Associate Professor
Senka Henderson

Biography

Associate Professor Senka Henderson is the Course Coordinator for Master of Teaching (Sec) and Turn to Teaching programs in the School of Education at QUT. She teaches multiple science curriculum and pedagogy units in secondary studies across both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Senka’s teaching and research is focused on four fields: preservice teachers’ self-efficacy and classroom readiness, context-based science, the emotional engagement of students in science classes and STEM education in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Senka has worked on three Australian Research Council (ARC)  science education research projects exploring the emotions of pre-service science teachers in university settings and students in high school science classrooms. She has been involved in other projects related to context-based science education and mindfulness. Presently, she is involved in ongoing research that investigates the engagement and learning of teachers from PNG enrolled in the QUT Graduate Certificate in STEM Education course. She is also the lead Chief Investigator at QUT for a 2024 Department of Education Horizon grant valued at $98,027. This 18-month cross-institutional collaborative study is led by Griffith University (GU) and involves QUT, GU, the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC), and Southern Cross University (SCU). Horizon research grants are highly competitive and prestigious Category Two funding that supports high-quality research initiatives in Queensland.

Senka was part of the STEM Teaching Team of the Australia Awards Graduate Certificate in STEM Education course for three cohorts of teachers from Papua New Guinea. The STEM teaching team received the following national and international recognitions: the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA) Excellence Highly Commended Award - Best Practice in International Education for Advancing STEM Education in Papua New Guinea (2023);  Gold winner award - the Wharton Reimagine Education Award in Oceania  (2022);  Finalist in the Premier of Queensland’s Export Award for Inclusion (2022); CIESJ Faculty Team Award for External Partnerships and Social Impact (2021).

In 2018, she contributed several chapters to a Brill volume “Eventful Learning: Learner Emotions" and a Routledge volume “Mindfulness in Education”. In 2020 Senka was the lead author on a paper published in Cultural Studies of Science Education (CSSE) that describes how using cogenerative dialogue can help to address heightened emotions with difficult students. In 2021 she also contributed several chapters to a Springer book, “ Science and Drama: Contemporary and Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning”.

Since 2019, Senka has become a reviewer and assistant editor of the international journal Research in Science Education. Senka was a key member of the organising committee for the 2019 HDR (Higher Degree Research) conference for four Universities (QUT, CQU, GU, and UQ). Senka has received two QUT Vice-Chancellors Awards (2023- Leadership Excellence and 2013 - Performance Excellence). Senka has received ten University and Faculty  Learning and Teaching awards and has been nominated eleven times. She has been awarded  Senior Fellow, Fellow and Associate Fellow (Indigenous Knowledges) of the internationally accredited Higher Education due to her extensive education and teaching experience and knowledge. Senka was the Education Faculty Health and Safety Advisor for 10 years (2013-2023).  She has been awarded two Health, Safety, and Environment Recognition Awards for helping to achieve excellence in the management of Health and Safety at QUT.