Dr John Willison
Senior Lecturer
School of Education
College of Education, Behavioural and Social Science
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Dr John Willison has twenty five years of experience in formal education, and throughout that time has been most enthralled in how to help students to engage in research-based learning, beginning with Year 8 classes, where he strived to make science laboratories hands-on and minds-on. Dr Willison found that this necessitated a raft of scaffolding and literacy strategies, and resulted in the development of resources called writE Science (writing and reading integrated with talking about experiments). As Dr Willison completed his PhD in Science Education he coordinated an Early Childhood and Primary Science course in a Teacher Education program, then subsequently found himself at the University of Adelaide as the Coordinator of the Graduate Certificate in Higher Education. This shift to students who were academics from all disciplines caused Dr Willison to broaden his research agenda to search for something in common across disciplines: a framework representing how all educators may facilitate their students’ research skills.In collaboration, Dr Willison developed early versions of the Research Skill Development (RSD) framework and colleagues in First Year Human Biology began to trial the RSD, followed by other courses in various contexts showing positive outcomes for students. This success inspired Dr Willison to lead two five-university ALTC Innovation and Development projects, one for course-level implementation of RSD (2007-2009) and the other for program-level implementation (2011-2013). These projects and new AQF 9 research requirements led to demand for RSD to inform coursework Masters programs and Dr Willison held a National Teaching Fellowship on this theme 2014-2015. As the use of the RSD escalates nationally and internationally, he is currently keen to bring the RSD ‘full-circle’ and begin to influence Faculties of Education through High Schools’ use of the RSD, as well as consolidate RSD use in undergraduate, Masters and PhD studies across all disciplines. This is the focus of the National Senior Teaching Fellowship he holds from the Australian Government's Department of Education and Training.
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 - ongoing | Senior Lecturer | University of Adelaide |
| 1999 - 1999 | Lecturer | Curtin University |
| Date | Type | Title | Institution Name | Country | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Fellowship | National Senior Teaching Fellowship | Office of Learning and Teaching | Australia | - |
| 2014 | Fellowship | National Teaching Fellowship | Office for Learning and Teaching | Australia | $90,000 |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of New South Wales | Australia | B.Sc DipEd. |
| Date | Title | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ph.D. (Science Education) | Curtin University | Australia | |
| Master of Education | Curtin University | Australia |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2020 | Willison, J. (2020). The Models of Engaged Learning and Teaching: Connecting sophisticated thinking from early childhood to PhD. Singapore: Springer. DOI |
| 2020 | Willison, J. (2020). Foreword to international undergraduate research. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Willison, J. (2023). Teachers’ Research Thinking. In J. Willison (Ed.), Research Thinking for Responsive Teaching: Research skill development with in-service and pre-service educators (pp. 18-33). Singapore: Springer. |
| 2023 | Willison, J. (2023). Teachers’ Research Thinking. In J. Willison (Ed.), Research Thinking for Responsive Teaching: Research skill development with in-service and pre-service educators (pp. 18-33). Singapore: Springer. |
| 2023 | Home, J., Snelling, T., & Willison, J. (2023). High School Student experiences of Teacher Research Thinking. In J. Willison (Ed.), Research Thinking for Responsive Teaching: Research skill development with in-service and pre-service educators. (pp. 37-56). Singapore: Springer. |
| 2023 | Home, J., Snelling, T., & Willison, J. (2023). High School Student experiences of Teacher Research Thinking. In J. Willison (Ed.), Research Thinking for Responsive Teaching: Research skill development with in-service and pre-service educators. (pp. 37-56). Singapore: Springer. |
| 2020 | Willison, J. (2020). Blended learning needs blended evaluation. In M. White, & F. McCallum (Eds.), Critical Perspectives on Teaching, Learning and Leadership: Enhancing Educational Outcomes (pp. 87-106). Singapore: Springer. DOI Scopus3 |
| 2018 | Wuetherick, B., Willison, J. W., & Shannahan, J. (2018). Mentored Undergraduate research at Scale. Undergraduate research in the curriculum and as pedagogy. In M. Vandermaas-Peeler,, P. Miller, & J. Moore (Eds.), Excellence in mentoring undergraduate research. (pp. 181-202). Washington DC: Council on Undergaduate Research. |
| 2017 | Willison, J., & Croy, G. (2017). Research Skill Development in Tourism. In P. Benckendorff, & Zehrer (Eds.), Handbook of Teaching and Learning in Tourism (Vol. 1, 1st ed., pp. 58-75). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. DOI Scopus1 |
| 2007 | Willison, J. (2007). The impact of a research vignette on my metaphorical understandings. In P. Taylor, & J. Wallace (Eds.), Contemporary Qualitative Research for Science and Mathematics Educators (pp. 127-138). The Netherlands: Springer. DOI |
| 2006 | Willison, J., & Taylor, P. (2006). Complementary Epistemologies of Science Teaching: Towards an Integral Perspective. In P. Aubusson, A. Harrison, & S. Ritchie (Eds.), Metaphor and analogy in science education (pp. 25-36). PO Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. DOI |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Bandaranaike, S., & Willison, J. W. (2017). Building learner autonomy into work-integrated learning: Challenges for the 21st Century. In Refereed Proceedings of the 20 th WACE World Conference on Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education (pp. 1-10). Chiang Mai. |
| 2017 | Abdurrahman, D., Sabir, F., & Willison, J. W. (2017). International postgraduate students’ perception of the research skill development framework. In Proceedings of The 1st National Conference on Teachers' Professional Development (pp. 77-81). Banda Aceh. |
| 2016 | Willison, J., & Missingham, D. (2016). Optimising Problem Solving: student and tutor perceptions of problem-solving within mechanical engineering. In Conference Proceedings of the Annual conference Australian Association for Engineering Education. Coffs harbour, NSW. |
| 2016 | Bandaranaike, S., & Willison, J. W. (2016). A framework for cultural competency in the workplace. In Refereed conference proceedings of Australian Collaborative Education Network 2016 National Conference (pp. 42-49). Sydney. |
| 2015 | Bandaranaike, S., & Willison, J. (2015). Understanding emotional work readiness in the workplace.. In Proceedings of the 19th World Conference on Cooperative & Work Integrated Education (pp. 18-22). Kyoto. |
| 2015 | Willison, J. W. (2015). Researching, problem solving, critical thinking… same ship, different bay.. In SRHE Annual Conference Papers. Newport, Wales, UK. |
| 2014 | Bandaranaike, S., & Willison, J. (2014). Boosting Graduate Employability: Bridging the Cognitive and Affective Domains. In Refereed conference proceedings of Australian Collaborative Education Network 2014 National Conference. Tweed Heads, NSW. |
| 2013 | Al-Sarawi, S., Willison, J., Ng, B., & Liebelt, M. (2013). Degree level evaluation of research skill development framework for higher education. In Proceedings of the 2013 International iCampus Symposium, The Intelligent Campus, IC13 (pp. 46-49). USA: IEEE. |
| 2012 | Williamson, N. M., Huang, D. M., Pyke, S. M., Willison, J., & Metha, G. F. (2012). Constructing a First Year University Chemistry Course for the ‘Late Bloomers’. In ERGA 2012 Proceedings. Adelaide. |
| 2012 | Priest, S. J., Pyke, S. M., Williamson, N. M., & Willison, J. (2012). Representations of Scientific Concepts and Learning Experience of First Year Undergraduate Students. In ERGA 2012 Proceedings. Adelaide. |
| 2012 | Bandaranaike, S., Snelling, C., Karanicolas, S., & Willison, J. W. (2012). Opening Minds and Mouths Wider: Developing a model for student reflective practice within clinical placements. In Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Cooperative & Work-Integrated Education. Istanbul. |
| 2012 | Ricci, M., Peirce., Lee, I., & Willison, J. (2012). Potential and problems of explicit research skill development in undergraduate physics, chemistry, biochemistry and geology. In Proceedings of The Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education. Sydney. |
| 2011 | Willison, J. W., & Bandaranaike, S. (2011). Engaging students in work integrated learning : drives and outcomes. In . Proceedings of the World Conference on Cooperative and Work Integrated Learning. Philadelphia. |
| 2010 | Wu, C., Chanda, E., & Willison, J. (2010). SPARKPLUS for Self- and Peer Assessment on Group-Based Honours’ Research Projects. In The Education Research Group of Adelaid (pp. The Changing Face of Education, 24-25 September, 2010). Adelaide, Australia. |
| 2010 | Peirce, E., Ricci, M., & Willison, J. (2010). Teaching research at a research-intensive university - can it be done in first year courses?. In Proceedings of the First Year in Higher Education Conference. Adelaide. |
| 2010 | Ng, B., Al-Sarawi, S., Willison, J., Phillips, B., Liebelt, M., & Green, C. (2010). A New Electronic Engineering Honours Assessment Scheme Based on Research Skills Development Framework. In The Education Research Group of Adelaid (pp. The Changing Face of Education, 24-25 September, 2010). Adelaide, Australia. |
| 2010 | Davey, K., Cheung, J., Visvanathan, R., & Willison, J. (2010). A unique assessment of stress and stress factors on engineering academics in the research and teaching environment. In Proceedings of 21st Annual conference for the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (pp. 1-10). Australia: AAEE. |
| 2010 | Bandaranaike, S., & Willison, J. (2010). Work Skill Development Framework: an innovative assessment for Work Integrated Learning. In Proceedings of the Australian Collaborative Education Network National Conference 2010 (pp. 1-19). Australia: ACEN Inc. |
| 2009 | Peirce, E., Ricci, M., Lee, I., & Willison, J. (2009). First-year human biology students in the ivory tower. In Proceedings of the Motivating Science Undergraduates: Ideas and Interventions Conference (pp. 91-97). Sydney: UniServe Science. |
| 2009 | Willison, J., Peirce, E., & Ricci, M. (2009). Towards student autonomy in literature and field research. In Proceedings of the 32rd HERDSA Annual Conference (pp. 483-491). New South Wales: HERDSA. |
| 2009 | Peirce, E., Ricci, M., Lee, I., & Willison, J. (2009). First year human biology students in the ivory tower.. In Proceedings of The Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education (pp. 91-97). Sydney. |
| 2009 | Willison, J. W., Schapper, J., & Teo, E. (2009). Multiple measures of improvement of research skills in business ethics and business law. In Proceedings of Qualitative Analysis of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education for Business Economic and Commerce Conference (pp. 79-95). Melbourne. |
| 2008 | Ashman, P., Scrutton, S., Stringer, D., Mullinger, P., & Willison, J. (2008). Stakeholder perceptions of chemical engineering graduate attributes at the University of Adelaide. In Proceedings of the Chemeca 2008 Conference (pp. 912-921). CD: Engineers Australia. |
| 2007 | Peirce, E., Ricci, M., Willison, J., & O'Regan, K. (2007). Incorporating the development of research skills into level I undergraduate human biology courses. In Teaching and Research: Making the Connections in Health Sciences, Health Sciences conference 2007: a conference for University Teachers, 8th-9th November, 2007, University of South Australia. Adelaide, South Australia: Division of Health Sciences, University of South Australia. |
| 2007 | Peirce, E., Ricci, M., & Willison, J. (2007). Incorporating the development of research skills into level 1 undergraduate human biology courses.. In Proceedings of Teaching and Research: Making the connection in Health Sciences Conference. Adelaide. |
| 2007 | Peirce, E., & Ricci, M. (2007). Application of a research skills framework for learning and teaching in Human Biology.. In Proceedings of the National Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) Conference. Adelaide. |
| 2006 | Ricci, M., & Willison, J. (2006). Developing the research skills of first year students: five years on.. In Proceedings of the Education Research Group of Adelaide (ERGA). Adelaide. |
| 2006 | McEntee, J., Coulson, M., Botten, J., & Willison, J. (2006). Supporting research-readiness in PhD candidates through undergraduate research skills development. In Quality in Postgraduate Research: Knowledge Creation in testing times (pp. 269). Canberra: The Australian National University. |
| 2006 | Coulson, M., McEntee, J., & Willison, J. (2006). Annotated bibliographies can help maximize benefit of literature research skills exercises. In International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference (pp. 43-44). Washington DC: International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference. |
| 2005 | Willison, J., & O'Regan, K. (2005). 2020 vision: An information literacy continuum for students primary school to post graduation. In A. Brew, & C. Asmar (Eds.), Proceedings of the HERDSA conference 2005 'Higher education in a changing world' (pp. 633-641). Milperra, New South Wales, Australia: Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia Inc.. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2019 | Willison, J. W. (2019). Putting student research mindsets to work for a coherent Higher Education. |
| 2016 | Willison, J. W. (2016). Realising research modes of learning for Masters by coursework using state-based clusters. Department of Education and Training. |
| 2014 | Willison, J. W., Al Sarawi, S., Bottema, C., Hazel, S., Henderson, U., Karanicolas, S., . . . et al. (2014). Outcomes and uptake of explicit research skill development across degree programs (ID11-1984). Office for Learning and Teaching. |
| 2010 | Willison, J. W., Le Lievre, K., & Lee, I. (2010). Making Research Skill Development Explicit In Coursework: Final Report (CG7-497). Australian Learning and Teaching Council. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Authors: Willison J. Title: Models of Engaged Learning and Teaching website. Extent: multiple webpages. |
| 2006 | Authors: Willison J. Title: Research Skill Development for Curriculum Design and Assessment. Description: Type of work : WR - Website Extent : 250 pages. Extent: 250 pages. |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | The Relationship among Metacognitive Strategies, Critical Thinking Skills, and Academic Writing Performance of Vietnamese EFL University Students | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Minh Hoang Nguyen |
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | A longitudinal analysis of thinking routines and critical thinking development: meta-analysing IQRA college data | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Mohammad Rasool Safary |
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | The Relationship among Metacognitive Strategies, Critical Thinking Skills, and Academic Writing Performance of Vietnamese EFL University Students | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Minh Hoang Nguyen |
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | A longitudinal analysis of thinking routines and critical thinking development: meta-analysing IQRA college data | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Mohammad Rasool Safary |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | Perspectives on innovative teaching and learning: A qualitative study modeling innovation within contemporary learning environments | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Miss Kristy Rose Davis |
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | Cognitive Load Theory in Secondary School Chemistry Education | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Mr Conor Desmond Kenneally |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | Perspectives on innovative teaching and learning: A qualitative study modeling innovation within contemporary learning environments | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Kristy Rose Davis |
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | Cognitive Load Theory in Secondary School Chemistry Education | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Conor Desmond Kenneally |
| 2023 | Principal Supervisor | Pre-service teachers' acceptance and use of AI-assisted technology in blended learning environments: A mixed-method study using an extended model of UTAUT | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Wai Maung |
| 2023 | Principal Supervisor | Secondary Student Connectedness to Nature in Australian Schools: Assessing the Impact of Environmental Education Programs | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mrs Gulsah Yildirim |
| 2023 | Principal Supervisor | Teacher professional development, cognitive load and the use of schema to improve leadership development. | Master of Philosophy | Master | Part Time | Mr Glyn Roberts |
| 2023 | Principal Supervisor | Pre-service teachers' acceptance and use of AI-assisted technology in blended learning environments: A mixed-method study using an extended model of UTAUT | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Wai Maung |
| 2023 | Principal Supervisor | Secondary Student Connectedness to Nature in Australian Schools: Assessing the Impact of Environmental Education Programs | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mrs Gulsah Yildirim |
| 2023 | Principal Supervisor | Teacher professional development, cognitive load and the use of schema to improve leadership development. | Master of Research | Master | Full Time | Mr Glyn Roberts |
| 2022 | Principal Supervisor | Science students’ perceptions of assessment: to what extent can program-oriented assessment design promote and encourage self-regulated lifelong learning in Science students? | Master of Philosophy | Master | Part Time | Ms Natalia Zarina |
| 2022 | Principal Supervisor | Science students perceptions of assessment: to what extent can program-oriented assessment design promote and encourage self-regulated lifelong learning in Science students? | Master of Research | Master | Full Time | Ms Natalia Zarina |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 - 2025 | Principal Supervisor | Critical Thinking evident when students listen to and speak English as an Additional Language in Indonesian high school classes | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Ricky Fernandes |
| 2019 - 2023 | Principal Supervisor | Primary Teachers’ Knowledge of Inquiry-Based Learning and Learner Autonomy in Science | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Nemwel Nyakenyanya Aming'a |
| 2018 - 2024 | Principal Supervisor | Following VET Students’ Progress: A Longitudinal Study Investigating Students’ Experiences and Outcomes of Registered Training Organisation Support and Influence | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Mrs Allyson Kaye Dutschke |
| 2015 - 2019 | Co-Supervisor | English Language Learner Autonomy in the Vietnamese Higher Education Context: Enabling Factors and Barriers Arising from Assessment Practice | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Ha Thi Ngoc Tran |
| 2014 - 2023 | Principal Supervisor | Accelerating Academic Literacy Development: Issues, Possibilities and Challenges for Integrating Scholarly Writing Development into Mainstream Curriculum in Australian Higher Education | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Ms Ursula McGowan |
| 2012 - 2017 | Co-Supervisor | Valid Measurement of Laboratory Learning Experience Quality from the Student Perspective | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Samuel James Priest |
| Date | Role | Membership | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 - ongoing | - | Council on Undergraduate Research | - |
| 2005 - ongoing | Member | Higher Education Research and Development | Australia |
| Date | Institution | Department | Organisation Type | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 - ongoing | University of the South Pacific | - | - | Fiji |
| 2010 - 2016 | Univeristy of Alberta | Undergraduate research Office | - | - |
| 2009 - 2009 | Trinity College Dublin | School of Nursing and Midwifery | - | Ireland |