About the Authors

David Allan is a Reader in Further Education and Training at Edge Hill University, UK and holds a PhD in Educational Research from Lancaster University. He has a background in teaching in a variety of settings, including secondary schools, further education, adult learning, and higher education. His research interests have focused on disaffection with learning, student voice, attitudes to learning, and Lesson Study. He is particularly interested in the Bourdieusian concepts of habitus and capital, and the interplay between students’ agency and the institutional structures that can impact on learning. He is currently working on two large, international projects around vocational learning in HE, collaborating with partners in countries such as Greece, Kazakhstan, Laos, Russia, Serbia, and Vietnam. He has previously explored the use of Lesson Study as a tool for pedagogical knowledge sharing and for empowering disengaged students in schools. At present, he is leading two research projects looking at the impact of using Lesson Study as a strategy for collaborative pedagogical knowledge construction in both HE teaching and teacher training programs. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Prism: Casting New Light on Learning, Theory and Practice.

Ana Baptista holds a PhD (with distinction and honors) on the quality of doctoral research supervision. She has teaching experience in primary, secondary and higher education (HE). She has been working in Education since 2005. She is currently a Principal Teaching Fellow and Strategic Lead for Medical Education Transformation at the Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London (UK). She has been developing partnerships with established academics and GTAs to enhance HE teaching and learning processes across different disciplines, and she has designed and carried out continuous professional development training courses for HE academics, working in a wide spectrum of disciplinary domains, in Portugal. She has been involved in several research and scholarship projects related to interconnected pedagogical areas, namely: linking teaching and research, undergraduate research, non-traditional students, academic success and retention, curriculum development, and HE teaching staff development. She is interested in how different pedagogical practices are transferable to different disciplines, while also having “signature” characteristics when applied in specific disciplines. She has been acting as a reviewer of international journals and conferences for several years.

Patrick Blessinger, EdD, is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Education at St John’s University, a Math and Science Teacher with the New York State Education Department, and the Chief Research Scientist of the International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association (in consultative status with the United Nations). He is the editor and author of many books and articles and he is an Educational Policy Analyst and Contributing Writer with UNESCO’s Inclusive Policy Lab, University World News, The Hechinger Report, The Guardian, and Higher Education Tomorrow, among others. He teaches courses in Education, Leadership, and Research Methods and he serves on doctoral dissertation committees. He founded and leads a global network of educators focused on teaching and learning and he is an expert in inclusion, equity, leadership, policy, democracy, human rights, and sustainable development. He provides professional development workshops to teachers and professors and regularly gives presentations and keynote addresses at academic conferences around the world. He has received several educational awards, including: Fulbright Senior Scholar to Denmark (Department of State, USA), Governor’s Teaching Fellow (Institute of Higher Education, University of Georgia, USA), and Certified Educator (National Geographic Society, USA).

Cheryl Cruz, Ed.D., is an Education Consultant at CREATE Opportunities, LLC in Portland, Oregon, which she started in 2012. As an Education Consultant, she develops projects that focus on societal issues. Her latest project looks at racial justice and racial trauma in the workplace. The unique component of this project is the use of high-quality project-based learning to design and implement a workplace pilot to address the problem. In addition, she is currently working full-time in non-profit housing providing support services for newly housed populations in Portland. Dr Cruz utilizes her Adult Education background to develop curriculum for onsite programs such as Trauma-Informed Financial Empowerment based on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Train the Trainer curriculum. She is certified by the National Council for Behavioral Health as a Mental Health First Responder and has created and implemented a Housing Stability Plan project based on readiness assessments from the State of Virginia. Dr Cruz has developed and delivered project-based learning for continuing education professional development sponsored by the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) for Peer Support Specialists who work with vulnerable populations. Her expertise as an Adult Education practitioner has been the foundation for developing and delivering project-based learning presentations and hands-on trainings for TESOL International, COABE National Conference, University of Georgia’s Teacher Academy and In-service Trainer for Metropolitan Family Service in Portland. Dr Cruz has been an Adjunct Professor for colleges and universities in New York, Florida, Washington and Oregon, where she has taught immigrants, refugees and international students using project-based learning for English language acquisition, integration, and preparation for higher education programs .

Philip Davies is a Teaching Fellow in English for Academic Purposes at the University of Edinburgh. He has both a Certificate and Diploma in Language Teaching to Adults as well as a Master’s in Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching. The topic of his Master’s dissertation was contact linguistics, investigating the impact of English phrasal verb frequencies and their loan translations in Welsh. He is currently nearing completion of his submission to become Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has taught at a number of UK universities and spent many years teaching in Spain, South Korea and Australia. He has taught for many years on the academic literacy and language course on the International Foundation Programme at Edinburgh, for which he is also involved in leading course development. He has recently redeveloped this course with colleagues to better accommodate the vast range of students on the course. He has presented on this project at the InForm conference and the University of Edinburgh’s Teaching and Learning Conference. He is a Member of the Learning and Teaching committee within the Centre of Open Learning at the University of Edinburgh.

Matthew A. Gilbert, MBA is a teacher, researcher, and trainer with more than 25 years of experience writing, speaking, and consulting. As a lecturer of marketing in the Wall College of Business at Coastal Carolina University, he develops business courses and workshops. He also inspires innovation mindsets in underrepresented adolescents as the director of the university’s Each One Teach One Entrepreneurship Institute. Additionally, he facilitates corporate training for entrepreneurs, Fortune 500 employees, and government officials. A charismatic communicator, he delivered two TEDx talks: “Moving Forward from Failure,” presents his perspective on pivoting over obstacles, and “Inspiring Innovation Mindsets in Underrepresented Adolescents,” which shares the strategy and success of Each One Teach One. Intrigued with the intersection of humanity, industry, and technology, his research interests include digital marketing, educational technology, entrepreneurship education, the sharing economy, and sports marketing. A lifelong learner, he holds a BA in English from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an MBA from Woodbury University in addition to a certificate in innovation and entrepreneurship from Stanford University. When asked why teaching is his tenure he explains, “education empowers me to influence individuals and impact organizations while simultaneously improving myself.”

Jill Haldane has been a Teaching Fellow in EAP at Edinburgh University for seven years; she has taught for many years on the academic literacy and language course on the International Foundation Programme at Edinburgh, where she is also leading course development. Her previous academic language teaching positions were at Massey University, New Zealand (2006-2013) and Universitat Opolski in Poland (1996–1999). She is currently a part-time PhD student in Linguistics and English Language at Edinburgh, focusing on the dialectical representation of language and identity. Her Masters in Applied Linguistics at Edinburgh University was a study into “the orders of discourse” (Fairclough, 2014) in written feedback on postgraduate writing. She also has a Certificate and Diploma in Language Teaching. Her Masters in Cultural History from Aberdeen University dealt with the historical continuum of a holistic health paradigm. She has presented internationally and in the UK on the systemic functions of English language, and teaching and learning practices in the multilingual classroom. She published an oral history account of the twentieth anniversary of the Lockerbie Disaster.

Christopher Little is a Senior Lecturer in Academic Development in Manchester Metropolitan University’s University Teaching Academy (UTA), where he has worked since January 2021. He works across the UTA’s academic development provision, acting as a faculty-link for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and a Lecturer on the PGCert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education and the Masters in Higher Education. Prior to working at MMU, he worked as a Learning Developer and Teaching Fellow in Keele University’s Institute for Innovation and Teaching Excellence where he offered undergraduate/postgraduate teaching and curriculum design consultancy across Keele’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, while lecturing and personal tutoring across all three years of Keele’s Masters in Higher Education Practice. Chris piloted and established undergraduate and student writing retreat provision at Keele University. He also created Keele’s annual undergraduate research conference, now in it’s sixth iteration. He has previously held lecturing and support posts in both further and higher education and holds a PGCE in Post-Compulsory Education and Masters in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Certified Leading Practitioner of ALDinHE and a Certified Member of the Association of Learning Technologists (CMALT). He is also a Member of the LearnHigher working group.

Jenny Meggs is a British Psychological Society Chartered Psychologist and a qualified HCPC Sport and Exercise Psychologist. Her current and previous applied consultancy experience includes working with Swim England, British Swimming, FA (referees), GB Ladies American Flagship football, Working with Parents in Sport, Sport Ireland and various individual and team sport athletes and exercise participants. She currently holds a full-time academic role as a Lecturer in Sport Psychology at Lancaster University (Top 10 UK University) and has been developing curriculums and delivering teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students for over 10 years. She has published in international peer-reviewed academic journals in topics including resilience, flow and mental toughness in high-performance sport and exercise contexts.

Elsa Pereira holds a PhD (with distinction and honors) in Sport Sciences in Faculty of Human Kinetics, University of Lisbon. She has been teaching at University of Algarve, since 1994. She is currently also an Integrated Researcher at the Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being (CinTurs), University of Algarve. She has been involved in research and scholarship related to Active Learning in Higher Education, situated in the field of Sport Sciences, namely sport management, sport strategy and sustainable development, sports events, sport tourism and nautical tourism. She is interested in curriculum development, academic success and retention and developing research competences in the students through the learning process. She has been acting as a reviewer of international journals and conferences for several years.

Stuart Perrin, is currently an Associate Principal of the Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University Entrepreneur College (Taicang), a new education venture and campus built around technology-based education through concepts of AI and industry 4.0. In 2020, Professor Perrin became a Principal Fellow of the UK’s Higher Education Academy, one of the first people to hold this position in mainland China. Previous to his appointment to the Entrepreneur College (Taicang), he has held additional senior positions in the university, including that of inaugural Dean for Internationalization (2017–2019), and inaugural Dean for Learning and Teaching (2013-2017). Professor Perrin was originally appointed to the university as Director of the Language Centre (2012–2016). In this role, he was responsible for over 150 English language teachers, and developing the English for Academic Purposes provision for the university, as well as ensuring that students met UK English language entry requirements for those who may study at its UK partner, the University of Liverpool. He has previously worked in EAP and management positions in language centers at Queen Mary, University of London, and Brunel University.

Enakshi Sengupta works with the American University of Afghanistan as the Director – Centre for Teaching and Learning and an Associate Professor of the Business Department. She brings 25 years of experience working both in the corporate world and in the academic environment. She is a PhD holder from the University of Nottingham and has completed her MBA from the same university. She also has a master’s degree in English Literature from Calcutta University and two undergraduate degrees in English literature and Education. She has several professional diplomas in marketing and public relations from the UK. She also works as the Associate Editor of the book series Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Emerald Publishing and has till date worked as the lead editor and lead author of 23 books under this series. She is also the Managing Editor of the Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education from Emerald Publishing. She has contributed several journals and book chapters for Routledge, Springer, Palgrave and Cambridge Publishing. She has been lauded with several international award which includes:2021: Outstanding Faculty Award by CIES (Comparative & International Education Society) Study Abroad & International Students Special Interest Group (SIG); 2019: Editor’s Choice Award – Journal of International Students; 2017: Emerald Literati Award: Outstanding Reviewer for Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education;2016: India CSR Author Award for the book Essentials of Corporate Social Responsibility and also for Outstanding Contribution in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility in India.

Peter Sewell is a Chartered Psychologist, Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy, China Expert Fellow at Lancaster University and member of the UK Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS). He is known for his work on internationally acclaimed CareerEDGE model of graduate employability and the Employability Development Profile (EDP) assessment tool, which has been used in many universities in the UK and elsewhere around the world. He has a wide experience of working not only with students and graduates in Higher Education, but also with executives, entrepreneurs and creative professionals in business and the public sector. Currently he works as the ‘Postgraduate Careers Manager’ at Lancaster University Management School and is also ‘Head of Business Development - International and Education’ with AQR International.

Reba A. Wissner is an Assistant Professor of Musicology at the Schwob School of Music of Columbus State University. She received her MFA and PhD in Musicology from Brandeis University and her BA in Music and Italian from Hunter College of the City University of New York. She is the author of articles on pedagogy, seventeenth-century Venetian opera, Italian immigrant theater in New York City, and television music of the 1950s and 1960s, and has presented her research at conferences throughout the United States and Europe. She is the author of three books, A Dimension of Sound: Music in The Twilight Zone, We Will Control All That You Hear: The Outer Limits and the Aural Imagination, and Music and the Atomic Bomb on American Television, 1950–1969. As a faculty developer, her interests lie in supporting first-generation college students, active learning strategies, and instructional support for contingent faculty.