My primary research interest is in the cognitive development of the novice computer programmer.

From 2004 until 2010, I was one of three conveners of the BRACElet project, which used an action research model to study the performance of students on programming exams, with the aim of better understanding the problems students have with understanding computer programs. In 2007, I was joint winner (with Professor Jenny Edwards) of an $80K Fellowship from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, which funded work on this project until 2010. In that funding period, 26 project participants, from 14 different educational institutions across seven different countries co-authored 16 research papers. I have pursued this research on the mental development of the novice programmers since 2004, when I led an international ITiCSE working group, comprised of eleven other members from six countries: USA, UK, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and New Zealand. That research was published in Lister et al. (2004) A Multi-National Study of Reading and Tracing Skills in Novice Programmers.

Thus, unlike most academics, my research is located at the nexus with my teaching. Most academics lead a double life, bringing different modes of thinking to their teaching and their research. In their research lives, academics see themselves as part of a community that reaches beyond their own university. They read literature, attend conferences, publish, and participate in a public research which cycle repeats, with community members building upon each other work. But in our teaching lives most academics lead a private life, rarely discussing their teaching beyond their own university, and rarely reading teaching-related literature.

I try to approach all teaching problems as research issues. Consequently, I am very active in the international computer science education research community. I have given five keynote/invited presentations at various national and international conferences. I have published over 70 papers on aspects of computing education.