Rate My Professor Amanda Woods McConney

Amanda Woods-McConney is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at Murdoch University, also affiliated with the Centre for Biosecurity and One Health. She earned her MS and PhD in Science Education from the Florida Institute of Technology between 1988 and 1993. Her academic interests center on science education, inquiry-based teaching and learning, student engagement in STEM particularly among girls, sustainability and environmental education, teacher professional development, mobile learning, and factors influencing science literacy and achievement as analyzed through international assessments like PISA.

Since joining Murdoch University in 2009, Woods-McConney has built a robust research profile with over 1,200 citations across 25 publications. Notable works include 'Science inquiry instruction and direct instruction in authentic primary and secondary classroom contexts' (2025), 'The Efficacy of Inquiry-Based Instruction in Science: a Comparative Analysis of Six Countries Using PISA 2015' (2021), 'Teachers’ perceptions of continuing professional development: a study of vocational high school teachers in Indonesia' (2021), 'Inquiry-Based Teaching and Learning in Primary STEM' (2020), 'Inquiry-based, teacher-directed and adaptive instruction in secondary science: A cross-national analysis of associations with science literacy and interest using PISA 2015' (2019), 'Female senior secondary physics students’ engagement in science: a qualitative study of constructive influences' (2017), 'Sustainable energy education: addressing the needs of students and industry in Australia' (2017), and 'Inquiry and groups: Student interactions in cooperative inquiry-based science' (2016). She has supervised numerous postgraduate theses on topics such as science inquiry pedagogy, sustainability implementation in teaching, mathematical problem-solving, and professional identities in education. Additionally, she contributed to the Office for Learning and Teaching project 'Renewing the Sustainable Energy Curriculum' and serves as Chair of the Murdoch University Fieldwork Committee. Her research informs teacher preparation, promotes Indigenous student success in higher education, and advocates for increased female participation in STEM through public outreach efforts.