Dr Gwennan Barton

Gwennan completed her BSc Psychology degree (1st class) at Glyndŵr University 2016. She began her PhD studies in visual attention, memory, navigation and psychological type in the Autumn of 2016 at Glyndwr and passed her viva in 2023. She is engaged with the research culture – presenting work at the university and British Psychological Society (BPS) conferences including the Cognitive section. She received the winning prize for the visualising research competition at the university in 2021/2022 and was presented with a researcher development award in 2019, enabling her to present at a BPS Conference, Glasgow. 

In November 2017, Gwennan became the Full Time Psychology Technician. As of July 2022, Gwennan began her role as Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology at Glyndŵr. She is a member of the British Psychological Society, including the Cognitive Psychology Section and other strands. Her role involves teaching Cognitive Psychology, Topics in Neuropsychology, Intermediate and Advanced Research methods, Introduction to data analysis and Fundamental Psychology. Additionally, she has previously been involved in the delivery of short courses aimed at study skills, quantitative data analysis, study skills and qualitative data analysis. Gwennan provides students with support and supervision for research, dissertation, statistics, and research methods. 

Gwennan has previously been the co-chair of the Psychology Department ethics committee and has had experience of being the admissions tutor for Psychology. She is an active member of the faculty ethics committee and the University Research Concordat working group. She is in the process of applying for Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (Recognition of personal and institutional commitment to professionalism in learning and teaching in higher education) and has experience of peer reviewing for the Youth Voice Journal.

Her research specialism is primarily focused on individual differences within areas of Cognition and experimental psychology such as visual attention and memory. She has experience of mixed methods approaches, with particular strengths in quantitative and experimental research design. Gwennan is passionate about Psychology and utilising upcoming technology in research, including Eye-tracking, Immersive technologies, Online experiment and survey platforms. Gwennan’s broader research focus within Cognitive Psychology and Individual Differences and include Scene perception, Visual attention, Eye-tracking, Memory, Navigation and exploration of environments, Memory of places, Emotional Intelligence and Personality, Human-computer interaction, Attitudes towards research in student populations, and Neurodivergence. She is interested in collaborative multi-disciplinary research which examines psychological phenomenon in relation to the Arts, Computing and technology, Gaming and Social sciences.

Gwennan was nominated for the 10 Year anniversary award: Outstanding contribution to student experience at WGU (2018) and Colleague of the year in 2020. In December 2020, Gwennan received the WGU Above and beyond staff award for Unsung Hero, describing her as a gentle force of nature, dedicated to supporting students and staff, and the endless patience that she has for every individual. In 2024 Gwennan was nominated for the Lecturer of the Year award at WU and received an award for Best Personal Tutor of the Year.

Outside work, Gwen is passionate about community, charity, fundraising. She previously volunteered as a projectionist at a local cinema. Gwen is a trained pianist of 20 years, and enjoys walking, photography, making or altering clothing, and crafting.