Barbara Nicolls

Barbara Nicolls has demonstrated outstanding performance throughout her higher education career as a practitioner in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and currently, as a Learning Developer where her role is inducting students to academic ethos through individual and group tutorials helping them to achieve their goals. She successfully transformed the MA (Education Management) learning into an innovative technique of continuous improvement in Thai education: as ESP Curriculum Manager, she adapted Demings total quality management concept for industries to improve the quality of academic writing courses. She overcame the challenges by her excellent interpersonal skills highlighting 'Teaching is about relationships' (Bill Gates 2015). "Barbara is a risk taker, a go-getter and a visionary leader; her enthusiasm for continuous improvement is infectious and we are empowered to make changes in the curriculum" (ESP teacher). Impact of work Barbara's ESP experience has influenced her approach to learning and teaching as a Learning Developer: the integrated model, a radical approach of delivering academic skills and subject content in assignment brief discussion sessions adds value to student learning and subject tutor up-skilling. "The impact of this pioneering approach is reflected in the high pass rate of over 86% for this modules assessment outcomes. I attribute this high success rate to Barbara's adaptability and her readiness to grasp the needs of particular cohorts which contributes to the success of the student in the assessments" (Senior Lecturer). Barbara's situational leadership gives her insight into the professional requirements of the curricula and therefore, the diverse learning needs of the students. Customised tutorial sessions contribute to the transformation in the attitudes of the learners: motivated, enthusiastic and focused. "Barbara is a patient teacher: I now know how to use the online referencing tool for accuracy because of her clear explanation" (Student). Barbara exploited the MSc (t-el) learning pioneering the digital portfolio initiative at Bucks. Fourteen courses from different disciplines have now embedded reflective and lifelong learning e-Portfolios in their programmes fit for professional purpose. "Your self-belief, your persuasive ability of leading by example and 'show and tell' technique convinced me that the Google Sites ePortfolio is easy to develop and manage" (Student). Plans for the future Barbara's immediate future plan is to explore the effective use of digital portfolios in the Apprenticeship Programmes and disseminate the findings for continuous improvement with the ultimate goal of student success.