Learning Design Team
We work with colleagues to explore emergent pedagogies and the most appropriate learning designs, transforming courses through innovative practices in pursuit of an inspiring learning and teaching experience for staff and students.
We do this through maintaining high quality use of the SOL Standard, developing new courses, including pre-sessional and short courses, and disseminating best practice and inspiration through multimedia channels.
Dr Carina Buckley PhD, PGCTLHE, PFHEA
ORCID iD 0000-0003-3101-2525
Role at SolentLearning Design Manager.BiographyDr Carina Buckley is the Learning Design Manager at Solent University, where she is responsible for leading on the development and enhancement of learning and teaching practices to ensure an active, engaging, and inclusive learning environment for students. As such, she leads institutional direction in the Learning Design Framework, working closely with course teams to support their confidence and innovation in excellent learning and teaching. She is a Principal Fellow of Advance HE.
Following a PhD in the Archaeology of Human Evolution, Carina joined Solent in 2010 as Learning Skills tutor, supporting students with all aspects of their academic work through tutorials and timetabled classes, and gaining valuable insight into the student learning experience, which continues to guide and inform her aim to ensure that students have the best possible experience of higher education.
Carina has sat on the Steering Group of the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education since 2012 and led it for six years from 2015, stepping down to serve as Treasurer. In 2022 she established the podcast The Learning Development Project, which she co-hosts monthly.
Research interestsAfter a first article exploring the value of Lego in teaching academic literacies, she has since gone on to publish on a range of topics including blended learning and innovative pedagogies in the context of real-world learning. Her current research interests circle round the ideas of community and collaboration – who are we, how do we express that, and how do we work together? Beginning with research into how professional identities are formed by and shaped within a community of practice, she has since expanded her interest in this area to encompass the contribution of writing and publication to this process, exploring writing as a form of liberatory practice and a way of constructing and sustaining the identities of individuals and the academic field in which they work. This also supports her other strand of research into leadership, particularly in a matrix environment, and the distributed, networked nature of leadership in the ‘third space’ of academia.
Publications- Syska, A. & Buckley, C. (2022). Writing as liberatory practice: Unlocking knowledge to locate an academic field. Teaching in Higher Education, DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2022.2114337
- Heard-Lauréote, K. & Buckley, C. (2022). Exploding hierarchies for educational change: leveraging "third spaces" within Solent University's Transformation Academy. In: Jamil, G. & Morley, D., (2022 forthcoming). Agile Learning Environments amid Disruption. Switzerland: Springer Nature.
- Heard-Lauréote, K. & Buckley, C. (2021). “To be relied upon and trusted”: the centrality of personal relationships in a successful cross-team institutional change project. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice. 18(7), 7-24. https://doi.org/10.53761/1.18.7.02
- Buckley, C. (2021) Performing community: an online tea break as a radical act. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (22). doi:10.47408/jldhe.vi22.761
- Buckley, C. and Kukhareva, M. (2020). Making inspiration mainstream: Innovative pedagogies for the real world. In Morley, D.A. and Jamil, M.G. (eds.) Applied pedagogies for higher education: Real world learning and innovation across the curriculum. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 269-297
- Buckley, C. (2017). Gateway to higher education: A supportive induction for mature students returning to study. Focus 68, pp.61-63. Available from: https://www.sconul.ac.uk/page/focus-68
- Buckley, C. (2015). Conceptualising plagiarism: using Lego to construct students’ understanding of authorship and citation. Teaching in Higher Education 20(3), 352-358
- Buckley, C. 2014. Thinking outside the book: A point of departure for reflecting on learning. A Book Review of James, A. and Brookfield, S.D. (2014) Engaging imagination: helping students become creative and reflective learners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education no.7 [online][viewed 1 September 2014] Available from: http://www.aldinhe.ac.uk/ojs/index.php?journal=jldhe&page=article&op=view&path[]=249
Qualifications- PFHEA
- PG Certificate in Blended Learning
- PGCTLHE
- PhD, Archaeology of Human Evolution
Memberships and affiliations- Steering Group member and Treasurer, Association for Learning Development in Higher Education
- Editorial board, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education
Courses taughtEssential Learning and Teaching Practice in Higher Education – Course Leader
Contact detailscarina.buckley@solent.ac.uk
023 8201 3336
Room ML318Edward Bolton
Role at Solent
I am a Learning Technologist, responsible for researching and investigating how digital technologies can be best used for pedagogical benefits of both students and staff. ExperienceI have worked as a learning technologist since 2010. The Learning Technologist role is essential in bringing forward Southampton Solent University’s strategy of increasing its provision of technology enhanced learning in order to deliver an engaging, high quality professional and flexible student learning experience. I take a lead in ensuring technologies are applied to learning contexts in a pedagogically appropriate way. I work collaboratively with and in support of academic teams in developing learning content, activities and assessments delivered through on-line, face-to-face or blended modes of delivery.My specialisms include:Audience response systems promoting student engagement in the classroom;
ePortfolio, utilising Mahara for student practice portfolios and competency portfolios
Supporting academics in their design and use of Solent Online Learning to create a narrative lead, engaging online interactive space where students can practice and embed recently acquired knowledge.
QualificationsPost Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice
BA Hons Business Administration
Adobe Certified Visual Design SpecialistExternal membershipsFellow of the Higher Education Academy (now Advance HE)
Association of learning technologists (ALT)
Photographic Alliance of Great BritainContact detailsedd.bolton@solent.ac.uk
023 8201 3187
Room ML318Dr. Kassie Cigliana
Role at Solent
In my role as an Instructional Designer, I support academic staff in developing and delivering teaching and learning content in a blended-learning or online context, helping them to make the most out of online learning environments and tools as an extension of the traditional classroom space. I also develop online content and courses to showcase best practice and innovative online learning approaches to academic staff.ExperienceOriginally from the US, I qualified as a teacher in 2010 in the subjects of Spanish and Teaching English as a Second Language before moving to Spain to study my Masters degree where I lived for 4 years. I later completed my PhD in Applied Linguistics (with a specialisation in Socio- and Psycholinguistics, and Statistical Analysis) at the University of Southampton.Before moving to Solent, I worked as an Associate Lecturer and Statistical Consultant, where I lectured in the subjects of Spanish, Linguistics, Learner Autonomy, and Quantitative Analysis at the University of Southampton.
I started my career at Solent working as a Learning Technologies Advisor, and have now moved into a role with the Instructional Design team, where I am able to support colleagues in developing engaging and interactive learning opportunities for students, predominantly using online resources.
QualificationsFellow of the Higher Education Academy
PhD in Applied Linguistics (University of Southampton, 2016)
MA in Applied Linguistics
BSc in Education – Spanish and Teaching English as a Second Language
Adobe Certified Associate – Visual Design Specialist (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop and Premier Pro)Contact detailskassie.cigliana@solent.ac.uk
023 8201 3695
Room ML318Catherine Turton
Role at Solent
I am an Instructional Designer, responsible for the study materials on Succeed@Solent, and teaching support materials on Teaching at Solent. I also help tutors use SOL creatively as a teaching and learning space. ExperienceIn 2008 I trained as German and French teacher, initially working in London, then in Columbus, Ohio. I then spent three years in Paris teaching English to adult learners and university students, where I developed a broader perspective on education and a strong interest in lifelong learning. I had my first experience of HE in the UK teaching pre-sessional English to international students at King’s College London, before joining the Instructional Design team at Solent in 2017.In my current role I support students to develop the confidence and skills to succeed in their academic work; I use a variety of tools to create engaging learning activities in face-to-face and online settings. I enjoy discovering new ways to use existing tools and am always keen to help tutors leverage technology for creativity, collaboration and community building.
QualificationsBA (Hons) German and Italian
PGCEExternal membershipsAssociation for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE)Contact detailscatherine.turton@solent.ac.uk
023 8201 6015
Room ML318Louise Usher
Role at SolentI’m an Instructional Designer, focused on transforming the online teaching and learning experiences of staff and students.ExperienceAs a scientist, I've worked in agronomy research for over 7 years before returning to higher education for a MSc in Microbiology and Applied Biotechnology followed by a PhD in Molecular Biology at the University of Westminster. I followed this with 2 years postdoc research.
In my PhD and postdoc I taught undergraduate and postgraduate students, supporting teaching and learning in the laboratory and classroom. During the COVID-19 pandemic I transitioned into eLearning support as a Digital Learning Assistant, aiding academics to use and incorporate online learning tools into their courses and teaching practice and sharing best practice for asynchronous and synchronous teaching.
I love helping students to learn and problem solving to make the learning experience more effective. In my current role I work with academics to apply learning design theory and methods to enhance acquisition, practice and collaborative learning for students in the classroom and online.
QualificationsPGCert of Special Study in Supporting Learning
PhD in Molecular Biology
MSc in Applied Microbiology and BiotechnologyExternal membershipsAssociate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)
Biochemical SocietyContact detailslouise.usher@solent.ac.uk
0203 8201 3856
Room ML318