Teaching

• I am Organiser of BSc modules Molecules, Cells and Organisms, Molecular Cell Biology, Cellular Metabolism, Enzymes in Biology and Medicine, Physiology of Excitable Cells, and I am Co-ordinator of the final-year undergraduate research projects (Biology Experimental Project and Biology Literature Project). I also contribute to Animal Physiology and to Practical Biology, and to other course units on occasion. I routinely contribute to the Teaching in Lifelong Learning (TiLL) certificate, an offering on the Lifelong Learning Programme at Birkbeck.
• I was director of the now completed OnLine Assessment and Feedback (OLAAF) project.
• I have recently been an external examiner of PhD candidates from Queen Mary (University of London), Royal Holloway (University of London), University of Sussex and University of Leeds.
• I received a Birkbeck Award for Innovation in Teaching (BAIT) in 2004 for my work on the OLAAF project. In 2003 and 2005, I was Birkbeck's nominee for the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme.

Using Technology to Support Learning

For some time, I have been using computer-based tools to support learners in my courses and have particular interests in computer-based assessment (CBA) as well as in the uses of simulation and visualisation tools. I was director of the OnLine Assessment and Feedback (OLAAF) project which was funded under HEFCE FDTL4 and by an award from the College Development Fund.

Dr Glenn Baggott and I have been involved in a great deal of work over the past 10 years or so to make principled use of computers as tools to support learners on our Biology programmes. Much of this work, which was made possible by awards from the College Development Fund, underpinned the genesis of OLAAF.

Recently, I have been exploring the uses of an electronic voting system (EVS, or "clickers") to provide formative assessment in the classroom and I've been working with Glenn Baggott on his mobile computing projects.

Arising from my work in these areas, I have been the Birkbeck College eLearning Coordinator since 2005.