Education Commons^™

Students' Voices : Learning With Technologies : Students' Expectations About Learning With Technologies : A Literature Review, Kathryn Moyle, Susanne Owen

Professor Kathryn Moyle

This literature review is concerned with studies published since 2002 that take the perspectives of students in relation to learning with information and communication technologies. Students in schools, vocational education and training and in preservice teacher education, as well as early career teachers and other higher education students are included. The review examines published literature to: ascertain what recent research has already been undertaken in the field within Australia and overseas; ascertain the research methods used to underpin existing research; determine the gaps in existing knowledge; and consider the implications for determining what next steps could be undertaken. [Executive summary, …

International Civic And Citizenship Education Study : Assessment Framework, Wolfram Schulz, Julian Fraillon, John Ainley, Bruno Losito, David Kerr

Dr Wolfram Schulz

The International Civic and Citizenship Study (ICCS) is the third lEA project investigating the role of schooling in preparing young people for their roles as citizens in society. The first study in this area began in 1971. The second Civic Education Study was undertaken in 1999. Almost 10 years on, global change has again prompted a new survey of civic and citizenship education. Amongst other considerations, the growing impact of the processes of globalization, external threats to civic societies and their freedoms, and the limited interest and involvement of young generations in public and political life. [p. 5, ed]

Career Advice And Career Plans: Sources, Satisfaction, And Realisation, Sheldon Rothman, Kylie Hillman, Julie Mcmillan, David Curtis

Dr Sheldon Rothman

The literature on career decision-making suggests that students make their decisions based on the degree of match between their own attributes and certain perceived characteristics of occupations and that these perceptions are generally accurate (Gottfredson, 2002). However, in Australia, there is also evidence that students have misunderstandings about the status of some occupations, including trades (Alloway, Dalley, Patterson, Walker, & Lenoy, 2004). The sources of career advice available to middle-secondary students and their satisfaction with that advice was found through a survey of a representative sample of Australian 15-year-old students. Nearly all Year 10 students reported that they had received …

Career Advice And Career Plans: Sources, Satisfaction, And Realisation, Sheldon Rothman, Kylie Hillman, Julie Mcmillan, David Curtis

Kylie Hillman

The literature on career decision-making suggests that students make their decisions based on the degree of match between their own attributes and certain perceived characteristics of occupations and that these perceptions are generally accurate (Gottfredson, 2002). However, in Australia, there is also evidence that students have misunderstandings about the status of some occupations, including trades (Alloway, Dalley, Patterson, Walker, & Lenoy, 2004). The sources of career advice available to middle-secondary students and their satisfaction with that advice was found through a survey of a representative sample of Australian 15-year-old students. Nearly all Year 10 students reported that they had received …

International Civic And Citizenship Education Study : Assessment Framework, Wolfram Schulz, Julian Fraillon, John Ainley, Bruno Losito, David Kerr

Julian Fraillon

The International Civic and Citizenship Study (ICCS) is the third lEA project investigating the role of schooling in preparing young people for their roles as citizens in society. The first study in this area began in 1971. The second Civic Education Study was undertaken in 1999. Almost 10 years on, global change has again prompted a new survey of civic and citizenship education. Amongst other considerations, the growing impact of the processes of globalization, external threats to civic societies and their freedoms, and the limited interest and involvement of young generations in public and political life. [p. 5, ed]

Over The Rainbow : A Rewarding Career Structure, Lawrence Ingvarson, Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Historically, there has been little gold at the beginning or end of the career rainbow for teachers, and not a lot of colour in between. Until recently, teachers who wanted to advance into leadership positions were obliged to give most of their attention to management and administration. Because the teaching knowledge base was devalued, many teachers saw little point in trying to become skilled practitioners of their craft. Systems tend to reward what they value, and it is difficult to escape from the conclusion that, in terms of reward, the value placed on excellence in teaching has been very low. …

What Can Be Learned From The Roller Coaster Journeys Of Young People Making Ultimately Successful Transitions Beyond School?, Jennifer Bryce, Michelle Anderson

Dr Jennifer Bryce

This project investigated the interrelationships between family expectations and young people's post-school plans. The ten young people were achievers from The Smith Family's 'Learning for Life' program. All of the participants were from financially disadvantaged families. The research used interviews to understand these young people's perspectives of their transition experiences: the ways in which young people's school experiences impacted on their post-school pathways; how the young people weighed up costs and benefits in their decision-making; and exploration of the barriers and enablers encountered by the young people in their transition journeys. The findings endorsed the significant role played by families …

Staff In Australia's Schools : Teacher Workforce Data And Planning Processes In Australia., Susanne Owen,, Julie Kos, Phil Mckenzie

Dr Phillip McKenzie

This report forms part of the Australian School Teacher and Leader project which was commissioned by the former Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) in June 2006. The purpose of the project is to provide a detailed picture of the Australian teacher workforce and to gather information to assist future planning on teacher supply. This particular report focuses on longer-term approaches to workforce data and processes. The project also included the Staff in Australia's Schools survey, a national data collection involving all States and Territories and school sectors. [p.4]

Attitudes, Intentions And Participation, Siek Toon Khoo, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

This report examines the relationship between students' attitudes to school and intentions to participate in education and training, and the influence of these attitudes and intentions on participation in Year 12 and in further education and training. Students' attitudes to school, educational intentions and attainments are considered in the context of earlier school achievement, social background, geographic location, language background and gender. These factors are related to attitudes, intentions and participation. [p.1]

Subject Choice By Students In Year 12 In Australian Secondary Schools, Sue Fullarton, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

Choices that are in the subjects studied in senior secondary school influence differences in access to higher education, vocational education and training, and to labour market outcomes. Previous studies have shown that students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, those from private schools, high early school achievers and students from non-English speaking backgrounds are more likely to participate in the courses that are avenues to higher education and the professions. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds tend to participate in courses that lead to vocational education and training or more often to entry into the labour market without any further formal education or training. …

Peer Relationships In The Mathematics Classroom : A Social Network Approach To Understanding Anxiety And Motivation, Sarah Buckley

Dr Sarah Buckley

The influence of the social context on learning and the motivation to learn are neglected areas of educational research. Peer relationships, particularly in early adolescence, are an important part of this social context and shape school development. In the present project, a social network approach was adopted to explore peer influences on adolescent students' motivation and anxiety in mathematics. Two types of relationships were investigated – time spent between peers in class and specific help-seeking interactions. Two hundred and twenty-three Year 8 students from two schools completed measures of mathematics anxiety and motivation, and a social network questionnaire. Social Influence …

Ict Trends In Education Ii, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

In the second part of this two-part article, the author looks at professional collaboration using Web 2.0, mobile technologies and the way the World Wide Web (www) is influencing scholarship, before investigating some of the likely future trends in ICT. A major question in education is how to maximise the uses of ICT in education, taking into account that ICT is much more than a tool and provides a digital window to globally accessible information and new ways to interact in the creation of knowledge. Web 2.0 applications are changing the manner in which people connect and interact in ways …

Leadership : Is There A Looming Shortage?, Phil Mckenzie

Dr Phillip McKenzie

Many school leaders will retire in the next few years and their potential successors report little attraction to the leadership role. The author considers whether Australia is really facing a looming leadership shortage. The Commonwealth Department of Education commissioned ACER to conduct the Staff in Australia's Schools (SiAS) survey in 2006 and 2007 to help fill data gaps around educator workforce issues, and to gather information to assist in future leadership planning. The article discusses the survey results, with particular reference to estimated numbers of teachers and leaders; age profiles; career intentions; and teachers' intentions to apply for leadership positions. …

The 2007 Revised Ielts Pronunciation Scale, Sacha Develle

Dr Sacha DeVelle

A series of articles in Research Notes (February 2001, July 2001, November 2001, November 2006) reported the development, validation and implementation of the IELTS Speaking Test Revision Project (1998–2001). More recent research (Brown 2006, Brown and Taylor 2006) highlighted the need for clearer specification on the Pronunciation scale. Further revision arose as a consequence of this research and the continuing evolutionary process reflecting the test’s context of use. The present article describes a two-phase study using a mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) approach to examine raters’ marking behaviour and perceptions of the newly revised IELTS Pronunciation scale.

Different Measures, Different Informants, Same Outcomes? Investigating Multiple Perspectives Of Primary School Students' Mental Health., Katherine Dix, Helen Askell-Williams, Michael Lawson

Dr Katherine Dix

Ict In Education., Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

Information and communications technology (ICT) in education has been taken up by educators and educational researchers since the 1980s with varied success, although it is the relatively new uses of the Internet and World Wide Web that are stimulating new demands and expectations in education, even if research to guide best practice remains scant. In order to identify the trends occurring in ICT in education and research, the author starts with a brief history that has a number of implications that might help us to think about the pathways that ICT may take in an education context. From this brief …

Using Data To Improve Learning, Marion Meiers

Marion Meiers

This Digest is focused on studies that have investigated how data can be used in schools to examine teaching practices in order to improve student learning. A selection of relevant websites is listed, and a full reference list is provided. Links to those references for which full-text online access is freely available are also included. School systems, principals and teachers have access to an extensive range of data that can be used for a variety of purposes. Accountability processes and data have come to play a significant place in policy development and reform efforts. There is a large body of …

Learning About Students' Mathematical Literacy From Pisa 2003, S Mccrone, J Dossey, Ross Turner, M Lindquist

Ross Turner

Auqf2008 : Quality & Standards In Higher Education : Making A Difference, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

The use of data for benchmarking purposes in the higher education sector has increased in recent years, especially in relation to monitoring student perceptions of the university experience. Data sets that enable institutional and national analysis of the course perceptions of specific groups of students are now more valuable than ever. This paper examines the course experiences of international fee-paying graduates from Australian universities as they were articulated through the Graduate Careers Australia Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE). These students have become an increasingly important group within the Australian university sector over the …

Time For A National Approach To Teacher Quality, Stephen Dinham, Lawrence Ingvarson, Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

No abstract provided.

Shoulder To Shoulder : Information For Aboriginal Families Who Have A Child Or Young Person With A Disability, Gina Milgate

Gina C Milgate

This booklet presents information about disability services, respite services, and Aboriginal organisations that provide support for Aboriginal families with a disabled child. Included are stories about how other Aboriginal families have been able to cope with caring for a child with a disability.

What Happens When Supply Lags Behind Demand? Disadvantaged Students And The Ever Increasing Competition For University Places, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

Competition for entry to university has escalated in Australia over the past decade. This rise in competition is attributable to a number of factors, a major one being that the provision of university places has not kept pace with growth in the population of university-aged persons. Using the city of Melbourne as a case study, this article highlights the impact that rising competition for university has had on two disadvantaged groups; those from the Government school sector and those from areas of low socioeconomic status. It finds that the opportunities for university entrance among tertiary applicants in these two groups …

A Chronological Review Of Literacy Policies And Programs Of The Department Of Education & Training, Victoria, 1980-2005, Marion Meiers

Marion Meiers

Throughout the period 1980-2008 the influence of national and international theory and research in literacy is evident, in a variety of ways, in the policy and program responses of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. A review of Australian and international literature on the issue of literacy from 1980 to 2008 highlights the connections between policies and programs in the Victorian context and developments in theory and research in national and international contexts. This review covers the 25 years from 1980 to 2008, a period that has been characterised as a time when theory and research in the …

Total Cost Of Ownership & Total Value Of Ownership, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle

School leaders are regularly required to make decisions concerning the effective integration of ICT into their schools’ teaching and learning programs. School leaders however, face challenges about the processes to use to inform their decision-making. These challenges include knowing which data to draw upon; how to collect the data and how to analyze it so that meaningful decisions can emerge. As such, this chapter examines some recent activities aimed at using data to inform leadership and management strategies in schools as they pertain to teaching and learning with educational technologies, and focuses in particular on total cost of ownership and …

International Civic And Citizenship Education Study : Assessment Framework, Wolfram Schulz, Julian Fraillon, John Ainley, Bruno Losito, David Kerr

Dr John Ainley

The International Civic and Citizenship Study (ICCS) is the third lEA project investigating the role of schooling in preparing young people for their roles as citizens in society. The first study in this area began in 1971. The second Civic Education Study was undertaken in 1999. Almost 10 years on, global change has again prompted a new survey of civic and citizenship education. Amongst other considerations, the growing impact of the processes of globalization, external threats to civic societies and their freedoms, and the limited interest and involvement of young generations in public and political life. [p. 5, ed]

How Mobile Phones Help Learning In Secondary Schools, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, Nadja Heym

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This research took place in 2007-8, at a time when mobile phones had become small, personal computers, providing clock, calendar, games, music player, Bluetooth connection, Internet access, and high-quality camera functions in addition to voice calls and short messaging. The Mobile Life Youth Report (2006) found that by the time they reach secondary school, 91% of 12 year olds in the UK have a mobile phone. Even though recent phone models, sometimes called ‘smart phones’, allow users to read pdf formats, spreadsheets and word-processed files, they have been more usually seen as disruptive, rather than useful, in school education.

Managing Student Behaviour In The Classroom, Marion Meiers, Jenny Wilkinson

Marion Meiers

This edition of the Research Digest summarises some key research studies that suggest answers to questions such as: How important is behaviour management in effective teaching and learning? Does good behaviour management lead to improved learning outcomes for students? Throughout the digest there are descriptions of approaches that have practical application in classroom practice. This research digest is based on searches of a number of databases and bibliographic resources, including the Australian Education Index, ERIC, Education Research Complete, British Education Index and Scopus. The first section presents some insights from research about the importance of behaviour management in effective teaching …

Keynote: What Makes A Difference?, Gina Milgate

Gina C Milgate

No abstract provided.

Introducing The Australian Socioeconomic Index 2006 (Ausei06), Julie Mcmillan, Frank Jones, Adrian Beavis

Julie McMillan

This paper introduces a new occupational status scale, the Australian Socioeconomic Index 2006 (AUSEI06). AUSEI06 is the latest in the series of ANU scales that for more than 40 years have provided researchers with a means of assigning sociologically meaningful occupational status scores to data coded in accordance with the official occupational classifications of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The scales continue to be widely used in fields as diverse as sociology, economics, education, and health. However, the release of a new occupational classification by the ABS has changed the manner in which much new Australian data on occupations …

Mobile Phones For Learning In Mainstream Schooling: Resistance And Change, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This paper, based on empirical research, considers how structure and agency together reproduce the social practices surrounding mobile phone use in secondary schools in the United Kingdom. Many schools have policies banning their use in class, reflecting and supporting the dominant social construction of mobile phones as tools for social use, but not for learning. This study aimed to understand how mobile phones could support learning in secondary schools, and identified activities across many subject areas and year levels. It also showed that hands-on experience had a positive effect on students’ attitudes to mobile phones for learning in school. The …