Since the late 1990s, the UK Government has a policy to support Widening Participation (WP) measures in UK universities. These measures aimed to increase the demographic and socio-economic profile of the undergraduate student population across all UK universities. The target for these measures includes a focus on mature applicants, women entrants, and ethnic minority representation. Latest data (2010/2011) from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) indicates whilst by far the largest proportion of full-time entrants to undergraduate places are the ‘traditional’ 19 year entrant with A level qualifications (288,590). By comparison a further 77,155 entrants are mature, those aged over 21, who have gained a variety of accepted entry qualifications. One such recognised qualification is that of an Access to Higher Education Diploma. The Access programme is usually undertaken by mature students, with no previous qualifications, who after successful completion of a one-year full-time course are then able to apply for an undergraduate course. It is estimated that one in four mature entrants will enter a university course with an Access qualification (HEFCE, 2006). Against a backdrop of a changing and more diverse student population, a discourse has emerged around the retention of HE students. Current data suggests that one in every twelve undergraduates will leave their university programme in the first year of study (Thomas, 2012a). The attrition of students who have entered university is not only an economic cost to the institution and the individual but is considered a wider social cost. Within the body of work on student retention there is an emerging focus on pre-registration nursing programmes, which were traditionally delivered in nursing schools attached to hospitals but since the 1990s are now delivered in HE institutions. Historically there have been concerns about the levels of student attrition from all nursing programmes and this has continued to the present day with individual Schools of Nursing and the Department of Health trying to address the issues around retaining pre-registration nursing students. Concerns around student retention have given rise to a prolific and substantive body of work around HE student retention both in the UK and wider afield, with much of this work underpinned by the seminal work of Tinto (2002, 1993). Studies on student retention agree that understanding and addressing the issues of student retention is complex, with multiple reasons why students leave early. The largest proportion of research undertaken on UK pre-registration nursing programmes have focussed on the reasons why students leave pre-registration nursing programmes rather than what makes them stay. The research questions asked in this thesis are not around student retention, although this phenomenon provides a backdrop to the study, but around learner persistence by mature Access entrants on UK pre-registration nursing programme. This research raises important questions about what is enabling mature entrants to persist on their programme, since data indicates that mature entrants account for 46% of all nursing students who enter pre-registration nursing programmes in the UK. This study is located in one large UK School of Nursing that attracts over 19% of their student cohort as mature Access entrants. This study follows nine individuals through their second year of a three-year programme to understand their transition, through this mid-point year, as an understanding of the transitions for these mature entrants is currently lacking in the literature. The nine participants were recruited via an electronic survey and were interviewed on three occasions throughout their 2nd year of a DipHE/BSc pre-registration nursing course in order to gain an understanding of their lived experiences as mature Access entrants. Data analysis in this study utilised Glaser and Strauss (1967) classic grounded theory (CGT) methodology. The findings from this CGT study indicate two phases in the participants’ journey enabling them to successfully complete their pre-registration nursing programme: Phase One - pre entry to university and participant journey towards their current course and Phase Two – continued journeys in the first 2 years of nurse training with 5 main categories metaphorically described as: ‘Home Territory’, ‘No Man’s Land’, ‘I Can See Land, ‘Lost Bearings’ and ‘Wearing the Uniform’. These metaphor categories describe a journey that is undertaken from when participants left school and made their early career decisions, through to participants exploring opportunities of further study and gaining an Access qualification to participants been accepted onto a DipHE/BSc pre-registration nursing programme. The study findings indicate that despite the known transition hurdles that result in some student nurses leaving their course early, the nine participants in this study were able to persist successfully on their programme. The study findings suggest that there are significant factors that have enabled these nine mature Access entrants to have a ‘persistent’ approach. These are the ‘learner profile’, ‘On-programme’ and ‘Environmental’ factors and are presented as a framework for a grounded theory of mature learner persistence directly taken from the lived experiences of the nine individuals in this study. These significant factors for a theory of learner persistence include an overarching ‘profile of the learner’ that enters a pre-registration programme and includes their entry qualification, age, career aspiration, and previous experience of nursing. Whist ‘on-programme’ factors aid learners’ ability to overcome the transitions into university and the clinical practice requirements of the programme. The skills and experiences gained through obtaining an Access qualification and the preparation for higher-level study is a significant factor in enabling the study participants to overcome the difficulties that they experienced over their first two years of their DipHE/BSc programme. An additional factor for their persistence was a strong career motivation, a desire to become a nurse. This career motivation underpinned the reasons why participants choose an Access programme, provided a route into university and enabled them to focus on their DipHE/BSc pre-registration nursing programme. UK Schools of Nursing who offer pre-registration programmes are required to attract and retain the very best student nurses. This presented theory of mature student learner persistence raises important questions about the policy for selection, recruitment, and retention by all HE providers and policy makers of nurse education. The findings demonstrate how different factors enable learners to persist and recommends that these should be incorporated into the recruitment stage and furthermore how to support learners during the 3-years of a pre-registration nursing programme.

The research describes the communicational practices of HE lectures employing a PowerPoint slideshow in order to examine the multimodal dynamic of this genre for exposition. Based on pragmatist conceptions of learning and theories of visual/ verbal processing, the research explored how different slide-elements were integrated with lecturers’ speech, and how this integration related to students’ engagement. A two-stage mixed method investigation collected video-recordings of 22 lectures and interviews with 9 lecturers. Additionally, focus groups were carried out with 37 students, and copies of their lecture notes were made and analysed. Using the resulting data, three separate empirical studies revealed; 1) Two characteristic speech-slide relationships were associated with the extent and explicitness of speech-slide integration. In the “referent” relationship, the lecturer addresses and comments on slide-text, and in the “scaffolding” relationship, the slide-text serves to structure their speech. 2) The relationship employed depended on lecturer intentions for the slide-lecture, which predominantly involved elaboration of the lecture outline. Consequently, students regarded slide-text as lecture notes, and expected it to be addressed consistently and explicitly. Owing to their focus on recording the slide-text and accompanying explanation, there was shown to be little opportunity for meaningful interaction with the slide-lecture. 3) Visual elements have the potential to engage students in a meaningful interaction, yet integration of them by lecturers revealed that they were not often exploited to such ends. It is concluded that the integration of text in slide-lectures presents little opportunity for achieving a fully engaging lecture experience. Although visual elements offer a promising alternative, little is known about how text or visuals can best be integrated with speech to this end. Thus slide-lectures might be more pedagogically profitable if lecturers are better informed about how their integration can be used to invite students to engage with evidence on screen. This thesis contributes towards knowledge about such integration.

Background The central mission of every medical school is education, however most teachers have not received formal teacher training. Hence there is an expectation that faculty development (FD) with planned programmes to prepare faculty members for their role in teaching will be integral to medical school life. The widespread investment in FD is predicated on the belief that it enhances the effectiveness of teaching but the evidence is limited. Aim To carry out an in-depth exploration of FD in UK medical schools and evaluate the effectiveness of FD on teaching. The realist framework with its principle of explanatory causation was chosen to find out what works for whom in FD in what context, and why. This was an innovative use of the model in educational research. Methods A detailed literature review was carried out and combined with the researchers experience and insight of FD to develop eight realist hypotheses in the form of contexts, mechanisms and outcomes (CMO). Data that would support, modify or challenge the hypotheses were then collected in three phases. Phase I was a review and scoring of data on medical school FD webpages using a webpage scoring index. Phase II was observation and informal interviews of two cohorts of educators attending a FD course followed by detailed interviews of 12 educators (six from each cohort) six months later. Phase III was interview of FD coordinators and educators at eight medical schools. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Data analysis Quantitative data were analysed by descriptive methods, slope diagrams, bi-axial constructs and statistical analysis with Fisher’s exact test. Qualitative data were analysed by categorising and connecting strategies followed by summarising the relevant data under each hypothesis to check if the hypothesis was supported, modified or refuted. Findings The literature review revealed a paucity of publications on FD in the UK, however the 30 medical schools webpages reviewed showed data on FD activities. Data from all three phases were used to identify and explain the contexts (participatory approach/reflective practice, needs identification, supportive setting and standardization of medical teaching) that facilitated FD mechanisms (engagement, motivation, positive perception and professionalization).These led to the outcomes of improved confidence, competence, credibility and career progression. Conclusion Four realist theories of FD were identified (engagement, motivation, positive perception and professionalization) confirming the effectiveness of FD both in the short and long term and important recommendations for all FD stakeholders (educators, FD developers, universities and policy makers). In addition, I also made recommendations for future medical education researchers who choose the realist evaluation model.

Recognising the powerful role that technology plays in the lives of people, researchers are increasingly focusing on the most effective uses of technology to support learning and teaching. Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) has the potential to support and transform student learning and provides the flexibility of when, where and how to learn. At the same time, it promises to be an effective educational method (Wei and Yan 2009). One of the hottest topics in this field is adaptive learning (Mylonas, Tzouveli and Kollias 2004). Today, with the ability of advanced technologies to capture, store and use student data, it is possible to deliver adaptive learning based on student preferences. TEL can also put students at the centre of the learning process, which allows them to take more responsibility for their own learning. However, this requires students to be metacognitive so they can manage and monitor their learning progress. This thesis investigates the impact of student metacognitive skills on their learning outcomes in terms of recalling and retaining information within a formally designed and TEL environment. The learning outcomes of students who study a subject consistent with their learning styles and another group of students who study the same subject in contrast to their learning styles are then compared to determine which group performs better. Based on this approach, a TEL environment is designed for undergraduate students to use for the purpose of collecting the required experimental data. The results of this study suggest that effective use of metacognitive skills by students has a direct bearing on their learning performance and ability to recall information. The outcomes reveal that successful students use effective metacognitive skills to complete their studies and achieve their learning goals in a TEL environment. Therefore, it clear that metacognition can play a critical role in successful learning, and, furthermore, this approach can assist educationalists in understanding the importance of metacognition in learning and in considering how technology can be used to better to allow students to apply metacognitive skills. The designed TEL environment for this study can be utilised as a precursor to implement TEL environments that can be adapted to individual learning styles, and to support the development of metacognitive skills.

This doctoral study explores the learning that occurs in higher education institutions within differing social and informal contexts, and how this learning can contribute to shifting thinking and actions (within the institution) towards sustainability. The research refers to this learning as ‘social learning’ and acknowledges its potential to influence the sustainability performance of a higher education institution. The study proposes indicators as a key research outcome to assist institutions in improving their contribution to social learning for sustainability. The study is unique in that social learning for sustainability in the higher education sector has been subject to little scrutiny. The originality of the research is underpinned by its focus on staff learning in higher education, but also by the research methodology used which has not been employed in this context or with this focus before. The empirical study was undertaken between 2008 and 2011 at three higher education institutions in the United Kingdom (UK) which were chosen for their explicit commitment to improving the university’s sustainability performance. The pilot study was conducted at the University of Gloucestershire and the main findings were derived at the Universities of Bradford and Bristol. Located within a critical social theory paradigm, the study used innovative research methods such as collective memory-work to capture staff experiences of social learning for sustainability. In each university, the research involved a group of members of staff in (i) writing and critically reflecting on their stories of social learning for sustainability within their institutions; and (ii) identifying contextual factors influencing this learning process. The data generated was triangulated with information captured through institutional documentary reviews, semi-structured interviews with members of staff and a research journal. The research demonstrates that social learning for sustainability in higher education tends to occur as both a facilitated and unfacilitated process. The first includes staff participating in extra-curricular activities, partnerships and networks, multi-stakeholder dialogues, mentoring, or action and participatory research. The latter tends to occur as a spontaneous face-to-face process or through online social networks. There is evidence that social learning processes which are non-hierarchical, involving learning from each other and occurring within comfort zones, are more effective in shifting the thinking and actions of staff in the area of sustainability. The study identifies physical space and academic cultures as key determinants of the frequency and quality of these processes. It also suggests that opportunities in this area need to be provided to all the different sub-cultures which exist in a higher education institution. Finally, whereas the research identifies how institutional culture influences social learning for sustainability, it concludes that a longitudinal study is needed to establish whether this learning process can shape the culture of a higher education institution.

The aim of this thesis was to identify factors at the commencement of university study that may enable prediction of both estimate of gains and experience of stresses. This was done in order to provide information that may enable early identification of risk factors in respect to student attrition. To this end, the thesis examined individual differences amongst students that relate to perception of both estimated gains and stress early in the university experience. Initially, the individual differences studied were those relating to student demographics of age, gender, whether the student performed additional part-time work and the number of hours of work performed and the influence of finances. This first round of testing was performed by distributing questionnaires examining the aforementioned via student welcome packs at commencement of university study. The results of this first round of testing suggested particular importance of intrinsic values on estimated gains. In addition to some influence of finances, gender and hours of work. From open questions present in this first round of testing, focus group questions were formulated in order to further develop the questionnaire. From the findings of study two, this was then expanded to include the influence of perceived demands, control and support and locus of control on estimated gains and subjective perceived stress. This was again performed by distributing a questionnaire at inception, albeit personally to help response rate and answer any queries. This third round of testing, as implied by the focus group responses, found an additional influence of locus of control and the perception of demands, control and support on estimated gains and stress. Finally, the fourth round of testing included biological indicators of stress, namely salivary cortisol levels through the use of analysis of levels of salivary cortisol, collected using a salivette. This final study suggested a difference in the effects of perceived demands, control and support on both perceived and biological responses to stress The study in all found that there is a definite prediction of estimate of gains from the university environment by the work values studied. Although it was found that gains were primarily influenced by intrinsic values (achievement, advancement, autonomy, personal development), an influence of extrinsic values (economics, prestige, social interaction) was also evident. In addition to work values, demographics of gender, age and hours of work were also found to influence differences in estimated gains and stress. None of the values studied were found to predict perceived stress, however the distinction between perceived and objective biological measures of stress was highlighted. In particular, with regard to the perception of demands, control and support from the university environment. The results of the study also suggested that the extent to which students perceive demands, control and support from the university environment may also have an impact on the student experience of stress, particularly biological stress, which can result in potential harm to physical well-being.

This qualitative research on task motivation is based on a four-month fieldwork in a university context in China, with myself performing dual roles as a teacher researcher working closely with two classes of final-year English majors (about 120 students in total). Positioning this research in an authentic classroom setting aims to explore task-intrinsic features perceived to be motivating (`motivating tasks'). and learner-intrinsic motivational processes during task engagement ('task motivation') in this particular context. Throughout the process, my research perspectives experienced an interesting movement: macro - micro - macro. I began my research with a broad interest in the motivation area, and increasingly narrowed my focus on `task motivation' which corresponds to the recently advocated `situation-specific' approach to motivation research. However, my following involvement in the teaching/data-gathering fieldwork pushed me to bring back the macro perspective into my research, as I found that the complex concept of task motivation could not be fully understood without taking the broader motivational influences into consideration. That is, apart from investigating how the immediate task situation influences learners, it is also very important to understand how the wider institutional, social, educational, and cultural factors influence learners' various motivational perspectives in the classroom, which may in turn shape their specific task-engagement motivation. Based on content analysis of qualitative data including written task feedback, personal letters, and group interviews, it was found that in this context there are three underlying dimensions of task motivation, that is, academic motivation, personal development motivation, and affective motivation. The study also explored what aspects of task design could effectively motivate students and why. In general, this research contributes to our understanding of Chinese university students' task motivation. It implies that adapted tasks can be appropriately integrated into the traditional English class in China and perhaps in other similar EFL contexts, and can certainly facilitate the teaching of the prescribed textbooks. It also implies that the researcher's personal involvement in the authentic teaching context is a very valuable point for both motivation research and task-oriented research.

This research examines English language and literature essays written by First Year students of the English Department at Dhaka University (Bangladesh) using multi-method genre analysis. The first method used was text analysis. Essay topics were analysed from the two contexts to identify their topic fields and main rhetorical functions. This helped develop the two models to analyse the structure of essays: an Exposition-Discussion model and a Description-Recount model. Then, a total of 100 essays from the two contexts were analysed on the basis of Move-strategy structure to see what structural patterns the essays possessed, what tactical choices the students took to express the moves and what was presented in terms of content matter within those moves. The second method was a questionnaire that was distributed to students in the department to discover their perceptions of the writing tasks given. And the third method was interviews conducted with teachers and students of the department to find out about their perceptions of student writing. This, then, is a genre-based study which draws both on written data and on interaction with community members. The multi-method approach to genre analysis revealed that students of the English Department write three different kinds of essays, Description-Recount language essays, Exposition-Discussion language essays and Exposition-Discussion literature essays. The study further revealed that although students wrote these different kinds of essays, they were unable to make connections between their language essay writing tasks and literature ones because of the disciplinary variations. Moreover, the literature essays were found to be much more challenging to write than the language ones. In the light of this, the need for a fourth type of essay writing is identified. This research contributes to the fields of applied linguistics and education in several ways. Firstly, the models developed not only give insights into the generic structure of the essays students write in the English Department at Dhaka University, but they could also function as a starting point for other researchers working with similar texts. Secondly, the analyses of the high and low grade essays explain how some features of writing are more highly valued than others in this context. Thirdly, the study has pedagogical implications that can benefit students and teachers who would use genre based approach to teaching language and literature essay writing. Fourthly, this research demonstrates a multi-method approach to genre analysis which brings out complementary and sometimes contradictory perspectives on the same written products. Fifthly, it can help university planners and policy makers to consider the relationship between main discipline courses and support courses and minimise any gaps. Finally, it can raise awareness among the global applied linguistics community about the kind of student writing produced in contexts such as the English Department of Dhaka University.

This study reviews a series of theoretical models and educational experiences, in order to examine how some of the claims made in the existing literature regarding the role of IT - mainly computer technologies - in writing instruction play out in the case of Italian as a Foreign Language (IFL). With this purpose in mind, this study examines a specific context - three IFL modules taught at the University of Warwick - and uses relevant teaching and learning experiences as a case-study and data sample. By using qualitative analysis supported by some quantitative methodologies, this study triangulates data from questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus-groups, field notes, classroom observation rubrics, as well as classroom artefacts, including online resources and educational software used over the course of the academic years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. The data collected is filtered through a tripartite framework - learning/instructional environment, IFL tutors, and IFL students - designed to address the need expressed in the literature for analysis of multiple dimensions in complex interactions (Abbott, 1997; Athanases and Heath, 1995; Ramanathan and Atkinson, 1999; Snyder, 1997). The salient themes which emerge from the study are the critical roles of IFL tutors' and IFL students' expectations as well as the framework of values underlying these, along with particular features of information technologies themselves, in shaping participants' experiences and practices with respect to IT and writing, sometimes in unanticipated ways. Finally, the study considers the ways in which the results of the present research support, contradict, or expand existing literature, especially in relation to a number of specific factors, such as: the type of IT used in writing instruction; the physical configurations of IT-enhanced classrooms; and students' as well as tutors' approaches to learning and teaching IFL writing with and without technology. While the present work, like many other studies in the field of SLA and L2 writing, does not provide complete answer to the complex questions of language learning, it highlights the importance of both the instructional environment as well as the participants' framework of values. Only then, IT will be able to potentially enhance language instruction and become an integral component of learning. This research raises new questions, providing the basis for further research in the area of SLA theory and pedagogy.

The main goal of this study was to improve the contribution of higher education to sustainable development in Vietnam, specifically in the area of engineering education. The study mapped the current scenario of sustainable development and engineering in higher education in Vietnam as well as investigated how a cultural perspective may influence change strategies in higher education for sustainable development. This study addressed the need for empirical research on the education for sustainable development experience in Vietnam. It argued for and contributed to an emerging international dialogue about how to accelerate progress towards engineering curriculum transformation for sustainable development in different cultural contexts. Located in the interpretivist tradition, the study utilised a wide range of qualitative research techniques to collect and validate data including open-ended questionnaires, interviews, group discussions, participant observation and documentary review. Empirical data was generated between May 2010 and August 2012 in both Vietnam and the UK through three research stages. The first stage was informed by a qualitative survey which captured baseline data collected through a large group of stakeholders from different sectors and various levels of governance. The study mapped the current responses to sustainable development in Vietnam, and confirmed the need and expectation for change in Vietnamese engineering education towards sustainable development. Case study research was carried out at three Vietnamese engineering universities during stage two. The focus was on understanding the current processes and opportunities for curriculum change for sustainable development, as well as investigating how the specific contextual and cultural factors might influence the desired change. The study found evidence of issues which hampered the current efforts in education for sustainable development in the engineering universities in Vietnam. The analysis also provided insights into the Vietnamese values, attitudes and expectancies, and behavioural preferences which contributed to explaining why these issues existed.