Action research

Reading for pleasure has been shown to have a powerful influence on children’s learning. In our latest reader submission about learning during lockdown, Junior School Curriculum Director Vanessa Collins shares details of the ‘Just Read’ action research project to build a culture of reading at Sydney’s Queenwood School for Girls, and ignite in students a love of reading for pleasure.

Helping students to retain information is a fundamental challenge in education. Staff at Coolum State High School have partnered with researchers to investigate one promising technique for improving retention: Retrieval Practice.

For many schools, the shift to remote learning during the pandemic has led to new conversations about the possibilities of Blended Learning as a more integral aspect of regular learning and teaching programs. Today’s article looks at how a research-practice partnership is supporting four schools in Queensland to investigate this further.

Staff at St Rita’s College in Brisbane have worked with researchers to implement an academic reading skills intervention for Year 7s. The ‘Lost in Transition’ project merges evidence from the literature with research in the context of the school to meet student needs.

Translating academic research into classroom practice is traditionally a one-way relationship – from research to practice. University of Queensland colleagues Stephanie MacMahon, Jack Leggett and Annemaree Carroll share details of a collaboration with educators making it a two-way process of engagement.

When two senior Music teachers saw a need to improve the quality of student’s home practice of chosen instruments, they implemented a strategy of solitary, deliberate music practice. In consultation with the school’s Master Teacher, they developed a model aimed at improving student learning outcomes.

A key initiative of the Science of Learning Research Centre (SLRC) in 2017 has been the establishment of the SLRC Partner Schools project, involving six schools in south-east Queensland, grouped in two networked clusters.

Staff at Queensland’s Anglican Church Grammar School (better known as Churchie), have captured Year 10 reading data as part of an action research project into male students’ perceptions of their reading ability pre and post an intervention of taught reading strategies.

Following his keynote address at the Excellence in Professional Practice Conference, Professor Stephen Dinham sat down with Teacher editor Jo Earp to share advice on effective professional learning.