Dr Robin Nagy
Robin Nagy BSc (Hons), MEng, PhD, is an Adjunct Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia. He completed his PhD at UNSW in the field of Educational Psychology under the supervision of Scientia Professor Andrew Martin and Scientia Associate Professor Rebecca Collie. His PhD (“The Role of Effort in High School Students’ Academic Development: A Longitudinal Perspective in Mathematics and English”) developed and verified a tri-dimensional (operative, cognitive, social-emotional) model of student effort, to investigate the factors influencing effort in high school and the consequences of this effort on academic achievement. He was awarded 'most innovative PhD research in NSW' by the NSW Institute of Educational Research and both of his world-leading examiners ranked his thesis in the top 10% of the many dissertations they had examined, judging all criteria as “Outstanding/Excellent” and recommending his dissertation for the university’s prestigious Dean’s award.
Robin is an educational consultant and director of ‘Academic Profiles’ and ‘Effort Tracking’, advising schools on best practice in implementing data-driven student growth strategies and assisting in the collection and analysis of data on student effort and achievement. After completing his PhD, Robin continues to be involved in ongoing research on effort, motivation, and engagement. Robin has 25 years' experience as a mathematics teacher and school leader in the UK, Thailand, and Australia, receiving a Special Commendation at the 2000 UK National Teaching Awards, and was a Professional Learning Consultant for the Mathematical Association of NSW running professional development for mathematics teachers across the state. Robin has presented his work and research at numerous national and international education and psychology conferences.
- Publications
- Awards
- Grants
- Media
- Conference Presentations
Publications
Awards
- December 2024 – Recipient of Excellent Research Presentation Award, AARE Motivation and Learning SIG
- October 2021 – Recipient of a NSW Department of Education Waratah Scholarship, awarded for higher degree research in a Department of Education identified priority area.
- May 2021 - NSW Institute for Educational Research Award: “Most Innovative HDR Research in NSW” , for his 3-minute thesis pitch. This was a state-wide inter-university competition, where universities were invited to enter their best HDR research. Robin’s research was judged by a panel to outperform nominees from five NSW universities. The panel comprised experts in educational policy, practice, and academia.
- December 2019 – Recipient of an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.
- July 2017 - Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Excellence in Professional Practice Conference 2017 (Gold Coast) - Outstanding Session Award - Tracking and Visualising Student Effort: A Practical Analytics Tool for Student Engagement – Case Studies of Practice.
- May 2000 UK National Teaching Awards: Outstanding Secondary School Teacher - Special Commendation- Robin was one of four regional finalists (Southeast of England) in the UK National Teacher of the Year Awards. Specially commended at a ceremony in the Café Royal, London in the Outstanding Secondary School Teacher category.
Grants
Robin was awarded an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship towards his PhD Research.
Media
Nagy, R.P., Martin, A.J., & Collie, R.J. (2025). Effort: This vital ingredient for learning has been hiding in plain sight. In ‘EducationHQ’, July, https://educationhq.com/news/academic-effort-this-vital-ingredient-for-learning-has-been-hiding-in-plain-sight-196709/#
Nagy, R.P. (2024). League tables are damaging education in NSW. In ‘Education Review’, February 13.
Nagy, R.P., Martin, A.J., & Collie, R.J. (2023). It’s time to measure students’ effort at school. In ‘Education Review’, January 31, https://www.educationreview.com.au/2023/01/its-time-to-measure-students-effort-at-school-opinion
Martin, A.J., Ginns, P., Nagy, R.P., Collie, R.J., & Bostwick, KC.P. (2023). It would be so much better if we taught two ways—balancing explicit and independent approaches. Here’s why. In ‘EduResearch Matters’, January,https://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=15792
Martin, A.J., Collie, R.J., & Nagy, R.P. (2021). Students who are more adaptable do best in remote learning – and it’s a skill we can teach. In ‘The Conversation’, August, https://theconversation.com/students-who-are-more-adaptable-do-best-in-remote-learning-and-its-a-skill-we-can-teach-165003
Martin, A.J., Collie, R.J., & Nagy, R.P. (2021) UNSW Mediarelease: https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/social-affairs/helping-students-adapt-online-learning-sets-them-success
Nagy, R.P. (2019, December 7). The epic failure at the root of Australia’s maths problem. ABC News.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-07/the-demise-of-australian-mathematics-teachers-students/11768644
- Nagy, R.P. (2025, October 14) Measuring and Tracking Students’ Effort: Using the Effort Tracking Framework for Motivational Goal-Setting Conversations. [Interactive Workshop] Australian Character Education Summit (ACES) 2025, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- Nagy, R. P. Collie, R. J., & Martin, A. J. (2024, December 2). An investigation into the role of academic effort in students’ mathematics achievement: A multi-informant investigation employing complementary variable- and person-centred analyses [Individual Paper presentation]. AARE24: Australian Association for Research in Education Conference 2024, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- Nagy, R.P. (2024, December 2) Effort Tracking: Using Teacher and Student Ratings of Academic Effort in Motivational Goal-Setting Conversations at High School [ICT Demonstration] AARE24: Australian Association for Research in Education Conference 2024, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- Nagy, R. P. Collie, R. J., & Martin, A. J. (2024, October 14). How is students’ academic effort associated with mathematics achievement? A multi-informant investigation employing complementary variable- and person-centred analyses. Seminar Presentation to The Quantitative Methods Hub, Department of Education, Oxford University, UK.
- Nagy, R.P. (2023, August 26) Effort Tracking: Using teacher and student ratings of students’ effort in goal-setting conversations [ICT Demonstration] EARLI23: The 20th Biennial European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) Conference 2023, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece.
- Nagy, R. P., Martin, A. J. & Collie, R. J., (2023, August 22). The role of effort in students’ mathematics development: Investigating its predictors and outcomes [Individual Paper presentation]. EARLI23: The 20thBiennial European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) Conference 2023, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece.
- Nagy, R. P., Collie, R. J., & Martin, A. J. (2023, August 20). An investigation into students’ effort in English classrooms: a multilevel latent profile analysis [Individual Paper presentation]. JURE23: The 27th Annual Junior Researchers of EARLI (JURE) Conference for Research on Learning and Instruction 2023, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece.
- Nagy, R. P., Martin, A. J. & Collie, R. J., (2023, August 03). The role of students’ multidimensional effort: A multilevel study of antecedents and consequences [Poster presentation]. APA23: American Psychological Association (APA) 131st Annual Convention 2023, Washington D.C., USA.
- Nagy, R. P., (2023, July 4). The role of high-school students’ effort in their academic development in English classes [Individual Paper presentation]. UNSW ADA HDR Conference 2023, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- Nagy, R. P., Collie, R. J., & Martin, A. J. (2023, June 1). Exploring student effort profiles in English learning and links with achievement [Individual Paper presentation]. EdMeas23: Sydney Educational Measurement and Assessment Symposium 2023, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- Nagy, R. P., (2021, December 7). The role of effort in high school students’ academic development: Investigating its predictors and outcomes [Individual Paper presentation]. UNSW ADA HDR Conference 2020, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- Nagy, R. P., (2021, May 28). Investigating students’ academic effort in high school [Individual Paper presentation]. NSW IER Student Research Showcase 2021, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- Nagy, R. P., (2020, September 17). Measuring and tracking students’ effort: Cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches based on student & teacher perspectives [Individual Paper presentation]. UNSW FASS HDR Conference 2020, Sydney, NSW, Australia.