Education Commons^™

Assessing Computational Thinking, Daniel Duckworth

Daniel Duckworth

This paper provides some context for the role of computation thinking (CT) in the Australian Curriculum, an abridged literature review of CT as a problem-solving framework from the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2018 assessment framework and some examples of how CT has been used to solve real-world problems. Finally, this paper presents ways to teach and assess CT.

Digital Literacy: Myths And Realities, Julian Fraillon

Julian Fraillon

Digital literacy, under a wide variety of names, is routinely classified as a 21st-century skill and is frequently reported as an area of high priority in school education systems internationally. In comparison with students in other countries, Australian students have high levels of access to digital technologies both at and outside of school. With this access comes the expectations that students will be highly-proficient users of digital technologies and that schools will use digital technologies in transformative ways to support student learning. This session will examine how concepts of digital literacy have developed over time, what data from large-scale assessments …

Assessing And Understanding Social And Emotional Skills: The Oecd Study On Social And Emotional Skills, Sue Thomson

Dr Sue Thomson

In an increasingly fast-changing and diverse world, the importance of developing social and emotional skills is becoming more evident. The large body of accumulated evidence shows that these skills have strong relationships with life outcomes and they have been referred to as a key component of 21st century skills. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Study on Social and Emotional Skills is a new international assessment of these skills in students at primary and secondary schools. This study also gathers information on students’ families, schools and community learning contexts, aiming to provide information about the conditions or practices …

Equipping Teachers With Tools To Assess And Teach General Capabilities, Claire Scoular

Dr Claire Scoular

There is wide recognition that students need to be equipped with appropriate social and cognitive skills demanded by society and the workforce. The unresolved question is how to do this. Many education systems globally are addressing this demand by including skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and creativity into curriculum documents or supplementary materials. However, there is little research to guide educators in teaching such skills at school level. The need to develop practical solutions for assessing and teaching social and cognitive skills, broadly classified under the umbrella ‘21st-century skills’ or ‘general capabilities’, is ever increasing. An integrated approach …

The Case For Urgency: Advocating For Indigenous Voice In Education, Kevin P. Gillan, Suzanne Mellor, Jacynta Krakouer

Jacynta Krakouer

In 2004 the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) published an Australian Education Review (AER) on Indigenous Education: The Case for Change: A review of contemporary research on Indigenous education outcomes, AER 47 (Mellor & Corrigan, 2004). In the 13 years since its publication, the state of Indigenous education outcomes has remained substantially unaltered. All the social indicators demonstrate that Australia’s First Nations people continue to be the most socio-economically disadvantaged population cohort in Australian society. This is after decades of continued policy efforts by successive Commonwealth, state and territory governments to ameliorate Indigenous education disadvantage. We still struggle with …

The Case For Urgency: Advocating For Indigenous Voice In Education, Kevin P. Gillan, Suzanne Mellor, Jacynta Krakouer

Suzanne Mellor

In 2004 the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) published an Australian Education Review (AER) on Indigenous Education: The Case for Change: A review of contemporary research on Indigenous education outcomes, AER 47 (Mellor & Corrigan, 2004). In the 13 years since its publication, the state of Indigenous education outcomes has remained substantially unaltered. All the social indicators demonstrate that Australia’s First Nations people continue to be the most socio-economically disadvantaged population cohort in Australian society. This is after decades of continued policy efforts by successive Commonwealth, state and territory governments to ameliorate Indigenous education disadvantage. We still struggle with …

Measuring The Impact Of Citizen-Led Assessments For Improving The Quality Of Education, Mollie Tobin, Petra Lietz

Dr Petra Lietz

Effective communication and advocacy activities are essential components in initiating change in education practices and policies. ACER, through the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Centre provided support to OMAES (Oeuvre Malienne d’Aide à l’Enfance du Sahel), a non-governmental organisation in Mali, for the development of an internal monitoring and evaluation system for the Beekunko assessment in Mali. Bεεkunko is a household-based assessment of children’s learning outcomes in literacy and numeracy for children in Mali whether currently attending school or not, and who are six to 14 years of age. OMAES’ primary aim through Bεεkunko is to motivate stakeholders at various levels …

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, …

Torch : Tests Of Reading Comprehension, Leila Mossenson, Andrew Stephanou, Margaret Forster, Geoff Masters, Margaret Mcgregor, Prue Anderson, Peter Hill

Prue Anderson

This set of twelve reading tests is designed to assist teachers of students from Year 3 to Year 10 in their assessment of students' reading comprehension skills. Each of the twelve reading tests consists of a reading passage and a corresponding answer sheet.

Torch : Tests Of Reading Comprehension, Leila Mossenson, Andrew Stephanou, Margaret Forster, Geoff N. Masters, Margaret Mcgregor, Prue Anderson, Peter Hill

Prof Geoff Masters AO

This set of twelve reading tests is designed to assist teachers of students from Year 3 to Year 10 in their assessment of students' reading comprehension skills. Each of the twelve reading tests consists of a reading passage and a corresponding answer sheet.

Understanding The Brain, And Learning About Learning, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

No abstract provided.

Pat Science : Getting Good Assessment Down Pat, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

A new school assessment resource in science from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) has just been launched, following more than two years of development and trial testing. Called PAT Science, the new addition to the Progressive Achievement Tests series complements PAT Reading and PAT Maths, which are now widely used in Australian schools. PAT Science fills an identified need for better classroom information about the progress students make in their science learning between Year 3 and Year 10. By the time they reach 15 years of age, 13 percent of Australian students are classified as 'at risk' of …

South Africa And Uae Student Performance Progression In Ibt Mathematics And Science, Van Nguyen

Dr Van Nguyen

No abstract provided.

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 …

That's My Content. That's My Creativity. That's My Curriculum! Do You Want Copyright And Cataloguing With That?, Pru Mitchell

Pru Mitchell

That's My Content. That's My Creativity. That's My Curriculum! Do You Want Copyright And Cataloguing With That?, Pru Mitchell

Pru Mitchell

Signposts: Research Points To How Victorian Government Schools Have Improved Performance, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

The Blueprint for Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD, 2008) underlines the importance of providing opportunities for every child to succeed, in every circumstance. The Blueprint points out that, while previous reforms are paying dividends, improvement is not yet consistent across all schools. So, to support a reform agenda for all schools to improve, this research by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) was specifically designed to investigate the nature of the practices in those schools where Victorian strategies are showing positive results. We wanted to have greater knowledge of the practices of Victorian schools that lead …

Patscience : Progressive Achievement Tests In Science, Ross Hudson, Ron Martin, Daniel Urbach, Stavroula Zoumboulis

Dr Ross Hudson

The ACER progressive achievement tests in science are for use in Australian schools to provide information to teachers about the level of achievement attained by their students in the concepts, skills and processes of science.

Let's Talk About Sex, Mark Butler

Mark Butler

With 10 per cent of students now sexually active by the age of 14, it is time we took sex education seriously, according to comedian Mark Butler. A recent report by Marie Stopes International found that Australian students are not getting adequate sex education in school. Some are not getting any at all and those who do get it often get it too late. The author believes that teachers should get students talking about sex as early as possible and the teachings should not be restricted to 'sex for procreation' but 'sex for recreation' and the pleasure it can bring. …

What Does 'Public School Education' In Australia Mean In The 21st Century, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle

What does 'public school education' mean in Australia in the 21st century, with its past tradition of free, compulsory and secular schooling, and the present school sector policies urging the widespread use of digital technologies? This paper starts from the premise that histories and traditions underpin the provision of public school education in Australia. The author argues that the recognition of the nature of these histories and traditions is important to acknowledge for their sustainability: so they are not taken for granted; are subjected to investigation and are debated; and where appropriate can be maintained. In addition, acknowledging the role …

Boys' Education Lighthouse Schools : Stage Two Final Report 2006, Peter Cuttance, Wes Imms, Sally Godhino, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, Jean Thompson, Keryn Mcguinness, Gregory Neal

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

In 2004, schools involved in BELS Stage Two focused on trialling effective approaches to addressing boys' education, and establishing appropriate evaluation tools and methodologies to monitor the impact of these interventions. In 2005, BELS clusters implemented interventions across their clusters and measured their impact on their target group of boys. The Final Report provides a detailed analysis and discussion of the key findings and experiences of the 350 project schools in stage two of the Boys' Education Lighthouse Schools Programme. The BELS program followed almost a decade of public enquiries into issues associated with boys' learning in Australian schools

Torch Plus : Tests Of Reading Comprehension Plus, Tom Lumley, Andrew Stephanou

Dr Tom Lumley

A set of reading tests designed to assist teachers of students from Year 3 to Year 10 in their assessment of students' reading comprehension skills.

Reliability As A Measurement Design Effect, Ray Adams

Prof Ray Adams

Test reliability is a concept central to classical test theory and it is commonly stated as a requirement that a test attain a certain level of reliability before it be considered of sufficient quality for practical use. This article discusses the role of reliability in item response theory, and in particular the role of reliability in contexts where matrix sampling designs are used and concern is with the estimation of population parameters rather than the measurement of individuals. The concept of a measurement design effect is introduced. This concept parallels the concept of sampling design effects, in that it describes …

A Thousand Resources For Science Teachers, Gayl O'Connor

Gayl O'Connor

The Science Education Assessment Resource (SEAR) project is an online resource bank of science assessment tasks for the compulsory years of schooling (P-10). The bank includes a variety of items that can be used for diagnostic, formative or summative assessment purposes. The Australian Council for Educational Research is responsible for the overall management of the project, working in collaboration with Curriculum Corporation and other organisations.

Probing Whole Number Dominance With Fractions, Max Stephens, Catherine Pearn

Catherine Pearn

Children's whole number schemes can interfere with their efforts to learn fractions. To what extent do these schemes persist for secondary school students? This paper reports on the development and piloting of an interview designed to identify and probe inappropriate whole number strategies for working with fractions among secondary students. The interview showed that these strategies are still prevalent among Year 8 students. Among others who use appropriate multiplicative strategies the interview showed that some of these are still not confident in challenging instances of inappropriate whole number thinking. [Author abstract]

Assessing Rational Number Knowledge In The Middle Years Of Schooling, Catherine Pearn

Catherine Pearn

Success in Numeracy Education (SINE) is the major numeracy approach being implemented in Victorian Catholic schools. SINE is designed to assist teachers to identify the mathematical understanding of the students they teach and to develop activities to help all students to progress at their relative level of understanding. Two components of SINE have been piloted and implemented: SINE Prep to Year 4 and SINE Years 5 and 6. This paper focuses on work with fractions being undertaken as part of the pilot program for SINE Years 5-8. There has been considerable research into the difficulties experienced by students learning fractions …

Looking For Evidence In The Teaching Of Mathematics, Ray Peck, A Bishop, S Bennett

Ray Peck

The joint Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers AAMT/Monash University project 'Excellence in the teaching of mathematics: professional standards project' has been working with teacher focus groups in four states to try and build a picture of what mathematics teachers believe represents excellent teaching. This paper discusses the second aim of this project: to develop an assessment scheme and protocols for certifying this excellence. Topics discussed are developing ways to assess excellence, looking at an American model of assessment - the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), and other models for standards of excellence in teaching.

Learning Technologies Project 2000 Student Data : Executive Report, Katherine Dix

Dr Katherine Dix