Dr. Karen Smith

I am a Research Fellow and Educational Development Advisor within the Caledonian Academy working in the area of transformational change. My doctoral research was in Translation Studies and I gained my PhD from Sheffield University for a thesis examining the translation of advertising texts into Russian in 2002.

I have been working within the area of higher education research and development since 2003, initially as a research assistant and educational development advisor at Sheffield Hallam University and then as course director for the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice at Heriot-Watt University. I have worked as an Associate Lecturer at the Open University in the Faculty of Education and have taught courses on qualitative research methods for undergraduate students in the UK and students in Hong Kong enrolled on transnational programmes.

My research interests include the language of higher education policy and practice, transnational education and the diffusion of innovative learning and teaching practices. I have recently co-authored a student guide to writing dissertations in the social sciences.

In 2009, Dr Jackie Riley (School of Engineering and Computing, Glasgow Caledonian University), Dr Nick Pilcher (School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages, Edinburgh Napier University) and I were awarded with funding from the Centre for Sociology, Anthropology and Politics (C-SAP), part of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) to investigate international students' expectations and experiences of exams in the UK. The project will use interviews and a questionnaire to gather student views and we aim to produce a guide to help students prepare for exams. The project runs until July 2010.

I am the Society for Research into Higher Education newer researcher prize winner for 2009. As part of this award I will be carrying out a project into the transformative potential for professional development of transnational teaching experiences.

Publications (from 2004)

Higher Education Research

Books

SMITH, K.; Todd, M.J. and Waldman, J. 2009. Doing your Undergraduate Social Sciences Dissertation, Abingdon, Routledge

Book chapters

SMITH, K. and Davies, J. 2010. Qualitative Data Analysis, in Dahlberg, L. and McCaig, C. (eds) Practical Research and Evaluation: a start-to-finish guide for practitioners, London: Sage, forthcoming

Fernie, S. and SMITH, K. 2010. Action Research, in Dahlberg, L. and McCaig, C. (eds) Practical Research and Evaluation: a start-to-finish guide for practitioners, London: Sage, forthcoming

Peer reviewed journal articles

SMITH, K. forthcoming. Lessons learnt from the literature on the diffusion of innovative learning and teaching practices in higher education, Innovations in Education and Teaching International

SMITH, K. 2010. Assuring quality in transnational higher education: a matter of collaboration or control?, Studies in Higher Education, 35:8, forthcoming

SMITH, K. and Fernie, S. 2010. Exposing new academics through action research?, International Journal for Academic Development, 15:1, 85-87 [research note]

Clegg, S and SMITH, K. 2010. ‘Developing a learning and teaching strategy: contradictions of genre and desiring’. Research Papers in Education, 25:1,115-132

SMITH, K. 2009. Transnational Teaching Experiences - An Under-Explored Territory for Transformative Professional Development, International Journal for Academic Development, 14:2, 111-122

SMITH, K. 2008. ‘Who do you think you’re talking to? - The discourse of learning and teaching strategies, Higher Education, 56:4, 395-406

SMITH, K.; Clegg, S.; Lawrence, E.; and Todd, M. 2007. ‘The Challenges of Reflection - Students Learning Through Work Placements’, Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 44:2, 131-141

Beard, C.; Clegg, S.; and SMITH, K. 2007. ‘Acknowledging the affective in higher education’, British Educational Research Journal, 33:2, 235-252

SMITH, K. 2006. ‘The conflicts and contradictions of working in a mass education system’, Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 10:4, 97-101

Clegg, S.; Bradley, S.; and SMITH, K. 2006. '"I had to Swallow my Pride" - Help Seeking and Self-Esteem', Higher Education Research and Development, 25:2, 101-113

Clegg, S.; McManus, M.; SMITH, K.; and Todd, M. J. 2006. 'Self-development in support of innovative pedagogies: peer support and reflection using e-mail', International Journal for Academic Development, 11:2, 91-100

Todd, M. J.; SMITH, K. and Bannister, P. 2006. ‘Staff Perceptions and Expectations of Supervising a Social Science Undergraduate Dissertation’, Teaching in Higher Education, 11:6, 161-173

SMITH, K. and Hopkins, C. 2005. ‘Great Expectations - A-Level Perceptions of Degree-Level English’, Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 4:3, 304-318

SMITH, K; Clegg, S; Lawrence, E; and Todd, M. 2004. ‘Fostering Autonomy Through Work-Based Experiences - Challenges for Students and University Educators’, Learning and Teaching in the Social Sciences, 1:3, 189-204

Published reports

Fernie, S. and SMITH, K. (2008). Participatory action research for educational development: Scottish Higher Education Enhancement Research Project final report. Higher Education Academy: York. Retrieved September 22 2009 from Higher Education Academy: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/aboutus/scotland/educational_development/sheer

SMITH, K. & Todd, M. (2005) Mapping and Understanding Models of Support for First Year Social Science Students – phase 1 report. Retrieved May 1 2009 from the Centre for Sociology, Anthropology and Politics: http://www.c-sap.bham.ac.uk/resources/publications/samples/mapping_phase_one_report.pdf

SMITH, K. & Todd, M. (2005) Mapping and Understanding Models of Support for First Year Social Science Students – phase 2 report. Retrieved May 1 2009 from the Centre for Sociology, Anthropology and Politics: http://www.c-sap.bham.ac.uk/resources/publications/samples/mapping_phase_two_report.pdf

Translation Studies Research

Books

SMITH, K. 2009. The translation of advertising texts: a study of English-Language advertisements and their translations in Russian, Saarbruecken, VDM Verlag Dr. Mueller

Book chapters

SMITH, K. 2008. ‘Rhetorical Figures and the Translation of Advertising Headlines’ in Cook, G. (ed) The Language of Advertising: Modern Themes in English Studies, Volume II, Abingdon, Routledge, 228-253

Peer reviewed journal articles

SMITH, K. 2006 ‘By Any Other Name - A Study of Brand Name Transfer from English-Language to Russian-Language Printed Advertisements’, Languages in Contrast, 6:1, 47-70

SMITH, K. 2006. ‘Rhetorical Figures and the Translation of Advertising Headlines’, Language and Literature, 15:2, 159-182

SMITH, K. 2004. ‘I Am Me, but Who Are You and What Are We - The Translation of Personal Pronouns and Possessive Determiners in Advertising Texts’, Multilingua, 23:3, 283-303

Updated: 14 September, 2009 | Site editor | Legal