Dr Pedro Barra

Contact

Email: p.barra@kingston.ac.uk
Location: Penrhyn Road
Faculty: Faculty of Health, Science, Social Care and Education
School: School of Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Chemistry
Department: Department of Applied and Human Sciences

About

I graduated in Human Nutrition and Dietetics (5 year degree) from University of Porto, Portugal (2000). I then came to the UK and was awarded an MSc in Clinical Nutrition & Immunology (University of Surrey Roehampton, 2001) and a PhD from Roehampton University (degree awarded by University of Surrey, 2007) (Title of Thesis: "RNA and protein turnover in premature infants with necrotising enterocolitis").

I took my first full-time lectureship position as a Lecturer in Nutrition at Kingston University (2007), and completed my Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (2009). I became a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2015) and the Course Leader for the BSc (Hons) Nutrition (Human Nutrition) (2016). I am also the Faculty Research Ethics Lead.

Academic responsibilities

Associate professor in Nutrition

Qualifications

Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (Kingston University)
PhD (health/nutrition related) (University of Surrey)
MSc Clinical Nutrition & Immunology (University of Surrey Roehampton)
BSc Human Nutrition and Dietetics (University of Porto, Portugal)

Teaching and learning

My students know me for my love of data and numbers. I am always looking for ways to improve my students' learning experience and this often includes the use of technology, e.g., personal response systems, online noticeboards, working collaboratively on shared online pages, and screencasting. I make use of these technologies to support teaching and assessment. My most recent projects involve exploring the use of collaborative exams (also called two-stage exams), collaborating with colleagues on incorporating reflection on feedback in nutrition assignments (three components namely 1. Self-Assessment Component, 2. Feedback Dialogue Component and 3. Reflection on past feedback and feed-forward Component) and the value of communities of practice (making use of Padlet). I disseminate work across the University to colleagues but also on sector learning and teaching events such as Horizons in STEM Higher Education (2022) and Royal Society of Biology Inclusive Pedagogies and Reducing Awarding Gaps Conference (2023). At present, I am particularly interested on how to use artificial intelligence, specifically large language models, to enhance teaching, learning, and assessment practices in Higher Education.

Undergraduate courses taught

Sport and Exercise Science (Nutrition) BSc (Hons)

Leadership and management

I am the Course Leader for the BSc (Hons) Nutrition (Human Nutrition) plus the Faculty Research Ethics Lead for my faculty (Faculty of Health, Science, Social Care and Education). I represent my faculty in Academic Council plus also sit in the Board of Governors for the University.