Dr Dennis Alonzo | UNSW Research

My Expertise

I use mixed methods in my research on the intersections of curriculum, assessment, equity, evaluation of educational programs, and teacher education and development. I work with educational systems and schools nationally and internationally to lead their assessment reforms focused on articulating policies, developing assessment resources, implementing professional development, and changing teachers' beliefs and practices. I provide support for individual schools to build a school-based assessment culture. Also, I engage with schools by co-designing and evaluating long-term educational programs and providing short-term training and input.

Fields of Research (FoR)

Education assessment and evaluation, Teacher education and professional development of educators

SEO tags

Assessment and Evaluation of Curriculum

Learner and Learning

Teaching and Instruction

Biography

Dennis is a test and scale developer, program evaluator, curriculum designer, and applied statistician. His area of interest revolves around Assessment for Learning (AfL) particularly in supporting teachers to make highly contextualised, consistent, fair and trustworthy assessment decisions to effectively support student learning. He has been involved in a number of international and national research projects. He also researches on a broad range of topics including student IT experiences, blended and online learning, standards-based assessment, and learning analytics to help inform curriculum design, professional development and policy. He has received various scholarships from the Philippines and Australian governments and a public diplomacy scholarship from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Korea. He was a former Dean of Education of the University of Southeastern Philippines before joining UNSW.

My Grants

Bio+Mine: ODA UCF GCBC biodiversity positive mining for the net zero challenge. Research England - International Science Partnership Fund (ISPF) 2023/24 Global Development Hub ODA Project Accelerator. Imperial College London, Natural History Museum, De La Salle University, UNSW Sydney, MSU-Iligan. Brito-Prado, P., Plancherel, Y., Herrington, R., ...Alonzo, D.,..Suelto, M. $92,060.

Evaluation of changes to teaching practice for NSW curriculum reform. NSW Department of Education. Alonzo, D., Beswick, K., Maras, K., Stacey, M., Durksen, T. & Granziera, H. 2023-2026. $2,190,235.46.

Mathematics growth team academic partner. NSW Department of Education. Beswick, K., Alonzo, D., Durksen, T., Fitzalle, N., Granziera, H. & Tuohilampi, L. 2023+2024. $723,222.92.

Artificial intelligence (AI) literacy: A case of Australian teachers. Gonski Institute for Education. Lee, J. & Alonzo, D. 2023. $9,957.

NSW Equity Consortium Year 3. University Alliance - UNSW Sydney, University of Technology Sydney and Macquarie University. Whole-of-cohort Outreach with Years 7-9 Literacy Focused. 2022. $101,000.

Development of accessible versions of the Queensland engagement and wellbeing survey. Performance Monitoring and Reporting, Strategy and Performance, Queensland Department of Education, Australia. Strnadová, I., Danker, J., Alonzo, D., Gao, A., Dowse, L., & Loblinzk, J. 2023-2024. $260,574.02.

Biodiversity positive mining for the net zero challenge (Bio+Mine) - Year 2. Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, UK Government. Herrington, R. ...Alonzo, D., 2023. $1,605,106.

Biodiversity positive mining for the net zero challenge (Bio+Mine) - Year 1. Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, UK Government. Schofield, P., Herrington, R. ....Alonzo, D. 2022. $1,247,000.00

NSW Equity consortium: Imagined futures (a whole-of-cohort outreach program with Years 7-10 including post-school transition). Higher Education Strategy - NSW Collaboration and Innovation Fund. Tegue.., Alonzo et al.. 2021-2026. $500,000.

Co-designing game-based farm safety education for adolescents. Peden, A., Ivers, R., McMillan, F., Alonzo., D., Tran, P., Franklin, R., Hawke, C. Australian Government – National Farm Safety Education Funds: Improving Farm Safety Practices. $172,000.

Capturing perspectives on student well-being from students with intellectual disability and/or autism in NSW schools: Listening to the voice of students with moderate and highest support needs. New South Wales Department of Education. Strnadová, I., Danker, J., Loblinzk, J., Dowse, L., Lenne, B., Alonzo, D., & Tso, M. 2020-2021. $222,000.

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) teachers' professional development in Vietnam. Ministry of Education and Training Vietnam. Nguyen, H., Hoang, T., Alonzo, D., Gao, A., Starfield, S., and Gilanyi, L. 2021. $100,000.

Development of a data literacy tool for improved student outcomes. Beswick, K., Alonzo, D., & Lee, J. Arts, Design and Architecture (ADA) Faculty Research Support Scheme. $9,974.56.

The theoretical dimensions of principal and teacher data literacy: A scoping study. UNSW Sydney School of Education. Alonzo, D. & Beswick, A. 2021. $9,978.13.

Establishing the dimensions of mentoring standards. UNSW Sydney School of Education. Nguyen, H. & Alonzo, D. 2021. $9,936.

Students with moderate and high support needs: Perspectives on student well-being. UNSW Sydney School of Education. Danker, J., Strnadová, I., Lenne, B., Loblinzk, J., Alonzo, D., Dowse, L., & Tso, M. 2021. $9,998.18.

Digitalisation of professional learning: Development and application of mobile app to enhance teachers' self-efficacy in implementing the Philippine Department of Education developmental framework during COVID-19 pandemic. Australia Awards and Alumni Engagement Program – Philippines. Alonzo, D., Quimno, V., Bayangos, M., Lacia, M., & Obierna. 2020-2021. ~$28,000.

Rural and Regional Education Project. New South Wales Department of Education. Beswick, K., Roberts, P., Holden, R., Cridge, S., Loughland, T., Mularczyk, L., Alonzo. D., & Eacott, S. 2020-2021. $787,000.

NSW Equity Consortium. University Alliance - UNSW Sydney, University of Technology Sydney and Macquarie University. Whole-of-cohort Outreach with Years 7-9 Literacy Focused. 2020-2021. $153,000.

Evaluation of ASDAN SEND Program at Wiliam Rose School. Funded by New South Wales Department of Education, Australia. 2020-2021. $54,200.

Improving Assessment Literacy across the Pemulwuy Learning Community. 2018-2021. $20,000.

Development of Training Modules based on Competency-Based Learning and Development (CBLD) Plan on Research Management for the Department of Education of the Philippines. Cardno Emerging Markets (Australia) Pty Ltd. Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 2018. $35,699.18.

Student Assessment Literacy: What is it and How is it Developed? UNSW Sydney School of Education. 2017. $5,000.

Development of a Competency-Based Learning and Development Plan. Funded by the Basic Education Sector Transformation, Cardno Emerging Markets (Australia) Pty Ltd for the Department of Education, Philippines. 2017. $25,000

My Qualifications

BS Biology (MSU-IIT), MS Biology (MSU-IIT), MEd Assessment and Evaluation (UniMelb), PhD (UNSW Sydney)

My Awards

2022 - Visiting Academic, Graduate School, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarata, Indonesia

2021 - UNSW ADA Research Fellow

2016 - UNSW School of Education Visiting Fellow

2015 - American Educational Research Association Travel Award for Research Students

2014 - Republic of Korea - Ministry of Foreign Affairs Public Diplomacy

2013 - UNSW Arts Dean's Academic Leadership Award

2011 - Australia Awards Scholarship, PhD

2006 - Australian Development Scholarship, Master

2000 - Philippine Council for Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development Scholarship, Master of Science

My Research Supervision

Supervision keywords

assessments

educational evaluation

training of teachers

teacher education - undergraduate

Areas of supervision

Assessment, Evaluation and Teacher Education & Development

Currently supervising

Doctor of Philosophy

Jessica Slater, Teacher understanding of the intersections of assessment, learning, and teaching.

Aisha Alsalimy, System-delivered and school-baed professional development program

Corrine Robinson, Mathematics teachers' assessment practices.

Wenjing Yu, Assessing oral proficiency of higher education international students.

Bita Dwi Rahmani, EFL teacher assessment for learning literacy.

Caitlin Hannigan, Student assessment literacy: Development and conceptualisation

Jaime Rodriguez, Investigating the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of an assessment for learning professional learning program.

Noryani Neni Ahmad Jamain, Metalinguistics and writing skills of engineering students.

Rah Kisten, A qualitative evaluation of the Visual Arts.

Wendi Wijarwadi, Teacher professional collaboration.

Doctor of Education

Maria Woodbury, Differentiated assessment in mathematics classroom.

Christopher Jones, Idneitifcatifyign and supporting vulnerable students.

Doug Zylstra, Reducing educational inequality using online assessment for learning in a BYOD environment.

Hester Elizabeth Stephenson, Program evaluation of gifted education program in NSW independent schools.

Janelle Ford, Collaborative teaching and student learning

Tammy-Jane Wright-Ryan, Building an assessment culture to enhance student literacy.

Honours (Completed)

Caitlin Hannigan, What assessment knowledge and skills do students need to effectively engage in their learning? Defining student assessment literacy.

Jessica Slater, Reconceptualising assessment to support learning.

Completions

Cynthia Raffe, Cognitive and environmental factors influencing Australian secondary-school teacher’s assessment data collection and analysis practices.

Ria Asia: The development of teachers' self-efficacy beliefs in the context of teacher learning program in Bima, Eastern Indonesia

Cherry Zin Oo: Development of assessment for learning (AfL) literacy of pre-service teachers in Myanmar

Oluwaseun Ijiwade: Evaluation of an EAL reading and vocabulary diagnostic language assessment tool

De Phung: Variability in teacher oral English language assessment decision-making

Jaime Rodriguez, MRsch: Teacher perceptions of the impact of a school-developed professional learning program on their effectiveness in assessing students’ engagement and progress in learning