STEM Faculty

Professional biography

I am Professor Diane Butler, a STEM education leader with a focus on teaching, scholarship and innovation. Currently, I'm Professor of STEM Education in the School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences, Faculty of STEM.

My Experience in STEM Education

Throughout my career, I've held various leadership roles in STEM education, working to improve access, student success, and faculty professional development. I served as Associate Dean of Academic Excellence for the STEM Faculty, led initiatives to increase access and participation in STEM fields, and directed the eSTEeM Centre for Scholarship and Innovation. Within the School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences, I've focused on supporting faculty and students in their academic pursuits, serving as Scholarship Lead and Undergraduate Academic Lead. My commitment to effective teaching is evident in my past roles as Science Staff Tutor Group Chair and in leadership positions developing programs for Natural Sciences.

My Qualifications

My qualifications include  BSc (Hons) in Microbiology and Virology (University of Warwick, 1985) and a PGCE in Biology/Science (University of Leeds, 1986). Recognizing the importance of effective teaching in higher education, I earned a PG Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and an MA in Online and Distance Learning from the Open University (2002, 2005). I'm also a Principal Fellow with the Higher Education Academy.

Research interests

My Work in Scholarship and Teaching

My current research interests focus on supporting academics in developing expertise in teaching and learning (SoTL) to build a robust culture of SoTL in Higher Education. I created "Enhancing Scholarship at the OU," an online toolkit that guides academics in STEM through best practices in SoTL. In addition to my teaching and leadership roles, I'm passionate about initiatives that improve access and career prospects for underrepresented students in STEM fields. I've co-led the FBL/STEM Virtual Internship project from its inception. This innovative program provides virtual internships to underrepresented students, boosting their graduate employability. The project also serves as a valuable model for staff-student partnerships and co-creation, fostering collaboration between faculty and students. The scheme formed the OU’s submission to the UK Social Mobility Awards in 2023 and was recognised by a Student Engagement award from sparqs (Student Partnership in Quality Scotland) in the diverse voices category. The scholarly evaluation of the scheme was published in Distance Education (Reid et al, 2023) and was recognised as eSTEeM Scholarship Project of the Year 2024.

Enhancing Scholarship at the OU - an online toolkit for OU Scholarship and Innovations Centres which describes the approach, the methods and resources successfully used by eSTEeM over the last seven years to facilitate practitioner-led scholarship within STEM.

Teaching interests

Current modules:

S291 Clinical Diagnostics Deputy Module team Chair

Previous modules:

S290 Investigating Human Health and Disease Module team Member 

S201 Science and Society Module Team Member and Author

S294 Cell Biology Module Team Member and Author

SXHL288 Practical Science: Biology and health Module Team Member

S141 Investigative and mathematical skills in science Module Team Chair and Author

SXR103 Practicing Science Module Team Chair/Examination Board Chair and Author

S288 Practical Science Module Team Member

S104 Exploring Science, Module Team Chair/Examination Board Chair and Author

S103 Discovering Science Module team Member

SEH806 Contemporary issues in science learning Module Team Chair/Examination Board Chair

Impact and engagement

EDEN Research Workshops 2018 (ERW18), Invited expert Round Table "From data use for guidance to guidance for data use - developing data literacy to empower learners" 26.10.2018