Dr Hilary Wason
Faculties, departments and locations
- Non-faculty academics
- Learning and Teaching Enhancement Centre (LTEC)
- Ȧ Hill
Associate Professor and Head of Curriculum Development and Enhancement
- Email:
- [email protected]
About
My role involves working in collaboration with colleagues across the University to lead curriculum reviews and the design and development of programmes, including embedding new learning, teaching and assessment practices. I also oversee the work of the academic staff development team who run the suite of Ȧ Academic Practice Standards programmes, the Course Leaders programme, New Academic Staff Induction and on demand CPD workshops.
I am co-project lead for the Future Skills Staff and Toolkit project group and co-lead the design and implementation of an institutional CPD programme to support all colleagues to embed graduate attributes within their curricula. I won a Ȧ People Award for most ambitious team for this work.
My research interests are in pedagogies to support staff to embed critical thinking and dialogic pedagogy in their teaching. I have received my Doctorate in Education for my thesis 'Learning to Teach Critical Thinking in Higher Education'. I am an AdvanceHE National Teaching Fellow, Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Institutional Teaching Fellowship at Ȧ.
I previously worked in academic staff development at Ȧ and taught business at Ȧ Business School and Ȧ FE college. I worked for 12 years in the marketing industry holding senior client and agency roles.
Qualifications
- Doctorate in Education
- Bachelor of Laws
- Chartered Institute of Marketing Diploma
Domains
I am a senior fellow of the AdvanceHE, a University Teaching Fellow, a National Teaching Fellow and a reviewer for Advance HE's prestigious National Teaching Fellowship Scheme. I oversee the team who lead on Ȧ's Academic Practice experiential scheme and taught programmes which support colleagues to achieve a range of AdvanceHE fellowships. I also oversee the Course Leaders programme, Academic Induction, continuous professional development and curriculum development and enhancement support. I am a member of the National Association of National Teaching Fellows and contribute regularly to their symposiums and blogs. I am an active participant in the Staff Educational Development Association and achieved runner-up in SEDA's Educational Development Initiative of the Year in 2018 for the CritTALK Community of Practice which I set up (Embedding critical thinking in curricula using a collaborative learning, teaching and assessment approach). I am co-founder of the SEDA sector wide Curriculum Development Network with the University of Warwick and Staffordshire University. Using money from a SEDA small research grant, I have produced (with the University of Surrey) a compendium of good practice for lecturers to use dialogic teaching to support the Critical Thinking Skills Toolkit (2016).
I have initiated and developed an international collaboration with the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) since 2016* and have worked closely with their Associate Dean, Dr. Melodi Guilbault and the Dean of NJIT, Professor Oya Tukel to embed critical thinking across their school's business programmes. In 2017, I visited the Martin Tuchman School of Management to present the critical thinking skills toolkit to colleagues and to teach critical thinking to their business students. In 2018, Dr Guilbault and I presented a paper 'Developing critical thinking skills in the UK and the US: what can we learn from each other', sharing the result of a critical thinking diagnostic we had implemented in our respective institutions. I successfully mentored Dr Guilbault to achieve a Teaching in Excellence Award at NJIT drawing on our collaborative work about critical thinking teaching and my experience with the KAPS scheme, Ȧ Learning Teaching Fellow Award and the National Teaching Fellow Award. Finally, I was invited by the Dean of NJIT for a curriculum development visit in September 2020 which was postponed due to COVID. I work with the Singapore Ministry of Education to train their teachers to embed critical thinking in their business curriculum and in my own time have developed a blended critical thinking module based on my Critical Thinking Skills Toolkit (Wason, 2016) with supporting teacher trainer materials for an institution in South Asia.
I have mentored students with their critical thinking development involving them in projects to further their own CV's. This led to a final year business students submitting a paper at the Researching, Advancing, Inspiring Student Engagement, participating in CritTALK community of practice and providing an endorsement for the new Chatfield Book ' How to Think'. These students were also joint research collaborators in the SEDA research project detailed above.
* Conference paper details can be found in my research profile
Qualifications
- Transformative Learning
- Critical Thinking Teaching
- Curriculum Development
- Dialogic Teaching
- Staff Development
Courses taught
My research interests are in workplace learning, teaching critical thinking, inclusivity, dialogic pedagogy, curriculum design and active learning. I recently completed my Educational Doctorate which used a collective case study approach to investigate staff experiences of learning to teach critical thinking within their disciplinary curricula. I was the co-investigator for the OfS Innovations in Learning and Teaching Project 'Meeting Employer Demands for Higher Order Thinking Skills' in 2017. I have established and lead an international community of practice which is currently looking at how to use dialogic teaching to enhance critical thinking and am the lead investigator for a SEDA collaborative project about 'Developing and Evaluating a dialogic pedagogy to support critical thinking' with the University of Surrey. I am a member of the Future Skills Research Project Steering Group which oversees the evaluation of embedding future skills in the curriculum. I am a regular contributor to the HERE and KERN research group at Ȧ and a doctoral research supervisor with the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Centre.
Qualifications
- Mixed methods research
- Appreciative inquiry
- Phenomenology
Specialisms
- Critical thinking
- Dialogic Teaching
- Workplace learning
Scholarly affiliations
- Society of Research in Higher Education
- Staff Educational Development Association
- British Educational Research Association
I strategically lead critical thinking skills and dialogic teaching development across the institution and have initiated and developed CriTALK an international community of practice which shares best practice about critical thinking. This academic year, the community of focussing on evaluating how dialogic teaching can support critical thinking through my role as principal investigator on the SEDA small grant. I was member of project group 'Enhancing Graduate Prospects' under the banner of the institutional KU22 programme looking at enhancing graduate outcomes through the development of a strategy to embed employability in the curriculum. This led to being invited to be joint project lead for the Future Skills Staff Training and Toolkit Project Group where I led the staff development support for embedding Future Skills Navigate in the curriculum for every Level 4 student. This work led to a Ȧ People Award for most ambitious team.
Publications
The troublesome nature of learning to teach critical thinking : using threshold concepts theory to support teacher education
Wason, Hilary, 2025, Thinking Skills and Creativity (55), pp 101661
Amplifying the value of the third space to support strategic curriculum change
Yonkers, Annie and Wason, Hilary, 2025, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education (33)
Supporting critical thinking through purposeful classroom talk
Wason, Hilary and Heron, Marion, 2023, Educational Developments (24), 4, pp 4-8
Developing dialogic stance through professional development workshops
Heron, Marion and Wason, Hilary, 2023
Supporting business students' transition into higher education : the case of marketing downloads
Anderson, Deborah, Wason, Hilary and Southall, Jane, 2016, Teaching in Higher Education (21), 8, pp 978-989
Using innovative assessment to enhance student engagement and develop critical thinking skills : the case of The Big Debate
Wason, Hilary and Southall, Jane, 2016, Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal (1), 1
Evaluating the use of synoptic assessment to engage and develop lower level Higher Education students within a Further Education setting
Southall, Jane and Wason, Hilary, 2016, Practitioner Research in Higher Education (10), 1, pp 192-202
The transition to Higher Education for non-traditional, commuter students - a synthesis of recent literature to enhance understanding of their needs
Southall, J., Wason, H. and Avery, B., 2016, Student Engagement and Experience Journal (5), 1
How positioning strategies affect co-branding outcomes
Wason, Hilary and Charlton, Nathalie, 2015, (2), pp 1092192-1092192
Pivoting a Business Schools teaching online
Avery, Barry and Wason, Hilary (2022). In: Jamil, M.G., (eds.) and Morley, D.A., (eds.), Agile learning environments amid disruption : evaluating academic innovations in higher education during COVID-19. Palgrave Macmillan
Implementing strategic curriculum change : developing an equitable and inclusive staff development programme
Yonkers, Annie and Wason, Hilary(2024). In: NERUPI Convention 2024 : Building Organisational Change for Equity and Widening Participation, 12 Sept 2024 :London, U.K.
It's good to talk : how are we collaboratively designing a new school wide curriculum?
Wason, Hilary, Thatti, Baljit, Spendiff, Owen, Forster-Wilkins, Gary, Page, Nigel, Dorak, Mehmet, Williams, Neil, Reid, Tamara and Brasilero, Gabriela(2024). In: Festival of Learning 2024, 20 Jun 2024 :Ȧ upon Thames, U.K.
Creating curricula that support students’ learning : the role of data as facilitator
Hughes, Annie, Constance, Suzanne, Islam, Syed, Page, Nigel, Reid, Tamara and Wason, Hilary(2023). In: Higher Education Institutional Research (HEIR) Conference 2023 : Addressing Equity in Higher Education Through Institutional Research, 07-08 Sep 2023 :Ȧ upon Thames, U.K.
The challenge of aligning future skills with equity in HE
Partington, Angela, Wason, Hilary, Yonkers, Annie and Essifie, William(2023). In: UK and Ireland HEIR Network Conference 2023 : Addressing Equity in Higher Education Through Institutional Research, 07-08 Sep 2023 :Ȧ upon Thames, U.K.
A collaborative School and LTEC ‘design thinking’ approach to support staff and students in re-imagining learning
Page, Nigel, Mulrooney, Hilda, Shearman, Gemma, Wason, Hilary, Yilmaz, Aybige and O'Keefe, Nicola(2023). In: Festival of Learning 2023, 22 Jun 2023 :Ȧ upon Thames, U.K.
Using a design thinking approach to support staff and students in re-imagining provision of large first-year bioscience modules
Page, Nigel, Shearman, Gemma, Wason, Hilary and Mulrooney, Hilda(2023). In: Evolving molecular bioscience education, 25-26 May 2023 :Manchester, U.K.
Embedding critical thinking skills in the scientific curricula : how good are we?
Arrigoni, Francesca, Micallef, Ricarda and Wason, Hilary(2019). In: Horizons in STEM Higher Education Conference : Making Connections and Sharing Pedagogy, 03 -04 Jul 2019 :Ȧ upon Thames, U.K.
Developing critical thinking skills in the UK and the US : what can we learn from each other?
Wason, Hilary and Guilbault, Melodi(2018). 03-05 Jul 2018 : Birmingham, U.K.
A tale of three faculties : addressing student's barriers to critical thinking using a collaborative learning and teaching approach
Wason, Hilary, Whiting, Cheryl and Arrigoni, Francesca(2018). 24-25 Apr 2018 : Glasgow, U.K.
Critical thinking study skills
Wason, Hilary, Whiting, Cheryl and Clarke, Colin(2017). In: St George's, University of London's Education Day 2017 : Transformation, 15 Nov 2017 :London, U.K.
How do we transform our students critical thinking abilities?
Wason, Hilary, Whiting, Cheryl and Arrigoni, Fran(2017). In: St George's, University of London's Education Day 2017 : Transformation, 15 Nov 2017 :London, U.K.
Transforming our teaching : using the Critical Thinking Skills Toolkit
Wason, Hilary, Whiting, Cheryl and Arrigoni, Fran(2017). In: St George's, University of London's Education Day 2017 : Transformation, 15 Nov 2017 :London, U.K.
Developing an innovative approach to teaching and assessing critical thinking skills through the use of an online tool and a skills based pedagogy
Eales-Reynolds, Lesley-Jane, Wilks, Clarissa, Anderson, Deborah and Wason, Hilary(2017). In: HEA Annual Conference 2017 - Generation TEF : Teaching in the spotlight, 04 - 06 Jul 2017 :Manchester, U.K.
Commuting, working, attending and performing: the changing route to academic attainment and progression during the first year
Avery, Barry, Russell, Daniel and Wason, Hilary(2016). In: Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Annual Research Conference 2016: Exploring Freedom and Control in Global Higher Education, 07-09 Dec 2016 :Newport, U.K.
From “scholarly gypsies” to tribesmen of academia: developing the potential of sessional lecturers within Higher Education.
Southall, Jane and Wason, Hilary(2016). In: Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Annual Research Conference 2016: Exploring Freedom and Control in Global Higher Education, 07-09 Dec 2016 :Newport, U.K.
Meeting the challenge of Business School accreditation with pedagogic research
Anderson, Deborah, Avery, Barry, Lees, Rebecca, Russell, Dan, Southall, Jane and Wason, Hilary(2016). In: Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Annual Research Conference 2016: Exploring Freedom and Control in Global Higher Education, 07-09 Dec 2016 :Newport, U.K.
Moving from confidence to competence in critical thinking skills
Wason, Hilary, Southall, Jane and Anderson, Deborah(2016). In: Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Annual Research Conference 2016: Exploring Freedom and Control in Global Higher Education, 07-09 Dec 2016 :Newport, U.K.
Realising the potential of sessional staff as educational scholars
Southall, Jane and Wason, Hilary(2016). In: Enhancing Student Learning Through Innovative Scholarship 2016: How Teaching Focused Academics are Driving Teaching Excellence, 28-29 Jun 2016 :London, U.K.
Using literature to contextualize and build engagement with current management thinking at undergraduate level: ReadRight and The Critique
Southall, Jane and Wason, Hilary(2016). In: 25th Annual World Business Congress of the International Management Development Association (IMDA) : Globalization: Developments, Opportunities and Challenges, 15-19 Jun 2016 :Ȧ Upon Thames, U.K.
Creating engagement whilst building academic self-efficacy using “The Skills Toolkit”
Wason, Hilary, Anderson, Deborah and Southall, Jane(2016). In: 5th Learning, Teaching and Student Experience (LTSE) Conference 2016, 26-27 Apr 2016 :Birmingham, U.K.
Marketing downloads: a student led teaching innovation
Wason, Hilary(2015). 10-11 Sep 2015 : Nottingham, U.K.
Addressing transition to university by using collaboration in assessment
Russell, Daniel J., Avery, Barry, Southall, Jane and Wason, Hilary(2015). In: Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Annual Research Conference 2015, 9-11 Dec 2015 :Newport, U.K.
"Tagging" the literature with the Thematic Analysis Grid: a tool to facilitate collaborative research
Anderson, Deborah, Lees, Rebecca and Wason, Hilary(2015). In: Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Annual Research Conference 2015, 9-11 Dec 2015 :Newport, U.K.
Employer insights: instigating student-led career guidance
Anderson, Deborah, Wason, Hilary and Charlton, Nathalie(2015). In: 4th Learning, Teaching and Student Experience (LTSE) Conference 2015, 28-29 Apr 2015 :York, U.K.
Marketing downloads: a comparison of two assessment methods
Wason, Hilary and Charlton, Nathalie(2015). In: Festival of Learning 2015, 12-16 Jan 2015 :Ȧ Upon Thames, U.K.
Marketing downloads: a student-centred learning and assessment innovation
Wason, Hilary, Charlton, Nathalie and Anderson, Deborah(2015). In: 5th Assessment in Higher Education Conference (AHEC), 24-25 Jun 2015 :Birmingham, U.K.
Mind the gap : developing self-efficacy amongst 1st year students during transition to higher education (work in progress)
Wason, Hilary, Lees, Rebecca and Anderson, Deborah(2015). In: 3rd International Conference on Contemporary Marketing Issues (ICCMI) 2015, 30 Jun - 02 Jul 2015 :Ȧ upon Thames, U.K.
Mind the gap: developing student confidence during transition
Wason, Hilary, Charlton, Nathalie and Lees, Rebecca(2015). In: 14th European Conference on Research Methodology (ECRM) for Business and Management Studies, 11-12 Jun 2015 :Valletta, Malta
Learning to teach critical thinking in Higher Education
Wason, Hilary (2023), Ȧ