Associate Professor
Chris Chalmers

Biography

Christina Chalmers is a senior lecturer in Mathematics and Technologies Education in the School of Teacher Education & Leadership at the Queensland University of Technology. Her research focuses on: group metacognition, computer supported collaborative learning, digital pedagogies, and robotics-based STEM education. She currently coordinates the Technologies Curriculum unit within the Faculty of Education and teaches robotics in her pre-service teacher Technologies unit. She is also the project leader for the Robotics@QUT program and has been recipient of QUT Engagement and Equity grants since 2011 to fund this program. In the Robotics@QUT program, Chris works with teachers from over 50 schools in low SES areas to build their capacity to teach robotics-based STEM activities. The project provides professional development workshops for teachers, school-based experience for pre-service teachers, robotics loan kits to schools, sponsorship to competitions for school students, and robotics fun days on campus for school students and their parents. Chris has also been involved in a large research project ‘General Technology Teacher Training in China’ (2010-2013). This project involved working with 420 teachers from 32 provinces in China to engage them in furthering their knowledge and an understanding of how to integrate robotics into their technology lessons. Chris has published in top international journals on the pre-service education of mathematics teachers, and on robotics-mediated learning of STEM “Big Ideas”. http://tedxqut.com/video/robots-need-go-school-christina-chalmers

PhD: Chalmers, C. (2009). Primary students’ group metacognitive processes during mathematical problem solving in a computer supported collaborative learning environment.