Debbie Meharg
Debbie Meharg

Dr Debbie Meharg

Associate Professor

 0131 455 2927

  D.Meharg@napier.ac.uk

   

Biography

Debbie Meharg is Head of Applied Informatics within the School of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment. She has been involved in teaching, management and research for over 20 years. She is a Senior Fellow of the HEA, SICSA Education Champion and active member of the teaching fellows community. Meharg’s research interests sit within the Centre for Higher Education Research (CHER) and focus on access, inclusion and transitions. Graphical methods such as photovoice and participatory research methods are are areas of interest and she is always looking out for interesting partnerships and good PhD students.

School

Research Groups

Themes

Research Areas

News

Events

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • SQA Qualification Support Team
  • Member Scottish Qualification Authority Sector Panel for Computing

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Conference Chair Articulation Centre of Excellence Conference

 

External Examining/Validations

  • External Academic - Software Development, University Centre Grimsby
  • External Examiner, Department of Computing, Degree Apprenticeship Programmes, Sheffield-Hallam University

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Best Poster, SRHE Research Conference
  • Senior Fellow of the HEA

 

Invited Speaker

  • RGU Teaching Seminar: Supporting Direct-Entrants
  • SICSA Education Panellist: The Education Session included a full panel discussion comprised of Professor Fincher, the SICSA Director of Education and the SICSA Education Champions.
  • Dundee College - Delivered presentation titled "Transitions from FE to HE"
  • NI FE Colleges Digital Skills IT Conference - Delivered talk exploring Transitions from FE to HE
  • SQA Computing Conference 2018: delivered talk providing overview of transition from FE to HE in Computing

 

Media Activity

  • Blog Post: Exploring the SQA NextGen project and the impact on student transitions

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Member of Society for Research in Higher Education (SRHE)
  • Member of British Educational Research Association (BERA)
  • Member of British Computer Society

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • SICSA Education Champion - dissemination to colleagues, event organisation, reviewing documentation

 

Reviewing

  • Frontiers in Education 2024
  • International Journal of Educational Research
  • International Journal of Educational Research
  • Reviewer, IAFOR Journal of Education, Technology in Education
  • Reviewer, IAFOR Journal of Education, Inclusive Education
  • Reviewer - 48th Annual Frontiers in Education (FIE) Conference
  • Enroute Reviewer - assessing applicants for Fellowship of the HEA
  • Reviewer - 45th Annual Frontiers in Education (FIE) Conference

 

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28 results

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...

Transitioning cohorts: A comparative study of best practice in supporting direct entrant students to make a successful transition from FE college to advanced years in university

Presentation / Conference
Meharg, D., & Marr, S. (2017, July)
Transitioning cohorts: A comparative study of best practice in supporting direct entrant students to make a successful transition from FE college to advanced years in university. Presented at HEA Annual Conference 2017 Generation TEF: Teaching in the spotlight, Manchester
No abstract available.

A Comparative Study of Transitional Support: Identifying Best Practice

Conference Proceeding
Marr, S., & Meharg, D. (2017)
A Comparative Study of Transitional Support: Identifying Best Practice
This study shares the findings of a comparative case study, examining support for students transitioning from further education institutes (FEIs) to advanced entry in universi...

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...

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