Education Commons^™

National Assessment Program : Civics And Citizenship Years 6 And 10 Report 2004, Suzanne Mellor, John Ainley, Julian Fraillon, Nicole Wernert

Nicole Wernert

The National Civics and Citizenship Sample Assessment was conducted in October 2004 with 10,712 Year 6 students from 318 schools and 9,536 Year 10 students from 249 schools. At both year levels, a sample of schools was selected with a probability proportional to size and then a sample of up to two classrooms was selected at random from those schools. The sample design and procedures, the high response rates (more than 90 percent) and the low levels of exclusions ensured that there was very little bias in the sample. The assessment was representative of the elements identified in the assessment …

Literacy In The First Three Years Of School : A Longitudinal Investigation, Marion Meiers, Siek Toon Khoo

Dr Siek Toon Khoo

The ACER Longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy Study (LLANS) was designed to follow the growth in literacy and numeracy of a single cohort of students across the years of primary school. A sample of 1000 students in 100 schools formed the cohort for the study, which commenced in 1999. A linked set of literacy assessment tasks focused on key aspects of literacy was developed for the LLANS. Assessment data collected across the years of primary school provided information needed to construct a long LLANS literacy scale covering the full range of proficiency. The scale was used to measure change and track …

National Assessment Program : Civics And Citizenship Years 6 And 10 Report 2004, Suzanne Mellor, John Ainley, Julian Fraillon, Nicole Wernert

Julian Fraillon

The National Civics and Citizenship Sample Assessment was conducted in October 2004 with 10,712 Year 6 students from 318 schools and 9,536 Year 10 students from 249 schools. At both year levels, a sample of schools was selected with a probability proportional to size and then a sample of up to two classrooms was selected at random from those schools. The sample design and procedures, the high response rates (more than 90 percent) and the low levels of exclusions ensured that there was very little bias in the sample. The assessment was representative of the elements identified in the assessment …

Pisa – The Programme For International Student Assessment – An Overview, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

Literacy In The First Three Years Of School : A Longitudinal Investigation, Marion Meiers, Siek Toon Khoo

Marion Meiers

The ACER Longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy Study (LLANS) was designed to follow the growth in literacy and numeracy of a single cohort of students across the years of primary school. A sample of 1000 students in 100 schools formed the cohort for the study, which commenced in 1999. A linked set of literacy assessment tasks focused on key aspects of literacy was developed for the LLANS. Assessment data collected across the years of primary school provided information needed to construct a long LLANS literacy scale covering the full range of proficiency. The scale was used to measure change and track …

Modelling Mathematics Problem Solving Item Responses Using A Multidimensional Irt Model, Margaret Wu, Ray Adams

Prof Ray Adams

This research examined students' responses to mathematics problem- solving tasks and applied a general multidimensional IRT model at the response category level. In doing so, cognitive processes were identified and modelled through item response modelling to extract more information than would be provided using conventional practices in scoring items. More specifically, the study consisted of two parts. The first part involved the development of a mathematics problem-solving framework that was theoretically grounded, drawing upon research in mathematics education and cognitive psychology. The framework was then used as the basis for item development. The second part of the research involved the …

A Longitudinal Evaluation Of Electromagnetic Theory Students’ Continuous Improvement In Learning Skills, Rozeha A Rashid, Mazlina Esa, Mohd Saidfudin Masodi, Razimah Abdullah

Razimah Abdullah

Performance Of Continual Quality Improvement For Learning Process In A Microwave Engineering Based Core Subject, Mazlina Esa, Rozeha A Rashid, Mohd Saidfudin Masodi, Razimah Abdullah

Razimah Abdullah

Young Australians’ Participation In Vocational Education To Age 24, Sheldon Rothman

Dr Sheldon Rothman

No abstract provided.

Engaging Students To Make Mathematics Interesting, Fun, Intriguing, Puzzling And Personally Satisfying, Dave Tout

David (Dave) Tout

The author asserts that making connections with the real world is the best way to engage most students in the middle years of schooling and to potentially provide a mechanism for making mathematics interesting, fun and personally satisfying. Traditionally, in secondary school mathematics classrooms, teachers start by teaching the abstract mathematics skills and processes and then they find some possible applications afterwards. The author believes this should be the other way around.

Leadership And Learning With Ict : Voices From The Profession, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle (consultant)

Leadership matters’ and ‘start with the pedagogies, not the technologies’, say Australian educators. Voices from the profession provides an overview of what a cross-section of over 400 of Australia’s educational leaders saw in 2005 as factors that contribute to how leadership supports learning with information and communication technologies (ICT) in Australian schools. It presents some of the issues raised and solutions proposed by the educational leaders who participated in this research. This paper draws on the words of the participants throughout, to illustrate findings and to give the report authenticity. This research shows that integrating ICT into teaching and learning …

Some Problems In The Analysis Of Cross-National Survey Data, John Keeves, Kelvin Gregory, Petra Lietz, I Gusti Darmawan

Dr Petra Lietz

In this article three emergent problems in the analysis of cross-national survey data are raised in a context of 40 years of research and development in a field where persistent problems have arisen and where scholars across the world have sought solutions. Anomalous results have been found from secondary data analyses that would appear to stem from the procedures that have been employed during the past 15 years for the estimation of educational achievement. These estimation procedures are briefly explained and their relationships to the observed anomalies are discussed. The article concludes with a challenge to the use of Bayesian …

Issues In The Change In Gender Differences In Reading Achievement In Cross-National Research Studies Since 1992 : A Meta-Analytic View, Petra Lietz

Dr Petra Lietz

Results of a previous meta-analysis of gender differences in reading achievement at the secondary school level showed significant differences between major assessment programs. Thus, the gender gap in favour of girls was more pronounced for the assessment programs conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Programs in the United States (NAEP), for the more recent assessment programs in Australia and the Programme for the International Student Assessment (PISA) conducted by the OECD. In contrast, no such effect was found for earlier studies conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), namely the International Reading Comprehension Study …

Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Their Teachers : A Review Of The Literature., Julie Kos, Amanda Richdale, David Hay

Dr Julie Kos

There is considerable evidence regarding the academic and social difficulties children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experience, but less is known about what their teachers do and should know. This article provides a summary of this evidence, including information on the difficulties experienced by students with ADHD, the relationships between teachers and students with ADHD, pre-service and in-service teachers' knowledge and attitudes toward ADHD, and in-service teachers' behaviour toward children diagnosed with the condition. Teachers need increased awareness of the family circumstances of children with ADHD, more knowledge of the conditions commonly comorbid with ADHD, and insight into these …

Learning About Teaching : Using Video, Hilary Hollingsworth

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

This article describes some Australian research and professional development projects that use classroom video data, and explains some of the positive outcomes, as well as some of the challenges, of these projects. A variety of methodologies have been used to collect, store, retrieve, code, navigate and analyse classroom video data. These include CD-Rom, DVD and web streaming to dedicated software platforms. Video is used to preserve classroom activity so that it can be 'slowed down' to enable detailed examinations of teaching and learning from multiple perspectives, reveal alternatives through comparative analysis, and stimulate discussions about choices related to teaching learning. …

Measuring The Socio-Economic Background Of Students And Its Effect On Achievement In Pisa 2000 And Pisa 2003., Wolfram Schulz

Dr Wolfram Schulz

One of the consistent findings of educational research studies is the effect of the students’ family socio-economic background on their learning achievement. Consequently, international comparative studies emphasise the role of socioeconomic background for determining learning outcomes. In particular, PISA results have been used to describe how different structures of the educational system can mediate the impact of socio-economic family background on performance with comprehensive systems generally providing more equity in educational opportunities. Given the cyclical nature of the PISA study, it is of interest to observe changes in the relationship between socio-economic background and student performance. However, in order to …

Analysis Of Differential Item Functioning, Luc Le

Dr Luc Tu Le

No abstract provided.

El Programa Internacional Para La Evaluación De Los Alumnos (Pisa). Una Perspectiva General, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

A Whole School Approach To Assessing Personal And Interdisciplinary Learning, Jennifer Bryce

Dr Jennifer Bryce

In this article, the author considers the challenges of assessing the cross-curricular domains of learning contained in the Victorian Essential Learning Standards and the place that a whole-school approach may take in this process. The recently introduced Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) pose new challenges for teachers. Some of the VELS, such as the Science domain, are 'discipline-based learning'; they are content-based and conceptualised in a way with which teachers are familiar. But some, such as the domain of 'Thinking' in Interdisciplinary Learning and the domain of 'Personal Learning', in Physical Personal and Social Learning, are cross-curricular. This article addresses …

Connexin Overexpression Differentially Suppresses Glioma Growth And Contributes To The Bystander Effect Following Hsv-Thymidine Kinase Gene Therapy, T. Jiminez, W. Fox, C. Naus, J. Galipeau, Daniel Belliveau

Daniel J. Belliveau

Neoplastic transformation is frequently associated with a loss of gap junctional intercellular communication and reduced expression of connexins. The introduction of connexin genes into tumor cells reverses the proliferative characteristics of such cells. However, there is very little comparative information on the effects of different connexins on cancer cell growth. We hypothesized that Cx26, Cx32, or Cx43 would display differential growth suppression of C6 glioma cells and uniquely modulate the bystander effect following transduction of C6 cells with HSVtk followed by suicide gene therapy. The bystander phenomenon is the death of a greater number of tumor cells than are expressing …

Evaluation Of An Online Community: Australia's National Quality Schooling Framework, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, Keryn Mcguinness, Peter Cuttance

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This chapter considers the development and implementation of Australia’s National Quality Schooling Framework (NQSF), created particularly for teachers and others involved in improving school education. This large-scale, highly structured, and outcome- focused community space, funded by the Australian government, was developed as a means of building and testing knowledge. Using Wenger’s infrastructure for communities of practice, the chapter evaluates the NQSF in light of its capacity for engagement, imagination, and alignment. Although these three are often intertwined, we conclude that firstly, users value the space for engagement and that this needs to be supported by a national telecommunications infrastructure. Secondly, …

Self-Review For Higher Education Institutions, Nathan Zoanetti, Patrick Griffin, Ray Adams

Prof Ray Adams

This paper describes a plausible values imputation approach for deriving population scores on several language proficiency domains. The approach harnessed a multi-dimensional item response analysis combining student responses, rater judgements and student background variables. The target population was grade one and grade two primary school students enrolled in the Hong Kong schooling system. The raters were local teachers of English employed within the sampled schools. The primary objective of this research was to impute plausible values for data where no data was provided or where rater data was deemed suspect. By necessity, a secondary objective of this study was to …

Online Learning Services In First Gear, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

With the effort expended by educators being the greatest cost of e-learning, this article suggests that unless technology can assist teachers in offering improved learning programs, then its use should be questioned. Many existing software packages known as learning management systems (LMS) are appropriate for managing content, delivering courses and managing student records. They are a specific part of the e-learning agenda but should not be considered comprehensive e-learning packages. In the main, such packages are most suitable for distance learning. E-learning, on the other hand, includes a diversity of learners engaged in technology-enabled services. Education services providers and software …

Enhanced Neurite Outgrowth In Pc12 Cells Mediated By Connexin Hemichannels And Atp, Daniel Belliveau, M. Bani-Yagoub, R. Mcgirr, C. Naus, W. Rushlow

Daniel J. Belliveau

Gap junctions have traditionally been described as transmembrane channels that facilitate intercellular communication via the passage of small molecules. Connexins, the basic building blocks of gap junctions, are expressed in most mammalian tissues including the developing and adult central nervous system. During brain development, connexins are temporally and spatially regulated suggesting they play an important role in the proper formation of the central nervous system. In the current study, connexins 32 and 43 were overexpressed in PC12 cells to determine whether connexins are involved in neuronal differentiation. Both connexin 32 and 43 were appropriately trafficked to the cell membrane following …

A Meta-Analysis Of Gender Differences In Reading Achievement At The Secondary School Level, Petra Lietz

Dr Petra Lietz

This study conducts a meta-analysis using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to address the questions of the extent of gender differences in reading, whether or not these differences apply similarly across English and non-English speaking countries and decrease with age. Female secondary students performed 0.19 standard deviation units above their male peers, regardless of age, language of instruction, and whether effect sizes were based on mean differences or correlation coefficients. However, differences emerged between assessment programs, with recent Australian Studies, the National Assessment of Educational Progress Studies (NAEP) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) reporting greater gender differences.

Collaborative Games: Lessons Learned From Board Games, Jose Zagal, Rick Jochen, Hsi Idris

Jose P Zagal

Collaborative mechanisms are starting to become prominent in computer games, like massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs); however, by their nature, these games are difficult to investigate. Game play is often complex and the underlying mechanisms are frequently opaque. In contrast, board games are simple. Their game play is fairly constrained and their core mechanisms are transparent enough to analyze. In this article, the authors seek to understand collaborative games. Because of their simplicity, they focus on board games. The authors present an analysis of collaborative games. In particular, they focus on Reiner Knizia’s LORDOFTHERINGS, considered by many to be the …

Tales From The Edge: How The Web Is Changing Learning., Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

There has been a period of strong growth for the use of the World Wide Web in education in Australia. The focus has been about providing quality educational resources, services and adequate bandwidth for accessing information. However, the uses of the web have changed considerably, with innovative ways of harnessing the new technologies and new thinking about web services which is being called Web 2.0 and is changing the ways that people think, work and learn. Interactive Personal Technologies (IPN) which have been developed more recently have seen remarkable take-up in Australia and globally. This paper and presentation argue that …

Addressing The Education Of Boys: A Community Of Practice Approach, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, Greg Neal

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

The Boys’ Education Lighthouse Project (BELS) has enabled clusters of schools throughout Australia to identify, intervene, research, and report on initiatives to improve boys’ learning outcomes. In this paper we apply a community of practice model to analyse the BELS Project and consider knowledge building through student and teacher learning as the practice of the community in question. Clusters have focused on initiating new literacy programs, modifying teaching practice, introducing male role models or using ICT to improve learning outcomes. The four clusters considered in this paper show differing levels of development as communities of practice on a national scale, …

Teachers As Designers In Computer-Supported Communities Of Practice, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

School classes can be conceptualized as bounded communities of practice made up of teachers and students working together to build knowledge. Teachers make design decisions about physical and virtual spaces supported by information and communications technologies, and about curriculum. Design influences how students go about their work, and their learning outcomes, but its processes are rarely observed. This paper, based on observations and conversations in schools, explores how teachers engage in designing learning environments. It argues that while most teachers display leadership in design decisions for their classes, they should build on this experience to influence policy and become more …

A Report To The Queensland Studies Authority : Assessment Approaches In Queensland Senior Science Syllabuses, Gabrielle Matters

Dr Gabrielle Matters

This commissioned paper deals with appropriate assessment in senior science subjects in Queensland. The terms of reference were: To investigate the theoretical underpinnings of the two approaches to criteria-based and standards-referenced assessment in the Queensland senior science syllabuses; To make recommendations as to which approach is the more applicable in the current context; and To model the proposed approach, and provide advice about implementation.