Network staff
Professor Ranald Macdonald
Professor of academic development, head of strategic development, FSEDA, FHEA, PGCert, BSc(Econ), MA
Phone 0114 225 4750
E-mail r.macdonald@shu.ac.uk
Ranald Macdonald is professor of academic development and head of strategic development in the Learning and Teaching Institute. His main research and scholarly interests are in the areas of academic development, assessment and plagiarism, problem-based learning. He was an invited member of the DfES Higher Education Research Working Group. As co-director of the University's Centre for Promoting Learner Autonomy, he is also involved in developing a research and evaluation strategy for the CETL.
He is chair of the Staff and Educational Development Association's Research Committee and convenor of the SEDA/SRHE Educational Development Research Network. A previous co-chair of SEDA and a Fellowship holder, Ranald is also a current member of the Executive Committee. Ranald convened the 2007 6th International Conference of the International Consortium for Educational Development.
Ranald is a regular referee for Studies in Higher Education, the International Journal for Academic Development, Innovations in Education and Teaching International, Active Learning in Higher Education and the Computer Science Education Journal.
Recent research and scholarly publications
Refereed articles and conferences proceedings
Macdonald, R and Carroll, J (2006) Plagiarism - a complex issue requiring a holistic institutional approach. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 31(2) 233-245
Macdonald, R (2006) The use of evaluation to improve practice in learning and teaching, Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 43(1) 3-14
Flint, A, Clegg, S and Macdonald, R (2005) Exploring staff perceptions of student plagiarism, Journal of Further and Higher Education 30(2) 145-156
Joughim, G and Macdonald, R (2004) A model of assessment in higher education institutions. Higher Education Academy website.
Clegg, S, Macdonald, R, Smith, K, Bradley, S and Glover, C (2004) Using research evidence to inform policy and practice: the Sheffield Hallam University model. Higher Education Academy website.
Ashworth, P D, Freewood, M and Macdonald, R (2003) The student lifeworld and the meaning of plagiarism. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 34(2) 257-278
Freewood, M., Macdonald, R. and Ashworth, P. (2003) Why merely policing plagiarism is not the answer. In C. Rust (ed.) Improving Student Learning: Ten years On (Proceedings of the 10th Improving Student Learning Symposium). Oxford, Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development
Book chapters
Macdonald, R and Joughin, G (2007) What does it take to improve assessment in support of learning?, in Joughin, G (ed) Assessment, learning and judgement in Higher Education: critical issues and future directions. Springer
Macdonald, R (2005) Assessment Strategies for Enquiry and Problem-based Learning, in Barrett, T, Labhrainn, I M and Fallon, H (eds.) Handbook of Enquiry and Problem-Based Learning: Irish Case Studies and International Perspectives, Galway, CELT
Macdonald, R (2004) Researching the student experience to bring about improvements in problem-based learning, in Savin-Baden, M and Wilkie, K (eds) Challenging Research into Problem-Based Learning. SRHE/Open University Press
Macdonald, R (2003) Developing a scholarship of Academic Development: Setting the Context, in Eggins, H and Macdonald, R (eds) The Scholarship of Academic Development. SRHE/Open University Press
Macdonald, R (2002) Educational development: research, evaluation and changing practice in higher education, in Macdonald, R and Wisdom, J (eds.) Academic and Educational Development: Research, Evaluation and Changing Practice in Higher Education. Kogan Page
Brouwers, R, de Wit, G and Macdonald, R (2002) Competences: key to success, in Educational Innovation in Economics and Business, ed Gijslaers, W, Kluwer Academic Publishers
Macdonald, R. (2001) The Business Environment, in Ottewill, R. and Macfarlane, B. (eds) Effective Learning and Teaching in Business and Management. Kogan Page
Research and consultancy projects
Overarching evaluation of the HEFCE eChina project with Professor Anthony Rosie, 2007
Other research activity
Chair, SEDA Research Committee, 2002
Convenor, SEDA/SRHE Educational Development Research Network, 1998
Lead, Sheffield Hallam University team at Change Academy 2006, Institutional Research for Sustainable Development
External Advisor to New Zealand Teaching and Learning Research Initiative project involving all eight New Zealand Universities: Unlocking Student Learning: The Impact of Teaching and Learning Enhancement Initiatives on First Year University Students (2006-2009)
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