Gemma Collins SFHEA, FRGS

• BA (Hons) Geography (Liverpool)
• Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Manchester Metropolitan University)
• Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (Birmingham)
• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society

Current teaching responsibilities include PGDipEd (QTS) Geography student teachers, and supervision of MA Teaching Studies students. Administrative responsibilities are those normally associated with PGDipEd Geography Tutor. Gemma is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a joint Learning and Teaching Lead for the Department of Teacher Education.

Gemma’s current research interests are in teacher education, teachers’ conceptual understanding, and threshold concepts. Her doctoral research focuses on concept mapping as a method to identify and explore the threshold concepts of learning to teach. Gemma is a member of the Geographical Association’s Geography Education Research Working Group, and an active member of the Geography Teacher Education research community.

In July and August 2010, Gemma worked with the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) in Tanzania, and also the Tanzanian Institute of Education (TIE) in Dar es Salaam. As well as teaching in a local secondary school, this also involved presenting to the Directors of Education on the topics of British education policy and practice, and Initial Teacher Education in the UK. This resulted in a change in policy regarding the inclusion of student-centred learning strategies in lesson planning.

• Identification of threshold concepts in initial teacher education
• Conceptual challenges of sequencing and medium term planning (with Ian Davison)