Associate Student Project: Facilitating computing students’ transition to higher education
Presentation / Conference
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, s...
An exploration of degree apprentice perspectives: A Q methodology study
Journal Article
Fabian, K., Taylor-Smith, E., Smith, S., Meharg, D., & Varey, A. (2022)
An exploration of degree apprentice perspectives: A Q methodology study. Studies in Higher Education, 47(7), 1397-1409. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2021.1897094
Degree apprenticeships have recently been introduced in the UK, representing a significant shift in approaches to degree-level study: from traditional models of higher educati...
Facilitating computing students' transition to higher education
Conference Proceeding
Fabian, K., Taylor-Smith, E., Meharg, D., & Varey, A. (2019)
Facilitating computing students' transition to higher education. In UKICER: Proceedings of the 1st UK & Ireland Computing Education Research Conference. https://doi.org/10.1145/3351287.3351298
Students who progress to higher education from further education colleges are faced with academic, social, and logistical challenges during their transition. In general, they ...
Bridging the Digital Skills Gap: Are computing degree apprenticeships the answer?
Conference Proceeding
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 Computer Science Education. , (126-132). https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319744
This paper describes a study investigating whether apprenticeship computing degrees in Scotland are attracting additional entrants who will become IT professionals and fill a ...
"So far back, I'm anonymous": Exploring Student Identity using Photovoice
Conference Proceeding
Meharg, D., Cairncross, S., & Varey, A. (2019)
"So far back, I'm anonymous": Exploring Student Identity using Photovoice. In 2018 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE). https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2018.8658441
This Research Full paper presents empirical work focused on the transition experiences of transfer students into computing degrees in Scotland and seeks to understand the comp...
Enhancing learning confidence for direct entry computing students
Presentation / Conference
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 Asso...
"We're coming from different worlds" : exploring student identity during transition
Conference Proceeding
Meharg, D., Varey, A., & Cairncross, S. (2018)
"We're coming from different worlds" : exploring student identity during transition. In SRHE Newer and Early Career Conference 2018 Proceedings
This study presents empirical work examining the student journey from further to higher education in computing degrees in Scotland and seeks to understand the complex formatio...
STEM Apprenticeship Degrees: Motivations and aspirations of apprentices
Presentation / Conference
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...
Belonging: Blurring the Boundaries
Journal Article
Meharg, D., Craighill, S., Varey, A., & Cairncross, S. (2017)
Belonging: Blurring the Boundaries. Scottish Educational Review, 49(1), 89-103
This paper applies Whitchurch’s (2008) concept of the ‘third space’ to the emergent territory occupied by further education college students as they ‘cross the boundary’ to co...
An Enhanced Route from FE to HE Graduation?
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 ...