Rosemary Hipkins

Kaihautū Rangahau Tāoki | Emeritus Chief Researcher

Rosemary (Rose) began her working life as a science and biology teacher, followed by several years working in teacher education. Rose joined NZCER in 2001 and over the following years she led, and supported, a wide range of research projects. Most of her work has broadly related to curriculum and/or assessment innovation in New Zealand.

Projects Rose has led or co-led include: exploring the implications of decolonising our research practice; adopting a "knowledge systems" approach to bringing mātauranga Māori and science learning together; teaching for complex systems thinking; and co-editing an edition of Assessment Matters, with all papers written by members of NZARE’s Science Education Special Interest Group. She has also supported work on NZCER’s National Surveys of schools; background research to support Refreshing The New Zealand Curriculum; and background research to support equity in NCEA assessment practices.    

Rose has served on the editorial boards of several journals and particularly enjoys helping teacher-researchers shape their experiences and insights for formal publication. She supported a number of TLIF (Teacher Led Innovation Fund) projects over the years of this fund’s existence. In 2019 Rose was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to science education. In 2022 she was awarded Life Membership of the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE). In 2025, Rose retired from NZCER with the title Emeritus Chief Researcher.

Publications

Evaluation of 'Arts Professional Development Online' in support of 'The arts in the New Zealand curriculum' Research publication 2003
Well I know I need English and Maths ... Research publication 2003
Evaluation of professional development to support the arts in the New Zealand curriculum Research publication 2003
Simple teaching strategies to use during primary science investigations Research publication 2003
Cultural issues that challenge traditional science teaching Research publication 2003
You can’t investigate in a vacuum Journal article 2002
When schooldays are over, what sense of science lingers? Journal article 2002
Commonsense, trust and science: How patterns of beliefs and attitudes to science pose challenges for effective communication Research publication 2002
Commonsense, trust and biotechnology: Moving beyond 'Corngate' Research publication 2002
Curriculum, Learning and Effective Pedagogy: a literature review in science education Research publication 2002
Learning curves: Meeting student needs in an evolving qualifications regime: From cabbages to kings: A first report Research publication 2002
How “tight/loose” curriculum dynamics impact the treatment of knowledge in two national contexts Journal article
Complexity–a big idea for education? Research publication
Building epistemic thinking through disciplinary inquiry: Contrasting lessons from history and biology Journal article
Learning to learn in secondary classrooms Research publication
Teaching for present and future competency: A productive focus for professional learning Research publication
Learning curves: Meeting student needs in an evolving qualification regime - key findings from the first stage of a longitudinal study Research publication
Complex or complicated change? What can biology education learn from disciplinary biology? Research publication
Assessment dilemmas when “21st century” learning approaches shift students into unfamiliar terrain Research publication
Engaging students in science Research publication