It has been well established in the literature for over two decades that an interactive engagement approach, otherwise known as active learning leads to higher learning gains for students [1]. With this in mind I ensure that my lectures involve many interactive elements forcing students to think critically about what they are learning. I also ensure that I inform students

I have found that many academics in my school are keen to improve their teaching but very time poor and sceptical of centrally run training. Understandably they prefer to see specific examples of how pedagogical theory can be applied in physics.

In October 2017 I presented a colloquium on "What does research tell us about good teaching?". This was very well attended and did lead to a

I have initiated a series of get togethers for conveners of large first year courses in Science. We meet two-three times a year to discuss pressing issues and share practice. At the start of term 1 2020 we got together to discuss everyone’s plans for the introduction of flexibility week. I find these meet ups very useful, I think they are particularly useful to people new to

In 2017 I introduced the Visiting Teaching Fellow position to the school of Physics. The School of Mathematics and Statistics has had a visiting teaching fellow program for decades, I have been on their selection committee for a number of years and could see many benefits in introducing a similar position in physics. It has been very successful with the teaching fellow being very actively

As First Year Director from 2011-2023 for the School of Physics, I coordinated courses with over 3500 enrolments each year. To put this into context, in the past year I coordinated around 45% of the EFSLs taught by Physics, and around 6% of the EFSLs taught by the Faculty of Science. I consider making these courses run effectively and efficiently as the core of my job at UNSW.

I am have mentored a number of staff members. Some through the UNSW peer mentoring program https://teaching.unsw.edu.au/academic-mentoring , others through providing formative peer review followed by discussion of their teaching and other people who are direct reports or working in a similar area to myself.

I have also

Scientia Education Academy Lecture Series

Supporting secondary school teachers in becoming advocates for higher education

The shortage of high school teachers in certain subject areas can cause a ripple effect on students’ exposure to the various disciplines available in higher education.

How can we

In 2023 I chaired the IUPAP physics education conference. We published a "Lessons learnt" page on our conference website. I have reproduced this below.

Our aim with this conference was to be as inclusive as possible. We wanted a conference that was accessible to as many people as possible, which meant that we needed to keep costs low  and have scholarships available