Milorad Cerovac

Dr Milorad Cerovac serves as a Lecturer in Pedagogy and Education Futures within the School of Education at La Trobe University, Australia. With a background as a registered teacher across Mathematics, Physics, Software Development and Systems Engineering, he bridges industry experience with academic work to develop authentic problem-based learning approaches for pre-service and in-service teachers.

His educational background includes:

• Doctor of Philosophy (Education), Swinburne University of Technology
• Master of Science (Astronomy), Swinburne University of Technology
• Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary), Monash University
• Bachelor of Science (Honours), Monash University
• Registered Teacher certification (Victorian Institute of Teaching, 2004-present)

Cerovac's research focuses on cognitive development in technology education, particularly examining how students' abstraction and spatial reasoning abilities progress with age within Technologies curricula. His work extends to gender disparity in STEM fields, inquiry-based learning methodologies, and the integration of artificial intelligence in classroom settings. He actively contributes to national curriculum development through his work with the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority on Digital Technologies and Applied Computing frameworks.

Analysis of his 15 most recent publications reveals strong emphasis on gender-inclusive technology education, spatial reasoning development, and practical implementation of computational thinking across K-12 settings. His work consistently connects cognitive theory with classroom application, particularly through robotics programs and problem-based learning frameworks.

Cerovac directs significant professional development efforts, having presented numerous workshops for educators on Digital Technologies, Design and Technologies, and Physics both nationally and internationally. His research program includes the current Managing the double-edged sword project funded through the Award for Inclusion Research Program (2023-2024), which investigates generative AI frameworks for female inclusion in K-16 schools.

As co-founder and lead mentor of the RoboCats (a school-girl-only robotics team participating in FIRST Robotics Competition from 2014-2020), he maintains active involvement with the FIRST LEGO League program in Victoria. His 17-year prior career as a Software Developer and Database Specialist informs his emphasis on real-world problem-based learning activities shared with teacher education students.