Thinking of a research degree in STEM Education

Thinking of a research degree in STEM Education?

The STEM Education Research group welcomes applicants for the Master of Philosophy (M.Phil), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or Doctor of Education (EdD) programs at QUT.

For more information on research degrees and scholarships, please visit Scholarship Opportunities.

Research in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education is critical for evaluating the major issues facing teaching and learning in the STEM fields, understanding how young people engage with STEM concepts, and deciding how educators and education systems can build the STEM literacy and STEM capability of young Australians.

The QUT Faculty of Education is looking for aspiring education researchers who are passionate about solving problems and finding real world solutions to curriculum, teaching, learning in the STEM disciplines to join our STEM Education Research Group through the QUT Annual Scholarship Round. Be supervised by our world-leading researchers who are critically investigating young people’s relationships with STEM, effective pedagogy and learning environments, and supporting pre-service and in-service teachers and teacher educators in STEM-related fields. The STEM Education Research Group are looking for research students interested in the following topics:

  • STEM integration in schools and classrooms
  • STEAM integration of STEM and Arts
  • Indigenous education in STEM
  • STEM education in VET for future employment
  • Emotional engagement and STEM learning
  • STEM learning communities
  • STEM Learning spaces and technology
  • STEM and student diversity
  • Teaching and learning in Higher Education STEM courses
  • STEM and Entrepreneurialism education
  • STEM Learning spaces and technology
  • STEM and Robotics Education

Science HDR Project Topics:

  • Emotion management/regulation and learning science (Bellocchi/Davis)
  • Science teachers’ emotions and teacher-student social bonds (Bellocchi/Davis)
  • Student-Student Social relationships/Social Bonds and science learning (Bellocchi/Davis)
  • Improving student engagement with science (Bellocchi/Davis)
  • Fostering social cohesion through science education (Bellocchi/Davis)
  • Science education as a vehicle for addressing global problems (Bellocchi/Davis)
  • Specialised science teaching in the primary years (Mills)

Earth and Environmental Science Education:

  • Pedagogical approaches
  • Development of learning progressions for geological phenomena
  • Predicting and explaining students pro-environmental behaviour

Mathematics HDR Project Topics:

  • Numeracy in Special Education (Ewing)
  • Mathematics learning in the early years (Whiteford)
  • Mathematical modelling and problem solving (English/Mallett)
  • Statistics and probability (English)
  • Mathematics curriculum design (English/Nutchey/Mallett)
  • Mathematical thinking, reasoning, and learning across the school years (Mallett/English)
  • Proloquo2go Assistiveware for teaching maths to students with special needs (Ewing)
  • Pictello Assistiveware: visual stories that speak for themselves in maths and numeracy (Ewing)
  • Virtual reality in the mathematics classroom (Ewing)
  • Drones and geometry (Ewing)

Technology HDR Project Topics:

  • Computational thinking including coding
  • Robotics education (Chalmers)
  • Engineering education (English)

Because scholarship numbers are limited, QUT conducts one highly competitive scholarship selection round each year. If you wish to be considered for a scholarship, you must apply for a research course before the closing date of the annual scholarship round, and indicate on your course application that you want to be considered for one of our main scholarships.

For more information on our research degrees and scholarships, please visit QUT PhDs & Research Degrees

Email edn.research@qut.edu.au for further queries.

Apply through the QUT website.

If you apply for a scholarship please say you saw it on the STEMERG Website.