Dr Aidan Cornelius-Bell

Aidan is a scholar of cultural studies, sociology and higher education and political philosophy. He recently completed his PhD thesis with Flinders, in which he has focussed on students’ identity and reactions to higher education. Aidan’s PhD is titled ‘Student Activism in Higher Education: the possibility and politics of students’ role in hegemonic university change’. This political work focusses on, through empirical ethnographic work, student activism, student identity, hegemony, power, protest and partnership at Flinders University. It draws on historical and contemporary context to provide a rich analysis of power and politics.

Aidan is experienced in researching primary, secondary and tertiary education. He has worked in roles that include: use of research data for policy development, application and visualisation; applying qualitative research methods to emergent education practices; application of sociological research methods and diverse qualitative methodological frameworks and tools. He has also worked in the evaluation of school and university teaching practice as a data analyst.

He has worked in a range of research projects that: investigate the role of student partnership and students as partners; involve teacher education students in STEM industry placements; designing school-based teaching and learning in the context of industry; students’ self regulation of learning in STEM classrooms; the sociology of higher education in contemporary change. These projects span externally funded research from a range of bodies, including the Department of Innovation and Skills and the Australian Research Council (both Discovery and Linkage).

Currently Aidan is working as an investigator on two research projects investigating Digital Education in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences; and the role of Students as Partners practice online across Flinders University.

Aidan's research interests include:

• Sociology of Higher Education,
• Students as Partners,
• Democratic University Governance,
• Academic Work,
• Marxist Sociology,
• Student Power,
• Student Voice,
• Student Activism,
• Communities of practice,
• Social Justice in Education,
• Structure and Agency,
• Project Based Learning,
• Ethnography,
• Formative Assessment,
• Pedagogy,
• Online Learning and Teaching,
• Educational Technology,
• Digital Research &
• Research Platforms