Associate Professor Brandon Collier-Reed

Brandon Collier-Reed is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. It was while pursuing a PhD in low-cost automation and robotics that his fascination with teaching his first-year class convinced him to switch directions completely and embark on a PhD that considered technological literacy. Acknowledging that students bring with them to the engineering classroom different understandings of the nature of technology as well as different levels of technological literacy, he turned his research focus to what was happening in the classroom and its influence on student engagement. 

His current research is on understanding student engagement with a specific interest on how the use of ICTs in the classroom can impact engagement. His most recent work, understanding the use of a “backchannel” during lectures, has highlighted the levels of alienation experienced by many students in a classroom space. He has typically adopted and interpretivist approach to his research and is probably best known for the work he has undertaken using the approach known as phenomenography.

Brandon is the past President of the South African Society of Engineering Education, a Fellow of the South African Institution of Mechanical Engineering and is a registered Professional Mechanical Engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa.