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I am an Associate Professor in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne. I also hold a continuing post at Federation University Australia where I teach academic literacy. I also do consultancy work for the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. Previously, I was Associate Professor and Director (2009-2014) and Honorary Fellow (Economics) at the Williams Centre for Learning Enhancement, Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne. Prior to that I was a lecturer at Monash University. I was lecturer and Visiting Scholar in Philosophy at the Flinders University of South Australia from 1996-2002, and taught Philosophy at the University of Adelaide and the University of Edinburgh.

10363533_636444259799453_5852558802404532765_nI have published seven books and 90+ scholarly publications most in peer-reviewed journals. My most recent book is an edited collection (with Emeritus Professor Ronald Barnett from the Institute of Education, London) entitled The Palgrave Handbook on Critical Thinking in Higher Education. This was published in April 2015. It received a 5 star rating on Amazon and is presently undergoing a review symposia in the journal Inquiry: Critical Thinking across the Disciplines. I have been an editor for a number of journals in education. See my Publications page for details. I also offer an educational and academic consultancy service (see Services). (Google scholar: h-index: 28; i10 index=38@May 2024.)

I am married and have one son. My extra-mural interests include modern jazz and baroque music. I used to play classical guitar in the Melbourne Mandolin Orchestra in a previous incarnation.

VERY SHORT RESUME

Qualifications

Certificate IV (Electronic Publishing); BA (Deakin); BA (Hons) (Flinders); RSA CELTA (Cambridge); PhD (Flinders); GradDipEd; PhD (Adelaide).

I am interested in work opportunities and visiting professorial roles. Download my long (academic-style) CV here.  My Google Citations Page is here. My PhilPeople page is here. My ORCID page is here. My Academia.edu, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and ResearchGate accounts are at the bottom of the page. I am interested in hearing from graduate students and researchers about potential research synergies.

Current position

Associate Professor/Principal Fellow in Higher Education, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne, and continuing part-time appointment at Federation University Australia.

Current Research interests

My research interests are at the intersection of Higher Education and Philosophy.

  • Critical Thinking, and how to Teach it
  • Computer-Aided Argument Mapping
  • Argumentation Theory and Informal Logic
  • Cognitive Science and the Philosophy of Mind
  • Cognitive Science and Higher Education
  • Citation analytics
  • Interdisciplinary Higher Education
  • New Media and New Literacies, the Challenges and Opportunities of Online learning
  • Systemic Influences on Student Evaluation Surveys
  • History of Australasian Philosophy, especially Idealist Perspectives
  • The Nature of Knowledge, Epistemology

Professional Service (Summary only, see CV for details)

  • Expert Advisor, Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority [VCAA] (2020–)
  • Editorial Board: L. J. Shedley and J. S. Beaudry (Eds.), Cases on Teaching Critical Thinking through Visual Representation Strategies. (2014) Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design Series. Hershey, PA: Information Science, IGI Global.
  • Board Member, Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasian (Victorian Branch) (2012-13)
  • Chair, Higher Education Research and the Student Learning Experience International Conference, University of Melbourne (2012)
  • Chair, Organising Committee, The Quantitative Analysis of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Business, Economics and Commerce Disciplines, Annual Forum, University of Melbourne (2005-2011).
  • Chair, Special Consideration Committee, Faculty of Business and Economics (2009-2013)
  • Special Issue, Guest Editor, Journal of International Education in Business (2012-2014)
  • Reviewer for IGI-Global Publications (2012-2013)
  • Reviewer for Palgrave MacMillan Publishers (2011- present)
  • Special Issue, Guest Editor, Higher Education Research and Development (2009-2011)
  • Co-Editor, Higher Education Research and Development (2010-2011)
  • Associate Editor Higher Education Research and Development (2009-2011)
  • ALTC Assessor (2008-present)
  • Reviewer for Cognition
  • Reviewer for Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (2002-2006)
  • Reviewer for Australasian Journal of Philosophy (1998-present)
  • Reviewer for Behavioral and Brain Sciences
  • Reviewer for International Review of Economics Education
  • International English Language Testing System Examiner (2001–2003).

Community Service

  • Inaugural President, Mordialloc College Alumni Association (est. 2014, Chair of an 12-person committee dedicated to raising funds to support public education).
  • Nomination for ‘Community Group of the Year’, services to education for 2016 and 2017 Australia Day Awards. Kingston City Council.