Bill Nicholl
Position/Status
University Lecturer Design & Technology Education
Academic Groups
E-mail Address
- ban22@cam.ac.uk
Qualifications
- BEd (Hons) Middlesex University
- MA Design Middlesex University
Recognition
- Nominated to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) in February 2009 for research in D&T Education. One of the FRSA advisors on Design and Education.
- Editorial Board member: Design and Technology: An International Journal, since 2008.
- Currently External examiner for Goldsmith’s College, London. Previously an external examiner for Sheffield Hallam University, Middlesex University.
- Member of Fritish Educational Research Association (BERA)
- Member of European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction (EARLI)
- Member of NSEAD, DATA
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA
Profile
Bill taught in two inner London Comprehensive Schools between 1991-2000 (six years as head of department). The work of his students quickly gained a national reputation at school level, winning 20 design awards see Bill-student-outcomes.pdf. He became a lecturer at The Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge in 2000, where he helped establish the Design and Technology PGCE course.
His research interests are centred around socio-cultural approaches to creativity and in particular the role of the teacher and design pedagogy. To this end he has been involved in several research projects, both within the UK and beyond see Research-Project-Details.pdf. His work has informed policy and practice within the UK where he has trained hundreds of teachers via CPD courses across many local education authorities.
Research
Interests
- Creativity and related constructs (i.e. cognition, motivation)
- Design pedagogy
- Teacher beliefs
- Pupil voice
Research Students
Bill supervises students from any of the Design disciplines (eg engineering, product, industrial, 3D, Architecture) and creative disciplines more generally whose research interests correspond to those in the above "Research interests" section.
Recent Research Projects
July 2010-December 2011. Co-investigator of a research project looking at engaging pupils (11-16) in Inclusive Design. 200k EPSRC.
January 2010-March 2011. Principal Investigator. Investigating undergraduate Engineering and art & design students and lecturers’ beliefs about creativity, and teaching and learning in Poland. 36k Autodesk Limited.
January 2005-10. Principle Investigator looking at Creative Problem Solving in Design & Technology at Secondary Level (11-16 years). 330k GATSBY Charitable Foundation.
September 2008-9 Evaluation of the Technology Enhancement Programme (TEP). 15k GATSBY Charitable Foundation.
Impact of Research
This research has had an impact on Policy and practice both nationally and internationally. See Research-Impact.pdf.
Teaching
Topics
Creativity, teaching and learning, research methods (on PGCE)
Courses
- Lecturer responsible for the Design & Technology Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) Course. (link to PGCE Course below)
- Masters in Education (Med) Research in Practice Thematic route, responsible for module elective entitled: Creativity, and teaching & learning.
- Masters of Philosophy Course Arts, Culture and Education Thematic route
- Supervise on all courses outlined above.
Selected Publications
Refereed Journal articles
Nicholl, B. (2009) The epistemological differences between a teacher and researcher: A Personal Journey illustrating second order action research Design and Technology: An International Journal, Vo. 14 No3, pp21-36
McLellan, R., & Nicholl, B. (2009). ‘If I was going to design a chair, the last thing I would look at is a chair’. Product analysis and the causes of fixation in students’ design work 11-16 years. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, Springer Online First™, 17 December 2009
Nicholl, B., and McLellan, R. (2008) We're all in this game whether we like it or not to get a number of As to Cs.‚ Design and technology teachers' struggles to implement creativity and
performativity policies. British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 34, No. 5, pp. 585–600
Nicholl, B., and McLellan, R. (2007) ‘Oh yeah, yeah you gets a lot of love hearts. The Year 9s are notorious for love hearts. Everything is love hearts’. Fixation in Pupils’ Design and Technology work (11-16 years). Design and Technology: An International Journal, Vol. 12 No1, pp21-36
Refereed International Book Chapters
Nicholl, B., and McLellan, R. (2009) ‘This isn’t my project [work]. It’s…just do it…you just do research’. What student voice reveals about the nature of D&T lessons in English schools and the implications this has on their motivation and learning of complex tasks. In M. de Vries & A. Jones (eds) International Handbook of Research and Development in Technology Education, SENSE
Nicholl, B. (2007) ‘I’ve Decided To Change and It’s Just Really Too Hard To, Like, Show Teachers That’ in D. Thiessen and A. Cook-Sather (eds) International Handbook of Student Experience in Elementary and Secondary School Springer
Books
Finney, J., Hickman, R., Morrison, M., Nicholl, B., and Rudduck, J. (2005) Rebuilding Engagement through the Arts: Responding to disaffected students. Pearson