Robin Nagy
Thesis Title
The Role of Effort in High School Students’ Academic Development: A Longitudinal Perspective in Mathematics and English
Supervisors
Summary
Our school systems typically measure success in terms of academic achievement, rather than student learning and growth. How can we encourage students to try their best if their efforts are not rewarded by this systemic success measure? This PhD, proposes a multidimensional model of student effort, to investigate the factors influencing and mitigating against effort in high school. In completing this PhD, it is anticipated that student effort can be reliably targeted to nurture students’ growth, develop intrinsic motivation for learning and help students fulfil their academic potential. It will help to shift the systemic ‘success-focus’ away from an exclusive emphasis on outcomes of learning, towards the more important processes of learning.
Bio
Robin has taught mathematics and been a senior leader in secondary schools for over 20 years in the UK, Thailand and Australia, receiving a special commendation in 2000 at the UK national teaching awards. In Australia, he has also been a professional learning consultant for the Mathematical Association of NSW, running professional development for mathematics teachers across the state. In addition to being a UNSW PhD candidate and Research Assistant, Robin is an educational consultant, advising schools on best practice in implementing data-driven student growth strategies. His PhD research is an investigation into the optimisation of high-school students’ effort, building on his work as a practitioner on the measurement and tracking of student effort to improve intrinsic motivation for learning. He was awarded 'most innovative PhD research in NSW' by the NSW Institute of Educational Research in 2021.
- Publications
- Awards
- Grants
- Media
- Conference Presentations
Publications
Awards
1. October 2021 – Recipient of a NSW Department of Education Waratah Scholarship, awarded for higher degree research in a Department of Education identified priority area.
2. May 2021 - NSW Institute for Educational Research Award: “Most Innovative HDR Research in NSW” , for his 3-minute thesis pitch. This was a state-wide inter-university competition, where universities were invited to enter their best HDR research. Robin’s research was judged by a panel to outperform nominees from five NSW universities. The panel comprised experts in educational policy, practice, and academia.
3. December 2019 – Recipient of an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.
4. July 2017 - Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Excellence in Professional Practice Conference 2017 (Gold Coast) - Outstanding Session Award - Tracking and Visualising Student Effort: A Practical Analytics Tool for Student Engagement – Case Studies of Practice.
5. May 2000 UK National Teaching Awards: Outstanding Secondary School Teacher - Special Commendation- Robin was one of four regional finalists (Southeast of England) in the UK National Teacher of the Year Awards. Specially commended at a ceremony in the Café Royal, London in the Outstanding Secondary School Teacher category.
Grants
Robin has been awarded an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship towards his PhD Research.
Media
Nagy, R.P., Martin, A.J., & Collie, R.J. (2023). It’s time to measure students’ effort at school. In ‘Education Review’, January 31, https://www.educationreview.com.au/2023/01/its-time-to-measure-students-effort-at-school-opinion
Martin, A.J., Ginns, P., Nagy, R.P., Collie, R.J., & Bostwick, KC.P. (2023). It would be so much better if we taught two ways—balancing explicit and independent approaches. Here’s why. In ‘EduResearch Matters’, January,https://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=15792
Martin, A.J., Collie, R.J., & Nagy, R.P. (2021). Students who are more adaptable do best in remote learning – and it’s a skill we can teach. In ‘The Conversation’, August, https://theconversation.com/students-who-are-more-adaptable-do-best-in-remote-learning-and-its-a-skill-we-can-teach-165003
Martin, A.J., Collie, R.J., & Nagy, R.P. (2021) UNSW Mediarelease: https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/social-affairs/helping-students-adapt-online-learning-sets-them-success
Nagy, R.P. (2019, December 7). The epic failure at the root of Australia’s maths problem. ABC News.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-07/the-demise-of-australian-mathematics-teachers-students/11768644
- Nagy, R.P. (2023, August 26) Effort Tracking: Using teacher and student ratings of students’ effort in goal-setting conversations [ICT Demonstration] EARLI23: The 20th Biennial European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) Conference 2023, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece.
- Nagy, R. P., Martin, A. J. & Collie, R. J., (2023, August 22). The role of effort in students’ mathematics development: Investigating its predictors and outcomes [Individual Paper presentation]. EARLI23: The 20thBiennial European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) Conference 2023, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece.
- Nagy, R. P., Collie, R. J., & Martin, A. J. (2023, August 20). An investigation into students’ effort in English classrooms: a multilevel latent profile analysis [Individual Paper presentation]. JURE23: The 27th Annual Junior Researchers of EARLI (JURE) Conference for Research on Learning and Instruction 2023, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece.
- Nagy, R. P., Martin, A. J. & Collie, R. J., (2023, August 03). The role of students’ multidimensional effort: A multilevel study of antecedents and consequences [Poster presentation]. APA23: American Psychological Association (APA) 131st Annual Convention 2023, Washington D.C., USA.
- Nagy, R. P., (2023, July 4). The role of high-school students’ effort in their academic development in English classes [Individual Paper presentation]. UNSW ADA HDR Conference 2023, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- Nagy, R. P., Collie, R. J., & Martin, A. J. (2023, June 1). Exploring student effort profiles in English learning and links with achievement [Individual Paper presentation]. EdMeas23: Sydney Educational Measurement and Assessment Symposium 2023, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- Nagy, R. P., (2021, December 7). The role of effort in high school students’ academic development: Investigating its predictors and outcomes [Individual Paper presentation]. UNSW ADA HDR Conference 2020, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- Nagy, R. P., (2021, May 28). Investigating students’ academic effort in high school [Individual Paper presentation]. NSW IER Student Research Showcase 2021, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- Nagy, R. P., (2020, September 17). Measuring and tracking students’ effort: Cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches based on student & teacher perspectives [Individual Paper presentation]. UNSW FASS HDR Conference 2020, Sydney, NSW, Australia.