Rate My Professor Michael Cavanagh

Associate Professor Michael Cavanagh serves in the Macquarie School of Education at Macquarie University, where he directs the Secondary Teacher Education Program. His research specializations encompass teacher self-efficacy among pre-service and early-career teachers, reflective practices, peer feedback on lesson plans, and innovative pedagogies including AI-assisted lesson planning, cross-cultural online education between Australia and Korea, STEM transitions to teaching, and STEAM approaches to foster science capital and intercultural understanding. Earlier in his career, Cavanagh focused on mathematics education, exploring secondary students' difficulties with graphics calculators, problem-solving teaching strategies, and professional learning communities for pre-service secondary mathematics teachers.

Cavanagh has produced key publications such as 'Students' difficulties in operating a graphics calculator' (2000, Mathematics Education Research Journal, with M. Mitchelmore), 'A professional experience learning community for pre-service secondary mathematics teachers' (2012, Australian Journal of Teacher Education, with T. Garvey), 'Pre-service teacher reflection and feedback using an online video platform during professional experience' (2021), 'Pre-service teachers’ feedback on their peers’ lesson plans' (2025, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, with D. Tran), 'Sources of pre-service teacher self-efficacy: a longitudinal qualitative inquiry' (2025, Asia Pacific Journal of Education, with K. Ma and A. McMaugh), 'The association between teacher self-efficacy and student academic performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis' (2025, Educational Research Review, with K. Ma et al.), and 'A longitudinal inquiry of sources of teacher self-efficacy: from the professional experience into the first year of teaching' (2026, European Journal of Teacher Education, with K. Ma). His work has earned nearly 3,000 citations on Google Scholar, with an h-index of 27. He received the Macquarie University Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence in 2011 and Higher Education Academy Fellowship in 2018. Cavanagh contributed to the 2023 Australian Government Teacher Education Expert Panel report, which highlighted Macquarie University's Initial Teacher Education programs.