Newcastle University

Research Interests

I am interested in reading comprehension instruction and the extent to which teaching inputs can be tuned to children's emerging understanding of text as they read. In particular, I am interested in the extent to which visual materials such as graphs and concept maps can be used by teachers to investigate the reading behaviours of poor comprehenders.

Other Expertise

I have completed a meta-analysis of 39 studies focused on elaborative interrogation and built on this experience by attending ESRC/RDI meta-analysis training in 2009.

Current Work

I work as a Research Associate within the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching

Postgraduate Teaching

HASS Graduate Skills Enhancement Programme
EDU8995 Research Methods and Skills
EDU8033 Investigating Educational Leadership

• Towler C. Elaborative interrogation as a potential tool for instruction: an exploratory meta-analysis. Journal of Research in Reading 2012. Submitted.
• Leat D, Lofthouse R, Towler C. Improving Coaching by and for School Teachers. In: Fletcher, S; Mullen, C, ed. The SAGE Handbook of Mentoring and Coaching for Education. United Kingdom: Sage Publications Ltd, 2012, pp.43-58.
• Lofthouse R, Towler C, Leat D. The Development of Tools for Teachers to Improve Their Coaching Practice. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education 2012. In Preparation.
• Lofthouse R, Towler C, Leat D. The Development of Tools for Teachers to Improve Their Coaching Practice. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education 2012. In Preparation.
• Lofthouse R, Towler C, Leat D. Untitled paper on the clash of cultures in managing coaching, (ECER 2009). 2012. In Preparation.
• Towler C, Lofthouse R, Leat D. Comparing coaches’ and senior managers’ perceptions of how peer coaching interacts with performance management. School Leadership and Management 2011. In Preparation.
• Towler C. Comparing Good and Poor Comprehenders’ Explanations of Text Content Mediated by Descriptive and Depictive Representations. Assessment in Education 2011. In Preparation.
• Towler C, Woolner P, Wall K, Toyne L, Mobaolorunduro P, Davison P, Pamplin M, Britton D. Shaping FE culture at the sharp end: practitioner enquiry at two UK colleges. Studies in Continuing Education 2011. In Preparation.
• Towler C. Vygotskian and Peircian perspectives on the design of reading comprehension intervention. British Educational Research Journal 2011. In Preparation.