Research in Education and the Arts

Research in creative and professional writing spans:

• Creative nonfiction, food writing, memoir and biographical writing
• Critical science fiction, historical fiction, dramatic scripts and screenplays, gothic fiction, the short story
• Institutional talk, communication methodology media practice and content, regional media and radio studies
• Journalism and professional writing studies

Active researchers in creative and professional writing include:

• Dr Nicole Anae
• Associate Professor Kate Ames
• Professor Donna Brien
• Associate Professor Susan Davis
• Dr Liz Ellison
• Dr John Fitzsimmons
• Dr Ashley Holmes
• Dr Tris Kerslake
• Associate Professor Celeste Lawson
• Associate Professor Steven Pace

Current RHD students include:

• Glenda Hobdell
• Arlene Ferguson-Somerville
• Sue Bond
• Pawel Cholewa
• Catherine Gamble
• Susannah Oddi

Recent RHD Graduates include:

Name/Qualification: Dr Alison Owens - Doctor of Philosophy 2018
Thesis Title: Researching and writing an historical fiction of the early-mid twentieth century Woolloomooloo community: a creative practice-led narrative inquiry
Supervisor: Professor Donna Brien (Principal), Dr Clive Graham (Associate)

Name/Qualification: Dr Amy Johnson - Doctor of Philosophy 2018
Thesis Title: Inside and Outside: An Investigation of Social Media Use by Australian Defence Force Partners
Supervisor: Associate Professor Kate Ames (Principal), Associate Professor Celeste Lawson (Associate)

Name/Qualification: Dr Charmaine O'Brien - Doctor of Philosophy 2018
Thesis Title: Developing psychological resources for creative writing through challenging stereotypes in Australian food history: a creative work and exegesis
Supervisor: Professor Donna Brien (Principal), Professor Judith Brown, Dr Liz Ellison (Associates)

Name/Qualification: Dr Leanne Dodd - Doctor of Philosophy 2018
Thesis Title: The crime novel as trauma fiction: Representing traumatic experience and post-traumatic growth in crime fiction
Supervisor: Professor Donna Brien (Principal), Associate Professor Susan Davis (Associate)

Name/Qualification: Dr Anita Milroy - Doctor of Philosophy 2017
Thesis Title: Episteme, Techne & Poiesis: Visualisations of Extinction and Evolution in Queensland Flora
Supervisor: Dr Ashley Holmes (Principal), Professor Donna Brien, Dr Andrew Rozefelds (Associates)

Name/Qualification: Mrs Irene Waters - Master of Arts 2017
Thesis Title: More Me: How can a Memoirist create a Vibrant Sequel Memoir?
Supervisor: Professor Donna Brien (Principal), Associate Professor Steven Pace (Associate)

Research Projects

External Grants/Funding

• Title: Sunshine Coast Arts Plan - Targeted Stakeholder Engagement Plan and Research
  Investigators: Associate Professor Susan Davis, Dr Liz Ellison

Internal Grants

• Title: Recovering the forgotten Australian women food writers of the 1950s and 1960s
  Investigator: Professor Donna Brien

• Title: Research (training) Textbook: Empowering candidates to think, work and produce independently
  Investigator: Professor Donna Brien

News Articles

Regional Arts Movement Takes Flight, With Help from CQUni

Arts lovers gathered in Rockhampton to plan the first phase of action for the new Central Queensland Regional Arts Services network (or CQ-RASN). The Regional Arts Services Network is an initiative of the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland. CQUniversity has been appointed as the Central Queensland Provider. The CQ-RASN is a new network that promotes cross-regional connections and collaboration to strengthen the arts across the diverse communities of the wider Central Queensland region.

CQUni Paints a Bright Future for Creative Arts Research

CQUniversity has pledged to build on its acknowledged research strengths in creative arts and writing by creating a new academy, with key interest areas also including performing arts, film, television and digital media, and visual arts and crafts. The Creative Arts Research Training Academy (CARTA) will become CQUniversity's first Research Higher Degree Academy.

Wild/Flower Women Projects Boosted by Prestigious Fryer Fellowship

CQUniversity’s Associate Professor Sue Davis has been awarded the prestigious Fryer Fellowship for 2018 by the University of Queensland (UQ) Library. The Sunshine Coast based Deputy Dean Research in the School of Education and the Arts was awarded $20,000, along with access and support to the resources of the Fryer Library at UQ.

Noosa Academic Lauded by Peak Body for Educational Research

CQUniversity Noosa's Associate Professor Sue Davis has blogged her way to national recognition. Dr Davis, from the School of Education and the Arts, capped off a memorable year this week when she was recognised for her work in making an 'outstanding contribution to public understanding and debate about educational issues'. The active academic was awarded the AARE (Australian Association for Research and Education) EduResearch Matters award. AARE is the leading association for educational research in Australia and, over the past couple of years, has been endeavouring to promote educational research in the wider community and public debate, largely through its EduResearch blog.

CQUni Experts Partner with Sunshine Coast Council - A Regional Creative Hotspot Rolling Out its First Ever Arts Plan

Across Australia, many regional centres are seeing a rise in the profile of the arts and creativity, with many artists moving to regions for the lifestyle, community connection and affordable living. One region that has identified as an emerging creative hotspot is Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The region has embraced this creative turn through its plans for the future with Sunshine Coast Council (SCC) beginning a consultation strategy to develop its first ever Arts Plan. SCC, in partnership with CQUniversity, has rolled out a community engagement program designed to understand the needs of the region’s arts sector.

Research in performing arts spans:

• Collaborative music performance, jazz performance, improvisation, composition and arranging
• Musical theatre, children's theatre,  theatre in-education and performing arts pedagogy

Active researchers in performing arts include:

• Professor Judith Brown
• Associate Professor Susan Davis

Current RHD students include:

• Joanne Burrows
• Jacki Cooper
• Nichole Thomson

Recent RHD Graduates include:

Name/Qualification: Dr Philip Bohun - Doctor of Professional Studies 2017
Thesis Title: Voices In Unison: The Role of Music Education in Victorian Independent Secondary Schools
Supervisor: Associate Professor David Cashman (Principal)

News Article

CQUni's Schoolies Safety Program a Winner in AFR Higher Education Awards

CQUniversity's 'Choices' schoolies safety program has won this week's Australian Financial Review Higher Education Awards, in the Community Engagement Category. Choices reaches over 3000 year-12 students from Townsville to Rockhampton with safety messages around alcohol, drugs and sexual activity before they go to Schoolies Week.

Research in digital media spans:

• Digital media, including web design, human-computer interaction, social media, 3D animation, mobile applications, film/media studies

Active researchers in digital media include:

• Dr Ashley Holmes
• Dr Merri Randell
• Associate Professor Steven Pace

Current RHD students include:

• Glen Shearer

Recent RHD Graduates include:

Name/Qualification: Ms Tamanna Rahman - Master of Communications 2017
Thesis Title: Influential factors in the flow experiences of mobile game players
Supervisor: Associate Professor Steven Pace (Principal), Professor Judith Brown (Associate)

Research in humanities and critical social enquiry spans:

• Transnational, maritime and environmental history
• Australian South Sea Islander and Torres Strait Islander social contexts
• Environmental politics and climate change adaptation
• Regionalism in China and Australia
• Urbanisation and ethnicity in China
• Policing and penology
• English literature, popular genres and women writers

Active researchers in humanities and critical social enquiry include:

• Associate Professor Stephen Mullins
• Associate Professor Kate Ames
• Dr Stephen Butler
• Dr Michael Hewson
• Dr Mike Danaher
• Associate Professor Celeste Lawson
• Dr Daniel Teghe
• Dr Jiaping Wu

Recent RHD Graduates include:

Name/Qualification: Dr Margaret Jamieson - Doctor of Philosophy 2018
Thesis Title: Sarah's Story: A Historical Romance Novel and Exegesis
Supervisor: Dr Michael Danaher (Principal), Dr Teresa Moore (Associate)

Name/Qualification: Mrs Kristy Taylor - Master of Arts 2018
Thesis Title: Mungabah: A Rural Romance Novel and Exegesis
Supervisor: Dr Michael Danaher (Principal), Dr Nicole Anae (Associate)

Research Projects

External Grants/Funding

• Title: Pearls, People, and Power: The transformation of the Indian Ocean World (ARC Discovery Project grant administered by Murdoch University)
• Investigator: Associate Professor Stephen Mullins

• Title: Koala habitat health - remote sensing based, landscape-scale habitat management toolkit, initial climate change scenario assessment and local habitat health checks
• Investigators: Dr Michael Hewson, Dr Alistair Melzer

Internal Grants

• Title: Cyclone Debbie or not? Comparing information accuracy between weather-based sources
• Investigators: Dr Michael Hewson, Associate Professor Kate Ames

• Title: GPS Cows – Improving digital literacy and engagement in rural students though an applied Agri-tech learning resource
• Investigators: Associate Professor Mark Trotter, Dr Michael Hewson, Professor Bobby Harreveld et al.

Innovations in teacher/education research spans:

• Initial teacher education
• Professional learning for educators
• Comparative and cross-cultural education
• Early childhood education
• Primary and secondary school education
• Further education and work transitions

Active researchers in teacher/education include:

• Dr Angelina Ambrosetti
• Professor Bill Blayney
• Professor Alison Elliott
• Dr Gillian Busch
• Dr Jay Deagon
• Associate Professor Susan Davis
• Dr Rickie Fisher
• Dr Bree Kitt
• Professor Bobby Harreveld
• Dr Michelle Vanderburg
• Dr Robert Vanderburg
• Professor Denise Wood
• Dr Reyna Zipf

Current RHD students include:

• Sharleen Keleher
• Carol Steel
• Mary McKenzie
• Natalija Ljubicic

Recent RHD Graduates include:

Name/Qualifications: Dr Robyn Donovan - Doctor of Philosophy 2018
Thesis Title: An Exploratory Investigation of Intercultural Encounters Experienced by University Based International Students in an Australian University
Supervisors: Professor John Dekkers (Principal), Professor Lena Robinson (Associate)

Name/Qualifications: Dr Cynthia Cowling - Doctor of Philosophy 2018
Thesis Title: Being a radiographer: a socio-cultural comparative ethnographic study
Supervisors: Professor Bobby Harreveld (Principal), Associate Professor Celeste Lawson (Associate)

Name/Qualifications: Dr Stephen Gellion - Doctor of Philosophy 2018
Thesis Title: Secondary School Teacher Perceptions and Experiences of Planning Time Use
Supervisors: Professor John Dekkers (Principal), Professor Bruce Knight (Associate)

Name/Qualifications: Dr Kathryn Murray - Doctor of Education 2017
Thesis Title: A Decision Making Pathway: Selecting an Early Childhood Education and Care Centre
Supervisors: Professor John Dekkers (Principal), Dr Joanne Dargusch (Associate)

Name/Qualifications: Dr Kerry Aprile – Doctor of Education 2017
Thesis Title: A frontline job from a ‘behind the scenes’ position: A case of teacher aides’ learning support work with middle school readers in Queensland
Supervisors: Professor Bobby Harreveld (Principal), Professor Helen Huntly (Associate)

Name/Qualifications: Dr Maureen (Maude) Chapman - Doctor of Education 2017
Thesis Title: An Exploration of Leadership of Registered Nurses in Clinical Settings
Supervisors: Professor John Dekkers (Principal), Professor Bruce Knight, Associate Professor Anthony Welch, Dr Wendy Fasso (Associates)

Name/Qualifications: Dr Michael Stewart - Doctor of Education 2017
Thesis Title: Cultivating a Positive School Culture in a Secondary School Setting: The Principal’s Role
Supervisors: Professor John Dekkers (Principal), Professor Bruce Knight (Associate)

Name/Qualifications: Dr Nadia Mead - Doctor of Philosophy 2017
Thesis Title: Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys: Using Bakhtin’s Carnival to Explore Teacher Identity and Experience
Supervisors: Dr Teresa Moore (Principal), Dr Nicole Anae (Associate)

Research Projects

External Grants/Funding

• Title: Supporting rural and remote early childhood educators in their first two years of teaching
• Investigator: Professor Alison Elliott

CQU Linkage Pilot

• Title: Dare to Dream – Dramatic learning to enhance engagement and life choices for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
• Investigators: Associate Professor Susan Davis, Professor Denise Wood, Associate Professor Henrietta Marrie, JUTE Theatre
• Funded by: JUTE and CQUniversity

Internal Grants

• Title: Recontextualising Australian Cookery Education for a Nepalese Context
• Investigator: Dr Jay Deagon

• Title: To assess or not to assess? Enhancing professional practice through dialogue and feedback during Work Integrated Learning
• Investigator: Dr Angelina Ambrosetti

• Title: Student Mobility Programs: Building work/classroom readiness
• Investigators: Dr Gillian Busch, Professor Bill Blayney

• Title: Australia’s Universities Centres: Equity for and access to Initial Teacher Education
• Investigators: Dr Angelina Ambrosetti, Professor BobbyHarreveld, Dr Gillian Busch, Professor Bill Blayney

News Articles

The Stage is Set for Indigenous Youth to be Inspired by Theatre

There’s great potential in Australia for creative projects able to demonstrate innovative work and life options for young Indigenous people. One of these creative projects, the ‘Dare to Dream’ theatre production, is the focus of fresh research exploring how creative futures can be built from the powerful stories and voices of First Nations peoples. This year’s ‘Dare to Dream’ project, known as ‘Bukal’, is proudly sponsored by CQUniversity. Jute Theatre in Cairns is working with Indigenous artists to bring to life the story of local woman Henrietta Marrie AM.

The Universal Language of Food Empowers Women in Nepal

A trio of CQUniversity academics has visited Nepal to help introduce a new cookery school venture which will help to empower marginalised women. The cookery school is an expansion project for the Seven Women organisation, which helps disabled women, single mothers and women living in extreme poverty by providing skills training, employment opportunities and education.

Unlocking Potential for Visual Arts Talents of the Future

There’s a chance of finding the next Wayne Blair or Baz Luhrmann thanks to a nationally-networked Digital Arts project aimed at boosting opportunities for young people from a disadvantaged background. The $860,000 project led by CQUniversity is giving young people with disabilities, those from regional and remote areas and those from an Indigenous background the chance to complete a Certificate II in Visual Arts.

Research in Learning, Engagement and Assessment/Scholarship of Learning and Teaching spans:

• Education assessment and evaluation
• Education technologies for teaching and learning
• Curriculum development
• Education administration, management and leadership

Active researchers in Learning, Engagement and Assessment/Scholarship of Learning and Teaching include:

• Dr Jo Dargusch
• Dr Jay Deagon
• Professor Bobby Harreveld
• Dr Lois Harris
• Dr Susan Richardson
• Professor Ken Purnell
• Professor Denise Wood
• Dr Michelle Vanderburg
• Dr Robert Vanderburg

Current RHD students include:

• Monique White
• Julie Hollitt
• Judi Newman

Recent RHD Graduates include:

Name/Qualifications: Dr Helen Keen-Dyer - Doctor of Philosophy 2018
Thesis Title: (Re) imagining the boundary: a case of contemporary fire and emergency services education and training
Supervisors: Professor Bobby Harreveld (Principal), Professor Helen Huntly, Dr Wendy Madsen (Associates)

Name/Qualifications: Dr Miriam Ham - Doctor of Philosophy 2018
Thesis Title: Nepali primary school teachers' beliefs and classroom practice in the context of educational reform
Supervisors: Professor John Dekkers (Principal), Dr Joanne Dargusch, Dr Wendy Hillman (Associates)

Name/Qualifications: Dr Karena Menzie-Ballantyne - Doctor of Education 2018
Thesis Title: Hearing their voice: Exploring the self-reports of adolescents' experiences of a community-based, active citizenship program, in the context of four identified domains of global competence
Supervisors: Professor Bruce Knight (Principal), Dr Wendy Fasso (Associate)

Research in STEM/STEAM education spans:

• Inquiry-based learning and creative pedagogies
• Professional development models and impacts
• Robotics and STEAM learning
• Makerspace pedagogy

Active researchers in STEM/STEAM education include:

• Dr Colin Baskin
• Dr Wendy Fasso
• Dr Reyna Zipf
• Dr Linda Pfeiffer

Research Projects

External Grants/Funding

• Title: A maker approach using craft and wearables to engage girls in digital technologies and coding
  Investigator: Dr Wendy Fasso

• Title: Girls, self-concept and social identity in STEM: The role of makerspace pedagogy
  Investigators: Dr Wendy Fasso, Dr Robert Vanderburg, Dr Michelle Vanderburg, Professor Bruce Knight

News Articles

Dressing Up Tech to Switch Girls onto STEM

Attracting young people to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects is an ongoing challenge for educators and schools across the nation. The need to do so has never been more critical, with new data revealing that a majority of the jobs of tomorrow will be reliant on STEM skills. In particular, there is an even greater challenge to attract and retain women within this field.

Tween Girls Should Warm to Science Before Being 'Too Cool for School'

Girls should be nurtured much earlier and possibly isolated from boys for ‘safe space’ science classes in the critical ‘tween’ ages, between 10 and 14.

Dressing Up Tech So Wearable Art Can Switch Girls on to Science

Bundaberg schools have been pioneering a project giving girls the chance to explore design and technology through wearable art. By showing that gadgets such as programmable lighting circuits can be incorporated into fashion and art, organisers hope girls will switch on to the potential of careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).

Research in resilience and special education spans:

• Reading and Literacy
• Inclusive education

Active researchers in resilience and special education include:

• Professor Bruce Knight
• Professor Denise Wood

Research Projects

External Grants/Funding

• Title: Bridging the gap for at-risk readers: Reading theory into classroom practice (ARC Linkage Project grant)
  Investigator: Professor Bruce Knight

• Title: Building Resilience in Regional Schools
  Investigators: Professor Margaret McAllister, Professor Bruce Knight

News Articles

Empowering Young People to Access 'Resources for Resilience'

CQUniversity researchers have been granted just over $200,000 to help build resilience in regional schools. Their project recognises that a focus on young people's mental health and resilience can help reduce the economic and social impacts of adult mental health disorders.