Funded STEM Research Projects

Designing and Evaluating Innovative Mobile Pedagogies – DEIMP (2018- 2020)

Researchers: Associate Professor Matthew Kearney, Professor Sandy Schuck and Professor Peter Aubusson

Funding body:  Erasmus+ grant. The STEM Education Futures Research Centre is part of a  consortium of universities across 5 countries.

This project, led by Professor Kevin Burden, Hull University in UK, aims to strengthen the professional profile of both teacher educators and teachers in schools by enhancing their capacity to use digital technologies (mobile devices) in ways that are innovative and promote new teaching methods and pedagogies across both sectors. It seeks to develop resources and tools (e.g. a mobile app) that will enable teacher educators, trainee teachers and practising teachers to work more effectively together as part of a continuum in order to research and evaluate these innovations. Further, it aims to equip decision and policy makers with more reliable evidence to support them in developing and implementing policy directives to encourage greater and more effective use of mobile technologies as tools for learning. 

Visit the website: http://www.deimpeu.com/

Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship: The Steampunk Girls Project (2018-2019)

Researchers: Maya Marcus, Associate Professor Wan Ng, Monique Potts, Andrew Connolly

Funding body: The Australian Government/Business     

The STEAMpunk Girls project is a collaborative effort between the STEM Education Futures Research Centre, the Innovation & Entrepreneurship and the Equity & Diversity Units at UTS. The project is aimed at increasing female students' (Year 7-10) interest in STEAM and aspiration for study and career pathways in these areas. To encourage a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) and entrepreneurial mindset the university will run a program with multiple touchpoints where students identify a problem in their community, learn entrepreneurial methods, and develop a STEAM-based solution. It will be supported by industry partnerships and professional development for participating teachers. The research will investigate the effectiveness of the program and impact it has on teachers and female students’ learning of STEM subjects and orientation towards STEM careers. 

K-2 Literacy and Numeracy Action Plan Phase 2 (2018-2021)

Researchers: Dr Andy Goodall, Professor Peter Aubusson, Dr Don Carter, Associate Professor John Buchanan, Dr Kimberley Pressick-Kilborn.

Funding body: NSW Department of Education
 
The cross-faculty project is investigating the ways in which and extent to which schools are achieving the Action Plan’s program’s stated aims and its effectiveness in terms of improved literacy and numeracy capabilities. More than 660 NSW primary schools are funded to participate (532 public, 99 Catholic and 38 Independent). The Program operates in years K-2. Four features of the Action Plan are being examined, specifically: Instructional Leadership (led/undertaken by staff members appointed with this title/for this purpose); Diagnostic assessment; Differentiated teaching, according to students’ needs and abilities, and; Tiered interventions, in response to students’ needs and abilities.

Designing effective learning experiences: Investigating novice and expert teachers’ design processes (2014 – 2018)

Researcher: Professor Lori Lockyer 

Funding body: Australian Research Council (ARC Discovery Projects)

Quality teaching leads to quality learning outcomes for students. Importantly, it is also being recognised that primary school teachers design in an increasingly complex environment. The project aims to characterise and identify differences in how teachers approach design; capture best-practice in design in a way that can be shared with others; and, investigate how those best-practice examples can stimulate other teachers’ design process. It is hoped this understanding of teachers’ design processes will enhance initial teacher preparation and ongoing teacher professional learning.

Maths Inside: Highlighting the role of mathematics (2014-2018)

Researchers: Dr Mary Coupland, Dr Marco Angelini, Associate Professor Anne Prescott and Professor Sandy Schuck

Funding body: The Australian Government under the Australian Maths and Science Partnerships Program.     

Centre members in a cross-Faculty team at UTS (Faculty of Arts and Social Science and Faculty of Science) have collaborated with CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) and AAMT (The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers) to plan this $1.9 million project, which addresses the urgent need for more engagement in mathematics (and science) by Australian students.  The key work of the project is the development of Case Studies on the contributions of CSIRO scientists, prepared by professional scientific communicators as videos. Linked to these videos, the project produces teaching and learning materials that are classroom ready, referenced to the Australian Curriculum (Years 8-12), and designed to be engaging and interactive.

Workshops are being held around the country to promote the materials developed, and they will also be available on a web platform to be developed by AAMT as a repository for this and other items for teacher professional learning. Existing networks in schools are being used to facilitate the work of the project. In addition, “Pathways to Uni Maths” is an online resource for students and teachers. 

Visit the website: https://mathsinside.uts.edu.au/

STEM/STEAM – Part 2 - High possibility classrooms coaches research study (2017-2018)

Researcher: Dr Jane Hunter

Funding body: NSW Department of Education

The aim of this study is to investigate how a team of High Possibility Classrooms (HPC) coaches in six NSW schools can support STEM/STEAM learning of the teachers they work with in K-6 settings. Its focus is to build HPC capacity in K-6 lead teachers for STEM/STEAM through a design-based approach to professional learning using action learning cycles/communities of practice in classrooms alongside the collection of student data. It seeks to understand how HPC coaches who collect learning artefacts that are determined by each school context can use this formative feedback to demonstrate student learning in the STEM/STEAM disciplines.

Evaluation of Science by Doing Stage 4 (2017-2018)

Researchers: Professor Peter Aubusson, A/Professor Wan Ng, Dr Jennifer Fergusson, Dr Kimberley Pressick-Kilborn, Dr Andy Goodall and Dr Tracey-Ann Palmer 

Funding body: The Australian Academy of Science

Science by Doing (https://www.sciencebydoing.edu.au/) is a comprehensive online science program for Years 7 to 10. It is supported by award winning professional learning modules and a research-based professional learning approach. The resources are available free to all Australian students and teachers, with the program providing a practical way of implementing the Australian Curriculum: Science. The purpose of Science by Doing is to improve science learning by better engaging high school students through a guided inquiry approach; and by supporting teachers with relevant resources using innovative technology. The research involves evaluation of Stage 4 of the Science by Doing (SbD) program, using a mixed methods approach, to examine the effectiveness of implementation and impact of SbD units within schools. The four areas investigated are: Effectiveness, Appropriateness, Efficiency and Governance.

Download the Science by Doing full report

Primary Connections – Linking Science with Literacy  (2017-2018)

Researchers: Professor Peter Aubusson, A/Professor Paul Burke, Dr Kimberley Pressick-Kilborn, Dr Tracey-Ann Palmer, Associate Professor Wan Ng, Dr Andy Goodall, Dr Jennifer Fergusson and Professor Keith Skamp 

Funding body: The Australian Academy of Science

Primary Connections: linking science with literacy is an innovative, inquiry-based approach for the teaching and learning of science and the literacies of science in primary schools.  It is an initiative of the Australian Academy of Science and aims to: improve teaching and student learning outcomes in science and the literacies of science within primary schools, raise primary school students' interest and engagement in learning about science, and improve the skills and confidence of primary teachers to teach science through inquiry. The research and evaluation project investigates the impact of the program more broadly in order to enable program improvement and provide a summative evaluation of the work completed under the current funding.

Visit the website: https://primaryconnections.org.au/

Examining STEM practitioners in the teaching profession: what are their enablers and barriers? (2018)

Researcher: Dr Meera Varadharajan

Funding body: Australian Teacher Education Association

The project examines the value and contribution of mathematics and science teachers who have been working as scientists and mathematicians in the field prior to joining the teaching profession. This is significant because a better understanding of this growing cohort of teachers will inform us of ways to attract the best science and mathematics practitioners to be teachers. Teacher education providers and schools will take up the research to find innovative recruitment methods and better support mechanisms to harness the capacities of these individuals. It will provide vital information to Australia’s STEM future through building a strong, competent and quality teacher workforce.  

Optimising teaching and learning with mobile-intensive pedagogies (2015-2017)

Researchers: Professor Peter Aubusson, Professor Sandy Schuck, Professor Didar Zowghi, Associate Professor Matthew Kearney, Associate Professor Paul Burke and Professor Theo van Leeuwen

Funding body: The Australian Research Council Discovery program. 

The research investigates the complex factors that promote or inhibit quality teaching and learning with mobile technologies in secondary schools. This project brings together multidisciplinary expertise to investigate mobile learning. It will support the development of effective teaching practices and school initiatives that exploit mobile technologies to improve education outcomes in mathematics and science. The project will establish cutting-edge instruments, validated and tested in Australian contexts, which can be adapted for future large scale work in the field of technology-enhanced learning. 

Visit the webpage: Harnessing mobile technologies in STEM teaching

Primary Science and Technology: Towards richer teaching and learning (2015-2016)

Researchers: Professor Peter Aubusson, Professor Sandy Schuck, A/Professor Wan Ng, Associate Professor Paul Burke, Dr Kimberley Pressick-Kilborn and Dr Tracey-Ann Palmer.

Funding body: Association of Independent Schools of New South Wales (AISNSW)

The quality of science and technology education in primary schools varies widely based on numerous factors, both teacher and school derived. The research investigates to identify those factors most instrumental in influencing choice of science and technology instruction and integration in NSW primary schools. The research draws on cutting-edge methodologies that have been derived from leading business and economic research. Factors influencing teacher decision making in primary science and technology will be investigated through the completion of a literature review and case study research process. This research will provide an in depth investigation of past and current literature, building cumulative knowledge into teacher choice in science and technology education. The Choice Study component of the research involves Factor identification, Best-Worst Scaling Study (BWS) & Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE).

Reports:

• Quality learning and teaching in primary science and technology literature review
• Quality learning and teaching in primary science and technology: Case study report
• Quality learning and teaching in primary science and technology: DCE report