A Ballarat academic has been awarded one of the world's most prestigious scholarships in her quest to better prepare teaching students for work.
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Federation University Associate Professor Robyn Brandenburg received the Fulbright Research and Teaching Scholarship, becoming the first Fed Uni professor to ever garner such an honour.
Speaking to The Courier, Professor Brandenburg said she was floored when she found out about her achievement.
"It's one of the most prestigious scholarships that an academic can be awarded," she said.
Through the scholarship, Professor Brandenburg will continue her research into Teacher Performance Assessments (TPAs), which prospective graduates have to complete before they can become teachers.
Professor Brandenburg will travel to America to analyse how TPAs operate and to compare them to Australia's.
She said the opportunity to travel and compare the two systems would help develop better TPAs and potentially better graduates.
"(A TPA) just creates another way for us to be certain that our graduates are ready," she said.
"It's a relatively new assessment in Australia... so what the scholarship will do is allow me to compare the TPAs in Australia with the United States' models or models and to see the impact they have on teacher education programs and ultimately on graduates."
Professor Brandenburg believes her three-month trip to America, which will commence in September 2020, will by the next step in her already expansive academic journey, but also feels the responsibility of representing the university on her shoulders.
I'm thrilled... obviously there's a huge responsibility that goes with this, especially being the first recipient from Federation University.
- Robyn Brandenburg
"I think it's the next stage of my educational journey... this opportunity will help progress my journey in a very exciting way because it's allowing me to work with colleagues and scholars internationally... We achieve more working together than as single entities."
Professor Brandenburg's project is titled The Effectiveness of Teacher Education Programs Designed To Meet Graduating Teacher Performance Assessment Standards: A Comparative Mixed Methods Design (Australia and the United States).
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