Prof Sally Jordan

Professional biography

I am Professor of Physics Education in the Open University's School of Physical Sciences. I have worked for the Open University for more than 30 years in a wide range of roles, including associate lecturer, staff tutor, Deputy Associate Dean with responsibility for Assessment, Head of School of Physical Sciences, and Academic Lead for the implementation phase of a review of the Open University's Academic Promotions Scheme. I am fiercely proud of the Open University's mission: "Open to people, places, methods and ideas" and derive my motivation from our gloriously diverse Open University students who we teach at the Open University. 

My primary interests lie in the links between assessment and learning, and in equality, diversity and inclusion in the broadest sense of the words. My teaching and research in these areas was recognised by the award of the Institute of Physics' prestigious Lawrence Bragg Medal and Prize in 2023.

I have a BSc in Physics and a PhD by published work with the title E-assessment for learning? Exploring the potential of computer-marked assessment and computer-generated feedback, from short-answer questions to assessment analytics. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. 

I served on the organising committee for the international Assessment in Higher Education (AHE) Conference for many years and I initiated a collaboration between AHE and the Transforming Assessment webinar series. I was delighted to lead the UK Delegation at the International Conference on Women in Physics in both 2021 and 2023.

I have had an unconventional career and battled for most of it with a lack of self-confidence and imposter syndrome.  I spoke about my background as one of three speakers at a recorded event "Succeeding in STEM: Three women profs and their conventional careers" in November 2019. I regularly act as a mentor to others, both formally and informally and enjoyed my two years as postgraduate research tutor for student support. I am a Mental Health First Aider and a School Listener.

Research interests

I am a physics education researcher with broad interests in:

• Factors affecting student engagement with assessment and feedback.
• The appropriate use of sophisticated computer-marked items, in particular short-answer free-text questions.
• Students’ conceptual understanding in mathematics and physics, including the use of concept inventories.
• Demographic differences in participation and outcome in UK HE physics

I was primary supervisor to Mark Parker on his PhD on the project "Establishing physics concept inventories using free text questions" and our work on automatically-marked short-answer questions and on concept inventories is now being taken forward by third-year PhD  student Ashutosh Kumar Pathak. I am also primary supervisor to Astra Sword whose project "Equity and the Physics Degree" (with funding from both the Ogden Trust and the Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund)  is investigating demographic differences in attainment in physics and the reasons for these differences.. 

I use both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, and enjoy challenging accepted norms when evidence doesn't support them, with two of the keynote presentations that I have particularly enjoyed delivering being:

• Computer-marked assessment: Friend or foe?
• Gender gaps in physics retention and attainment: Myth and reality

Teaching interests

My primary interests lie in developing the skills, especially the mathematical skills, which physics and other science students require for their study, and in the links between assessment and learning.

I was the main author of Maths for science (first published 2002, revised edition published Sept 2012, in copublication with Oxford University Press) which formed the basis of the highly successful Open University module with the same name (S151).

I was the first academic at the Open University to use sophisticated online computer-marked assessment, driven by a wish to provide students with instantaeous feedback on their work and to help them to pace their study. This led to the development of the OpenMark interactive online assessment system and of much of the current functionality of the Moodle Quiz Engine. A later project led to the development of the "Pattern Match" question type, which automatically marks and gives feedback on free-text answers of up to about 20 words. I have advised widely on the appropriate use of e-assessment and in particular on the use of short-answer free text computer-marked questions.

I was a member of the  production teams for S154 Science starts here and S104 Exploring science. I had responsibility for maths skills development and assessment in both modules and was author of  a book about 'Energy and light' for S104.I was also a member of the module teams that produced SXR103 Practising science, S141 Investigative and mathematical skills in science and MST224 Mathematical methods. I am now module team chair of S217 Physics: from Classical to Quantum, which feels like a return to my routes, since my second OU appointment was as a tutor on an earlier version of the same module, back in the 1990s - and I am also a member of the module team developing the exciting replacement for S217, S227: Core Physics, which will be presented for the first time from October 2025.

Impact and engagement

The Moodle  Pattern Match question type, which automatically marks and gives feedback on short free-text responses, was developed as a direct consequence of my research. The Pattern Match plug-in is in use at more than 1200 sites worldwide, and has been translated into a range of languages including French, German, Spanish and Chinese.

As a result of my expertise in this area, I frequently advise on the automatic marking of free-text responses.