Dr Ben Zunica
Ben Zunica is a secondary mathematics educator and researcher in the Sydney School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney. Ben teaches secondary mathematics pedagogy, drawing on his 20 years as an educator across a wide range of schools in NSW and Victoria. Ben is an experienced ICT educator, having written curriculum materials and assessment for NESA and is interested in how ICT can be most helpfully used in the teaching of mathematics.
- Secondary mathematics teaching practice
- The effective integration of technology in the mathematics classroom
- Computational thinking and its application to mathematics education
- Developing STEM pedagogies incorporating Mathematics and ICT
- Connecting In-Service teachers with relevant academic research
- EDSE4028/EDMT6613 - Teaching Mathematics 3A/ Mathematics 3
- EDSE4029/EDMT6614 - Teaching Mathematics 3B/ Mathematics 3 (Extension)
- EDSE3063/EDMT5663 - Teaching Mathematics 2A/ Mathematics 2
- EDSE3064/EDMT5664 - Teaching Mathematics 2B/ Mathematics 2 (Extension)
- Honours Students
- Masters Student
| Project title | Research student |
|---|---|
| Dosage effects in tracing to learn | Jenny BUI |
| The Embodied Learning-based Robot Programming Approach For Developing Young Children’s Computational Thinking | Yuchen CHEN |
| An investigation of secondary mathematics teachers’ implementation of challenging tasks | Michelle CHEUNG |
| Designing and Evaluating Digital Planning Tools to Support Preparation for Peer Tutoring | Yu CUI |
| Tutoring: how does external tutoring influence students, and what are the implications for policy and school systems? | Peter LI |
| Enhancing Computational Thinking through Metaverse: An Empirical Study | Lingran XU |
Publications
Book Chapters
- Phillips, M., Koehler, M., Rosenberg, J., Zunica, B. (2017). Revisiting conceptions of knowledge as part of the TPACK framework. In L. Liu & D. C. Gibson (Eds.), Research highlights in technology and teacher education 2017, (pp. 21-27). Waynesville, NC: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
Journals
- Zunica, B. (2023). Technology everywhere! But who's got the time? The influence of time pressures on technology integration in Australian secondary mathematics. Discover education, 2(45).
- Zunica, B. (2019). What everyone should know about coding. Journal of Professional Learning (JPL), 5(2). [More Information]
Conferences
- Cheung, M., Reid O'Connor, B., Zunica, B. (2024). Australian junior secondary students' approaches to solving ratio problems prior to formal instruction and their misconceptions. Surfing the waves of mathematics education. Proceedings of the 46th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Gold Coast: MERGA.
- Cheung, M., Reid O'Connor, B., Zunica, B. (2024). Junior secondary students' conceptions of ratios. Proceedings of the 15th International Congress on Mathematical Education: Come and be counted!, Sydney: ICME.
- Phillips, M., Koehler, M., Rosenberg, J., Zunica, B. (2017). Unpacking TPACK: Reconsidering knowledge and context in teacher practice. Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2017, Austin, TX, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
2024
- Cheung, M., Reid O'Connor, B., Zunica, B. (2024). Australian junior secondary students' approaches to solving ratio problems prior to formal instruction and their misconceptions. Surfing the waves of mathematics education. Proceedings of the 46th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Gold Coast: MERGA.
- Cheung, M., Reid O'Connor, B., Zunica, B. (2024). Junior secondary students' conceptions of ratios. Proceedings of the 15th International Congress on Mathematical Education: Come and be counted!, Sydney: ICME.
2023
- Zunica, B. (2023). Technology everywhere! But who's got the time? The influence of time pressures on technology integration in Australian secondary mathematics. Discover education, 2(45).
2019
- Zunica, B. (2019). What everyone should know about coding. Journal of Professional Learning (JPL), 5(2). [More Information]
2017
- Phillips, M., Koehler, M., Rosenberg, J., Zunica, B. (2017). Revisiting conceptions of knowledge as part of the TPACK framework. In L. Liu & D. C. Gibson (Eds.), Research highlights in technology and teacher education 2017, (pp. 21-27). Waynesville, NC: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
- Phillips, M., Koehler, M., Rosenberg, J., Zunica, B. (2017). Unpacking TPACK: Reconsidering knowledge and context in teacher practice. Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2017, Austin, TX, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
2016
- Zunica, B., Forgasz, H. (2016). Teacher perceptions of gender differences in academic achievement and conscientiousness of adolescents. A case study. Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Annual Conference 2016, Melbourne. [More Information]
In the media
The Conversation (5 December 2024). Why are boys outperforming girls in maths?https://theconversation.com/why-are-boys-outperforming-girls-in-maths-245357
The Educator Online (28 October 2024). How teachers can navigate the shift to online exams.https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/news/how-teachers-can-navigate-the-shift-to-online-exams/285910
The Educator Online (29 January 2024). How teachers can combat maths anxietyhttps://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/news/how-teachers-can-combat-maths-anxiety/283972
The conversation (21 December 2023). How many people need to be in a room for two to share a birthday? It's fewer than you think. Here's whyhttps://theconversation.com/how-many-people-need-to-be-in-a-room-for-two-to-share-a-birthday-its-fewer-than-you-think-heres-why-218250
Sydney Morning Herald (13 November 2023). The HSC subjects in which more students are getting top bandshttps://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-hsc-subjects-in-which-more-students-are-getting-top-bands-20231108-p5eii5.html
Sydney Morning Herald (10 September 2023) End of streamed classes: High schools grapple with maths overhaul https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/end-of-streamed-classes-high-schools-grapple-with-maths-overhaul-20230906-p5e2l1.html
Interview ABC Victoria/WA (9 August 2023) Why would they change maths?
Interview ABC Darwin (9 August 2023) Why would they change maths?
The Conversation (8 August 2023)‘Why would they change maths?’ How your child’s maths education might be very different fromyours.https://theconversation.com/why-would-they-change-maths-how-your-childs-maths-education-might-be-very-different-from-yours-207030
Sydney Morning Herald (2 April 2023) Bad with numbers? You might have maths anxiety https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/bad-with-numbers-you-might-have-maths-anxiety-20230329-p5cw6u.html
Daily Telegraph (14 March 2023) NAPLAN: Frequently asked questions, top tips from a maths expert - https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new-south-wales-education/naplan-frequently-asked-questions-top-tips-from-a-maths-expert/news-story/0c3a7b8000f068854834584a7e208461
Interview with ABC Canberra (14 March 2023) How to spot and overcome Maths anxiety
Interview with ABC Darwin (13 March 2023) How to spot and overcome Maths anxiety
The Conversation (12 March 2023) ‘Maths anxiety’ is a real thing. Here are 3 ways to help your child cope.https://theconversation.com/maths-anxiety-is-a-real-thing-here-are-3-ways-to-help-your-child-cope-200822
Podcast interview, Education review (9 February 2023) High maths anxiety linked to poor resultshttps://www.educationreview.com.au/2023/02/high-maths-anxiety-linked-to-poor-results-podcast/
Interview with ABC Canberra (4 December 2022) How to deal with upcoming ATAR results
Sydney Morning Herald (21 October 2022) Is this one of the toughest HSC maths questions yet? https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/is-this-one-of-the-toughest-hsc-maths-questions-yet-20221021-p5brpl.html
Sydney Morning Herald (20 October 2022) Western Sydney kids wear brunt of COVID restrictions.https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/western-sydney-kids-wear-brunt-of-covid-restrictions-20221020-p5bref.html