Research news

A survey of 115,000 children and young people aged 5-18 from across the UK asked what, if anything, would make them want to write in their free time by giving them a list of 11 suggestions. The results offer insights into possible strategies for your own students.

In this episode of our Research Files podcast series, editor Jo Earp talks to ACER’s Dr Tim Friedman about the latest Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS). We’ll be focusing on the theme of staff wellbeing and looking at some of the protective factors when it comes to levels of teacher job satisfaction and stress.

Teaching assistants (TAs) and other specialist support staff are important resources in a school. In this edition of Researching education: 5 further readings, we share 5 resources on this topic, including guidance reports designed specifically for leaders and a report on the role of Aboriginal Education Workers.

The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) captures the knowledge and experiences of school educators. Artificial intelligence (AI) featured as survey topic for the first time in 2024. This infographic shows the percentage of Australian teachers who ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ with the following benefits and challenges of using AI tools in education.

Australia’s results from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) have just been released. The survey captures the firsthand knowledge and experiences of school educators. Here we explore some of the key findings on staff wellbeing, collegiality, mentoring support, and use of AI.

A survey of over 115,000 students in the UK found that over 71,000 only enjoy reading ‘a bit’ or ‘not at all’ in their free time. To understand more about what could make them want to read, these respondents were asked to choose as many options as they liked from a list of 13 suggestions. The results presented in this infographic offer insights into possible strategies for your own students.

The IEA’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is a global assessment measuring student achievement in years 4 and 8. Teachers from participating schools also complete a questionnaire. Today’s infographic looks at the topics that science teachers reported needing professional development on in the future.

For teachers introducing students to the periodic table for the first time, Dr Gregory Watson and Dr Jolanta Watson from the University of the Sunshine Coast recommend you begin with a series of 3 pre-periodic tables. In today’s article, they explain what the introductory non-chemistry tables are, and how they can be used at a primary, secondary and even tertiary level.

It’s well known that physical activity can positively impact students’ health and wellbeing. But what do students enjoy about PE lessons? How could certain aspects of PE lessons be improved? New research explores student views on PE and sports days. In this article, we find out more from the lead researcher. 

The Walton Family Foundation partnered with Gallup to find out how US teachers are using AI tools in the classroom and the potential for it to save time. Over 2,200 K-12 teachers responded to a survey in April 2025. Here’s a snapshot of some of the findings on how frequently teachers use AI for 9 different tasks, and how many save time by doing so.