ACADEMIC CAREER
John Biggs (UTAS, 1957)
After graduating in Psychology from the University of Tasmania in 1957, I went to England as did many Tasmanians of my generation: in my case to do postgraduate study. After a year of school teaching in Luton, I carried out research into methods of teaching arithmetic at the National Foundation for Educational Research, London, leading to my doctoral thesis (Birkbeck College, University of London, 1963). Hence the thrust of my subsequent academic career: trying to establish the link between psychological theory and educational practice. I started out in Psychology (UNE, Armidale, NSW) and then shifted to Education (Monash, Alberta, Newcastle, Hong Kong) until post-retirement I completed the circle back to Psychology. My final institutional affiliations are Honorary Professor of Psychology, and Adjunct Professor, Centre for Teaching and Learning, both at the University of Hong Kong.
Catherine Tang (HKU, 1991)
I retired from HKU intending to write fiction, but I had unfinished academic business. In my last year at HKU, the culmination of my academic journey finally occurred in the shape of constructive alignment. This is a design for teaching and assessment that brought together my research over the years. Now my partner and wife, Catherine Tang, and I consult on implementing constructive alignment, particularly in universities in Hong Kong. Hong Kong was where it all started – but certainly not where it is finishing.
My son Zoltan Dienes followed a similar career path to mine. He is Professor in Psychology at the University of Sussex.
