Impact case study database

The research of Robertson and colleagues had impact in two main areas as detailed below.

Advanced curricular change

Based on her research and practice in supporting CS education, starting in August 2014 Robertson contributed to a group convened by the British Computer Society and Nesta to consider what skills and concepts primary children should learn within the field of computing and information and communications technology (ICT), and at what stage in the curriculum [5.1]. The group was convened by Kate Farrell, who is now Director of Curriculum on the Data Education in Schools project at the University of Edinburgh, with Robertson as a member. During these meetings, Robertson worked with Farrell, Cutts (University of Glasgow) and Connor (Strathclyde University) with input from Education Scotland staff to develop the ideas underpinning the three significant aspects of learning, which are reflected in the researchers’ work (3.2).

In autumn 2016, Education Scotland invited Robertson and Farrell to join a working group revising the Technologies curriculum within the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) [5.1], which supports over 51,000 teachers who work with over 600,000 learners in Scotland throughout their broad general education. Robertson, Farrell, Cutts and Connor collaborated to enhance the curriculum draft so that it aligned with the academic recommendations and research findings. These contributions have enhanced the curriculum in two important ways:

A) Drawing on the research (3.1, 3.2), the Technologies curriculum now includes CS as a distinct area of learning, supporting learners to develop CS knowledge and skills in a coherent line of progression [5.2].

B) This curriculum supports curriculum organisers to implement the research findings by including the three key aspects of CS education identified by the researchers (3.2) within a broader framework of “key concepts” [5.2]:

• The concept “Understanding the world through computational thinking” (TCH 0-13a to TCH 4-13b) corresponds to what the research refers to as “1) domains that can be modelled by computational mechanisms”.

• The concept “Understanding and analysing computing technology” (TCH 0-14a to TCH 4-14c) corresponds to “2) computational mechanisms themselves”.

• The concept “Designing building and testing computing solutions” (TCH 0-15a to TCH 4-15a) maps to “3) how to use the computational mechanisms to model aspects of the domains”.

Describing the curricular change, one teacher said: “The change in curriculum has been transformational in terms of Es and Os [curricular expectations and outcomes]. …This is very different from other curriculums. Many are very content led. This was future proofed” [5.3].

Furthermore, a Policy Executive from the Scottish Government’s Learning Directorate described Robertson’s contributions to the curriculum change: “The valuable work you undertook was significant in the wider aim of updating the curriculum to reflect the rapid and on-going changes in digital technology within our society” [5.1]. He highlighted: “We particularly valued the academic expertise you brought to the discussions and the collaboration with Computing at Schools Scotland and the Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance to ensure that learners have the opportunity to use computational thinking as a means of developing capabilities in problem solving and computing science”.

Developed research-informed curriculum resources and professional learning opportunities to embed the curricular changes

The Education Scotland Technologies working group acknowledged that the introduction of a specialist curricular area such as CS within broad general education was ambitious since it would require a steep learning curve for non-specialist teachers. Therefore, to support teachers in updating their practice, a group of academics led by Robertson and Farrell ran a series of professional learning events which were designed based on the research findings (3.3) including a successful conference to accompany the launch of the new curriculum and a series of “Coding and Cake” workshops on programming and data literacy. Robertson and University of Edinburgh colleague Linklater, in collaboration with Edinburgh City Council and sponsored by the technology company CGI, ran a year-long professional learning course in Computational Thinking for 14 Edinburgh-based primary teachers, piloting activities that met gaps in teachers’ knowledge about CS. Participants commented that the workshops and course increased their confidence in CS skills and knowledge and provided them with effective CS teaching approaches that build on pupils’ existing knowledge [5.3].

The University of Edinburgh team developed the Teach CS Primary Guide that explains the three key concepts of the revised curriculum informed by the research, providing various example activities for each curricular level and outcome. For example, to support children in the early years who are exploring computational thinking processes involved in everyday tasks and identifying patterns (organiser 1, outcome TCH 0-13a), teachers may use simple activities to help children sort toys by colour or shape, or identify the steps in everyday activities such as hand-washing. Sorting objects in the real world is conceptually similar to sorting information by attribute, which is fundamental to computer science. This Guide was distributed to all 2,019 primary schools in Scotland in 2017 and to 1,200 subscribers to the Times Educational Supplement Scotland in 2020.

The Guide and related professional learning workshops were independently evaluated in February 2020 [5.3]. The purpose of the evaluation was to gather evidence of the impact (if any) that (A) the Teach CS Guide has had on the confidence and competence (particularly understanding of CS concepts) of primary teachers who have engaged with it while teaching the new computing science strands of the Technologies section of the CfE and (B) gather views from teachers about how the change in curriculum has impacted their learners.

The independent evaluator stated: “Without a doubt, use of the Teach CS Handbook [Guide] has increased the confidence of those teachers using it”. For example, one teacher reflected on the benefits: “ although Es and Os are giving schoolteachers an understanding of what every child should understand in the curriculum, the document takes that and makes it much more manageable for teachers in schools”. Another participant stated: “If I hadn’t been directed to the handbook, I wouldn’t have changed my teaching. It made me see it in a different light”. A different teacher said she regularly uses the Guide in shaping her teaching practices: “ I use it to select my activities when I’m teaching computing science. That is what I go to; it is my go-to thing, when I think ‘what should I be teaching?’”. A primary teacher reflected on the different ways in which the Guide has enhanced colleagues’ teaching practices, since it has proved beneficial in terms of making technical vocabulary accessible to teachers and illustrating how each curricular aspect can be taught. For example, “ it definitely helps older generation teachers who are not confident and also new teachers on ‘how do I actually teach it’”.

A specialist in learning technologies for a Local Authority attended a short course run by Robertson and Farrell and, with permission from the researchers, subsequently created an open-source, interactive version of the Guide that facilitates connections across section areas. This online resource has been shared with over 500 primary teachers across their Local Authority. As a result, “It has led to a change in the way we are producing resources” because senior leaders have adopted the Guide’s style for other curricular areas [5.3].

Teachers’ enhanced practice as a result of the CS Guide and related resources has had a positive impact on pupils’ learning. For example, the Guide supports teachers to explain CS concepts in more accessible ways for children, “helping pupils understand the concepts” and supporting teachers to “know the children are making progress toward this outcome” [5.3]. Furthermore, teachers reported that the resources and interactive activities in the Guide have sparked pupils’ engagement and enjoyment of learning CS.

The evaluation report [5.3] concluded that:

“Use of the handbook led to increased confidence among teachers – interviewees and, often, their colleagues. The handbook led to clearer understanding of key concepts and thus to an increase in teachers’ competence when teaching pupils about those concepts – to the benefit of pupils. The handbook has had an impact on teaching practices of individuals and also, through various planning processes and documents, on practices of colleagues.”

Arshad and Foley have championed racial and linguistic understanding among teachers and promoted diversity in the UK teaching profession, which enhances the educational experiences of all learners and especially racially and linguistically diverse pupils. Their research has had impact on Scottish educational policy and improved the capacity of the profession in the UK and the US to enact more inclusive teaching practices.

Advanced race and linguistic equality in Scottish education policy

Scotland’s independent Race Equality Framework Adviser, Kaliani Lyle, drew on Arshad’s work (3.1, 3.4) in the 2017 report “Addressing Race Inequality in Scotland: The Way Forward” [5.1]. Lyle said: “[Arshad’s] advice gave the education section… an authority that was essential in… getting heard by the Scottish Government” [5.2]. In particular, Arshad’s research (3.1) highlighted the low levels of awareness of teacher educators and teachers on race matters as a lack of diversity in the teaching workforce is a persistent issue needing coordinated action. This research contributed to informing recommendations of the Race Equality Action Plan 2017-2021 (particularly recommendations related to staff and staffing) and influenced the Scottish Government’s Strategic Board for Teacher Education to set up a “Teaching for a Diverse Scotland” working group. Scotland’s Deputy First Minister then asked Arshad to chair that independent group to explore how to increase the number of BME teachers in Scotland. The group’s 2018 report, “Teaching in a Diverse Scotland: Increasing and Retaining Minority Ethnic Teachers”, included 17 vital proposals to:

• raise awareness of everyday racism and bias in education,

• make teaching careers more attractive to BME students, and

• improve support for teachers who experience discrimination or harassment [5.3A].

The Scottish Government has committed to implement all of the report’s recommendations [5.4]. In June 2019, the Deputy First Minister asked Arshad to continue to chair the working group to take the recommendations forward, stating: “These recommendations will undoubtedly create a greater awareness of race equality across the education sector, and ensure greater impact of the Race Equality Framework for Scotland” [5.5A].

In November 2020, the Deputy First Minister described how diversifying the teaching profession to include more minority ethnic teachers has been included as an important area of the Programme for Government (PfG), noting: “The working group are currently offering their advice to Scottish Government on what the PfG commitment might potentially look like in terms of tangible and meaningful action” [5.5B]. He described the “notable progress of the working group”. The progress in 2019 and 2020 included teacher recruitment, development, and leadership [5.3B]:

• The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) updated its professional standards for teachers to include explicit reference to equality – including race – issues (section 3.3). The Council Chief Executive said this change “...will impact directly on the lives and practice of almost 76000 registrants… on the GTC Scotland register and all future students and teachers…” [5.6].

• The role of monitoring for ethnic diversity of the teaching workforce is now embedded into the Scottish Government’s Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group, whose key remit is to ensure sufficient teachers within the overall workforce.

• City of Glasgow Council have engaged in positive action in meeting new recruitment targets for BME individuals to take on early childcare positions. They recruited 40 BME staff who were appointed in August 2020 to join the early years workforce.

• A national mentoring network for BME teachers has been established by the Scottish Association of Minority Ethnic Educators, in partnership with Education. Scotland.

• The West of Scotland Teaching Education Partnership (covering 8 local authorities) offered a secondment to a BME teacher to develop online resources for teachers to raise awareness of how everyday racism occurs in the education sector.

• All local authority probationer handbooks will, from August 2021, include references on how probationer teachers can report bullying and harassment, including racial harassment. The working group discovered that not all handbooks included this.

• All Teacher Leadership programmes in Scotland offered via Education Scotland and initial teacher education (ITE) providers are, from August 2020, including explicit information about how everyday racism occurs within school and education settings. This directly relates to Arshad’s research findings indicating that improved racial literacy of teachers and teacher managers was required (3.1, 3.3, 3.4) and affects approximately 700 school leaders each year starting programmes from 2020/21.

Furthermore, the Deputy First Minister stated: “Professor Arshad has also engaged with Directors of Education and University Principals and Heads of School to galvanise action” [5.5B] including setting out concrete approaches and strategies to diversify and enhance the impact of ITE programmes that should reflect Scotland’s diverse population. Examples include the following [5.3B]:

• For the first time in Scotland, baseline data is being collected about BME applications and completion rates for ITE programmes. In 2020, each ITE provider was asked to identify clear action areas it will take to help meet the target of 4% of the overall Scottish teacher workforce being BME by 2030.

• The Scottish Council of Deans of Education (SCDE) approved a new entry Memorandum in 2019 that clearly states that all ITE providers should mitigate against institutional barriers and conscious and unconscious bias throughout the recruitment and selection procedures. The SCDE facilitates consistent approaches to support ITE providers’ work in this area.

• The GTCS issued guidance in 2020 for use in ITE programme and placement handbooks, providing clear advice to student teachers on the support they can access if they experience racial and other forms of discrimination and harassment. This commitment will apply to all handbooks published from 2020/21.

• The GTCS agreed in 2020 to ask each Scottish ITE provider at accreditation and re-accreditation events how the provider is enabling students to acknowledge and consider how their positionality and identity shapes their thinking and practice. They have also committed to ensuring that the next iteration of ITE accreditation documentation will explicitly address positionality. Scotland is the first country that we are aware of in Europe to require this of their teacher education providers.

The Deputy First Minister noted this work: “While numbers of minority ethnic teachers in schools are increasing, there is still much to be done and I am grateful to Professor Arshad for her leadership in driving forward actions which will help us achieve this aim” [5.5B].

Action on race and linguistic equality in teaching practice in Scotland and the wider UK

Research on EAL learners’ experience in Scottish education (3.2) led the National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (NALDIC) to invite Foley to chair the organisation between 2013 and 2015 [5.7]. As the UK’s only national subject association for EAL teaching and learning, NALDIC produces resources and organises practice-based development opportunities for teachers. Current NALDIC Chair Dr Victoria Murphy stated: “The impact of her [Foley’s] work as Chair of NALDIC was evidenced as she worked in partnership as a resources specialist with the British Council to design a website for English as an additional language which provides teachers with updated information and practical teaching strategies for supporting EAL learners (EAL Nexus, 2014)” [5.7] . Furthermore, Foley secured an agreement whereby “NALDIC would be part of the training of Ofsted [English school] Inspectors in order to better support the evaluation process of schools and teachers. This has a key role to play as schools, inspectors and teachers seek to provide inclusive teaching and learning environments for multilingual pupils” [5.7].

During Foley’s leadership of NALDIC, the Bell Foundation charity asked her to develop training resources underpinning the “Language for Results” programme helping teachers across England better support EAL learners. Training sessions linked to this programme began in 2015 and “continue to be delivered across the UK, where a large range of learners and teachers has been reached (130 training sessions, reaching approximately 10,200+ learners)” [5.7]. The Bell Foundation’s Head of Programme Quality explained, “Foley was instrumental in the development of the Foundation’s Language for Results programme… Our courses continue to receive exceptional feedback from schools, with statistically significant evidence of impact on teacher practice” [5.8].

Research findings and implications for practice were also disseminated at a series of professional development sessions offered from 2014-2020 in Scotland and attended by over 1,500 teachers, youth workers and education policy writers. In 2016, seminars based on Arshad’s research (3.1, 3.4) benefitted Scottish teachers’ practice by increasing their awareness of race. For example, findings on teachers’ reluctance to discuss racism motivated one teacher to raise the issue with their students and “I have already had some small discussions [about racism] with my group” [5.9, p. 2 of the feedback]. Another participant said they were “now more equipped to recognise the problems of misrecognition and act to fix them” [5.9, p. 5] .

In 2018, the Scottish Council of Deans of Education (SCDE) incorporated insights from Foley’s research (3.5) into its National Languages Framework for all eight ITE university providers across Scotland. Foley transformed the framework from being one which focused only on the learning and teaching of foreign or modern languages into one that embraced the wider, multilingual, and multicultural world to include EAL and British Sign Language. SCDE’s Co-Chair Dr Ingeborg Birnie stated: “The transformative role Yvonne [Foley] plays impacts on all the ITE programmes across the eight university providers in Scotland and on the nearly 4000 entrants into the teaching profession every year in Scotland. The impact means that future teachers are guided in re-conceptualising multilingual learners in schools as valuable and precious rather than problematic” [5.10]. This more inclusive conceptualisation of the role of language in education and society was underpinned by the values of equality and social justice.

Research led by McGeown has had a positive impact on primary and secondary school students’ reading motivation, engagement and attainment, and it has supported work to redress gender imbalances in Scottish education.

Changed literacy practice

Between 2016 and 2019, McGeown changed literacy teaching and raised students’ literacy attainment by sharing her research with more than 250 teachers, head teachers and local authority literacy leads at professional learning sessions throughout Scotland [5.1]. An ESRC Impact Acceleration Account funded an evaluation of the impact of these sessions (survey with 75 teachers participating immediately after the sessions) and found statistically significant increases in teachers’ knowledge and understanding of McGeown’s research [5.2], which recommended: systematic synthetic phonics instruction for beginning readers, and promotion of positive reading attitudes and motivation throughout school. A 15-month follow up questionnaire demonstrated the long-term impact of these sessions. Teachers reported that they had changed their literacy practice, for example: one teacher “adjusted my reading teaching in line with the research recommendations” and another enacted changes which resulted in improvements in pupils’ reading abilities: “students have seen an increase in attainment data through a number of changes made” [5.2].

The practice of school leaders and teachers across Scotland has benefitted from McGeown’s research (3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5), via two invited webinars hosted by the General Teaching Council Scotland (124 teachers attended) [5.3A] and Education Scotland (86 Head Teachers/Local Authority Literacy Leads attended) [5.3B]. During the GTCS webinar, McGeown shared her research, which focused on the importance of systematic synthetic phonics instruction for beginning readers, to redress early educational inequalities. A post-webinar survey with over 80 teachers found that 85% reported that the research shared would impact their practice [5.3A]. During the Education Scotland webinar, McGeown shared her research, which focused on understanding and promoting children’s and adolescents’ motivation to read, to encourage greater independent reading. Attendees subsequently shared the YouTube recording from this webinar, resulting in approximately 450 views in the first eight weeks. A Senior Education Officer (Literacy) at Education Scotland stated: “Dr McGeown’s research on children’s and adolescents’ motivation to read is directly relevant to our national priorities in Scotland, more specifically, improving the literacy skills of children and young people” [5.4]. She added: “ my own understanding of research in this area has developed considerably as a result of my collaboration with Dr McGeown, and this research knowledge will continue to underpin the work we do in Scottish schools to promote reading for pleasure”.

McGeown’s Scottish Universities Insight Institute funded knowledge exchange workshop series in 2017/18 also brought together policy makers, literacy leads, head teachers and teachers to draw on research to optimally tackle language and literacy issues in Scotland. During this series, McGeown shared her research on initial reading instruction (3.1, 3.2, 3.3) which supported Dundee City Council’s approach to literacy teaching: “[McGeown’s research] added weight to… the decision Dundee’s Children and Families Service made to adopt a city-wide approach to teaching reading using systematic synthetic phonics” [5.5]. The Dundee City Council Education Support Officer further stated: “connections with Dr McGeown and her research are invaluable in helping us improve literacy for children in Dundee.” According to Pupil Census data from 2019, over 10,600 primary school pupils are enrolled in Dundee City Council schools annually.

Influenced national programmes

Collaboration with the Scottish Book Trust (SBT) since 2017 has resulted in McGeown’s reading motivation and engagement research (3.3, 3.4, 3.5) informing the design of programmes which promote reading motivation and engagement among primary and secondary school pupils. For instance, “ insights from her work on the importance of intrinsic reading motivation and the relationship between reading motivation, reading choices and reading attainment have been instrumental in one of our leading programmes, the First Minister’s Reading Challenge (FMRC)” [5.6]. The FMRC is delivered in approximately 75% of primary and 60% of secondary schools across Scotland, reaching approximately 250,000 pupils each year. SBT’s evaluation of the FMRC highlighted that approximately 82% of participating primary schools and 66% of participating secondary schools report that their pupils are reading more as a result of the programme. Furthermore, the Head of Research and Evaluation at SBT added: McGeown’s research “ has increased the validity and weight of our advocacy communications” and concluded that “our partnership with Dr McGeown has been instrumental in us having a greater impact on local authorities, learning professionals and, crucially, children and young people” [5.6] .

McGeown’s research on children’s gender identity and boys’ poor literacy engagement has also “considerably shaped” the work and focus of Education Scotland’s Improving Gender Balance & Equalities (IGBE) scheme [5.7], which works across all of Scotland’s 2,500 primary and secondary schools, reaching approximately 692,000 pupils each year. IGBE previously focused predominantly on girls. McGeown’s research on sex differences in education, particularly exploring gender identity and boys’ poor literacy engagement (3.6) shifted its focus to also “understand how gender stereotypes can have a negative impact on boys”. IGBE have “worked closely with Dr McGeown and embedded her research into our resources for teachers”. The IGBE Education Officer reported that: “[McGeown’s] research highlighting the importance of understanding students’ gender identity, rather than their sex, is particularly helpful to challenge conventional thinking about distinct differences between boys and girls”. Furthermore, “her research highlighting the issue of boys’ lack of engagement in literacy considerably shaped our work across Scottish schools, which now also focuses on understanding how gender stereotypes can have a negative impact on boys” [5.7]. IGBE’s evaluation of their programme and resources suggests this work is having a positive impact on raising teachers’ awareness, understanding and practice around gender imbalance. For example, 84% of teachers reported that IGBE had influenced how they work with young people around gender stereotypes. Furthermore, 95% felt they would share their IGBE learning with colleagues.

Contributed to parliamentary debate

McGeown’s research (3.1) has underpinned parliamentary debate on approaches to raise literacy attainment across Scotland. Petitioner Anne Glennie drew extensively on McGeown’s research in her petition to the Scottish Parliament to improve literacy standards in schools. The petitioner writes: “[McGeown has] been instrumental in providing evidence and scientific support… with ministers finding her research particularly compelling which demonstrated the short and long term benefits of synthetic phonics as opposed to the more eclectic approaches that are currently being used in Scotland” [5.8].

McGeown debated the petition in Parliament in November 2017 [5.9A]. When sharing her research on how current approaches to reading instruction in Scotland can disproportionately benefit children from more advantaged backgrounds, Convener MSP Johann Lamont, stated: *“I’m very struck by the evidence that we now have a strategy for teaching children to learn reading which enhances the opportunities for those who are already advantaged… I just find that very compelling.*” McGeown has also been involved in ongoing written discussions and debate with the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills; McGeown contributed 5 of the 15 written submissions [5.9B]. McGeown was invited to attend further debate of this petition in Parliament with the Education and Skills Committee in March 2020 although it was postponed due to the pandemic [5.9C].

This pioneering body of research has a) raised awareness of the role of curriculum choices in contributing to social inequalities and b) directly informed the Scottish Government’s strategy for achieving its goal of reducing inequalities in university access, an aim set forth in the 2014-15 Programme for Government.

Raised awareness of the role of curriculum choices in contributing to social inequalities in HE and labour market outcomes in England and Scotland

As a pathway to this impact, the research has been disseminated widely to over 380 key Scottish policymakers, practitioners and academics at 6 knowledge exchange events and various meetings with Scottish Government representatives from 2015-2017. These events have been accompanied by widely accessible AQMeN research briefings and YouTube videos [5.1A, 5.1B]. Furthermore, to raise awareness of the role of curriculum choices, the research has been shared at high-profile events including: the “The Future of Education Data in Scotland” jointly-organised with Scottish Government [5.2A]; the European Forum for Freedom in Education 2015 symposium [5.2B]; and the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2015 event “Social Inequalities in Education: Why and How National Institutional Factors Matter” [5.2C]. Media reports in both the mainstream and professional press followed from these events to raise the public’s awareness about the research, such as appearances in news outlets including the Times Education Supplement Scotland [5.3A], the Herald Scotland [5.3B], BBC Radio Scotland [5.3C] and other national news media [5.3D, 5.3E, 5.3F].

Prominent education figures across the UK have referenced Iannelli’s research when formulating policy positions linked to recent curriculum reforms. For example, the research was cited in a speech by UK Education Secretary Michael Gove at the 2015 Policy Exchange Education Conference stating: “ The work of Dr Cristina Iannelli at Edinburgh University demonstrates that the type of curriculum you study – specifically enjoyment of core academic subjects – is more important than the type of school you attend, whether grammar, independent or comprehensive, in determining future success” [5.4]. Furthermore, the work was cited by HM Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman at the 2017 Ark’s Teach conference: “ Research by Dr Cristina Iannelli at the University of Edinburgh has shown that differences in the secondary school curriculum have a much larger impact on social inequality than differences in school type. And so if we are ever to improve social mobility, between and within generations, we should start with sorting the curriculum” [5.5].

The research is also being used to raise awareness among the wider public and ultimately to impact pupils’ decisions about subject choice. A theatre piece “Schooled” was informed by Iannelli’s research on curriculum and provided further insights on the underlying issues that are grounded in the lived experiences of pupils and teachers. Two performances of this work-in-progress piece took place on 23-24 November 2018 at the Traverse Theatre [5.6A]. Afterwards, the 170 spectators including students, parents and teachers were invited to express their views about the main messages from the play. The play writer and actress, Pauline Lockhart, said: “ This stimulated much debate and participation from the audience and led to Edinburgh College introducing a new student questionnaire to gain information on how students want to access their education and changes they would like to see” [5.6B]. A full production of the theatre piece has been commissioned by the Traverse theatre. The script development was delayed due to COVID-19 but it is in progress. The new theatre performances are expected to further widen the reach of the research, ultimately impacting positively on the education experiences of socially disadvantaged pupils.

Informed the Scottish Government’s strategic aim of reducing inequality in university access

The research has had a direct impact on the Scottish policymakers’ understanding and knowledge of the role of curriculum choice and inequality. For example, following the 2015 ESRC Festival of Social Science event attended by several members of the Commission on Widening Access (COWA) as speakers and panellists, the Scottish Government’s Head of Education Analysis, Intelligence and Performance said, “ We’re interested in ensuring that every child in Scotland fulfils their potential, so the research that we’re hearing about today [referring to the AQMeN research] will help us greatly in thinking about how we deal with the needs of children from different backgrounds, how we ensure that they get the chance to maximise their potential to enable them to attend higher education if that’s what they wish to do” [5.7].

Subsequently, the COWA used insights from the research findings to inform their work in advising Ministers on steps necessary to ensure that every child has an equal chance of accessing higher education. Iannelli and colleagues submitted written evidence to COWA in 2015 and have subsequently given oral evidence to and attended private meetings with COWA members to discuss their research findings. The evidence provided resulted in the Commission including “secondary school subject choices” among the barriers to access in the COWA interim report [5.8A], which then led to their inclusion of Access to Key Subjects (Recommendation 18) as one of 34 key recommendations in their final report [5.8B]: “Universities, colleges and local authorities should work together to provide access to a range of Higher and Advanced Higher subjects, which ensures that those from less advantaged backgrounds or living in rural areas are not restricted in their ability to access higher education by the subject choices available to them”. The Scottish Government has taken forward this recommendation by rolling out new packages of careers advice and student support in order to “continue to make progress on equal access to university by 2030” (2018-19 Programme for Government, p. 4). The research was also cited in the 2017 Annual Report of the Commissioner for Fair Access in Scotland [5.9].

A testimony of the influence of this work is Iannelli becoming a key member in 2018 of the Scottish Government’s Academic Reference Group, which is informing the research strategy for Scottish Education. Scottish Government staff have cited the work of Iannelli and the AQMeN centre in raising awareness about the importance of quantitative research skills and methodology as being “a really influential and positive” aspect of strengthening the work of the Scottish Government and other quantitative researchers across Scotland [5.10]. Describing Iannelli’s contributions, a Scottish Government Principal Research Officer within the Scottish Government Education Analytical Services’ Learning Analysis Unit stated: “Her research helped inform the decision to undertake research around curriculum choices in Senior Phase. That research underpinned the decision we took to prioritise that area, and it also informed the approach we decided to take with the Headteacher survey across Scotland” [5.10]. The Unit invited Iannelli to join an advisory group overseeing this commissioned research which will continue to inform Scottish Government educational policies. Furthermore, the research was submitted to the OECD’s review of the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence, with further impact on policy expected in the future.

During the past 20 years, the Centre for Research in Digital Education has conducted research which has helped shape the future of university teaching – in the UK and worldwide – in the three ways described below.

Our work helped expand MOOC curricula globally into the arts, humanities and social sciences, while innovative and high quality digital pedagogies developed through our research were influential in the trajectory of the MOOC movement. The largest and most pioneering platform – Coursera – has been our most notable corporate beneficiary. We have modelled MOOC pedagogy in the 53 MOOCs the University of Edinburgh has offered since 2013, reaching more than 3,000,000 learners who directly benefited from this work through participation in our courses.

As a pathway to this impact, Haywood put his findings on the vital importance of robust institutional policy in digital education (3.1) into practice at Edinburgh from 2012 onwards. This led the Stanford-based MOOC platform, Coursera, to invite the University to become its first UK member [5.1]. Coursera initially offered MOOCs primarily focused on computing science-related topics, but it worked with the Edinburgh team to launch its first humanities and social science MOOCs, subsequently inviting the University of Edinburgh Vice-Chancellor at the time – Professor Tim O’Shea – to join Coursera’s board in November 2013 to help build capacity in these disciplines.

One of the Coursera Co-Founders stated that the University of Edinburgh provided significant contributions by broadening the subjects covered in MOOCs by “demonstrating that there was a significant learner demand for content in the humanities, sciences, and philosophy” [5.1]. Furthermore, research and expertise from within the Centre informed the development of new and more engaging pedagogic models for MOOCs, influencing “a range of very different approaches to the presentation, assessment and the use of online educational resources... [that] subsequently served as models to other institutions wanting to experiment with novel pedagogy in an online setting”. As such, the University of Edinburgh’s partnership has been fundamental to the development of the Coursera platform and “ had a significant beneficial effect on the trajectory of the MOOC movement and to our [Coursera’s] ability to bring valuable education to tens of millions of learners worldwide” [5.1].

1. Advanced digital innovation in higher education and critical online teaching practice

Our research has directly benefitted the World Bank Group with positive benefits for many thousands of learners enrolled on their Open Learning Campus. Research by Bayne, Ross and Knox (3.2, 3.3) underpinned the design of the World Bank’s first MOOC in 2014. Since then, “Turn down the heat: why a 4 degree warmer world must be avoided” has reached 39,000 learners in more than 180 countries. The Centre then helped the organisation replicate this pioneering course design throughout its 14 MOOCs. The Head of the World Bank Group’s Open Learning Campus said: “The expertise of the Edinburgh team has directly contributed to building our capacity for large-scale, open online learning provision… Data on MOOC participants from the initial six MOOCs showed over 110,000 registered participants from over 180 countries… suggesting a course reach previously unseen particularly in open education directed at civil society actors [from non-profit organisations and government agencies]” [5.2].

The Centre’s Manifesto for Teaching Online (3.6) has benefitted teachers and leaders in higher education internationally, setting out core principles and critical, research-based perspectives on high quality online teaching which has been highly influential on practice and policy. More than 100,000 professionals participated in the MOOC based on the manifesto ( “E-learning and digital cultures”, 2013). The manifesto has been translated into Spanish, Chinese and Croatian and used in programme curricula across the globe [5.3].

The Executive Director of the Digital Pedagogy Lab and Hybrid Pedagogy stated: “The research programme synthesised within the Manifesto for Teaching Online has had major impact on the work of those of us who practice and interrogate teaching in the context of higher education and digital technologies. [Their work (3.6)] offers practical takeaways but never shies away from asking hard questions about the work of online teaching. This research genuinely pushes the conversation forward in ways that will change the landscape of online education for the better” [5.4]. Furthermore, a professor at Monash University (Australia) has described how the Centre's research is “widely recognised as world-leading”, noting in particular how the Manifesto (3.6) “has brought together a cross-disciplinary research programme spanning over a decade into a set of principles which I am already seeing used by an international community of higher education practitioners and leaders. This document and set of principles has formed the basis of online pedagogic policy development in our own Faculty, as well as institutions that I work with in Norway and New Zealand” [5.5].

This body of work has been influential in building practitioners’ capacity to help address the challenge of the COVID-19 digital “pivot”, influencing their digital competency and pedagogy via our research, engagement and teaching [5.5, 5.6]. The research-led Digital Education Masters programme built on this work (3.6) has to date educated 700 students from 57 nations in advanced online teaching practice and leadership. Alumni from this programme have transformed their universities’ policy and practice in digital education. For example, the Deputy Provost, Academic Operations at Athabasca University in Canada stated: “I have no doubt that were it not for the research of the Centre for Research in Digital Education I would simply not be capable of leading work that is transforming the Canadian Post-Secondary landscape. ...Research into online assessment and issues of student surveillance from various scholars in the Centre (Dr Williamson, Dr Ross, Dr Macleod, Dr Gallagher, and the whole team on the Manifesto for Online Learning) gave me the breadth of understanding needed to respond to the pressures of the COVID crisis” [5.6].

Gasevic and Tsai’s research (3.4) has led universities to introduce new policies on the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of learners’ data across Europe, with significant benefits for institutions and their students. Their work on the SHEILA project developed a new learning analytics policy framework that has been tested and validated by 200 external stakeholders, including university leaders, policy makers, researchers, teaching staff, support professionals and students. The SHEILA framework has changed approaches to learning analytics at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, the Open University of the Netherlands, and Tallinn University [5.7].

Ben Williamson’s research on data use policies and ethics (3.5) underpinned his contribution to the inquiry of the UK Government All-Party Parliamentary Group on Data Analytics into technology ethics. The Parliamentary Group’s final report cited Williamson regarding the importance of clearly stated data analytics principles and purposes – his contribution informed the Parliamentary Group’s recommendations that the UK Government lead on work to improve data governance based on public consent, cooperation and openness [5.8]. At a time when digitisation, automation and datafication are informing policy at many institutions, accelerated by the post-COVID-19 digital “pivot”, Williamson’s work has been used by teacher and lecturer unions: Education International, the global teacher union federation, is using the research to inform how teacher unions globally respond to commercialisation pressures [5.9], with direct benefits for institutions and teachers. A further project and report by Williamson on automation in higher education for the University and Colleges Union forms the basis for its strategic recommendations to the Scottish Government, university managers and trade unions to address the effect of learning technologies and automation on academic and professional services roles [5.10].

The End Violence Lab, co-led by Fry, has pioneered explicit ways of working with external partners to maximise impact from research in preventing violence against children. A key element of each study included partnering directly with UN agencies like UNICEF or national and international organisations, with a lead government ministry and a multi-sectoral advisory group drawn from academia, government, civil society organisations and children’s organisations. Joint curation has allowed this body of work to generate global impact in a short timeframe – and to respond to the real world, on-the-ground challenges faced by policymakers and child protection practitioners.

The research has contributed to legislation banning corporal punishment in schools in three countries impacting over 10.3 million children. The finding from the Multi-Country Study that violence in schools, including corporal punishment, has a significant negative impact on learning outcomes (3.2, 3.3), led both the Peruvian National Congress (in 2015) and the Congress of Paraguay (in 2016) to pass laws prohibiting corporal punishment against children in schools [5.1]. These policy changes effect over 7 million school-aged children in Peru and over 1.4 million children in Paraguay.

Funded by an ESRC Impact Acceleration grant and DFID, an independent qualitative impact assessment was conducted in 2017 to ascertain outcomes of the Multi-Country Study on impact in policy and practice in Peru. It gathered data directly through interviews and questionnaires from 33 government officials, staff from UN agencies and key stakeholders; it also collected 13 testimonials and examined 36 pieces of evidence during in-country fieldwork [5.1, p. 24]. This evaluation found broad agreement among interviewees that the research influenced the change in Peruvian law on corporal punishment. In a public speech three months before the passing of the law, Fernando Bolaños, then Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations, also highlighted how the Multi-Country Study contributed to the National Congress decision-making process: “…Finally, there is a milestone that we want to achieve as a country: to pass a law that prohibits corporal punishment against children. We have already sent a proposal to the National Congress based on the Multi-Country Drivers Study findings. We realized laws are not enough; laws do not change social practices by themselves. But they can catalyze efforts to make society and daily living better for our children” [5.2, p. 8].

The impact assessment of the work in Peru also found that the response there had influenced Paraguay to use its own data from the Multi-Country Study to pass similar legislation banning corporal punishment [5.1, p. 25].

Zimbabwe also passed legislation to ban corporal punishment against boys in schools (it was previously banned for girls) with UNICEF confirming that evidence from Multi-Country Study was a critical contribution to the passage of this law in 2018, which has impacted over 1.9 million boys in the country [5.3].

The research has directly influenced national plans of action to prevent violence against children and additional legislation in six countries. The Multi-Country Study’s findings have been cited in national action plans and by government leaders launching those plans in Italy, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe, Peru, Eswatini and the Philippines [5.2, 5.4, 5.5]. These strategies have directed and continue to influence government spending for prevention and response services across child protection systems:

• Italy’s Vice-Minister for Equal Opportunities stated that findings from the Multi-Country Study (3.2) fed directly into Italy’s National Plan of Action for Children (2016-2017) and the National Plan to Prevent and Combat the Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of Children 2014-2016 [5.2, pp. 4-5].

• Viet Nam’s Minister of the Department of Child Care and Protection from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) stated that findings (3.2, 3.4) led directly to the new Program on Child Protection 2016-2020: “The findings from the Multi-Country Study on the Drivers of Violence led to Viet Nam’s Child Protection Creed, a new sub-law of the Child Protection Law enacting multi sectoral action against violence in Health, Education and Justice and this evidence-based dialogue has moved violence prevention to the front of the National Program 267 (2011-2015) in Viet Nam, led by MOLISA with line ministries and agencies” [5.2, p. 10].

• Zimbabwe’s Minister of the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare (MoPSLSW) stated that the Multi-Country Study: “… findings are influencing our current policy dialogues around the new OVC II [Orphaned and Vulnerable Children II] National Plan of Action and the roll out of our national case management system for responding to cases of violence against children” [5.2, p. 12]. Findings from the Multi-Country study also contributed to improving child protection response systems in Zimbabwe as also stated by the MoPSLSW Minister: “The Multi-Country Study on the Drivers has also helped to facilitate data linkages between ZIMSTAT [Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency] and Childline which has improved our case management responses and also our ability to plan preventative responses” [5.2, p. 12].

• In Peru the Ministry of Children and Vulnerable Populations issued a legislative decree for the protection of children deprived of or at risk of losing parental care (Decreto Legislativo Nº1297) in 2016. An officer from the Ministry said that the Multi-Country Study had helped to develop indicators to identify at-risk children and had provided more information supporting the need for the decree, including the fact that one of the main reasons children are in institutions is because of violence [5.1].

• In a public speech in 2017, the Principal Secretary of Swaziland’s Deputy Prime Minister’s Office said the Drivers of Violence Study was influential to the development of the National Strategy to End Violence in Swaziland (now Eswatini) [5.4]. UNICEF Swaziland also stated that the study “…provided an opportunity for strategic and high-level advocacy for the enactment of the sexual offences and domestic violence bill that has been under discussion for over a decade” [5.5, p. 2].

• The Philippine Plan of Action to End Violence Against Children, PPAEVAC (2017-2022) cites in the plan that “ Two complementary studies on VAC [Violence Against Children] served as the basis for the development of PPAeVAC: One was the 2015 NBS-VAC [National Baseline Survey on VAC]. …The other, A Systematic Review of the Drivers of Violence affecting Children: Philippines, was conducted by the University of the Philippines-Manila, University of Edinburgh, and the Child Protection Network Foundation, Inc.” [5.6, p. 5].

The research has directly influenced the creation of safe environments for children beyond school through the development of the safe cities initiatives. An evaluation conducted by UNICEF of the 3^rd High-Level Meeting (HLM) for Children’s Rights directly cites Fry’s research (3.4), the only paper on violence against children informing the meeting, as contributing to citywide safe environment interventions in the Asia-Pacific region:

“Through the presentation of quality research papers and insightful panel discussions that fostered South-South learning, senior government ministers and officials from nearly 30 countries showed how child-sensitive investments can deliver significant returns – for children, for communities, and for nations. Specifically, governments and partners looked at challenges and solutions in… preventing violence against children. …Specific country results have been achieved, e.g. as a result of the HLM, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (DCY-MSDHS) of the Government of Thailand established a Child Friendly Cities Initiative, piloting this in ten municipalities in the country” [5.7, pp. 40-41].

Furthermore, the evaluation of the Safe Schools intervention in two schools (3.6) has contributed to its adoption by the Mayor of Valenzuela City in the Philippines as an evidence-based intervention for his safe cities initiative, as highlighted in his application to becoming the first Pathfinding City for ending violence against children through the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children. The Mayor wrote: “ Our recent Safe Schools project, [is] an initiative using school-based mindfulness interventions for students and specific teacher training in relation to reducing violence against children. Valenzuela is committed to working with local researchers and implementers to scale up this initiative and, importantly, contribute to the international Safe to Learn Campaign” [5.8].