^ Moving to College of Arts, Law and Social Sciences https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/8603 2026-07-17T09:22:27Z 2026-07-17T09:22:27Z Issapour, Tooran https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33556 2026-07-03T02:00:23Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: An exploration into the acculturation experiences of female Iranians after their migration to Britain following the 1979 Iranian revolution Authors: Issapour, Tooran Abstract: The Iranian Revolution of 1979 caused great changes in the status of women in Iran. Many of these changes, together with the war with Iraq, resulted in life being intolerable for many women, especially those who were highly educated, to such an extent that they and their families had no option but to leave the country and restart their lives elsewhere. This study is concerned with the experiences of 17 such women who started new lives in Britain in the 1980s and 90s, how they dealt with any lack of ability to communicate in English, how they continued their careers or started new ones, and how they coped with the effects of substantial differences in the cultural values of their previous lives in Iran and in their new country. Using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews, a large amount of data has been elicited from the participants. Analysis of this data has resulted in the following main findings. All of the women showed great strength of character, giving them determination to forge new successful lives. They all realised that learning the host language was a fundamental necessity in helping with their acculturation. Additionally, they encountered problems with the different sociocultural values of Iran and Britain. For example, living within a host society more liberal and less patriarchal than that of their home country was a factor that badly affected seven of their marriages. Moreover, homesickness and even bereavement as a result of leaving their home country was strongly felt by most of the participants. The main recommendations arising from this study are that the teaching of English to immigrants should be prioritised by the UK government and implemented competently with sufficient funding, that immigrants who have experienced trauma should be offered help and that the UN and host governments should make it clear to the Iranian ruling regime that their treatment of women, even at the current time, is inexcusable and foreign policy should be focussed upon making this clear to the authorities in Iran. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Tree, D Worsfold, N https://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 https://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 https://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.

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