Our people

Areas of expertise: literacy learning and engagement; motivation research 
classroom learning and teaching; pedagogical development and change; sociocultural studies of learning

HDR Supervisor accreditation status: Full

ORCID ID: 0000-0003-2976-1762

Phone: +617 3623 7826

Email: clarence.ng@acu.edu.au

Location: ACU Brisbane Campus

Professor Clarence Ng is Research Director of “Learning and Learners” research concentration at the Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education (ILSTE), Australian Catholic University. His current research areas include literacy engagement, motivation and pedagogy. His research work has been supported by competitive grants from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and Queensland Department of Education. Clarence currently leads an ARC Discovery project examining the promotion of higher-order literacy learning among disadvantaged students. His recent books, published by Springer, include ‘Empowering engagement: Creating learning opportunities for students from challenging backgrounds’ (2018), ‘Improving reading and reading engagement in the 21st Century’ (2017) and ‘Reforming learning and teaching in Asia-Pacific Universities’ (2016).

Curriculum vitae

Select publications

• Ng, C., Graham, S., Liu, X., Lau, K. L., & Tang, K. Y. (2021). Relationships between writing motives, writing self-efficacy and time on writing among Chinese students: path models and cluster analyses. Reading and Writing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-021-10190-1
• Ng, C. (2021). Subject choice and perezhivanie in mathematics: A longitudinal case study. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 107, 547–563.
• Ng, C. (2021). Self-schematic students in mathematics and their contrasting coping responses to mathematical challenges: A cluster analytic investigation. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 107, 315–338
• Ng, C., Graham, S. Lau, K-L., Liu, X. & Tang, K-Y. (2021).  Writing motives and writing self-efficacy of Chinese students in Shanghai and Hong Kong: Measurement invariance and multigroup structural equation analyses. International Journal of Educational Research, 107, 10715. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2021.101751
• Ng, C. (2021). What kind of students persist in science learning in the face of academic challenges?. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 58(2), 195-224. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21652
• Ng, C. (2020). Mathematics self-schema, motivation and subject choice intention: A multi-phase investigation. Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000629
• Ng, C. (2020). Disadvantaged students’ motivation, aspiration and subject choice in mathematics: A prospective qualitative investigation. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 18, 945-964.
• Ng, C. (2019). Shifting the focus from motivated learners to motivating distributed environments: a review of 40 years of published motivation research in Distance Education. Distance Education, 40(4), 469-496.
• Ng, C. & Renshaw, P. (2019). Perezhivanie and evolvement of reader identities: A longitudinal case of an Indigenous Australian student. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 22, 100310.
• Ng, C. & Leicht, A. (2019). ‘Struggles as engagement’ in teacher change: a longitudinal case study of a reading teacher’s changing practices. Teachers and Teaching: Theory & Practice, 25(4), 453-468. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2019.1625764.
• Ng, C. (2019). Teachers’ professional selves and motivation for continuous professional learning amid education reforms. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 47(2), 118-136.
• Ng, C. (2018). Using student voice to promote economically-disadvantaged students’ engagement in reading. Journal of Research in Reading, 41(4), 700-715.
• Ng, C., Bartlett, B., Elliott, S. (2018). Empowering engagement: Creating learning opportunities for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. New York: Springer.

Projects

• 2018-2022 Australian Research Council Discovery Grant Program: Ng, C., Renshaw, P., Cheung, A., Mak, B. & Graham, S. Raising the bar: Promoting higher-order literacy skills for economically-disadvantaged students in the 21st Century. DP180102982. $535,418.
• 2019-2022. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Yamazumi, K., Tomizawa, M., Yamada, N., Engestrom, Y. & Ng, C. Teacher as change agent: An activity-theoretical formative intervention approach to expansive learning. ¥10,900,000 ($155,714).
• 2016-2017, Department of Education and Training, Queensland State Government. Education Horizon Research Grant Scheme. Ng, C., Graham, S. & Harris, K. Improving disadvantaged students’ reading engagement and reading outcomes using student-voice driven and mastery-focused reading models. $69,889.
• 2014-2017, Australian Research Council Discovery Grant Program: Ng, C., Goos, M., & Bahr, N. Is Maths for me? Understanding and promoting disadvantaged students’ academic aspirations for Mathematics. DP140101431. $349,000.
• 2014-15, Department of Education, Training and Employment, Queensland State Government. Bartlett, B., Ng, C., Wyatt-Smith, C. & McArthur, M., A Study into the current operations of Queensland’s Non-State Special Assistance Schools, State Positive Learning Centres and State Flexi-Schools. (DETE Contract No.: 62435). $349,704.
• 2011-2015, Australian Research Council Discovery Grant Program: Ng, C., Wyatt-Smith, C. & Bartlett, B., Improving disadvantaged students’ reading outcomes through overcoming reading avoidance and promoting reading engagement, DP110104289. $530,898.

Accolades and awards

• Resident Research Fellow (2014-2015), United College, Chinese University of Hong Kong, hosted by Professor Barley Mak
• Visiting Scholar (2013), Graduate School of Education, Waseda University, hosted by Prof. Michiko Nakano
• International Travel Fellowship (2013), Griffith University
• Visiting Scholar (2012), Faulty of Education, University of Hong Kong, hosted by Prof. Nancy Law
• Outstanding publication awards (2010-2013), Griffith University

Appointments and affiliations

• Professor, Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University, 2021-
• Research Director, Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University, 2014-
• Associate Professor, Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University, 2013-2020
• Senior Lecturer and Program Director, Bachelor of Primary Education, Griffith University, 2006-2013.

Editorial roles

• Editorial Board member, Distance Education (2016 onwards)
• Editorial Board member, Best Evidence in Chinese Education (open access journal by Chinese University of Hong Kong and Nanjing Normal University) (2019 onwards)
• Editor, Cogent Education (open access journal by Taylor & Francis Publishers) (2016 onwards)

International journal review panel

• Learning, Culture and Social Interaction
• Studies in Higher Education
• Distance Education
• British Journal of Educational Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Learning and Individual Differences
• Teaching Education
• Cogent Education
• Asia-pacific Journal of Education
• Pedagogies
• Australian Educational Researcher
• International Review of Open and Distance Learning

Grant agency review panels

• Australian Research Council, Grant Assessor for ARC Discovery, Linkage and DECRA programs (Since 2011)
• Australian Research Council, Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 2018, Expert Reviewer