Rate My Professor Peter Fletcher

Dr Peter Fletcher is a Lecturer in STEM Education in the School of Education at the University of New England, part of the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Sydney, focusing on how tertiary-level physics students learn and conceptualise quantum mechanics, along with a Master of Science from the same institution on student learning of quantum mechanics. Additional qualifications include a Bachelor of Education and Graduate Diploma in Information Technology from the University of New England, a Bachelor of Science with double majors in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Sydney, a Graduate Diploma in Education from the University of Technology Sydney, a Certificate IV in Workplace Assessment and Training from North Coast Institute of TAFE, and a Diploma in Programming Technology from Control Data Institute. His research interests include place-based STEM teaching and learning, STEM outreach education, astronomy outreach education, learning commons, ICT across education, ePedagogy and eAndragogy, physics education, virtual campus education systems, UI and UX, and e-learning in higher education.

Fletcher's career encompasses lecturing in Science Education, ICT Education, Physics, and STEM Education at the University of New England, tutoring at the University of Sydney, lecturing in Physics at the University of Southern Queensland, and serving as a Research Associate in Physics Education at Kansas State University. He has taught K-6 primary as a generalist and 7-12 secondary in mathematics, science, physics, and computing studies at schools including Riverside Girls High School, St Columba Anglican School, Wauchope High School, and Melville High School. With 16 years of industry experience, he was Managing Director of Pure Logic Pty Ltd and held IT management positions at South Western Sydney Institute of TAFE and North Coast Institute of TAFE. Awards include the 2021 University of New England Vice-Chancellor's Scholar, 2016 Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning from the Australian Awards for University Teaching and UNE Awards for Teaching Excellence, 2015 Outstanding Paper Award at EdMedia World Conference on Educational Media & Technology, and earlier University of Sydney scholarships. Key publications feature 'The potential of online technologies in meeting PLD needs of rural teachers' (2020, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education), 'Taking a Studio Course in Distributed Software Engineering from a Large Local Cohort to a Small Global Cohort' (2019, ACM Transactions on Computing Education), 'Student-initiated Facebook sites: nurturing personal learning environments or a place for the disenfranchised?' (2018, Technology, Pedagogy and Education), 'A longitudinal, quantitative study of student attitudes towards audio feedback for assessment' (2017, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education), 'e-Assessment for learning and performativity in higher education: A case for existential learning' (2016, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology), and 'Student difficulties in learning quantum mechanics' (1998, International Journal of Science Education). He reviews for the International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, chairs committees such as the School Examiners Committee, and delivers STEM outreach workshops.