Dr Catherine Rita Volpe Johnston

Senior Lecturer in Social Science Education | Chair of School Education Committee | Course Coordinator for Bachelor of Education (Arts / STEM) - Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education; School of Education

Catherine Rita Volpe Johnston

Phone: +61 02 6773 1976

Email: cjohns86@une.edu.au

Secondary Email: cc-ed-sec@une.edu.au

Building: E011, LG18

Twitter: @catritavolpe

Biography

Catherine received a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Trent University and Master of Arts from the University of Toronto (Ontario, Canada) in Literature, Social Sciences and South Asian Studies. After moving to Australia, she completed her Grad. Dip. in Secondary Education and a Postgrad. Dip. in Research. She taught as a teacher specialised in English and Social Sciences before completing her Ph.D. in Human Geography at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Her doctoral thesis focused on the processes of identity construction for young migrants in Brisbane, Australia, through an exploration into their performativities across the private, public and online spaces of their everyday lives. Her current research continues in the area of identity construction in digital spaces for children and young people with a growing interest in gaming geographies.  She is also interested in the creation of new digital methods that can be used in research with children and young people, as well as explorations into the experiences and perspectives of pre-service and graduate teachers.

Qualifications

BA Hons (Trent), MA (Toronto), GDipSecondaryEd (Griffith), PGradDipResearch (Monash), PhD (Human Geography) (Sunshine Coast)

Awards

Australian Award for University Teaching (AAUT) - Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning

ACEL (Australian Council for Educational Leaders) - CSSP 2024

University of New England - Vice Chancellor Citation for Education Excellence (2024)

New England Education Cooperative (NEEC) Citation - HTB Harris Memorial Award  for a Significant Educational Program | CSSP (2023)

University of New England - School Citation for Education Excellence (2023)

University of New England -  Faculty Citation for Education Excellence (2023)

Australian Postgraduate Award – 2013-2016

Teaching Areas

EDSS311 – Secondary Education:  Society and Environment, Curriculum 1

EDSS223 -  Humanities and Social Sciences in the Primary School 1

EDSS324 - Humanities and Social Sciences in the Primary School 2

EDSS325 – Secondary Education:  Society and Culture

EDSS329 - Secondary Education: History

EDSS379 – Primary School Society and Environment Teaching

Research Interests

Children and young people's geographies

Emotional and gaming geographies

Digital and visual methods

Participatory research

Identity performativities

Digital Divide and the Pacific Islands

Social Science/HSIE Education

Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education and Secondary Schools

Research Supervision Experience

Catherine is available to supervise postgraduate research students in any of the above listed research areas.

Publications

Harrington, I., Volpe, C.R.,  Adlington, R., O'Neill, K., & Whannel,  R. (2024).  Preferred learning strategies of tertiary students who experience success:  the  top five engagement 'basic elements' of 2021-2023. ASCILITE 2024 Conference. https://doi.org/10.14742/apubs.2024.1715

Adlington, R., O'Neill, K., Volpe, C.R., & Harrington, I. (2024). Promoting a sense of belonging  in university online learning:  How and why initial teacher education students experience an increased sense of belonging . Australasian Journal of Educational Technology.  https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.9487

Adlington, R., Quinn, F., Charteris, J., Rizk, N. & Volpe, C.R. (2024). Using interpersonal meaning making resources to build relationships and improve engagement in online  teacher  professional learning. The Australian Educational Researcher.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-024-00713-4

Volpe, C.R. (2024). 'It doesn't prepare you for the actual curriculum taught in schools':  graduate teachers' readiness. Linking Research to the Practice of Education, 8(1),  6-7.   Link here.

Styles, J. & Volpe, C.R. (2023). Developing digital literacy with virtual excursions. Teaching History, 57 (4), 13-15.  Link here.

Matthews, J. & Volpe, C.R. (2023). Academics' perceptions of ChatGPT-generated written outputs:  A practical application of Turing's Imitation Game.  Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 39 (5), 82-100.  https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.8896

Volpe, C.R. (2023). Diaspora as practice for young migrants. In W. Arrocha & E. Xeni (Eds.), (pp. 253-271).Migrations and Diaspora:  Generating Spaces for Inclusion Through Interdisciplinary Practices. Emerald.  10.1108/978-1-83797-146-620231016

Volpe, C.R.,  O'Neill, K., & Harrington, I. (2023).  Supporting student engagement through video in distance education : Learning in a post-pandemic world. Linking  Research to the Practice of Education  7 (2), 2-3.   https://www.une.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/484361/SOE_Newsletter_Vol7_No2.pdf

Volpe, C.R. (2023). Feeling sexy and cool in the diaspora: The construction of hybrid identities for young migrants through dressing and dancing. In M. Bussey,  M. Chakravorty, & C. Mozzini-Alister (Eds.),  (pp. 231-249).Transitional Selves: Possibilities for Identity in a Plurified World. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003396246

Grono, S., O’Neill, K., Harrington, I.& Volpe, C.R. (2022, December 4-7). Building relationships through learning design as signature pedagogy: re-connecting mature-aged online students with educators [Pecha Kucha Presentation]. 39th International Conference on Innovation, Practice and Research in the Use of Educational Technologies in Tertiary Education, ASCILITE 2022, Sydney, NSW, Australia. https://doi.org/10.14742/apubs.2022.75

Harrington, I, Grono, S., O'Neill, K., Volpe, C.R. (2022). Celebrating innovative teaching at UNE: The Commencing Student Success Project. In N. Rizk, S. Elliott & M. Rogers (eds.), Linking Research to the Practice of Education, 6(1) p. 14. ISSN 2207-5151 https://www.une.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/416351/UNE-Newsletter-Volume-6-Issue-1.pdf

Volpe, C.R. (2022). [Review of podcast This Podcast will kill you: COVID-19, Chapter 10: Schools by Drs. Erin Welsh and Erin Allman Updyke]. Children, Youth and Environments, 32 (1), 220-222. doi:10.1353/cye.2022.0010

Volpe, C.R. (2021). 'High tide by boat, low tide we walk': the everyday digital lives of girls in remote villages of Vanua Levu, Fiji. Children's Geographies, 19 (6), 776-779. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2021.1893275

Volpe, C.R. (2021). 'What kind of girl is she?': good and bad diasporic daughters on social media. Journal of Cultural Geography, 38 (2),177-205.  https://doi.org/10.1080/08873631.2020.1864085

Volpe, C.R. (2019). Digital diaries: new uses of PhotoVoice in participatory research with young people. Children’s Geographies, 17 (3), 361-370. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2018.1543852

Volpe (Johnston), C.R. (2018). ‘It’s nice to be a little bit Indian’: Identity Performativities of Indian Young Women in Diasporic Private, Public and Online Spaces, Unpublished PhD Diss., University of the Sunshine Coast.

Memberships

UNE Committee Membership:  Curriculum Committee & Human Research Ethics Committee

The Institute of Australian Geographers (Study Group Co-Convenor - Geographies of Children and Young People) @IAGGeoCYP

Assistant Editor - Linking Research  to the Practice of Education 

Associate Editor for Children, Youth and Environments @CYEjournal

Commissioning Editor (The Pacific) and Social Media Editor for Children's Geographies @ChildrensGeogs

Peer reviewer for: African Studies Review; Asia Pacific Viewpoint; Australian Feminist Studies; Children's Geographies; Community Psychology in Global Perspective; Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking; Educational Studies; Ethnic and Racial Studies; Food, Culture and Society; Gender, Place and Culture; Health Promotion Practice;  Island Studies; International Journal of Qualitative Methods; Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies;  Journal of Participatory Research Methods; New Media and Society; Social Media + Society; and South African Journal of African Languages.

Media Release

UNE Pulse: Recognition for UNE teaching teams,  February 28, 2025

UNE Pulse:  Award for Student Success Team , November 2, 2023

HASSE  Newsletter (August, 2023) :  Creating community  for online students.  Link here.

Conferences/Presentations

Harrington, I., O’Neill, K., Volpe, C.R., Adlington, R., & Whannell, R. (2025, February 6). Preferred Learning Strategies of Tertiary Students who Experience Success. Melbourne Online Teaching and Learning Series February 2025. The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Harrington, I., Volpe, C.R., Adlington, R., O'Neill, K., & Whannell, R. (2024, November). Preferred learning strategies of tertiary students who experience success: the top five engagement 'basic elements' of 2021-2023.  ASCILITE 2024.  https://doi.org/10.14742/apubs.2024.1715

Volpe, C.R. (2024, July). 'The ChatGPT marking exercise is very ingenious':  Assessment re-design in primary and secondary curriculum units. UNE Teaching Symposium 2024.

Volpe, C.R. (2024, July). Dark-skinned and bikinied:  The Australian beach as third space for young migrants. Paper presented at the Institute of Australian Geographers' Conference, Adelaide, Australia.

Volpe, C.R. (2024, April). 'It's like a detachment of myself':  Digital (dis)embodiment  and children's  digital ways of playing #Roblox #Avatars #MyStyle. School of HASS Seminar Series.

Matthews, J. & Volpe, C.R. (2024, March). Can a person really tell the difference between a text written by ChatGPT and one written by a human? Academics' perceptions of ChatGPT-generated written outputs: A practical application of Turing's Imitation Game. School of Education Seminar Series.

Adlington, R., & Volpe, C.R. (2023, November). Online learning and language: Making evaluative language choices to build relationships and improve engagement.  ASCILITE 2023, The University of Canterbury.  10.14742/apubs.2023.659

Volpe (Johnston), C.R. (2023, October). 'It does not prepare you for the actual curriculum taught in schools':  Perspectives of graduate teachers  on their readiness to teach primary and secondary History and Geography. School of Education Seminar Series.

Volpe (Johnston), C.R. (2023, July). Let's Tok about it:  Tackling student disengagement through short and snappy videos. UNE Teaching Symposium 2023.

Harrington, I., Adlington, R., Grono, S., Volpe (Johnston),C.R., & O'Neill, K., . (2023, July). Improving student engagement through evidence-based Universal Design for Learning practices.  UNE Teaching Symposium 2023.

Volpe (Johnston), C.R. (2023, July). 'It kind of simulates me in some other universe':  An investigation into  children's digital ways of playing  #Roblox #Avatars #MyStyle. Paper presented at the Institute of Australian Geographers' Conference, Perth, Australia.

Volpe (Johnston), C.R. & Sigauke, A. (2023, July). Readiness to teach geography:  perspectives of  graduate teachers.  Paper presented at the Institute of Australian Geographers' Conference, Perth, Australia.

Grono, S.,  Volpe (Johnston), C.R., Harrington, I., O'Neill, K., Adlington, R. (2023). Building relationships, facilitating student engagement, designing a School-wide signature pedgagoy. School of Education Seminar Series.

Volpe (Johnston), C.R., Beazley, H., Stafford, L.  (2023, July).  Geographies of Children and Young People. Session Convenor for IAG 2023.

Volpe (Johnston), C.R. (2022, July). Digiscapes: Considering the digital landscapes of children and young people. Session Convenor for IAG 2022.

Volpe (Johnston), C.R. (2021, July).  Digital Methodologies in Research with Children and Young People.  Paper presented at the Institute of Australian Geographers and New Zealand Geographical Society Combined Conference, Sydney, Australia.

Volpe (Johnston), C.R. (2020). Digital methodologies in research: where to from here? School of Education Seminar Series.

Volpe (Johnston), C.R. (2017, July). ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Indian Girls: Shame, Secrets and Empowerment in the eDiaspora. Paper presented at the Institute of Australian Geographers’ Conference, Brisbane, Queensland.

Volpe (Johnston), C.R. (2016, April). 'Bad’ Indian Girls: Shame and Secrets in the Diaspora. Paper presented at the Diasporas of the Pacific Conference, Nadi, Fiji.

Volpe (Johnston), C.R. (2015, November).  Doing (and not doing) Indian Identities: Performing Culture in Different Spaces. Paper presented at the first annual conference of the Journal of Intercultural Studies, New York, United States.

Volpe (Johnston), C.R. (2014, December). ‘At certain places you sort of forget that you are coloured’: Processes and Intersections of Belonging, Identity and Space in the Indian Diaspora.Paper presented at Space, Race, Bodies: Geocorpographies of City, Nation, Empire Conference, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Volpe (Johnston), C.R. (2014, September). ‘Things’ in the Indian Diaspora. Paper presented at The Life of Things: The 2014 Work in Progress Conference, Brisbane, Queensland.