Notre Dame Hosts International Research Conference

The historic ‘West End’ and the unique buildings of The University of Notre Dame Australia’s Fremantle Campus were the location for this year’s Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) conference. The week long event, held from 26th November, was attended by over 600 delegates from Australia, America, Asia and Europe, gathering to discuss the theme, Research Impacts: Proving or Improving. The AARE is an organisation of people interested in fostering educational research in Australia. The purpose of the conference was to provide a venue for members to present and discuss their work and listen to leading international researchers from different educational fields. The keynote speakers included Professor Jane Kenway and Associate Professor Jan Herrington, both from Western Australia, Professor Geoff Whitty, Director of the London Institute of Education and Dr William P Fisher, Chief Science Officer of Avatar International, Florida USA. President of the AARE, Professor Jan Wright said many delegates commented on the quality of their experiences while in Fremantle and were very impressed with the town. “I attribute the success of the conference not only to the quality of the papers and exchange of ideas, but also to the beautiful buildings of Notre Dame’s campus and the outdoor cafés of Fremantle. This environment really allowed for the conversation and networking, so crucial to a successful conference,” said Professor Wright. 6 December 2007 Media contact: Moira Saunders 08 9433 0611, 0408 959 13