John Kennedy

Research Interests

Complex systems Student Engagement Teacher and student wellbeing Learning analytics Learning Sciences

Dr John Kennedy

Senior Lecturer

School of Education

College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

Available For Media Comment.

Dr JohnPaul Kennedy is a Senior Lecturer within the College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences and specialises in Complexity for Education. He is a member of the Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L) and leads the quantitative research team with the Education Futures Academy (EFA). 
 
John’s research is driven by a persistent and practical question: how do schools really work? Framed by complexity theory, his work treats education not as a set of problems to be solved, but as a dynamic system shaped by relationships, histories, and local conditions. From this perspective, research is less about prediction or prescription and more about developing insight into how learners and learning environments interact in practice.
 
Accordingly, he adopts a data-informed rather than data-driven approach to educational research and change. In complex systems, there are no off-the-shelf solutions: data may highlight patterns or suggest possible directions, but any meaningful response must be shaped by local context and professional judgement. In John’s work, data is but one element in a broader process of sense-making, that he uses in supporting schools to reflect on their own conditions and to design responses that are responsive, ethical, and grounded in lived experience.

Changing trajectories by mapping the mosaic: A novel approach to understanding changes in the complex systems influencing educational and career decisions.

Date Institution name Country Title
2019 University of New England Australia Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
2005 Loughborough University United Kingdom Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE)
2004 Loughborough University United Kingdom Master of Physics (MPhys Hons I)

Date Title Institution name Country
2010 Member of the Institute of Physics (MInstP) Institute of Physics United Kingdom

Year Citation
2025 Gabriel, F., Kennedy, J. P., Marrone, R., & Leonard, S. (2025). Pragmatic AI in education and its role in mathematics learning and teaching. Npj Science of Learning, 10(1), 7 pages.
DOI Scopus4 WoS3
2025 Vieira, M., Kennedy, J. P., Leonard, S., & Cropley, D. (2025). Creative self-efficacy: why it matters for the future of STEM education. Creativity Research Journal, 37(3), 472-488.
DOI Scopus14 WoS7
2025 Kennedy, J., Gabriel, F., Korolkiewicz, M., Rets, I., & Rienties, B. (2025). Editorial: actionable learning analytics in education: an opportunity to close the learning loop. Frontiers in Education, 10, 1-3.
DOI Scopus1
2024 Murray, C., Gabriel, F., & Kennedy, J. P. (2024). Factors that promote student well-being in schools: a scoping review of Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand literature. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1, article no. 1542), 1-11.
DOI Scopus3 WoS3
2023 Brass, T., Kennedy, J. P., Gabriel, F., Neill, B., Devis, D., & Leonard, S. N. (2023). Learning analytics for lifelong career development: a framework to support sustainable formative assessment and self-reflection in programs developing career self-efficacy. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 6(1173099), 10 pages.
DOI Scopus6 WoS5 Europe PMC1
2023 Fowler, S., Kennedy, J. P., Cutting, C., Gabriel, F., & Leonard, S. N. (2023). Self-determined learning in a virtual makerspace: a pathway to improving spatial reasoning for upper primary students. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 34(2), 563-584.
DOI Scopus8 WoS5
2023 Leonard, S. N., Repetto, M., Kennedy, J. P., Tudini, E., & Fowler, S. (2023). Designing maker initiatives for educational inclusion. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 33(3), 883-899.
DOI Scopus8 WoS6
2022 Fowler, S., Cutting, C., Kennedy, J., Leonard, S. N., Gabriel, F., & Jaeschke, W. (2022). Technology enhanced learning environments and the potential for enhancing spatial reasoning: a mixed methods study. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 34(4), 887-910.
DOI Scopus34 WoS28
2021 Patston, T. J., Kennedy, J. P., Jaeschke, W., Kapoor, H., Leonard, S. N., Cropley, D. H., & Kaufman, J. C. (2021). Secondary education in COVID lockdown: more anxious and less creative-maybe not?. Frontiers in Psychology, 12(391, article no. 613055), 1-14.
DOI Scopus12 WoS7 Europe PMC1
2020 Kennedy, J. P., Quinn, F., & Lyons, T. (2020). The keys to STEM: Australian year 7 students' attitudes and intentions towards science, mathematics and technology courses. Research in science education, 50(5), 1805-1832.
DOI Scopus23 WoS17
2018 Kennedy, J. P., Quinn, F., & Lyons, T. (2018). Australian enrolment trends in technology and engineering: putting the T and E back into school STEM. International journal of technology and design education, 28(2), 553-571.
DOI Scopus17 WoS14
2017 Vlaardingerbroek, B., Taylor, N., Bale, C., & Kennedy, J. (2017). Linking the experiential, affective and cognitive domains in biology education: a case study-microscopy. Journal of biological education, 51(2), 144-150.
DOI Scopus6 WoS5
2016 Kennedy, J. P., Quinn, F., & Taylor, N. (2016). The school science attitude survey: a new instrument for measuring attitudes towards school science. International journal of research and method in education, 39(4), 422-445.
DOI Scopus47 WoS44

Year Citation
2025 Kennedy, J., & Murray, C. (2025). An analysis of the South Australian student Well-being Engagement Collection data (2018-2024) (Catalyst Report #22). Australia: Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L), UniSA Education Futures, University of South Australia.
DOI
2024 Murray, C., & Kennedy, J. (2024). An analysis of Corroboree Frog College student WEC data (2020-2023). Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2024 Murray, C., Gabriel, F., & Kennedy, J. (2024). An analysis of Red Eyed Tree Frog College student WEC data (2020-2023). Australia: Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L) UniSA: Education Futures, University of South Australia.
DOI
2024 Brass, T., Kennedy, J., Devis, D., & Leonard, S. (2024). Launching community space innovation from regional South Australia: a report on teacher self-efficacy. Australia: University of South Australia and Andy Thomas Space Foundation.
DOI
2024 Kennedy, J., & Gabriel, F. (2024). Addressing mathematics anxiety at Great Barred Frog School. Australia: University of South Australia.
2024 Vieira, M., Devis, D., Le Cerf, T., Fowler, S., Kennedy, J., & Leonard, S. (2024). Design thinking for creative confidence. Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2024 Dolan, C., Smith, L., Vass, N., Platt, A. L. M., & Kennedy, J. (2024). Illuminating principal practice. Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2023 Murray, C. (2023). An artefact analysis of well-being policies across Corroboree Frog College and the wider community. Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2023 Kennedy, J., Marrone, R., & Gabriel, F. (2023). Addressing mathematics anxiety at Peron's Tree Frog School. Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2023 Devis, D., Fowler, S., Vieira, M., Giannoni, K., Gabriel, F., Kennedy, J., & Leonard, S. (2023). From insight to action: strategies for cultivating equity and empowering women in industry. Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2022 Windle, J., Morrison, A., Sellar, S., Squires, R., Kennedy, J. P., & Murray, C. (2022). Teachers at breaking point: why working in South Australian schools is getting tougher. Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2022 Fowler, S., Kennedy, J., Cutting, C., Devis, D., & Leonard, S. (2022). A data summary report on the impact of a computer aided design program on the spatial reasoning and attitudes of primary school students (Catalyst report #7). Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2021 Kennedy, J. P., & Leonard, S. N. (2021). A data summary report for secondary academic leaders at 'Corroboree Frog College'. Australia: University of South Australia.
2021 Kennedy, J., Thompson, K., Fowler, S., & Leonard, S. N. (2021). A novel approach to mapping changes in student attitudes towards science and mathematics in reaction to changes to their learning environment. Australia: Curtin University.

  • A Complexity Approach to Empowering Local Leaders, Trinity College Gawler, 11/11/2025 - 31/01/2029

  • High Achieving Teachers (HAT) Program: Phase 2 Expansion Pilots, Cwth Dept of Education, Skills & Employment, 12/09/2024 - 31/12/2028

  • Closing the loop in authentic assessment: An EFA collaborative project, Seaview High School, 03/07/2024 - 03/07/2027

  • Extending workplace learning through a Univeristy-school partnership., Pulteney Grammar School, 22/02/2024 - 21/02/2027

  • Chartering Change: Building Developmental Evaluation Capacity for Equity Initiatives, Cwth Dept of Education, Skills & Employment, 27/08/2025 - 27/02/2026

  • SA Academy for Gender Equity in STEM - Careers & Mentoring, DISER-National Careers Institute Partnership Grants, 02/05/2022 - 05/10/2023

  • National Careers Institute Partnership Grants Round 2, Cwth Dept of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, 07/11/2021 - 07/08/2023

Programs I'm associated with

  • MCDL - Graduate Certificate in Education Studies (Digital Learning)
  • MMET - Master of Teaching

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2023 Co-Supervisor class="MsoTitle">How socially shared regulation supports equitable development of adolescent's career self-efficacy: an activity systems approach Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Justin Paul Simmonds
2023 Co-Supervisor Exploring opportunities to enhance student well-being and engagement through sub-process of self-regulated learning in middle school classrooms: co-designing learning experiences to foster autonomy, relatedness and competence. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Miss Simone Hobbs
2023 Principal Supervisor 111766 - Exploring the use of Philosophy as a means to enhancing Critical and Creative Thinking - Doctorate Part Time Ms Rebecca Burton-Howard
2023 Co-Supervisor IMPLENENTING INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES ALIGNED WITH COGNITIVE LOAD THEORY AND SELF-REGULATED LEARNING: NAVIGATING TENSIONS THROUGH PROFESSIONAL LEARNING CYCLES. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mrs Allyce Caitlyn Cole
2022 Principal Supervisor Exploring the influencers and influences on middle school students career self-efficacy: a theory of change approach Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Tamishka Brass
2022 Principal Supervisor Improving computational thinking through the development of a low Earth orbit satellite - Doctorate Part Time Mr Karl Grice

Date Role Editorial Board Name Institution Country
2025 - ongoing Associate Editor Frontiers in Education Frontiers Media SA Switzerland

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