\The air is getting chillier, pumpkins are perched on porches and kids across the country are planning their spooky costumes. As a professor of pediatric nursing and a mom to four young children, I know the excitement and anxiety that pandemic holidays bring to children and parents alike. Halloween 2020 brought creative ways to trick or treat […] … learn more→

A new ghost haunts the school, the ghost of tenacity, known in research as grit , its equivalent in English. The factors that determine the scholastic performance of the students are known for a long time by the experts in Educational Psychology. Some are of a personal nature, such as aptitudes and attitudes, others of a contextual nature, […] … learn more→

The person taking notes during our meeting, we later learn, is averaging a high distinction in their studies for a bachelor degree. If this level of performance is maintained this student is heading for a university medal – an award recognising exceptional academic achievement. Clearly this is a highly motivated student. Our PhD candidate was […] … learn more→

Writing is a crucial aspect of doctoral work – indeed all the scholarly work you will undertake from now on. Writing is integral to scholarship. Whether you are in or out of higher education, if you are researching, you are writing. Writing and its associated activities reading and talking, are the major ways in which […] … learn more→

Parents who want their kids to be more creative may be tempted to enroll them in arts classes or splurge on STEM-themed toys. Those things certainly can help, but as a professor of educational psychology who has written extensively about creativity, I can draw on more than 70 years of creativity research to make additional suggestions that are more likely to be […] … learn more→

Education plays a fundamental role in the formation of the person. It is not about assimilating knowledge, something that can be acquired by reading books, but about transforming the person. Accompanying students in their growth and transformation, and guiding them on this exciting journey, is the role of the teachers. Educating, in short, is not teaching someone something […] … learn more→

Most researchers don’t have to check the eligibility criteria of every funding opportunity that comes across their desk. Researchers from other countries do because there is a very real possibility that they won’t be eligible due to their citizenship status. This post discusses the situation of non-Australian researchers working in Australia, but the problem crops […] … learn more→

Many kids across Australia are heading back into classrooms after months of lockdowns and remote learning. Understandably, students may be anxious about what the uncertainty of the return may mean for them academically and socially. Some may have existing worries at home, such as financial strain in the family, that can impact on their mental […] … learn more→

At present we find at our disposal an endless number of musical applications ( apps ) that allow both children and adults to interact with musical material in a way never experienced before. Under the label of educational, or with the excuse of learning, the users of these applications are not aware that on many occasions they work as […] … learn more→

The Covid-19 pandemic has profoundly changed our lives, and in particular the time we spend on screens. The blurred border that exists between recreational and educational uses raises questions that we are only beginning to understand, especially with regard to young people. Even before the onset of Covid-19, screen time was a concern. A 2019-2020 New Zealand survey found […] … learn more→