Wednesday, 19 Feb 2020
Our 'meet the PAT team' series continues this month with Dr Katie Richardson, Research Fellow and facilitator of ACER's online courses.
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Katie Richardson and I am a Research Fellow with the ACER Institute. One of my roles is writing online professional development, including the online PAT courses. I also facilitate units for the Graduate Certificate in Education: Assessment of Student Learning (which is a fabulous course, by the way!) and I take part in other research projects from time to time.
Tell us about yourself.
I started my career as an EAL/D and Humanities teacher, and I worked in a range of different schools from Foundation to Year 12. I moved into teacher education after starting my PhD and I’ve been working at ACER since 2015. I’m especially interested in inclusive education, engagement in learning and educational assessment and I’m absolutely fascinated by the connections between these different aspects of learning and teaching.
Any hobbies?
Ahhh… does drinking good coffee count?
What’s the best thing about your job?
Working with educators, as they begin to realise the importance and potential power of assessment in their professional practice, is the best job in the world. People are often hesitant about taking an online course because they think they won’t be supported but a big part of my job is being available to our students, facilitating their enquiry and helping them find the information they need. I love the contact, even if it is just in the discussion forums, but the real pay-off is witnessing those wonderful ‘aha!’ moments. It’s exciting when teachers start to figure out the extent of what their students can do and then use the information to plan for targeted teaching and learning. The absolute best thing is when teachers begin to see the impact they make when students start to engage and progress well in their learning.
And the worst?
Like most teachers, I find that there are not enough hours in the day to achieve everything that I want to do.
Who’s your favourite fictional character, and why?
Newt Scamander from J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. He reminds me of my boys, who each have very unique and fascinating perspectives on the world.
Tell us your favourite PAT tip, fact or insider secret…
Did you know that you can run the Group Reports* through their paces by downloading and analysing the data in Excel? This allows you an ‘at a glance’ view of the data, and to sort it in many different ways. It’s amazing what you can learn about Excel when you do this, too!
* Requires logging into the OARS platform. Log in here.
PAT professional learning includes options for all skill and experience levels, from beginners to data experts. Check out the full range.