Professor Rachel Spronken-Smith, Our people, Higher Education Development Centre, University of Otago, New Zealand

Rachel Spronken-Smith 2022 image BSc(Hons) and PGDTT (Otago), PhD (British Columbia)

Email rachel.spronken-smith@otago.ac.nz
Tel +64 3 470 4682

About Rachel

Rachel is a professor in Higher Education and Geography and works as an academic developer in HEDC. She initially trained as a geographer, taking up a lecturing position at the University of Canterbury, where she worked for nine years after returning from completing her PhD in British Columbia. Her teaching has been recognised with a University of Canterbury Teaching Award in 2002, an OUSA Supervision Award in 2012, a University of Otago Teaching Award in 2013 and a national Sustained Excellence in Teaching Award in 2015.

While studying for a Postgraduate Diploma in Tertiary Teaching through HEDC at Otago, Rachel became more interested in aspects of learning and teaching and was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in HEDC in 2004. She worked as an academic developer and was Head of HEDC from 2009–2012. In 2016 she won the TERNZ-HERDSA medal for Sustained Contribution to the Research Environment in New Zealand, and was also awarded a Fulbright Scholar Award for research in the US on graduate outcomes for PhD candidates. She was the inaugural Dean of the Graduate Research School from 2013–2022.

Research Interests

Rachel's interests in higher education research include doctoral education and outcomes, learning through inquiry and undergraduate research, the teaching-research nexus, curriculum change, graduate attributes and aspects of the student experience. She regularly undertakes consultancy work for university and polytechnic staff wishing to undertake curriculum renewal, especially when the focus is on embedding inquiry in curricula.

Supervision

Rachel is especially keen to supervise postgraduates in higher education who want to research on inquiry or undergraduate research, as well as graduate attributes and doctoral education.

Current students

James Windle – Learning and assessment connections occurring between the undergraduate years of the Otago BPharm degree and pre-registration internship, a longitudinal study. (2013-; part-time)

Recently completed and past PhD candidates

Nantida Sripaoraya – Participation in science outreach and its impacts on programme presenters (2017–2021)
Senorita John – Mining reality to explore the 21st century student experience (2016–2019)
Miriam Gibson – Making Meaning: The role of activity in learning (2015–2020 part-time)
Lee Adam – Troubling plagiarism: University students' understandings of plagiarism (Exceptional thesis) (2013–15)
Russell Butson – The office: the impact of the digital revolution on the office practices of early career academics (2012–2019; part-time)
Jono Conway – Synoptic and surface interactions in an alpine glacier (2010-2014)
Joanna Joseph – Critical pedagogy in Higher Education (2011-2014)
Adisorn Juntrasook – Leadership with/out position (Exceptional thesis) (2009-13)
Sharon Sharmini – Assessing publication-based doctoral theses (2012-16)
Donna Smith – Perceptions of degree-based massage therapy education (2012-14)

Teaching

In 2022, Rachel is transitioning back into HEDC after her time in the Graduate Research School. She is on research and study leave for the year, returning to teaching postgraduate courses and facilitating workshops for students and academics in 2023.

Projects

Ongoing projects include

Exploring the experiences of doctoral candidates studying with an impairment, disability or chronic illness
The impact of COVID-19 on the mobility and career trajectories of doctoral graduates in Aotearoa New Zealand
Graduate outcomes and career preparedness for PhD candidates
The doctoral curriculum
Supporting academic writing in research candidates
More structured approaches to the development of transferable and professional skills in PhD candidates

Past projects include

Graduate outcomes – are they driving learning? (Nationally-funded, multi-institutional research)
Inquiry-based learning in undergraduate education in New Zealand (Nationally-funded, multi-institutional research)
The Matariki Undergraduate Research Network (international research-collaboration)
Doctoral attrition
Institution-wide curriculum change (international research-collaboration)
Gender in academia

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Publications

Spronken-Smith, R., Brown, K., & Cameron, C. (2023). Perceptions of graduate attribute development and application in PhD graduates from US and NZ universities. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/02602938.2023.2182873

Kumar, V., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2023). New Zealand. In V. Kumar, S. Taylor & S. Sharmini (Eds.), Doctoral examination: Exploring practice across the globe. (pp. 108-118). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003197706-13

Spronken-Smith, R. A., Brown, K., Cameron, C., McAuliffe, M. J., Riley, T., & Weaver, C. K. (2022). COVID-19 impacts on early career trajectories and mobility of doctoral graduates in Aotearoa New Zealand. Higher Education Research & Development. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2022.2152782

Spronken-Smith, R., Brown, K., & Cameron, C. (2022). Preparing PhD candidates for careers: Can we do better? In E. Heinrich, A. Jolley & L. Rowan (Eds.), Proceedings of the Tertiary Education Research in New Zealand (TERNZ) Conference. (pp. 73-74). HERDSA Aotearoa/New Zealand. [Abstract]

Sanderson, L., Brown, K., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2022). Disrupting the silence: Hearing the voices of disabled doctoral students. In E. Heinrich, A. Jolley & L. Rowan (Eds.), Proceedings of the Tertiary Education Research in New Zealand (TERNZ) Conference. (pp. 17). HERDSA Aotearoa/New Zealand. [Abstract]

Chapter in Book - Research

Spronken-Smith, R. A., Kingham, S., & Ohlemüeller, R. A. (2022). Using inquiry-based learning approaches to teach undergraduate geography. In A. García de la Vega (Ed.), Didactic strategies and resources for innovative geography teaching. (pp. 1-22). IGI Global. doi: 10.4018/978-1-7998-9598-5.ch001

Chapter in Book - Research

Spronken-Smith, R. (2021). Supporting students to complete their doctorate. In A. Lee & R. Bongaardt (Eds.), The future of doctoral research: Challenges and opportunities. (pp. 333-344). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003015383

Chapter in Book - Research

Spronken-Smith, R. (2020). The status of undergraduate research in New Zealand: Promoted and pervasive? In N. H. Hensel & P. Blessinger (Eds.), International perspectives on undergraduate research: Policy and practice. (pp. 251-264). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-53559-9_14

Chapter in Book - Research

Day, T., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2017). Geography education: Fieldworld and contemporary pedagogy. In D. Richardson (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of geography: People, the earth, environment, and technology. Wiley-Blackwell. doi: 10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0523

Chapter in Book - Research

Spronken-Smith, R., & Stein, S. (2009). Challenging tertiary teachers' beliefs and practices: Facilitating change and development through portfolios. In J. Zubizarreta (Ed.), The learning portfolio: Reflective practice for improving student learning. (2nd ed.) (pp. 197-210). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Chapter in Book - Research

Zawar-Reza, P., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2005). Air pollution climatology. In J. E. Oliver (Ed.), Encyclopedia of world climatology. (pp. 21-31). Berlin: Springer.

Chapter in Book - Research

Spronken-Smith, R. (2004). Scale modelling of environmental systems: Is it a valid approach in a Gaian world? In G. Kearsley & B. Fitzharris (Eds.), Glimpses of a Gaian world. (pp. 193-214). Dunedin: School of Social Science, University of Otago.

Chapter in Book - Research

Journal - Research Article

Millin, T., Spronken-Smith, R., & Millin, M. (2022). Master’s research supervision and academic support: A benchmarking of best practice at a New Zealand research-intensive university. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 57, 231-252. doi: 10.1007/s40841-021-00215-2

Journal - Research Article

Sripaoraya, N., Spronken-Smith, R., & Longnecker, N. (2022). Intensive, short-term presenting with a science outreach program enhances positive science attitudes and interest in lifelong learning about science. Frontiers in Education, 7, 719686. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.719686

Journal - Research Article

Wisker, G., Highman, L., Spronken-Smith, R., & Waghorne, J. (2022). Across time and space: Examiner and candidate experiences of online doctoral vivas. Innovations in Education & Teaching International, 59(2), 131-141. doi: 10.1080/14703297.2021.2022528

Journal - Research Article

Sharmini, S., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2020). The PhD: Is it out of alignment? Higher Education Research & Development, 39(4), 821-833. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2019.1693514

Journal - Research Article

Windle, J. M., Spronken-Smith, R. A., Smith, J. K., & Tucker, I. G. (2020). Relationships between academic performance of pharmacy students and their postgraduate competence during internship. Pharmacy Education, 20(1), 1-12.

Journal - Research Article

Cornwall, J., Mayland, E. C., van der Meer, J., Spronken-Smith, R. A., Tustin, C., & Blyth, P. (2019). Stressors in early-stage doctoral students. Studies in Continuing Education, 41(3), 363-380. doi: 10.1080/0158037X.2018.1534821

Journal - Research Article

Anakin, M., Spronken-Smith, R., Healey, M., & Vajoczki, S. (2018). The contextual nature of university-wide curriculum change. International Journal for Academic Development, 23(3), 206-218. doi: 10.1080/1360144X.2017.1385464

Journal - Research Article

Spronken-Smith, R., Cameron, C., & Quigg, R. (2018). Factors contributing to high PhD completion rates: A case study in a research-intensive university in New Zealand. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(1), 94-109. doi: 10.1080/02602938.2017.1298717

Journal - Research Article

Spronken-Smith, R., Sandover, S., Partridge, L., Leger, A., Fawcett, T., & Burd, L. (2018). The challenges of going global with undergraduate research: The Matariki Undergraduate Research Network. Scholarship & Practice of Undergraduate Research, 2(2), 64-72. doi: 10.18833/spur/2/2/8

Journal - Research Article

Stringer, R., Smith, D., Spronken-Smith, R., & Wilson, C. (2018). "My entire career has been fixed term": Gender and precarious academic employment at a New Zealand university. New Zealand Sociology, 33(2), 169-201.

Journal - Research Article

Windle, J. M., Spronken-Smith, R. A., Smith, J. K., & Tucker, I. G. (2018). Preadmission predictors of academic performance in a pharmacy program: A longitudinal, multi-cohort study. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching & Learning, 10(7), 842-853. doi: 10.1016/j.cptl.2018.04.018

Journal - Research Article

Adam, L., Anderson, V., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2017). ‘It’s not fair’: Policy discourses and students’ understandings of plagiarism in a New Zealand university. Higher Education, 74(1), 17-32. doi: 10.1007/s10734-016-0025-9

Journal - Research Article

Bond, C. H., Spronken-Smith, R., McLean, A., Smith, N., Frielick, S., Jenkins, M., & Marshall, S. (2017). A framework for enabling graduate outcomes in undergraduate programmes. Higher Education Research & Development, 36(1), 43-58. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2016.1170767

Journal - Research Article

McDonald, F. M., Reynolds, J. N. J., Bixley, A., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2017). Changes in approaches to learning over three years of university undergraduate study. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 5(2), 65-79. doi: 10.20343/teachlearninqu.5.2.6

Journal - Research Article

Mitchell, L., Seyedmehdi, S., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2017). PhD student ambassadors: Partners in promoting graduate research. International Journal for Students as Partners, 1(2).

Journal - Research Article

Smith, D., Spronken-Smith, R., Stringer, R., & Wilson, C. A. (2016). Gender, academic careers and the sabbatical: A New Zealand case study. Higher Education Research & Development, 35(3), 589-603. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2015.1107880

Journal - Research Article

Spronken-Smith, R., McLean, A., Smith, N., Bond, C., Jenkins, M., Marshall, S., & Frielick, S. (2016). A toolkit to implement graduate attributes in geography curricula. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 40(2), 254-266. doi: 10.1080/03098265.2016.1140129

Journal - Research Article

Conway, J. P., Cullen, N. J., Spronken-Smith, R. A., & Fitzsimons, S. J. (2015). All-sky radiation over a glacier surface in the Southern Alps of New Zealand: Characterizing cloud effects on incoming shortwave, longwave and net radiation. International Journal of Climatology, 35(5), 699-713. doi: 10.1002/joc.4014

Journal - Research Article

Sharmini, S., Spronken-Smith, R., Golding, C., & Harland, T. (2015). Assessing the doctoral thesis when it includes published work. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 40(1), 89-102. doi: 10.1080/02602938.2014.888535

Journal - Research Article

Spronken-Smith, R., Bond, C., McLean, A., Frielick, S., Smith, N., Jenkins, M., & Marshall, S. (2015). Evaluating engagement with graduate outcomes across higher education institutions in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Higher Education Research & Development, 34(5), 1014-1030. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2015.1011098

Journal - Research Article

Spronken-Smith, R., Buissink-Smith, N., Bond, C., & Grigg, G. (2015). Graduates' orientations to higher education and their retrospective experiences of teaching and learning. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 3(2), 55-70. doi: 10.20343/teachlearninqu.3.2.55

Journal - Research Article

Mager, S., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2014). Graduate attribute attainment in a multi-level undergraduate geography course. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 38(2), 238-250. doi: 10.1080/03098265.2014.910757

Journal - Research Article

Spronken-Smith, R., Mirosa, R., & Darrou, M. (2014). ‘Learning is an endless journey for anyone’: Undergraduate awareness, experiences and perceptions of the research culture in a research-intensive university. Higher Education Research & Development, 33(2), 355-371. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2013.832169

Journal - Research Article

Juntrasook, A., Nairn, K., Bond, C., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2013). Unpacking the narrative of non-positional leadership in academia: Hero and/or victim? Higher Education Research & Development, 32(2), 201-213. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2011.643858

Journal - Research Article

Spronken-Smith, R. (2013). Toward securing a future for geography graduates. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 37(3), 315-326. doi: 10.1080/03098265.2013.794334

Journal - Research Article

Spronken-Smith, R., Brodeur, J., Kajaks, T., Luck, M., Myatt, P., Verburgh, A., … Wuetherick, B. (2013). Completing the research cycle: A framework for promoting dissemination of undergraduate research and inquiry. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 1(2), 105-118.

Journal - Research Article

Cullen, N. J., Conway, J., Zawar-Reza, P., & Spronken-Smith, R. A. (2012). Further assessment of the atmospheric controls on night-time air pollution dispersion in Alexandra, Central Otago, New Zealand from idealized modelling experiments. Air Quality & Climate Change, 46(1), 29-36.

Journal - Research Article

Cullen, N., Bowden, A., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2012). Partnering between a geography department and a community initiative to provide a wind resource assessment for the Blueskin Bay region, Otago, New Zealand. New Zealand Geographer, 68(1), 49-61. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-7939.2012.01220.x

Journal - Research Article

O'Steen, B., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2012). Inquiry-guided learning in New Zealand: From an appetizer to an entrée. New Directions for Teaching & Learning, 2012(129), 39-49. doi: 10.1002/tl.20005

Journal - Research Article

Smith, D. M., Smith, J. M., Baxter, G. D., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2012). The drive for legitimation of massage therapy in New Zealand. International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork, 5(4), 21-29.

Journal - Research Article

Spronken-Smith, R., Walker, R., Batchelor, J., O'Steen, B., & Angelo, T. (2012). Evaluating student perceptions of learning processes and intended learning outcomes under inquiry approaches. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 37(1), 57-72. doi: 10.1080/02602938.2010.496531

Journal - Research Article

Spronken-Smith, R. A., Walker, R., Dickinson, K. J. M., Closs, G. P., Lord, J. M., & Harland, T. (2011). Redesigning a curriculum for inquiry: An ecology case study. Instructional Science, 39(5), 721-735. doi: 10.1007/s11251-010-9150-5

Journal - Research Article

Spronken-Smith, R., Walker, R., Batchelor, J., O'Steen, B., & Angelo, T. (2011). Enablers and constraints to the use of inquiry-based learning in undergraduate education. Teaching in Higher Education, 16(1), 15-28. doi: 10.1080/13562517.2010.507300

Journal - Research Article

Tate, A., Cullen, N. J., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2011). Wintertime PM10 measurements and modelling in Alexandra, Central Otago, New Zealand: Understanding the bi-modal peak in evening air pollution. Air Quality & Climate Change, 45(3), 19-25.

Journal - Research Article

Buissink-Smith, N., Spronken-Smith, R., & Walker, R. (2010). You're doing what? Students' experiences of advice from a New Zealand university. Higher Education Research & Development, 29(4), 357-371. doi: 10.1080/07294361003601891

Journal - Research Article

Smith, D. M., Smith, J. M., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2010). "What's in it for me?": Massage practitioners' perceptions of a degree qualification: A pilot study. Southern Institute of Technology Journal of Applied Research.

Journal - Research Article

Spronken-Smith, R. (2010). Undergraduate research and inquiry-based learning: Is there a difference? Insights from research in New Zealand. Council on Undergraduate Research, 30(4), 28-35.

Journal - Research Article

Spronken-Smith, R., & Walker, R. (2010). Can inquiry-based learning strengthen the links between teaching and disciplinary research? Studies in Higher Education, 35(6), 723-740. doi: 10.1080/03075070903315502

Journal - Research Article

Walker, R., Spronken-Smith, R., Bond, C., McDonald, F., Reynolds, J., & McMartin, A. (2010). The impact of curriculum change on health sciences first year students' approaches to learning. Instructional Science, 38(6), 707-722. doi: 10.1007/s11251-009-9092-y

Journal - Research Article

Maharaj, D., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2009). Seeking autonomy but craving direction: A qualitative study of registrars' learning in obstetrics and gynecology. Focus on Health Professional Education, 10(3), 57-69.

Journal - Research Article

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