Health Education
Research

Health Education Research

For the past two decades, there have been calls for health education to become more evidence-based. This has been interpreted by some as a lack of understanding of social science methodology and outcomes, but there is some truth to these concerns, with historically poor use of methodologies that cannot hope to answer the research questions set. A focus that moves past asking questions other than simply ‘whether’ interventions are effective and focussing on educational research outcomes that are likely to influence teaching practice is needed. Additionally, there is a requirement for a better balance of research that also included clarification studies to ask ‘how’ and ‘why’.

Underpinning the field and evidence in the recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) process in the UK, was a need for such research to be transdisciplinary and involve educational experts and social scientists. This faculty, linking across UCLan, is well placed to deliver innovative and high quality works that meet this criteria. This rapidly emerging theme is built on the variety of new courses being developed and in turn is driving quality within teaching, learning and assessment.