Education

• M.Sc.
• PG Dip.Tchg.

Research interests

Current and emerging lines of inquiry:

• Constraint-driven design for equitable STEM access, formalised in a working framework, Design by Subversion. This is current work, archived as a technical note and not yet formally peer-reviewed.
• Educational data acquisition systems and sensor instrumentation, including ultra low-cost and browser-based instruments.
• Epistemic functions of hands-on measurement in the post-AI era, including the implications of an AI-contaminated scientific literature for science education.
• Practice-embedded research methodology.
• Teacher professional learning and systemic barrier analysis.

Professional Experience

• Research:
  • Professional member, Royal Society of New Zealand. Competence to undertake independent research practice. Royal Society.
  • Director - Focus Consultancy.
  • Founder / Director - Nexus Research Group.
  • Industrial microbiology and chemistry - Tegel Foods.
  • Environmental microbiology and genetics - Rhizobium and Giardia.
  • Qualification development - Vocational, postgraduate, and Secondary school alternatives to NCEA.
  • Leadership and innovation in STEM education - Keynote speaker, participation in high level forums.
  • Education research - raising student engagement and achievement using low-cost devices for authentic hands-on learning in science and mathematics.

• Consultant:
  • Director - Focus Consultancy.
  • Founder / Director - Nexus Research Group.
  • Qualification development - Vocational, postgraduate, and Secondary school alternatives to NCEA.
  • Technology advisor - Enviropower renewable energy project.
  • Leadership and innovation in STEM education - Keynote speaker, participation in high level forums.
  • Workshop facilitator - STEM teacher professional development, and assessment, moderation, & curriculum design (NZQA & graduate degree level).

Video showcasing some of Michael's innovative teaching as it impacts on raising the quality of science education across New Zealand.

Teaching

• Academic & vocational:
  • Resource writing, instructional design, assessment writing, programme design and delivery.
  • Developed original hardware and software for STEAM teaching (Primary through to Secondary level)
  • Qualification development - all levels, including Secondary school alternatives to NCEA
  • Teaching and assesment by distance, online, and at scale - Teacher Education Refresh (TER) and Level 7 Grad.Dip. science and mathematics education and leadership.
  • Mentored and supervised in-service classroom teachers and principals to design, carry out and evaluate practice-led action research projects that have improved children’s’ learning outcomes in science and mathematics.
  • Science communication - school visits, public speaker.
  • Research active - long list of education conference publications/presentations.

• STEM subject expertise:
  • Full spectrum: all science and mathematics subjects, plus coding, robotics and electronics, at secondary and sub-degree level.
  • Postgraduate: Level 7 Grad. Dip. Science and Mathematics Education and Education Leadership.
  • Degree: B.App.I.S degree level computer science courses
  • Undergraduate Diploma: Level 5 Dip. ICT level computer science courses.
  • Polytechnic: STEM Foundation and Bridging courses.
  • Green School New Zealand: - leader of cross-curricula science and mathematics programmes (Year 7 - 13).
  • Secondary school: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth & Space Science, Mathmematics, Calculus, Electronics, Robotics, Game Design (Year 9 - 13).
  • Intermediate / Primary school: Digital Technology (Year 7 - 8).

Instructional design

• Familiar with various instructional design models such as ADDIE, Bloom, Gagne, and Merrill.
• Online course design and content creation in both Moodle and iQualify platforms.
• Working with stake holders and subject matter experts to design NZQA Foundation level, sub-degree and degree level programmes and courses.
• Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and experiential, project-based learning.
• Expert assessment moderator, and experienced assessment writer for unit standards and skill standards.
• Invited to guide other instructional designers across New Zealand who are writing for the new skill standards. Skill Standards: A Workflow to Navigate Narrative Traps.
• Use of generative AI and AI Assessment Scale.

Awards and Fellowships

• New Zealand Ministry of Education E-Learning Teacher Fellow. Government press release.
• Prime Minister’s Education Excellence award finalist, Excellence in Leading. Video link.
• DEANZ Excellence Award for Excellence in E-Learning, Distance Education Association of New Zealand (now FLANZ), recognising contribution to e-learning in New Zealand. News report.
• Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year - Local Hero Medal, services to science education
• Microsoft New Zealand Innovative Teacher Award Conference RIGEL slides [PDF].
• Merit Award for CSI/Forensics course design and delivery, Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki
• New Zealand Microbiology Society Postgraduate Prize

Service and Leadership

• Professional member of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
• Established the Nexus Research Group, patron Dr Sir William Pickering, former head of JPL. New Zealand’s only school-based research laboratory
• Taranaki Science and Technology Fair; organising committee
• New Plymouth Little Theatre.

Publications - Presentations

See publications