Dr Tom Crick

National Teaching Fellow 2014 Dr Tom Crick is Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Computing & Information Systems at Cardiff Metropolitan University, having completed his PhD and post-doctoral research at the University of Bath. His underlying philosophy of scholarship is simple: to be a transformational computer science academic. Alongside his academic research, he has published widely on computer science education and sits on the editorial board of the HEA Innovation in Teaching and Learning in Information and Computer Sciences (ITALICS) journal. Tom's academic interests span across educational, scientific and economic pipelines, linking into and out of higher education. He is Chair in Wales of Computing At School (CAS), an organisation that has been at the forefront of the campaign to promote and support the teaching of computer science in UK schools. He sits on the Welsh Government's National Digital Learning Council and the National Assembly for Wales Cross-Party Group on Science and Technology and in September 2013 co-chaired the Welsh Governments review of the ICT curriculum. He is a Trustee of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT and sits on the Board of Directors for the Campaign for Science and Engineering, the leading independent advocate for science and engineering in the UK. He is also a Trustee of the British Science Association. Tom uses his blog, Computing: The Science of Nearly Everything and Twitter (@DrTomCrick) to underpin his learning and teaching, research and policy activities, as well as being a frequent expert commentator on radio, TV and print media. He was a British Science Association Media Fellow in 2011 with BBC Wales. His academic work was recognised in 2013 as an outstanding contribution that has had a transformative impact, being awarded The Worshipful Livery Company of Wales Gold Award: 'a substantial award to a young person who has demonstrated a major contribution to the arts, science or technology for the benefit of the people of Wales'. In December 2013, Tom was named by the Education Foundation - the UK's education think-tank - as one of their Education Reformers of the Year for his work in computer science education.