Institute for Social Science Research

Miss Elizabeth Hitches

PhD Candidate
Institute for Social Science Research

Researcher Biography

Elizabeth Hitches is a PhD candidate at the Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland. Her research interests lie in inclusive education at a national and international level, as well as equity, achievement, and wellbeing for students with disability, chronic health conditions and/or accessibility requirements. She is also a research officer and research assistant in both qualitative and quantitative research, and a sessional academic across various universities. Elizabeth teaches in the areas of inclusive education, diversity, equity, and accessibility.

Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Arts (Majors: Mathematics, English) with the degree of the Bachelor of Education (Secondary), and a Master of Research. Her Master of Research thesis investigated students’ experiences with university support services, focusing upon students’ beliefs regarding the ways in which the support they have received was effective, ineffective, and could be improved.

PhD topic

Academic stress and university students with accessibility requirements and/or disabilities: co-designing an inclusive stress reduction intervention.

Advisors

  • Dr Melissa Johnstone (Principal)
  • Assoc/Prof Dean Dudley (Associate)
  • Assoc/Prof Stuart Woodcock (Associate)

Research interests

  • Inclusion and inclusive education
  • Diversity, equity and wellbeing
  • Individuals with disability, chronic health conditions, and/or accessibility requirements
  • Educational psychology (e.g., self-efficacy & Attribution Theory)
  • Quantitative research methods
  • Qualitative research methods

Publications

Book Chapter (1)
Journal Articles (6)
Thesis (1)

Book Chapter

Dutton, Janet, Boardman, Lucy, Ennever, Brodie, Fleming, Catherine, Hitches, Elizabeth, Rozario, Alexander and Wetherspoon, Holly (2019). Lesson and unit planning in English. Charged with meaning: becoming an English teacher. (pp. 32-65) edited by Wayne Sawyer. Putney, NSW Australia: Phoenix Education.

Journal Articles

Woodcock, Stuart, Sharma, Umesh, Subban, Pearl and Hitches, Elizabeth (2022). Teacher self-efficacy and inclusive education practices: rethinking teachers’ engagement with inclusive practices. Teaching and Teacher Education, 117 103802, 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2022.103802
Hitches, Elizabeth, Woodcock, Stuart and Ehrich, John (2022). Building self-efficacy without letting stress knock it down: Stress and academic self-efficacy of university students. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 3 100124, 100124. doi: 10.1016/j.ijedro.2022.100124
Wilson, Kim, Dutton, Janet and Hitches, Elizabeth (2021). ‘It was a breath of fresh air across the school’: school leaders’ mediation of contested spaces during practitioner inquiry professional learning. Professional Development in Education. doi: 10.1080/19415257.2021.2011772
Hitches, Elizabeth, Woodcock, Stuart and Ehrich, John (2021). Shedding light on students with support needs: comparisons of stress, self-efficacy, and disclosure. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 16 (2), 205-214. doi: 10.1037/dhe0000328
Woodcock, Stuart, Hitches, Elizabeth and Jones, G. (2019). It's not you, it's me: teachers’ self-efficacy and attributional beliefs towards students with specific learning difficulties. International Journal of Educational Research, 97, 107-118. doi: 10.1016/j.ijer.2019.07.007
Woodcock, Stuart and Hitches, Elizabeth (2017). Potential or problem? An investigation of secondary school teachers’ attributions of the educational outcomes of students with specific learning difficulties. Annals of Dyslexia, 67 (3), 299-317. doi: 10.1007/s11881-017-0145-7

Thesis

Hitches, Elizabeth (2021). Be in my corner: The students' voice on university support services' accommodation of their needs. Master's Thesis, Macquarie School of Education, Macquarie University.