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Dr Nicola Abbott
Room 312
House 26
Woburn Square
Bloomsbury
LONDON
WC1H 0AA
Appointment
- Lecturer in Psychology
- IOE - Psychology & Human Development
- UCL Institute of Education
Biography
I received my BSc Psychology from the University of Kent in 2009. It was during this time that I developed my passion for Developmental and Social Psychology. I continued my studies at the University of Kent, where I was awarded a Departmental Scholarship to pursue my PhD. My PhD thesis was entitled "Young bystander intervention in an intergroup name-calling context: The role of intergroup contact and the Theory of Planned Behaviour". I was awarded my PhD in January 2014. Shortly after, I started as a Lecturer in Social Psychology at Canterbury Christ Church University. In 2015, I was promoted to Senior Lecturer and later took on the role of Programme Director for the Undergraduate BSc Psychology. I begun my current post as Lecturer in Social Psychology at UCL Institute of Education in September 2018. In Sept 2021, I took on the role of Programme Leader of the BSc Psychology with Education programme.
Research Summary
I am a Social and Developmental Psychologist with expertise in bystander intervention in the context of school bullying. I am particularly interested in anti-bullying intervention and bullying that is biased-based (e.g. based on gender, race and ethnicity, country of origin, sexuality and disability etc.). For example, I am interested in what makes someone feel confident enough to intervene when they witness bullying, especially when the bullying is directed at someone who belongs to a different social group (e.g. they are from a different ethnic background).
In the past, I have worked as a Research Fellow on a multidisciplinary NIHR (Research for Patient Benefit) project with East Kent NHS Trust. This was a study into the effectiveness of a postural care programme. I was the qualitative Research Lead, who conducted and analysed interviews with primary school children who have physical disabilities. During these interviews we used Talking Mats as a data collection tool, which were particularly useful when a child was non-verbal. I also worked as a Project Manager on a UK Aid funded multidisciplinary project entitled "My Dads Says..." with a former Development Education Centre (World Education Development Group). During this project we evaluated an intervention designed to tackle stereotypes around issues of immigration within secondary schools.
My current research is primarily focused on bias-based bullying, particularly bullying based on racism or xenophobia. I am investigating ways that we can promote bystander intervention to help tackle bias-based bullying in schools. I am also interested in ethnic identity and how this is linked to mental health, amongst young people. For example, I am exploring the importance of ethnic discrimination and intergroup friendships as risk and resilience factors in young people's mental health. I am collaborating on a COVID-19 project (https://globalcovidstudy.com), led by Dr. Keri Wong, examining the global impact of COVID-19 on mental health. I am also collaborating on an observational project, led by Dr. Ed Baines, examining peer relations in school playground. Finally, I am also involved in research examining young people's screen time usage with collaborators Dr. Amanda Carr and Dr. Suzanne Cogswell.
Teaching Summary
I am a passionate academic who strives for teaching excellence. I am inspired by the UCL Connected Curriculum, whereby students are able to learn through participating in research and enquiry at all levels of study. I typically take a social constructionist pedagogical approach and enjoy focusing on the application of Social and Developmental Psychology to real-world problems in my taught sessions. I received my Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching (Higher Education) in July 2016. I achieved the status of Fellow from the Higher Education Academy (HEA) in July 2016 and I am now striving towards Senior Fellowship status. I completed the HEA Professional Development Course for External Examiners in June 2018.
I have taught across a number of undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the University of Kent, Canterbury Christ Church University and now at UCL Institute of Education. I am experienced in using a variety of teaching delivery tools and formats. In light of COVID-19, I am further developing my expertise of a number of online teaching tools (e.g. Blackboard Collaborate; MS Teams; Mentimeter; Kahoot). Currently, my teaching responsibilities are primarily within the BSc Psychology with Education programme where I am also the Programme Leader; I am the convenor for the following modules: Social and Developmental Psychology (Year 2); Applied Social and Developmental Psychology (Year 3). I also run sessions on MSc taught programmes at UCL and provide guest lectures at the University of Kent in my area of research expertise. I supervise undergraduate and postgraduate dissertation students and I currently have the privilege of supervising 4 PhD students and one DEdPsych student.
Academic Background
| Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCLTHE) |
