Jill Fielding

Jill Fielding is a Professor of STEM Education in the School of Education at the University of New England. She has international recognition as a researcher in mathematics and statistics education. Jill commenced her career in adult training and development before discovering a passion for teaching, leading to study to qualify as a primary teacher. Her experience as a teacher has provided insight into the extent to which children were/are disengaged with mathematics from the earliest years of formal schooling. This realisation led her to research teaching approaches in search of ways to spark students' enthusiasm and love of mathematics while, at the same time, developing deep conceptual understanding. Over subsequent years, Jill divided her time between classroom teaching and research until she completed her Doctor of Philosophy (Developing Argument-Based Inquiry in Primary Mathematics: The Role of Evidence and Context). In 2014, Jill made the jump to academia, commencing as a Lecturer in Mathematics Education at the University of Tasmania. Working in this role made her increasingly aware of many significant issues in mathematics teacher education that were yet to be addressed in research. Subsequently, Jill took a Research Fellowship at the University of Queensland before moving to the Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education at the Australian Catholic University as a Senior Research Fellow. Jill commenced her current role at the University of New England in 2021. Jill's research program has attracted significant external funding (~3 million AUD) including two competitive ARC Discovery Grants (DP170101993) into developing classroom norms that are conducive to Inquiry-Based Learning and (DP220101015) into teacher ‘noticing’ of students’ critical mathematical thinking. Her research is classroom-based as she has a desire to make a pragmatic difference to teaching and learning and values the collaborative partnerships she has with schools and teachers. Jill is currently the Vice President (Research) of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA) and leads the STEM Education Network at UNE.

Jill has designed, developed and delivered learning packages across a range of predominantly mathematical units in online, blended and face-to-face modes and has received several teaching commendations over this time. Units taught have included: Numeracy Units Navigating Numeracies Numeracy in Primary and Middle Years of Schooling Professional and Personal Numeracy Mathematics Pedagogical Units Mathematics: Curriculum Foundations Primary and Early Childhood Mathematics Pedagogy Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics Teaching Mathematics 2Primary Mathematics 2A: Space, Measurement and Number Diversity and Inclusion Units Learning Difficulties: Mathematics Inclusive Mathematics Teaching Mathematics in the Inclusive Classroom Research Specific Units Youth and Futures (Research Development)