Enriching mathematics and science learning: an interdisciplinary approach. This international, longitudinal project aims to investigate the effectiveness of an innovative interdisciplinary learning approach in mathematics and science. Through collaborating primary schools in Australia and the United States of America (USA), it will investigate how students’ invention and transformation of representational systems can connect to support deeper reasoning and learning. The project will form the ba ....Enriching mathematics and science learning: an interdisciplinary approach. This international, longitudinal project aims to investigate the effectiveness of an innovative interdisciplinary learning approach in mathematics and science. Through collaborating primary schools in Australia and the United States of America (USA), it will investigate how students’ invention and transformation of representational systems can connect to support deeper reasoning and learning. The project will form the bases for new curricular designs that leverage students’ representational practices across science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines to promote more robust and generative knowledge.Read moreRead less
Gendered engagement and participation in sciences and mathematics. This project aims to identify the reasons for the declining numbers of girls (and boys) studying sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects during secondary school. This project will conduct complementary longitudinal studies in Australia, in collaboration with leading international scholars, analysing declining motivations, especially for girls/women, to show how this predicts different STEM career choices ....Gendered engagement and participation in sciences and mathematics. This project aims to identify the reasons for the declining numbers of girls (and boys) studying sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects during secondary school. This project will conduct complementary longitudinal studies in Australia, in collaboration with leading international scholars, analysing declining motivations, especially for girls/women, to show how this predicts different STEM career choices and actual occupational outcomes, to yield theoretical developments and inform policy to improve the participation of girls/women (and boys/men) in these fields. Expected outcomes of this project include the provision of comprehensive evidence-informed recommendations to Federal and State government, industry and education stakeholders, which will enable the coordinated development of intervention programs to address these issues.Read moreRead less
Improving outcomes through accessible assessment and inclusive practices. Complex assessment tasks and pedagogies present barriers to the learning and achievement of students with disability, including those with language and/or attentional difficulties. This research will test: 1) whether accessible assessment task design leads to improved student outcomes; 2) whether enhancing teachers’ inclusive practice improves student access to formative assessment pedagogies, enabling more accurate studen ....Improving outcomes through accessible assessment and inclusive practices. Complex assessment tasks and pedagogies present barriers to the learning and achievement of students with disability, including those with language and/or attentional difficulties. This research will test: 1) whether accessible assessment task design leads to improved student outcomes; 2) whether enhancing teachers’ inclusive practice improves student access to formative assessment pedagogies, enabling more accurate student understanding of assessment aims and requirements; and 3) how improvements in task design and teacher practice can be sustained and upscaled across secondary school departments. Expected outcomes of international significance are more inclusive learning and assessment practices with the potential to benefit all students.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child. Our vision is for Australian children to be healthy, educated and connected. This Centre will integrate child health, education, and digital and social connectedness, innovating across disciplines to meet Australia’s ongoing challenges of supporting young children growing up in a rapidly changing digital age. The Centre’s world-leading team investigates children’s digital practices through three interconnected research programs supported by a longi ....ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child. Our vision is for Australian children to be healthy, educated and connected. This Centre will integrate child health, education, and digital and social connectedness, innovating across disciplines to meet Australia’s ongoing challenges of supporting young children growing up in a rapidly changing digital age. The Centre’s world-leading team investigates children’s digital practices through three interconnected research programs supported by a longitudinal family cohort study and children’s technology laboratories. The Centre will address tensions in a contested field to inform government and non-government policy, technology innovation, and develop programs and guidelines for children, families, educators and technology developers. Read moreRead less
Multiliteracies for addressing disadvantage in senior school science. Multiliteracies for addressing disadvantage in senior school science. This project aims to develop discipline-specific pedagogies in senior physics, chemistry and biology to improve disadvantaged students’ engagement and achievement. Many students from disadvantaged backgrounds fail to develop the linguistic precision and symbolic representational dexterity needed to comprehend and communicate senior school science concepts. T ....Multiliteracies for addressing disadvantage in senior school science. Multiliteracies for addressing disadvantage in senior school science. This project aims to develop discipline-specific pedagogies in senior physics, chemistry and biology to improve disadvantaged students’ engagement and achievement. Many students from disadvantaged backgrounds fail to develop the linguistic precision and symbolic representational dexterity needed to comprehend and communicate senior school science concepts. These pedagogies will ‘infuse’ multiliteracies in senior school science to improve access to science-based pathways for these students, and enable them to understand progressively more complex scientific concepts and demonstrate this in examinations. This project is expected to improve student retention, arrest declining enrolments in senior school science, and increase young people working in science.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language. Language is central to human existence and to the flow of information. The Centre will address the most critical questions about language: How do languages evolve? How different can languages be? How do our brains acquire and process them? How can technologies deal with the complexity and enormous variability of language in its central role in human information processing? What can Australia do to increase its linguistic abilities at a time ....ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language. Language is central to human existence and to the flow of information. The Centre will address the most critical questions about language: How do languages evolve? How different can languages be? How do our brains acquire and process them? How can technologies deal with the complexity and enormous variability of language in its central role in human information processing? What can Australia do to increase its linguistic abilities at a time of increasingly multilingual demands in trade and information? The Centre will also secure language heritage, develop new language technologies, connect policy with indigenous and migrant communities, and build strategies to help 1st and 2nd language learning and those isolated by language difficulties.Read moreRead less
Modelling complex learning spaces. The growing use of digital tools and resources means that students' learning activities are no longer tied to unique physical places. Their work is distributed across increasingly complex mixtures of physical and digital spaces, which both shape and are shaped by students' activity. This project aims to identify productive ways of modelling the characteristics and uses of complex learning spaces in higher education. Evidence and models generated by the project ....Modelling complex learning spaces. The growing use of digital tools and resources means that students' learning activities are no longer tied to unique physical places. Their work is distributed across increasingly complex mixtures of physical and digital spaces, which both shape and are shaped by students' activity. This project aims to identify productive ways of modelling the characteristics and uses of complex learning spaces in higher education. Evidence and models generated by the project aim to strengthen the logic connecting the use, management and design of learning spaces. A better understanding of the relations between pedagogy, activity and space will improve the work of architects and other designers, campus managers, university teachers and students themselves.Read moreRead less
Every Day Matters: Reducing School Non-Attendance in Autistic Students. Autistic children miss one day a week of school, three times more than their peers. This significantly impacts their learning, wellbeing and later, their vocational outcomes. This project aims to identify the factors that put autistic children at increased risk of missing school and map the supports and interventions used to reduce school non-attendance. Expected outcomes include an autism-specific model of the how and why s ....Every Day Matters: Reducing School Non-Attendance in Autistic Students. Autistic children miss one day a week of school, three times more than their peers. This significantly impacts their learning, wellbeing and later, their vocational outcomes. This project aims to identify the factors that put autistic children at increased risk of missing school and map the supports and interventions used to reduce school non-attendance. Expected outcomes include an autism-specific model of the how and why school non-attendance is elevated for autistic students. It is anticipated that this model make the important step of enabling teachers and professionals to identify which autistic children are most at risk of absenteeism and select the best strategies to support a positive and beneficial return to school.Read moreRead less
The impact of urban vertical schools on students’ capability and wellbeing. Urban vertical schools are new types of schools in Australia. There are no evidence-based Australian precedents to guide designers or educators, no formal knowledge sharing processes that draw on experiences of pioneers, and little understanding of what these spaces mean for student capability and wellbeing. This evaluative case study will bring together evidence from designers, educators and students in three newly buil ....The impact of urban vertical schools on students’ capability and wellbeing. Urban vertical schools are new types of schools in Australia. There are no evidence-based Australian precedents to guide designers or educators, no formal knowledge sharing processes that draw on experiences of pioneers, and little understanding of what these spaces mean for student capability and wellbeing. This evaluative case study will bring together evidence from designers, educators and students in three newly built urban, vertical schools. Project findings will point to inclusive principles for designing and leading in physical, digital and social school spaces to maximise student wellbeing and capability. Insights into student experiences in urban, vertical school spaces will have value for infrastructure spending in all schools.Read moreRead less
Coding animated narratives as contemporary multimodal authorship in schools. This project aims to investigate a re-conceptualisation of multimodal text creation to include inter-related processes of computer programming (coding) and computational thinking, which have previously been confined to technical fields in education research. The project seeks to generate knowledge of cross-curricular teaching pedagogies and student learning of multimodal composition, coding, and computational thinking i ....Coding animated narratives as contemporary multimodal authorship in schools. This project aims to investigate a re-conceptualisation of multimodal text creation to include inter-related processes of computer programming (coding) and computational thinking, which have previously been confined to technical fields in education research. The project seeks to generate knowledge of cross-curricular teaching pedagogies and student learning of multimodal composition, coding, and computational thinking in schools. The project expects to fortify students' capabilities to participate in new forms of digital authorship, developing their capacity for innovative application of computational thinking and coding. Intended benefits include an established evidence base for strengthening English and technology curricula in Australia and internationally.Read moreRead less