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Full-Text Articles in Education
Determining The Validity And Reliability Of An Instrument Designed To Measure Metacognitive Behaviours, Anne L. Martin
Determining The Validity And Reliability Of An Instrument Designed To Measure Metacognitive Behaviours, Anne L. Martin
Theses : Honours
This project was designed to study the role of metacognition in mathematical problem solving. More specifically, it was designed to determine the validity and reliability of an instrument proposed to identify metacognitive behaviours in Year 7 children solving problems. The instrument was used to analyse audio tapes of pairs of students working on a non-routine problem (i.e., a problem that cannot be solved solely by the direct application of the basic operations). Analysis of the audio tapes involved categorizing metacognitive decisions as: orientation, organization, execution, and verification behaviours. A "cognitive-metacognitive" framework (Garofalo & Lester, 1985) was used as a basis …
Strategies In Learning Japanese As A Second Language In Secondary School, Sharon Gay Ainsworth
Strategies In Learning Japanese As A Second Language In Secondary School, Sharon Gay Ainsworth
Theses : Honours
Strategies used by learners of Japanese as a second language were examined. A total of 26 students, seven male and seven female students in Year 8 and six male and six female students in Year 11 in secondary education from two single sex schools were surveyed to investigate preferred language learning strategies. The instrument used was the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (Oxford 1990). Six language learning strategy categories were used to classify sample responses. Subjects were also interviewed individually to find out what strategies they used in classroom and non-classroom settings. Students maintained a diary for a six week …
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 …
Teaching For Conceptual Change And Conceptual Discrimination With Year 8 Science Students: An Exploratory Study Of The Topic 'Respiration', S. Morgillo
Theses : Honours
Research has shown that despite formal education, secondary and tertiary students hold a host of misconceptions about respiration. This exploratory study investigated whether a four phase conceptual change teaching strategy could overcome conceptual problems typically associated with respiration, in a Year 8 science class from a school in Perth, Western Australia. The strategy consisted of a Conceptual Awareness Phase, an Exposition Phase, a Misconception Awareness Phase and an Application Phase. Two-tier multiple choice test items used in previous studies to identify misconceptions about respiration were also used in this study, together with interviews. The encouraging results suggest that the implemented …
A Study Of The Benefits Of Reflection By Journal Writing In Mathematical Learning And Attitudes In The Primary School, Sally Edmonds
A Study Of The Benefits Of Reflection By Journal Writing In Mathematical Learning And Attitudes In The Primary School, Sally Edmonds
Theses : Honours
This descriptive study examines journal writing for the purpose of identifying aspects of children's mathematical reflective ability. It was hypothesised that encouragement to engage with the process of mathematics by reflective writing would reveal and assist learning, and give children a vehicle through which they could express their attitudes about the mathematics they were learning. The aim of this study was to find answers to the following question: How does the keeping of a mathematical journal reveal children's understandings of the mathematics they are learning? Other questions related to the study were: -What evidence is there from the journals about …
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 …
Sex-Related Differences In Autonomous Learning Behaviours And Mathematics Achievement, Laura Beahan
Sex-Related Differences In Autonomous Learning Behaviours And Mathematics Achievement, Laura Beahan
Theses : Honours
The autonomous learning behaviour model proposed by Fennema and Peterson (1985a, 1985b) hypothesises that sex- related differences in mathematics are a result of sex-related differences in autonomous learning behaviours. Autonomous learning behaviours include choosing to engage in high-level tasks, preferring to work independently on such tasks and persisting at them. The purpose of this study was to investigate sex-related differences in autonomous learning behaviours and to determine any relationship between the presence of these behaviours and achievement in mathematics. Twelve students studying the Year 1 unit "Foundations of Mathematics" were selected for the study, including two males and two females …
The Impact Of Dramatic Improvisational Strategies On The Oral Comprehension Skills Of Children With A Low Socio-Economic Background, Heather A. Timms
The Impact Of Dramatic Improvisational Strategies On The Oral Comprehension Skills Of Children With A Low Socio-Economic Background, Heather A. Timms
Theses : Honours
Children with a low socio-economic background frequently fail to reach a high level of scholastic performance during their school years. The school milieu is a potential contributor to this scenario, as schools are generally designed for the attributes, needs, and skill levels that are characteristic of children from middle socio-economic backgrounds. As a result, these children require specific intervention to enable them to function within this 'alien' system. Drama offers unique and exciting possibilities in this field. Previous research endorses the use of improvisational strategies for this specific purpose; and the theories propounded by learning and language theorists and drama …
The Improvement Of The Teaching Of Informational Writing: A Study Of Six Teachers, Lisbeth Berridge
The Improvement Of The Teaching Of Informational Writing: A Study Of Six Teachers, Lisbeth Berridge
Theses : Honours
The purpose of this study was to focus on the progressive stages through which six teachers moved in their efforts to improve children's writing of informational texts. An action research approach was used to control and monitor the work of the researcher and the six teachers as they sought to improve their classroom practice in the teaching of writing. The essential features of the approach were for the teachers to collaborate with the researcher in: a) discussing their problems and in devising suitable solutions; b) formulating a working hypothesis; c) working out an appropriate plan comprised of the steps of …
Selecting Content For An Introductory Training Course In Industrial Relations, Helen Handmer
Selecting Content For An Introductory Training Course In Industrial Relations, Helen Handmer
Theses : Honours
A nine-member panel with acknowledged expertise across a broad range of industrial relations interests made up the respondent population. Panelists opinions were collected, summarised, then re-submitted to the panel with an invitation to review their opinions in the light of the group summary. This process was repeated three times -the first consisting of individual progressively structured interviews, the other two being written surveys. A high level of consensus was achieved, both in ;1 content selections and in the reasons for choosing such topics. This resulted in the development of a course outline consisting of the following major topics - historical …
An Investigation Of The Use Of Verbalization To Improve Representational Drawing Performance, Patricia Waters
An Investigation Of The Use Of Verbalization To Improve Representational Drawing Performance, Patricia Waters
Theses : Honours
Drawing is a fundamental skill for the creation of art. This investigation set out to discover whether or not the application of verbalization to an efficient drawing strategy increased students' perceptual observation skills to enhance representational drawing ability. The study group consisted of 20 Year 8 art students from a northern suburbs coastal secondary school in Perth. Their ages ranged from 12 to 14 years. They were randomly divided into two groups, experimental and control. The pretest and posttest drawings of the students from both groups were analyzed by four expert judges using an evaluation guide to determine the accuracy …
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 Evaluation Of Writing In Unit Curriculum English, David Sharp
The Evaluation Of Writing In Unit Curriculum English, David Sharp
Theses : Honours
The assessment and grading of writing in Unit Curriculum English plays a major role in the determination of a student's summative, and hence, public, letter grade. Through teachers' adherence to the assessment and grading procedures for writing in Unit curriculum English, the Ministry of Education lay claims on comparability and statewide standards. The claim warranted the investigation of the guidelines and procedures used. A review of literature on the evaluation of writing was conducted. In order that local application and relevance be possible, the holistic mode of evaluating writing was focused on. Problems were identified in the research concerning score …
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 …
A Survey Of Computer Usage In Year 11 And 12 Accounting In Western Australian Secondary Government Schools, Grazyna Critch
A Survey Of Computer Usage In Year 11 And 12 Accounting In Western Australian Secondary Government Schools, Grazyna Critch
Theses : Honours
Computer technology has changed the process of accounting and as a result computer usage has become an essential skill for the accountant. Consequently, computer applications are advocated in the accounting curriculum, the vocational rationale verified by virtue of the fact that the accounting profession itself is calling for computer training as part of accounting education. Although there is widespread agreement about the need for computer usage within accounting education, there is often a dichotomy between the educational goal and its application in practice. This is because computer usage in accounting is not without problems; while there are many factors which …
An Investigation Of Art Teachers' And Art Students' Perceptions Of An Art Gallery Visit, Eliza Leano
An Investigation Of Art Teachers' And Art Students' Perceptions Of An Art Gallery Visit, Eliza Leano
Theses : Honours
The literature on museum and art gallery visits by schools draws attention to the fact that schools and other educational institutions may perceive the art gallery as a place for learning and education whilst other groups in society do not. The literature also draws attention to internal and external factors related to the school and art gallery context which may contribute to the intended and unintended outcomes of art gallery visits by schools. To date, no research has been conducted into the effects of a single visit to the Art Gallery of Western Australia (ACWA) en secondary art students. Art …
Attitudes Towards Assessment In Art, Sheila Posner
Attitudes Towards Assessment In Art, Sheila Posner
Theses : Honours
Assessment in the field of Art Education has always been difficult. The subjective element has caused art to be considered a controversial subject in school as far as assessment is concerned. Different educators have argued for and against the necessity of assessment. The literature has shown that if art is to be taken seriously in school, it must be subjected to formal assessment. It was found that while there were studies about evaluation and assessment in art and studies about attitudes to art, little has been written on attitudes to art assessment. This research set out to examine the attitudes …