Diary dates

2019 Melbourne Research Bazaar Conference

Date: Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 February
Time: 9am - 6pm
Venue: Wilson Hall, Building 151
Register

The Research Bazaar is a worldwide festival promoting the digital literacy emerging at the centre of modern research. The theme for this year is work smarter not harder.

Attend this event to:

Find the right digital tool for your research
Know about support and services on campus
Hear from those who completed research
Network with your fellow community.

Date: Wednesday 20 February
Time: 10.30am - 12:30pm
Venue: GO1, Elisabeth Murdoch Building

Everyone knows social media is pretty much a requirement if you want to be a successful, engaged academic. So why are we all such reluctant tweeters, bloggers and posters?! This workshop will look at taking a strategic approach to developing and maintaining a dynamic online presence in as effective and efficient a way as possible.

Presented by Mr Simon Clews, Director, Melbourne Engagement Lab, Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education.

PhD Completion Seminar
Teaching 'on the fly': Investigating the mid-lesson adaptive behaviour of primary teachers of mathematics

Dan Jazby

Date: Thursday 21 February
Time: 12.30pm
Venue: 234 Queensberry Street, Kwong Lee Dow Building, Level 5, Q509

Supervisors: Professor David Clarke, Dr Vicki Steinle and Associate Professor Robyn Pierce

Classrooms are dynamic, and teachers need to adapt ‘on the fly’ as lessons unfold. Yet, teacher education lacks a detailed language and structure to describe teachers’ in-the-moment practices which affects teacher education. This thesis employs research methods developed with firefighters to investigate in-the-moment behaviour. This seminar focuses on the final study in the thesis in which three primary teachers of mathematics wore head-mounted cameras during lessons before a post-lesson interview. An ecological analysis of this data provides evidence of the active behaviours teachers engaged in that enabled them to adapt their lessons ‘on the fly’.

PhD Completion Seminar
Logical inference in Physics

Russell McKenzie

Date: Thursday 21 February
Time: 4.30pm
Venue: 234 Queensberry Street, Kwong Lee Dow Building, Level 3, Q372

Supervisors: Dr Maurizio Toscano, Dr Harry Galatis
Chair Advisory Committee: Professor Jan van Driel

In recent decades, there has been an increased emphasis in education on thinking. It is thought that improvements in thinking lead to improvements in learning. However, strategies to improve thinking have not been as successful as desired. One reason for this is that educators do not have an adequate understanding of the thinking that they wish to improve.

This research aims to increase our understanding of one thinking process: logical inference as it is used in solving physics problems. Such inference plays an integral part in the successful application of physical laws to the situations presented in examination questions. An improved understanding of this process could enable future improvements in students’ ability in this regard.

2019 Academic Promotion briefing sessions

Presented by Professor Richard James, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Undergraduate) and members of the University Appointments and Promotions Committee (Professor Nilss Olekalns and Professor Janet Hergt), the Academic Promotions briefings provide an overview of the University promotion process and speak particularly to the development of an argued case for promotion in the context of the University’s Academic Performance Framework.

The University has also introduced Academic Briefing Sessions specifically for female academics interested in applying for promotion. Complementing the current Briefing Sessions, Professor James and Professor Marilys Guillemin will present on the promotion process, specifically with a focus on women applicants. There will also be information provided with regards to the University’s commitment to Athena SWAN’s charter to help increase awareness about gender equity and improve the promotion prospects for female academics.

Prospective female promotion applicants are encouraged to attend one of the women’s Academic Promotion Briefing Sessions as well as the general University Promotion Briefing Session commensurate to their academic level. By attending both sessions this will assist female applicants to understand both the University Promotion procedures in the context of the underpinning guidelines and policy, as well having the opportunity to engage with other women who are similarly considering promotion and gain insight from others who have successfully been promoted at the University.

All academics considering applying for promotion in 2019 are strongly encouraged to attend. These sessions provide an opportunity to ask questions, seek clarification and gain valuable insights from senior academic staff with significant experience and expertise in the University promotion process.

For those unable to make it to Parkville campus, the briefings will be recorded via lecture capture and uploaded on to the Academic Careers @ Melbourne webpage shortly after the briefing session.

The sessions are as follows:
Women’s Academic Promotion Briefing Sessions (All Academic Levels)

Level D and E Promotion Sessions
Date:Friday 22 February 10:30am – 11:30am
Location: Old Arts, Theatre D (Room 155)

Date:Tuesday 26 February 3:30pm – 4:30pm
Location: Redmond Barry Building, Latham Theatre

Level C Promotion Sessions
Date:Friday 22 February 9:00am – 10:00am
Location: Old Arts, Theatre D (Room 155)

Date:Tuesday 26 February 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Location: Redmond Barry Building, Latham Theatre

ARC Information Session

Date: Monday 25 February
Venue: The Basement Lecture Theatre B117, Melbourne School of Design
Time: 3pm - 5pm
Register

Rose Firkin (Executive Manager, Research Grants) from Deakin University and I have organised an ARC Information session to be presented by Professor Joanne Tompkins, ARC Executive Director of Humanities and Creative Arts. Whilst the session will concentrate to some degree on the Humanities and Social Science disciplines, all researchers are welcome to attend.

The session will cover:

Assessment Processes
The National Interest Test
How best to position Humanities and Creative Arts research for competitive funding.

Call for Papers
4th Islamic Schooling Conference and Forum AAISC 2019

The Centre for Islamic Thought and Education (CITE) at the University of South Australia would like to extend our Call for Papers for the 4th Islamic Schooling Conference and Forum AAISC 2019 – A Focus on Social Justice. The Conference and Forum will take place on the 13th and 14th of July 2019, at the University of Melbourne.

The Conference and Forum has successfully made it to its fourth year, and this year, the theme of AAISC4 2019 is social justice in Islamic Schooling. The event encompasses both the annual Conference for academics and researchers from around the world, as well as a concurrent Forum that will critically engage with the theme of social justice in a practical sense. The Conference and Forum aims to explore, and critically analyse, the personal experiences and practical insights of teachers and practitioners on a significant and focal topic – the concept of ‘social justice’ from the perspective of Islamic schooling, and the Islamic classroom.

This year’s conference will host two concurrent streams: an academic Conference Stream and an educator’s Forum Stream.

We recognise the critical nature of both perspectives as we forge a path forward for Islamic schools. Hence, for academics who are researching and teaching in higher education with a focus on Islamic schools, madrassa, and Muslim learners broadly, the Conference Stream provides a platform to share empirical findings, debate conceptualisations, and grapple with theoretical understandings. For educators who are leading and shaping the learning process in K-12 schools (both Islamic and State/Public), the Forum Stream promises an opportunity for educators and teachers in the field to raise challenges, share practices, and collaborate on renewal. Topics of interest for submission to either stream include (but are not limited to):

Educational politics
Globalised educational policy discourses
Educational leadership and justice
Social Justice in Islam (jurisprudential, historical and otherwise, and its application to Islamic schooling)
Muslim learners and identity politics
Dignity and the Muslim learner
Islamophobia
Inequalities and exclusion
Inclusion
Equity
Racism
Pedagogical justice
Curricular justice
Social justice possibilities for classroom educators
Critical learners and social action/activism

More topics of interest are included in the 'Call for Papers' attached. We are very excited about this year’s concurrent conference/forum approach and hope it will provide fodder for deep discussions within and between each stream. We intend our keynote addresses to provide a broader framing of social justice in Islamic schooling that provides the language and conceptualisation necessary for both streams.

Prior to submitting your abstract, please indicate which stream you intend your contribution to be positioned in. And based on the stream of choice, please ensure that your abstract considers the following conventions of an abstract relevant for that stream:

Conference Stream abstracts should include a theoretical and/or conceptual framing, be empirical or conceptual in nature, and clearly present findings or conclusions relevant to this year’s theme of social justice. We anticipate that in this stream presentations will be similar to academic conferences that include an approx. 20 mins lecture followed by Q&A.

Forum Stream abstracts should include a case example or problem that is school based, description of the practical (often instructional) approach taken to address the problem, reflections on implementation tied to this year’s theme of social justice. We anticipate that in this stream presentations will be similar to a condensed version of an in-service workshop where educators focus on practical instructional approaches through an interactive discussion and/or modelling of approaches (but not lecture) for approx. 30 mins followed by Q&A.

If you have questions about the concurrent streams or drafting your abstract, please feel free to contact CITE Centre Manager, Ramila Chanisheff.

PhD Completion Seminar

Developing students wellbeing in mathematics and science education: A values approach

Julia Hill

Date: Tuesday 26 February
Time: 3.30pm
Venue: 234 Queensberry Street, Kwong Lee Dow Building, Level 5, Q509

Supervisors: Professor Jan van Driel and Associate Professor Wee Tiong Seah
Panel Chair: Professor Elizabeth McKinley

In Australia mathematics and science education are facing many challenges, for instance student performance in international assessments (e.g., TIMSS2015, PISA2015) is decreasing, coupled with a declining proportion of students electing to study advanced mathematics and science in their upper secondary years (COAG, 2018). As many as 40% of students in Australia are regularly disengaged in class (Angus et al, 2009) with this figure estimated to be higher in mathematics (Martin et al., 2012). Furthermore, for many student’s mathematics and science often evoke negative attitudes, feelings and anxieties which often persist well into adulthood (Güzeller & Dogru, 2012). A greater focus on student wellbeing has been heralded as an antidote to improve student engagement, feelings towards and persistence with these disciplines (Clarkson et al., 2010; Seligman, 2011). Values are linked inextricably with our wellbeing and therefore values education, or teaching values, can positively impact on student wellbeing (Clement, 2010). The current PhD study will explore the concept of mathematical wellbeing (MWB) and science wellbeing (SWB) using a Positive Education lens. This PhD aims to firstly, propose a new model of MWB and SWB; secondly to explore students’ and teachers’ valuing of MWB and SWB; and thirdly; determine if a values development exercise facilitates improvements in wellbeing amongst mathematics and science students.

Learning and Teaching Initiatives MGSE Workshop

Date: Wednesday 27 February
Time: 10am - 11am
Venue: Frank Tate meeting room, Level 9
Register

In this session we will review past successful MGSE projects, consider this year’s focus areas and the criteria, and provide the opportunity for feedback on individual/group project ideas.

Applications are invited from academic staff for Learning and Teaching Initiative (LTI) grants for 2019.

This round of LTI grants follows the 2018 Planning and Budget Committee decision to fund the implementation of FlexAP recommendations as a strategic, University-wide program of work over five years. From 2019, the supported recommendations will become eight defined activity streams of work.

This call for LTI applications welcomes applications that align to any of the following three FlexAP activity streams:

Intensive, summer and winter subjects
Online subjects
Assessment reform

There will be two LTI rounds in 2019 to accommodate the new program of work generated by FlexAP activity streams.

All applications in this first LTI round of 2019 must respond to one of the above three FlexAP activity streams.

Applications close Friday 15 March 5pm. Visit the Learning and Teaching Initiatives page for more information.

PhD Completion Seminar
Imagining and enacting socially just pedagogy in Victorian Youth Justice centres

Brigitte Rogan

Date: Thursday 28 February
Time: 11am
Venue: 100 Leicester St, Level 5, Room 514/515

Supervisors: Professor Helen Cahill & Associate Professor Helen Stokes

There is a paucity of research examining ways in which schools and teachers in youth justice centres serve the educational needs of marginalised young people. These students are representative of a cohort who are increasingly disengaged from mainstream schools. Education in Victorian youth justice has undergone significant reform in recent years resulting in the establishment of Parkville College, a specialist government school. Recent decades have seen an increase in the number of educators who claim a social justice orientation (Hytten & Bettez 2011). However philosophical and practical understandings of what that means and how it might be translated into teaching practice are contested (Gewirtz 1998; North 2008; Keddie 2011). There is a particular need for exploration of how teachers in youth justice settings understand and enact a social justice orientation within the constraints of their setting. Gale, Mills & Cross' (2017) conceptualisation of pedagogical work emphasises the need to consider the interplay between belief, design and action in understanding teachers work.This ‘insider’ ethnographic study will use Critical Communicative Methodology to explore teachers' imaginings and enactment of socially just pedagogical work in youth justice centres in Victoria.

2019 Primary and Early Childhood Mathematics Education Conference

Date: Thursday 20 - Friday 21 June 2019
Time: 9am - 5pm
Register

The Mathematical Association of Victoria (MAV) in collaboration with the Melbourne Graduate School of Education’s Mathematics Education Group (MEG) present a conference focusing on primary school mathematics education.

The MGSE morning tea and bake off

In celebration of International Women's Day, the MGSE Social Committee warmly invites you to:

Date: Thursday 7 March
Time: 10am - 11am
Venue: Kwong Lee Dow Building, Level 1, Room 101/102

Join your colleagues for a cuppa, bake off and celebration. Bring along your best sweet or savoury - contributions will be judged by your peers, and prizes will be given for the best contributions.

Support a good cause: In keeping with IWD’s 2019 theme #BalanceforBetter, we will be highlighting the work of the Gomo Foundation. The Gomo Foundation provides funding to partner schools in Zimbabwe, Africa to cover tuition fees and other expenses that may prevent young women from attending school. To support this foundation, entry will be by gold coin donation. There will also be the opportunity to find out more about the work of the Gomo Foundation and contribute to sponsoring young women’s education. (Donations of $2 and over are tax deductible.)