference on Research into Higher Education

Degree apprentices are recruited by employers, rather than universities, reflecting their status as paid employees, first and foremost. This study analysed job adverts for IT degree apprenticeship roles to investigate the: skills, attributes, and qua... Read More about How are we positioning degree apprenticeships? Analysis of adverts.

Associate Student Project: Facilitating computing students’ transition to higher education (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Taylor-Smith, E., Meharg, D., Fabian, K., & Varey, A. (2021, March). Associate Student Project: Facilitating computing students’ transition to higher education. Presented at Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Conference 2021, Online

The Associate Student (ASP) project supports Computing students who study two years at a Further Education college (achieving an HND) then transfer directly into third year, studying for two more years to complete an honours degree (BSc or BEng). Stu... Read More about Associate Student Project: Facilitating computing students’ transition to higher education.

Earn as you learn: Widening participation through apprenticeships as debt-free degrees (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Meharg, D., Smith, S., Taylor-Smith, E., & Khristin, F. (2021, March). Earn as you learn: Widening participation through apprenticeships as debt-free degrees. Presented at Advance HE Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Conference 2021, Online

Apprenticeship Degrees provide opportunities to study for a degree without incurring debt. Collaborations between employers and HEIs enable new or established employees to earn while they learn, with their fees paid. This facilitates people to study... Read More about Earn as you learn: Widening participation through apprenticeships as debt-free degrees.

Computing degree apprenticeships: An opportunity to address gender imbalance in the IT sector? (2020)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Smith, S., Taylor-Smith, E., Fabian, K., Barr, M., Berg, T., Cutting, D., …Zarb, M. (2020). Computing degree apprenticeships: An opportunity to address gender imbalance in the IT sector?. In 2020 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE). https://do

This paper explores the potential for new work-based apprenticeship degrees to encourage more women into computing degrees and the IT sector. In the UK, women are currently under-represented on computing courses. Meanwhile the IT industry requires mo... Read More about Computing degree apprenticeships: An opportunity to address gender imbalance in the IT sector?.

Facilitating computing students' transition to higher education (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Fabian, K., Taylor-Smith, E., Meharg, D., & Varey, A. (2019, September). Facilitating computing students' transition to higher education. Presented at 1st UK & Ireland Computing Education Research Conference (UKICER), Canterbury, United Kingdom

Students who progress to higher education from further education colleges are faced with academic, social, and logistical challenges during their transition. In general, they find university life more challenging compared to students who have been at... Read More about Facilitating computing students' transition to higher education.

Bridging the Digital Skills Gap: Are computing degree apprenticeships the answer? (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
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 Com

This paper describes a study investigating whether apprenticeship computing degrees in Scotland are attracting additional entrants who will become IT professionals and fill a skills need. Government policy reports, from around the world, set out plan... Read More about Bridging the Digital Skills Gap: Are computing degree apprenticeships the answer?.

Exploring women's motivations to study computer science (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Smith, S., Sobolewska, E., Bhardwaj, J., & Fabian, K. (2019). Exploring women's motivations to study computer science. In Proceedings of the Frontiers in Education 2018 Conference. https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2018.8658768

This paper presents a study exploring women's decisions, influencers and early experiences of computing to better understand how women's motivations and prior experience affect their decision to study computer science (CS). The emergence of a gender... Read More about Exploring women's motivations to study computer science.