Alana James

Email:
a.i.james@reading.ac.uk
Phone:
0118 3785390
Job title:
Associate Professor

Responsibilities:

Co-Chair of the university Committee on Student Experience and Development
Co-Lead for the Pedagogical Research and Educational Scholarship (PRaES) group
PhD supervisor; Undergraduate and postgraduate dissertation project supervisor
Lecturer: PY1IPR (Introduction to Psychological Research), PY2RMP (Research Methods in Psychology), PY2SID and PYMCSID (Social Psychology & Individual Differences at undergraduate and masters level)
Academic tutor

Areas of interest

Student wellbeing and disability support: Involved in university leadership activities to support the student experience and the implementation of reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities. Research investigating the experiences of students with mental health conditions or who are autistic, and the effectiveness of university support.

University transitions: Experienced in running and evaluating peer support, mentoring, and outreach activities, to support university transitions. Investigating students’ perceptions of what supports the transition into university, and the experiences of autistic students and students with mental health conditions with support for the transition out of university.

Research methods teaching and learning: Co-author of textbook on quantitative and qualitative research methods for psychology students. Delivering introductory training in conducting interviews and focus groups for educational professionals.

Peer support: Evaluating the use of peer support systems within schools, universities, and parenting programmes.

Postgraduate supervision

Beatrice Hayes – Children's understanding of the risks associated with social networking site use: online self-disclosure and impact on children's social-emotional wellbeing.

Research centres and groups

Pedagogical Research and Educational Scholarship: PRaES is a research and scholarship group within the School of Psychology and Clinical Sciences. We are made up of staff and PhD students who work within Psychology, Clinical Training in Psychology, Speech and Language Therapy, and Language Sciences. Our research and scholarship spans Foundation, Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Post-experience university education. Themes of our work include University Transitions, Employability and Skills, GenAI, Assessment, Individual Differences in Learning, and Wellbeing, Inclusion and Diversity. https://research.reading.ac.uk/pedagogical-research-pcls/

Academic qualifications

MA (Edinburgh)
MSc (York)
PhD (London)
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Awards and honours

Winner of the inaugural Higher Education Psychology Teacher of the Year Award, run by the BPS Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology and Oxford University Press
Winner of a University Teaching Fellow award

Professional bodies/affiliations

Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Assessor for the Student Minds University Mental Health Charter Award

Websites/blogs

Dr Alana James on LinkedIn

Selected publications

Selected pedagogic and public engagement resources:

Social Scientists in Training – resources for teachers and others to develop research skills in A level Psychology students, ESRC Festival of Social Science, 2017
Reflections on university transition from a new staff member. Engage in Teaching and Learning Blog, University of Reading, 2017
Supporting mental health during educational transitions – workshop slides available, Pupil Diversity, South East Research Network for Schools, 2017
Running and evaluating peer support systems in schools – talk slides and workshop summary available, Literacy & Mental Health in Schools, South East Research Network for Schools, 2016
How do children learn to form social bonds? The Conversation, 2016
Using mentoring to support transition into and out of higher education. HEA Blog, 2015