Katie McAllister, Ph.D.

Professor, Head of College of Social Sciences

College of Social Sciences

Accomplishments

  • Author of Beyond the Lecture: Interacting with Students and Shaping the Classroom Dynamic (Rowman & Littlefield 2021)
  • Recipient of a WSCUC Educational Programs Fellowship 2022-23 for her work on fostering and measuring student engagement to promote diversity, equity, belonging, and learning outcomes
  • Worked in multiple countries and sectors as a consultant with the London, UK, office of The Boston Consulting Group
  • Author of A Teacher’s Guide: How to Use Data to Measure Student Engagement and passionate about student engagement (Student Input Key to Making Online Courses Effective).
  • Other first-author publications include articles in Psychopharmacology and Neurobiology of Learning & Memory; Co-author (with Adrian Brown) of “Ready, Willing and Able: An interim review of the Investment and Contract Readiness Fund” U.K. Gov & BCG (2014). Commissioned by the U.K. Cabinet Office, Big Society Capital, and The Social Investment Business
  • Recipient of the Commonwealth Trusts’ Canada Cambridge Scholarship and University of Cambridge Overseas Research Studentship

Katie McAllister completed her Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Cambridge and B.Sc. in Cognitive Systems at the University of British Columbia. Prior to Minerva, she developed a broad skill-set as a management consultant with the London office of The Boston Consulting Group, with experience including transformation execution in the British National Health Service; private healthcare provider strategy; large-scale post-merger integration; government strategy, including fostering social enterprise; global insurance strategy; and negotiation strategy in industrial goods.

Professor McAllister is passionate about interdisciplinary approaches to curriculum that foster critical thinking, creative problem-solving, interaction skills, and knowledge transfer. Her book, Beyond the Lecture: Interacting with Students and Shaping the Classroom Dynamic, provides instructors and administrators with both the theory and practical tools to further their use of active learning in the classroom. Her current research interests examine how evidence-based approaches to understanding how active learning can foster diversity, equity, belonging, and learning outcomes.

Professor McAllister is the Head of the College of Social Sciences and teaches Cognitive Neuroscience, Complex Systems, and The Science of Learning senior tutorial. She is also the Accreditation Liaison Officer for Minerva University.