Dr Katharine Hubbard

Dr Katharine Hubbard

Reader in Biology Education, Director of Education School of Natural Sciences

Faculty and Department

  • Faculty of Science and Engineering
  • School of Natural Sciences

Summary

Dr Hubbard (she/her) is passionate about inclusive and effective pedagogies within STEM and Higher Education more widely. She is particularly interested in inclusive education, higher education policy, awarding gaps, practical science teaching and the development of student scientific identity.

Dr Hubbard is a National Teaching Fellow (2019) and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and was a member of the QAA Subject Benchmark Statement working group for Biosciences (2023). She was awarded the Royal Society of Biology HE Bioscience Teacher of the Year (2016), and the Society for Experimental Biology's President's Medallist for the Education section (2017).

Her scientific background is in plant cell biology, the impact of circadian rhythms on plant physiology and fitness, and the use of fluorescence imaging techniques to investigated plant responses to the environment.

Katharine's teaching is primarily focussed on cell and molecular biology, and plant sciences. She is a leader in the field in laboratory based teaching, and places the development of student practical skills at the heart of her modules. Specific modules Katharine teaches on are:

- Cells and Organelles (1st year)

- Bacterial Genome Sequencing (3rd year)

- Cellular Regulation and Biotechnology (2nd year)

- Independent Research Projects (3rd year)

Recent outputs

View more outputs

Journal Article

Confronting the Legacy of Eugenics and Ableism: Towards Anti-Ableist Bioscience Education

da Silva, S.-M., & Hubbard, K. (2024). Confronting the Legacy of Eugenics and Ableism: Towards Anti-Ableist Bioscience Education. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 23(3), https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.23-10-0195

Institution level awarding gap metrics for identifying educational inequity: useful tools or reductive distractions?

Hubbard, K. (2024). Institution level awarding gap metrics for identifying educational inequity: useful tools or reductive distractions?. Higher Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-024-01216-y

Decolonising and diversifying the biosciences curriculum - a practical guide to getting started

Mansfield, C., Joshi, T., Ting, I., & Hubbard, K. (online). Decolonising and diversifying the biosciences curriculum - a practical guide to getting started. The biochemist, https://doi.org/10.1042/bio_2024_103

Plant Biology Education: A Competency Based Vision for the Future

Hubbard, K. (online). Plant Biology Education: A Competency Based Vision for the Future. Plants People Planet, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10503

Why we need to decolonise the bioscience curriculum

Joshi, T., Mansfield, C., Ting, I., & Hubbard, K. (online). Why we need to decolonise the bioscience curriculum. The biochemist, https://doi.org/10.1042/bio_2024_102

Research interests

Katharine's research is into how science education can be more effective, and more inclusive of students from different educational backgrounds. She is particularly interested in the following topics:

- Inclusive education and awarding gaps

- Higher education policy around widening participation and educational equity

- How students and scientists read scientific research papers

- Inclusive teaching in the laboratory environment

Co-investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Collaborative Enhancement Project

Funder

QAA Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education

Grant

£9,995.00

Started

10 February 2022

Status

Complete

Postgraduate supervision

Undergraduate STEM education

Awards and prizes

National Teaching Fellowship

2019

The National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) Scheme celebrates and recognises individuals who have made an outstanding impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession in higher education.

Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

2017

Senior Fellowship is awarded to professionals who demonstrate they meet the criteria of Descriptor 3 (D3) of the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) for teaching and supporting learning in higher education. To be a Senior Fellow of HEA you must demonstrate a thorough understanding of effective approaches to teaching and learning support as a key contribution to high quality student learning.

Society of Experimental Biology Presidents Medal

2017

The SEB President's Medals are awarded annually to young scientists of outstanding merit. The awards are presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society which usually takes place in the first week of July every year.

Royal Society of Biology HE Bioscience Teacher of the Year

2016

The Higher Education Bioscience Teacher of the Year Award seeks to identify the UK's leading bioscience higher education (HE) teachers, recognising the invaluable role they play in educating and inspiring the next generation of biologists.

Committee/Steering group role

QAA Subject Benchmark Statement Working Group

2022 - 2023

Society for Experimental Biology Outreach and Education Working Group

2021

Ethics role

Pedagogy Projects Ethics Officer

2018 - 2024

Ethics officer for Pedagogical Research projects submitted to the Faculty of Science and Engineering ethics committee.

External examiner role

University of Leicester (Foundation Year)

2022 - 2026

External Examiner for BSc Biological Sciences, BSc Physiotherapy, MBChB Medicine combined foundation year

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