Dr Vilma Galstaun is a lecturer in technology education and professional experience. Vilma has more than 30 years’ experience as a classroom teacher, curriculum consultant in Primary education and lecturer in primary and secondary technology education. As a university lecturer Vilma has made outstanding contributions to teaching that has focussed on course coordination, student and staff supervision and mentoring and research leadership. Vilma has provided outstanding multilevel contributions in leadership, governance and engagement to the University, the profession, and the broader education community. Vilma continues to provide professional learning for teachers through her advocacy via her membership of professional teaching associations and community-based outreach work at the university through her collaborations with the STEM Teacher Enrichment Academy and Independent Schools Queensland (ISQ).
In recent years, Vilma systematically redesigned core technology units to capture the essential qualities of knowledge, skills and understandings required by teachers for technology integration in their teaching and learning (Mishra and Koehler, 2006). Vilma has also systematically targeted curriculum changes in ICT and technology courses by enabling preservice teachers to achieve and demonstrate competence in the effective and innovative uses of digital technologies in education. Through her work, she aspires to continually improve staff and students’ digital and data literacies, by embedding technologies in education curriculum, pedagogies, assessment, and professional experience.
Working in the area of curriculum development, Vilma systematically reviewed and redesigned the professional experience coursework for preservice teachers in the Bachelor of Education (Primary) program. Focusing on preservice teachers’ continual improvement of their professional knowledge and practice, from the second year of their undergraduate degree to the final internship, by actively engaging as members of the profession as they transition from university to the school classroom (AITSL Standards 5, 6 and 7). Vilma was instrumental in the implementation of the Assessment for Graduate Teachers (AfGT)— a Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA) capstone designed to assess preservice teachers’ teaching against the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) at Graduate level (AITSL, 2018) and ensuring the program addresses the criteria outlined in Accreditation Program Standard 1.2 (AITSL, 2019).
Vilma's leadership and expertise in the areas of ICT and digital technologies are aligned with her research interests in teacher education, curriculum, pedagogy, educational technology, and STEM education. She engages with pre- and in-service teachers. providing leadership through the engagement of teachers in the provision of professional learning opportunities, involvement in the University of Sydney’s STEM Teacher Enrichment Academy and professional associations such as AARE, Australian College of Educators and ATEA delivering in situ professional learning in STEM education, with a specific emphasis on technologies, and Teaching Performance Assessments, in local, rural, remote in Australian and overseas schools.
Vilma’s recent research experiences involve developing preservice teachers digital, assessment and data literacies; using formative evaluation to design and develop web-based, online learning resources; and investigating the impact of the new digital technologies and curriculum-based materials for developing preservice teachers’ technical, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) across all subject areas.
