As an Associate Professor and Educational Developer for most of her career Pollyanna is committed to raising the profile and enhancing the practice of teaching in higher education. She is driven by the belief that good teaching should inspire learning, nurture self-confidence, transform lives and enable individuals to flourish. During her tenure as Programme Director of a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP), Pollyanna trained upwards of 1,200 early career academics, clinicians and health professionals who teach. A further 250 academic colleagues have gained professional recognition through the Teaching Development Framework (TDF) which Pollyanna designed for the University of Plymouth. She leads by example and underpins her practice with pedagogic research, publication and dissemination.
Her dynamic approach has inspired hundreds of academics to design and deliver innovative programmes across the disciplines. Several have become Associate Deans of Teaching and Learning, Heads of School and National Teaching Fellows. Pollyanna’s strategic influence within the University of Plymouth is evident within assessment policy and regulations, teaching qualifications policy, and widening participation strategy. As an External Examiner, Chair of Approval and Review Panels, Independent Assessor for Advance HE and External Advisor, Pollyanna’s expertise extends well beyond her own institution across the UK. Her collegiate approach and well-informed contributions have been widely welcomed across the sector and in specific projects such as the Trailblazer group for the Academic Professional Apprenticeship.
As a powerful and effective communicator Pollyanna is popular with international audiences and has a significant global reach. Her ground breaking international faculty development for academics from Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and China have been particularly well received. Pollyanna’s pedagogic research focuses on inclusive assessment design, effective feedback practices, transnational education and internationalisation. Her voluntary work has taken Pollyanna to rural Kenya and urban India where she has taught children from underprivileged backgrounds and contributed her professional expertise to the development of local teaching approaches. As a National Teaching Fellow, Pollyanna is committed to sharing her pedagogic research and expertise globally and engaging in dialogue and projects that focus on the enhancement of teaching and learning within higher education and associated professional domains.