Investigating the effectiveness of teacher education for early career teachers in diverse settings: a longitudinal study. This project investigates the effectiveness of teacher education programs in Victoria and Queensland in preparing teachers for the variety of school settings in which they begin their careers. The findings will inform state and national policy, as well as the work of professional regulation authorities and teacher education providers.
Regional Australia' skills shortages and high-skill refugees' employment . Regional Australia loses to cities thousands of professional and trade-related people whose skills cannot be replaced. Focusing on small and medium-size enterprises producing food and beverages, this project aims to determine whether refugee employment (i) is a strategic resource (ii) can alleviate these chronic regional skill shortages, and (iii) can be integrated in immigration policy. In doing so, it will for the firs ....Regional Australia' skills shortages and high-skill refugees' employment . Regional Australia loses to cities thousands of professional and trade-related people whose skills cannot be replaced. Focusing on small and medium-size enterprises producing food and beverages, this project aims to determine whether refugee employment (i) is a strategic resource (ii) can alleviate these chronic regional skill shortages, and (iii) can be integrated in immigration policy. In doing so, it will for the first time provide critical empirical evidence on the possible need to separate policy measures aimed at rural vs. urban employers. The outcomes will contribute to reducing the problem of critical skill shortages and wastage at once and do so with an eye to the needs to rural Australia – a key driver of the country’s exports. Read moreRead less
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
Career change teachers: Addressing teacher shortages in Australia . Australia is facing a teacher shortage crisis. Consequently, there have been concerted efforts by governments to attract people into teaching from other sections of the workforce. However, career change teachers often do not stay longer than five years in the profession. There is little evidence on how their retention can be enhanced. This project aims to better understand the differing motivations and experiences of these teach ....Career change teachers: Addressing teacher shortages in Australia . Australia is facing a teacher shortage crisis. Consequently, there have been concerted efforts by governments to attract people into teaching from other sections of the workforce. However, career change teachers often do not stay longer than five years in the profession. There is little evidence on how their retention can be enhanced. This project aims to better understand the differing motivations and experiences of these teachers from diverse backgrounds, and to determine how they can be better prepared and supported through their early years of teaching. A clear benefit of this project will be the longer term success for career change teachers and their schools and will ensure young people are not disadvantaged by high teacher turnover. Read moreRead less
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.
Incentivising On Country Aboriginal Employment: Anangu Futures. . This project aims to investigate the changing face of cultural tourism in central Australia and examine pathways towards sustainable aboriginal employment in and around Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The project is significant because it brings together Aboriginal community members, industry and government stakeholders to identify micro-business opportunities, youth training initiatives, better relations across cultural divides, ....Incentivising On Country Aboriginal Employment: Anangu Futures. . This project aims to investigate the changing face of cultural tourism in central Australia and examine pathways towards sustainable aboriginal employment in and around Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The project is significant because it brings together Aboriginal community members, industry and government stakeholders to identify micro-business opportunities, youth training initiatives, better relations across cultural divides, and the economic value of Aboriginal knowledge. Outcomes include a model for sustainable Aboriginal employment in remote and very remote contexts, and the development of culturally relevant and sustainable governing guidelines for regional investment. Benefits include more sustainable jobs for Aboriginal people.Read moreRead less
Artificial intelligence in education: Democratising policy. The rapid introduction of artificial intelligence into education is occurring with inadequate policy support. Additionally, there is a lack of stakeholder input into decisions about the use of AI in education. Utilising social science and data science approaches, this project aims to democratise policy about AI in education by building tools to monitor policies, and developing collaborative policy making methods. The expected outcomes i ....Artificial intelligence in education: Democratising policy. The rapid introduction of artificial intelligence into education is occurring with inadequate policy support. Additionally, there is a lack of stakeholder input into decisions about the use of AI in education. Utilising social science and data science approaches, this project aims to democratise policy about AI in education by building tools to monitor policies, and developing collaborative policy making methods. The expected outcomes include publicly available policy resources to anticipate, and respond to, the role of AI in education, and participatory frameworks for policy making. The benefits include informed stakeholder engagement, and concrete policy recommendations that are globally relevant and adaptable to the Australian context.Read moreRead less
Multi-resolution situation recognition for urban-aware smart assistant. This project aims to develop a situation recognition framework to recognise and anticipate unforeseen emerging situations, such as schedule changes, incidents, and disruptions in an urban environment. The project will address a significant knowledge gap by capturing and modelling unpredictability in human mobility and work routines. The outcome will be a situation recognition framework that can be applied at the individual, ....Multi-resolution situation recognition for urban-aware smart assistant. This project aims to develop a situation recognition framework to recognise and anticipate unforeseen emerging situations, such as schedule changes, incidents, and disruptions in an urban environment. The project will address a significant knowledge gap by capturing and modelling unpredictability in human mobility and work routines. The outcome will be a situation recognition framework that can be applied at the individual, social group, and urban level, and at multiple locations and time scales. This should provide users with timely notifications and recommendations to resume their activities and routines. The expected benefits will be far-ranging and adaptable to many domains, from personal smart assistants to trip planning and emergency services.Read moreRead less
Improving children's language, literacy and mental health: evaluating the impact of the classroom promotion of oral language (CPOL) approach. As spoken communication and literacy are major influences on children's developmental pathways and life success, this project will determine whether improving teacher knowledge and practice relating to teaching oral language improves primary school students' achievements in oral language and literacy, and improves their social and emotional wellbeing.
Exploring mathematical sequences of connected cumulative challenging tasks. This project aims to enhance the mathematics outcomes of Australian students by researching teaching approaches that utilise sequences of cognitively challenging tasks that build connections between key mathematical ideas whilst developing depth, flexibility and transfer of knowledge. The project expects to build new understandings in the ways in which mathematics is learned by 5-8 year-olds and will provide mathematics ....Exploring mathematical sequences of connected cumulative challenging tasks. This project aims to enhance the mathematics outcomes of Australian students by researching teaching approaches that utilise sequences of cognitively challenging tasks that build connections between key mathematical ideas whilst developing depth, flexibility and transfer of knowledge. The project expects to build new understandings in the ways in which mathematics is learned by 5-8 year-olds and will provide mathematics leaders and teachers with the strategies and tools to improve student learning. Outcomes include a series of empirically-tested sequences of challenging tasks for use by all education sectors, new approaches to teacher learning and improved student mathematics learning that will benefit Australia's social and economic needs.Read moreRead less