Welcome to the home of Teaching How to Learn.

‘Teaching how to learn: promoting self-regulated learning in STEM classes’ is a project funded by a 2019 Australian Research Council Discovery Grant. The project aims to investigate key factors that influence improvements in teacher capacity and student academic outcomes in STEM subjects. Although the call to create classroom learning environments that increase the interest, activity and control of students over their learning especially in the STEM areas has been around for a long time, research shows little progress. There is a noticeable lack of interest in secondary school science, which is primarily attributed to factors such as lack of student autonomy, the impersonal nature of teacher-student relationships, teaching dominated by transmissive as opposed to activity-based programs, an emphasis on meaningless rules and procedures over ideas and curricula that allow little tailoring to individual student needs. The critical questions are: Can we create sustainable changes in teachers’ practices in STEM and do these changes influence students’ interest, uptake of science and academic performance?

The purpose of the project is to promote student-centred teacher practices in STEM by combining research in STEM learning with research in the area of self-regulated learning (SRL) and ICAP (Interactive, Constructive, Active and Passive) learning. It involves the development and evaluation of professional development designed to help teachers create learning environments that promote student engagement and the development of the cognitive and metacognitive skills needed for success in STEM. The project involves a collaboration between Flinders University (Chief Investigators; Professor Stella Vosniadou and Emeritus Professor Michael J. Lawson), the University of Melbourne (Chief Investigator: Professor Lorraine Graham), Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Frankfurt (Partner Investigator: Dr Charlotte Dignath van Ewijk), and Arizona State University (Partner Investigator: Professor Michelene Chi).

It is anticipated that the research will advance our understanding of how to increase the quality of teaching and learning in STEM subjects, and improve teacher capacity and student performance in STEM.

Below you will find a range of links that will support your use of this website. If you are a project participant or researcher remember to log in for full access to the interactive features of the site.



  • About the Project

  • Benefit and Impact Statement Page

    Learn more about the Teaching How to Learn project.

  • Project Team Members Page

    Learn more about the people behind the Teaching How to Learn project.

  • PhD Opportunity Page

    Learn more about a PhD scholarship opportunity within our project.

  • Flinders University Research Ethics Approval File

    This project has been approved by Flinders University's Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee (SBREC).

  • Pre-Service Teacher Research

  • The ‘Teaching how to Learn’ Workshop has moved to an Online mode.

    Each workshop now lasts for 1 week, instead of 1 full working day (starting on a Monday and ending on the following Sunday).

    Undertaken over a one-week period participants will have to complete about 4 hours of work at home and participate in 2 FLO COLLABORATE SESSIONS (one on a Wednesday and one on Friday morning).

    The sequence of tasks participants will need to undertake during the week period are provided below.

    • After consent forms have been signed, you will be given access to our website to complete an online questionnaire, answer a couple of questions, and upload a lesson plan.
    • Read a document providing information about how to design tasks that promote student cognitive engagement and complete an activity.
    • Watch a lecture with further information about task design, and explaining why it works t to promote student learning (estimated 30 minutes).
    • Participate in a 90-minute online collaborative discussion which will include an example of classroom instruction and a method of scoring which can be used to evaluate the level of cognitive engagement promoted. This session will most likely be held on a Wednesday morning.
    • Watch, code and score two video recorded lesson excerpts on the video transcripts provided to complete an activity.
    • Participate in a 90-minute online collaborative discussion, which will include a review of the lesson scoring before working on the coding and revision of your own lesson plan. Likely to be held on a Friday.
    • Upload your revised lesson plan, complete an online questionnaire and answer a couple of questions.
    The Workshop will provide you with concrete information about how to design lessons that maximize student learning and cognitive engagement.  It will help you with your courses and your future work as a teacher.

    All participants will be eligible to receive a total of $30 in Gift cards: a $20 eGift card after completion of the one-week program and an additional $10 eGift card for completing a delayed test 2 months later. A Certificate acknowledging participation and aligning the expected learning outcomes with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers will also be issued.

    Read the Information Sheet for further details and register your participation by completing the Consent Form.

  • Log in URL

    Access your dashboard and professional learning modules (participants only).

  • In-Service Teacher Research

  • 2020 Professional Learning Program URL

    Information Sheet.

    Teacher participants use this link to complete surveys. Log in with your "Microsoft Office" account or the details we sent you.

    Link to Consent Form.