M.Sc. in Botany,
UGC - NET (Education),
Ph.D. in Science Education
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) | टाटा सामाजिक विज्ञान संस्थान |
Turkayamjal, | Ranga Reddy District, | तुर्कयामजल, | रंगा रेड्डी जिला, |
Hyderabad 501 510 | हैदराबाद ५०१ ५१० |
Ritesh Khunyakari is an Associate Professor and Chairperson of School of Educational Studies (SES) at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad. He has a Master’s in Botany from the University of Pune and a doctorate in Science Education from the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. Ritesh has been pursuing teaching, development and research in science education, design thinking, teacher professional development, child development, cognition and learning and assessment issues in learning.
He has published and presented his works in several international and national journals, conferences and magazines. He has been on the editorial board of a few established international journals. He has mentored students at the Bachelors, Masters (MA & MPhil) and Doctorate levels. He renders his academic expertise through wide-ranging academic contributions which include the development of innovative programmes and courses within them (PhD, MPhil, MA, BEd, BA-BEd, Practitioner research, etc.), developing questions for national-level exams (NEST, IJSO, RAT, etc.), and serving as reviewer for international journals and conferences.
He represented the Indian contingent as a team leader at the International Junior Science Olympiads (IJSO) in 2010 (Abuja, Nigeria). The Indian team won 6 golds and the best experimental gold award. Later, in 2017 (Arnhem-Nijmegen, The Netherlands), under his leadership the team again bagged 6 gold awards.
He has been involved in an international collaborative projects on design and technology education involving seven countries. He continues to be a part of several ongoing research projects and is a member of academic bodies contributing to initiatives in science education. He recently co-edited the book, “Learning Without Burden: Where Are We a Quarter Century After the Yash Pal Committee Report?” published by Routledge.
Editorial board of International Journals
Areas of research interest and engagement:
Ritesh's initiation into research in Education began with his doctoral study in Design and Technology (D&T) Education (details below).
Doctoral research thesis:
Investigating middle school students' perceptions of technology and developing design and technology education units to study students' design productions (May 2009)
Thesis advisor: Late Prof. Chitra Natarajan, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
His training and interests in the sciences led him to pursue some research projects in life sciences.
Masters’ research dissertation:
Developing micropropagation techniques for somatic embryogenesis of a local durum wheat cultivar and assessing its protein quality through acid page electrophoresis. (2000)
Advisor: Prof. R. J. Thengane, Department of Botany, University of Pune (now Savitribai Phule Pune University)
Having moved from the discipline of Science to Science Education, he has keenly been working on several research ideas in Science Education. Along with teaching, he has pursued researches that centre around probing students’ thinking of abstract science concepts in biology, visualisation and modelling of concepts in biology, alternative conceptions in biology and ideas that can inform teaching biology at the school level. His continual association with the Junior Science Olympiads in capacity of a resource person has led him to develop challenging questions in biology, attract the attention and interest of students, develop practical skills and orientation in the value of experiments, and develop interactive sessions around several concepts in school biology.
As a person involved in Education, he has expanded his research interests by closely aligning with the interests of scholars working in M.Phil. and PhD degrees. The areas that he has ventured into include Practices in Art Education, Alternative conceptions in Geography, Teacher Professional Development, Assessment issues in learning, etc.
PhD Research Guide
The following students are pursuing their doctoral studies with him.
1. Ms. Garima Singh
2. Mr. Satyanarayan Nanda
3. Ms. Bharti Dahiya
4. Ms. Ranjani Ramnath
5. Ms. Suchita Roy
Writings as edited books (01), contributions in books (08), peer-reviewed journals (13), peer-reviewed conference proceedings (40), technical reports (03) and educational magazines (03).
Edited Book (01)
M. Ramchand, R. Khunyakari & A. Bose (Eds.) (2023). Learning without Burden - A quarter of a century after the Yashpal Committee Report: Where are we and what have we learnt? India: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group. International and South-Asian editions. DOI: 10.4324/9781003046059
In Books (08)
Peer-reviewed, International journals (13)
Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings (40)
Technical Reports (05)
Educational Magazines (04)
1. Preliminary findings from an analysis of two phases of a study with District Institutes of Education and Trainings (DIETs) in Telangana State.
2. Co-Principal Investigator on the project on Reverse School Choice anchored by Tata Trusts, Mumbai. (2018-2020)
3. Collaborated on the Education component of a research project on Welfare and Reforms: Everyday Governance of Prison Conditions in Telangana, undertaken by Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad. (2018-2019)
4. Multiple Languages, Literacies and Technologies: Multlingualism group, Frankfurt & Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, Mumbai (2001-)
5. Investigation team on the research project, Studies on the biodiversity of NDA campus with special reference to vegetation monitoring. (Dec 1999)
Ritesh has engaged with teaching students at different levels. The following present a detail of courses that he has developed and offered:
PhD (Graduate programme at HBCSE, TIFR):
Early steps in educational research, Science Technology and Society
MPhil-PhD: Introduction to Social Sciences and Educational Research; Education Theory and Research Methodology; Culture, context and cognition; STEM education; Modern Indian Language Production (MILaP)
MAEd: Human Development and Learning; Cognition and Learning; Teacher Professional Development; Design and Technology Education; Science Education; Introduction to Education Research; Education Research Methods; Curriculum Studies; Teaching, Learning and Assessment
BASS: Introduction to Life Sciences; History and Philosophy of Science and Social Sciences; Education (co-taught course)
School students: As a resource person in resource camps preparing the selected students for the International Junior Science Olympiads preparations
MOOCs on TISSx: Assessment and Learning
Short-term courses for professionals: Practitioner research in education
Faculty development programmes: At various Central Universities in India, including TISS