
Dr Emma Medland
Academic and research departments
Biography
Dr Emma Medland joined the Department of Higher Education in September 2013 as a Lecturer in Higher Education. She is Programme Director for the MA in Higher Education and has previously had responsibility for the institution-wide Continuing Professional Development (CPD) provision offered by the Department, and module convenor on both the Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning and the MA in Higher Education. Emma is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), a mentor on the Surrey Excellence in Teaching Framework, and was awarded the Newer Researcher Prize from the Society of Research into Higher Education (SRHE) in 2015.
Previously, Emma was a lecturer with the King’s Learning Institute (KLI), King’s College London from 2007, where she was the Programme Director of the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP) and Deputy Programme Director of the Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice (GCAP). Amongst other responsibilities, Emma was the KLI representative on the College Assessment Board, Chair of the Undergraduate Board of Examiners, and contributed to a report focusing on Assessment in curriculum change for a joint Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funded research project.
Emma holds a first degree in Education Studies and Psychology and a Masters in Research Methods in Psychology, which has shaped her research and view of the relationship between learning and teaching. Jarvis’ (2007) belief that a theory of learning is incomplete unless it includes a consideration of the experiences of the person is reflected in her doctoral research, which considered the relationship between emotion and learning in Higher Education and the influence of this relationship on receptivity to feedback and vulnerability to dropping out. Her PhD research informed Emma’s interest in assessment and feedback in Higher Education, which has increasingly defined her role. For example, she has led on a number of institution-wide initiatives aimed at developing assessment and feedback practices at both Surrey and KCL.
Emma’s research focuses on assessment literacy, the hidden recipience of feedback and co-construction of meaning through the feedback process, as well as the subjectivities inherent in the assessment process. Her work has been funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the SRHE, the Higher Education Academy (HEA), and the Staff and Educational Development Association. Her work has also informed both HEFCE and HEA-led national initiatives, including the national review and implementation of external examiner training being implemented across the UK and informing national-level HEA's (now Advance HE) training workshops as well as the HEA’s Transforming Assessment in Higher Education Summit Report.
Areas of specialism
University roles and responsibilities
- Programme Director, MA in HE
- Co-Director, Surrey Assessment and Learning Lab
- Module Leader, Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching
- Module Leader, MA in HE
- Academic Lead, DHE Continuing Professional Development Workshops
Previous roles
Affiliations and memberships
News
In the media
Research
Research interests
Emma's background is in Education Studies (and Psychology), specialising in assessment and feedback and pedagogic practice in higher education. Her research focuses on assessment and feedback in higher education and has most recently been investigating assessment literacy, the hidden recipience of feedback, and supporting student engagement in feedback.
Research projects
Indicators of esteem
External Examiner, University College London, BSc Education Studies (2017 - present)
Associate Editor, Higher Education Pedagogies
Founding member, HEA's (now Advance HE) Assessment and Feedback Community of Practice
Review Editor of the Editorial Board of Assessment, Testing and Applied Measurement, a speciality of Frontiers Education
Winner: SEDA Educational Development Initiative of the Year 2018
Supervision
Postgraduate research supervision
04/18 - present: Yasmeen Malik (PhD), Should Allied Health Departments within higher education have a more multi-professional approach to the curriculum? Blurring of the boundaries within the AHP department.
Postgraduate research supervision
04/18 - present: Alastair Dick (MA Clinical Education), What are the experiences of London based Orthopaedic surgery trainees in undertaking procedure based assessments (King's College London)
04/18 - present: Renju Chidambaran (MA in Clinical Education), Undergraduate medical students perceptions on the role of the personal digital assistant (PDA) in workplace based assessment (King's College London)
My teaching
Emma teaches on the Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching, the MA in Higher Education, and facilitates a range of bespoke Continuing Professional Development Workshops.
My publications
Publications
examiners. Paper presented at the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Annual Conference, 6th-8th December, Newport, Wales.
examiners. International Assessment in Higher Education Conference, 28th-29th June, Manchester.