Academic responses to impact as a new indicator in the REF: exploring the implications for pedagogic research in HE

This paper will report on preliminary findings from a study of academic responses to ‘impact’ as a new indicator in the UK Research Excellence Framework. In particular, the study explores differing narratives of impact in relation to educational research focused on the Higher Education sector. There has been considerable debate as to whether impact (as demonstrated by qualitative case studies) provides a counter-point to quantitative research outputs and a new narrative space for the sector to define broader conceptions of value and purpose or whether it induces a new form of performativity. Through an analysis of impact cases studies of HE-focused educational research, and interviews conducted with academics engaged in this field of research, the paper will seek to share insights into ways this new indicator is perceived to be influencing perceptions of, and practices relating to, pedagogic research in tertiary education.