Cindy works at the intersection of learning, design, and technology, with a keen interest in the orchestration of future-ready tech-enabled learning.
She is curious how the deployment of adaptive learning systems to schools will impact classroom learning and hopes to learn more about the human-machine partnership in education. Specifically, her research is concerned with the implications that the use of such systems has on teacher-student interactions, as teachers grapple with balancing personalised learning and learning in community, as well as curriculum demands and student interests. These are some tensions which could potentially be exacerbated by affordances of adaptive learning systems.
Prior to embarking on the DPhil in Education at Oxford, Cindy worked as the Lead Specialist in Technologies for Learning at the Educational Technology Division of Ministry of Education, Singapore. She had previously completed graduate studies at the National University of Singapore and Stanford University where she was awarded Master of Arts in English Studies and Master of Arts in Education.
Alexa Muse is a DPhil student in the Education Department who is interested in the intersection of teachers and society.
With eleven years of middle, secondary, and university teaching experience both in the United States and abroad (Turkey and Russia), Alexa is interested in the intersection of equity-oriented education, policy, teacher agency, and subversive curricular techniques. Other interests of hers include Cultural Historical Activity Theory, Figured Worlds, and narratology. Her undergraduate degree (BS Middle/Secondary English Education) is from Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana (USA). Her Master’s degree (MSc Learning and Teaching) is from the University of Oxford; her Master’s dissertation has since been abridged and published in the English in Education journal.
Publications
Alexa Muse (2019): “Whilst I learn and live”: a comparative case study analysing the identity formation of seventh grade Turkish and International students via self-narratives in an English class, English in Education, DOI: 10.1080/04250494.2019.1621160
Abdul Karim has completed a Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering and Computational Medicine (Imperial College London), a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (Queen Mary University of London), and Master of Science in the Philosophy of Science and Economics (The London School of Economics).
He has delivered lectures on the Philosophy of Human Nature and the History of Metaethics at the University of Cambridge and for Health Education East Midlands. This, in addition to the current positions he holds as a Hospital Doctor and Health Policy and Management Advisor at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.
Abdul Karim’s current areas of interest include the biological definition of psychological states relevant to the learning environment, and the influence of language on the variable interpretation of a particular social context. For the latter of which he has published primary research.
Another is the appraisal and deployment of physiological measurement devices in learning environments as a means of quantitatively evaluating psychological states. Such research areas hold promise in enhancing the questionnaire-based evidences of contemporary theories in education, such as those regarding motivation, self-determination and engagement. This will to contribute to the evidence-based public policy optimisation in education and social care.
Publications
Ismail, A.K. 2017. A Cross Sectional Study to Explore the Effect of the Linguistic Origin and Evolution of a Language on Patient Interpretation of Haematological Cancers. Advances in Biological Research. 11 (4): 225-232.
Ismail, A.K. 2017. The Origin of the Arabic Medical Term for Cancer. Advances in Biological Research. 11 (4): 198-201.
Ismail, A.K. 2018. The Impact of da Vinci’s Anatomical Drawings and Calculations on Foundation of Orthopaedics. Advances in Biological Research. 12 (1): 26-30.
Yushan Xie is a Doctoral student in education and a Clarendon scholar at the University of Oxford. Her research is fully funded by the Clarendon Fund and Brasenose College.
Her research focuses on the self-formation of students of rural backgrounds in universities in China, against the backdrop of higher education massification, urbanisation and digitalisation.
Prior to Oxford, Yushan worked as a social entrepreneur in rural Hunan Province and educational policy researcher which enabled her to conduct health and education intervention research in the rural west of China, including Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces. She also gained professional experience in working as a youth culture researcher in a leading Chinese consulting firm.
Yushan completed her MPhil in Education from Cambridge University where she was awarded a ‘Best Dissertation Award’ from the Faculty and the ‘Special Commendation Award’ from the British Council ELT Master’s Dissertation Competition. She holds a BA in Translation from Nankai University in China during which she was awarded the National Scholarship from the Ministry of Education.
Publications
Xie, Y. & Liu. Y. (2021). Who do you hand out with? How Chinese students’ social networks relate to perceived oral proficiency gains during study abroad experiences. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education, 6(1), 59-90.
Bhabesh’s research Inquire into the systemic practices in a school to understand the implications of already existing classification of roles, and regulations based on power and control dynamics within the school. Also, focusing on the systemic apparatuses existing in a schooling system, wherein there is a categorical divide between the students
that are the academically poor and the administrative personnel who pose authority.
Prior to starting his DPhil, Eddy worked as a primary school teacher in Bristol, where he also completed his MSc in Educational Research.
He is particularly interested in the culture of high stakes, standardised testing, and how this might perpetuate existing inequalities in schools. His research focuses specifically on the interaction between knowledge, policy and pedagogy in the context of Literacy education.
Alice Tawell is an ESRC funded Doctoral Student, co-supervised across the Department of Education and Centre for Criminology at the University of Oxford.
Supervisors: Professor Harry Daniels and Dr Rachel Condry.
Alice’s research focuses broadly on the enactment of school exclusion policy in England.
Prior to starting her Doctoral studies, Alice gained a BSc in Sociology from the University of Bath and an MSc in Education (Research Training) from the University of Oxford.
As part of her undergraduate degree, Alice undertook a placement year working with Professor Kathy Sylva in the Families, Effective Learning and Literacy Research Group at the Department of Education, University of Oxford. After completing her degree, Alice returned to the department and has worked as a Research Officer on a number of different research projects since 2014. Most recently Alice has worked as part of the Excluded Lives Research Team on two projects exploring exclusion from school from a multidisciplinary perspective. In 2017 she was awarded a Seed-corn Small Grant Award to co-lead a pilot project exploring student collaborative networks with Hau Ming Tse. Alice also co-convenes the Qualitative Methods Hub in the department.
Outside of the department, Alice has sat on the Advisory Board for the Children Missing Education research project (2016-2017) at the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) and has been a member of the NCB Partnership for Well Being and Mental Health in Schools since 2016. She also sits on the Transparency on Exclusions Steering Group.
In 2017 Alice received funding from the Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership placement scheme to conduct a Knowledge Exchange Internship with the Early Years Analysis and Research Unit at the Department for Education, and in 2018 Alice was elected the Co-President of the Grand Union ESRC Scholar’s Association, representing ESRC students from the University of Oxford, Brunel and The Open University.