Let's Meet... Gwijde Maegherman

Gwijde Maegherman

Tell us a little bit about your role at Queen Mary

So, I'm a Senior Lecturer in Psychology, in the Department of Biological and Behavioural Sciences (SBBS). I've been here for about 3.5-4 years. I teach on the associate modules primarily - cognitive and health psychology - and then I also teach on the Master's in Mental Health Sciences as well - cognitive neuroscience and academic skills. 

What do you enjoy most about your job? 

Definitely teaching. I'm on a teaching and scholarship track, and I often have to pinch myself that I have this job where I get to interact with students who are interested in the subjects that I'm trying to teach them. They are (for the most part) engaged with the subject area, and I enjoy getting to interact with both students and colleagues who are interested in what I'm doing. I'm also interested in what they have to say to me as well - so I can't believe my luck sometimes. 

Are there any interesting projects you are currently working on?

From a teaching perspective, I am interested in looking at peer assessment / peer review. My primary project is looking at how we can use peer marking, peer assessment, and peer feedback in a constructive way. Educators like the idea of peer marking because they think it's going to save them time. Students don't appear to like peer marking because they think it means other people get to see the things they are concerned or embarrassed about. Perhaps not having done as well as they wanted to - this opens those anxieties up a little bit to those around them. Then those people are going to give them marks on their own work. 

From the educator's perspective, peer marking doesn't necessarily save you time. It takes a lot of time to set up peer review properly and appropriately. The bit that students actually find useful (once they've gone through something that has been properly set up), is the ability to provide peer feedback and marks, because it means they get a better understanding of how marking works, and how the mark scheme can be applied. This isn't something that is only useful in education but can also be useful in the 'real world' - being asked to complete a document along specific guidelines, or format something appropriately. It will be important to stick to what you're being asked to do and to do those things well. 

There is also another benefit of peer feedback, you get to do some self-reflection at a metacognitive level - what did you do well, what could you do better - based on what you're seeing other people doing. On top of that, you also get good ideas that other people have had, to integrate into what you want to do next and to see what doesn't work for others (which probably won't work for you either). Although a bit hesitant at first, once students have tried it they really appreciate having had the opportunity to do so. 

Another interesting project I'm working on, which fits with my interest in trains, is the effect of commuting on our students. I'm working with Dr Clara Montgomery (Department of Biology, SBBS) and whilst I'm looking at this from the mental health perspective, she is looking at it from the ecological, sustainability side. We're coming together to talk about how much the students commute affects their mental health, how it affects their interest in coming onto campus, and other questions around how their commute influences their behaviour. If you're actively forcing those people slightly more to come in and be on campus, how is that going to affect their interest?

Outside of QMUL, what are your hobbies / interests? 

One main hobby is music - I play a bit of piano and guitar and some other instruments as well. I grew up in the singer-songwriter era of the 2000s and I play around with composition. I have the great fortune of having perfect pitch, which is very useful because people used to ask me to transcribe songs for them, which I was happy to do, and it is always good fun. 

I have a degree in linguistics and I used to teach English as a language - I kind of wish I was doing that a little bit more because it's something that I miss doing. I used to do that on the weekends, but then life has kind of taken over, but I'd like to get back into that at some point. 

Quick fire questions

1. Tea or coffee
   • Coffee (any time of day!)
2. Favourite cuisine?
   • Difficult to answer as I enjoy lots of cuisine but basically anything that my partner makes - she is a great chef.
3. If you could instantly master one skill, what would it be? 
   • Coding. The ability to have an idea and create a programme on a computer in front of me that will do the thing that I ask it to do. 
4. Favourite or most-used app on your phone?
   • Toggl. It's an app that tracks your time. If I'm spending lots of time on emails or meetings for example, I can identify that and effect change in that regard, to make sure I don't spend too much time on those things. 
5. Any hidden talents?
   • As mentioned earlier, I have perfect pitch.
6. Last TV show you binge-watched? 
   • I watch Star Trek (The Next Generation), Star Trek Voyager, and Star Trek Deep Space Nine on a constant rotation. I enjoy having it on in the background if I'm cooking or if I'm just chilling out. 
7. If you had to pick a walk-on song for meetings / lectures / conferences, what would it be?
   • Easy Lover by Phil Collins and Philip Bailey