Professor Alison Voice

Profile

Alison is a National Teaching Fellow and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She obtained her BSc in Physics from the University of Exeter and her PhD in Soft Matter Physics from the University of Leeds. She also has a PGCE from the University of Liverpool. Alison has worked at the University of Leeds for over 30 years, initially as a post-doctoral researcher and since 1995 as an academic member of staff. In 2016 she founded the Physics Education Research Group within the School of Physics & Astronomy at Leeds.

Alison has a wide experience of teaching physics and quality assurance of student education. She was the School’s Director of Student Education for 15 years, she is a Degree Accreditation Assessor for the Institute of Physics, and was a member of the QAA team tasked with creating the Benchmark Statement for Physics & Astronomy.

Having undertaken scientific research in soft matter physics for the first part of her career she now concentrates on researching and developing student education within physics, with particular interest in students’ transition to university and sense of belonging, collaborative learning/peer instruction, spaced repetition for embedding key learning, and integration of career planning into the curriculum.

Responsibilities

• Head of Physics Education Research Group

Research interests

Having founded the Physics Education Research Group at Leeds Alison is involved in a variety of projects spanning the student journey from transition into 1^st year, through collaborative group work (face to face and online) and  spaced repetition to ensure deep learning of physics, to embedding of employability into the curriculum to help students transition successfully into the next stage of their career. Alison holds a LITE Fellowship researching into the effect of students’ belonging and engagement on their transition to university, a research project spanning 5 faculties at the university.

Qualifications

• BSc Physics
• PhD Soft Matter Physics
• PGCE

Professional memberships

• National Teaching Fellow
• Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy
• Chartered Physicist
• Member of Institute of Physics

Student education

Alison’s research and scholarship in teaching and learning directly impacts her own teaching and interaction with students.  She teaches across all years in the undergraduate physics degree at Leeds engaging students in active learning and real world activities, to advance students’ learning of physics and preparedness for future employment. 

Research groups and institutes

• Physics Education

Current postgraduate researchers

• Raf Flores-Adrian

Projects

<li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/495-factors-for-success:-physics-students-from-non-traditional-pre-university-education">Factors for success: Physics students from non-traditional pre-university education</a></li>