Gauging the value of flexible learning options for disenfranchised youth and the Australian community. Investment in flexible learning options (FLOs) for young people who have disengaged from schooling requires understanding of how they work and evidence about their economic and social value. This project will provide both through innovative and integrated methods, analysing FLO sites across three Australian states and the Northern Territory.
School retention through alternative schooling: towards a socially just approach to education. This project is concerned with how mainstream schools may become more socially just and inclusive of all young people through an analysis of alternative schools specifically designed for this purpose. Such a concern is critical for lifting school retention rates of marginalised young people and improving practices in all schools.
Improving regional secondary students' learning and well-being. Given the academic under-performance and lower life opportunities of Australian regional and rural students compared to their metropolitan counterparts, this research has the potential to make a significant social, cultural and economic contribution to the community. This research will be useful in developing an evidence-based framework to guide policy and practice in implementing an effective systematic approach to regional educati ....Improving regional secondary students' learning and well-being. Given the academic under-performance and lower life opportunities of Australian regional and rural students compared to their metropolitan counterparts, this research has the potential to make a significant social, cultural and economic contribution to the community. This research will be useful in developing an evidence-based framework to guide policy and practice in implementing an effective systematic approach to regional education and, where appropriate, other contexts. The research's economic benefit centres on gains for individuals, local communities, and the nation in enhancing regional students' academic achievements, sense of well-being and aspirations; leading to more productive citizens.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
Indigenous persistence in formal learning. This project will improve knowledge of the learning experiences of Indigenous students transiting from TAFE to university studies. The results will have significant implications for the ways Indigenous students can be supported in their studies in order to achieve better quality learning experiences as well as learning outcomes.
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
Global childhoods: Life-worlds and educational success in Australia and Asia. This project aims to investigate how everyday life-worlds of year four students (nine-ten years of age) in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore shape children’s orientations to educational success. Situated in the global cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore, the study explores connections between policy contexts, school experiences and everyday activities of children growing up in the Asian Century. Findi ....Global childhoods: Life-worlds and educational success in Australia and Asia. This project aims to investigate how everyday life-worlds of year four students (nine-ten years of age) in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore shape children’s orientations to educational success. Situated in the global cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore, the study explores connections between policy contexts, school experiences and everyday activities of children growing up in the Asian Century. Findings will advance knowledge of factors that contribute to children’s understandings of how their experiences in and out of school prepare them for futures in a global world. This will enable policy-makers, educators and parents to provide improved learning opportunities in children’s lives.Read moreRead less
Building executive function in imaginary play. This project aims to develop a sustainable, play-based program to increase the executive functions of children in the year prior to school. Executive functions (EF) are cognitive processes that control an individual’s behaviour and cognition and include processes such as working memory, inhibitory control and attention. There is evidence that EF skills are critical to a successful transition to formal learning environments and future academic achiev ....Building executive function in imaginary play. This project aims to develop a sustainable, play-based program to increase the executive functions of children in the year prior to school. Executive functions (EF) are cognitive processes that control an individual’s behaviour and cognition and include processes such as working memory, inhibitory control and attention. There is evidence that EF skills are critical to a successful transition to formal learning environments and future academic achievement, and that they are amenable to early intervention. Improving children’s EF skills in the year prior to school could produce lasting benefits across the school years, particularly for more vulnerable children. This project intends to inform professional development programs in early childhood education.Read moreRead less
Serious play: using digital games in school to promote literacy and learning in the twenty first century. Young Australian’s social and cultural experiences are increasingly digital. This project will offer leadership to schools seeking to use and create games to improve student outcomes across subject areas, and will generate new knowledge about how students and teachers approach digital games and the kinds of literacy, learning and pedagogy they entail.