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Dr Paul Ginns

Senior Lecturer in Educational Psychology

Research Progress Manager – Division of Doctoral Studies

Email:

Phone: +61 2 9351 2611

Fax: +61 2 9351 5027

Building.Room: A35.914

Research interests

Learning sciences; psychology of education

  • Assessment and evaluation
  • Learning technologies and new media
  • Learning, cognition and motivation

Professional biography

Paul is an active educational researcher, and has worked independently and in collaboration with both Australian and international colleagues on a wide variety of educational research projects.

Paul uses numerous research methodologies (for example, experimental and survey-based research) and analytic methods, including general linear models, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, structural modelling and meta-analysis. His research has two broad foci:

  • How the university student experience might be improved through institutionally-aligned, student-focused teaching evaluation systems.
  • Applying the principles of cognitive science to instructional design.

In his research into the university experience, Paul has sought to understand the systemic relations between university students’ approaches to and engagement in learning; the quality of the learning environment; and student learning outcomes, with the ultimate goal of improving all parts of this teaching and learning system. His success in this field led him to be commissioned to write for the national project, “Rewarding and recognising quality teaching and learning in higher education”, funded by the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (now the Australian Learning and Teaching Council).

The second focus of Paul’s draws on theories of the human cognitive architecture – consisting of a limited working memory that can be circumvented for learning and problem-solving by the long-term memory store – to maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of learning by managing the cognitive load. In this field, Paul has published both original research and meta-analytic reviews of specific instructional design effects.


Current research students

Project title Degree Research student
Embodying Cognitive Load Theory: Does Gesturing Enhance Learning Through Mathematics Worked Examples? PhD Fang-Tzu (Agnes) Hu
Academic honesty. PhD Bradford Barnhardt
The long-term effects of computerised adaptive working memory training and its effect on academic achievement and executive function. MPhilEd David Hegarty
Cognitive Load Theory Perspective: Will Gesturing Enhance Learning? MPhil Michael Tang

Selected publications

Books

Book chapters

  • Ginns, P., Liem, G.A.D., & Martin, A.J. . (2011). The role of personality in learning processes & learning outcomes in applied settings.. In Boag, S., & Tiliopoulos, N. (Eds.) (Ed.), Personality and individual differences: Theory, assessment, and application. (pp. 93–102), New York.: Nova Science Publishers..
  • Ginns, P. (2011). Quantitative Modelling of Experimental Data in Educational Research: Current Practice and Future Possibilities. In Markauskaite, L., Freebody, P. & Irwin, J. (Ed.), Methodological Choice and Design: Scholarship, Policy and Practice in Social and Educational Research (pp. 225–232), New York: Springer.

Journal articles

  • Marsh, H. W., Ginns, P., Morin, A., Nagengast, B. & Martin, A. (2011). Use of Student Ratings to Benchmark Universities: Multilevel Modeling of Responses to the Australian Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ). Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(3), 733–748. DOI:10.1037/a0024221
  • Dolmans, D.H.J.M., Wolfhagen, I.H.A.P., & Ginns, P. . (2010). Measuring approaches to learning in a problem based learning context. . International Journal of Medical Education, 1, 55–60.
  • Ginns, P. (2010). A mind is a terrible thing to waste: Enhancing student learning through a focus on cognitive architecture. . Synergy, 30, 28–32.
  • Martin, A.J., Marsh, H.W., Cheng, J., & Ginns, P. . (2010). Fathers and male teachers: Effects on boys’ academic and non-academic development. . Childhood Education, 86, 404–408.
  • Ginns, P., & Fraser, J. . (2010). Personalization enhances learning anatomy terms. . Medical Teacher, 32, 776–778.
  • Ginns, P., Kitay, J., & Prosser, M. . (2010). Transfer of academic staff learning in a research-intensive University.. Teaching in Higher Education, 15, 235–246.
  • Ginns, P., & Ellis, R. (2009). Evaluating the quality of e-Learning at the degree level in a campus-based university.. British Journal of Educational Technology, 40, 652–663.
  • Ellis, R.A., Ginns, P., & Piggott, L. (2009). eLearning in higher education: some key aspects and their relationship to approaches to study. . Higher Education Research and Development, 28(3), 303–318. DOI:10.1080/07294360902839909
  • Hendry, G. & Ginns, P. (2009). Readiness for self-directed learning: validation of a new scale with medical students . Medical Teacher, 31(10), 918–920.
  • Ginns, P., Marsh, H.W., Behnia, M., Cheng, J.H., & Scalas, F. (2009). Using postgraduate students' evaluations of research experience to benchmark departments and faculties: Issues and challenges.. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 577–598. DOI:10.1348/978185408X394347
  • Ginns, P., & Barrie, S. (2009). Reliability and validity of a student-focussed teaching evaluation survey for lecturers.. Psychological Reports , 104(3), 1019–1032. DOI:10.2466/PRO.104.3.1019-1032
  • Ginns, P., & Ellis, R. (2009). Evaluating the quality of e-Learning at the degree level in a campus-based university. . British Journal of Educational Technology, 40(4), 652–663. DOI:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2008.00861.x
  • Brew, A, Ginns, P. (2008). The relationship between engagement in the scholarship of teaching and learning and students’ course experiences. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 33(5), 535–545.
  • Leung, D, Ginns, P, KEMBER, D. (2008). Examining the cultural specificity of approaches to learning in universities in Hong Kong and Sydney. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 39(3), 251–266.
  • Ginns, P, Kitay, J, Prosser, M. (2008). Developing conceptions of teaching and the scholarship of teaching through a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education . International Journal for Academic Development, 13(3), 175–185.
  • Barrie, S, Ginns, P. (2007). The linking of institutional performance indicators to improvements in teaching and learning in classrooms. Quality in Higher Education, 13(3), 275–286.
  • Ginns, P., Prosser, M., & Barrie, S. (2007). Students’ perceptions of teaching quality in higher education: The perspective of currently enrolled students.. Studies in Higher Education, 32, 603–615. DOI:DOI: 10.1080/03075070701573773
  • Ginns, P. (2006). Integrating information: Meta-analyses of the spatial contiguity and temporal contiguity effects. . Learning and Instruction, 16, 511–525. DOI:doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2006.
  • Ginns, P. (2005). Meta-analysis of the modality effect.. Learning and Instruction, 15, 313–331.
  • Ginns, P., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (2003). When imagining information is effective.. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 28, 229–251.

Conference papers

  • Govendir, M., Ginns, P., Symons, R., & Tammen, I. . (2009). Improving the research higher degree experience at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney. . In Proceedings of international conference of HERDSA, Darwin, Australia, 6-9 July. (32pp. 163–172). Darwin, 6-9 July..
  • Ginns, P, Hollender, N, Reimann, P. (2006). Meta-analysis of the Minimalist Training Model.. In American Educational Research Association (pp. Not appl–Not appl). San Francisco, California, April 7-11 2006.
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