Orlagh McCabe (PFHEA)
Head of the University Teaching Academy
Assistant Director LEED
My profile
Biography
I am the Head of the University Teaching Academy and Assistant Director of LEED, a Reader in Learning and Teaching, a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a Fellow of the Staff and Educational Development Association (FSEDA). The University Teaching Academy (UTA), provides support and leadership, advice and guidance relating to all aspects of learning, teaching and assessment at Manchester Met.
My passion for the Sociology of Education and its implications for learning and teaching drives my work as an educator. In my practice, I adopt a Relational pedagogy and Active learning approach, and I strive to promote inclusive and equitable education for all learners, especially those who face barriers to accessing higher education.
As head of the University Teaching Academy, I am responsible for the UTA’s strategic vision and the effective delivery of teaching, assessment, and curriculum design support to colleagues across the University. I also ensure that we offer a variety of relevant CPD opportunities, such as our PGCLTHE programme and our MA HE Programme.
In addition to my role at the University, I am engaged in several strategic partnerships that aim to improve the outcomes of young people. I chair the monitoring and evaluation committee for a large government-funded project, and I act as a trustee for a Multi-academy trust in Cheshire.
Interests and expertise
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I began my career as a lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy. Since joining Manchester Met in 2002, I have undertaken a range of academic roles, including Programme leader in Childhood and Youth Studies, Academic Developer and Programme leader for our institutional Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. Throughout my career, I have contributed significantly to developing inclusive assessment, adopting educational technology, curriculum development, widening participation, and the overall student experience. |
Projects
Current (externally funded Projects)
The role of professional dialogue in virtual teaching observations (2021-2023)
I am the principal investigator for a project that examines the role of dialogue in virtual teaching observations. This cross institutional study between colleagues at Manchester Metropolitan University and Worcester University aims to illuminate the specifics associated with developmental observation in the emerging context of online and blended learning, where observations of practice may relate to a range of synchronous and asynchronous learning and teaching activities. This project is funded through a SEDA research and evaluation grant. If you would like any further information about this, please contact o.mccabe@mmu.ac.uk
Funding Awards
January 2022 – AdvanceHE Collaborative Development Funding
March 2021 - SEDA Research and Evaluation Grant
March 2016-Widening Participation Funding, Local Youth Engagement Project
March 2016 – Higher Horizons Network, Crewe Pledge funding
November 2015 - Crewe Town Council, Community Grant
March 2015 - YMCA ‘Life Skills’ Evaluation Local Authority Funding
September 2014 - ‘Try It’ funding Unlimited HEFCE Award
July 2014 - Scholarship in Learning and Teaching
April 2014 - Evaluating the integration of student response systems in the undergraduate curriculum
Enhancing Learning Fund
May 2007 – Pass or Fail? Retention and Progression within the Foundation Year at MMU Cheshire. Research and Development funding
April 2005 - Pedagogy, Good Practice and the Higher Education Summer Schools Scheme. Research and Development funding
July 2002 - Social Inclusion in Further and Higher Education. CANDOR – Changing the Attitudes of Teachers Through Normal and Distance Learning. European funding was granted to write and present a joint paper as part of a larger research project.
Research outputs
Recent Publications
Powell, S., Vargas, V.R., McCabe, O. (2024). Higher Education System of Choice: An emerging landscape of post-neoliberal, technocentric and socio-ecological conceptualisations of learning. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice. Special Issue. https://doi.org/10.53761/40jggc34
McCabe, O. Aldred, S. Powell, S. Gossman, P (2023) Owning the Moment: Expectations, Trust and Developmental co-constructions in online post-observation dialogue. Educational Developments.
Pollard, E and McCabe, O (2023) ‘To teach in varied communities not only our paradigms must shift but also the way we think, write, speak’ (hooks, 1994): creating resources to address the BAME awarding gap. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. ISSN: 1759-667X. Issue 27: Special Issue EDI.
Powell S, Vargas V.R., McCabe O, Yuan L., (2022) Future Student Experience Project: A reputational ecosystem for higher education, Manchester Metropolitan University. AdvanceHE. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/cdf-2021-22-future-student-experience-project
Basford, J. Lord, J. & McCabe, O. (2022) Relational Approaches to Module review using student response systems: A contradiction in terms? In Wiley et al (2022) Student Evaluation of Teaching: from performance management to quality enhancement. SEDA Special. (forthcoming)
Powell, S. Forsyth, R. McCabe, O and Gossman, P (2022) Contextual Marking: Fair or foul play? Educational Developments
Aldred, S. McCabe, O. & Powell, S. (2021) ‘I don’t want to talk about it’: The role of Dialogue in virtual observation. Educational Developments.
Cullen, R and McCabe, O (2021) The TREC approach to Active Learning, Media and Learning Online.
Recent Conference Presentations
February 2023 - McCabe, O and Cullen, R. ‘TREC in practice: Curriculum design for Active Learning’ Invited Speaker, Kingston University Festival of Learning Event
December 2022 – McCabe, O. Pollard, E and Powell, S. Hypocrisy or Authentic Agitation: Reflections on Addressing the HE Awarding Gap. Mobilities in Higher Education. Society for Research in Higher Education.
November 2022 - Cullen, R and McCabe, O. Re-Imagined Connectedness: TREC in Practice. AMP Conference, Florida.
June 2022 - Powell, S. Forsyth, R. Laville, H. McCabe, O. Contextual Assessment a nuanced approach to mitigation. Assessment in Higher Education Conference.
June 2022 – Cullen, R. Lord, J and McCabe, O (2022) Reflections on an EdTech Community of practice building a community. European Conference on Scholarship of teaching and Learning.
June 2022 –Aldred, S. Powell, S. McCabe, O and Gossman, P.Building communities through reflective dialogue: Relational approaches to observations of practice. European Conference on Scholarship of teaching and Learning.
March 2022 – Cullen, R and McCabe, O TREC in practice: the road to embedding sustainable ‘active learning’ strategies. JISC Digifest Conference
December 2021 - McCabe, O and Powell, S. Does a block teaching curriculum structure enable an agile response to emergencies? Society for Research in Higher Education
November 2021 - Cullen, R and McCabe, O. Active Learning Journeys: The TREC model. Active Learning Special Interest Group
September 2021 - McCabe, O and Powell, S. Relational Pedagogy in virtual learning environments: A study of online approaches to the development of Communities of enquiry Higher Education. Academic Practice and Technology conference. LSE (July,2021)
June 2021 - Cullen, R. Lord, J. McCabe, O Active Blended Learning and Communities of Practice. Active Blended Learning Conference. Liverpool JM University. Centre for Educational Research (June, 2021)
June 2021 - Cullen, R. Lord, J. McCabe, O and Thorpe, M Reflections on an Edtech Community of Practice. EuroSotl Connect. (June 2021)
May 2021 - Cullen, R and McCabe, O (2021) The TREC approach to Active Learning, Media and Learning Online Conference Media & Learning Association, Belgium (May, 2021)
April 2021 - Cullen, R and McCabe, O (2021) Avoiding virtual classroom fatigue. Kaltura Education User Group (April, 2021)
(For outputs prior to 2021 see Symplectic))
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Chapters in books
McCabe, O., Cullen, R. (2022) 'Active Learning Journeys: The TREC Model.' 100 ideas for Active Learning. Active Learning Network https://doi.org/10.20919/OPXR1032.
McCabe, O., Lord, J., Basford, J. (2021) 'Basford, J. Lord, J. & McCabe, O. (2021) Relational Approaches to Module review using student response systems: A contradiction in terms? In Wiley et al (2021) Student Evaluation of Teaching: from performance management to quality enhancement. SEDA Special..' Evaluating student evaluation of teaching. SEDA Special.
Bunting, K., McCabe, O. (2017) 'Feminism, the Vote and Youth Engagement: A Cheshire Case Study.' In Ashton, J.C. (ed.) Feminism and Museums: Intervention, Disruption and Change Volume 2. Museums Etc, pp. 401-415.
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Media
Nawratek, K., Crompton, E., McCabe, O., Giladi, P. (2023) Critical Pedagogy podcast episode.
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Reports
Powell, S., Ruiz Vargas, V., McCabe, O., Yuan, L. (2022) Future Student Experience Project: A reputational ecosystem for higher education, Manchester Metropolitan University. AdvanceHE.
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Internet publications
McCabe, O., cullen, R. (2021) Cullen, R and McCabe, O (2021) The TREC approach to Active Learning, Media and Learning Online.. https://media-and-learning.eu/type/featured-articles/the-trec-approach-to-active-learning/.
McCabe, O., Bunting, K. (2016) ‘Ada Nield Chew: Forgotten Suffragist’. http://www.historyextra.com/article/bbc-history-magazine/england%E2%80%99s-forgotten-suffragist.
lund, N. (2014) Putting the Student at the Centre of Learning, ‘The Learner as Collaborator’. http://www.jiscrsc.ac.uk/yh/stay-informed/conference-papers.aspx.
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Journal articles
Powell, S., McCabe, O., Ruiz Vargas, V. (2024) 'HE system of choice: an emerging landscape of post-neoliberal, technocentric and socio-ecological conceptualisations of learning.' Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 21(3)
Pollard, E., McCabe, O. (2023) '‘To teach in varied communities not only our paradigms must shift but also the way we think, write, speak’ (hooks, 1994): creating resources to address the BAME awarding gap.' Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (26)
Powell, S., Forsyth, R., McCabe, O., Gossman, P. (2021) 'Contextual Marking: Fair or foul play?.' Educational Developments, (22.4)
McCabe, O., Powell, S., Aldred, S. (2021) 'Aldred, S. McCabe, O. & Powell, S. (2021) ‘I don’t want to talk about it’: The role of Dialogue in virtual observation. Educational Developments..' Educational Developments,
Bunting, K., McCabe, O. (2016) 'Ada Nield Chew: England’s forgotten suffragist.' BBC History Extra,
McCabe, O. (2016) 'Reflections on the use of Student Response Systems in the HE classroom.' Learning and Teaching in Action, 12(1) pp. 71-82.
Oakley, L., McCabe, O. (2014) 'Assignments in a Nutshell.' Proceedings of the European Conference on e-Learning, ECEL, 2014-Januarypp. 715-719.
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Non-peer reviewed articles / reviews
Lord, J., Basford, J., McCabe, O. Relational Approaches to Module Review using Student Response Systems: A contradiction in terms?.
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Conference papers
Evans, D., McCabe, O. (2023) 'Relational Pedagogy as a vehicle for authentic learning and assessment in an active learning setting: A case study of reflective practice.' In Manchester Met Learning and Teaching Conference. Manchester, 14/6/2023 - 14/6/2023.
Powell, S., Pollard, E., McCabe, O. (2022) 'Hypocrisy or Authentic Agitation: Reflections on Addressing the HE Awarding Gap..' In Mobilities in Higher Education. Society for Research in Higher Education..
McCabe, O., Lord, J., Cullen, R. (2022) 'Reflections on an EdTech Community of practice – building a community. European Conference on Scholarship of teaching and Learning.' In European Conference on Scholarship of teaching and Learning..
Cullen, R., McCabe, O. (2022) 'Active Learning Journeys: The TREC model. Active Learning Special Interest Group.' In Active Learning Special Interest Group Symposium. 7/11/2022 - 7/11/2022.
Powell, S., McCabe, O. (2022) 'Does a block teaching curriculum structure enable an agile response to emergencies?.' In Stephen Powell. Society for Research in Higher Education,
McCabe, O., Powell, S., Forsyth, R., Laville, H. (2022) 'Contextual Assessment a nuanced approach to mitigation..' In .Assessment in Higher Education. Manchester,
McCabe, O., Aldred, S., Powell, S., Gossman, P. (2022) 'Building communities through reflective dialogue: Relational approaches to observations of practice..' In European Conference on Scholarship of teaching and Learning.. Manchester,
McCabe, O., Cullen, R. (2022) 'Cullen, R and McCabe, O (2021) Avoiding virtual classroom fatigue. Kaltura Education User Group (April, 2021).'
McCabe, O., Cullen, R. (2022) 'TREC in practice: the road to embedding sustainable ‘active learning’ strategies..' In JISC Digifest Conference.
McCabe, O., Powell, S. (2021) 'McCabe, O and Powell, S. Relational Pedagogy in virtual learning environments: A study of online approaches to the development of Communities of enquiry Higher Education. Academic Practice and Technology conference. LSE (July,2021).'
McCabe, O., Cullen, R., Lord, J., Thorpe, M. (2021) 'Cullen, R. Lord, J. McCabe, O and Thorpe, M Reflections on an Edtech Community of Practice. EuroSotl Connect. (June 2021).'
McCabe, O., cullen, R., Lord, J. (2021) 'Cullen, R. Lord, J. McCabe, O Active Blended Learning and Communities of Practice. Active Blended Learning Conference. Liverpool JM University. Centre for Educational Research (June, 2021).'
McCabe, O., Cullen, R. (2021) 'Cullen, R and McCabe, O (2021) The TREC approach to Active Learning, Media and Learning Online Conference Media & Learning Association, Belgium (May, 2021).'
McCabe, O. (2020) 'Exploring change management in collaborative approaches to widening participation in HE.' In SEDA Spring Teaching, Learning and Assessment Conference 2019. Clayton Hotel, Belfast, 9/5/2019 - 10/5/2020.
McCabe, O., Oakley, L. (2020) '‘YOU HAVEN’T GOT TIME NOT TO!’ THE BENEFITS OF AND BARRIERS TO USING TECHNOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION TEACHING.' In 14th International Technology, Education and Development Conference. 2/3/2020 - 4/3/2020. IATED,
Powell, S., Prowse, A., McCabe, O. (2020) 'Problem Structuring for Future University Learning.' In 14th International Technology, Education and Development Conference. Valencia, Spain, 2/3/2020 - 4/3/2020. IATED Academy, pp. 1326-1331.
McCabe, O., Oakley, L. (2019) '‘This wouldn’t happen if you were using pen and Ink’: An exploration of barriers to engaging with learning technology in HE.' In EuroSoTL 2019. Bilbao, 13/10/2020 -
McCabe, O., Oakley, L. (2018) '‘Audio feedback felt like you were talking to me’ Investigating student response to Audio feedback..' In Learning and Teaching Conference. University of Chester,
Lund, N., McCabe, O. (2016) 'The Learner as Collaborator - Presented at the annual JISC conference at Manchester University in conjunction with the HEA.' In ORLAGH McCabe. University of Manchester, 18/3/2014 - 18/11/2016.
McCabe, O. (2016) 'Collaboration, partnerships and Outreach..' In CVS Annual Conference.. Manchester Metropolitan University,
bunting, K. (2016) 'The Local Youth Engagement Project’. ‘Radical Women’ Conference, The Working Class Movement Library, Salford University. Manchester..' In 'Radical Women’ Conference. The Working Class Movement Library, Salford University. Manchester,
Oakley, L. (2016) 'Screencasts for Success’ International Academy of Technology, Education and Development. Valencia.' In International Academy of Technology, Education and Development.. Valencia, Spain, 3/3/2016 - 5/3/2016.
oakley, L. (2016) 'Responding to Reflection’ International Academy of Technology, Education and Development.' In International Academy of Technology, Education and Development. Valencia, Spain,
Bunting, K., McCabe, O. (2016) '‘ The legacy of Ada Chew’ Women and the First World War, Wonder Woman Festival.' In ORLAGH McCabe.
McCabe, O. (2015) 'Responding to feedback using student Response Systems.' In Learning and Teaching Conference. Manchester Metropolitan University, 16/7/2015 -
McCabe, O. (2014) 'Integrating SRS in the learning environment.' In Learning and Teaching Conference. Manchester Metropolitan University, 16/7/2014 -
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Presentations
Oakley, L. (2016) 'Personal Feedback' Using screencasts with Interdisciplinary Learners. [Presentation] Liverpool Hope University,22/11/2016.
lund, N. (2014) Students Responding to Students’ – The integration of student response systems on undergraduate provision in an interdisciplinary programme. [Presentation] Copenhagen,30/10/2014.
McCabe, O. (2014) Academic Self-Efficacy & Learning Technologies. [Presentation] University of East Anglia,3/9/2014.
Career history
2022
Staff Award Nomination for University Citizenship
2019
Principal Fellow of the HEA
2019
Fellow of SEDA
2016
MMU Staff Award Nomination ‘Innovation in Learning and teaching’ (shortlisted)
2015
‘Best Overall Lecturer’ Teaching Awards nomination (shortlisted)
2014
‘You’re Brilliant’ award winner
2014
Senior Fellowship of the HEA
2014
MMU Staff Award Nomination for ‘Outstanding student support’
2013
‘Best Lecturer’ Teaching Awards Nomination
Press and media
Co-Host The Critical Pedagogy Podcast Series. Critical Pedagogy | Manchester Metropolitan University (mmu.ac.uk)