Dr Eira Wyn Patterson

Professional biography

Eira Wyn Patterson originally trained as a research scientist, before moving into the field of teacher education. Most recently she led the MA Education at the University of Winchester. Currently Eira is a Staff Tutor at the Open University within the Access programme and this role enables her to operationalise her commitment to empowering the education journeys of those who are marginalised, by giving them a voice. She is currently leading a project researching the experiences of Open University Access students who have studied within English prisons, with the aim of enabling prison-based learners to inform innovations in practice. Through her interest in research methodology, she is exploring how creative approaches can complement Activity Theory to enable authentic sharing of participant voice. Also, her work in the field of rigour in qualitative research aims to facilitate greater impact of qualitative studies as enablers and vehicles of change.

Research interests

Areas of reserach interest 

- Exploration of the factors that influence the learning journeys of students studying on Open University Access courses within English prisons in order to further enhance their education experience.

- Academic rigour in qualitative research: Eira recently led a team of researchers in carrying out an in-depth systematic review of literature which has been written up as a journal article for the Qualitative Research Journal. This study aims to reconceptualize the role of the researcher in striving for enhanced rigour within qualitative research, drawing on insights from a range of fields.

- Assessment and feedback in higher education:As research lead within the Assessment Working Group within the Inistitute of Education at Winchester a project weas established to enhance assessment and feedback practice. The project engaged with student voice to enhance inclusive practice and equality of student opportunity within assessment with a particular focus on student engagement with feedback.

- Analysing student learning in Higher Education: 1) Supporting mathematical development in higher education informed my models of different kinds of learner. 2) Exploring the impact of constructivist-informed practice on students’ learning in higher education in the context of primary science teaching. 

Research Methodology 

Eira has experience of carrying out empirical research using a range of research methods, with a focus on qualitative enquiry, and more recently she has developed an interest in evidence synthesis:

- Systematic review methodology: development of an approach for identifying descriptive and analytic themes (drawing on the work of Thomas and Harden, 2008);

- Observation in education contexts (with particular expertise in observing learning and teaching in early years settings);

- Survey development (including JISC Online Surveys);

- Interviewing (with particular experience in semi-structured interview);

- Leading the development of research design both within her own research and in the context of supporting research of MA dissertation students and doctoral students;

- Qualitative Comparative Analysis

- NVivo to analyse qualitative data within empirical studies and and in the context of systematic review.

Research Ethics Experience

Within the University of Winchester Eira was Ethics Representative for the Faculty of Education between 2018 and 2023. This role involved carrying out facult-level ethics reviews and coordinating reviews within the team. She was also a member of the University of Winchester Ethics Committee, where she gained extensive experience of reviewing ethics applications for research projects across faculties. Also she has written a MESHGuide desgined to support teachers in implementing ethical research within their own education contexts.

Publications

Book Chapter

Patterson, E.W. (2019) Researching your teaching, in Capel, S., Lawrence, J., Leask, M. and Younie, S. (Eds) Surviving and Thriving: A companion for the recently qualified teacher, Abingdon: Taylor & Francis.

Journal Articles

Farenga, S. and Patterson, E. (2024) Editorial, Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 26 (3), pp. 1-7. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/openu/jwpll/2024/00000026/00000003/art00001

Patterson, E.W., Ball, K., Corkish, J. and Whittick, I.M. (2023), "Do you see what I see? Enhancement of rigour in qualitative approaches to inquiry: a systematic review of evidence", Qualitative Research Journal, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 164-180. https://winchester.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/do-you-see-what-i-see-enhancement-of-rigour-in-qualitative-approa

Patterson, E.W. (2018) Exploratory talk in the early years: analysing exploratory talk in collaborative group activities involving younger learners, Education 3-13, 46 (3), 264-276. 10.1080/03004279.2016.1243141

Patterson, E.W. (2011) Initial teacher development in science: the impact of constructivist-informed practice on learning, Teacher Development, 15(1), pp69-86.

Patterson, E.W. (2001) ‘Structuring the composition process in scientific writing,’ International Journal of Science Education, 23 (1), pp.1-16.

Recent conference presentations

Patterson, E.W. (2025) The Ninth Annual Qualitative Research Symposium, Transparency, Openness and Rigour, Voices from beyond the walls: Empowering participants through ethical co-construction in a study of prison education in English prisons. University of Bath, 28^th – 29^th January. 

Patterson, E.W. (2024) Voices from behind the walls: Exploration of the potential of Activity Theory to inform innovation in prison-based education. NCRM: MethodsCon, Manchester, 12^th-13^th September.

Patterson, E.W. and Wood, C. (2023) Voices from beyond the wall: An investigation into the education experiences of students studying Open University Access modules from within prisons in England. NEON Summer Symposium, Exeter University, 6^th-7^th July.

Teaching interests

Eira has experience of teaching in a range of subject areas within Initial Teacher Education within the Primary age phase, including science, mathematics and music. An area of particular interest is designing learning opportunities within higher education, including resources to support synchronous and asynchronous learning for undergraduate and post-graduate students. As Programme Leader of the MA Education Programme at the University of Winchester, Eira led the change in the mode of delivery from campus based to blended, with a significant element of online distance learning within the Canvas VLE. This was underpinned by research into pedagogies underpinning effective practice in technology enhanced learning, including: flipped learning theory (Lundin, 2018); the role of the tutor as a facilitator of learning (Redmond, et al., 2018); Salmon’s (2013) Five Stage Model. The approach to leading change involved ongoing engagement with student and tutor voice, enabling creation of a shared sense of purpose through a ‘bottom-up’ approach. Also she has explored how principles underpinning Universal Design for Learning can be integrated within a Flipped Classroom approach, supported by the use of Padlet. 

Impact and engagement

As research lead for the Assessment Working Group within the Institute of Education (IoE) at Winchester University Eira led a four-year action research project which engaged with student and tutor voice in a cyclical process of data gathering and review to inform the practice in assessment and feedback within the IoE. As part of this project she led a small team working on a scoping review of literature to identify key themes to inform enhancement of practice in supporting student engagement with assessment feedback. These themes were used to inform deductive coding of survey data, gathered from undergraduate trainee teachers exploring their experiences of receiving and engaging with feedback from their assignments.The Principles and Guidelines that were developed from the findings of this project transformed the approach to assessment and feedback across the range of programmes within the IoE

External collaborations

Editorial Roles

BERA Research Intelligence Guest Editor: Special Edition focused on Prison Education to be published Autumn 2025

Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning (WPLL) Editorial Board Member

Membership of Professional Organisations

Higher Education Academy (Senior Fellow)

Chartered College (Professional Affliate)