Dr Matthew Hill
Director
Dr Matthew Hill
Dr Matthew Hill is the Director of The Barker Institute with a focus on professional learning, research, and innovation in the school. He teaches Physics and the new Science Extension course at the School which introduces students to scientific academic research. Matthew's doctorate reflects his passion for science education focussing on Representational Fluency amongst physics students at school and university. He has published in leadership, education, and science journals and been involved in course development and teaching at The University of Sydney and The University of Western Sydney. He has also completed a Graduate Diploma in Divinity at Ridley College in Melbourne.
Explore Resources by Dr Matthew Hill
The Barker Journey – Year 7, 2023 Nurturing Learning Relationships
This paper presents the results of the fifth year of the Barker Journey project, tracking a group of students on their ten-year educational journey culminating with Year 12 in 2028. Now in Year 7, some of these students first participated in this research in Year 3 as the first coeducational …
A year in review: The Barker Institute in 2023
As part of a thriving school community, the Barker Institute has continued to evolve to provide bespoke research and review to guide policy and programs. However, the intellectual resources behind the Barker Institute are not localised to a research office, rather they are distributed across our school community. Staff, students, …
Barker Institute: 2022 Year in Review
In the contemporary world there is an overabundance of data points such that the challenge of research is perhaps less about collecting the data, and more about being selective about how it is stored, categorised, used, and made sense of. In the same way, for the individual teacher, there is …
The Barker Journey - Year 6 2022 - Community and Belonging
This paper reports on the fourth year of following the Barker Junior School Journey of the cohort of Barker students graduating Year 12 in 2028. In Term 3 of 2022, 150 Year 6 students of Barker College completed a survey, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 of these students. …
The Barker Junior School Journey: Report on Year 3-6 from 2019-2022
The Barker Journey longitudinal study has now completed its fourth year. The subjects of the study are a group of students who celebrated the conclusion of their primary schooling in 2022. The significance of this milestone was underlined by the current Barker Journey cohort also being the first fully coeducational …
Developing Hearts & Minds through Philosophical Instruction: A short review of the Hearts & Minds Program in 2016-2017
A key element of the Hearts & Minds program at Barker College has been the development of thinking skills that students can utilise in the classroom and beyond. After assessing three pilot programs in Semester 2 of 2016 the Hearts & Minds program has expanded to consist of year-long courses …
New Syllabus, New Approach: Preparing Physics students for university studies with a structured approach to the Year 11 course
When students reach university, many classes are optional which will often result in dwindling attendance and, consequently, attrition from the course (Baik, Naylor, & Arkoudis, 2015). In 2018, three Year 11 Physics classes had the opportunity to participate in an initiative whereby their classes were structured in a similar format …
Collaborative teaching to prepare Year 11 Physics students for university lessons from the second iteration
For the second year, many of Barker College’s Year 11 Physics classes have taken on a new format modelling university teaching to promote executive function, resilience, independence and self-reliant learning amongst the students. At high school, many students can perceive that their learning is their teacher’s responsibility leading to high …
The Barker Journey: The commencement of cohort 2
In 2019, the Barker Institute commenced the second iteration of the ten year longitudinal study, the ‘Barker Journey’. The aim of this research is to track personal growth amongst Barker students, thus exploring what the School offers beyond the typically recognised academic and co-curricular success. The participants, the class of …
A year in review: The Barker Institute in 2019
2019 was the fifth year of the Barker Institute running events, training and research in the School. Developed under the leadership of Mr Phillip Heath (Head of Barker College) and founding Director, Dr Brad Merrick, the Institute has been a gathering point for the Barker community to engage in further …
A short course in Philosophy & Rhetoric: Developing a framework for thinking, speaking and acting in a complex world
Philosophical thinking is a crucial skill if students are to understand themselves and their place in the world. A Barker College education trains students to think, speak and act in ways true to their own values and in a way that engages those around them. Since 2016 all Year 9 …
The Barker Journey study amidst COVID-19: Analysis of Year 4 interviews
Over a decade of research into the Barker Journey has yielded perceptive insight into aspects of the Barker experience that defy traditional metrics. In summary, the students reported that Barker had enabled them to become the best possible version of themselves. The second iteration of the study began in 2019 …
Science Research Conference 2025
Barker Science challenges students to move beyond learning about Science, and instead, to become Scientists. This is most clearly on display as part of Barker’s unique approach to the Year 12 Science Extension course.