Dr Erika Spray
Lecturer
School of Education (Psychology)
- Email:erika.spray@newcastle.edu.au
- Phone:4921 7361
Career Summary
Biography
Dr Erika Spray's research focuses on the importance of learners' individual differences, particularly metacognitive and epistemic beliefs, and how these relate to academic achievement. She is also interested in the potential of technology in education, and is part of a team pioneering the use of simulation technologies to support doctoral students' ability to speak confidently about their work, for example during confirmation of candidature or for viva examination. In her own teaching, Dr Spray is piloting the use of SimSchool in a large undergraduate course, to build preservice teachers' sense of teaching efficacy before they undertake practicum placements.
Dr Spray's research has been presented at European (EARLI) and American (AERA) conferences, as well as AARE, SELF and DEAL within Australia.
Research Expertise
Erika's current research program is extending her previous work exploring Masters students' dispositional learning profiles. This involves measuring a range of epistemic, metacognitive and affective beliefs and examining their relationships to academic achievement. It has been found that postgraduate coursework students' academic achievement is influenced by their dispositional profiles, in particular by epistemic engagement. A second thread of this work was the examination of consistency of such relationships across different groups, with a particular emphasis on relationships between cultural background, dispositional attributes and academic achievement. Whilst variation remains most meaningful at the individual level, nonetheless evidence was found of group-level variation in dispositional profiles between groups of students from different cultural backgrounds.
New data collection is underway in 2022, both to follow up on the original participants and to gather new dispositional data from undergraduate cohorts. Findings from these studies will be presented later in 2022.
Teaching Expertise
Erika coordinates EDUC2102 Learners and the Learning Process, which is a large course that is a core unit of the Bachelor of Education. She receives strong student feedback for this teaching, which reflects her ongoing work to keep the course practically relevant as well as theoretically up-to-date. She has a strong background in education, having taught High School History and English as well as English as a Foreign Language at the Language Centre, and with several years as a Language and Learning Adviser in the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Newcastle. This role involved advising staff and students about the effective integration and development of Academic Literacies, working with various discipline areas across the University, as well as organising and implementing workshop programs at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She also conducted research into RHD Students' experiences of Academic Literacies development, which was presented at SRHE 2012 in the UK and published in the Journal of Academic Language and Learning.
Administrative Expertise
Primarily, Erika's administrative tasks support her teaching in the School of Education. In that context, she is involved in curriculum design and review, marking and assessment, and student consultations. I am a member of the Centre for the Study of Research Training and Impact (SORTI), the Australian Association of Research in Education (AARE) and have previously held memberships of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction (EARLI) and Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE).
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy in Education, University of Newcastle
- Bachelor of Arts (Honours), University of Exeter - UK
- Post Graduate Certificate in Education, University of Exeter - UK
- Master of Applied Linguistics, University of Newcastle
- Master of Educational Studies, University of Newcastle
Keywords
- Educational Psychology
- Epistemic Beliefs
- Higher Education
- Metacognition
- Self-regulation
Fields of Research
Code | Description | Percentage |
---|---|---|
520102 | Educational psychology | 100 |
Professional Experience
UON Appointment
Title | Organisation / Department |
---|---|
Lecturer | University of Newcastle School of Education Australia |
Teaching
Code | Course | Role | Duration |
---|---|---|---|
EDUC2102 |
Learners and the Learning Process University of Newcastle |
Course Coordinator | 1/1/2020 - 31/12/2022 |
Publications
For publications that are currently unpublished or in-press, details are shown in italics.
Chapter (1 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link |
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2014 | Cantwell RH, Scevak JJ, Spray EJ, ''I thought I knew this stuff but apparently I don't': Understanding transition into university-level thinking', Aspirations, Access and Attainment: Current International Perspectives on Widening Participation., Routledge, Abingdon 136-149 (2014) [B1] | Nova |
Journal article (4 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | |||||
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2024 |
Holbrook A, Spray E, Burke R, Shaw KM, Carruthers J, 'Conveying the learning self to others: doctoral candidates conceptualising and communicating the complexion of development', Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, (2024) [C1] Purpose: Highly developed and agile learners who can clearly convey and call on their skills are sought in all walks of life. Diverse demand for these capacities has called attent... [more] Purpose: Highly developed and agile learners who can clearly convey and call on their skills are sought in all walks of life. Diverse demand for these capacities has called attention to how the skills and knowledge gained during doctoral study can be conveyed, translated and leveraged in non-academic settings; however, the complex learning reality underneath doctoral development is challenging to convey. Design/methodology/approach: The data set for this particular analysis was obtained from 245 in-depth telephone interviews with PhD candidates collected prior to COVID-19. Candidates were asked about learning processes, challenges and changes, and both the questions and thematic analysis were guided by theories of doctoral development and transformational learning. Findings: For many participants, learning and development were not familiar topics, while a small proportion deflected questions about learning altogether. One fifth of participants presented rich and lucid accounts of learning in which cognisance of complexity, metacognitive processes and transformational experiences were embedded and multiple avenues of development were in evidence. They were well-placed to convey the complexion of doctoral development. Candidates more deeply engaged in learning also commented more about changes they noticed in themselves. The most identified avenue of development was in understanding and approach to knowledge. Originality/value: Candidate communication about learning and development is an under-explored dimension of doctoral experience and skill that is relevant to advancing knowledge about doctoral development and illuminating graduate potential both within and outside academe. This must constitute a key element of the re-vitalisation of the doctorate post-pandemic. The salience of framing transferable skills within a learning development perspective is discussed.
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2023 |
Spray E, Holbrook A, Scevak J, Cantwell R, 'Dispositions towards learning: the importance of epistemic attributes for postgraduate learners', Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, 14 347-365 (2023) [C1] Purpose: Learners¿ dispositional attributes form the foundations for their learning behaviour and therefore academic outcomes. This study aims to explore the dispositional attribu... [more] Purpose: Learners¿ dispositional attributes form the foundations for their learning behaviour and therefore academic outcomes. This study aims to explore the dispositional attributes of postgraduate learners in coursework programs, and to understand the relationships between dispositional attributes and academic achievement at this level. Design/methodology/approach: This study profiled the dispositions towards learning of 880 Master¿s students in Australia, reported in an online survey. Statistical analysis was used to explore the possibility of underlying dispositional dimensions and latent clusters of participants within the cohort. Findings: The profile of the cohort overall was as expected for an elite academic group, yet there was substantial variation between individuals. Cluster analysis identified three groups of students with meaningfully different dispositional profiles. Exploratory factor analysis revealed two underlying dispositional dimensions, representing epistemic and agentic attributes. Epistemic attributes were most closely related to academic achievement. Practical implications: It is argued that students at Master¿s level typically possess the agentic attributes necessary for effective self-regulation. At this level, therefore, epistemic attributes are more relevant for differentiating between higher and lower achieving students. The attainment of sophisticated epistemic attributes is in line with the stated goals of postgraduate education. This supports the explicit teaching of metacognitive and epistemic skills within postgraduate degrees. Originality/value: This study contributes a detailed analysis of Master¿s students¿ dispositional profiles. Two underlying dispositional dimensions are identified, representing agentic and epistemic attributes. The importance of epistemic attributes for postgraduate academic achievement identifies an opportunity for targeted interventions to raise the quality of learning at this level.
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Nova | ||||||
2015 |
Spray E, Hunt JW, 'Measuring the academic literacies beliefs and researcher identity of research students', Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, 1-16 (2015) [C1]
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Nova | ||||||
2013 |
Spray EJ, Scevak JJ, Cantwell RH, 'Personal epistemological and metacognitive awareness in first year preservice education students.', Australian Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 13 44-57 (2013) [C1]
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Nova | ||||||
Show 1 more journal article |
Conference (6 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||
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2017 | Spray E, Scevak J, Cantwell R, 'Management of regulation and management of complexity', Melbourne (2017) | ||||
2015 | Spray E, Scevak J, Cantwell R, 'A cross-cultural analysis of dispositional attributes and academic achievement in postgraduate coursework students', Chicago (2015) | ||||
2015 |
Hunt JW, Spray E, 'Sweet cupcakes for all: A teaching philosophy to enhance student engagement and success in an enabling linguistics course', NAEEA 2015 Selected Papers, Sydney (2015) [E1]
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Nova | |||
2011 | Spray EJ, Scevak JJ, Cantwell RH, 'Personal epistemological and metacognitive awareness (PEMA) in first year university students', EARLI 2011 14th Biennial Conference: Education for a Global Networked Society. Book of Abstracts and Extended Summaries, Exeter (2011) [E3] | ||||
Show 3 more conferences |
Preprint (1 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | |||||
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2022 |
Spray E, Holbrook A, Scevak J, Cantwell R, 'Student dispositions towards learning: A cross-sectional analysis (2022)
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Grants and Funding
Summary
Number of grants | 5 |
---|---|
Total funding | $29,435 |
Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.
20231 grants / $10,000
Research Invested Schools – Scots College Research Office Partnership$10,000
Funding body: College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle
Funding body | College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle |
---|---|
Project Team | Carl Leonard (Lead) Allyson Holbrook (Co-Investigator) Erika Spray (Co-Investigator) |
Scheme | CHSF - Pilot Research Scheme: Projects, Pivots, Partnerships |
Role | Investigator |
Funding Start | 2023 |
Funding Finish | 2023 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
20223 grants / $18,175
Virtual confirmation: New collaboration to explore adoption of AI in research skills development$10,675
Funding body: College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle
Funding body | College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle |
---|---|
Project Team | Professor Allyson Holbrook (lead), A/Prof Rachel Buchanan, Dr Erika Spray, Professor Craig Batty (UniSA) |
Scheme | CHSF - Pilot Research Scheme: Projects, Pivots, Partnerships |
Role | Investigator |
Funding Start | 2022 |
Funding Finish | 2022 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
CHSF New Start Scheme$5,000
Funding body: College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle
Funding body | College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle |
---|---|
Scheme | CHSF - New Start Scheme |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2022 |
Funding Finish | 2022 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
CHSF Conference Travel Grant$2,500
Funding body: College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle
Funding body | College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle |
---|---|
Scheme | CHSF - Conference Travel Scheme |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2022 |
Funding Finish | 2022 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
20211 grants / $1,260
CHSF Early Advice Scheme 2021$1,260
Funding body: College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle
Funding body | College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle |
---|---|
Scheme | CHSF - Early Advice Scheme |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2021 |
Funding Finish | 2021 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
Research Supervision
Number of supervisions
Current Supervision
Commenced | Level of Study | Research Title | Program | Supervisor Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | PhD | Assessing the Development of Cognitive Literacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence | PhD (Education), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
2021 | PhD | Exploring the Confidence and Perceived Preparedness of Secondary Teachers to Respond to, Manage and Provide Support to Students Who May Be Experiencing Mental Health Issues in the Classroom | PhD (Education), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
2019 | PhD | Psychological Safety and Learning in Higher Degree Research Programs | PhD (Education), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
2013 | PhD | Development and Validation of the Epistemological Processing Model: A New Approach to Understanding Anxiety and Therapeutic Techniques | PhD (Education), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
Dr Erika Spray
Position
Lecturer
School of Education
School of Education
College of Human and Social Futures
Focus area
Psychology
Contact Details
erika.spray@newcastle.edu.au | |
Phone | 4921 7361 |
Fax | 4921 6827 |
Office
Room | V231 |
---|---|
Building | Education Building (V) |
Location | Callaghan University Drive Callaghan, NSW 2308 Australia |