Top of page

Student/Staff Portal
Global Site Navigation

School of Education

Local Section Navigation
You are here: Main Content
  • Dr Christa Norris - ECU's School of Education

    Dr Christa Norris

Related Contents

Dr Christa Norris

Lecturer

Staff Member Details
Telephone: +61 8 6304 2517
Email: c.norris@ecu.edu.au
Campus: Joondalup  
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9396-3604

Christa is the Bachelor of Education (Secondary) Course Coordinator, Master of Teaching Scholar in Residence Coordinator and a Lecturer in Science Education in the School of Education.

Background

Christa is a member of the University Academic Board and a passionate advocate for high quality teaching and learning in Secondary Education with extensive experience teaching both nationally and internationally. Christa’s aptitude for continued development and design of secondary internships as innovative scholar in residence programs won her the 2021 Vice Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence in Programs that Enhance Learning and the National 2024 'Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning' as an Australian Award for University Teaching.

Christa’s research focus is in the area for improved 21st Century skills and the development of teaching self-efficacy in both primary and secondary preservice teachers. In collaboration with the School of Science, Christa has been involved in designing content driven units with education discipline pedagogical requirements. These endeavours have led to design-based research focussing on improved specialised ecology and geography teaching self-efficacy in secondary preservice teachers. Within a research team at ECU further collaborative research has ensued with other Australian and Indonesian tertiary institutions for the development of project-based teaching and learning in primary and secondary education units in the areas of STEM and sustainability. Christa’s research is using mixed methodology with strengths in quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection and analysis.

Current teaching

Unit Coordinator:

  • CUR3211: Integrating Curriculum with Practice
  • CUR4210: Curriculum Enrichment for the Major Specialisation (Undergraduate)
  • CUR6210: Curriculum Enrichment for the Major Specialisation (Postgraduate)
  • SPL6157: School-based Professional Learning: Internship

Professional associations

  • 2013 - 2024 Tournament of Minds Ltd (Board Member) and Tournament of Minds WA (Director)
  • 2014 - The Science Teachers' Association of Western Australia Inc (Member)
  • 2015 - Australasian Science Education Research Association (Member)
  • 2025 - Australian Teacher Education Association (Member)

Awards and recognition

National and International Awards

  • 2020 - School of Education: Teaching and Learning Award
  • 2022 - School of Education Research Award: Best paper co-published with an HDR student

University and National Teaching Awards

  • 2021 - ECU: Vice Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence in Programs that Enhance Learning
  • 2024 - Australian Award for University Teaching: Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning

Research areas and interests

  • Pre-Service Teacher Education
  • Science Teaching and Learning
  • Teaching Self-efficacy
  • STEM Teaching and Learning
  • Critical and creative thinking skills

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Applied Science, Ballarat Institute of Advanced Education.
  • Graduate Diploma of Education, Ballarat Institute of Advanced Education.
  • Doctorate of Philosophy, Edith Cowan University, 2017.
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Edith Cowan University, 2017.

Research Outputs

2026

Journal Articles

  • Johnston, O., Norris, C., Palamara, P. (2026). Does Class Ability Grouping in Secondary Schools Improve Students' Literacy Scores on Australia's NAPLAN Tests?. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 2026(online), 14 pages. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-026-01126-w.

2025

Journal Articles

2024

Journal Articles

  • Freed, R., McKinnon, D., Salimpour, S., Fitzgerald, M., Reichart, D., Norris, C. (2024). Self-efficacy changes and gender effects on self-efficacy in a large-scale robotic telescope focused curriculum. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 20(1), article number 10137. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.20.010137.

2023

Journal Articles

  • Norris, C., Taylor, T., Lummis, G. (2023). Fostering collaboration and creative thinking through extra-curricular challenges with primary and secondary students. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 48(June 2023), Artcile number 101296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2023.101296.

2022

Journal Articles

  • Freed, R., McKinnon, D., Fitzgerald, M., Norris, C. (2022). Development and validation of an astronomy self-efficacy instrument for understanding and doing. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 18(1), Article number 010117. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.010117.

2021

Journal Articles

  • Slater, E., Norris, C., Morris, J. (2021). The validity of the Science Teacher Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI-B) for postgraduate, pre-service, primary teachers. Heliyon, 7(9), Article number e07882. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07882.

2018

Journal Articles

  • Norris, C., Morris, J., Lummis, G. (2018). Preservice teachers’ self-efficacy to teach primary science based on ‘science learner’ typology.. International Journal of Science Education, 40(18), 2292-2308. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1528645.

Research Student Supervision

Current Supervisions

Associate Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Leaders in the Wings: Investigating Performing Arts Teachers in Secondary School Leadership Positions

Completed Supervisions

Principal Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, The impacts of telescope use and astronomy research programs on United States instructors' and students' astronomy self-efficacy and identity
Skip to top of page