Evidence-based practice

In Creating Trauma-Informed, Strengths-Based Classrooms, Dr Tom Brunzell and Dr Jacolyn Norrish share what they’ve learned about working with students who present unmet learning needs in the classroom, including research, theory and lots of practical tools and strategies for educators to use and adapt to their own context.

Findings from an action research project in three West Australian schools suggest the use of quality mentor texts when explicitly teaching how to write narratives can improve students’ storytelling ability. Ron Gorman and Dr Sandy Heldsinger share more details about the teaching and assessment strategies used, and samples of student writing.

Dr Karen Maras, from the University of New South Wales, has been presenting on the opening day of ACER’s Research Conference 2021. In this Q&A with Teacher she talks about student learning progressions in visual arts, and shares some examples of how their conceptions of art change with age.

In education research, an ‘effect size’ has traditionally been used to sell the promise of improved outcomes, for both teachers and students, in the lucrative professional development market. However, critiquing the quality of research is more important than relying on a single measure, writes Dr Drew Miller.

Professor Dianne Siemon will be delivering a Keynote address at this year’s ACER Research Conference. In this Q&A, she expands on her Keynote, ‘Excellent progress for all – a function of a year level curriculum or evidence-based learning progressions?’

At Skillset Senior College, a senior secondary school educating young people experiencing barriers to schooling, Dr Martin Hughes has been investigating the efficacy of the wellbeing and mental health strategies they have in place. Here, he shares more about his research and some of the early findings.

Ahead of ACER’s Research Conference next month, we sat down with Professor Rich Lehrer from Vanderbilt University to discuss his research that explores science and mathematics education for elementary school students in the US. He also gives listeners a taste of what he’ll be sharing at the conference and why he decided to name his keynote address ‘Accountable Assessment’.

‘Computer adaptive tests offer a glimpse into the future of learning, the curriculum and assessment.’ In his new column for Teacher, Professor Geoff Masters AO discusses the role of adaptive tests in challenging traditional achievement tests, and why they provide a more accurate estimate of the point an individual has reached in their learning, regardless of their age or year level.

The research-based reading group #edureading brings teachers and academics together on Twitter to engage with research. In today’s article, Victorian teacher Steven Kolber and researchers Dr Keith Heggart and Dr Sandy Nicoll explain why the group was formed, and how it has helped educators contribute to educational research in a meaningful way.

‘An important factor in improving enrolments in STEM is ensuring the development of positive attitudes towards mathematics and science.’ In her new column for Teacher, Dr Sue Thomson discusses the results of the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), students’ general attitudes to mathematics and science, and their aspirations post-school.