Dr Maria Parapilly receives South Australian Science Excellence Award

Science Excellence Awards South Australia was introduced in 2005. The Science Excellence Awards are the most prestigious of their kind in the state and complement the national Prime Minister’s Prize’s for Science. Through the awards, SA Government acknowledge the achievements of talented individuals, including recent PhD graduates and early career science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals and teachers, who are making an outstanding contribution to society both nationally and internationally.

The Science Excellence Awards is South Australia’s premier event to recognise and reward outstanding scientific endeavour, including its application in industry and the advancement of science and mathematics education.

Dr Maria Parappilly received this award in the category of Early Career STEM Educator of the Year – Tertiary Teaching. She hails from the Indian State of Kerala.

Maria Parappilly works as a lecturer in Physics with the Flinders University in Adelaide. Parappilly teaches first year and supervises PhD in physics education. Passionate about making physics accessible and exciting she employs innovative instructional strategies including Inquiry Based Lab; Team Based Learning; LEGO Physics and Diagnostic tests, all of which have positively impacted on retention, success and progression of students. She led a National Science and Mathematics network (SaMnet) Scholar physics project and spent a year as a Faculty scholar in STEM learning. With these projects, and other research endeavours, Dr Parappilly has gathered data systematically to continuously improve student learning outcomes and to reinvent her practice to meet the needs of her students. She also disseminates her ideas through peer-reviewed journal articles and in an Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) good practice guide. Her innovations have grown well beyond her classrooms and have enthusiastically been adopted by other professionals.

Honours awards and Grants received by Dr Maria Parppilly so far

Faculty of Science and Engineering Research Establishment Funding 2015: Funds awarded $20,000.

Faculty Nomination to attend The 5th National Higher Education Women’s Leadership Summit 2015.

Faculty of Science& Engineering Collaborative Research Initiative Project Grant 2014 (Parappilly, Anderson): Improving student learning & experience in STEM disciplines using Team Based Learning strategies. Funds Awarded $3000.

Faculty of Science & Engineering Research Establishment Funding 2014: $60,000 over three years. Funds Awarded for 2014 $30,000

Flinders University ETPPAFYC Grant 2013 (Parappilly, Pyke): Using Lego Physics Classes to Embed Transition Pedagogy Principles. Funds Awarded $4000.

Finalist: 2013 SA Science Excellence Awards- Early Career STEM Educator of the year (Tertiary Teaching)

Faculty Teaching and Learning Innovation Grant 2012 (Parappilly, Harmer-Basell): An innovative Approach to Enhance Student Learning in Physics Labs. Funds Awarded $10,000.

Faculty Scholar, Faculty of Science and Engineering, 2012/2013

Science and Mathematics network of Australian university educators-SaMnet Scholar 2012.

Grant awarded through the ALTC National Teaching Fellowship 2011 on Inquiry Oriented Learning (Parappilly, Blankleider, Quinton):Model Building Approach to Optics.

Flinders Foundations of University Teaching (FFOUT) Certificate 2008.Flinders University Transition Grant 2007 (Quinton, Andersson, Parappilly): Aiding the transition to University Physics: Student groupchallenges.

PANIC05 (Particle and Nuclei International Conference, Santa Fe, USA) Student Award 2005