Unravelling early self-regulation: A longitudinal study. National data show persistent issues in Australian children's social-emotional vulnerability. Research shows we have had limited success shifting these trajectories through current education and intervention efforts. In short, we understand enough about self-regulation to establish it as a priority target in early childhood, yet not enough to meaningfully alter current trajectories. This project will develop a ‘big picture’ theory of child ....Unravelling early self-regulation: A longitudinal study. National data show persistent issues in Australian children's social-emotional vulnerability. Research shows we have had limited success shifting these trajectories through current education and intervention efforts. In short, we understand enough about self-regulation to establish it as a priority target in early childhood, yet not enough to meaningfully alter current trajectories. This project will develop a ‘big picture’ theory of children’s self-regulation abilities and change, supported by Australia’s first longitudinal study of early self-regulation, from preschool into early primary school (ages 4 to 6). This robust theory of change is expected to better position ongoing education and intervention efforts to succeed.Read moreRead less
Education policy, mobility and Artificial Intelligence. This project aims to contribute to emerging responses to the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into education. Artificial Intelligence is an increasingly common part of contemporary life, but AI is being introduced into education systems and schools much faster than research on its effects and guidelines on its use. This project will investigate how the use of AI creates new governance connections between education systems and te ....Education policy, mobility and Artificial Intelligence. This project aims to contribute to emerging responses to the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into education. Artificial Intelligence is an increasingly common part of contemporary life, but AI is being introduced into education systems and schools much faster than research on its effects and guidelines on its use. This project will investigate how the use of AI creates new governance connections between education systems and technology companies. The project expects to provide scholars, industry and end-users with knowledge about the opportunities and risks of AI in education.
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School retention and second chance schooling. This project is concerned with ensuring that students who experience systemic disadvantage are not excluded from the benefits of a formal education. It provides an account and critique of the growth of second chance schooling options catering to such students in both Australia and the UK.
Getting an Early Start to aspirations: Understanding how to promote educational futures in early childhood. Children from low socio-economic status (LSES) backgrounds are three times less likely to attend university than their high socio-economic status peers. For families without experience of higher education it is difficult to know how to encourage young children's aspiration for educational futures. This project aims to improve aspirations for educational futures in LSES early childhood sett ....Getting an Early Start to aspirations: Understanding how to promote educational futures in early childhood. Children from low socio-economic status (LSES) backgrounds are three times less likely to attend university than their high socio-economic status peers. For families without experience of higher education it is difficult to know how to encourage young children's aspiration for educational futures. This project aims to improve aspirations for educational futures in LSES early childhood settings. A social marketing intervention targeting parents, children and early childhood educators will be developed and longitudinal interviews will be conducted to understand the development of aspirations by LSES families with young children. The project will produce a unique 'education promotion' strategy for early childhood.Read moreRead less
Academic Buoyancy and Academic Resilience: New Approaches to Examining and Understanding Adversity and Setback in the Academic Domain. Although Federal & State/Territory governments inject millions of dollars into schools, multitudes of students fall short of their academic potential due to an inability to deal with academic adversity. Essentially, these students are not academically buoyant or resilient. This diminishes their personal capacity through life & ultimately Australia's capacity to c ....Academic Buoyancy and Academic Resilience: New Approaches to Examining and Understanding Adversity and Setback in the Academic Domain. Although Federal & State/Territory governments inject millions of dollars into schools, multitudes of students fall short of their academic potential due to an inability to deal with academic adversity. Essentially, these students are not academically buoyant or resilient. This diminishes their personal capacity through life & ultimately Australia's capacity to compete globally. The proposed Research Program conducts a comprehensive analysis of academic buoyancy & resilience & the attributes pivotal to them. In so doing, it seeks to promote & maintain young people's good academic health. According to Australian authorities (eg. Australian Bureau of Statistics, The Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs), young people's academic health is vital to our nation's economic, cultural, & social success.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
Investigating the effects and maximising the benefits of increased physical activity and reduced sedentary behaviour on wellbeing in youth. Lack of physical activity and the time that young people spend sedentary and alone staring into television and computer screens, are major public health issues. This project aims to explore how changes in physical activity and sedentary behaviour might influence health and wellbeing in young Australians. It will also involve the evaluation of an innovative s ....Investigating the effects and maximising the benefits of increased physical activity and reduced sedentary behaviour on wellbeing in youth. Lack of physical activity and the time that young people spend sedentary and alone staring into television and computer screens, are major public health issues. This project aims to explore how changes in physical activity and sedentary behaviour might influence health and wellbeing in young Australians. It will also involve the evaluation of an innovative school-based intervention targeting these outcomes. This project has the potential to bring physical and mental health benefits to current and future Australians.Read moreRead less
Parent and community relations in Australian schooling, 1940s-2010s: expertise and authority, reform and crisis. This project undertakes the first national history of parent-school-community relations in Australia. Examining public, Catholic and independent school sectors, it combines a cultural history of transformations in school parenting with a policy history of school-community engagement, over a period characterised by contestations between schools and parents about whose expertise and aut ....Parent and community relations in Australian schooling, 1940s-2010s: expertise and authority, reform and crisis. This project undertakes the first national history of parent-school-community relations in Australia. Examining public, Catholic and independent school sectors, it combines a cultural history of transformations in school parenting with a policy history of school-community engagement, over a period characterised by contestations between schools and parents about whose expertise and authority prevails. By documenting the history of the “good” educational parent and the “good” community-aware school and tracking historical and contemporary shifts and variations in the meanings of ‘community’ and ‘parent’, this project aims to inform current policy and practice in parent involvement, community engagement and public school devolution.Read moreRead less
Speaking my language: International speech acquisition in Australia. It is important to differentiate between children who have communication impairment (difficulty learning all languages) from those who only have difficulty learning subsequent language(s). Communication impairment in multilingual children is both undiagnosed and over-diagnosed due to lack of culturally-sensitive measurement tools. Early intervention can ameliorate communication impairment in children and can reduce subsequent e ....Speaking my language: International speech acquisition in Australia. It is important to differentiate between children who have communication impairment (difficulty learning all languages) from those who only have difficulty learning subsequent language(s). Communication impairment in multilingual children is both undiagnosed and over-diagnosed due to lack of culturally-sensitive measurement tools. Early intervention can ameliorate communication impairment in children and can reduce subsequent educational, social and occupational outcomes of untreated communication impairment. By working with people around the world, this Fellowship will result in the development of the International Speech Assessment designed to differentially identify children and to specify holistic early intervention goals.Read moreRead less
Positive Computing: The design of technologies that support psychological wellbeing. Designing future technology to foster psychological wellbeing has the potential to affect population-wide positive change. The design of software like apps or social media, can impact things like cyber-bullying, depression, or even foster resilience. This project aims to connect experts across multiple disciplines (psychology, technology and policy) to develop pioneering methods, knowledge, and strategies that w ....Positive Computing: The design of technologies that support psychological wellbeing. Designing future technology to foster psychological wellbeing has the potential to affect population-wide positive change. The design of software like apps or social media, can impact things like cyber-bullying, depression, or even foster resilience. This project aims to connect experts across multiple disciplines (psychology, technology and policy) to develop pioneering methods, knowledge, and strategies that will allow future technologies to play an active role in improving health, performance, and quality of life for all Australians, through research-based design for wellbeing. In doing so, Australia will lead the way on the technological front in a growing global initiative to improve the wellbeing of nations.Read moreRead less