Higher Degree by Research students
The Faculty of Education is proud of the impact of the work of our HDR students over many years. Our current Higher Degree by Research students are working across a range of innovative multidisciplinary research projects in areas such as educational policy, sustainable community development, teacher education, language teacher education and curriculum and pedagogy.
Current Students
| Student Name | Degree | Thesis Title | Primary Supervisor | Research Centre/Discipline | ORCID-ID | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adi Husnawadi | PhD | Designing Flipped Classroom-based LBC for EFL Writing Instruction at an Indonesian Preservice EFL Teachers Program | Prof Elke Stracke | |||
| Afreen Athar | MRes | Dr Karen Oakley | ||||
| Aerlie Vade | PhD | Exploring a pedagogy of play: Examining the triadic relationship between school leaders, families and the mass media | Assoc Prof Kate Highfield | 0009-0007-5636-7812 | ||
| Alanna Heath | PhD | Dr Margie Appel | ||||
| Aleks Trifkovic | PhD | The Future of Higher Education: Exploring Initial Teacher Education Courses and Student Engagement | Assoc Prof Will Brehm | |||
| Amy Dennis | M Education (Research) | Exploring teachers understanding of the personal and social capability in the secondary school environment. | Prof Deborah Pino-Pasternak | |||
| Andrew Maxwell | M Education (Research) | Developing international students’ dispositions towards critical thinking in English for Academic Purposes programs at Australian universities | andrew.maxwell@canberra.edu.au | Dr Andrew Ross | TESOL; English for Academic Purposes | |
| Anne Fuentes | PhD | Mapping everyday risk in Mindanao: exploring how farmers in conflict-vulnerable areas navigate precarity | Anne.Fuentes@canberra.edu.au | Dr Ann Hill | Centre for Sustainable Communities | |
| Belinda Rodwell | M Education (Research) | Should rural and remote secondary schools' success be measured using the same parameters of their regional/ metropolitan counterparts | Prof Phil Roberts | |||
| Benjamin Mudie | PhD | A Qualitative Study on The Impact of AI on Teaching Quality and Demands of Classroom Teachers in the ACT. Is AI an efficacious approach to addressing workload concerns for classroom teachers? Does it provide quality or improved lessons and learning outcomes? | Dr Andrew Ross | |||
| Brendan Roberts | MRes | The role of middle leadership in facilitating teacher wellbeing for improved teacher efficacy and retention in school settings | Assoc Prof Thomas Nielsen | |||
| Bruce Ferrington | PhD | Perspective taking and the
development of spatial thinking skills: an in-class intervention program with Year 3 students. | bruce.ferrington@canberra.edu.au | Emeritus Prof Tom Lowrie | ||
| Chathurika Kalegana | PhD | An investigation into Teachers' Pedagogy for differentiated learning in teaching English in the primary school in Sri Lanka. | Assoc Prof Maya Gunawardena | |||
| Christopher DeBritt | PhD | Data Literacy and Data Culture as Predicators for Sensemaking and Pedagogical Action | Emeritus Prof Ting Wang | |||
| Christopher Morrissey | PhD | Decoding the Impact of School-Based Clinics on Preservice Teachers: Professional Experience in the Context of a School-University partnership | Prof Moo Sung Lee | |||
| Craig Johnson | M Education (Research) | Analysing relationships between spatial reasoning and computational thinking to enhance the teaching of coding in implementing the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies in high school (Years 7-10) | Assoc Prof Ilyse Resnick | |||
| Cynthia Avoada | PhD | Bridging Curriculum with rural students’ lifeworld: Using Place-based pedagogy to improve educational relevance to meet rural needs, through a case of the implementation of Ghana's Basic School Curriculum. | cynthia.avoada@canberra.edu.au | Prof Phil Roberts | Centre for Sustainable Communities | |
| Dylan Hunt | PhD | Utilising Appreciative Inquiry to Highlight Stakeholder Perspectives in Relationships and Sexuality Education | dylan.hunt@canberra.edu.au | Dr Michael Davies | Health and Physical Education | |
| Ellie Bowe | M Education (Research) | Imaginary Companions in Steiner-Waldorf Education: A Phenomenological Approach | ellie.bowe@canberra.edu.au | Assoc Prof Will Brehm | Centre for Sustainable Communities | |
| Emily Ashcroft | PhD | Teachers' perceptions of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) within Early Years Contexts | Assoc Prof Ilyse Resnick | |||
| Emily Regan | M Education (Research) | The adolescent perspective of positive risk taking. | emily.regan@canberra.edu.au | Assoc Prof Kate Highfield | ||
| Enock Nyanhoto | PhD | Investigating Teacher Strategies for Supporting CALD students social-emotional wellbeing in Victorian Schools: A case study of Western Melbourne | Assoc Prof Maya Gunawardena | |||
| Francesco DeSimone | Prof Doc Education | How do mainstream primary school teachers demonstrate their mathematical knowledge for teaching when instructing EAL/D students to decode mathematical word problems? | Adjunct Assoc Prof David Paterson | Mathematics teaching; EAL/D | ||
| Garth Jurd | PhD | Implementation of Design Thinking and Student Agency in Secondary Technology Spaces to improve outcomes and pedagogical applications. | Dr Andrew Ross | |||
| Genevieve Tan | PhD | Evaluating Australian Speech Pathologists: perception and knowledge of self-regulation and its role in therapeutic interventions | Prof Deborah Pino-Pasternak | |||
| Gere Altangerel | PhD | Self-Regulated Learning of Mongolian Nomadic Children: Bridging Home-Based Early Childhood Education and Mandatory Primary Education | Prof Deborah Pino-Pasternak | Centre for Sustainable Communities Early Childhood Education Self-regulated learning- Learning Science | ||
| Hannah Worsley | PhD | "I Want To Be..." A case study of place-based aspirations outreach in Snowy Monaro primary schools, NSW | Prof Phil Roberts | |||
| Hasnawir | PhD | The effects of Mobile application to learner's writing proficiency in a flipped learning classroom- A design-based research study | Assoc Prof Eleni Petraki | |||
| Helen Nolan | PhD | Data-driven learning - using corpus linguistics in the classroom to aid student language learning with a focus on grammar and vocabulary teaching and learning. | helen.nolan@canberra.edu.au | Dr Andrew Ross | Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages - TESOL/EALD | |
| Irha Ali | PhD | Crafting Change: Women’s Voices and Climate Awareness through Art, Craft and Design in Pakistan | irha.ali@canberra.edu.au | Dr Naomi Zouwer | Art and Design Education Climate Education Women’s Empowerment Sustainability Studies Rural and Community Education | |
| Jamie Foster | PhD | Assoc Prof Thomas Nielsen | ||||
| Jessica Halupka | PhD | Investigating the implementation of Belonging, Being, Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia from a multi-stakeholder perspective | Prof Deborah Pino-Pasternak | |||
| Julia Davies-Duff | PhD | Exploring the perceptions of education, allied health and health professionals on cognitive lingustic factors as part of universal screening on entry to secondary school. | julia.davies-duff@canberra.edu.au | Dr Andrew Ross | Education and health, prevention, intervention, equitable and sustainable educational development, and evidence-aligned processes | |
| Kamirsyah Wahyu | PhD | Spatial processing of fractions to develop students' fractional knowledge | kamirsyah.wahyu@canberra.edu.au | Assoc Prof Sitti Patahuddin | ||
| Katie Galvin | MRes | Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility through the Sports Education Model | Assoc Prof John Williams | |||
| Katie Wilson | PhD | To explore the use and impact of technology tools in initial teacher education (ITE) degrees globally | Katie.Wilson@canberra.edu.au | Assoc Prof Kate Highfield | ||
| Katy Meeuwissen | PhD | Teacher conceptualisations of Play and Play-based Learning in Australian primary schools | katy.meeuwissen@canberra.edu.au | Adjunct Assoc Prof Tracy Logan | ||
| Kithmini Aviruppola | PhD | Blurred lines of the right to education: Investigating strategies to remove barriers and enhance equity in university education: A case study | Kithmini.Aviruppola@canberra.edu.au | Assoc Prof Maya Gunawardena | Educational equity; higher education | |
| Kristofer Feodoroff | PhD | A Study on BSSS curriculum and equity of educational opportunity. | Prof Phil Roberts | Centre for Sustainable Communities | ||
| Larissa Mullen | PhD | To be feared or revered? A study of the impact of using Generative Artificial Intelligence on high school students' learning outcomes and engagement. | Assoc Prof Eleni Petraki | |||
| Liljana Petkovska | PhD | Quantum culture: Australian identity and belonging through an expatriate community, New Delhi 2010 | Assoc Prof Bethaney Turner | |||
| Lucy Bennett | PhD | The research aims to closely explore women in STEM, with a particular focus on girls' education, identifying the enablers and barriers to girls with reference to STEM engagement, participation, and achievement. The need to develop a greater capacity to teach STEM in diverse contexts will be explored. | Assoc Prof John Williams | |||
| Lynne Pilbrow | PhD | My research topic is Music Education, and investigating whether there is a link between the success of award-winning Australian song-writers and their formative music education, both formal and informal. The information gathered would inform future best practice in music education in Australian early childhood and primary school settings. | Dr Naomi Zouwer | |||
| Mai Nguyen | PhD | Leaner Autonomy: Teachers' Practices Beyond the Classroom | Prof Elke Stracke | |||
| Mandy Crossman | PhD | A philosophical interrogation of the Australian primary school crisis | mandy.crossman@canberra.edu.au | Assoc Prof Will Brehm | ||
| Margie Adams | PhD | How do rural communities, health professionals and healthcare students perceive knowledge, skills and attributes necessary for health professionals to have confidence and competence for sustained practice in rural communities? | Prof Phil Roberts | |||
| Matt Bacon | PhD | Exploring the relationship between drawing, problem-solving and spatial reasoning in primary-aged children. | matt.bacon@canberra.edu.au | Assoc Prof Ilyse Resnick | ||
| Matthew Brown | PhD | How do contextual factors influence the relationship between principals’ emotions and decision making? | matthew.brown@canberra.edu.au | Prof Moo Sung Lee | Education Leadership | |
| Meagan Pearse | PhD | The Impact of Teacher Sex and Gender stereotypes on Music Education for Adolescent Males | Adjunct Prof Peter Bodycott | |||
| Michaela Vergano | Prof Doc Education | How do teachers plan? A case study in how ACT secondary teachers in Catholic systemic schools use the Personalised Plan as a tool to make planning decisions in an inclusive classroom. | michaela.vergano@canberra.edu.au | Adjunct Assoc Prof David Paterson | Inclusion; inclusive Education | |
| Monty Nixon | PhD | Country as Teacher: Reinvigorating place-based pedagogies in Outdoor and Environmental education | Dr Michael Davies | Centre for Sustainable Communities | ||
| Mustafa Kamal Nasution | PhD | Educational Spaces and Relationship: Teacher Interpersonal Behaviour and Science Learning Outcomes Across Diverse School Contexts | Assoc Prof Sitti Patahuddin | |||
| Natalie Downes | PhD | Mapping Rural (Education) Fields | natalie.downes@canberra.edu.au | Prof Phil Roberts | Centre for Sustainable Communities | |
| Nelle Horsington | PhD | Dr Andrew Ross | ||||
| Nicola Kovacs | PhD | Exploring the connection between spatial reasoning and maths anxiety - does improving spatial reasoning skills help alleviate maths anxiety in school students? | Assoc Prof Ilyse Resnick | |||
| Onawe Siakimotu | PhD | Enhancing teacher capacity (in using IT as a tool) to personalise the learning within an integrated STEM approach. | ona.siakimotu@canberra.act.edu.au | Assoc Prof Sitti Patahuddin | ||
| Paul Mills | PhD | Successes and failures in education policy reform, Australia, 1970 to 2025 | Dr Bernard Brown | |||
| PhD | The Application of AI Technologies in Tertiary Education Settings: A Comparison Between Nepal and Australia | prateet.baskota@canberra.edu.au | Assoc Prof Eleni Petraki | |||
| Puji Rahayu | PhD | Exploring the use of PICRAT model for developing EFL preservice teachers’ skills in integrating technology in the EFL context | Assoc Prof Eleni Petraki | Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL); English as a second/foreign language | ||
| Richard Bourne | PhD | The commercialisation of student data in ACT schools | richard.bourne@canberra.edu.au | Assoc Prof Will Brehm | ||
| Roopa Whiteville | PhD | Exploring Homeschooling: E-safety and Support Systems for Homeschooling Children | Assoc Prof Maya Gunawardena | |||
| Rowena Muir | PhD | The role of educational leadership in promoting oral language and early literacy through a play-based curriculum. | Assoc Prof Kate Highfield | |||
| Somephet San | PhD | Learning Crisis in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR): Examining Learning Poverty in Ethnic Minority Children in Rural Primary Schools | Prof Deborah Pino-Pasternak | |||
| Sonam Gyeltshen | MRes | Evaluating ICSEA Metrics: Uncovering Anomalies in Socio-Educational Advantage Calculations and Their Impact on NAPLAN Performance in ACT Schools | Dr Beth Chapman | |||
| Tanya Young | PhD | Exploring most impactful ways to support teachers to practice evidence-informed teaching strategies in their classrooms, including understanding the role of professional development, instructional leadership and being data informed. | Dr Karen Oakley | |||
| Thomas Stonestreet | PhD | Perspectives on school choice policies in regional, rural, and remote NSW communities | Prof Phil Roberts | |||
| Tshering Yangden | MRes | Evaluating the Impact of Educator Qualifications and Training on the Quality of Early Childhood Care and Development Services in Bhutan | Prof Deborah Pino-Pasternak | |||
| Waliyadin Nuridin | PhD | Towards Transformative English Language Teacher Education (ELTE): Developing a Critical Pedagogy Curriculum Model for Indonesian ELTE | Assoc Prof Eleni Petraki | |||
| Sally Rule | PhD | The PLC Imperative: Navigating the dynamics of enacting system-wide, professionalism-based education reform | sally.rule@canberra.edu.au | Prof Ting Wang | Educational Leadership |
Former Students
| Student Name | Degree | Thesis Title | Research Centre/Discipline | ORCID-ID | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jocelyn Perry | PhD | Understanding Capacity Development Theory in Practice: Perspectives of Thai Practitioners Addressing Violence Against Women in Thailand. | |||
| Ugyen Tshering | PhD | Teaching Critical Reading in Bhutanese Middle Secondary Schools: An Integrated Approach | ugyen.tshering@canberra.edu.au | Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) |