I undertook my BSc in Psychology at the University of St Andrews, and then completed my PhD on student learning in higher education at the Centre for Research on Learning and Instruction at the University of Edinburgh. I then worked on a number of research projects and staff development initiatives over a period of 7 years before moving to Edinburgh Napier University to take up a lectureship in psychology.
I am currently module leader for Social Psychology 1, Introduction to Educational Psychology, and Social Psychology 2 (Hong Kong). I contribute to third year modules in Social Psychology and Individual Differences and a fourth year module in Music Psychology. In addition, I supervise honours projects.
I am Programme Leader for the BA (Hons) Psychology with Sociology, and Admissions Tutor and First Year Leader for our undergraduate psychology programmes. I am a member of the university’s Academic Appeals Committee.
My research and scholarly interests lie in student learning in higher education, with a particular interest in the first year experience.
h.tait@napier.ac.uk
Dear Dr Hilary Tait,
I’m working as a lecturer in Gazi University in Ankara. I’m interested in “ASSİT: Approaches and Study Skills Inventory” for Students that you worked on. I want to use this questionnaire in my student, and the procedures for permission to use it. Can I use it directly by translating it or do I have to study its validity and reliability?
You are welcome to use ASSIST in your research. Normal translation convention requires you to translate it into your preferred language and then back translate it into English to ensure that the nuances of the original have been preserved.
You would not need to establish validity, but you would need to check internal reliability via Cronbach’s alpha (or minimally through item-scale correlations)to ensure the scales have integrity. As with other forms of attitude measurement, test-retest reliability is not relevant here so need not be carried out.
Good luck with your research.
Kind regards
Hilary
Dear Dr Tait
I am sorry to contact you like this but I can’t find another route. I went to school with you and bumped into your mother in Uddingston.
We are coming to the fringe festival next year and would be lovely to catch up after all these years. Please do email me if you are interested