Publications
Books
White, P. J., Tytler, R., Ferguson, J. P., & Clark, J. C. (Eds.). (2025). Methodological Approaches to STEM Education Research Volume 6. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
White, P. J., Tytler, R., Ferguson, J. P., & Clark, J. C. (Eds.). (2024). Methodological Approaches to STEM Education Research Volume 5. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
White, P. J., Tytler, R., Ferguson, J. P., & Clark, J. C. (2023). Methodological Approaches to STEM Education Research. Volume 4 / edited by Peta J. White, Russell Tytler, Joseph Paul Ferguson, and John Cripps Clark. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
White, P. J, Raphael, J., & van Cuylenburg, K. (2021). Science and Drama: Contemporary and creative approaches to teaching and learning. Springer.
White, P. J., Tytler, R., Ferguson, J. P., & Cripps Clark, J. (2022). Methodological Approaches to STEM Education Research – Volume 3. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
White, P.J., Tytler, R., Ferguson, J. P., & Cripps Clark, J. (2021). Methodological Approaches to STEM Education Research Volume 2. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
White, P. J., Tytler, R., Ferguson, J., & Cripps Clark, J. (2021). Methodological Approaches to STEM Education Research – Volume 1. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Unsworth, L., Tytler, R., Fenwick, L., Humphrey, S., Chandler, P., Herrington, M., & Pham, L. (2021). Multimodal Literacy in School Science: Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Theory, Research and Pedagogy. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003150718
Hsu, Y-S, Tytler, R., & White, P.J. (2022). Innovative Approaches to Socio-Scientific Issues and Sustainability Education: Linking Research to Practice. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1840-7
Driscoll, K. (2021). An investigation of the ways in which School Mathematics Leaders support primary teachers’ professional learning. [Doctoral dissertation, Monash University].
It is widely recognised that science exploration is vital in children’s lives as they make sense of the world. Now in its fourth edition, Science in Early Childhood provides a comprehensive and engaging introduction to science in the early years. Each chapter has been updated to include current research and to address changing priorities in early childhood science education. The text features new chapters on Indigenous ways of knowing science,
Authors: Stephen Dinham, Russell Tytler, Deborah Corrigan, David Hoxley How do we enable young people to imagine themselves as the next generation of STEM professionals? How do we do this in a way that engages the desire to learn and explore? In Australia, there is increasing concern at the declining participation in advanced-level school mathematics and physical sciences; fewer students electing to study STEM programs at university; and, evidence of
By: Coral Campbell, Wendy Jobling and Christine Howitt. Science education in the early years is vital to assist young children to come to know and understand the world around them. In this second edition, Science in Early Childhood has been substantially updated and revised to include comprehensive coverage of the birth-to-eight age group. Drawing on the most up-to-date research, this edition presents current issues and debates relevant to pre-service
By: Coral Campbell, Wendy Jobling and Christine Howitt (Editors). Science education is crucial to young children’s discovery and understanding of the world around them. This third edition of Science in Early Childhood has been substantially updated to include the most current research, bringing together an author team of respected science education researchers from across Australia. New chapters address changing priorities in early childhood science education, introducing coverage of STEM, inclusivity,
By: Peter Albion, Coral Campbell and Wendy Jobling. This new text helps student teachers prepare to teach effectively in technologies education in primary school classrooms. Part A of the book provides the context of technologies education and the new Australian Curriculum: Technologies. Introductory chapters discuss what ‘technology’ is and its role in human society, emphasising the idea of technology as a process rather than a product. Chapters also examine why technologies
By: Linda Hobbs and Günter Törner (Editors). This book identifies and surveys the major themes around ‘out-of-field teaching’, that is, teaching subjects or year levels without a specialization. This has been an issue in many countries for some time, yet until recently there has been little formal research and poor policy responses to related problems. This book arises out of collaborations between members of an international group of researchers and practitioners from
By: Lihua Xu, George Aranda, Wanty Widjaja and David Clarke (Editors). The rapid development of video technology in the last decade has changed the ways in which people communicate, how they learn, and how research is done. Video technology offers rich potential in capturing complex social interactions over a prolonged period of time and in supporting teacher professional learning and development. This book explores the ontological, epistemological, methodological, and
By: Roger Bruning, Gregory Schraw, and Monica Norby [Translation Eds- Zehra N. Ersozlu & Rıza Ulker]. This book covers many concepts related to cognitive and instructional approaches that have an essential place in educational sciences, education programs and teaching, and educational psychology. This book can be used at the undergraduate and graduate level. We provided a clearer understanding of the approaches related to learning, teaching and mental processes. This book
By: Linda Hobbs, Coral Campbell and Mellita Jones (Editors) This book demonstrates school-based approaches to primary science teacher education. The models used involve partnerships between universities and primary schools to engage pre-service primary teachers in classroom teaching and learning that effectively connects theory with practice separate to the formal practicum arrangements. The book is a culmination of the research and collaboration of researchers from five Australian universities involved in the Science Teacher
By: Virginia Kinnear, Mun Yee Lai and Tracey Muir (Editors). This edited book brings together an international collection of work on a consistent and growing focus in mathematics education: the need to forge connections in early mathematics learning. Each chapter examines diverse ways that connections can be made, philosophically, theoretically, and pedagogically, illustrating different perspectives and providing provocations for researchers and educators. V. Kinnear, M. Lai, & T. Muir (Eds.), (2017), Forging Connections in
By: Coral Campbell, Wendy Jobling (Editors). Science education in the early years is vital in assisting young children to come to know about and understand the world around them. Science in Early Childhood covers the theoretical underpinnings and practical applications of teaching science in early childhood settings in a way that is engaging and accessible. It is a comprehensive resource for students, as well as early childhood teachers and carers, and provides
By: Brigid Freeman, Simon Marginson and Russell Tytler (Editors). Across the world STEM (learning and work in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) has taken central importance in education and the economy in a way that few other disciplines have. STEM competence has become seen as key to higher productivity, technological adaptation and research-based innovation. No area of educational provision has a greater current importance than the STEM disciplines yet there is a surprising
By Russell Tytler, Vaughan Prain, Peter Hubber and Bruce Waldrip (Editors). Current research into student learning in science has shifted attention from the traditional cognitivist perspectives of conceptual change to socio-cultural and semiotic perspectives that characterize learning in terms of induction into disciplinary literacy practices. This book builds on recent interest in the role of representations in learning to argue for a pedagogical practice based on students actively generating and exploring
Reports
Introduction excerpt from report – see here
Climate change and associated challenges, such as loss of biodiversity, are increasingly impacting societies, ecosystems and nature around the world (OECD, 2021[1]). The fact that human-induced (anthropogenic) climate change is underway is unequivocal. The Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, (2021[2]) confirmed that global surface temperatures were already 1.1°C higher than pre-industrial levels by 2021 (IPCC, 2021[3]); and, unless emissions are curtailed, we could face increased risks from more extreme weather events and ecological disruptions in the coming decades. Concerted action to rapidly reduce global emissions and to adapt to mounting climate impacts is thus important (OECD, 2023[4]).
The impacts of climate change are not only environmental but also profoundly social, cultural, ethical, political and economic. Communities with fewer resources to adapt, especially island nations – which are often those who have contributed the least to global emissions – bear the brunt of these changes (OECD, 2021[1]). As a response to climate change, several countries have committed to ambitious goals, such as the European Union’s target of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 (European Commission, 2019[5]), and Costa Rica’s National Decarbonisation Plan (Government of Costa Rica, 2019[6]). This impetus for countries to adopt such policies followed the historic Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015 by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21).
Effective responses to climate change require innovation, policy coherence, institutional arrangements, and coordination across global, national, regional, and local levels (UNDESA, 2024[8]). In this context, education is essential to generate the social license for nations to meaningfully address climate change. Quality education can in fact provide the next generations of citizens with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to understand climate-related challenges and to support climate-change policies.
See also – Blog post April 2026 – here
Executive Summary
Our commitment is to comprehensive, unified, research-informed action to ensure that
all Australian young people receive quality climate change education. We are three
national education associations, and we call for the following five actions:
- Make climate change education explicit and mandatory across the F–12
curriculum to support Australian students to be active, responsible citizens. - Develop a conceptual progression of learning, through the curriculum, that leads
to deep engagement with human-induced climate change across all years of
schooling. - Provide professional learning for pre-service and in-service teachers, school
leaders, and administrators to build knowledge, values, and skills related to
climate change education across disciplines. - Develop a national education action plan that prioritises climate action.
- Fund a coordinated program that enables multiple cross-institutional research
initiatives to inform effective climate change education in schools.
See report here
Citation: Shepherd, M., White, P.J., Kriewaldt, J., Forbes, A., Tytler, R., Gough, L., Pan, R., Caldis, S., & Skamp, K. (2026). Climate Change Education (CCE) position paper: A call to action. See
The Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ), the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) and the New Zealand Association for Environmental Education (NZAEE) have roles in promoting ‘best practice’ in environmental and sustainability education (ESE). To identify the characteristics of best practice, data were gathered from over 400 environmental educators from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
Based on the research reported here and current research trends in EE and EfS, the EIANZ, AAEE and NZAEE are encouraged to jointly advocate for regenerative education.
We define this term in the following way.
Regenerative education prioritises opportunities to learn about, make decisions and take action on various socio-ecological challenges. All people learn how different knowledge systems enable critical thinking, futures thinking and systems thinking while developing a connection to their local place, ecosystems and communities. They appreciate worldviews where all living things, including humans, are valued as being part of an interconnected whole, locally and globally. As a result, learners enact agency as individuals and as communities to bring about regeneration of ecosystems and social systems.
Cite this report: White, P.J., Birdsall, S., Sack, F. (2025). Catching the Wave: Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Educators’ Perceptions of Environmental and Sustainability Education Practices – Informing a joint position statement through recommendations on regenerative education. https://doi.org/10.26187/gbv1-2a03
See the launch event recording below and view the report here.
Sawatzki, C., Brown, J., Powers., T., Prins, R., & Zmood, S. (2022). Economics + Maths = Financial Capability Research Report. https://doi.org/10.26187/702w-3×90
The Economics + Maths = Financial Capability course aimed to strengthen teachers’ interdisciplinary knowledge of finance-related curriculum and content, as well as their awareness of contemporary financial contexts.
From pocket money apps to gaming platforms, we introduced teachers to new ways young people are learning about money within their families and communities and modelled modern finance-related lessons.
Teachers who completed the course reported that it strengthened their classroom teaching and prepared them to influence improvements to their school’s programs.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2018, the Victorian Department of Education (the Department) established 10 Tech Schools across Victoria using
a highly devolved Tech Schools Model (the Model). The Model will be evaluated for the 20-year life of the Tech
Schools Initiative (Initiative). Deakin University (Deakin) evaluated the progress of the Initiative from mid-2019 to
June 2023 using an agreed evaluation framework (described in Section 1). This is the final report.
The Initiative aims to equip young people with STEM skills for future employment in industry growth sectors. It is
designed to increase student and teacher engagement with STEM capabilities and to link education with Victoria’s
fastest growing, STEM-dominated industries. The Tech Schools achieve these outcomes through development and
delivery of diverse programs, establishing partnerships with schools, industry and the community, and working
closely with their host institutions.
Deakin reported progress against the short- and medium-term outcomes annually from 2019 to 2023. This final
report focuses on: (a) data analyses from July 2022 to June 2023 and compares them against findings from previous
reporting periods; and (b) analysis of new initiatives introduced in 2022.
Over the four-year period, the Evaluation addressed the following Key Evaluation Questions:
- To what extent do the Tech Schools achieve the intended outcomes?
- To what extent (and what ways) have factors other than Tech Schools influenced the intended outcomes?
- What are the observed enablers and barriers for Tech Schools in achieving the intended outcomes?
- What were the unintended outcomes (positive and negative) of the Tech Schools Initiative?
- What would improve the effectiveness, appropriateness and efficiency of the Tech Schools Model?
- To what extent (and why/why not) are Tech Schools valued and used by stakeholders?
See report here
Citation: Hobbs, L., Delaney, S., White, P., Cripps Clark, J., Aranda, G., Marks, G., Ahmad, M., Lai, J., Tytler, R., Campbell, C., Ure, C. (2024). Tech Schools Evaluation Final Report – June 2023. Victorian Government Department of Education.
An important construct to be measured in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025 is the degree to which 15-year-olds are knowledgeable of, concerned about, and able to act on environmental issues as a result of their science education. This document justifies and explains the competencies youth need to address local and global challenges in this epoch of human influences on the planet. Those with agency in the Anthropocene work individually and collectively with hope and efficacy to understand diverse perspectives on socio-ecological systems and to create a more just and resilient future.
See document here
Citation: White, P.J., Ardoin, N.A., Eames, C., Monroe, M.C. (2023). Agency in the Anthropocene: Supporting document to the PISA 2025 Science Framework, OECD Education Working Papers, No. 297, OECD Publishing.
Higher education institutes have a critical role to play in driving the scientific, political, technological, and cultural change needed to avoid the worst-case climate change scenarios, and in advancing the societal adaptive capacities needed to meet the ongoing challenges posed by the ongoing environmental crises.
In response to the intensification of the environmental problems, growing numbers of institutes of higher education are declaring climate emergencies and making public commitments to supporting and contributing to the realisation of global environmental and social goals. Further, many dedicated individuals working in the sector are already driving meaningful action through rigorous research, teaching, knowledge sharing, and public engagement. There is a growing consensus that sector-wide change is needed to ensure that aspirational declarations and positive individual actions translate into sustainable and transformative change.
To contribute to such efforts the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) Education in a Warming World Research Consortium is launching the Tertiary Education in a Warming World report.
It is intended to be a resource to other academics and policymakers who are also grappling with promoting a robust climate change and sustainability agenda within tertiary education.
The report illustrates a number of trends, examples, and reflections on how third-level educational institutes can work towards creating a more sustainable future. Drawing on Tristan McCowan’s framework, we focus on five modalities of third-level institutional operations, to provide an analytical lens to understand better the complex interplay between higher education institutes, societies, and climate change.
See report here.
Citation: Kelly, O., Illingworth, S., Butera, F., Steinberger, J., Blaise, M., Dawson, V., Huynen, M., Martens, P., Bailey, S., Savage, G., White, P., Schuitema, G., & Cowman, S. (2022). Tertiary Education in a warming world: reflections from the field.
Bragg, L. A., Herbert, S. & Brown, J. (2020). Issues in the teaching of mathematics: Engaging families in mathematics education. Melbourne: DET. https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/maths/Pages/research_engagingfamiliesinmaths.aspx
Campbell, C., Hobbs, L., Millar, M., Ragab Masri, A., Speldewinde, C., Tytler, R. & van Driel, J. (2020) Girls’ Future – Our Future. The Invergowrie Foundation STEM Report – 2020 Update.
Campbell, C., Jobling, W. & Speldewinde, C (2020) Primary Connection Stage 7 Evaluation, inclusive of STEM Connections. Interim Report Nov2019 – Apr2020. Prepared for the Australian Academy of Science. Canberra
The International Year of the Periodic Table of Elements provided a perfect opportunity to implement community engagement activities that re-position the public image of chemistry, from one that currently suffers from the consequences of large-scale uptake of its previous successes such as plastic waste and polluting industrial plants, to one that has embraced the principles of sustainability. This project took the Periodic Table of Elements as an organising principle, and developed activities to increase understanding of the Table itself and the importance of chemistry to sustainability. Hands on visits at schools in disadvantaged areas allowed maximum impact on a large number of students.
Using the grant generously provided by the Australian National Commission for UNESCO, we were able to offer our ‘Periodic Table of Sustainable Elements’ outreach event at no cost to seven regional and rural schools, where over 1000 students took part. Over 80 of these students took part as ‘student leaders’, where they were involved for the whole day, either mentoring younger age school students undertaking the experiments, or being mentored themselves by Deakin university student volunteers who discussed with them post-secondary education opportunities in STEM.
All resources from the events are freely available to all interested parties on our ‘Elements of Sustainable Chemistry’ website. We anticipate growing our outreach event to incorporate a greater breadth of experiments, so we can continue being able to demonstrate in schools the important role chemistry is taking in meeting the grand challenges of sustainable development. The list of people and institutions to thank is very long and so won’t be repeated here, but if you go to page 16 of the report, you can read the whole list there 🙂
But we must really thank the Australian National Commission for UNESCO for their financial contribution to this project and to this website, and without their financial support this really would not have been possible.
Tytler, R., Bridgstock, R., White, P., Mather, D., McCandless, T., & Grant-Iramu, M. (2018). 100 Jobs of the Future: A study commissioned by Ford Australia.
Williams, G., & Tytler, R. (2017). Evaluation of University of Sydney STEM Teacher Enrichment Academy. Deakin University.
Hobbs, L., Jakab, C., Millar, V., Prain, V., Redman, C., Speldewinde, C., Tytler, R., &. van Driel, J. (2017). Girls’ future — our future: The Invergowrie Foundation STEM report.
Girls’ Future – Our Future, The Invergowrie Foundation STEM Report
Tytler, R., Symington, D., Williams, G., White, P., Campbell, C., Chittleborough, G., Upstill, G., Roper, E., & Dziadkiewicz, N. (2015). Building productive partnerships for STEM education: Evaluating the model and outcomes of the Scientist and Mathematicians in Schools Program. Melbourne, Deakin University.
The Scientists and Mathematicians in Schools (SMiS) program is a major Australian initiative funded by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training in conjunction with CSIRO, which delivers the program through a national SMiS program team. The program involves volunteer science, mathematics, engineering and technology (STEM) professionals working in partnership with teachers in primary and secondary schools to engage students in quality learning in the STEM disciplines. Since its inception as Scientists in Schools in 2007 it has expanded to formally include Mathematicians in Schools and more recently ICT in Schools. Up to June 2015 it has brokered in excess of 4600 individual teacher-STEM professional partnerships and the program represents a major innovation in the national STEM education scene. Since 2007 the program has been evaluated three times, leading to affirmation of the success of the model in terms of outcomes for students, teachers and the STEM Professionals, and recommendations for expansion. The evaluations have informed the development and expansion also of the SMiS program team which arranges the matches of the STEM professionals and teachers, provides support and advice for partnerships through project officers in each state, and organises workshops, online support and a website. SMiS can be viewed as one of a suite of models of partnerships between STEM professionals and schools, which have achieved increasing prominence as concern with lack of engagement of students in STEM subjects and futures increases. A number of key strengths characterise SMiS as distinctive amongst these initiatives: first, the partnerships involve a collaborative arrangement between an individual STEM professional and a teacher; second, the partnerships are flexible enabling response to local contexts; third, the partnerships are ongoing; and fourth, the program has significant national reach.
Tytler, R. & White, P.J. (2017). Understanding PARRISE: Innovation and Change processes in a collaborative European Project. http://www.parrise.eu/
Marginson, S, Tytler, R, Freeman, B and Roberts, K (2013). STEM: Country comparisons. Report for the Australian
Council of Learned Academies, www.acola.org.au.
Tytler, R., Symington, D., Hubber, P., Chittleborough, G., Campbell, C. and Darby, L. (2010) The student as scientist : the impact of the BHP Billiton science awards, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic.
Symington, D., Campbell, C., & Tytler, R. (2008). ‘Charting futures for Science, ICT, Mathematics Education in Rural and Regional Victoria’ A Forum organised by the SiMERR Victorian Hub of the Science, ICT, and Mathematics Education in Rural and Regional Australia (SiMERR) project – Report of the forum.
Tytler, R., Malcolm, C., Symington, D., & Kirkwood, V. (2009). Research report: Professional development provision for teachers of science and mathematics in rural and regional Victoria. Geelong: Deakin University.
Tytler, R., Groves, S., Gough, A., Darby, L., Kakkinen, C., & Doig, B. (2008). Improving Middle Years Mathematics and Science: Final report of an ARC linkage project to the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Melbourne: Deakin University.
Tytler, R., Osborne, J., Williams, G., Tytler, K., & Cripps Clark, J. (2008). Opening up pathways: Engagement in STEM across the Primary-Secondary school transition. Canberra: Australian Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
Tytler, R., Symington, D., Smith, C., & Rodrigues, S. (2008). An Innovation Framework based on best practice exemplars from the Australian School Innovation in Science, Technology and Mathematics (ASISTM) Project. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.
STEME submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Effective Strategies for Teacher Professional Learning, (2008). Education and Training Committee, Parliament of Victoria.