Dr Dawn ‘Theresa’ Nicholson has pioneered many pedagogical innovations linked to active, technology-enhanced learning and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). She is also known for her passionate and committed advocacy of inclusive and decolonised curricula. Theresa has published research and scholarship on inclusive education; curriculum development and assessment; active learning pedagogies and ESD; student partnership, engagement and belonging; technology enhanced learning; and skills teaching. Theresa is a member of the NTFS Allyship Scheme.
Theresa is an expert on curriculum design and teaching for equality, diversity and inclusion. At the heart of her passion for inclusion is a belief that inclusive education has the power to transform lives. For those with the ability to succeed, she “treat(s) them as if they were what they ought to be, and... help(s) them to become what they are capable of becoming” (Goethe).
She works in partnership with students to develop curricula that enhance students’ sense of belonging to a learning community, and that promote engagement, performance and self-confidence. Theresa mentors academic colleagues to design and deliver teaching that recognises and celebrates learner diversity. She also develops policy around inclusive teaching that impacts on the wider HE community, and influences national practice through her contribution to Diversity in Geoscience UK (DiG-UK) and her staff development game Diversity Dash!
Theresa’s signature pedagogy is characterised by student-centred, flexible, active, peer learning that promotes choice, enabling students to align learning with their aspirations, motivations and interests. She promotes success for all through co-created curricula, enabling effective partnership working with students. Having worked as a landscape and environmental professional in the public and private sectors before joining academia, Theresa is also passionate about teaching in authentic real-world contexts and supporting students’ professional development.
Theresa’s innovations have led to published research on aspects of inclusive curriculum development, student partnership, enhancing student engagement and belonging, technology enhanced learning, assessment (field-based peer review, creative capstone projects, and online portfolios for rapid feedback), enquiry-based education for sustainable development, embedding employability in curricula, and supporting disabled students in HE.
Theresa is a Reader in Learning and Teaching at Manchester Metropolitan University, leading on all education matters, and teaching Physical Geography in the Department of Natural Sciences. She is an Applied Geomorphologist, teaching the science of Earth surface landforms, materials and processes, and its applications to Humans.
She is also a drummer and spent five years gigging around the country as a stand-up comedian. She is a self-declared honorary Northerner, has been married for 33 years, and has two ginger cats.