Dr Colin Milligan
Senior Research Fellow
Academic Development and Student LearningColin Milligan is an experienced Academic Developer who supports our staff to develop as teachers and higher education professionals through his contribution to a range of ADSL activities.
Colin leads our experiential route to professional recognition by Advance HE (Accelerate) and is module lead on Scholarship & Sustainability, the final module of our Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice.
Colin undertakes institutional research and evaluation to support the University’s strategic decision making and to improve the student learning experience. Colin has responsibility for encouraging and supporting scholarly and evidence-based approaches to practice.
Colin oversees institutional sectoral enhancement activity through leading our participation in STEP: Scotland's Tertiary Enhancement Programme.
Colin joined GCU in 2007, having worked in the area of learning and development since 1993. He has undertaken a variety of roles in Further and Higher Education, as well as working in the commercial sector and as a Partner in a small consultancy firm. Until 2016, Colin’s research interests focus on self-regulated learning and the personal learning networks that individuals engage in to support their learning, particularly in workplace and informal settings such as those provided by Massive Open Online Courses. His work was included in our Education REF (Research Excellence Framework) submission in 2014 and he contributed to and co-led the University’s Education submission in 2021. Colin attends the Learning Enhancement Sub-Committee and is a member of the University’s Research Ethics and Integrity Sub-Committee and Research Culture sub-Committee.
Selected Publications
- Milligan, C., & Littlejohn, A., (2017) Why study on a MOOC? The motives of students and professionals. Intl. Review of Research in Open & Distributed Learning 18, 2, 92-102.
- Milligan, C., & Littlejohn, A., (2016) How Health Professionals Regulate their Learning in Massive Open Online Courses The Internet and Higher Education 31, 113-121.
- Littlejohn, A., Hood, N., Milligan, C., & Mustain, P. (2016) Learning in MOOCs: motivations and self-regulated learning The Internet and Higher Education 29, 40-48
- Littlejohn, A. Milligan, C., Fontana, R.P., & Margaryan, A. (2016) Professional learning through everyday work: How finance professionals self-regulate their learning, Vocations & Learning, 9(2), 207- 226.
- Hood, N., Littlejohn, A., and Milligan, C., (2015) Context counts: How Learners’ Contexts influence learning in a MOOC. Computers and Education 91, 83-91
- Milligan, C., Fontana, R.P., Littlejohn, A., and Margaryan, A. (2015) Self-regulated learning behaviour in the finance industry. Journal of Workplace Learning. 27 (5), 387-402.
- Fontana, R.P., Milligan, C., Littlejohn, A., & Margaryan, A. (2015) Measuring self-regulated learning in the workplace. International Journal of Training & Development. 19 (1), 32-52.
- Milligan, C. & Littlejohn, A. (2014) Supporting professional learning in a massive open online course. Intl. Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning 15(5), 197-213.
- Milligan, C., Margaryan, A., and Littlejohn, A., (2013). Learning at transition for new and experienced staff. Journal of Workplace Learning 25 (4), 217-230.
- Milligan, C., Littlejohn, A., & Margaryan, A. (2013) Patterns of engagement in connectivist MOOCs. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching 9 (2), 149-159.
A full list of publications can be found on Google Scholar.
You can find Colin in Room B115 in the Britannia Building.