Sally Smith
Sally Smith

Prof Sally Smith PFHEA FBCS

Head of Graduate Apprenticeships and Skills Development and Professor

 0131 455 2742

  S.Smith@napier.ac.uk

   

Biography

Professor Sally Smith MA MSc DBA PFHEA

Sally is Head of Graduate Apprenticeships and Skills Development at Edinburgh Napier. She has an MA (Hons) in Mathematics from Aberdeen University, Scotland, an MSc in Computer Science from City University, London and a DBA from Edinburgh Napier University. Sally is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has previously worked in the telecommunications and aerospace industries in the UK and Europe.

She is the Director of the Centre for Higher Education Research at Edinburgh Napier University and Project Director of e-Placement Scotland, creating paid placements for computing students across Scotland.

Sally leads the Data Education in Universities workstream of the Data Skills Gateway of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland Region City Deal.

Sally’s research focus is on the impact of work placements and graduate apprenticeships, especially on under-represented groups.

Previously, Sally was Dean of Computing 2008-2020. Between 2011 and 2018 she was on the committee of the UK Council of Professors and Heads of Computing, serving as Chair between 2014 and 2016.

Research Groups

Themes

Research Areas

News

Events

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • SQA Advisory Council
  • Sally Smith has been appointed to the Shadbolt Review Group

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Horizons in STEM Higher Education Conference: Making Connections, Innovating and Sharing Pedagogy
  • Horizons in STEM Higher Education Conference: Making Connections, Innovating and Sharing Pedagogy
  • Conference Chair Horizons in STEM Higher Education
  • UK STEM Conference June 2016: A new conference for teaching and learning research in STEM subjects.

 

External Examining/Validations

  • External at Birmingham City University

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Connect Tech 100
  • Fellow of the British Computer Society
  • Sally Smith and Bill Buchanan in Tech 100 for Scotland
  • Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

 

Media Activity

  • Graduate Apprenticeships - doubling of places
  • Edinburgh Napier University – Bridging the digital skills gap
  • Scottish Business News Network
  • Edinburgh Napier gets major funding to teach digital skills
  • Times Higher Article
  • Edinburgh Napier takes over as parent organisation to GGS
  • The code for future success is investing in our graduates

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Principal Fellowship of Higher Education Academy
  • Fellow of the British Computer Society

 

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Date


85 results

The moderating effect of gender and age on the students’ acceptance of learning management systems in Saudi higher education

Journal Article
Binyamin, S. S., Rutter, M. J., & Smith, S. (2020)
The moderating effect of gender and age on the students’ acceptance of learning management systems in Saudi higher education. Knowledge Management and E-Learning: An International Journal, 12(1), 30-62
Despite the widespread adoption of learning management systems (LMS) by universities worldwide, it has been found that the students’ use of them is not always optimal. Based o...

Degree apprenticeships - a win-win model? A comparison of policy aims with the expectations and experiences of apprentices

Journal Article
Smith, S., Caddell, M., Taylor-Smith, E., Smith, C., & Varey, A. (2022)
Degree apprenticeships - a win-win model? A comparison of policy aims with the expectations and experiences of apprentices. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 73(4), 505-525. https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2020.1744690
This article compares policy aims with experiences following the introduction of a new model for STEM apprenticeships in the UK. Degree apprentices work while studying for a d...

Extending the Technology Acceptance Model to Understand Students’ Use of Learning Management Systems in Saudi Higher Education

Journal Article
Binyamin, S., Rutter, M., & Smith, S. (2019)
Extending the Technology Acceptance Model to Understand Students’ Use of Learning Management Systems in Saudi Higher Education. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 14(3), 4-21. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v14i03.9732
Although learning management systems (LMS) have been widely adopted by higher educational institutions in many countries, they are considered an emerging technology in Saudi A...

An Implementation of the UTAUT Model for Understanding Students’ Perceptions of Learning Management Systems: A Study Within Tertiary Institutions in Saudi Arabia

Journal Article
Alshehri, A., Rutter, M. J., & Smith, S. (2019)
An Implementation of the UTAUT Model for Understanding Students’ Perceptions of Learning Management Systems: A Study Within Tertiary Institutions in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Distance Education Technologies, 17(3), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJDET.2019070101
The rapid growth of e-learning around the globe is inspiring various academic institutions to adopt it. Uptake is motivated by convincing benefits such as flexibility, accessi...

Entrepreneurial drivers, barriers and enablers of computing students: gendered perspectives from an Australian and UK university

Journal Article
Smith, S., Hamilton, M., & Fabian, K. (2019)
Entrepreneurial drivers, barriers and enablers of computing students: gendered perspectives from an Australian and UK university. Studies in Higher Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1637840
This paper investigates computing students’ entrepreneurial intentions, motivations, recognisable barriers and encouragements towards entrepreneurship, with a focus on gender....

Identity and belonging for graduate apprenticeships in computing: the experience of first cohort degree apprentices in Scotland

Conference Proceeding
Taylor-Smith, E., Smith, S., & Smith, C. (2019)
Identity and belonging for graduate apprenticeships in computing: the experience of first cohort degree apprentices in Scotland. In Proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE’19) (2-8). https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319753
In September 2017, our university’s first graduate apprentices began degrees in Software Development, Cybersecurity, and Information Technology Management for Business. This s...

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 ...

Getting in, getting on: fragility in student and graduate identity

Journal Article
Smith, S., Sobolewska, E., & Hunter, D. (2019)
Getting in, getting on: fragility in student and graduate identity. Higher Education Research and Development, 38(5), 1046-1060. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1612857
Over a period of three years this longitudinal study explored new approaches to consider student identity during the transition from university to employment. Students were fo...

Exploring women's motivations to study computer science

Conference Proceeding
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 affec...

The Moderating Effect of Education and Experience on Students’ Use of Learning Management Systems in Saudi Higher Education

Conference Proceeding
Binyamin, S., Rutter, M. J., & Smith, S. (2019)
The Moderating Effect of Education and Experience on Students’ Use of Learning Management Systems in Saudi Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1145/3318396.3318428
Based on the technology acceptance model, this research investigated the variables that affect students’ use of LMS in Saudi public universities. The study also examined the m...

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