Staff profile

Nicola is Associate Professor in Academic Practice, based both in the School of Education and in the Durham Centre for Academic Development (https://www.dur.ac.uk/dcad/forstaff/. Her role focuses on researching learning, teaching and assessment in higher education and educational development for Durham staff, in particular in the context of the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice. She is a qualified school teacher and worked in Modern Foreign Languages (Newcastle University, Sunderland University, Freie Universität Berlin, Open University) before moving into an academic development role. She was involved in conducting initial research on threshold concepts, working with Jan Meyer and Ray Land (http://www.etl.tla.ed.ac.uk//index.html). Prior to joining Durham for the second time, Nicola worked at Northumbria University where she was part of the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Assessment for Learning (CETL AfL) team, led postgraduate modules and programmes for staff and Northumbria’s Professional Recognition Scheme accredited by the Higher Education Academy. Nicola's research focuses on assessment and feedback in higher education and the ways in which academics develop as teachers, and she is committed to research which is of direct relevance to higher educational practice and policy.

Completed Supervisions

Teachers’ perceptions on the effectiveness of the Oxford Online Placement Test at King Abdulaziz University.

Enacting the Curriculum in English for Academic Purposes: A Legitimation Code Theory Analysis.

Recovery as a troublesome concept: A phenomenographic study of mental health nursing students’ learning experiences.

Using the threshold concept framework to enhance entrepreneurship curricula in higher education

Threshold concepts and the development of initial teacher identity in English language teacher education in Oman: an investigation of students’ perceptions

Intercultural communication: the perceptions of university students learning Chinese as a foreign language in China

Experiencing multilingual identities and interculturality through learning and socialising in languages: The ecologies of two “language cafés”. 

Information for prospective doctoral research student supervisions

Nicola welcomes postgraduate research supervisions on any of her research interests, with a focus on qualitative methodologies.

• Learning & teaching in higher education
• Assessment (for learning) and feedback in higher education
• Academic and (higher education) teacher development
• Academic standards

• 2015: Principal Fellow: Higher Education Academy (PFHEA)

Chapter in book

• Reimann, N., Sambell, K., Sadler, I., & Kreber, C. (2021). Addressing the challenges of assessment and feedback in Business Schools: developing assessment practices which support learning. In A. Kjaergaard, A. Lindgreen, E. Rosier, T. Thomsen, & A. Tuncdogan (Eds.), Handbook of Teaching and Learning at Business SchoolsA Practice-Based Approach (207-225). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789907476.00025
• Reimann, N. (2009). Exploring Disciplinarity in Academic Development: Do “Ways of Thinking and Practicing” Help Higher Education Practitioners to Think about Learning and Teaching?. In C. Kreber (Ed.), The University and its Disciplines: Teaching and Learning within and beyond disciplinary boundaries (84-95). Routledge
• Reimann, N., & Jackson, I. (2006). Threshold concepts in Economics: a case study. In E. Meyer, & R. Land (Eds.), Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding. Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (115-133). Routledge
• Reimann, N. (2001). Dropping out, opting out or staying in: reasons for continuation and non-continuation of German on an Institution-Wide Languages Programme. In J. A. Coleman, D. Ferney, D. Head, & R. Rix (Eds.), Language Learning Futures. Issues and strategies for modern languages provision in higher education (131-149). Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research in association with the Standing Conference of Heads of Modern Languages in Universities

Conference Paper

• Reimann, N., Rajab, T., Dragas, T., Murray, M., Rattray, J., & Durham, I. P. F. (2019). Enhancing Teaching through Intercultural Reflection on Teaching: the IntRef Project. In N. Reimann, T. Rajab, T. Dragas, M. Murray, J. Rattray, & IntRef participants from Durham (Eds.),
• (2017). The potential of intercultural reflection for enhancing teaching and internationalising academic development. In N. Reimann, J. Rattray, M. Murray, T. Dragas, J. Thompson, M. Hansen, …J. Mendzheritskaya (Eds.),

Edited book

• Leder, G., Reimann, N., & Walsh, R. (Eds.). (1996). Ab initio language learning: a guide to good practice in universities and colleges: the example of German. CILT

Journal Article

• O’Donovan, B., Sadler, I., & Reimann, N. (2024). Social moderation and calibration versus codification: a way forward for academic standards in higher education?. Studies in Higher Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2024.2321504
• Sadler, I., Reimann, N., & Sambell, K. (2023). Feedforward practices: a systematic review of the literature. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 48(3), 305-320. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2022.2073434
• Watson, F., & Reimann, N. (2021). Student mental health nurses’ understanding of recovery: a phenomenographic study . Nurse Education in Practice, 53, Article 103082. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2021.103082
• Reimann, N., Fabriz, S., & Hansen, M. (2021). The importance of national and institutional context: implications for research on teaching development programmes. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 45(4), 511-523. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2020.1792423
• Reimann, A., Sadler, I., & Sambell, K. (2019). What's in a word? Practices associated with 'feedforward' in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(8), 1279-1290. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1600655
• Reimann, N., & Allin, L. (2018). Engaging the wider academic community in a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice: the issue of standards. International Journal for Academic Development, 23(4), 286-297. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144x.2017.1381966
• Sadler, I., & Reimann, N. (2018). Variation in the development of teachers’ understandings of assessment and their assessment practices in higher education. Higher Education Research & Development, 37(1), 131-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2017.1344199
• Reimann, N. (2018). Learning about assessment: the impact of two courses for higher education staff. International Journal for Academic Development, 23(2), 86-97. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144x.2017.1375413
• Reimann, N., & Sadler, I. (2017). Personal understanding of assessment and the link to assessment practice: the perspectives of higher education staff. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 42(5), 724-736. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2016.1184225
• Reimann, N., & Robson, M. (2013). Using seen examination questions in economics: an evaluation. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 37(2), 224-241. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2011.645449
• Reimann, N., & Wilson, A. (2012). Academic Development in ‘Assessment for Learning’: the value of a concept and communities of assessment practice. International Journal for Academic Development, 17(1), 71-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144x.2011.586460
• Reimann, N. (2011). To risk or not to risk it: student (non-)engagement with seen examination questions. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 36(3), 263-279. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930903311716
• Reimann, N. (2004). Calculating Non-completion Rates for Modules on Institution-wide Language Programmes: some observations on the nature of seemingly objective figures. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 28(2), 139-152. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877042000206714
• Reimann, N. (2004). First year teaching-learning environments in economics. International Review of Economics Education, 3(1), 9-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1477-3880%2815%2930147-x
• Klaus, A., & Reimann, N. (2003). Ein Fach in der Krise – zur Situation von Germanistik und DaF an britischen Hochschulen. Informationen Deutsch als Fremdsprache, 30(1), 23-31. https://doi.org/10.1515/infodaf-2003-0103
• Reimann, N. (1999). Ab initio German and beyond: a case study of staying in and dropping out. Bradford occasional papers, 4, 163-181
• Hotho, S., & Reimann, N. (1998). Learner motivation: from dilemma to dialogue. Forum for Modern Language Studies, 34(2), 130-143. https://doi.org/10.1093/fmls/xxxiv.2.130
• Atkinson, D., Reimann, N., & Turner, J. (1995). Languages for all: the crucial role of the first few weeks. The Language Learning Journal, 12(1), 26-30. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571739585200371