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Dr Katherine Harrington, Director

London Metropolitan University
Tel: 020 7320 2254
E-mail: k.harrington@londonmet.ac.uk

Katherine HarringtonMy role is to provide overall strategic leadership for the CETL as well as oversee and promote the CETL’s programmes locally within London Metropolitan University. Working closely with the rest of the Write Now team, I aim to enable the CETL to establish and maintain a reputation of national and international excellence in the development, evaluation and dissemination of innovative, evidence-based writing support for students and staff in higher education.

Previously, I coordinated the FDTL4 Assessment Plus project on using assessment criteria to support student learning and writing, also a collaborative project with Liverpool Hope and Aston Universities and out of which Write Now has grown. As with Assessment Plus, my work with Write Now involves contributing to all of the core activities, including resource development, teaching students, pedagogical research and staff development.

Pedagogical research is a central element of the CETL’s strategy for impact and dissemination, and I support the CETL’s Research Director, Professor Lin Norton at Liverpool Hope, in the implementation of a comprehensive programme of research and evaluation across the CETL. I also work to build pedagogical research capacity within London Metropolitan University, for example through a CETL-funded mini research project scheme and support network for staff. My own research is mainly in the area of qualitative explorations of student and tutor experiences of writing and assessment, identifying barriers to student learning, and evaluating innovations to facilitate shared understandings, empower students and promote their engagement with the learning process.

Write Now welcomes all forms of collaboration with others who share our interest in enhancing students’ learning experiences through writing. Please contact me or anyone else in the CETL team to discuss your ideas.

Publications

Book chapters

  • Harrington, K., Norton, L., Elander, J., Lusher, J., Aiyegbayo, O., Pitt, E., Robinson, H., & Reddy, P. (2006). Using core assessment criteria to improve essay writing. In C. Bryan & K. Clegg (Eds), Innovative Assessment in Higher Education, London: Routledge.
  • Harrington, K., Elander, J., Norton, L., Reddy, P., Aiyegbayo, O. & and Pitt, E. (2006). A qualitative analysis of staff-student differences in understandings of assessment criteria. In C. Rust (Ed.), Improving Student Learning 13: Through Assessment, Oxford: The Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development.
  • Norton, L., Harrington, K., Pitt, E., Aiyegbayo, O., Elander, J., Sinfield, S., Lusher, J., & Reddy, P. (2005). Supporting diversity and inclusivity through writing workshops. In C. Rust (Ed.), Improving Student Learning 12: Diversity and Inclusivity, Oxford: The Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development.
  • Elander, J., Harrington, K., Norton, L., Robinson, H., Reddy, P., & Stevens, D. (2004). What types of learning do essay assessment criteria represent? In C. Rust (Ed.), Improving Student Learning 11: Theory, Research and Scholarship, Oxford: The Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, pp. 200-212.

Journal articles

  • Harrington, K., O’Neill, P., & Bakhshi, S. (2007) Writing Mentors and the Writing Centre: producing integrated disciplinary writers. Investigations in university teaching and learning, London Metropolitan University.
  • Elander, J., Harrington, K., Norton, L., Robinson, H., & Reddy, P. (2006). Complex skills and academic writing: a review of evidence about the types of learning required to meet core assessment criteria. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31(1), 71-90.
  • Harrington, K., Elander, J., Norton, L., Robinson, H. and Reddy, P. (2003). Do essay assessment criteria refer to transferable skills, deep approaches to learning, or complex learning? Investigations in university teaching and learning, 1(2), 57-61. London Metropolitan University.
  • Harrington, K. & Elander, J. (2003). Using assessment criteria to support student learning. Investigations in university teaching and learning, 1(1), 63-66. London Metropolitan University.

Conference papers

  • Harrington, K., O’Neill, P., & Bakhshi, S. (2008). The Writing Centre Abroad: Researching its Efficacy in the UK. Paper presented at 3rd International Santa Barbara Conference on Writing Research: Writing Research Across Borders, University of California, Santa Barbara, 22-24 February 2008.
  • Harrington, K., O’Neill, P., & Bakhshi, S. (2007). The London Metropolitan University Writing Centre: Helping Students to Become Integrated Disciplinary Writers. Presented at the London Metropolitan University Annual Learning and Teaching Conference: Enhancing the Student Learning Experience, 10 July 2007.
  • Harrington, K., O’Neill, P. & Bakhshi, S. (2007). Writing Mentors and the Writing Centre: Producing Integrated Disciplinary Writers. Paper presented at the LearnHigher and Write Now CETLs Research Symposium: Keys to Understanding Student Learning and Writing, Liverpool Hope University, 26 June 2007.
  • Norton, L., Harrington, K., Norton, B., & Shannon, L. (2006). Challenging traditional forms of assessment: university teachers’ views on examinations.  Paper presented at the 3rd Conference of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSoTL), Washington DC, USA,  9-12 November 2006.
  • Harrington, K., Elander, J., Norton, L., Reddy, P., Aiyegbayo, O. & and Pitt, E. (2005). A qualitative analysis of staff-student differences in understandings of assessment criteria. Paper presented at the 13th Improving Student Learning Symposium, Imperial College, London, 5-7 September 2005.
  • Norton, L., Pitt, E., Aiyegbayo, O., Harrington, K., Elander, J., Sinfield, S., Lusher, J. & Reddy, P. (2004). Supporting diversity and inclusivity through writing workshops.  Paper presented at the 12th Improving Student Learning Symposium, Birmingham, 6-8 September 2004.
  • Elander, J., Harrington, K., Reddy, P., Norton, L. & Robinson, H. (2004). Delivering excellent student assessment using core criteria. Paper presented at the Higher Education Academy Annual Conference, University of Hertfordshire, 29 June – 1 July 2004.
  • Norton, L.S., Ward-Robinson, H., Reddy, P., Elander, J. & Harrington, K. (2004). Exploring psychology lecturers’ views on assessment criteria. Paper presented at the Psychology Learning and Teaching Conference (PLAT), University of Strathclyde, 5-7 April 2004.

Conference posters

  • Harrington, K., Bakhshi, S., Shannon, L., Norton, L., Norton, B. (J.C.W.), Elander, J., & Reddy, P. (2007). University lecturers’ beliefs about how examinations help students learn. Poster presented at 12th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI), University of Szeged, Budapest, Hungary, 28 August – 1 September 2007.

Work in preparation:

  • Harrington, K., Bakhshi, S., Shannon, L., Norton, L., Norton, B., Elander, J., & Reddy, P. (article in progress). University lecturers’ beliefs about how examinations help students learn.
  • Harrington, K., O’Neill, P., & Bakhshi, S. (chapter in progress). The Writing Centre abroad: researching its efficacy in the UK.
  • Harrington, K., O’Neill, P. & Reynolds, L. (article in progress). Using wikis and blogs to support writing development: the online evolving essay project.
  • O'Neill, P., Harrington, K. & Bakhshi, S. (chapter in progress). Producing confident disciplinary writers: the evaluation of a student writing mentor programme in the UK.

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