Hub Chats

In this episode, Dr Jodie Torrington chats with renowned mathematics teacher, YouTuber, and Australian of the Year Local Hero, Eddie Woo. Eddie shares his philosophy for reaching students who believe they are "not a maths person," discusses the critical junction points where students are most at risk of switching off from mathematics, and reflects on what studying maths does for a person beyond numerical literacy. He also shares his thoughts on explicit teaching, the role of technology and AI in mathematics education, and his hopes for where mathematics education is heading in Australia. 
Eddie Woo's YouTube channel - WooTube 
WooTube2 for teachers  
Mathematics for Human Flourishing by Francis Su 

In this episode, Dr Jodie Torrington chats with Shaheen, learning designer at the Macquarie University Teachers' Learning Hub, about inclusive learning design and what it really means in practice. Shaheen challenges the idea that inclusive design is only about individual accommodations, and instead shows how small, intentional design choices can make learning more accessible for every student in the room. She shares practical strategies teachers can use straight away as they plan for the school year, and leaves us with one powerful question to ask when designing any lesson: who does this serve? 

In this episode, Dr Jodie Torrington chats with Associate Professor Penny Van Bergen, an educational psychologist at Macquarie University, about the science of learning and what it means for everyday classroom practice. Penny unpacks cognitive load and working memory limitations, explains why deep encoding and retrieval practice are so important for building lasting knowledge, and tackles the explicit teaching versus inquiry-based learning debate. Spoiler: it's not an either-or!

In this episode, Dr Jodie Torrington chats with Professor Sandie Wong and Dr Li Kan from Macquarie University's early childhood education team about their Australian Research Council (ARC)-funded Teachers in Early Education project. Sandie and Li share findings from Australia's first longitudinal survey of early childhood teacher education students, revealing who is entering the profession, what motivates them, and what their career intentions look like, with some surprising results about wellbeing, workforce preferences, and where graduates want to work. 
Take a look at the following links for more information about the content discussed in this episode: 
Early Childhood Educators’ Wellbeing Project 
Teachers in Early Education - Teachers in Early Education 
Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) – StepAhead Program 

Dr Brian Ballsun-Stanton and Dr Jodie Torrington discuss how to use AI effectively to support your planning and assessment design for your classroom. Learn how to retain an internal AI-Locus of Control while using AI technologies.
Remember to:
-know your goal
-provide all the details and context
-use an auto-interview technique
-use your own judgement and reflection throughout the process
-ask yourself: “Am I happy to put my name to this output?”
Additional resources to support your AI journey:
Prompting tips and strategies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PKNoM8tc_A&list=PLsicw0ghQckgHREOX2uCDaRTDaxNZFyNK
 
Prompting poster: https://zenodo.org/records/17373463
 
AI-Locus of Control framework: https://zenodo.org/records/17823628