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Rachel A. Spronken-Smith (born 1965) is a New Zealand professor of higher education and geographer at the University of Otago. She has won a number of awards for her teaching, and consults on curriculum design in higher education.

Academic career

Spronken-Smith completed a PhD titled Energetics and cooling in urban parks at the University of British Columbia. Spronken-Smith then joined the faculty of the University of Canterbury, where she taught for nine years. She then transferred to the University of Otago, rising to full professor in 2013. Spronken-Smith completed a postgraduate diploma in higher education at Otago, and became more interested in higher education. She consults on curriculum design and inquiry learning in higher education, and has a special interest in doctoral education.

In 2013 the university launched a Graduate Research School, of which Spronken-Smith was dean for nearly ten years.

Honours and awards

Spronken-Smith has won a number of awards for her teaching, including a University of Canterbury Teaching Award in 2002, an OUSA Supervision Award in 2012, and a University of Otago Teaching Excellence Award in 2013. In 2015 she was awarded one of ten New Zealand National Awards for Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching (also known as Ako Aotearoa Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards). In 2016 she won the TERNZ-HERDSA medal for Sustained Contribution to the Research Environment in New Zealand.

Spronken-Smith has received a Fulbright scholar award in 2017 to compare doctoral education in New Zealand and the US, by visiting the University of California, Berkeley.

Selected works

• R. A. Spronken-Smith; T. R. Oke (January 1998). "The thermal regime of urban parks in two cities with different summer climates". International Journal of Remote Sensing. 19 (11): 2085–2104. doi:10.1080/014311698214884. ISSN 0143-1161. Wikidata Q124304031.
• Rachel Spronken‐Smith; Rebecca Walker (18 August 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. ISSN 0307-5079. Wikidata Q124304010.
• T.R. Oke; R.A. Spronken-Smith; E. Jáuregui; C.S.B. Grimmond (October 1999). "The energy balance of central Mexico City during the dry season". Atmospheric Environment. 33 (24–25): 3919–3930. Bibcode:1999AtmEn..33.3919O. doi:10.1016/S1352-2310(99)00134-X. ISSN 1352-2310. Wikidata Q58319194.
• Rachel A. Spronken‐Smith; Timothy R. Oke; William P. Lowry (July 2000). "Advection and the surface energy balance across an irrigated urban park". International Journal of Climatology. 20 (9): 1033–1047. doi:10.1002/1097-0088(200007)20:9<1033::AID-JOC508>3.3.CO;2-L. ISSN 0899-8418. Wikidata Q124304026.
• R. A. Spronken-Smith; T. R. Oke (November 1999). "Scale Modelling of Nocturnal Cooling in Urban Parks". Boundary-Layer Meteorology. 93 (2): 287–312. doi:10.1023/A:1002001408973. ISSN 0006-8314. Wikidata Q124304030.
• RACHEL SPRONKEN-SMITH (July 2005). "Implementing a Problem-Based Learning Approach for Teaching Research Methods in Geography". Journal of Geography in Higher Education. 29 (2): 203–221. doi:10.1080/03098260500130403. ISSN 0309-8265. Wikidata Q124304017.
• Rachel Spronken-Smith; JO Bullard; Waverly Ray; Carolyn Roberts; Artimus Keiffer (January 2008). "Where Might Sand Dunes be on Mars? Engaging Students through Inquiry-based Learning in Geography". Journal of Geography in Higher Education. 32 (1): 71–86. doi:10.1080/03098260701731520. ISSN 0309-8265. Wikidata Q124304016.

References

1. Spronken-Smith, Rachel A. (2009). Energetics and cooling in urban parks (PhD thesis). University of British Columbia. hdl:2429/7168.
2. "Academics get 'well deserved' promotions". Otago Daily Times Online News. 26 December 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
3. ^ Otago, University of (6 April 2022). "Professor Rachel Spronken-Smith". www.otago.ac.nz. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
4. Taylor, Margot (29 August 2016). "Students fail to fathom plagiarism". Otago Daily Times Online News. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
5. Board, Otago Bulletin (8 April 2022). "Graduate Research School Dean departs after nearly a decade". www.otago.ac.nz. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
6. Elder, Vaughan (2 August 2013). "University launches graduate school". Otago Daily Times Online News. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
7. Elder, Vaughan (30 June 2013). "Lecturers inspired by seeing students learn". Otago Daily Times Online News. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
8. "Professor Rachel Spronken-Smith (PhD '94) Wins New Zealand National Award". Department of Geography. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
9. "Professor Rachel Spronken-Smith". ako.ac.nz. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
10. "Rachel Spronken-Smith – Fulbright New Zealand Scholar Award". fulbright.org.nz. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
11. Otago Bulletin Board (2 March 2017). "Otago Fulbright recipients excited by opportunity". www.otago.ac.nz. Retrieved 17 January 2024.

External links

• video about teaching award

• New Zealand academics
• New Zealand women academics
• New Zealand geographers
• New Zealand educational theorists
• University of British Columbia alumni
• Academic staff of the University of Canterbury
• Academic staff of the University of Otago
• University of Otago alumni
• 1965 births
• Living people