Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Helen Forgasz is a professor of education in the Faculty of Education. Her research focus has been mathematics education, with a particular interest in equity issues and learning outcomes. She has won numerous grants to support her research endeavours, and has published her research findings widely. Helen has successfully supervised many Masters and PhD students whose mathematics education topics have ranged widely.
Helen's main research interest is on equity issues in mathematics education learning outcomes: achievement, participation (enrolments and career paths), and affect (attitudes and beliefs). Gender has been the main focus of her work, but ethnicity, socio-economic background, and Indigeneity are equity factors that have also featured in her research studies. The contexts in which these issues have been explored have been at the local, national, and international level.
Researching the outcomes of various ways in which to group students for mathematics learning - single-sex versus co-education, and mainstreaming or grouping by achievement - has formed another thread in Helen's research profile. She has also undertaken research on girls and IT education, and women in education more broadly.
In recent times, the expectation within the Australian curriculum that teachers will develop students' numeracy capabilities across all disciplines across the curriculum has initiated a new research direction. Helen has examined the numeracy capabilities of teacher education students and practicing teachers, and studied how teachers develop numeracy tasks in disciplines other than mathematics to meet this expectation.
Innovative data gathering approaches and participant recruitment have been a feature of Helen's research. She is very experienced in survey design and administration, and the quantitative and qualitative analyses of survey and interview data.
Helen has won many large research grants to support her research endeavours. She has published widely the findings from her research in books, scholarly journals, and professional outlets. She has also served on the editorial boards of journals and book series, and has been a member of the executive committees of scholarly research organisations.
Research interests
Her central research focus is the difference in achievement between boys and girls, particularly in mathematics education.
Research area keywords
- Mathematics Education
- Gender
Network
Recent external collaboration on country level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots.
Projects
Numeracy across the curriculum research project
Kidman, G., Hall, J., Forgasz, H., Burke, G., Belford, N. & Leahy, D.
20/04/20 → 26/06/20
Project: Research
Single sex versus coeducational schooling and STEM pathways
The Alliance of Girls Schools Australasia Ltd
31/03/16 → 30/06/17
Project: Research
Enhancing numeracy learning and teaching across the curriculum
Forgasz, H., Dole, S. & Geiger, V.
Australian Research Council (ARC)
1/01/12 → 31/12/14
Project: Research
Gender and ethnic differences in Israeli and Australian mathematics teachers views of Mathematics: Educational implications
Forgasz, H. & Mittelberg, D.
1/09/10 → 31/08/11
Project: Research
Research Output
Computing, girls and education: what we need to know to change how girls think about information technology
Lang, C., Fisher, J., Craig, A. & Forgasz, H. J., 2020, In : Australasian Journal of Information Systems. 24, 22 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access
File
Equity, Social Justice, and Ethics
Vale, C., Averill, R., Hall, J., Forgasz, H. J. & Leder, G., 2020, Research in Mathematics Education in Australasia 2016-2019. Wray, J., Attard, C., Anderson, J., Bobis, J., McMaster, H. & Cartwright, K. (eds.). 1st ed. Singapore Singapore: Springer, p. 177-208 32 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Other › peer-review
Secondary pre-service teachers’ experiences in a numeracy course
Hall, J. & Forgasz, H. J., 2020, Borders in Mathematics Pre-Service Teacher Education. Radakovic, N. & Jao, L. (eds.). 1st ed. Cham Switzerland: Springer, p. 75-90 16 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
The NAPLAN numeracy test: do school type and socio-economic background make a difference?
Forgasz, H. J. & Leder, G., 2020, (Accepted/In press) In : Mathematics Education Research Journal. 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Learning about numeracy: The impact of a compulsory unit on pre- service teachers' understandings and beliefs
Forgasz, H. J. & Hall, J., 1 Jan 2019, In : Australian Journal of Teacher Education. 44, 2, p. 15-33 19 p., 2.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access
File
1
Citation
(Scopus)
Prizes
Leonie Warne Prize
Forgasz, Helen (Recipient), Julie Lynette Fisher (Recipient), Catherine Lang (Recipient) & Annemieke Craig (Recipient), 6 Dec 2016
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
File
Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia [MERGA] life membership
Forgasz, Helen (Recipient), 3 Jul 2018
Prize: Other distinction
File
MERGA Research Award
Forgasz, Helen (Recipient), Merrilyn Goos (Recipient), Vince Stephen Geiger (Recipient), Shelley Dole (Recipient) & Anne Bennison (Recipient), 2017
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)