Dr Stephanie Macmahon

Senior Lecturer

School of Education

Affiliate of Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre

Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre

+61 7 336 56497

s.macmahon1@uq.edu.au

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Researcher biography

Dr Stephanie MacMahon is a Senior Lecturer in the Science of Learning and in Arts Education, teaching in both the ITE and post-graduate programs in the School of Education at The University of Queensland, and is the program coordinator for the Science of Learning Field of Study. She has over 20 years' experience as a P-12 educator and school leader, and draws on this experience to support her students in understanding how research can be used meaningfully in educational practice.

Stephanie is also the Co-Founder and Program Director of the UQ Learning Lab: a group of multi-disciplinary researchers, educators, and industry partners who collaborate to transform learning, teaching and training in diverse school and post-school contexts through the science of learning. Her research within the UQ Learning Lab aims to better understand the barriers and enablers to effective knowledge mobilisation in real-world teaching, learning and training contexts. This insight is then used to work with education and industry partners to develop, implement and evaluate contextually relevant, actionable, scalable and sustainable solutions to real-world teaching, learning and training needs. Stephanie is a member of the UNESCO Science of Learning Alliance.

Her teaching and leadership in the Science of Learning have been recognised with a UQ Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (2025), an Australian Council for Educational leaders (ACEL) National Excellence in Leadership Award, and the ACEL Miller-Grassie Award for Outstanding Leadership in Education (2025).

Stephanie collaborates widely with multi-disciplinary researchers on science of learning projects using a range of methodologies.

Featured projects	Duration
Higher Education Learning Framework (HELF) 2.0 Project
What Good Looks Like
Metacognition, Emotion Regulation & High School Transitions
The Adolescent Dip
Building a Living Learning Model: Scaling Science of Learning in Practice

Publications

Book (1)

Book Chapters (4)

Journal Articles (16)

Research Report (1)

Thesis (1)

Data Collections (2)

Newspaper Articles (16)

Book

Nugent, Annita, Lodge, Jason, Carroll, Annemaree, Bagraith, Rupert, MacMahon, Stephanie, Matthews, Kelly E. and Sah, Pankaj (2018). Higher education learning framework: an evidence informed model for university learning. Brisbane, Australia: The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/348c85f

Book Chapters

MacMahon, Stephanie and Carroll, Annemaree (2023). Interdisciplinary and interprofessional partnerships: mobilizing the science of learning to impact real-world practice – the Australian experience. International handbook on education development in the Asia-Pacific. (pp. 2569-2587) edited by Wing On Lee, Phillip Brown, A. Lin Goodwin and Andy Green. Singapore, Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-6887-7_124

MacMahon, Stephanie and Carroll, Annemaree (2022). Interdisciplinary and interprofessional partnerships: mobilizing the science of learning to impact real-world practice. The Australian experience. International Handbook on Education Development in Asia-Pacific. (pp. 1-19) edited by Wing On Lee, Phillip Brown, A. Lin Goodwin and Andy Green. Singapore, Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-16-2327-1_124-1

MacMahon, Stephanie, Nugent, Annita and Carroll, Annemaree (2020). Developing a model for the translation of science of learning research to the classroom. Learning under the lens. (pp. 202-219) edited by Annemaree Carroll, Ross Cunnington and Annita Nugent. Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429027833-14

Cunnington, Ross, MacMahon, Stephanie, Sherwell, Chase and Gillies, Robyn (2020). Building a secure learning environment through social connectedness. Building a secure learning environment through social connectedness. (pp. 112-124) edited by Annemaree Carroll, Ross Cunnington and Annita Nugent. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429027833-8

Journal Articles

Macmahon, Stephanie, Corbett, Brooklyn, Hassall, Maureen, Humphries, Libby, Carroll, Annemaree and Deboer, Rodo (2025). "Passion, style, and smarts"-industry perspectives on supervisor competencies in the mining industry. Journal of Workplace Learning, 37 (9), 132-151. doi: 10.1108/JWL-03-2025-0052

Mulvihill, Aisling, Matthews, Natasha, Chidley, Kali, Macmahon, Stephanie, Armitage, Kristy L., Sherlock, Deberea, Dux, Paul E. and Carroll, Annemaree (2025). The meta-attention knowledge questionnaire (MAKQ): a new instrument for investigating meta-attention in a young adolescent sample. Metacognition and Learning, 20 (1) 34, 1-28. doi: 10.1007/s11409-025-09433-1

Oberg, Glenys, Macmahon, Stephanie and Carroll, Annemaree (2025). Correction: Assessing the interplay: teacher efficacy, compassion fatigue, and educator well-being in Australia. The Australian Educational Researcher, 52 (3), 2849-2851. doi: 10.1007/s13384-025-00829-1

Oberg, Glenys, Macmahon, Stephanie and Carroll, Annemaree (2025). Assessing the interplay: teacher efficacy, compassion fatigue, and educator well-being in Australia. Australian Educational Researcher, 52 (2) 325674, 1105-1131. doi: 10.1007/s13384-024-00755-8

Chidley, Kali, Dux, Paul E., Fox, Amaya J., Carroll, Annemaree, MacMahon, Stephanie and Matthews, Natasha (2025). Adolescent metacognitive ability predicts spontaneous task strategy adjustment. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 51 (5), 601-611. doi: 10.1037/xhp0001290

MacMahon, Stephanie J., Corbett, Brooklyn, Hassall, Maureen, Carroll, Annemaree and De Boer, Rodo (2024). ‘What good looks like’: building a shared understanding of quality training and learning in the mining industry. Vocations and Learning, 17 (3), 509-536. doi: 10.1007/s12186-024-09353-2

Stahl, Garth, Oberg, Glenys, Fairbairn, Kirsten, McLay, Kate, Noble, Christy, Sale, Martin, Mandrusiak, Allison, MacMahon, Stephanie, Findlay, Wendy and Zafar, Sobia (2024). Investigating the development of peer-led asynchronous digitally mediated feedback in higher education: three case studies. Reflective Practice, 25 (5), 1-22. doi: 10.1080/14623943.2024.2372882

Nugent, Annita, Carroll, Annemaree, Lodge, Jason M., Matthews, Kelly E., MacMahon, Stephanie and Sah, Pankaj (2023). A qualitative exploration of expert perspectives on applying the science of learning to higher education. Frontiers in Education, 8 1233651, 1-10. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2023.1233651

Oberg, Glenys, Carroll, Annemaree and Macmahon, Stephanie (2023). Compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress in teachers: how they contribute to burnout and how they are related to trauma-awareness. Frontiers in Education, 8 1128618, 1-10. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2023.1128618

MacMahon, Stephanie J., Carroll, Annemaree, Osika, Alexandra and Howell, Angelique (2022). Learning how to learn—Implementing self‐regulated learning evidence into practice in higher education: Illustrations from diverse disciplines. Review of Education, 10 (1) e3339. doi: 10.1002/rev3.3339

Byers, Terry, Leighton, Vicky, Leggett, Jack, Krzensk, Alex, Adamson, Rebecca, Pollock, Christopher and MacMahon, Stephanie (2022). The impact of a preparatory science of learning intervention in secondary schools contexts in Australia. Review of Education, 10 (1) e3340. doi: 10.1002/rev3.3340

MacMahon, Stephanie, Leggett, Jack and Carroll, Annemaree (2022). Partnering to learn: a collaborative approach to research translation for educators and researchers. Mind, Brain, and Education, 16 (2), 79-88. doi: 10.1111/mbe.12317

Carroll, Annemaree, Nugent, Annita, MacMahon, Stephanie and Hattie, John (2020). Reflections on the Australian Research Council–Special Research Initiative Science of Learning Research Centre – the promise of a new narrative and evidence base for education. ACCESS Contemporary Issues in Education, 40 (1), 34-40. doi: 10.46786/ac20.6232

MacMahon, Stephanie (2020). Human connection and learning: understanding and reflecting on the power of the social dimension for learning. ACCESS: Contemporary Issues in Education, 40 (1), 15-23. doi: 10.46786/ac20.9176

MacMahon, Stephanie, Leggett, Jack and Carroll, Annemaree (2020). Promoting individual and group regulation through social connection: strategies for remote learning. Information and Learning Sciences, 121 (5/6), 343-353. doi: 10.1108/ils-04-2020-0101

MacMahon, Stephanie, Carroll, Annemaree and Gillies, Robyn M. (2020). Capturing the ‘vibe’: an exploration of the conditions underpinning connected learning environments. Learning Environments Research, 23 (3), 379-393. doi: 10.1007/s10984-020-09312-3

Research Report

Stahl, Garth, Fairbairn, Kirsten, McLay, Kate, MacMahon, Stephanie, Matthews, Kelly, Noble, Christy, Sale, Martin, Mandrusiak, Allison, Findlay, Wendy and Zafar, Sobia (2024). Building feedback literacy authentically: Digital peer feedback approaches to enhance future employability in caring professions. St Lucia, QLD Australia: The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/64a9021

Thesis

MacMahon, Stephanie (2018). Capturing the “vibe” in the classroom: the role of social synchrony in developing connectedness. PhD Thesis, School of Education, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2018.837

Data Collections

Chidley, Kali, Matthews, Natasha, Dux, Paul, Fox, Amaya, Carroll, Annemaree and Macmahon, Stephanie (2024). Adolescent Spontaneous Task Strategy Adjustment. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/5a5f23a

MacMahon, Stephanie (2018). Social Synchrony Matrix for teachers. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/uql.2018.657