Professor Kirsty Kiezebrink

Biography

Kirsty joined the university in July 2010 as RCUK funded research fellow based in the health services research unit. She has since then taken on the lead of the Postgraduate Education Group and works closely with colleagues to conduct and disseminate research into teaching and learning at a postgraduate level.  Kirsty leads the development and enhancement of online learning for the Institute of Applied Health Sciences.  Within this role, she has worked with staff from across all the research groups within the institute to develop and run our four highly successful fully online masters in Clinical Nutrition, Health Economics for Health Professionals, Applied Health Sciences and Public Health.  Kirsty’s research currently focusses on the public’s understanding and engagement with science with particular reference to medical and health related research.  Alongside Kirsty’s role as postgraduate coordinator for both our taught and research programmes Kirsty is also the deputy director for Applied Health Sciences.

Kirsty is keen to supervise PhD students in the field of public health nutrition particularly around communication of health messages.  She is also keen to supervise projects looking at enhancing education and training in applied health science fields in addition to projects looking at the role of technology in enhancing the learning environment.

Research Overview

Latest research project Towards inclusive intelligence: a comprehensive examination of GenAI attitudes among HE stakeholders funded by AdvanceHE Collaborative Development Fund 2023-24.  We are recruiting now for staff and students to contribute to this project

Kirsty is willing to supervise PhD students looking at enhancing education and training in applied health science fields.  Any student interested in this should contact her directly to discuss their ideas prior to submitting a formal application

Current Research

Kirsty’s current research focuses on communication of science with a particular focus on health and nutrition.  

She is currently undertaking and extensive evaluation of methods of learner engagement comparing the traditional on campus environment with online environment. Through this work Kirsty and her team aim to identify areas of good practice which enhance student experience for both online and on campus students.

Embedded within this evaluation is a distinct project looking at the acceptability and feasibility of a new model for provision of assessment feedback, which will address student needs for more timely and detailed feedback whilst minimising staff resources required to facilitate this. Specifically we aim to determine if the provision of detailed feedback prior to assessment submission promotes student engagement with the feedback process and enhances learning by providing students with the opportunity to reflect and make changes as a result of the comments before a final grade is determined?

Teaching Responsibilities

Kirsty is the postgraduate coordinator for the Institute of Applied Health Sciences. This role involves overseeing the postgraduate taught course (both on campus and online) within the institute. Kirsty also coordinates two courses in research methods; one using an on-campus delivery mode and the second an online delivery mode, in addition to contributing to a wide range of courses within applied health sciences. With her role as postgraduate coordinator for taught courses Kirsty chairs the student staff liaison committee and exam boards for applied health sciences and has taken a key role in the university in developing procedures to enhance online learning.

In addition, Kirsty also has the responsibility for postgraduate coordinator for research this role involves overseeing the postgraduate research programmes within the institute and supporting both students and supervisors through their study period. Within the role Kirsty works collaboratively with the other 4 institutes within the school to provide a support environment for student to develop their skills and enhance their experience whilst undertaking their research degrees. Within the university Kirsty has taken a lead within the postgraduate research school in developing procedures for assessing progression throughout the research degree and has worked with colleagues across the university to identify ways enable these new processes to be standardised across the university whilst still retaining level of flexibility to ensure they are relevant to the discipline