ACU Researcher

Associate Professor Melanie Nash 

Teaching and Research
National School of Education 

Areas of expertise: science and STEM education; teacher education; school-university partnerships; mentoring and coaching.

Email: [email protected]

Location: ACU Melbourne Campus

HDR Supervisor accreditation status: HDR Supervisor (Provisional)

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3170-1902

Dr Melanie Nash is an Associate Professor in the National School of Education (Melbourne) at Australian Catholic University. She is a teacher educator and researcher whose work focuses on strengthening the quality, coherence, and impact of Initial Teacher Education through research-informed program design and strong school–university partnerships. Melanie’s research centres on science and STEM education, mentoring and coaching in teacher education, and the design of immersive and practice-based professional learning experiences. Her work examines how collaborative and co-designed approaches support teacher development, professional identity formation, and engagement across metropolitan and rural contexts. She has secured sustained government and industry funding and has published widely in leading international journals and edited collections in education.

She is an experienced HDR supervisor and research leader, supervising both doctoral and masters students. Her supervisory practice emphasises rigorous scholarship, strong pedagogical relationships, and the development of independent researchers. She also contributes to doctoral education through PhD panel leadership, examination, and scholarship on supervision practices.

Prior to joining ACU, Dr Nash held a range of senior academic leadership roles at RMIT University, including Director of Initial Teacher Education and Acting Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning). In these roles, she led program renewal, accreditation processes, and initiatives to enhance assessment quality and student experience across teacher education programs. She also served as Academic Director of Professional Experience, where she strengthened placement models and built sustainable partnerships with schools and community organisations.

Earlier in her career, Dr Nash held academic positions at the University of Melbourne, contributing to professional practice coordination, curriculum design, and research in teacher education.

Her career reflects a sustained commitment to advancing teacher education through academic leadership, impactful research, and sector engagement. 

Journal Articles

• Byth, A., Nash, M., Bradbury, O., Fitzgerald, A., White, S., & Kardaris, E. (2026). Beyond window shopping: using stakeholder narratives to inform the design and impact of Australian non-metropolitan teacher placements. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education. DOI: 10.47381/aijre.v36i1.802

• Fitzgerald, A., Kardaris, E., Nash, M., Byth, A., & White, S., (2025) Re-using co-design in initial teacher education: A scoping study to inform school-university partnerships. Aust. Educ. Res. 52, 2047–2067. DOI: 10.1007/s13384-024-00799-w

• Nash, M., Bradbury, O., & Fitzgerald, A. (2025). Understanding the perspectives of a teacher educator and pre-service teachers toward an immersive STEM experience. Future in Educational Research, 3(1), 48–66. DOI: 10.1002/fer3.53

• Ozsoy S, Nash M, Moffitt R, Conduit R, & Buszard T (2024) Can Brain Endurance Training Stimulate Cognitive Fatigue to Affect Tennis Match Performance in Elite Australian Junior Athletes. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport – 27 s94, Elsevier.

• Ozsoy, S., Conduit, R., Moffitt, R.L., Moreland, A., & Buszard, T., Nash, M. (2024). Cognitive fatigue in tennis. Current understanding and application among Australian high-performance tennis coaches. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 55(2), 109-128. DOI: 10.7352/IJSP.2024.55.109

• Ozsoy S, Nash M, Moffitt R, Conduit R, & Buszard T (2023) Cognitive load and fatigue in high performance tennis - Current understanding and training application by Australian tennis coaches. v26 s125. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. Elsevier.

• Windsor, S., Kriewaldt, J., Nash, M., Lilja, A., & Thornton, J. (2020). Developing teachers: adopting observation tools that suspend judgement to stimulate evidence-informed dialogue during the teaching practicum to enrich teacher professional development. Professional Development in Education, 48(4), 642–656. DOI: 10.1080/19415257.2020.1712452

• Cumming, F., & Nash, M. (2015). An Australian perspective of a forest school: shaping a sense of place to support learning. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 15(4), 296–309. https://doi.org/10.1080/14729679.2015.1010071

• Nash, M.J. (2009). Using the ideas of communities of practice and TGfU to develop physical education pedagogy among primary generalist pre-service teachers. Asian Journal of Exercise and Sports Science, 6(1).

• Light, R. & Nash, M. (2006) Learning and identity in overlapping communities of practice: Surf club, school and sports clubs. Australian Educational Researcher 2006 33(1), 75-94. DOI: 10.1007/BF03246282

Book Chapters

• Nash, M. (2025) Improving what matters: Reframing STEM education through design thinking in a primary generalist preparation course. In Barkatsas, T., Goff, W., and Ng, A. (eds) Exploring Cognitive, Affective, Design Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, Cybernetics and E-Learning Dimensions in Contemporary Education 259-277. Brill
• Nash, M., Bradbury, O., & Fitzgerald, A. (2025) Nurturing Tomorrow’s STEM Educators – Immersive Experiences for Primary Generalists Preservice Teachers. In: Earle, S., Preston, C., Georgiou. H, and Fitzgerald. A. (eds) Primary Science Learning for Children, Teachers, and Communities – Stories of Practice and Possibility for Science Educators. Springer Singapore. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-95-0561-6_7
• Nash, M. & Hughes, R (2024). Supporting Pedagogical Relationships and Needs in Doctoral Supervision. In Chris Rolph (ed) Supervising Doctoral Candidates. Emerald. DOI: 10.1108/978-1-83797-048-320241004
• Nash, M., Byth, A., Kardaris, E., Hodgson, N., Fitzgerald, A., & White, S. (2024). Leveraging a School–University Partnership Model Through the Process of Co-design: A Case Study of One Australian School–University Partnership and Its Developmental Stages. In: Green, C.A., Eady, M.J. (eds) Creating, Sustaining, and Enhancing Purposeful School-University Partnerships. Springer, Singapore. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-99-8838-9_14
• Nash, M., Byth, A., Whewell, D., Kilkenny, M.L., Hickey, R. (2022). Working Relationally to Bridge the Divide: An Exploration of an Australian School–University Professional Experience Partnership from the Perspectives of Five Stakeholders. In: Bradbury, O.J., Acquaro, D. (eds) School-University Partnerships—Innovation in Initial Teacher Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5057-5_2
• Kriewaldt, J., Nash, M., Windsor, S., Thornton, J., Reid, C. (2018). Fostering Professional Learning Through Evidence-Informed Mentoring Dialogues in School Settings. In: Kriewaldt, J., Ambrosetti, A., Rorrison, D., Capeness, R. (eds) Educating Future Teachers: Innovative Perspectives in Professional Experience. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5484-6_10
• Nash, M., & Morrissey, J. (2012). The integrative power of sport myth or reality: The story of two Vietnamese families and their involvement with community Australian rules football. In O’ Dea (ed) Current Issues and Controversies in School and Community Health, Sport and Physical Education (pp. 295–305) https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84897178944
• Nash, M. (2011) Using Service Learning in PE Teacher Education In: Miller, M. P., & Nendel, J. D. (eds). Service-learning in physical education and related professions: A global perspective. Jones and Bartlett Publishers. https://search.worldcat.org/title/437300535?oclcNum=437300535

Practioner articles and resources

• Nash, M., Mason, T., & Wu, B. (2026) Thinking in patterns: Why computational thinking belongs in the early years. Every Child, 32 (1).

• Kriewaldt J, Thornton J, Windsor S, Dulfer N, Nash M, Crane N (2025) Teaching Tracker Tools -https://www.teachingtrackertools.com/ Open AccessT3 University of Melbourne.

• Hughes, R. & Nash, M. (2024) Decolonising practice to democratise education in Australia. Research Intelligence 160 (Autumn, 2024), p29-30. British Educational Research Association.

Higher Degree Research Supervision

• Aria Zhao (In progress) An Inquiry into the Play-based STEM Teaching Strategies in early childhood. PhD Thesis

• Yeshi Nidup (In progress) Instructional Leadership and its Influence on Higher Secondary School Teachers’ Instructional Practices in Bhutan. PhD Thesis 

• Shakeela Naureen (In progress) The Impact of Digital Technologies on Students’ Motivation and Engagement in Secondary School Science Classrooms. PhD Thesis

• Sumeyya Ozsoy (2025) Mental Fatigue in Tennis: Coaching Practices, Training Tools, and Future Application. PhD Thesis

• Allison Byth (2024) Partnerships in Action: The Impact of Hybrid Educators on Mentor Teachers’ Practices. PhD Thesis

• Sudarat Srirak (2023) Enhancing Language Learning Through Critical Thinking Incorporation: How Do EFL Academics and Students in a Thai University Perceive the Incorporation of Critical Thinking Skills in Teaching and Learning? PhD Thesis

• Kerin Elsum (2023) Supporting Students’ Professional Identity Construction During Work Integrated Learning: A Practice-Based Exploration of Boundary Crossing. PhD Thesis

• Alexandra Johnston (2022) Developing Scholarly Teaching Through Peer Review of Teaching in Higher Education: A Case Study of One Research-Intensive University. PhD Thesis

• Yana Ostapenko (2019) Reconstructing Educators: Stories about Teaching International Students in Australian Higher Education. PhD Thesis

• Anna Krohn (2016) Breadth: the interdisciplinary experiment: An investigation of students' expectations of The University of Melbourne's breadth subjects and the 'Melbourne Model'. MEd Thesis

• Fiona Cumming (2013) A breath of fresh air: Social marginalisation and wellbeing. Exploring an outdoor pedagogical approach to learning to promote self-esteem and engagement. MEd Thesis

• James Morrissey (2010) The Integrative power of sport: A case study - the role of local Australian football in the adaptation process for three Vietnamese families in Melbourne. MEd Thesis

• Jane Dawson (2008) The influences of learning and change on primary physical education teachers. MEd Thesis

Projects

Victorian State Government funding

2019 - $50,000 North Melbourne - Teaching Academies of Professional Practice

2020 - $25,000 North Melbourne - Teaching Academies of Professional Practice

2022 - $50,000 North Melbourne - Teaching Academies of Professional Practice

2022 - $150,000 Co-designing a rural placement - Teaching Academies of Professional Practice (Rural)

2024 - $64,468 Overn’s Murry Region Rural Placement project - Placement Plus

2024 - $58,517,000 Mitchel-Murrindindi Network Immersive Experiences - Placement Plus

2025 - $90,063 – Wangaratta and Mitchel Partnership – Placement Plus

Industry funding

2022 – $10,500 Evaluation of A School – Museum Partnership - ACMI industry funding for project evaluation.

Appointments and affiliations

Academic Career

Director of Initial Teacher Education RMIT School of Education (2024 – 2026)

Acting Associate Dean Teaching and Learning RMIT School of Education (Mid – 2025)

Academic Director, Professional Experience RMIT School of Education (2018 – 2023)

Professional Practice Coordinator (Secondary Education) University of Melbourne (2013 – 2015)

Breadth Track Leader - Leading Community Sport and Recreation University of Melbourne (2010 – 2017)

Lecturer in Science and Physical Education University of Melbourne (2003 – 2010)

International journal review panels

Australian Educational Researcher (2026 – present)

Journal of Teaching and Teacher Education (2021 – present)

Australian Journal of Teacher Educators (2023 – present)

Curriculum Perspectives Journal (2023 – present)

Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education (2024 – present)

Professional Development in Education (2022 – present)

Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning (2017 – present)

Reviewer for Cambridge University Press (2020 - present)