Judy Robertson: Curriculum Vitae
Date of birth: 2/7/76
Academic Qualifications
University of Edinburgh (1997): BSc. (Hons) Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science (1st Class)
University of Edinburgh (2001) PhD. “The effectiveness of a virtual role-play environment as a story preparation activity”
Posts held
Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at Heriot-Watt University (2009 – present)
Lecturer in Computer Science at Heriot-Watt University (2006 – 2009)
Lecturer in Computing at Glasgow Caledonian University (2005 – 2006).
Honorary Fellow, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh (2005 – present).
Lecturer: University of Edinburgh (2003 –2004)
Research Fellow: University of Edinburgh (2001 - 2003)
Researcher : Scottish Storytelling Centre (2000 – 2001)
Research Associate: University of Leeds (1999 – 2000)
Research Interests
My main area of interest is in the development of interactive learning environments, particularly game based learning. I have completed an EPSRC funded project to study the creative process of computer game design and develop a learning environment to support learners in this design task. EPSRC then funded a follow-up project to disseminate the findings of this project to school teachers. My interest in creativity extended to the EPSRC funded SPIRES project (on which I am co-investigator), as a means of understanding how the creativity of researchers can be nurtured within research spaces. My previous projects include Ghostwriter, a virtual role-play environment for children, and StoryStation, an intelligent tutoring system which gives children feedback on their story writing skills. From a methodology perspective, I work within a learner centred design framework in which children and their teachers are involved in all stages of the software development process from requirements gathering to evaluation. This approach has a number of challenges, and best practice for learner centred design is itself an active research area.
Journal articles
Robertson, J. (2011).The educational affordances of blogs for self-directed learning. Computer & Education 57(2). Pages 1628-1644
Robertson, J. and Howells, C. 2008. Computer game design: Opportunities for successful learning. Comput. Educ. 50, 2 (Feb. 2008), 559-578. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2007.09.020
Good, J. and Robertson, J. (2006). CASS: A Framework for Learner Centred Design with Children. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education 16(4).
Goolnik, S., Robertson, J. and Good, J. (2006). Learner centred design in the Adventure Author project. To appear in International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education 16(4).
Robertson, J., Cross, B., MacLeod, H., and Wiemer-Hastings, P. ( 2004) Children's interactions with animated agents in an Intelligent Tutoring System. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education. 14.335-357.
Robertson, J and Cross, B. (2004) Children's perceptions about writing with their teacher and the StoryStation learning environment. International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Lifelong Learning (IJCEELL). 14(6). 454-471.
Robertson, J. & Good, J. (2003) Using a Collaborative Virtual Role-Play Environment to Foster Characterisation in Stories. Journal of Interactive Learning Research. 14(1). 5-29.
Robertson, J., & Oberlander J. (2002). Ghostwriter: Educational Drama and Presence in a Virtual Environment. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication. 8(1).
Funding
Co-investigator: SPIRES Research Network. EPSRC (2009) £150K
Principle Investigator: Making Games in Schools. EPSRC PPE grant. (2009) £120K.
Principle Investigator: Supporting creativity in computer game authoring. EPSRC First grant. (2006) £250,000.
Principle Investigator: Adventure Author pilot project. NESTA Futurelab Ideas Incubator grant (2004) £15,000.
Principle Investigator: StoryStation commercialisation project. SHEFC Knowledge Transfer (2003) £10,000.
Co-investigator: Authoring as Acting. ESRC/EPSRC Technology Enhanced Learning network grant (2006).
Co-investigator: Drama and Performance for Pleasurable Personal Learning Environments. EPSRC/AHRC network grant. (2005) £38,565. In collaboration with Professor Ruth Aylett, Heriot-Watt University, Professor Paul Brna, SCRE and Professor Rose Luckin, Institute of Education.
Awards
Winner of a Theory into Practice award from the US based Association of Educational Communications and Technology (2006)
Winner of Heriot-Watt University Learning and Teaching Award 2008/2009
Winner of IEEE Computer Society Award for Innovation in Teaching (2009).
PhD Examination
External examiner for Dror Ben-Naim at University of New South Wales. (2010), Paul Hazel, Swansea Metropolitan University (2011), Mike O’Dea, Leeds University (2011).
