Our people

Dr Sarah Digan

Lecturer
Faculty of Education and Arts

Areas of expertise: science education; teaching and learning with computational models; the critical use of evidence in STEM education; climate change science

Phone: +61 2 6209 1266

Email: Sarah.digan@acu.edu.au

Location: ACU Canberra Campus

ORCID ID: 0000-0001-9945-9724

Sarah Digan, a lecturer in STEM education, holds a PhD in earth science from the University of New South Wales, reconstructing palaeoclimatic and sea-level fluctuations from sediments of relict beach ridges. Her academic experience, together with a 12-years teaching career in the ACT primary and secondary school system, have shaped her current research interest in STEM education: data practices, computational modelling and the critical use of scientific evidence in the science inquiry approach.

At ACU, Sarah is passionate about educating future teachers, developing a deep understanding of scientific concepts and scientific reasoning. She emphasises the critical use of data to strengthen critical thinking skills for informed decision-making, relevant for 21st century STEM literate citizens and a STEM ready workforce. Sarah's expertise extends to engaging with in-service educators. She was one of the ACU academics, developing the micro-credentials iSTEM Science and Leading the S in STEM. She is developing teacher development opportunities, particularly in the field of anthropogenic climate change science and the use of computational climate system models in STEM education.

Research interests and fields of educational expertise:

• Data practices;
• Computational modelling;
• Critical thinking in STEM education;
• Environmental education

Select publications

• Digan, S., Puslednik, L., Naylor, W., Geiger, V. (accepted): Developing evidentiary practices in initial teacher education students' scientific reasoning. In: White, P., Tytler, R., Furguson, J. (eds), Methodological Approaches to STEM Education Research. Cambridge University Press.
• Unshelm, N., Siller, H.-S., Digan, S., Geiger, V. (submitted): Umgang mit großen Datensätzen zur Evaluierung von Medienaussagen - Vorstellung einer deutsch-australischen Studie. Mathematica didactica, 48.
• Unshelm, N., Digan, S., Geiger, V., Siller, H.-S., Greubel, A. (under review): Empowering students to evaluate media claims with big data. In: Kaiser, G. & Stillman, G. (eds), International perspectives in teaching and learning. Springer.
• Digan, S., Geiger, V., Siller, H.-S. (in preparation): Affordances of computational models in science education: a systematic literature review.
• Digan, S. (2020): Integrating GIS in experiential fieldwork. Geographical Education.
• Santoro, E., Mazzella, M.E., Ferranti, L., Randisic, A., Napolitano, E., Rittner, S., Radtke, U. (2009): Raised coastal terraces along the Ionian Sea coast of northern Calabria, Italy, suggest space and time variability of tectonic uplift rates. Quaternary International, 206: 78-101.
• Beerten, K., Rittner, S., Lomax, J., Radtke, U. (2008): Dose recovery tests using Ti-related ESR signals in quartz: First results. Quaternary Geochronology, 3 (1-2): 143-149.

Funded research projects

• 2023 - 2024, Australian Universities-German DAAD Joint Research Cooperation Scheme: Geiger, V., Digan, S., Siller, H.-S., Greubel, A., Strengthening teachers' instructional capabilities with Big Data. $50,000
• 2023 - 2024, ACU Faculty Research Discovery Grant: Digan, S., Geiger, V., Developing initial teacher education students' evidentiary practices in scientific reasoning. $9,900
• 2023 - 2024, UniSQ Research Capacity Building Grant: Puslednik, L., Digan, S., Naylor, W., Developing primary teachers' use of scientific evidence in the classroom.
• 2023 - 2024, ACU Faculty Teaching Development Grant: George, S., Digan, S., Taouk, S., Transforming pedagogic practices to address initial teacher education students' apprehension towards teaching (and learning science). $12,697
• 2023 - 2024, ACU Translate4Impact grant: Holloway, J., Lewis, Steven, Daliri-Ngametua, R., Digan, S., Green, M., Kerr, K., Phillips, D., Rowe, L., Sheehan, H., White, M.: The Education Research Trust: A Policy and Practice Impact Hub at ACU. $95,208
• 2009, ECR training workshop ARC grant, Rittner, S. & Joanne-Boyau, R., Geochronological dating methods and their applications in Australasian palaeoenvironmental and archaeological research. $14,340

Accolades and awards

• 2021, Working member of the Annotated Assessment Task and Annotated Student Work Project, ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies
• 2015 - 2016, Honorary Appointee in Education, Science, Technology and Maths, University of Canberra
• 2016, Accreditation Experienced Teacher, Independent Schools Teacher Accreditation Authority
• 2009 - 2013, PhD scholarship, School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences at the University of New South Wales

Appointments and affiliations

• 2024 - present, International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS)
• 2022 - present, Canberra Mathematical Association
• 2024 - present, Academic Integrity Officer, Arts and Education
• 2024 - present, Member of the ACU STEM Centre for Education Excellence Academic Disciplines Working Group
• 2020 - 2022, Subject Group leader in General Science, ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies