IET Associate Director for Academic Professional Development, Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS)

Professor Anne Adams was appointed a UK Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (POST) Academic Fellowship in 2022, developing evidence-based and systematic horizon scanning methodologies to enable parliamentarians to think one step ahead of the next wave of change.

The aim of this fellowship project was to develop POST’s evidence-based and systematic horizon scanning methodologies, to enable parliamentarians to think one step ahead of the next wave of change. Linked to POST’s Areas of Research Interest and Evidence Bases, this horizon scanning will support high-quality, timely, evidence-based decision making, and support the advancement of horizon scanning methods across Westminster’ Research and Innovation.

Dr Adams is the IET Associate Director for Academic Professional Development positioned in the faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS). This work builds on her strategic coordination of practitioner inquiry and action research support within the OU OpenCETLS, as well as developing a mentoring programme for the CETL Fellows. Dr Adams is also the research lead for innovating pedagogy and a senior lecturer in IET.

More recent research activities include Associate Director for knowledge exchange and technology pathways in 'The National Centre for Policing Research and Professional Development'. This project began work in September 2015 and is funded by a grant from the Home Office and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, and managed by the College of Policing. It is coordinated and works closely with the OU policing consoritum with 12 policing forces / bodies, overseen by a Steering Group chaired by Dr Steven Chase, Director of People at Thames Valley Police, and Professor Jean Hartley as the Academic Director. Dr Adams also leads a research project working with highskillz (a serious gaming company)within the national centre on 'interview simulation for interviewing children'.

Dr Adams is Principle Investigator on policing CPD and eLearning development work has now been funded with CEPOL (the European Policing College) to develop requirements and a procurement process for their eNet systems.

Dr Adams is also Principle Investigator (with Oxford University Education Dept) on the ESRC Impact Accelerator Award developing teacher training and CPD open educational resources around 'tricky topics' a practice based application of threshold concepts.