Catherine Bovill from the University of Edinburgh will teach two courses and conduct research at Elon
Catherine Bovill, a senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh in the U.K., is teaching and conducting research at Elon as part of the U.S.-U.K Fulbright Commission exchange program in support of her project titled “Building partnerships and student engagement through enhanced student-faculty relationships.”
Most U.K. Fulbright Scholars receive general awards not specifically linked to a U.S. institution, with their time spent primarily on conducting research at large institutions. The Fulbright-Elon University Scholar Award will allow Bovill to focus on teaching at a primarily undergraduate university recognized as a leader in engaged learning, while also conducting research.
“Elon is excited to host Dr. Bovill this academic year and to continue to grow its relationships with both the Fulbright Commission and the numerous U.K. institutions that participate in this important exchange program,” said Tim Peeples, senior associate provost for faculty affairs.
Bovill is exploring student-faculty relationships and how they affect student engagement, building upon research that shows how those positive relationships can have beneficial outcomes for students. Bovill is conducting her research at both Elon and at the University of Edinburgh to bring more information to current debates at institutions on increasing student engagement.
Bovill is investigating the ways students and faculty describe and refer to each other and looking into the ways in which students and faculty describe student engagement. She is studying student-faculty partnerships and student-faculty relationships, exploring the nature of student-faculty relationships inside and outside the classroom, and examining student and faculty perspectives on the links between student-faculty relationships, student engagement and student-faculty partnerships
Her research will contribute to the connection between student-faculty relationships and student engagement in different university settings, and she hopes her research at Elon will offer new ways of enhancing student engagement.
While conducting her research, she is also teaching two courses in Elon’s Master of Arts in Higher Education program — “Student Engagement and High Impact Practices” and the new course “Co-Creation and Partnerships.” This new course will allow staff and faculty to investigate differences in student engagement in the U.S. and the U.K. and explore definitions, examples, benefits and challenges of co-creation and partnership.
On Nov. 12 Bovill will lead a workshop through the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning titled “Student-faculty Co-creation of Assignments” that looks at what happens when professors engage students in the process of assignment design. More information about that workshop is available here.
Bovill received her master’s of science in public and global health from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, her master’s of education from the University of Glasgow and her doctorate in public and global health from Queen Margaret University.
She is currently writing a book: “Co-creating learning and teaching: relational pedagogy in higher education” and has previously co-authored publications with Elon faculty on student-faculty relationships.