Dr Rebecca Pagano
Senior Lecturer & Academic Lead, All Points to Teaching (APTT)
National School of Education
Areas of expertise: educational psychology; employment-based pathways; dance education; screentime; research translation
Phone: 02 9701 4453
Email: Rebecca.pagano@acu.edu.au
Location: ACU Strathfield Campus
HDR Supervisor accreditation status: Provisional
ORCID ID: 0000-0001-9305-3184
Dr Rebecca Pagano is a Senior Lecturer in the National School of Education (ACU) and Research Affiliate with the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education (IPPE). She is the Academic and Research Lead for the $11.6M Commonwealth funded All Points to Teaching (APTT) project. She has published in leading journals including BMJ and Nature Human Behaviour and received over $2.5M in competitive external funding. She has experience conducting systematic reviews, thematic analysis and research translation. As a former secondary school teacher, she understands the practical realities of classroom teaching and the importance of translating research into strategies that are both evidence-based and implementable. She also has extensive experience in project management to ensure projects meet key deadlines and deliverables.
Publications
- Noetel, M., Sanders, T., Tracey, D., Lubans, D R., Temple, V, A., Bennie, A., Conigrave, J., Babic, M., Booker, B., Pagano, R., Boyer, J., Lonsdale, C. (2025). Effects of a School-Based Physical Activity Intervention on Children with Intellectual Disability: A Cluster Randomised Trial. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.
- Sanders, T., Noetel M., Parker, P., del Pozo-Cruz, B., Biddle, S., Ronto, R., Hulteen, R., Parker, R., Thomas, G., De Cocker, K., Salmon, J., Hesketh, K., Weeks, N., Arnott, H., Devine, E., Vasconcellos, R., Pagano, R., Sherson, J., Conigrave, J., & Lonsdale, C. (2024). An umbrella review of the benefits and risks associated with youths' interactions with electronic screens. Nature Human Behaviour, 8, 82–99. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01712-8.
- Noetel, M., Sanders, T., Gallardo-Gómez, D., Taylor, P., del Pozo Cruz, B., van den Hoek, D., Smith, J, J., Mahoney, J., Spathis, J., Moresi, M., Pagano, R., Pagano, L., Vasconcellos, R., Arnott, H., Varley, B., Parker, P., Biddle, S., & Lonsdale, C. (2024). Effect of exercise for depression: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ, 384, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2023-075847.
- Humphrey, S., Stosic, D., Barrington, T., Brake, N., & Pagano, R. (2024). Transdisciplinary perspectives on ‘the narrative’ and ‘the analytical’ for critical literacy. The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44020-024-00063-9.
- Pagano, L., Gumuskaya, O., Long, J., Arnolda, G., Patel, R., Pagano, R., Braithwaite, J., Francis-Auton, E., Hirschhorn, A., & Sarkies, M, N. (2024). Consensus-building processes for implementing perioperative care pathways in common elective surgeries: A systematic review. Journal of Advanced Nursing.
Projects
- 2024–2029 – ARC Linkage Project (LP230200847)
Project Title: Deadly Teaching: Enhancing Indigenous School Attendance and Well-being
Total Funding: $1,479,777.00 | Role: Chief Investigator (CI)
Institution: Australian Catholic University (Lead Institution).
- 2022–2026 – ARC Linkage Project (LP210100304)
Project Title: Deadly Futures: Enabling Indigenous Children’s Literacy, Numeracy, Wellbeing.
Total Funding: $770,000.00 | Role: Chief Investigator (CI)
Institution: Australian Catholic University (Lead Institution)
- 2024–2026 – NSW Department of Education
Project Title: Seeing the Bigger Picture: Exploring Children's Screen Time and Outcomes through Collaborative Data Analysis
Total Funding: $341,307.00 | Role: Chief Investigator (CI)
Institution: Australian Catholic University (Lead Institution)
- 2022-2024 – Translate4Impact Grant, Australian Catholic University
Role: Chief Investigator | Amount: $95,208.00
Project: The education research trust: A policy and practice impact hub at ACU
- 2024 – Faculty of Education & Arts Research Discovery Grant, Australian Catholic University
Role: Chief Investigator | Amount: $7.741.00
Project: What moral skills should students be taught? Developing a framework if moral decision-making using the Delphi approach.
- 2024 – Faculty of Education & Arts Research Impact Grant, Australian Catholic University
Role: Chief Investigator | Amount: $8000.00
Project: The ACU Knowledge Integration Network (A-KIN): Supporting Armidale Catholic Schools (ACS) improvement through co-designed research translation.
Accolades
- ACU Vice Chancellor Staff Excellence Award – Collaborative Engagement.
“Hub Partnerships Transforming Teacher Education”. 2024
- Allianz Global Investors Impact Research Recognition Award
Co-author of the award-winning paper “An umbrella review of the benefits and risks associated with youths’ interactions with electronic screens”, which received the inaugural award for its contribution to evidence-informed impact investing. 2024
- Sage Athena Swan Bronze Award
Faculty of Education and Arts representative for ACU’s SAGE Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team. Internationally recognised standards for gender equity, diversity, and inclusion. 2024
- ACU Faculty of Education & Arts Executive Dean Commendations
Five-time recipient of Excellence in Teaching and Learning Awards. 2022, 2023
- Shortlisted for ACU Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Doctoral Training.
Recommendation for Summa Cum Laude. 2021
- ACU Teaching Development Grants
Enhancing practicum performance: Positively impacting retention, self-efficacy, resilience, confidence, and competency in pre-service teachers. 2020
Designing a reflexive multiliteracies pedagogy for health literacy in an initial teacher education program. 2021
Appointments and affiliations
Australian Catholic University
- Academic Lead, All Points to Teaching. National School of Education. 2024-Present
- Academic Lead, Project Coordination. Office of the Provost. 2023
- Assistant Deputy Head of School, NSW. National School of Education. 2022
Network for Associate Deans Learning and Teaching
- ACU NSW Representative. Discipline of Education. 2024 – Present
Institute for Positive Psychology and Education (ACU)
- Research Affiliate. 2024 – Present
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL)
- Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Accreditation Panellist.
Stage One and Stage Two. 2024 – Present
Institute of Learning Sciences and Teacher Education (ACU)
- Recognised Assessor. Graduate Teacher Performance Assessment. 2020 – Present
NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA)
Member of the Creative Arts Tertiary Advisory Group (TAG). Development of the updated NSW Creative Arts syllabus. 2022 – 202
Grant agency review panels
