Sarah qualified as a clinical physiotherapist specialising in paediatrics. She works passionately to share her knowledge and skills widely with children, families and all colleagues, to meet the demands of this complex field of work. Sarah believes that the sum total would be of exponential value to all.
Sarah moved to the University of Nottingham in 2003 as an assistant professor and is currently Associate Professor, Director of Assessment for the School of Health Sciences.
Sarah has led innovative teaching and assessment practice projects to support student learning and feedback. In her teaching practice, Sarah demonstrates a real passion for advancing stimulating resources and experiences to trigger students’ curiosity. Setting the environment and resources for optimal teaching and learning stimulation is a core tenet of her teaching practice. Early achievements include a reusable e-learning case study which uses gaming principles to prompt critical thinking developments. This has been valued by students and clinical colleagues where it has been used as an inter-professional postgraduate induction tool nationally.
As Director of Assessment, Sarah has led numbers of whole-unit student-staff partnership working change projects including whole program TESTA audits and codesign of assessment materials including cross-School marking criteria and weighted domain rubric. Her approach is centred upon the principle that it is all about people and their experience, not only of processes and projects, but of informing, understanding and having a meaningful influence upon the shape of them.
From Sarah’s perspective all stakeholders involved in the academic environment are working together to deliver optimal outcome for all. Thus all stakeholders across the full gamut of the higher education environment are colleagues in learning.
Sarah’s listening, empathy and authenticity alongside her willingness to share experiences, including challenges, have been cited as her key leadership strengths.