Winter Research Program

2025 Winter Research Program

Engage in a formal research project with the UQ Winter Research Program over the winter semester.

The UQ Winter Research Program provides UQ students with an opportunity to gain experience working alongside a researcher in a formal research environment in their area of interest at UQ.

Applications for the 2025 Winter Research Program open Monday 24 March and applications close on Sunday 13 April.

The program will be offered for a period of four (4) weeks between 30 June - 25 July.

Participation is open to undergraduate (including honours) and master by coursework students who are currently enrolled and will remain at UQ for the entirety of the research program.

Discover more about the Winter Research Program

Available projects:

Implementing Positive Behaviour Support in secondary schools

Project title:

Implementing Positive Behaviour Support in secondary schools

Hours of engagement & delivery mode

4 weeks @ 36 hours per week, commencing Monday 30 June

Meetings will be held on campus at St Lucia, but the successful applicant may be able to work from home for some hours each week by negotiation

Description:

This study involves an analytical review of the literature to identify empirically informed practices to support the implementation of Positive Behaviour Support in secondary schools. This study is designed to answer the following Research Question: What data, systems, and practices are essential to the implementation of Positive Behaviour Support in secondary settings?

The methodology for this task involves what Pawson et al. (2005) describe as a realist review, that will not only amalgamate the evidence behind data, systems and practices used in secondary schools, but will endeavour to explain how, why, and under what circumstances Australian schools might feasibly adopt these approaches. A systematic search will be guided by specific search terms (“positive behavior support” OR “positive behavioral interventions and supports” OR “positive behaviour for learning” OR “school-wide positive behaviour support”), and the setting (schools: secondary, high school). Included with the systematic review will be reviews, evaluation studies, and peer-reviewed articles. The databases to be searched may include: A+ Education, Applied Social Science Index and Abstracts (ASSIA), Campbell Collaboration Online Library, Directory of Open Access Journals, Education, ERIC, APA PsycInfo, Scopus, Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), and Teacher Reference Center. Covidence will be used to collate the findings, and EndNote for collecting the bibliographic details. Reporting of the findings will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement (Page et al., 2020).

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

Scholars may gain skills in realist literature reviews. They may also have an opportunity to generate a co-authored journal article from this research.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from 2^nd, 3^rd, or 4^th year students with a background in education or psychology, or other applicants from other disciplines that can demonstrate exceptional skills in literature reviews. Familiarity with both EndNote and Covidence would be advantageous.

Primary Supervisor:

Associate Professor Shiralee Poed, School of Education

Further info:

If you have any questions in relation to this project, please contact s.poed@uq.edu.au