University learning in the digital age: Investigating how students learn online. Learning in higher education has become more complex since much of the founding research 40 years ago, with online technologies increasingly used to engage a diverse university student population in student-centred learning. The proposed study aims to update our understanding of student learning to this contemporary university context. The project will focus specifically on how students interpret online tasks set by ....University learning in the digital age: Investigating how students learn online. Learning in higher education has become more complex since much of the founding research 40 years ago, with online technologies increasingly used to engage a diverse university student population in student-centred learning. The proposed study aims to update our understanding of student learning to this contemporary university context. The project will focus specifically on how students interpret online tasks set by their teachers, how they complete those tasks by tracking their activities in real-time, and what outcomes they achieve. This study will advance fundamental understanding of these inter-related processes, and provide the stimulus to change thinking about educational design, teaching practices, and support for students.Read moreRead less
Data-smart schools: enhancing the use of digital data in secondary schools. This project aims to investigate the use of digital data in schools to identify ways to improve its capture and use. Masses of digital data are generated within schools every day, but despite its potential, this data remains poorly used and understood. The project intends to work with school communities in order to develop innovative data tools and techniques that make more effective use of the data. The project will pro ....Data-smart schools: enhancing the use of digital data in secondary schools. This project aims to investigate the use of digital data in schools to identify ways to improve its capture and use. Masses of digital data are generated within schools every day, but despite its potential, this data remains poorly used and understood. The project intends to work with school communities in order to develop innovative data tools and techniques that make more effective use of the data. The project will provide new insights into the technical, informatics, organisational and social issues surrounding the (re)use of digital data in schools and the development of digital data ‘best practice’ models. This project should provide benefits in terms of improved teaching and learning, parent engagement and use of infrastructure investment.Read moreRead less
Human-centred Teamwork Analytics. This project aims to develop methods to assist the assessment and improvement of collocated teamwork, by making multimodal activity traces visible and available for computational analysis. This project expects to bridge the gap between promising sensing technologies and the dearth of tools to automatically assess teamwork. Expected outcomes include co-design and modelling methodologies for human-centred analytics that map from low-level data to higher-order cons ....Human-centred Teamwork Analytics. This project aims to develop methods to assist the assessment and improvement of collocated teamwork, by making multimodal activity traces visible and available for computational analysis. This project expects to bridge the gap between promising sensing technologies and the dearth of tools to automatically assess teamwork. Expected outcomes include co-design and modelling methodologies for human-centred analytics that map from low-level data to higher-order constructs to enable non-data science savvy users to get actionable insights into multimodal team traces. This research aims to provide significant benefits to Australia, with communication and teamwork being two of the topmost critical skills required by Australian employers.Read moreRead less
Authentic digital representation of creative works in education: addressing the challenges of digitisation and assessment. This project will investigate the digitisation and marking of portfolios for the purposes of summative assessment in the visual arts and design senior secondary school courses. The aim is to enhance moderation, compare between media and course contexts, compare methods of marking, and generally increase the authenticity of the assessment.
Data analytics-based tools and methods to enhance self-regulated learning. This project aims to develop student self-regulated learning skills by harnessing the potential of Big Data analytics. The project expects to generate new knowledge at the intersection of learning analytics, educational technology, learning sciences and teaching practice resulting from novel data collection and analysis tools and methods. The outputs are expected to include insights into metacognitive, motivational, and t ....Data analytics-based tools and methods to enhance self-regulated learning. This project aims to develop student self-regulated learning skills by harnessing the potential of Big Data analytics. The project expects to generate new knowledge at the intersection of learning analytics, educational technology, learning sciences and teaching practice resulting from novel data collection and analysis tools and methods. The outputs are expected to include insights into metacognitive, motivational, and technical issues facing analytics-based personalised feedback. The outcomes are intended to offer benefits for developing pedagogical and the design of educational technology. The outcomes can result in improved student learning outcomes in higher education to ensure graduates are prepared for the digital economy.Read moreRead less
Optimising teaching and learning with mobile-intensive pedagogies. Mobile technologies are ubiquitous in Australia but knowledge about their widespread effective application for school education is patchy. This research investigates the complex factors that promote or inhibit quality teaching and learning with mobile technologies in secondary schools. This project brings together multidisciplinary expertise to investigate mobile learning. It aims to support the development of effective teaching ....Optimising teaching and learning with mobile-intensive pedagogies. Mobile technologies are ubiquitous in Australia but knowledge about their widespread effective application for school education is patchy. This research investigates the complex factors that promote or inhibit quality teaching and learning with mobile technologies in secondary schools. This project brings together multidisciplinary expertise to investigate mobile learning. It aims to support the development of effective teaching practices and school initiatives that exploit mobile technologies to improve education outcomes in mathematics and science. The project aims to establish cutting edge instruments, validated and tested in Australian contexts, which can be adapted for future large scale work in the field of technology-enhanced learning.Read moreRead less
Measuring the effectiveness of specialist science enrichment programs. Australia faces critical problems in science education with student attitudes to science in decline and a shortage of science teachers. We also face significant problems in indigenous education. This project will determine the ability of science enrichment centres to change student attitudes and to motivate them towards science using exciting and innovative new education facilities. Results will provide valuable data to allo ....Measuring the effectiveness of specialist science enrichment programs. Australia faces critical problems in science education with student attitudes to science in decline and a shortage of science teachers. We also face significant problems in indigenous education. This project will determine the ability of science enrichment centres to change student attitudes and to motivate them towards science using exciting and innovative new education facilities. Results will provide valuable data to allow future funding priorities to be optimised.Read moreRead less
Agent-based virtual learning environments for understanding science. It is vital that students understand science given its relevance in important economic and professional areas as well as for an informed democratic citizenry. This project aims to conduct classroom-based research in which students learn content in the Australian Curriculum - Science through the use of an innovative agent-based virtual learning environment that supports authentic science inquiry activities to enhance learning o ....Agent-based virtual learning environments for understanding science. It is vital that students understand science given its relevance in important economic and professional areas as well as for an informed democratic citizenry. This project aims to conduct classroom-based research in which students learn content in the Australian Curriculum - Science through the use of an innovative agent-based virtual learning environment that supports authentic science inquiry activities to enhance learning of difficult scientific knowledge and skills. The project also aims to develop teacher professional development materials for teachers to enhance teacher capacity to use innovative pedagogies and learning technologies in Australian schools.Read moreRead less
Developing digital pedagogies in inquiry science through a cloud-based teaching and learning environment. This project will extend innovative, cloud-based teacher planning software in order to develop effective strategies for using digital resources in inquiry science. This project will work with a number of schools to investigate the development of an inquiry based digital pedagogy, and a professional learning approach utilising cloud-based, digital resources.
Acquiring physical skills: exploiting games technology to teach sign language. This project will investigate if games technology can be used to teach deaf children’s parents sign language. The learner would create a sign, the system would assess the accuracy of the sign and provide feedback to improve learning. If successful, the system would provide an inexpensive alternative to learning sign language.