Dr Alan Marvell
Bio
Alan has passion for teaching and research and was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by Advance HE in 2021. He is renowned for his transformational research-informed practice in fieldwork through the creation of affective learning spaces and applied student-led pedagogy.
Trained as a teacher, he focuses on situating students at the centre of learning that is regarded as being innovative across the sector. Alan actively experiments with a range of learning and teaching strategies including problem-based and experiential learning as well as practical applications of co-production.
His PhD, awarded 2016, focused on the application of visual methodologies with specific reference to suburban housing developments.
Alan is a Chartered Geographer, and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He is Deputy Chair of the Geography & Education Research Group of the RGS-IBG (2021-2024). He served as an Elected Member of the Geographical Association Governing Body (2011-2018) and was presented with a GA Distinguished Service Award in 2020.
Alan is on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Geography in Higher Education and the multidisciplinary journal Geographies, Planning and Tourism Studios. He is a Senior Fellow of The Higher Education Academy, Fellow of the Tourism Society and a member of the Association for Events Management Education.
Research Interests
• Pedagogy
• Student-led learning
• Experiential learning
• Emotional geographies
Key Publications
Marvell, A. and Simm, D. (2022) Integrating assessment effectively into international fieldwork: a case study using student-led teaching and learning. In: Bourke, T., Mills, R. and Lane, R. (eds.) Assessment in Geographical Education: An International Perspective. New York: Springer Publishing, ch 5, pp. 101-122. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95139-9_5
Finn, M., Hammond, L., Healy, G., Todd, J.D., Marvell, A., McKendrick, J.H. and Yorke, L. (2022) Looking ahead to the future of GeogEd: creating spaces of exchange between communities of practice. Area, 54, pp. 41-51. https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12701
West, H., Hill, J., Finn, M., Healey, R.L., Marvell, A. and Tebbett, N. (2022) GeogEd: A new research group founded on the reciprocal relationship between geography education and the geographies of education. Area, 54, pp. 24-32. https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12661 Marvell, A. (2021) The restricted reimaging of a contemporary suburb at the turn of the 21st century. Area, 53, pp. 76-83. https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12649
Marvell, A. and Simm, D. (2021) Encountering emotions during international fieldwork: using innovative pedagogies to develop emotional intelligence and resilience. In: Wessell, J. (ed). Experiential Learning in Geography: Experience, Evaluation, and Encounters. New York: Springer Publishing. pp. 57-75. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82087-9_5
Simm, D., Marvell, A. and Mellor, A. (2021) Teaching ‘wicked’ problems in Geography. Editorial. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 45(4), pp. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2021.1956883
Marvell, A. and Simm, D. (2018) Emotional geographies experienced during international fieldwork: an evaluation of teaching and learning strategies for reflective assessment. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 42(4), pp. 515-530. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2018.1460806