^ Moving to College of Arts, Law and Social Sciences http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/8603 2026-04-27T23:18:51Z 2026-04-27T23:18:51Z Tree, D Worsfold, N http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32828 2026-02-19T03:00:25Z 2026-01-26T00:00:00Z

Title: Do Synoptic Assessments Lead to Authentic Learning? A Critical Perspective on Integration and Intentionality in Higher Education Assessment Design Authors: Tree, D; Worsfold, N Abstract: Synoptic assessment has gained prominence in higher education as a way to bridge fragmented curricula by enabling students to synthesize knowledge across modules. However, structural integration through assessment does not automatically produce authentic learning. Drawing on theoretical analysis and three reflective case studies from UK undergraduate programmes, this paper offers a critical practitioner perspective on how synoptic assessment and authentic learning intersect in practice. We argue that integration and authenticity represent distinct pedagogical imperatives that require deliberate alignment. Through comparative analysis of successful, partially successful, and unsuccessful implementations of assessment strategies, we demonstrate that authentic learning emerges not from integration per se, but from intentional design embedding real-world relevance, developmental scaffolding, clear purpose, and student agency. Our case studies reveal that without such intentionality, synoptic assessments risk becoming structurally coherent but pedagogically hollow exercises that fail to engage students meaningfully. Key challenges include inconsistent staff understanding, inadequate contextual framing, and insufficient attention to progressive capability development. We propose practical design principles grounded in practitioner experience: embedding authenticity through professional relevance, scaffolding complexity appropriately, enabling open-ended student responses, and establishing strong programme-level leadership with authority over assessment strategy. The core contribution of the paper is to articulate these design principles for embedding authenticity within synoptic assessment at programme level, particularly in increasingly modularised and flexible curricula, such as those designed to enable lifelong learning. By positioning integration as necessary but insufficient for authentic learning, we advance critical understanding of assessment reform and address emerging tensions between programme coherence and increasingly modularized curricula serving diverse learner pathways. Description: Data Availability Statement: No new data were created or analyzed in this study.

2026-01-26T00:00:00Z Luo, Y Watts, M http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32696 2026-01-23T03:00:20Z 2025-08-26T00:00:00Z

Title: Exploring smartphone-assisted learning in the third space: students’ smartphone identity formation and lived experiences Authors: Luo, Y; Watts, M Abstract: Smartphones function both as learning devices and as extensions of learners’ identities, supported by generative artificial intelligence and gamification. This study examines the learning experiences of university students learning English as a foreign language, focusing on their lived experiences of using their smartphones. It followed a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, employing a reflective qualitative method to investigate students’ smartphone experiences through recurrent conversational reflections and journaling over six months. The findings revealed that smartphone learning experiences are multimodal and sociocultural, negotiating between students’ personal and collective agencies and integrative cultural realities shaped by social, economic, and technological landscapes. Evolving smartphone technologies create a unique learning culture and ‘third space’ learning context characterised by accessibility, co-presence, autonomy, and social meaning-making. This third space bridges formal and informal learning environments, making smartphone learning seamless and spontaneous. The study also confirmed that learners continuously develop ‘smartphone identities’, negotiated between personal and collective selves and influenced by sociocultural factors within the target context. Finally, smartphones are mediating tools, offering pedagogical and psychological affordances that connect learners with their learning environments. Future research should gather more empirical evidence across various settings, focusing on extended stakeholders who may contribute to these novel learning spaces and educational innovations. Description: Disclosure statement: The manuscript contains anonymised data and abides by British Educational Research Association guidelines. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

2025-08-26T00:00:00Z Ferreira, JM Ineson, G http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32557 2025-12-25T03:00:20Z 2025-12-05T00:00:00Z

Title: Embodied learning in teacher education: Investigating student-teachers' experiences in engaging with embodied cognition theories Authors: Ferreira, JM; Ineson, G Abstract: This study examines how integrating perceptual, sensorimotor, and reflective processes supports the learning of enactive cognition theory, demonstrating how student-teachers develop competencies for engaging with theory through lived, embodied experiences. We employed between-methods data triangulation, combining the PRISMA method, microgenetic, and thematic analysis of video and text data, revealing students' experiences. Findings describe how concepts of enactive theory become part of student-teachers' bodily experiences and reveal that reflective awareness of these bodily connections coupled with shared dialogue is pivotal for deep learning. This study's approach is a compelling demonstration of how enactive cognition can be operationalized in educational practice. Description: Data availability: The authors do not have permission to share data.

2025-12-05T00:00:00Z McHugh, E Wainwright, E Bhuyan, M http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32536 2026-03-12T11:46:37Z 2026-01-06T00:00:00Z

Title: On-campus food poverty in England: student hunger and university free food provision Authors: McHugh, E; Wainwright, E; Bhuyan, M Abstract: This report provides summary findings of a 20-month British Academy/ Leverhulme-funded project to examine on-campus free food provision in response to student need. We define free food provision as food that is free at the point of collection and consumption and is based on presumed and/or evidenced student need.

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