Paula Miles

Paula Miles is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology & Neuroscience at the University of St Andrews. She has extensive international experience in teaching and curriculum coordination across New Zealand, Canada, and Scotland. Currently, she leads the University’s QAA Enhancement Topic initiative to improve higher education experiences nationwide and contributes to strategic student wellbeing efforts through the Student Experience Strategic Management Group and Mental Health Task Force.

Research Interests: Her work focuses on educational psychology, particularly factors influencing student experiences. Key areas include:

• Effectiveness of teaching styles (e.g., interactive vs. traditional)
• Student wellbeing across academic transitions (secondary to university, undergraduate to postgraduate)
• Academic integrity frameworks and misconduct prevention
• Pandemic impacts on learning and social dynamics
• Staff wellbeing and interdisciplinary education (e.g., astronomy-music integration)

Recent Publications highlight trends in educational psychology, emphasizing impostor syndrome, self-efficacy, and pandemic-related stressors. Her work bridges higher education and schooling systems, addressing teacher identity and student-teacher agency.

Scientific Awards:

• Runner-up, UK Higher Education Psychology Teacher of the Year (2019)
• McCall MacBain Teaching Excellence Award (2018)
• QAA Enhancement Theme Collaborative Funding (2020)
• University of St Andrews Inaugural Teaching Excellence Award (2013)
• Students’ Association Excellence in Science Teaching Award (2015)

Paula supervises PhD research on teaching-learning alignment in higher education and has previously mentored studies on physics identity, gender gaps, and teacher agency models. She also directs projects like the longitudinal PGT wellbeing study (Scottish Funding Council, 2020-2021) and pandemic-era wellbeing research (University of St Andrews, 2018-2020).