Dr Nick Pilcher's Outputs (77)

The Role of Experienced Practitioners in Engineering Education: the End of an Era? (2016)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Craig, N., Tennant, S., Murray, M., Forster, A., & Pilcher, N. (2016, July). The Role of Experienced Practitioners in Engineering Education: the End of an Era?. Presented at ISEE 6th International Symposium for Engineering Education

Delivering excellence in higher engineering education is dependent on many variables. This includes programme design, delivery and content, university support and the knowledge, experience and enthusiasm of faculty members. Over the past decade there... Read More about The Role of Experienced Practitioners in Engineering Education: the End of an Era?.

Port governance in Taiwan: How hypocrisy helps meet aspirations of change (2016)
Journal Article
Tseng, P.-H., & Pilcher, N. (2016). Port governance in Taiwan: How hypocrisy helps meet aspirations of change. Research in Transportation Business & Management, 22, 38-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2016.07.003

In Taiwan, significant port reform commenced in 2012 that aspired to enhance port performance and competitiveness. Previously managed by four units, the ports are now managed by only two: the Maritime and Port Bureau (MPB) (a port regulator) and the... Read More about Port governance in Taiwan: How hypocrisy helps meet aspirations of change.

An individual subjectivist critique of the use of corpus linguistics to inform pedagogical materials. (2016)
Journal Article
Richards, K., & Pilcher, N. (2016). An individual subjectivist critique of the use of corpus linguistics to inform pedagogical materials. Dialogic Pedagogy, 4, https://doi.org/10.5195/dpj.2016.163

Corpus Linguistics, or the gathering together of language into a body for analysis and development of materials, claims itself an assured, established method (or field) that valuably informs pedagogical materials and knowledge of language. The fundam... Read More about An individual subjectivist critique of the use of corpus linguistics to inform pedagogical materials..

The paradigmatic hearts of subjects which their "English" flows through (2016)
Journal Article
Pilcher, N., & Richards, K. (2016). The paradigmatic hearts of subjects which their "English" flows through. Higher Education Research and Development, 35(5), 997-1010. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2016.1138455

Much research into the use of corpora and discourse to support higher education students on pre-sessional and in-sessional courses champions subject specificity. Drawing on the work of writers such as Bakhtin (1981) and Voloshinov (1973), in this art... Read More about The paradigmatic hearts of subjects which their "English" flows through.

Deconstructing 'Mono'-Lingualism: considerations of value for 'English' 'language' education in a global setting. (2015)
Book Chapter
Pilcher, N., & Richards, K. (2015). Deconstructing 'Mono'-Lingualism: considerations of value for 'English' 'language' education in a global setting. In L. T. Wong, & A. Dubey-Jhaveri (Eds.), English language education in a global world: practices, issues and challenges (81-90). Nova Science Publishers

Traditionally, language speakers are categorised as mono-lingual, bilingual, or multilingual. It is traditionally assumed in English language education that the ‘lingual’ is something that can be ‘fixed’ in form, written down to be learnt, and taught... Read More about Deconstructing 'Mono'-Lingualism: considerations of value for 'English' 'language' education in a global setting..

Avoiding dialogues of non-discovery through promoting dialogues of discovery. (2015)
Journal Article
Richards, K., & Pilcher, N. (2015). Avoiding dialogues of non-discovery through promoting dialogues of discovery. Dialogic Pedagogy, 3, 43-64. https://doi.org/10.5195/dpj.2015.101

International students and direct entrants—those entering a higher year of a degree—often come from socio-economic or cultural backgrounds different from traditional students, and have different educational backgrounds. It is assumed such students ne... Read More about Avoiding dialogues of non-discovery through promoting dialogues of discovery..

The impact of National Qualifications Frameworks: by which yardstick do we measure dreams? (2015)
Journal Article
Pilcher, N., Fernie, S., & Smith, K. (2017). The impact of National Qualifications Frameworks: by which yardstick do we measure dreams?. Journal of Education and Work, 30(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2015.1122178

National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) are a global phenomenon. This is evidenced by their scale, coverage and intrinsic link with education policy across Europe and beyond. Research into their impact has encompassed a number of perspectives; theo... Read More about The impact of National Qualifications Frameworks: by which yardstick do we measure dreams?.

A study of the potential of shore power for the port of Kaohsiung, Taiwan: To introduce or not to introduce? (2015)
Journal Article
Tseng, P.-H., & Pilcher, N. (2015). A study of the potential of shore power for the port of Kaohsiung, Taiwan: To introduce or not to introduce?. Research in Transportation Business & Management, 17, 83-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2015.09.001

To reduce ship emissions in port and city environments, cold ironing, or shore power has been suggested and implemented in many global advanced ports. Shore power is a land-to-ship electricity connection that allows ships to switch off onboard diesel... Read More about A study of the potential of shore power for the port of Kaohsiung, Taiwan: To introduce or not to introduce?.

Hunt the shadow not the substance: the rise of the career academic in construction education (2015)
Journal Article
Tennant, S., Murray, M., Forster, A., & Pilcher, N. (2015). Hunt the shadow not the substance: the rise of the career academic in construction education. Teaching in Higher Education, 20(7), 723-737. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2015.1070342

Construction education is context-laden, navigating and reflecting the byzantine influences of period, place and person. Despite considerable rhetoric, in UK higher education (HE) and construction studies in particular the importance of contextualize... Read More about Hunt the shadow not the substance: the rise of the career academic in construction education.

International Students' First Encounters with Exams in the UK: Superficially Similar But Deeply Different (2013)
Journal Article
Pilcher, N., Smith, K., & Riley, J. (2013). International Students' First Encounters with Exams in the UK: Superficially Similar But Deeply Different. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2013(1), 1-13

Although end of course exams remain a key mode of assessment in higher education, little research has focused on international students' experiences of exams. There seems to be a tacit assumption in most literature that exam preparation and strategie... Read More about International Students' First Encounters with Exams in the UK: Superficially Similar But Deeply Different.

‘Discuss, Analyse, Define …’ Non-traditional Students Come to Terms with Cultures of Learning in the UK (2013)
Book Chapter
Pilcher, N., & Richards, K. (2013). ‘Discuss, Analyse, Define …’ Non-traditional Students Come to Terms with Cultures of Learning in the UK. In M. Cortazzi, & L. Jin (Eds.), Researching Intercultural Learning (135-151). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137291646_8

In contrast to students in many countries, British university students are often older than the common 18–22 age range; some are ‘non-traditional’ students who may have had experience of work in industrial or professional contexts before they study.... Read More about ‘Discuss, Analyse, Define …’ Non-traditional Students Come to Terms with Cultures of Learning in the UK.

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework: what's academic practice got to do with it? (2013)
Journal Article
Fernie, S., Pilcher, N., & Smith, K. L. (2014). The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework: what's academic practice got to do with it?. European Journal of Education, 49(2), 233-248. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12056

National Qualifications Frameworks (NQF) are a globally established and expanding phenomenon. They are increasingly merging and being mapped onto meta-qualifications frameworks. One key NQF in both these roles is the Scottish Credit and Qualification... Read More about The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework: what's academic practice got to do with it?.

Contextualising higher education assessment task words with an ‘anti-glossary’ approach (2013)
Journal Article
Richards, K., & Pilcher, N. (2014). Contextualising higher education assessment task words with an ‘anti-glossary’ approach. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 27(5), 604-625. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2013.805443

Key ‘generic’ assessment task words such as ‘discuss’ and ‘critically evaluate’ are integral to higher education assessment. Although sources such as study skills guides give generic decontextualised glossaries of these words, much research rightly a... Read More about Contextualising higher education assessment task words with an ‘anti-glossary’ approach.

Da capo: A musical technique to evoke narrative recall (2013)
Journal Article
Pilcher, N., Cortazzi, M., & Jin, L. (2014). Da capo: A musical technique to evoke narrative recall. Psychology of Music, 42(4), 483-502. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735613480257

This article proposes the use of recorded music chosen by researchers to elicit participant accounts of life experiences, a technique we name ‘da capo recall.’ Fifteen mainland Chinese students who had studied in the UK were played seven contrasting... Read More about Da capo: A musical technique to evoke narrative recall.

Language choices and 'blind shadows': investigating interviews with Chinese participants (2011)
Journal Article
Cortazzi, M., Pilcher, N., & Jin, L. (2011). Language choices and 'blind shadows': investigating interviews with Chinese participants. Qualitative Research, 11(5), 505-535. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794111413225

This article shows the importance of the language chosen for research interviewing when more than one language could be used. It does so through the context of research with Chinese speakers published in English. The article has two research aims: fi... Read More about Language choices and 'blind shadows': investigating interviews with Chinese participants.

The UK postgraduate Masters dissertation: an ‘elusive chameleon’? (2011)
Journal Article
Pilcher, N. (2011). The UK postgraduate Masters dissertation: an ‘elusive chameleon’?. Teaching in Higher Education, 16(1), 29-40. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2011.530752

Many studies into the process of producing and supervising dissertations exist, yet little research into the ‘product’ of the Masters dissertation, or into how Masters supervision changes over time exist. Drawing on 62 semi-structured interviews with... Read More about The UK postgraduate Masters dissertation: an ‘elusive chameleon’?.

National Qualification Frameworks: developing research perspectives. (2009)
Journal Article
Fernie, S., & Pilcher, N. (2009). National Qualification Frameworks: developing research perspectives. Quality in Higher Education, 15, 221-232. https://doi.org/10.1080/13538320903343099

Arguments for National Qualification Frameworks (NQF) are compelling. Indeed, such frameworks are now an international phenomenon. Yet, few studies take a critical perspective and challenge the broad assumptions underpinning NQF. Arguments presented... Read More about National Qualification Frameworks: developing research perspectives..