We welcome you to the February discussion held online on 27th February, 4pm-5.30pm.
Effective teaching practice in science: where does the weight of evidence fall? – Rosemary Hipkins
The call to prioritise direct teaching in both maths and science has been raised in previous discussion groups. It is an evident trend across the Australian state education systems, and in Aotearoa New Zealand. No pedagogy can be either entirely effective, or conversely utterly ineffective—the challenge is complex and ‘it depends’ thinking is needed. Accordingly, I will invite discussion in this session by considering where the weight of evidence falls. There are vast swathes of research on effective pedagogy so, where possible, I will restrict myself to using meta-analyses. I’ll start with the generic ‘Visible Learning’ project. ‘Direct instruction’ is named as one of the top five effective practices, but what science-specific issues might we anticipate when the other four top-ranked practices are added to the mix?
Rosemary Hipkins is a Kaihautū Rangahau (Chief Researcher) at NZCER. She has been a science teacher, a teacher educator, and for the past 20+ years, an educational researcher. Rose explores issues at the complex intersection of curriculum and assessment, with a particular focus on science education.
Discussion 2: Effective mathematics teaching – How do we respond? – Jill Fielding and Katie Makar
The discussion about what counts as effective mathematics teaching has been debated for over a century. The argument is often positioned as one of two extremes. High quality research continues in spite of the pendulum swings around us, but recent events in the region have created an impetus to respond. In this short presentation, we will discuss some approaches that the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA) has taken to promote discussion and advocate for what we know about effective mathematics teaching. We will highlight two initiatives – a Special Working Group on Effective Pedagogies and a MERGA position statement on Effective Mathematics Teaching.
Jill Fielding is a Professor of STEM Education (Mathematics) at the University of New England and Vice-President (Research) of MERGA. Her own research focusses on pedagogical approaches, including task design and implementation, that support the development of reasoning and argumentation practices in predominantly primary school-aged children.
Katie Makar is the President of MERGA and Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Education at The University of Queensland. She was a previously a mathematics teacher for 15 years. Her research focuses on how teachers develop ambitious pedagogies in mathematics and making data science education accessible to children.
Posted Aug 10, 2026
Online