Mags Blackie
Education
PhD, Education, Stellenbosch University, South Africa2022
PhD, Chemistry, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 2002
Postgraduate diploma, Theology, University of Wales, Lampeter, UK, 2005
BSc(Hons), Chemistry, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 1998
BSc, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Rhodes University, South Africa, 1997
Research Interests
In tertiary science education:
- Knowledge building
- Architecture of knowledge
- Reliable assessment methods
In higher education more broadly:
- What does it mean to educate?
- The nature of disciplinary knowledge
Research Statement
Understanding the nature of knowledge in organic chemistry and ensuring that students grasp the fundamental concepts has been a central drive in my research. This has led to the development of the epistemic assessment framework which has been implemented through several South African universities. More recently my work has developed into model which encompasses effective assessment, robust disciplinary knowledge, the nature of science and the development of evaluative judgement in the student.
I am deeply curious about what it is to be an embodied human who is learning. This seems to be to a crucial question in a time of the emergence of generative AI. The links to a longitudinal multinational project following chemistry and chemical engineering students (and then graduates) over a 7 year period exploring the ways they related to their disciplines and were shaped by that relating.
Ultimately the question I wrestle with is ‘what does it mean to educate?’
Biography
Dr Margaret (Mags) Blackie is the associate director for the Centre for Advancing Undergraduate Science Education. Her tenure home is in the Department of Engineering Education. She began her independent academic career as a tenure track organic chemist at Stellenbosch University in South Africa in 2010. She established myself as a synthetic medicinal chemist and explored education research on the side. Over a period of 12 years, the balance of my research began to tip towards education research.
With this shift she moved to Rhodes University and took up a position in the Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning. In this position she was both associate professor in higher education studies and coordinated the introductory course in teaching and learning offered to all incoming faculty. In the position at CAUSE her role is developing disciplinary based education research in the College of Science.
Awards & Honors
- Stellenbosch University Distinguished Teacher Award 2020
- South African Chemical Society Education Medal 2020
- Stellenbosch University Teaching Fellowship 2020 – 2022
Selected Publications
- Interrogating assessment in the age of Generative AI Blackie MAL, McKenna S, Kramm N and Pallitt N, African Journal of Inter/Multidisciplinary Studies, 2024, 6(1), 1-11, 10.51415/ajims.v6i1.1528
- Constructing assessment practices for knowledge building in science Yucel R and Blackie MAL, Teaching in Higher Education, in press, 10.1080/13562517.2024.2411678
- Embodiment matters in knowledge building Blackie MAL and Luckett K, Science & Education, in press, 10.1007/s11191-024-00506-2
- ChatGPT is a game changer: Detection and eradication is not the way forward Blackie MAL, Teaching in Higher Education, 2024, 29 (4), 1109–1116.
- Impact of curricula on student learning: a comparison of six chemical engineering programmes in three Washington Accord countries Agrawal A, Carrol J, Blackie MAL, Rosewell K, Pitterson N, Southern Journal of Engineering Education, 2024, 3(1), 1-25
- Engaging organic chemistry students in knowledge building Blackie MAL, Arnott GE and Kaschula C, Journal of Chemical Education, 2023, 100(9), 3302–3308