Julia recently received a First Class Honours in Geography/Anthropology, for a project on the experiences and future imaginations of Tongan and Fijian single mothers who were working in seasonal horticultural roles across Western Australia. They also received the Curtin Summer Research Scholarship to conduct further research on this topic in early 2022.

Julia provides research assistance for two of Curtin’s core projects; the Creative Cove, and Move It! (a joint project with Scitech). The current highlight of their week is getting to go out and help facilitate and observe our primary data collection activities at Scitech, where we are running an action-based research project with 4-5 year olds. I get to record, analyse and discover how children use digital technology to demonstrate creativity and computational thinking skills.

Julia hopes to utilise my position as an RA to uphold the ethical standards which value and respect the private lives of children while contributing to the larger conversation on children’s involvement in research. They also wish to prioritise equitable distribution of research findings and increase the diversity of participants in the centre’s core projects by building relationships with regional learning centre’s and families on the urban fringe.

First digital memory

I clearly remember skyping my grandparents who lived overseas. It was fascinating to see someone that was so far away, and for a long time skype was the primary way I was able to build a relationship with them.