Reference: Dr. Rachel Sheffield
To whom it may concern
I have known Rachel in the following contexts. As a guest lecturer I was invited to facilitate workshops on assessment
in Science in the 2nd Year B.Ed. course. In 2013 I was a Tutor (online) for the regional students in her 1st Year B.Ed.
Inquiring about the World Unit 171. I am also currently working with Rachel as part of a research project around
online science inquiry with my Year 7 students at Perth College.
An inspirational educator
As a guest lecturer I have visited and taught Rachel’s classes on a number of occasions. Every time I have been struck
by the enthusiasm of the students in her group and the positive learning atmosphere that she has generated. Her
students, many of which with a limited science background, were thoroughly engaged with both the science content,
and the associated pedagogy that she taught in her classes. She challenges her classes to become students of science
and requires them to be active learners in the process. This is through her energetic and passionate teaching and also
through the design of her units that set challenging, but achievable, targets for all her students.
A developer of curricula and resources
As a regional tutor for the Inquiring about the World Unit 171 in 2013, I developed a thorough knowledge of the
website and curriculum materials that Rachel developed. Her learning resources were extremely thorough, multi
modal, and based on current research into best practise in both science education and the effective use of technology
for teaching. The unit utilises a range of Web 2.0 tools that the students were exposed to, often for the first time, and
guided through. This design not only raised the digital literacy of the pre-service teachers completing the unit, but
also effectively modelled how these technologies could be used in a school situation. When I chose to re-model the
unit to be used in my school, Rachel’s expertise was required to ensure that these school students had access to a high
quality version of the web-based unit. She helped to re-package the unit, both by providing ideas and also assisting
with the associated technological issues. She also came to the school to work with other teachers (and students) to
assist in the implementation of the unit within our science curriculum.
An expert in the use of assessment
In all her teaching that I have witnessed, Rachel clearly understands and applies principles of good assessment practise.
She models this approach with her pre-service teachers so that they acquire a deep knowledge of formative and
summative assessment. I have worked with Rachel when developing a range of marking rubrics for both summative
and formative assessment within the online inquiry unit and also in the marking of these assessment tasks. Rachel
clearly understands the need for, and the nature of, effective feedback to the students. Students were able to modify
and improve their inquiry project work based on Rachel’s feedback, both in written form or face-to-face discussions
in class.
A teacher of people
Rachel has good relationships with all her students. She challenges them but also is more than happy to assist students
who need that extra level of support in order to succeed. I have seen evidence of this in both her face-to-face lessons
and with the online regional students.
A reflective innovator
In the development of the online inquiry unit, Rachel drew on her skills as an innovative science educator, and was
able to enhance the unit with cutting edge use of learning technologies. The unit was unique, and as such needed to
be of high quality throughout and accessible to range of students. There was also an aspect of ‘selling’ the benefits of
the unit to fellow lecturers, as well as the students themselves. The online nature of the unit enabled refinements to
be made to the resource based on the experiences of both students and teachers. Rachel acted on this feedback to
improve the teaching and learning of the unit. Rachel has written and presented papers on the teaching and
effectiveness of the unit which has resulted in a more widespread implementation of the units in a range of educational
settings.
I strongly support Rachel in her application for a teaching award. It would be one that she richly deserves.
Geoff Quinton,
Head of Science, Perth College, WA
27August 2014