Tracy DurksenUNSW Sydney | UNSW · School of Education
Tracy Durksen
BA (Hons Psych), BEd, MA, PhD
Academic in Australia at UNSW Sydney since 2016
About
63
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1,344
Citations
Citations since 2017
Publications
Publications (63)
The emotions of teachers are considered relevant not only for their own well-being but also for the functioning of classrooms. Nevertheless, research on teacher emotions has been slow to emerge, and scales for their assessment via self-report are generally lacking. In the present research we developed four-item scales for three emotions considered...
We started with a classic research question (How do teachers motivate and engage middle year students in mathematics?) that is solidly underpinned and guided by an integration of two theoretical and multidimensional models. In particular, the current study illustrates how theory is important for guiding qualitative analytical approaches to motivati...
The current study contributes to the growing body of empirical research on the connection between motivation and teachers' learning across professional life phases. With data from 253 practicing teachers, we tested hypothesized relationships through structural equation modelling in order to answer the question: How do practicing teachers' efficacy...
The purpose of this article was to examine what education professionals in four countries (England, Finland, Malawi, and Oman) deemed as the critical (i.e., most important for effective teaching) non-cognitive attributes of novice teachers. Results from an iterative comparative case study showed that participants consistently judged certain attribu...
One way to build a stronger teacher workforce is to improve the way we recruit teachers. The goal of this article is to describe a competency-based approach to two facets of teacher recruitment: attraction and selection. We begin by examining current teacher attraction and selection efforts worldwide, and then describe how education organizations c...
International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology
https://genderandset.open.ac.uk/index.php/genderandset/article/view/1402
https://www.infoagepub.com/products/STEM-Teacher-Preparation-and-Practice-for-the-21st-Century
The current study examined the associations between growth orientation and mathematics outcomes across 1 year of school using a multilevel model with cross-level interactions. With 851 adolescent students (Mage = 14.3 years, age range 12–17; 47.8% male; 81.8% English language background; 1.8% of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent) in 71 d...
The post-lesson mentoring conversation on work-integrated learning placements in teacher education is an opportunity for students to critically reflect on their practice. The potential for this learning to take place is diminished however, if the mentor is unskilled in the art of leading these conversations. This skill involves creating a dialogue...
Teacher education programmes struggle to attract, develop, and retain potential teachers in Science and Mathematics. The development of both academic and non-academic attributes (e.g. adaptability, empathy) during a programme can influence not only retention but the profession-readiness of graduates. This is especially important in underserved scho...
In this study we report two studies on the testing of a scenario-based learning (SBL) activity delivered to 191 preservice teachers in the UK and Australia. SBL uses interactive classroom scenarios to enhance the self-efficacy and classroom readiness of preservice teachers. Findings from Study 1 indicated that participants found the activity engagi...
Current policy initiatives are requiring Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers to select teachers with both the academic and non-academic attributes that ensure their suitability for teaching and their classroom readiness. Research evidence has linked non-academic attributes to teacher quality, student learning outcomes, teacher retention and c...
In this study we report the development and testing of a scenario-based learning (SBL) activity delivered to 191 preservice teachers in the UK and Australia before the start of a school-based teaching placement. SBL uses interactive, realistic classroom scenarios, coupled with self-reflection and feedback from experienced teachers to enhance the se...
Advances in research on educational technologies and increasing access to computers offer teacher education providers numerous tools and opportunities for supporting student teachers. However, systematic investigations of online interventions using complex classroom scenarios (scenario-based learning activities) are currently lacking. This study te...
This study aimed to test whether an online scenario-based learning activity increases student teachers’ self-efficacy and emotional, motivational, and cognitive classroom readiness before they start their first teaching practicum. Specifically, we explored whether the effectiveness of the intervention depends on the inclusion of expert teacher feed...
For national education systems, the goal of an effective teacher recruitment strategy is not simply to attract more applicants, but to attract high-quality applicants who are well suited to teaching and are likely to remain in the profession. The goal of this article is to examine teacher recruitment strategies in England and to propose new models...
Using an established global academic interest scale, academic interest dimensions of undergraduate ( n = 326) and graduate ( n = 401) students were compared. The four-factor structure, consisting of passion for learning, confidence in the future, career aspiration, and self-expression, held for both student groups. However, the item scores and mean...
This study examined associations between student- (N = 1414), classroom-, and teacher (N = 91) growth orientation and mathematics engagement and achievement using a multilevel model. Results demonstrated positive associations between student growth orientation and mathematics outcomes and positive associations between classroom and teacher growth o...
In this study we report two studies on the development and testing of a scenario-based learning (SBL) activity delivered to 191 preservice teachers in the UK and Australia. SBL uses interactive, realistic classroom scenarios, coupled with self-reflection and feedback from experienced teachers to enhance the self-efficacy and classroom readiness of...
This study aimed to test whether an online scenario-based learning activity increases student teachers’ self-efficacy and emotional, motivational, and cognitive classroom readiness before they start their first teaching practicum. Specifically, we explored whether the effectiveness of the intervention depends on the inclusion of expert teacher feed...
Background: Teachers have the potential to make an enormous positive impact on the lives of their students, and may enter the classroom with a deep-set belief that education is, fundamentally, benevolent and good. However, such an uncritical stance may fail to account for the negative experiences of Indigenous students in Australia, where teachers...
Teachers around the world are in short supply; in England teacher shortages have been labeled a ‘catastrophe’. For national education systems, the goal of an effective teacher recruitment strategy is not simply to attract more applicants, but to attract high quality applicants who are well-suited to teaching and are likely to remain in the professi...
This qualitative study sought to understand the reasoning of pre-service teachers through think-aloud interviews with teacher education students at the beginning of their postgraduate degree (six elementary and six secondary). Interviews focused on contextualised and challenging teaching scenarios with a range of response options previously confirm...
Academic growth constructs, such as growth mindset and various forms of growth goals, have been of substantial focus in psycho-educational research. Recent research has sought to identify how such growth constructs are interrelated , finding that an underlying growth orientation (comprised of growth mindset, self-based growth goals, and task-based...
SENSES questionnaire.
SENSES Questionnaire.
(DOCX)
Study 2 Covariance Matrix.
Study 2 Covariance Matrix.
(XLSX)
Study 1 Covariance Matrix.
Study 1 Covariance Matrix.
(XLSX)
Twin and adoption studies find that non-shared environmental (NSE) factors account for variance in most behavioural traits and offer an explanation for why genetically identical individuals differ. Using data from a qualitative hypothesis-generating study we designed a quantitative measure of pupils’ non-shared experiences at the end of formal comp...
This review explores predictors and consequences of students’ growth goals and growth mindset in school with particular emphasis on how correlational statistical methods can be applied to illuminate key issues and implications. Study 1 used cross-sectional data and employed structural equation modelling (SEM) to investigate the role of growth goals...
Personal Best (PB) goals are defined as specific, challenging, and competitively self-referenced goals involving a level of performance or effort that meets or exceeds an individual’s previous best. Much of the available research underpinning arguments for PB goal-setting is self-report-based; thus, the causal effect of PB goals on learning outcome...
The purpose of this study was to test and validate the Engaged
Teacher Scale (ETS) in a Turkish context (ETS-TR). In order to test the
construct validity of the ETS, data were collected from 388 teachers in
two northeast cities of Turkey. First-order confirmatory factor analysis
results supported the 16-item and four-factor model of ETS while
secon...
Education authorities in Australia are calling for valid tools to help assess prospective teachers’ non-academic attributes, with a particular need for identifying those attributes necessary for effective teaching in specific contexts. With the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education, we aimed to develop a scenario-based tool to help assess t...
Museums promote co-learning through the construction of a social community, one that involves personal, physical, and sociocultural contexts. As researchers and museum educators, we report some of our contextual reflections and recommendations that emerged from our collaborative learning experience of conducting research in a medical science museum...
The purpose of this article is to report on the development of a proof-of- concept situational judgment test (SJT) to assist in the selection of candidates for primary teacher education (ITE) programs. Nine development steps involving practising teachers, teacher educators, and applicants to ITE programs were carried out to establish target attribu...
We investigated psychological dimensions of academic interest among undergraduate students (N = 325) using a global academic interest scale. The scale was administered together with measures of academic performance, educational aspiration, career planning, goal setting, life satisfaction, attitudes towards leisure, personality and value. Explorator...
https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/article/science-education-surviving-the-zombie-apocalypse
In this review, we focus on the museum activities and strategies that encourage and support children’s learning. In order to provide insight into what is known about children’s learning in museums, we examined study content, methodology and the resultant knowledge from the last decade of research. Because interactivity is increasingly seen as essen...
The majority of educational research on the associations between growth constructs and academic outcomes has adopted a somewhat piecemeal approach, focusing on either growth mindset (implicit beliefs about intelligence) or growth goals. We explore an integrative approach to analyzing the impact of well-established and emerging growth constructs (vi...
Self-determination theory (SDT) is one of the most well-known approaches to achievement motivation. However, the three basic psychological needs of SDT have not received equivalent attention in the literature: priority has been given to autonomy, followed by the need for competence, with research into relatedness lacking (Bachman and Stewart in Tea...
Informal learning settings such as museums have been identified as opportunities to enhance students' knowledge and motivation in science and to optimize the connection between science and everyday life. The present study assessed the role of a self-paced science education program (situated in a medical science museum) in enhancing students' progra...
A new measure of environmental influences that may help to explain nonshared environmental (NSE) variance in school-leavers’ achievement, lifesatisfaction, and future orientation was piloted and validated. Monozygotic (MZ) twins (n = 497 pairs) had previously completed free-response questionnaires about their discordant experiences and outcomes, an...
http://hdl.handle.net/10402/era.41551
Available at http://issuu.com/museumsaustralia/docs/mam_vol23_2-3_-autumn_winter_2015_w/30?e=2140540/12438633
To build on prior correlational research into personal best (PB) goals and motivational outcomes, an experimental study was conducted to assess the role of PB goal setting in gains (or declines) in students’ motivation in science (viz. biology, anatomy, health). The study (comprising N = 71 elementary/primary and secondary school students) applied...
Many of the Aboriginal families who move to Edmonton from smaller communities, including reserves and settlements, face substantial barriers to service access. It is imperative that social workers understand the nature of these barriers and are equipped with the necessary skills to competently support transitional Aboriginal families. The goal of t...
The purpose of this longitudinal mixed methods study was to examine the development of self-efficacy and work stress of pre-service teachers during a teaching practicum. Participants were 150 pre-service teachers who completed eight weekly electronic surveys during their two-month final practicum in a Canadian teacher education program. The study i...
We considered applicants’ perceptions of the use of a pilot situational judgment test (SJT) designed for selection into primary and secondary teacher training programs in the UK. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 304 applicants (73% female) to two postgraduate (PGCE) training programs in the 2013-2014 application cycle. Particip...
The goal of this study was to create and validate a brief multidimensional scale of teacher engagement—the Engaged Teachers Scale (ETS)—that reflects the particular characteristics of teachers’ work in classrooms and schools. We collected data from three separate samples of teachers (total N = 810), and followed five steps in developing and validat...
In this Families First Edmonton (FFE) report we explore how caseworkers can promote family capacity building and address the unique needs of low-income Aboriginal families with children who have moved to Edmonton from more isolated communities. This report was developed under the supervision of FFE Research Analyst, Dr. Laura Templeton and in consu...
Training to become a teacher is a psychologically demanding experience, with fluctuations in professional commitment and engagement in a brief but intense time frame. This longitudinal mixed methods study examines patterns of commitment and engagement during a final teaching practicum, and offers ways that educational psychologists and other profes...
http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2962
Projects
Projects (6)
This project aims to explore the motivation and commitment of teachers working in rural schools using the principles of self-determination theory (SDT).
Through a 3-year funded partnership with the NSW Department of Education, I am conducting a multi-phase mixed methods research project to collect evidence of quality characteristics that underpin teachers’ success. A developmental approach guides our plan to validate a contextual model of teacher success that is centred on both academic and non-academic attributes. Our project aims to result in an evidence-informed recruitment and selection framework that can also be applied across the career cycle and in a range of contexts to help improve the development and retention of quality teachers.
I am conducting a one-year study in partnership with Professor Andrew Martin of the School of Education and Derek Williamson from the Museum of Human Disease within the Faculty of Medicine at UNSW Sydney. We were awarded funding for this study from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences through the Collaborative Research Scheme. This partnership aims to increase the museum's impact on teachers’ professional learning and advance understanding of how teachers enhance students’ engagement in STEM education. Specifically, we aim to discover how to best help develop teachers’ ability to optimise female students’ academic achievement and career aspirations.
