John Hattie to lead Melbourne Education Research Institute

The University of Melbourne's Graduate School of Education (MGSE) has appointed Professor John Hattie as Director of its research institute. Professor Hattie's work is internationally acclaimed. His influential 2008 book Visible Learning: A synthesis of over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement is believed to be the world's largest evidence-based study into what factors improve student learning. Involving more than 80 million students from around the world and bringing together 50,000 smaller studies, the study found positive teacher-student interaction is the most important factor in effective teaching. Currently a member of the Faculty of Education and Director of Visible Learning Labs at the University of Auckland, Professor Hattie regularly advises governments in New Zealand, Australia and the US. He has authored or co-authored 12 books and more than 500 papers, and says he is looking forward to supporting researchers in MGSE. 'There are so many excellent projects and people within the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, and it will be an exciting and enjoyable process to maximize their impact on education in Australia and beyond,' he said.