The project

Currently, there is limited evidence of the impact of engaging in, and completing, NHS Digital Badges on children, young people and their teachers. The focus of the evaluation will be to investigate the psychosocial impact of NHS Digital Badges on children and young people and teachers within a primary school setting.

Aims are to:

1. explore children and young people’s experiences of engaging in, and completing, digital badges;
2. investigate the psychosocial effects of participating/completing digital badges with peers and teachers.

The project is funded by NHS England.  Associate Professor Sarah Neill is leading the project.

Data collection

The school participating is based in Wakefield, Yorkshire. Data collection will require two overnight trips to visit the school (accommodation and expenses will be paid).

1. The first trip will be a Co-Production Workshop to enable the children to design the data collection methods, which will include a range of creative methods such as “draw and tell” methods.
2. The second trip will be to collect the data, including semi-structured interviews with teachers.

Time

There are six days available for this work, the budget is extremely tight.  This includes the time for data collection, analysis and writing a short report of the findings.

Data collection is planned for the end of March and beginning of April.  The report is due to NHS England by the end of April.

Skills required

We’re looking for a skilled researcher, at PhD level, who has the following skills and experience:

• Has worked with children, ideally in a classroom environment
• Has a current DBS check (within the last three years)
• Has used creative methods for research
• Ability to write clearly and succinctly

If you’re interested in the role, please email Katie.Jones@northampton.ac.uk and with a brief summary of relevant experience and your availability by 15^th January.  We’re happy to answer any questions you may have in advance of expressing your interest.