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
Solving the inert knowledge problem. A central goal of education is for students to transfer what they learn to new contexts or problems. Indeed, expert reasoning is often characterised by seeing the deep structural commonalities across seemingly disparate situations. However, the knowledge students acquire is notoriously inert, tied to the specifics of the learning examples. This project aims to move towards solving 'the inert knowledge problem' by investigating how humans learn concepts define ....Solving the inert knowledge problem. A central goal of education is for students to transfer what they learn to new contexts or problems. Indeed, expert reasoning is often characterised by seeing the deep structural commonalities across seemingly disparate situations. However, the knowledge students acquire is notoriously inert, tied to the specifics of the learning examples. This project aims to move towards solving 'the inert knowledge problem' by investigating how humans learn concepts defined by abstract relational structure, and by designing educational applications that enhance the use of relational learning mechanisms in students with a wide range of cognitive abilities.Read moreRead less
Community-based STEM professional learning for teachers of middle years. This project aims to develop a novel community-based program that focuses on a museum-based, teacher professional development program which is based awareness and performance of middle year students in School Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. Improving STEM workforce readiness is critical to producing a more creative society and a leading, dynamic economy. Building STEM education capacity th ....Community-based STEM professional learning for teachers of middle years. This project aims to develop a novel community-based program that focuses on a museum-based, teacher professional development program which is based awareness and performance of middle year students in School Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. Improving STEM workforce readiness is critical to producing a more creative society and a leading, dynamic economy. Building STEM education capacity through access to professional learning and museum and STEM professional community resources is critically important for improving students’ proficiencies, attitudes, and interest in STEM. The project outcome will be to develop a STEM professional learning model that can be used to create a more skilled and educated STEM workforce. Read moreRead less
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
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.
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 numeracy outcomes for young Indigenous children through the Patterns and Early Algebra Preschool (PEAP) professional development program. The study aims to improve mathematics outcomes for young Indigenous children and advance the pedagogical content knowledge of early childhood educators and working towards closing the gap in numeracy achievements for Indigenous children. The study will add to the research literature on early algebraic thinking and mathematical reasoning.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100412
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$316,376.00
Summary
Self-regulation in children. This project aims to reconcile insights from education and cognitive psychology to develop an integrative model of self-regulation and evaluate it using a low-cost self-regulation intervention compatible with existing practices. Children with low self-regulation in the preschool years are likelier to have poorer intellectual, health, wealth and anti-social outcomes in adulthood. However, this knowledge has not yet yielded a framework for understanding self-regulatory ....Self-regulation in children. This project aims to reconcile insights from education and cognitive psychology to develop an integrative model of self-regulation and evaluate it using a low-cost self-regulation intervention compatible with existing practices. Children with low self-regulation in the preschool years are likelier to have poorer intellectual, health, wealth and anti-social outcomes in adulthood. However, this knowledge has not yet yielded a framework for understanding self-regulatory change, nor generated particularly successful methods for enacting this change. This project is expected to provide theory- and evidence-based strategies for parents, educators and governments to give young children the best possible start in life.Read moreRead less
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
Transforming children's mathematical and scientific development: a longitudinal study. An innovative program promoting young children's mathematical and scientific reasoning will be evaluated from grades one to three This study will determine whether an intervention capitalising on children's natural capacity for learning impacts their general cognitive development and problem solving skills at an optimum age.