Associate Professor Jill Fielding

Associate Professor, STEM Education , Mathematics and Statistics Education - Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education; School of Education

Jill Fielding

Phone: +61 2 6773 5472

Email: jill.fielding@une.edu.au

Twitter: @JillFielding9

Biography

Jill Fielding is Associate Professor STEM Education and the School of Education Research Co-ordinator in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education at the University of New England. She has international recognition as a researcher in mathematics and statistics education.

Jill commenced her career in adult training and development before discovering a passion for teaching, leading to study to qualify as a primary teacher. Her experience as a teacher has provided insight into the extent to which children were/are disengaged with mathematics from the earliest years of formal schooling. This realisation led her to research teaching approaches in search of ways to spark students' enthusiasm and love of mathematics while, at the same time, developing deep conceptual understanding. Over subsequent years, Jill divided her time between classroom teaching and research until she completed her Doctor of Philosophy (Developing Argument-Based Inquiry in Primary Mathematics: The Role of Evidence and Context). In 2014, Jill made the jump to academia, commencing as a Lecturer in Mathematics Education at the University of Tasmania. Working in this role made her increasingly aware of many significant issues in mathematics teacher education that were yet to be addressed in research. Subsequently, Jill took a Research Fellowship at the University of Queensland before moving to the Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education at the Australian Catholic University as a Senior Research Fellow. Jill commenced her current role at the University of New England in 2021.

Jill's research program has attracted significant external funding (~3 million AUD) including two competitive ARC Discovery Grants (DP170101993) into developing classroom norms that are conducive to Inquiry-Based Learning and (DP220101015) into Teacher ‘noticing’ of students’ critical mathematical thinking. Her research is classroom-based as she has a desire to make a pragmatic difference to teaching and learning and values the collaborative partnerships she has with schools and teachers.

Jill welcomes inquiries from potential higher degree research candidates in the field of mathematics and STEM education and, in particular, in the areas of Guided Inquiry, primary mathematics and statistics teaching, and the development of reasoning and argumentation in STEM disciplines.

Qualifications

B.Bus (HRM); B.Ed.Primary (Graduate); G.Dip (Psych); M.Ed.Studies; PhD

Awards

2023  Beth Southwell Practical Implications Award

2016  University of Tasmania, Research Merit Certificate (Outstanding Category)

2015  University of Tasmania, Research Merit Certificate (Outstanding Category)

2015  University of Tasmania, Teaching Merit Certificate

2010 - 2013  Australian Postgraduate Award

2010 International Association for Statistics Education (IASE) Award for Excellence for best paper by an Early Career Author

2007  Minister’s Award for Teacher Excellence

Teaching Areas

  • EDME340: Teaching Mathematics in the Inclusive Classroom
  • EDME358:  Primary Mathematics 2A: Space, Measurement & Number

Primary Research Area/s

Mathematics education in primary and early years ; Statistics education in primary and early years ; Inquiry-based learning in mathematics; Argumentation and reasoning in mathematics; Mathematics task design in primary and early years; Student engagement in mathematics

Research Interests

2023 DVCR Internal Funding Scheme: Affordances of a natural environment setting for developing authentic teaching of mathematics inquiry-based learning practices into integrated STEM contexts ($10 000)

2023 DVCR Internal Funding Scheme: Big Transitions Matter Too: Building wellbeing with STEM in the transition from primary to secondary school ($9 048)

2023 High Quality Research in Education Leadership: Using Responsive H5P Technology to Assist Conceptual Change in Primary Science ($6 768)

2023  Inspire Professional Learning Scholarship: Enhancing mathematical reasoning and problem solving through challenging integrated STEM tasks ($5950)

2022-2024 ARC Discovery Project: Enabling students' critical mathematical thinking ($382 700)

2017-2020 ARC Discovery Project: Developing classroom norms of inquiry-based learning in mathematics ($387 000)

2017-2018 DAAD German-Australian Cooperative Grant: Developing Complex Online Mathematical Tasks (DCOMT) ($50 000)

2017 Mathematical Inquiry into Authentic Problems, Australian Academy of Science ($114 000)

2015 Tasmanian Community Fund: Promoting and supporting parent involvement in primary students’ mathematics learning ($5808)

2015 Dream Big: Evaluation of program for raising student aspirations (Burnie City Council, Tasmania) ($25 000)

2015 Teaching Secondary Mathematics, Department of Education, Tasmania ($32 271)

2014-2016 Australian Maths and Science Partnership Program: Towards Educating Mathematics Professionals Encompassing Science and Technology (TEMPEST) ($1 738 070)

2014 Teaching Secondary Mathematics, Department of Education, Tasmania ($44 163)

2007 Minister’s Award for Teacher Excellence, Research Grant awarded to a practicing teacher to undertake research in education ($25 000)

Research Supervision Experience

Jill has supervised a number of students to completion at the Honours, Masters and PhD levels.

She is currently seeking to build an active team of higher-degree by research students in the School of Education, particularly in the fields of mathematics and STEM education.

Publications

ARTICLES

Getenet, S., Fielding, J., Callingham, R. & Hay, I. (online 2023). Describing a teacher’s pedagogical mathematical knowledge in STEM teaching. Mathematics Education Research Journal.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-023-00480-y

Rogers, M., Johnson, A., Coffey, Y., Fielding, J., Harrington, I., & Bhullar, N. (in press). Parental perceptions of social and emotional wellbeing of young children from Australian military families. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 31, 1090-1102.  https://doi.org/10.1111/ajr.13033

Fielding, J., Miller, J., Geiger, V., Bruder, R., Roder, U., & Ratnayake, I. (2022). Initial teacher education students’ perception of engagement and motivation in response to challenging mathematical tasks. Teaching and Teacher Education, 113, 1-14.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.103663

Wang, H., Hong, Z., She, H., Smith, T.J. Fielding, J., & Lin, H. (2022). The role of structured inquiry, open inquiry, and epistemological beliefs in developing secondary students’ scientific and mathematical literacies. International Journal of STEM Education, 9(1), 1-17.  https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-022-00329-z

Fielding-Wells, J. & Makar, K. (2022). Challenging conceptual knowledge during mathematical inquiry:  Provoking and maintaining collective disequilibrium. Instructional Science, 50, 35-61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-021-09564-3

Fielding-Wells, J. (2018). Dot plots and hat plots: Supporting young students emerging understandings of distribution, center and variability through modelling. ZDM Mathematics Education, 50(7), 1125-1138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-018-0961-1

Makar, K., & Fielding-Wells, J. (2018). Shifting more than the goal posts: Developing classroom norms of inquiry-based learning in mathematics. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 30(1), 53-63.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-017-0215-5

Fielding-Wells, J., O’Brien, M., & Makar, K. (2017). Using expectancy-value theory to explore aspects of motivation and engagement in inquiry-based learning in primary mathematics. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 29(2), 237-254. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-017-0201-y

Corbett, M., Reaburn, R., Fraser, S., Smith, H., Roberts, J., & Fielding-Wells, J. (2017). Building a new generation: Community expectations on raising aspirations in rural Tasmania. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 27(3), 8-24.  https://doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v27i3.139

Muir, T., Fielding-Wells, J., & Chick, H. (2017). Developing an understanding of what constitutes mathematics teacher educator PCK: A case study of a collaboration between two teacher educators.  Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 42(12), 60-79. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2017v42n12.4

Reaburn, R., Fraser, S., Smith, H., Roberts, J., Fielding-Wells, J., & Corbett, M. (2017). Aspire high: Impacting student aspirations in a regional community. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 27(3), 73-89. https://doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v27i3.136

Fielding-Wells, J., Dole, S., & Makar, K. (2014). Inquiry pedagogy to promote proportional reasoning in primary students. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 26(1), 47-77.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-013-0111-6

EDITED BOOKS

Fan, S., & Fielding-Wells, J. (Eds.), (2016). What is next in educational research. Sense Publications.

BOOKS

Muir, T., Livy, S., Bragg, L., Clark, J., Wells, J., & Attard, C. (2017). Engaging with mathematics through picture books. Teaching Solutions.

Allmond, S., Wells, J., & Makar, K. (2010). Thinking through mathematics: Engaging students with inquiry-based learning. Book 1, Ages 6-8. Education Services Australia.

Allmond, S., Wells, J., & Makar, K. (2010). Thinking through mathematics: Engaging students with inquiry-based learning. Book 2, Ages 8-10. Education Services Australia.

Allmond, S., Wells, J., & Makar, K. (2010). Thinking through mathematics: Engaging students with inquiry-based learning. Book 3, Ages 10-13. Education Services Australia.

BOOK CHAPTERS

Geiger, V., Yasukawa, K., Bennison, A., Fielding, J., & Sawatzki, C. (2020). Facets of numeracy: Teaching, learning and practices. In J. Way, J. Anderson, J. Bobis, H. McMaster, K. Cartwright, & C. Attard (Eds.), Research in Mathematics Education in Australasia: 2016-2019. Springer.  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4269-5_4

Emery, S., & Fielding-Wells, J. (2018). Fluid methods to make sense of an unknown: An emergent grounded theory study of cultural wellbeing. In D. Kember & M. Corbett (Eds.), Structuring the thesis - Matching method, paradigm, theory and findings. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0511-5_18

Fielding-Wells, J. (2018). Scaffolding statistical inquiries for young children. In A. Leavy, M. Mavrotheris-Meletiou, & E. Paperistodemou (Eds.), Statistics in early childhood and primary education: Supporting early statistical and probabilistic thinking. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1044-7_7

Watson, J., Fitzallen, N., Fielding-Wells, J., & Madden, S. (2018). The practice of statistics. In D. Ben-Zvi, K. Makar, & J. Garfield (Eds.), International handbook of research in statistics education. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66195-7_4

Fielding-Wells, J., & Makar, K. (2015). Inferring to a model: Using inquiry-based argumentation to challenge young children’s expectations of equally likely outcomes. In A. Zieffler & E. Fry (Eds.), Reasoning about uncertainty: Learning and teaching informal inferential reasoning (pp. 89-115). Catalyst Press.

Makar, K., & Fielding-Wells, J. (2011). Teaching teachers to teach statistical investigations. In C. Batanero, G. Burrill, & C. Reading (Eds.), Teaching statistics in school mathematics-challenges for teaching and teacher education
(Vol. 14, pp. 347-358). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1131-0_33

CONFERENCE PAPERS

Fielding, J., Adeniji, S. & Baker, P. (2023). Throw away the script: Examining the introduction of a guided mathematical inquiry unit. In B. Reid-O’Connor, E. Prieto-Rodriguez, K. Holmes, & A. Hughes (Eds.), Weaving mathematics education research from all perspectives. Proceedings of the 45th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia(pp. 27–35). MERGA. Winner, Beth Southwell Practical Implications Award – Presented as Keynote address.

Fielding, J. (2023). The role of argument when students use data and data-ing to seek insight into an environmental issue. Paper presented at the13th International Conference of the Statistical Reasoning Thinking and Literacy Group (SRTL13).Maleny, Australia.

Kazak, S., Fielding, J., & Zapata-Cardona, L. (2022). Investigation cycle for analysing image-based data: perspectives from three contexts. In S. A. Peters, L. Zapata-Cardona, F. Bonafini, & A. Fan (Eds.), Bridging the Gap: Empowering & Educating Today’s Learners in Statistics.Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Teaching Statistics (ICOTS11). International Association for Statistical Education.

Bansilil, S., Fielding, J., Geiger, V., North, D., Porciuncula, M., Schreiber, K., & Gal, I. (2022). A multi-country study of teachers’ beliefs about implications of COVID-19 for changing the teaching of statistics and mathematics. In S. A. Peters, L. Zapata-Cardona, F. Bonafini, & A. Fan (Eds.), Bridging the Gap: Empowering & Educating Today’s Learners in Statistics. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Teaching Statistics (ICOTS11). International Association for Statistical Education.

Fielding, J. & Fitzallen, N. (2022). Exploring young students statistical reasoning with non-conventional data: possibilities and pitfalls. Paper presented at the 12th International Symposia for Statistical Reasoning, Thinking and Literacy (SRTL12). Online.

Makar, K. & Fielding-Wells, J. (2019). Extending Yackel & Cobb’s socio-mathematical norms to ill-structured problems in an inquiry-based classroom. In Jankvist, U. T., Van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, M., & Veldhuis, M. (Eds.). (2019). Proceedings of the Eleventh Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME11, February 6 – 10, 2019). Utrecht, the Netherlands: Freudenthal Group & Freudenthal Institute, Utrecht University and ERME.

Fielding-Wells, J. & Fry, K. (2019, July). Introducing guided mathematical inquiry in the classroom: complexities of developing norms of evidence. In G. Hine, S. Blackley, & A. Cooke (Eds.). Mathematics Education Research: Impacting Practice (Proceedings of the 42nd annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia)
pp. 268-275. Perth: MERGA.

Fielding-Wells, J., Geiger, V., Miller, J.,Bruder, R., Roder, U., & Ratnayake, I. (2019, July). Designing challenging online mathematical tasks for Initial teacher education: motivational considerations. In M. Graven, H. Venkat, A. Essien & P. Vale (Eds.). Proceedings of the 43rd Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 2, pp. 240-247). Pretoria, South Africa: PME.

Oates, G., Beswick, K., Beisiegel, M and Evans, T and King, D & Fielding-Wells, J. (July, 2017). Videos in teacher professional development: fostering an international community of practice. In Kaur, B., Ho, W.K., Toh, T.L., & Choy, B.H. (Eds.). Proceedings of the 41st conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol 1, pp.155-156). Singapore: PME.

Fielding-Wells, J. (2017).  Hat plots and dot plots:  Supporting young students emerging understandings of distribution, centre and variability through modelling. Paper presented at the 10th International Conference of the Statistical Reasoning Thinking and Literacy Group (SRTL10). Rotorua, New Zealand.

Fielding-Wells, J. (2016, July). “Mathematics is just 1+1=2, what is there to argue about?”: Developing a Framework for Argument-Based Mathematical Inquiry. In White, B., Chinnappan, M. & Trenholm, S. (Eds.). Opening up mathematics education research (Proceedings of the 39th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia), pp. 214–221. Adelaide: MERGA.

Fielding-Wells, J. (2015, July). Identifying Core Elements of Argument-Based Inquiry in Primary Mathematics Learning. In M. Marshman, V. Geiger, & A. Bennison (Eds.). Mathematics education in the margins (Proceedings of the 38th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia), pp. 229–236. Sunshine Coast: MERGA.

O'Brien, M., Makar, K., Fielding-Wells, J. and Hillman, J.  (2015). How inquiry pedagogy enables teachers to facilitate growth mindsets in mathematics classrooms. In M. Marshman, V. Geiger, & A. Bennison (Eds.). Mathematics education in the margins (Proceedings of the 38th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia), pp. 469–476. Sunshine Coast: MERGA.

Fielding-Wells, J. & Makar, K. (2015, July). “If it doesn’t have an Apex it’s not a Pyramid”: Argumentation as a Bridge to Mathematical Reasoning. In Beswick, K., Muir, T. & Fielding-Wells, J. Proceedings of the 39th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 2, pp. 297-304). Hobart, Australia: PME.

Fielding-Wells, J. (2015).  Young children’s development and use of models as evidence in support of informal statistical inference. Paper presented at the 9th International Conference of the Statistical Reasoning Thinking and Literacy Group (SRTL9). Paderborn, Germany.

Fielding-Wells, J. (2014). Where’s your evidence? Challenging young students’ equiprobability bias through argumentation. In B. d. Sousa. K. Makar, & R. Gould (Ed.), International Conference on Teaching Statistics (ICOTS9).Flagstaff, Arizona, USA. Voorburg, The Netherlands: International Statistical Institute.

Fielding-Wells, J. & Makar, K. (2013). Inferring to a model: Using empirical evidence to challenge young children’s expectations of equally likely outcomes. Paper presented at the 8th International Conference of the Statistical Reasoning Thinking and Literacy Group (SRTL8). Minnesota, USA.

Fielding-Wells, J. (2013). Inquiry-based argumentation in primary mathematics: Reflecting on evidence. In V. Steinle, L. Ball & C. Bardini (Eds.), Mathematics Education: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Proceedings of the 34th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia), pp. 290-297. Melbourne, VIC: MERGA.

Fielding-Wells, J., & Makar, K. (2012). Developing primary students' argumentation skills in inquiry-based mathematics classrooms. In K. T. Jan van Aalst, Michael J. Jacobson and Peter Reimann (Ed.), The future of learning: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of the Learning Sciences [ICLS2012]– Vol 2, pp. 149-153. Sydney, NSW: International Society of the Learning Sciences

Makar, K., Fielding-Wells, J. & Allmond, S. (2011). Is This Game 1 or Game 2? Primary Children’s Reasoning about Samples during Inquiry. Paper presented at the 7th International Conference on Statistical Reasoning, Thinking and Literacy (SRTL7). Texel Island, The Netherlands.

Fielding-Wells, J. (2010). Linking problems, conclusions and evidence: Primary students’ early experiences of planning statistical investigations. In C. Reading (Ed.), Proceedings of the 8th international conference on teaching statistics. Voorburg, The Netherlands: International Statistical Institute.  IASE Award for Excellence for a paper by an Early Career Author

Fielding-Wells, J., & Makar. K. (2008). Using mathematical inquiry to engage student learning within the overall curriculum In J. Adler & D. Ball (Eds.), Eleventh International Congress of Mathematics Education (ICME11) mathematical knowledge for teaching (pp. 1-17). Monterrey, Mexico, 6-13 July 2008.

Fielding-Wells, J. & Makar, K. (2008). Student (dis)engagement with mathematics. In: P. L. Jeffery, Annual Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE). AARE 2008 International Education Conference Brisbane: Changing Climates: Education for Sustainable Futures, Brisbane, Australia.

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS – EDITED

Beswick, K., Muir, T. & Fielding-Wells, J. (2015). Proceedings of the 39th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education,  13 - 18 July, Hobart, Tasmania, pp. 1-i - 4-344.

REPORTS

Wyatt-Smith, C., Du Plessis, A., & Fielding-Wells, J. (2019). Guiding principles for curriculum supports. Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University.

Corbett, M.J., Fraser, S.P., Beswick, K., Smith, H., Wells, J., Reaburn, R.L. Page, L.A. (2017). Report of the program evaluation of ‘Dream Big’.  University of Tasmania.

THESES

Wells, J. (2014). Developing argumentation in mathematics: the role of evidence and context. Doctoral Dissertation, School of Education, The University of Queensland. https://doi.org/10.14264/uql.2015.208

Wells, J. (2009). Affective, behavioural and cognitive engagement in primary school mathematics: the impact of inquiry-based learning. Masters Dissertation, School of Education, The University of Queensland.

MEDIA

Fielding-Wells, J. & Fry, K. (2019, October 28). Don’t just solve for x: letting kids explore real-world scenarios will keep them in maths class. The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/dont-just-solve-for-x-letting-kids-explore-real-world-scenarios-will-keep-them-in-maths-class-124876

Memberships

  • Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE)
  • Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA)
  • International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (IGPME)
  • International Association for Statistics Education (IASE)
  • International Collaboration for Research in Statistical Reasoning, Thinking and Literacy (SRTL)
  • International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS)
  • Australian Association for Mathematics Teachers (AAMT)

Consultancy Interests

Early, Primary and Middle years mathematics/statistics/STEM curriculum and pedagogy

Enhancing student reasoning and problem solving in mathematics