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Full-Text Articles in Education
The Effect Of Cross-Linked Learning On Visual Arts Education, Cassandra Zervos
The Effect Of Cross-Linked Learning On Visual Arts Education, Cassandra Zervos
Theses: Doctorates and Masters
This study examined how computer technology had an effect on a Year 9 visual arts education class with regard to the Western Australian four Arts Learning Outcomes (WA 4ALO). The research was administered concurrently with a learning approach called Cross-Linked Leaming (CLL) (Zervos, 1997), which consisted of three components: (1) the subject (e.g., visual arts education in relation to the WA 4ALO); (2) the learner (i.e., a target group and how they learn); and (3) the tool (e.g., computer technology). This study addressed the problem of how to promote learning in visual arts education, especially with visual arts theory. Historically, …
An Examination Of Socially Constructed Whole Group Storybook Reading In Three Pre Primary Classrooms, Anne Drabble
An Examination Of Socially Constructed Whole Group Storybook Reading In Three Pre Primary Classrooms, Anne Drabble
Theses: Doctorates and Masters
This study examines the socially constructed context of whole group storybook reading in pre primary classrooms. The study is centred in the shared communications that occur between pre primary teachers and students before, during and after the storybook reading. In particular, insights are sought on the nature and extent of the pre primary teachers' and the pre primary students' communicative contributions and the opportunity provided for the inclusion of personal knowledge and personal experience in the communication. Whether there is a change in the nature of the contributions over time is also examined. The study seeks to extend current understanding …
Developing Generic Skills For Tertiary Students In An Online Learning Environment, Joseph Luca
Developing Generic Skills For Tertiary Students In An Online Learning Environment, Joseph Luca
Theses: Doctorates and Masters
Increasingly, higher education institutions are being asked by industry, government and funding bodies to produce graduates with versatile generic skills as well as subject knowledge and expertise. This is causing a major reappraisal of higher education institutions purpose, learning outcomes and research activities. Many institutions are experiencing problems in implementing effective teaching and learning strategies to promote the development of these skills. The study sought to investigate ways of developing students' generic skills through the design and implementation of a learning environment that incorporated three key learning principles - authenticity, self-regulation and reflection. These were integrated into a course design …
The Use Of Scaffolding To Improve Student Learning With Interactive Multimedia Programs In Chemistry, Brian T. Grimes
The Use Of Scaffolding To Improve Student Learning With Interactive Multimedia Programs In Chemistry, Brian T. Grimes
Theses: Doctorates and Masters
The process of balancing and interpreting chemical equations involves the consideration of an abstract, non-observable phenomenon coupled with multi-level representation. Students find it conceptually demanding to visualise the particulate level of matter and hence experience difficulty in balancing chemical equations with understanding. Interactive multimedia with dynamic computer graphics can provide students with accurate, concrete representations of the particulate nature of matter. Such tools, when coupled with appropriate implementation strategies, have the potential to improve learning about chemical reactions. The study investigated the use of scaffolding techniques to enhance and direct student learning when using an interactive multimedia software (IMM) program, …
Communicative Interaction In The English Language Classroom : A Field Study Of A Western Teacher As Change Agent In Two Chinese Primary Schools In Zhong Shan, People's Republic Of China, Monika Trittibach-Andres
Communicative Interaction In The English Language Classroom : A Field Study Of A Western Teacher As Change Agent In Two Chinese Primary Schools In Zhong Shan, People's Republic Of China, Monika Trittibach-Andres
Theses: Doctorates and Masters
The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of a 'Change Agent' in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Chinese primary schools, and to determine whether changes were perceivable in the number and type of communicative interactions that occurred in EFL classrooms. The Department of Education of Zhong Shan, People's Republic of China, welcomed this research as the communicative approach to teaching English is sanctioned by the authorities. However, the formality of the actual classroom in primary schools often precludes much use of this method. An Investigation of the influence of a Westerner in the role …
Development And Evaluation Of A Scaffolding Guide To Help Lower Secondary Science Students Use The Internet To Search For, Select And Organise Information For The Construction Of Personal Text, Andrea Tunks
Theses: Doctorates and Masters
The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a scaffolding guide to help lower secondary students use the internet to search for and organise information for the construction of personal text. An intact Year 10 science class participated in the study. Data were collected using the scaffolding guide completed by students, work samples, a questionnaire designed to elicit from students their perceptions about the research guide, observational notes made by the researcher and debriefing interviews conducted with the teacher and with a group of students. The study identified the skills needed by students to search for and select …
Visual Arts History And Visual Arts Criticism : Applications In Middle Schooling, Lisa Paris
Visual Arts History And Visual Arts Criticism : Applications In Middle Schooling, Lisa Paris
Theses: Doctorates and Masters
Visual arts history and criticism occupy central positions in visual arts curriculum statements in Western Australia. This status is sustained by the belief that the study of visual arts history and criticism actively contributes to the education of the student as a "whole person". In reality however, rather than attending to the holistic education of students, the application of visual arts history and criticism in Western Australian schools tends to be pragmatic and instrumental - visual arts teachers often use visual art works as "learning aids" because they don't have time, interest or experience in dealing with visual arts works …
The Nature And Provision Of Instruction In Summary Writing For Students From Years 7-9, D. A. Bergin
The Nature And Provision Of Instruction In Summary Writing For Students From Years 7-9, D. A. Bergin
Theses: Doctorates and Masters
As students progress through our education system they are increasingly asked to independently comprehend and compose informational material to show evidence of their ability to use and learn from texts. One skill which facilitates students' abilities to learn from texts is summarizing. Research into summarizing suggests it is a complex skill needing explicit and systematic instruction. However, materials to which teachers turn to for advice on strategies and instruction do not always reflect the findings of research. This being the case, this study set out to investigate what teachers understood about the nature of summarizing and the extent to which …
Investigating Conditions For Higher Order Thinking In Telematics Environments, Catherine Mcloughlin
Investigating Conditions For Higher Order Thinking In Telematics Environments, Catherine Mcloughlin
Theses: Doctorates and Masters
Telematics, or audiographic conferencing, enables synchronous communication via telecommunications. A telephone link and computer communications allow students in distributed classrooms to participate in an extended, or virtual classroom. Telematics is widely used as an instructional medium for the delivery of curricula to students in rural and remote parts of Western Australia. Previous studies of learning meditated by this technology have shown limitations on the forms of interactivity, tasks and learner engagement. Students typically have been found to assume a passive role, often listening to a distant and invisible teacher, but not engaging in cognitively demanding tasks. The tendency for teachers …
The Mediation Of Teaching Through Central Curriculum Controls: Four Case Studies Of History Teaching In Year 12 In Western Australia, Edmund Z. Mazibuko
The Mediation Of Teaching Through Central Curriculum Controls: Four Case Studies Of History Teaching In Year 12 In Western Australia, Edmund Z. Mazibuko
Theses: Doctorates and Masters
The work of scholars on pedagogical content knowledge has drawn attention to the importance of mastery of subject matter. Good teachers are able to make clever transitions between their knowledge of content and their pedagogy. The examples of these transitions in the literature usually assume that teachers have a large measure of control over the content: lessons are exploratory and concerned with understanding the deeper meanings and fundamental concepts that underpin the discipline base. The reality of most classrooms is otherwise; teachers are guided by syllabus statements, textbooks and end of year examinations. Sequence and pace of instruction are often …
The Continuity Of Literacy Development: Kindergarten To Year 1, Lennie Barblett
The Continuity Of Literacy Development: Kindergarten To Year 1, Lennie Barblett
Theses : Honours
The purpose of this study was to investigate the continuity of strategies and provisions that teachers use to develop children's literacy in kindergarten and Year 1. In two metropolitan Ministry of Education districts, 27 kindergarten and 25 Year 1 teachers completed a questionnaire concerning issues relating to literacy development in these two educational settings. From this population four teachers were interviewed to investigate areas of interest that arose from the questionnaire. The results showed that kindergarten and Year 1 teachers differed in the selection of strategies and provisions to promote literacy in young children. There was a clear delineation between …
Is Anaphoric Resolution Instruction More Effective Than Existing Instruction At Improving The Reading Comprehension Achievement Of Secondary Students With Poor Reading Comprehension?, Christian Busing
Theses : Honours
This study examined the effect of teaching anaphoric resolution skills on the reading comprehension of Year 10 students with poor reading comprehension. Two direct teaching programmes, an anaphoric resolution programme (A.R.Programme) and a reading comprehension skills programme based on the Unit curriculum objectives of the Ministry of Education of Western Australia (U.C. Programme), were developed and taught to two groups of eleven Year 10 poor reading comprehenders. The two groups were pretested and posttested for anaphoric resolution skill and reading comprehension achievement, and the increases in mean scores were compared for significant differences using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The Anova …
Using Hypermedia To Improve The Dissemination And Accessibility Of Syllabus Documents With Particular Reference To Primary Mathematics, Alistair B. Campbell
Using Hypermedia To Improve The Dissemination And Accessibility Of Syllabus Documents With Particular Reference To Primary Mathematics, Alistair B. Campbell
Theses: Doctorates and Masters
The fundamental question that this study set out to investigate was: Can the advantages of hypermedia be extended to curriculum materials that are for the sole use of teachers? To consider this question, three areas needed to be investigated: hypermedia (the medium); teachers (the target) and curriculum documents (the content). Hypermedia has a long history dating back to Bush (1986) who in 1945 imagined his Memex system as building information trails between ideas. However, it was not until the mid 1980s that technology caught up with the theory and hypermedia came of age. The evaluation of hypermedia documents is still …
The Effect(S) Of Word Processing Software On The Equality Of The Composing Process, Product, And Attitudes Of Adult Academic Esl (English As A Second Language) Writers, L. J. Oliver
Theses: Doctorates and Masters
The focus of this study was on the effect of word processing on the quality of the composing process, product, and attitudes of adult academic ESL writers. Twenty adult ESL students, comprising an ‘intact’ EAP (English for Academic Purposes) group, completed a number of written assignments as part of their ESL unit, using either word processing or conventional ‘pen and paper’ composition methods. Their handwritten and word processed work was analysed and compared through the use of an holistic/analytic scale of writing quality. In addition to this analysis of the ‘finished product’, texts were analysed in terms of the frequency, …
An Evaluation Of The Kangaroo Creek Gang Drug Education Package, Andrew Thompson
An Evaluation Of The Kangaroo Creek Gang Drug Education Package, Andrew Thompson
Theses : Honours
The purposes of this study were (a) to analyse the implementation of the Kangaroo Creek Gang Drug Education Package (KCGDEP) (Kangaroo Creek Gang, 1988b), and (b) to evaluate teachers' perceptions of the KCGDEP in terms of its goals, format, processes and outcomes. The KCGDEP was found to have been implemented in 24% of the primary schools surveyed (N= 100), with a mean of 5.1% of teachers in these schools using the package. Teachers' perceptions of the KCGDEP were analysed through the administration of a curriculum evaluation questionnaire, adapted from Piper (1976, p. 83-89), and teacher interviews. This process was carried …
The Effects Of Algebra Blocks On Student Achievement In Algebra, Bernard S. Roberts
The Effects Of Algebra Blocks On Student Achievement In Algebra, Bernard S. Roberts
Theses : Honours
This study examined the effects of Algebra Blocks on student understanding for the concepts of binomial expansion and trinomial factorisation. The purpose of the study was to illuminate the use and effectiveness of Algebra' Blocks in the teaching-learning process. Two year nine classes with similar mathematics levels were taught binomial expansions and trinomial factorisations. The experimental class was taught using Algebra Blocks whilst the untreated class acted as the control group. After eight lessons of instruction, both classes were tested on their understanding of both concepts. To provide qualitative data, three randomly chosen students from each class were interviewed on …