Faculty of Education - Research Publications
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ItemDeveloping teachers’ spatial competency: Professional learning in a Singapore context.( 2023-10-04)Significant investment in school infrastructure needs to be accompanied with effective professional learning and development of teachers to develop their spatial competency. These spatialised professional learning practices are critical for teachers to understand and use the affordances of flexible and agile design features that are increasingly being used in schools all over the world. Research has shown that this is a significant gap as schools and school systems focus on the school built without due consideration to the professional learning needs of teachers.The collaborative project between the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne and the National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University investigated the impact of a spatialised professional learning pilot program in one secondary school in Singapore. This study draws on an in-depth case study approach of the pedagogical and spatial practices of three teachers. Using quantitative and qualitative data from teacher and student surveys, observations and semi-structured interviews, this report provides critical perspectives on the impact of the professional learning program on their teaching practice, efficacy and mind frames.In summary, the professional learning program helped teachers become more aware of how the physical space can shape the learning experiences of students. However, they also noted challenges, such as a lack of suitable classrooms and furniture, class size, and heavy curriculum, which restricts them from using the affordances of the physical space as part of their pedagogical practice. The report concludes by discussing three practical implications for future practice: (1) the importance of providing a range of diverse furniture options in flexible and agile learning environments, (2) the inclusion of teacher and student voice in the design of learning spaces, and (3) the significance of future-focused spatialised professional learning and development practices. These provocations for future practice, while pertinent to the Singaporean context, can also be read with broader relevance to other educational systems and schools.
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ItemThe Othello Theatre in Education Project: Fostering creativity and wellbeing in the face of high levels of violence against women.(Creativity and Wellbeing Hallmark Research Initiative (CAWRI), 2022-12-20)This project included a collaborative team from education, theatre and performance, and feminist and cultural studies. Building on pilot research in criminology, it looks at how theatre and interdisciplinary research can improve the wellbeing of young people in a climate of widespread violence against women. The project used a research-creation approach to examine how the play ‘Othello on Trial’: • Deploys theatre-based techniques that acknowledge diversity in the classroom • Queries assumptions about Shakespeare’s universality and colour-blindness. The project included performances informed by the research team’s collective practice and a symposium for invited stakeholders in the Victorian education sector. These events helped assess the project’s potential for inclusion in school-based curricula, and show the valuable contribution theatre can make to young people’s creativity, critical thinking and wellbeing. Resulting research data and resources will form a digital study to ensure the project’s longevity. This can be used by schools and policymakers in Australia and internationally. Note: Project outcomes reflect study adjustments to account for COVID-19 restrictions.
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ItemExperiences of higher education for regional, rural and remote youth in a metropolitan university( 2023-07-14)In this research report we explore how youth from regional, rural and remote (RRR) areas experience higher education in a metropolitan institution. We are interested in their university experience, how it is shaped by the institution, as well as how students’ rural subjectivity and identity fits, adapts or is challenged in this new environment. Rather than focusing on issues of learning and academic progression, which are more commonly found in the existing literature, we approach RRR students’ university experience from the standpoints of welfare and their subjective experiences of feeling connected, or not, to their new environment. As they move to a metropolitan university, RRR young people are required to live away from their home and need to construct new spaces of sociality with other students and the university community. We examine the identity work that RRR young people, some of them also from a low socio-economic status background, have to do to negotiate new institutional values, norms and discourses, and social relationships.
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ItemConsultation for the 2023 GEM Report on Technology and Education with a focus on the Asia-Pacific Region(Monash University, 2023)This paper details the outcomes of an online panel discussion held for the 2023 GEM Report on 1st June 2022, hosted by Monash Education’s Digital Education Research Group. It was one of a series of consultations held around the world throughout 2021 and 2022 that brought together stakeholders from academia, industry, education systems, and government. The paper outlines the recurring themes, issues and points of contention that emerged over the 90-minute discussion, all of which will be directly relevant to the 2023 GEM Report.
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ItemThe 2022 Sophia Program(University of Melbourne, 2023)The Sophia Program is a one year professional learning program established by Sydney Catholic Schools in collaboration with the University of Melbourne. The professional learning program is unique, in that it not only involves the acquisition of knowledge and theory of school learning environments but also action-oriented evidence-based research within a professional learning community where groups of educators work collaboratively at the school- and system-level to improve student outcomes. Thirty five participants from six Sydney Catholic Schools participated in the 2022 program. This report provides a summary of aggregated findings around teacher efficacy, teacher mind frames, student learning and student engagement, perceptions of students on the prototype learning environments and furniture, as well as overall evaluation of the program by participants in the inaugural cohort. Lessons learnt from the Sophia Program have found seven important characteristics of effective professional learning. In summary, effective professional learning is one that is: ● contextualised, i.e. aligned with school goals, priorities and values, and addresses the learning needs of staff and students. ● includes the engagement of a strong leader with a committed group of educators. ● is longer in duration, reinforced over a longer period of time. ● includes establishing a prototype that enables educators and students to test and evaluate both design and pedagogy. ● includes multiple forms of active learning. ● includes forms of action research that enable evidence-based improvements. ● can be delivered virtually and face-to-face. In essence, the world-first Sophia program illustrates what a high-quality professional learning could look like—one that is ongoing, connected to both content knowledge and teacher practice, incorporates active learning and research-based practices, and encourages networking, collaboration, mentoring and time for practice, feedback, and reflection. The report concludes with directions for future practice that provides important school- and system-level implications.
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ItemFurniture For Engagement(University of Melbourne, 2023-02-02)The aim of the study was to explore the impact of furniture and spatial settings on teachers and students. Drawing on a case study action research approach involving surveys, two primary schools (Frangipani and Jasmine Primary School) within the Sydney Catholic Schools were involved as case study sites. This report provides a summary of the findings of the impact of furniture and spatial settings on teacher efficacy, teacher mind frames, student learning and student engagement as well as perceptions of students on the furniture and spatial settings. In summary, teachers’ perceptions of their mind frames, student learning and engagement increased after the introduction of furniture in the prototype learning environment. For one teacher, the perception of their efficacy did not improve after the implementation of the prototype space and furniture. In terms of students’ perceptions of the furniture, a large proportion of students agreed that they enjoyed learning and are more motivated to learn because of the new furniture. At Jasmine Primary School, a fifth of students felt that they were not motivated to learn because of the new furniture. Further in-depth study is required to find out the underlying reasons for this. Key themes that emerged from the qualitative data on the furniture and spatial settings focus on characteristics of furniture that afforded comfort, improved concentration and auditory qualities, supported collaboration, and capacity for choice. These are important considerations to drive decisions in school designs and furniture purchases. The importance of good furniture in a learning space cannot be underestimated. New learning environments and furniture demand and create new possibilities for teacher practices and student learning. The findings of the study, whilst limited in its scale, provides three crucial considerations relating to the importance of prototyping, professional learning and longitudinal data. These carry ramifications for wider understanding and future research. Future inquiry in these three key areas can provide the much-needed evidence to support schools’ transition into new learning environments.
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ItemA student-centred approach: Understanding higher education pathways through co-design(National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education, Curtin University, 2022-12-07)This report summarises key research findings and recommendations of a 2019–20 National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE) funded project entitled, “A student-centred approach: understanding higher education pathways through co-design”. Through the project, we worked closely with RRR stakeholders, including students, school staff (e.g., teachers, principals, career practitioners), and carers (e.g., parents, guardians) to understand the barriers and motivations around postsecondary pathways and careers advice. The project team utilised a participatory design methodology that integrated stakeholder workshops to uncover participants’ perceptions, experiences, and ideas on what resources or interventions could help to inform students’ decision-making in postsecondary educational pathways and careers. Our workshops used a series of scaffolded activities aimed to generate user ideas such as mind maps, role-playing, and storyboarding that helped stakeholders reflect and communicate to the research team.
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ItemInnovative Learning Environments and Teacher Change: Final Research Findings(Innovative Learning Environments & Teacher Change, LEaRN, and the University of Melbourne., 2022-11-01)At the beginning of ILETC a clear mandate existed in government and academic conversations for these ‘innovative learning environments (ILEs) to have a primary aim of fostering students creative and critical thinking, and communicative and collaborative practices; this often was embedded in ‘21st Century Learning’ ambitions. There existed, however, a worrying paucity of quality research to act as a baseline for understanding this phenomenon. For this reason, ILETC adopted an exploratory design in seeking to document correlation between ‘good’ teacher use of ILEs and high levels of student deep learning.
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ItemDeveloping an impact framework for Science Gallery Network: Final report(University of Melbourne, 2022)The aim of this project was to develop an impact framework for the Science Gallery Network (SGN). This work was commissioned by the Science Gallery International (SGI). The SGN has eight member organisations across four continents: Dublin, London, Melbourne, Bengaluru, Detroit, Rotterdam, Atlanta and Berlin. Whilst the network consistently sees unprecedented levels of accomplishment by its members, a testimony to their capacity, innovation and vision, the SGN does not have a systematic way to measure and monitor this impact. An impact framework that can assist with understanding and reporting the value of this impact will provide important recognition that the SGN has achieved what it sets out to do— bringing science, art, technology and design together to deliver world-class educational and cultural experiences for young people. This report details the robust consultation approach that was undertaken by the University of Melbourne’s project team—one that included a desktop review, focus group discussions, surveys and interviews—to ensure multiple perspectives were gathered on what could be considered a multi-faceted concept. The desktop review provided a thorough review and an environmental scan of the impact literature and its measurement. In addition, the focus group discussions and interviews provided a rich understanding of what ‘good impact’ means for the SGN and the implications of this to the measurement of impact outcomes. Five key recommendations are provided and summarised. Note that these key recommendations should be taken as a point of departure for further in-depth consultation throughout the wider SGN.
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