Dr Nathan Lowien


Dr Nathan Lowien
NameDr Nathan Lowien
Email Addressnathan.lowien@unisq.edu.au
Job TitleLecturer (English Curriculum and Pedagogy)
QualificationsBEd USQ, GCertScaffEng Canberra, MEd Canberra, PhD USQ
DepartmentSchool of Education
ORCIDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8907-2198
  • 5341
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  • 168
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  • 116
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  • 18
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Biography

Nathan’s research is focused on English curriculum and pedagogy. He investigates the interrelationship between language, literature and literacy in multimodal texts such as videogames, animated films and online advertisements. Nathan uses systemic functional linguistic and semiotic theory and multimodal critical discourse analysis research methodologies. His research contributes to multimodal theory and the applied research field of English pedagogy. Nathan provides service to the profession through his roles as an Associate Editor for the Australian Journal of Language and Literacy and the ALEA – Queensland State Treasurer. Nathan enjoys working with ALEA to support community literacy initiatives such as Books to Babies, in which the council donates picture books to local hospital maternity centres to encourage an early enjoyment of literature.

Employment

PositionOrganisationFromTo
Lecturer (English Curriculum and Pedagogy)UniSQ2017

Expertise

Educational Linguistics/Semiotics – Systemic Functional Linguistics/Semiotics

English, Language, Literature and Literacy

Videogames & Information Communication Technologies

Fields of Research

  • 390104. English and literacy curriculum and pedagogy (excl. LOTE, ESL and TESOL)
  • 390307. Teacher education and professional development of educators
  • 470401. Applied linguistics and educational linguistics

Professional Membership

Professional MembershipYear
Australian Literacy Eductors Association (ALEA)
Australian Systemic Functional Linguistics Association (ASFLA)
BEd
USQ
2007
GCertScaffEng
Canberra
2012
MEd
Canberra
2013
PhD
USQ
2023

Current Supervisions

Research TitleSupervisor TypeLevel of StudyCommenced
Instilling Values of Empathy and Compassion in Pre-medical Students in the PhilippinesAssociate SupervisorDoctoral2024

Completed Supervisions

Research TitleSupervisor TypeLevel of StudyCompleted
Picturing Values: A Positive Discourse Analysis of Chinese and Australian Children's Picturebooks and Children's Understanding of ValuesAssociate SupervisorDoctoral2023
Project titleDetailsYear
Implementing a values-based pedagogy using videogames in the classroomUniSQ Research Capacity Building Grant $15,000 Research partners: Professor Georgina Barton - UniSQ, Associate Professor Jon Callow - USdy and Professor Frank Serafini as an international mentor. This project examines the use of videogames to support teachers’ and students’ understanding of moral and socio-political values. 2023
Essentials for Writing Excellence ProjectThe project focused on developing secondary teachers' knowledge about grammar to support students' writing for authentic purposes $1,961 2023
A multimodal understanding of Models of ReadingAustralian Systemic Functional Linguistics Association - Small Grant $1,000 Research Partner: Dr Damon Thomas - The University of Queensland. This research project investigates how reading models can be adapted for multimodal reading interpretation. 2022
DateNameAwarding organisationUnderpinning research
2024ALEA Doctoral Thesis AwardAustralian Literacy Educators' Association
2023Associate Editor for The Australian Journal of Language and LiteracyAssociate Editor for The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy Australian Literacy Educators' Association

Literacy

Barton, Georgina, Alford, Jennifer and Lowien, Nathan. 2024. "Literacy." Pendergast, Donna, Main, Katherine and Bahr, Nan (ed.) Teachign middle years: Rethinking Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Assessment. United Kingdom. Routledge. pp. 137-149

“The last bastion of democracy”: teachers’ perceptions of the democratic potential of English curriculum

Barton, Georgina, Riddle, Stewart and Lowien, Nathan. 2024. "“The last bastion of democracy”: teachers’ perceptions of the democratic potential of English curriculum." English Teaching: Practice and Critique. 23 (4), pp. 475-491. https://doi.org/10.1108/ETPC-08-2024-0127

Postdigital Videogames Literacies: Thinking With, Through, and Beyond James Gee’s Learning Principles

Bacalja, Alexander, Nichols, T. Phillip, Robinson, Bradley, Bhatt, Ibrar, Kucharczyk, Stefan, Zomer, Chris, Nash, Brady, Dupont, Bruno, Cock, Rozane, Zaman, Bieke, Bonenfant, Maude, Grosemans, Eva, Abrams, Sandra Schamroth, Vallis, Carmen, Koutsogiannis, Dimitrios, Dishon, Gideon, Reed, Jack, Byers, Thomas, Fawzy, Rania Magdi, ..., Schnaider, Karoline. 2024. "Postdigital Videogames Literacies: Thinking With, Through, and Beyond James Gee’s Learning Principles." Postdigital Science and Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-024-00510-3

Developing students’ metalinguistic understandings

Thomas, Damon and Lowien, Nathan. 2024. "Developing students’ metalinguistic understandings." Learning Difficulties Australia Bulletin (LDA Bulletin). 56 (1), pp. 19-23.

Generative AI Writing Tools and the Australian Curriculum: English

Lowien, Nathan and Thomas, Damon. 2023. "Generative AI Writing Tools and the Australian Curriculum: English." Practical Literacy: the Early and Primary Years. 28 (3), pp. 26-28.

Peer Reviews Review 1 (excerpt)

Lowien, Nathan. 2023. Peer Reviews Review 1 (excerpt). University of Southern Queensland.

The Semiotic Construction of Evaluative Meaning in Videogames: Explicating the Portrayal of Values

Lowien, Nathan. 2022. The Semiotic Construction of Evaluative Meaning in Videogames: Explicating the Portrayal of Values. PhD Thesis Doctor of Philosophy. University of Southern Queensland. https://doi.org/10.26192/x4242

How Pinocchio avoids lying

Lowien, Nathan. 2022. "How Pinocchio avoids lying." Practical Literacy: the Early and Primary Years. 27 (3), pp. 22-25.

Teaching the Australian Curriculum English: Pre-service teachers’ knowledge and confidence in the middle primary years

Lowien, Nathan. 2022. "Teaching the Australian Curriculum English: Pre-service teachers’ knowledge and confidence in the middle primary years." Literacy Learning: The Middle Years. 30 (1), pp. 52-64. https://doi.org/10.3316/informit.294395278315878

Game time: games for the consolidation of grammar and assessment

Lowien, Nathan. 2022. "Game time: games for the consolidation of grammar and assessment." Practical Literacy: the Early and Primary Years. 27 (1), pp. 29-33.

A critical semiotic investigation of Asian stereotypes in the short film Bao : implications for classroom practice

Barton, Georgina, Lowien, Nathan and Hu, Yijun. 2021. "A critical semiotic investigation of Asian stereotypes in the short film Bao : implications for classroom practice." Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. 44 (1), pp. 5-17.

Australian Not by Blood, but by Character: Soldiers and Refugees in Australian Children’s Picture Books

Kerby, Martin, Baguley, Margaret, Lowien, Nathan and Ayre, Kay. 2019. "Australian Not by Blood, but by Character: Soldiers and Refugees in Australian Children’s Picture Books ." Kerby, Martin, Baguley, Margaret and McDonald, Janet (ed.) The Palgrave handbook of artistic and cultural responses to war since 1914: the British Isles, the United States and Australasia. Cham, Switzerland. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 309-326

‘It’s easy!’: scaffolding literacy for teaching multimodal texts

Lowien, Nathan. 2016. "‘It’s easy!’: scaffolding literacy for teaching multimodal texts." Literacy Learning: The Middle Years. 24 (1), pp. 38-52.

The semiotic construction of values in the videogame Watch Dogs

Lowien, Nathan. 2016. "The semiotic construction of values in the videogame Watch Dogs." English in Australia. 51 (2), pp. 41-51.