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.^[1] 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.^[2][3] Spronken-Smith completed a postgraduate diploma in higher education at Otago, and became more interested in higher education.^[3] She consults on curriculum design and inquiry learning in higher education, and has a special interest in doctoral education.^[3][4]

In 2013 the university launched a Graduate Research School, of which Spronken-Smith was dean for nearly ten years.^[5][6]

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.^[7] 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).^[8][9] In 2016 she won the TERNZ-HERDSA medal for Sustained Contribution to the Research Environment in New Zealand.^[3]

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.^[10][11]

Selected works

Scholia has a profile for Rachel Spronken-Smith (Q112589410).

• 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.