What does a teaching specialist look like?

Are you a science academic with a strong interest in education? Were you hired as a science education specialist, or have you transitioned into the role? Do you have questions about your career path, or perhaps a story to tell about your contract, confirmation, or promotion journey? Feedback to the ACDS Teaching and Learning Centre suggests teaching and learning specialists are concerned about their positions and careers particularly as the number of these positions expands.

A new study led by Susan Rowland (UQ) and Liz Johnson (Deakin) is examining the careers of science education specialist academics in Australian Universities. Sponsored by the ACDS, the study is a collaboration with Kimberly Tanner, Seth Bush, Mike Stevens, and Kathy Williams, who have published a series of papers about American education specialists (see key papers here and here).

The American studies tell us a lot about the situation for academics in the USA, but we have little published data about the hiring, duties, career pathways, and job satisfaction of education specialist scientists in Australia. We aim to find every education specialist science academic in Australia and invite them to complete the survey to create a full picture of this emerging group of academics. If this means you, please take the survey here.

References

Bush SD, Rudd II JA, Stevens MT, Tanner KD, Williams KS. 2016. Fostering change from within: Influencing teaching practices of departmental colleagues by science faculty with education specialties. PLOS ONE 11: 1-20. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0150914

Bush SD, Pelaez NJ, Rudd JA, Stevens MT, Tanner KD, Williams KS. 2011. Investigation of science faculty with education specialties within the largest university system in the United States. CBE-Life Sciences Education 10: 25-42.  http://www.lifescied.org/content/10/1/25.short

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