Dr Renata Phelps BEd(CSU) MDisEd(Deakin) DipEd(SCU) PhD(SCU) Renata is a Senior Research Fellow with the Centre for Children and Young People at Southern Cross University (http://www.ccyp.scu.edu.au/). She has also been a Senior Lecturer with the School of Education. Renata’s main areas of research and teaching include: • Educational information technology, in particular: computer education; computer capability; information literacy; teacher professional development in ICT; integration of ICT in learning and teaching; management of ICT in primary, secondary, and tertiary education; and online and flexible learning and instructional design. • Learner-centred pedagogy • Metacognition and metacognitive approaches to learning; self-directed and self-regulated learning; • Research with children and young people • Young people’s advocacy in environmental sustainability • Action learning and action research • Complexity theory in education; • Organising and managing research. Renata is involved in a number of research projects through her work with the Centre for Children and Young People, including: • Vietnamese children's perspectives on learning and the provision of quality primary school education within the rural Na Ri district in Vietnam - Through a partnership with ChildFund Australia • Why do young people care? Environmental advocacy collectives • Strengthening social inclusion: Innovations in professional practice to support children's participation More information about these and other projects can be found on the Centre for Children and Young People projects page http://ccyp.scu.edu.au/index.php/2/ Previous research has included: • A major ARC funded research project conducted in partnership with Catholic Education Office, Lismore Diocese (2004-7) investigated the metacognitive influences on teachers' use of information and communication technology (ICT) and the implications for teacher professional development. This project led to the development of a metacognitive approach to whole-school ICT professional development known as Technology Together. See the Technology Together website (http://www.scu.edu.au/technologytogether/) for more details. • Renata co-authored a text for researchers on Organising and Managing Your Research (2007, Sage). See the Organising and Managing your Research website (http://www.scu.edu.au/omyr/) for more details.
Journal articles
Improving practice through program evaluation, Centre for Children and Young People: Background Briefing Series (2011)
Supporting children’s mental health in schools: teacher views (with Anne Graham, Carrie Maddison, and Robyn Fitzgerald), Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice (2011)
Schools have increasingly been targeted as appropriate sites for mental health promotion and teachers are...
Exploring the complementarities between complexity and action research: the story of Technology Together (with Anne Graham), Cambridge Journal of Education (2010)
This paper takes up an ongoing dialogue in the educational literature regarding the relationship between...
Pathways to teaching: a curriculum innovation enhancing recognition of students’ career aspirations and expectations: redesigning curriculum to acknowledge diversity (with Tess Boyle), International Journal of Learning (2010)
Teacher education courses have traditionally focused on preparing students for a career of full-time permanent...
ICT in the secondary visual arts classroom (with Lisa Jacka), Education Technology Solutions (2009)
Books
Feeling glad and proud: children in rural Vietnam have a say about learning (with Nhung Ha Thi Tuyet), (2010)
This book is the result of a collaborative research project between ChildFund Australia and the...
Organizing and managing your research: a practical guide for postgraduates (with Kath Fisher and Allan Ellis) (2007)
Organizational, management and technological skills are critical aspects of research and are often overlooked and...
Book chapters
Managing staff development for web-based teaching: a four stage model and its application (with Allan Ellis), Perspectives in web course management (2000)
The development and delivery of Web-based courses involves more than the development of technical skills....
Information technology and the NESB research student (with Allan Ellis), Supervising postgraduates from non-English speaking backgrounds (1999)
"Many universities in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have come to rely...
Editorials
Co-contributor to editorials for Complicity: an International Journal of Complexity and Education, vol. 4, no. 1, August 2007; vol. 3, no. 1, September 2006; vol. 2, no. 1, December 2005; vol. 1, no. 1, December 2004. (2007)
Theses
Mapping the complexity of computer learning: journeying beyond teaching for computer competency to facilitating computer, PhD thesis, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW (2002)
For future generations to maximise their capability to operate within technologically driven economies, it is...
Information skills and the distance education student: an exploratory study into the approaches of Southern Cross University distance educators to the information needs of external students, Masters thesis, Deakin University, Melbourne, Vic. (1996)
Conference publications
Action research within the complexity paradigm, Complexity and Research in Teacher Education: Scottish Teachers for a New Era (2009)
Exploring new metaphors for teacher professional development: the technology together story through the lense of complexity, New Metaphors for Leadership in Schools Reflections: Australian Council for Educational Leaders Conference (2008)
Developing technology together together: what has it meant for our schools (with Elizabeth Watts, Carolyn Carrigan, and Sharon Brennan), QSITE State Conference (2007)
Developing technology together together: what has it meant for our schools? (with Damian O'Bryan), NSW CEG State Conference (2007)
I can u can: six strategies for building teachers’ ICT confidence and capability through metacognitive discussion and reflection: experiences from Technology Together (with Anne Graham, Sharon Brennan, and Carolyn Carrigan), Australian Council for Computers in Education Conference (ACEC), 2-4 October (2006)
When people are prompted to think about their values, beliefs and their past experiences they...
Reports
Quan điểm của trẻ em Việt Nam về việc học và giáo dục tiểu học ở huyện miền núi Na Rì, Việt Nam: Báo cáo tóm tắt của một dự án thí điểm (with Anne Graham), ChildFund Australia, Lismore, NSW & the Centre for Children and Young People, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW. (2010)
Giới thiệu về dự án nghiên cứu
Nghiên cứu này được ChildFund Australia khởi xướng...
Vietnamese children’s perspectives on learning and the provision of primary school education within the rural Na Ri district in Vietnam: consolidated report on a pilot project (with Anne Graham), ChildFund Australia and the Centre for Children and Young People, Southern Cross University (2010)
Background to the research
This research was initiated by ChildFund Australia as part of its...
Vietnamese children’s perspectives on learning and the provision of primary school education within the rural Na Ri district in Vietnam: pilot project report (with Anne Graham), ChildFund Australia and the Centre for Children and Young People, Southern Cross University (2010)
Developing countries face an urgent imperative to improve the equity, quality, relevance and authenticity of...
The changing landscape of family law: exploring the promises and possibilities for children’s participation in Australian family relationship centres (with Anne Graham and Robyn Margaret Fitzgerald), Interrelate Family Centres (2009)