Dr Mary Davies is the Study Support Tutor for the University with a particular focus on the provision of sessions in academic writing and research. She provides staff development training in the development and teaching of study support modules and has links with the School of Psychology and Counselling in her supervision of MPhil students.  Mary has two main areas of research:  in literature, she specialises in the Renaissance period, with a particular interest in the works of Giordano Bruno and the literary genres of the Petrarchan love sonnet and the English emblem books. In the area of learning and teaching, Mary is currently researching into cognitive style and its effect on learning, specifically in students with learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, which impact on their academic writing.

Current research activity

Collaboration with Dr Howard Riley: research into cognitive style in students in Art & Design and the development of the Visual Dissertation as an alternative form of assessment for students in Art & Design.

Recent Articles:

Making an essay: Creative Approaches to Academic Writing for Students of Art and Design. Co-author, Riley, H. In, ‘Proceedings of the European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing (EATAW), Coventry University, June, 2009.

Dyslexia as Cognitive Style: Right-brained Strategies for Left-Brained Tasks. Co-author, Riley, H. on the website of Art, Design and Communication Subject Centre, Higher Education Academy, 2006.

Cognitive Styles and Drawing Practice. Co-authors, Riley, H. and, Rankin, Q. In Rust, C. (ed.), 2006, ‘Proceedings of the 13rh International Symposium,: Improving Student Learning Through Assessment’, Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, pp.65-80.