A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. This project aims to determine the best and most cost-effective way to help 12–15 year olds re-engage with school when they become at-risk for dropping out, by conducting a gold-standard randomized-control trial. 20% of Australians fail to attain a Year 12 or equivalent certificate, often for preventable reasons. Dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, have psychological ....A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. This project aims to determine the best and most cost-effective way to help 12–15 year olds re-engage with school when they become at-risk for dropping out, by conducting a gold-standard randomized-control trial. 20% of Australians fail to attain a Year 12 or equivalent certificate, often for preventable reasons. Dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, have psychological, social, and health problems, and end up in prison. This project could influence implementation of programmes and policy related to youth dropout, promote youth economic, social and physical wellbeing, and decrease their chance of committing crimes and becoming a social burden.Read moreRead less
Optimising students’ academic trajectories: The role of growth (‘personal best’) goals. Too many students fail to reach their academic potential and, as a result, they risk being systematically denied a sense of academic ‘success’ and progress. Through a focus on academic growth (and ‘personal bests’), this research project traverses complex terrain to identify the role of growth goals and growth goal setting in students’ academic trajectories. It also tackles methodological challenges that have ....Optimising students’ academic trajectories: The role of growth (‘personal best’) goals. Too many students fail to reach their academic potential and, as a result, they risk being systematically denied a sense of academic ‘success’ and progress. Through a focus on academic growth (and ‘personal bests’), this research project traverses complex terrain to identify the role of growth goals and growth goal setting in students’ academic trajectories. It also tackles methodological challenges that have impeded research progress in this compelling area. Through strategic international and institutional links, the research program will identify innovative approaches to academic growth and growth goals that will significantly assist pedagogy and psychology aimed at optimising students’ academic potential.Read moreRead less
Making Australia internationally competitive: driving educational attainment by academic motivation, self-concept, engagement and aspirations. This project will extend and test predictions from motivation theory about educational choice and attainment, using multiple large national/international databases and new statistical models. This will result in better strategies to meet government targets of increasing tertiary enrolments, particularly for disadvantaged students.
New generation psychology advances in science motivation and engagement. Following alarming declines in science participation and performance at school and beyond, this project aims to harnesses educational psychology, physiological psychology, and neuro-psychology, to develop “new generation” advances in science motivation and engagement. Building on latest developments in mobile data capture in psychology, the project will identify key elements of student motivation and engagement associated w ....New generation psychology advances in science motivation and engagement. Following alarming declines in science participation and performance at school and beyond, this project aims to harnesses educational psychology, physiological psychology, and neuro-psychology, to develop “new generation” advances in science motivation and engagement. Building on latest developments in mobile data capture in psychology, the project will identify key elements of student motivation and engagement associated with outcomes in school-based scientific disciplines. With a comprehensive understanding of motivation and engagement, effective intervention to boost outcomes is possible. Enhancing the motivation and engagement that underpins research and innovation in society can enhance a nation’s competitiveness and optimise students’ potential.Read moreRead less
Giving instructional animations a helping hand. Computer-based instructional animations have not produced the positive learning outcomes that might be expected considering the advances in technology. The project will demonstrate that animations can be highly effective when learning about human movement and further enhanced by the inclusion of human gestures. It will directly investigate how learning is supported when humans observe manual actions, make gestures, or both. The project will identif ....Giving instructional animations a helping hand. Computer-based instructional animations have not produced the positive learning outcomes that might be expected considering the advances in technology. The project will demonstrate that animations can be highly effective when learning about human movement and further enhanced by the inclusion of human gestures. It will directly investigate how learning is supported when humans observe manual actions, make gestures, or both. The project will identify some key conditions under which animations may facilitate effective learning of both mechanical and human movement knowledge, and will develop principles for the design of best-practice instructional materials in e-learning environments.Read moreRead less
How many types of reasoning are there and how do they develop? This project will identify the fundamental components of human reasoning and examine how they change during the primary and junior high school years. It lays the foundation for the development of better methods for teaching children and adults how to reason.
Memory consolidation - Integrating cognitive science and neuroscience approaches to how we remember and how we forget. How can we forget what happened yesterday, but vividly remember our first kiss? Neuroscientists think the brain has a special mechanism to strengthen memories with time, but many psychologists disagree. The project aims to bring the brain and the mind closer together, using the cutting-edge combination of brain imaging and psychological modelling.
Development of cognitive functions in adult populations. Cognitive functioning has significant social, health and economic effects in the form of either benefits from improved functioning or costs due to cognitive decline. In the latter regard, an aging population presents major challenges to society. The proposed project will investigate the effects of different training regimes on cognition and a range of related outcomes, including transfer of skills, personality change and social functioning ....Development of cognitive functions in adult populations. Cognitive functioning has significant social, health and economic effects in the form of either benefits from improved functioning or costs due to cognitive decline. In the latter regard, an aging population presents major challenges to society. The proposed project will investigate the effects of different training regimes on cognition and a range of related outcomes, including transfer of skills, personality change and social functioning, on a highly innovative brain training App being developed in collaboration with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Read moreRead less
The seeds of literacy in infancy: empirical specification of the acoustic determinants of language acquisition. Reading is one of the most difficult skills we learn, and while the process is largely forgotten by adults, any minor difficulty can have lasting effects. This project will follow speech, vocabulary and reading in infants at or not at risk for dyslexia from six months to five years with implications for parent-child interaction and language delay intervention.
Attracting and sustaining engaged science and mathematics teachers. Attracting and sustaining engaged science and mathematics teachers. This project will examine what attracts or deters potential, future and practising teachers of the sciences and mathematics, by focusing on current teachers, school and university students in Queensland. Promises of a technological revolution and rapid economic development will be hollow if students do not study sciences and mathematics, and there are too few qu ....Attracting and sustaining engaged science and mathematics teachers. Attracting and sustaining engaged science and mathematics teachers. This project will examine what attracts or deters potential, future and practising teachers of the sciences and mathematics, by focusing on current teachers, school and university students in Queensland. Promises of a technological revolution and rapid economic development will be hollow if students do not study sciences and mathematics, and there are too few qualified teachers. This project will identify where to intervene in the science and mathematics teacher supply pipeline, and policy levers to attract and sustain quality teachers. The project is expected to uncover what attracts or deters teachers of science and mathematics—disciplines essential to industry innovation, a skilled workforce and productivity growth.Read moreRead less