My Research Programme
My research programme is concerned with how education can better support meaningful learning, authentic assessment, and trustworthy knowledge generation, with a particular emphasis on technology and engineering education.
I study spatial ability because formal education often focuses most directly on disciplinary competence, while cognitive factors that may shape learning and performance receive less sustained attention. Spatial ability has been linked to achievement in STEM, including specifically in technology and engineering contexts, in ways that suggest it may play an important role in students’ educational experiences. Understanding that role more clearly may help make education more supportive, efficient, and equitable.
I study assessment and comparative judgement because assessment mechanisms influence pedagogy. When assessment is aligned with the aims of a subject, it can support more authentic forms of activity and engagement. I see Adaptive Comparative Judgement as a promising approach for the assessment of complex and open-ended performance, and I am interested in how better designed and more accessible ACJ systems might contribute to better educational practice.
I conduct meta-research because educational improvement depends on the quality of the knowledge base that informs it. Through editorial and research work, I regularly encounter studies constrained by validity issues or methodological limitations, to the point of reducing their usefulness to the field. Strengthening research practices can improve knowledge generation in general, which in turn can better support educational practice.
These interests come together in an integrated research programme organised around three intersecting pillars as shown below.
Research Pillars
Learning and Spatial Ability
Focuses on the role of spatial ability in learning, development, and performance in technology and engineering education.
- Spatial ability development through intervention
- Understanding the structure and interrelationships of spatial factors
- Associations between spatial ability and learning
Assessment and Comparative Judgement
Focuses on the use of adaptive comparative judgement for the assessment of complex competencies, typically design.
- The development of ACJ systems
- The valid assessment of design activity
- Non-educational measurement applications of ACJ
Research Credibility and Meta-research
Focuses on the improvement of research practices in technology and engineering education.
- Improving replicability in technology and engineering education research
- Examining research robustness, reproducibility, and transparency
- Conducting evidence synthesis and meta-scientific critique
Research Intersections
While the pillars above represent distinct domains, my work actively engages them in an interdisciplinary way.
Can spatial ability be recognised and evaluated in authentic assessment contexts?
How can we improve validity in spatial ability measurement?
How can we systematically evaluate and validate the theoretical claims underpinning comparative judgement?