Criminologist, University of Stirling, and Associate Director, Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research.

Professor of Politics and Public Policy, University of Stirling, UK. https://paulcairney.wordpress.com/cv/

Dr Samantha-Kaye Johnston is currently a research academic at The University of Oxford Centre for Educational Assessment (OUCEA) and a research affiliate at the Berkman Klein Centre for Internet and Society at Harvard University. Through her research dissemination efforts, she has engaged with over 300 educational stakeholders in 33 countries to deliver workshops on the science of learning and reading, including the re-imagination of technology to advance learning outcomes. Through this experience, she has learned that students, particularly those in under-resourced contexts, are concerned that they are not sufficiently ready for future opportunities. Therefore, her current research has been focused on two research strands: (1) strengthening the development of 21st century skills among youth and (2) elevating the voices of youth in their engagement with technology. In Research Strand 1, she studies the development of a range of skills, including critical thinking and critical reading, creativity, and curiosity. To this end, Dr Johnston adopts a multi-method approach, including data collection from education technology roundtables, video recordings, interviews, policy documents, experimental tasks, and pre-validated measures to study the teaching and assessment of these skills. In Research Strand 2, she employs a range of participatory approaches to co-design critical thinking resources with students to support safe engagement with technology.

Professor of Educational Psychology Measurement & Evaluation at the American University of Beirut, and former Director of the Office of Institutional Research & Assessment (OIRA) at the university. Has extensive experience in teaching, undergraduate and graduate courses, training, and research in area of expertise. Has conducted and supervised research in test development/adaptation, validation, and use, as well as teacher assessment competencies and published in international and regional journals and books in these areas. As Director of OIRA, engaged in institutional assessment, development of assessment plans, and preparations for accreditation, program and peer review in higher education. Participated and presented in local, regional, and international conferences on modern assessment, alignment of assessment and instruction, assessment in higher education, criterion of quality, conditions for student success, quality of student life, and language policies. As member of local, regional, and international organizations, was involved with educational research, assessment, and quality in education. As UNESCO Consultant since 2007, has prepared several country and regional reports, conducted assessment studies, submitted a regional report on UNESCO’s education support strategy for the Middle East (UNESS), assisted in the development of a comprehensive assessment system at the basic education level in Saudi Arabia, conducted regional workshops on assessment, and proposed an Arab Learning Assessment Framework (LAF). In Lebanon contributed by serving on the following committees: Basic Education Strategic Planning, the National Task Force for Governance in Higher Education, Research for Results (R4R) Steering Committee, and as the national advisor on The National Student Learning Assessment Framework. Serves as Assessment Consultant on Qatar Health Check Project.