Dr Tania Dias Fonseca

Senior lecturer

I am a senior lecturer in Learning and Teaching at LTEC. I joined Kingston University as lecturer in technology-enhanced learning in September 2016.

Before joining Kingston University, I worked as Open Digital Educational Resource Coordinator and on Teacher Teaching Education for the Secretariat for Education of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, Portugal. In this role, I designed and led the development of an online educational resource platform for teachers and students (http://reda.azores.gov.pt) and designed and coordinated CPD for secondary school teachers. I also evaluated strategies, policies and initiatives related to learning, teaching and assessment. I delivered expert advice, guidance, consultancy and support for educational political decision-makers on ICT education, science education, and citizenship education.

Leadership and management

Presently I am the Introduction to Learning and Teaching Programme Part 2 leader. I lead the learning and teaching component of problem and project-based learning within the Kingston Course Enhancement Programme. I have been working mainly on STEM areas, such as computer sciences, mathematics and engineering. Early in my career I took a leading role in two pioneering international citizen science research projects – PEOPLE-Citizenship (2002) and EuroLifeNet (2006–10), studying exposure to air pollution across Europe (in partnership with the Institute for Environment and Sustainability of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre). During my PhD, in addition to my thesis research, I co-developed two pilot online platforms: one to manage and promote participatory management of urban gardens in Lisbon, and one for the management and coordination of cultural activities for disadvantaged communities.

As an educational project leader and manager, I have designed and led a number of media and digital literacy programmes involving different stakeholders, such as mayors, researchers, students, teachers, and librarians.

Teaching

I teach in the Introduction to Learning and Teaching Programme and in the Educational Technologies for English Language Teaching module. I have taught in secondary and middle schools since 2002. Throughout this time, I have designed and delivered continuing professional development courses for primary and secondary school teachers on a wide range of topics, including education and innovation, ICT and education, educational project design, organisation and development and experimental pedagogy.

I have supervised undergraduate students in science education at the University of the Azores for their Professional Teaching Certificate. I was also an invited lecturer in Initial Teaching Education at the University of Lisbon. I led seminars and workshops on e-governance and participatory technologies for researchers and political decision-makers in a number of universities and international organisations.

External roles

I have acted as a consultant to different institutions and in different areas, such as:

• Black Cultural Archives, United Kingdom (Present): Scientific and pedagogical consultant for inclusive educational resources and teacher training.
• Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute (M-ITI) and University of the Azores, Portugal (2017–Present): Scientific and pedagogical consultant on the research project 'Field Guide: Designing Mobile Interactive Tools for Place-Based Learning'.
• University of Bradford, United Kingdom (2018): Mentoring academic staff development on teaching and learning with technologies.
• Guildhall School of Music & Drama, United Kingdom (2016): Mentored teachers as an external consultant on online learning and strategies.

Qualifications and memberships

I hold a PhD (2015) in e-Planning jointly awarded by the Universities of Lisbon and Aveiro and the Nova University of Lisbon. During my PhD, I was an invited research student at the Institute of Education (IOE), University of London (now UCL). I also hold a Master of Education with a specialisation in ICT and Education, and a Licenciatura in physics and chemistry (including a teaching certification for physics and chemistry), both from the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon.

I am a member of the e-Planning Lab, University of Lisbon and University of Aveiro, the Children's Identity and Citizenship European Association (CiCea), and the National Association for Media Literacy (NAMLE, USA), and a founding member of the Burra de Milho Cultural Association (Portugal).

Grants/projects funded

Recent research projects include:

• Principal investigator: iLearn: On the go with digital media (2017–2018), understanding mature, commuting, and disabled students' learning perspectives when using video and audio in higher education to inform academic staff development (student-partnership research).
• Investigator: The Hilali Network – Exploring Lived Cultural Heritage Through Design in Higher Education (2017–2018), Living Curriculum for Cultural Heritage and STEM; network for higher education and local community-led digital preservation and protection of intangible cultural heritage and technologies, jointly led by Kingston University and the City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications – Alexandria, Egypt (SRTA-City). Funded by the Newton Fund.
• Investigator: Evaluating the impact of the new VLE on teaching and learning (2016–2018) using a student-centred approach, participant researcher, funded by Kingston University.
• Principal investigator: FADA Online Assessment and Feedback (2016–2018), participatory research with lecturers and students, funded by Kingston University.
• Project leader: Media Education and the Digital World (2014–2015)
• Co-coordinator: Come and surf at the library using ICT (2015–2016)
• Project leader: My neighbourhood Internet project (2014–2016)
• Project leader: 'Mobile Tech & Citizenship' (2013), funded by European Union Youth in Action programme.

Research interests

My research interests lie on the intersection between education, technologies, teaching training and social justice. My focus throughout my career has been on educational decision-making processes and how educational institutions foster young people's empowerment to participate in decision-making on social, scientific and political issues. In the last decade, I have conducted research on how the changing nature of learning is affected/enabled by educational policies and technologies. I am also interested in research methods for investigating social, cultural and political aspects of leadership and young people. I am available to supervise postgraduate students.

Publications

Publications include monograms and conference/keynote presentations - read more in Kingston University's Research Repository (a digital archive of published research produced by Kingston University staff and researchers).

Contact details

• Email: t.fonseca@kingston.ac.uk