Education Commons^™

Raising Edith: The Transformation Of A New Generation University: Edith Cowan University 1995-2005, Ken Spillman

Research outputs pre 2011

Adaptation is an important theme in ECU's history between 1995 and 2005, but the university's transmutation in that decade was revolutionary as well as evolutionary. Organisational reform was deliberate, broad, swift and consequential. It was accomplished in the face of significant resistance. The impact was measurable. ECU was ineradicably altered by means of a change management operation which, in the strictly corporate world, might well be described as 'reengineering'- a radical redesign process to 'achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance'.²

Curriculum As Praxis: Ensuring Quality Technical Education In Singapore For The 21st Century, Tiew Ming Yek, Dawn Penney

Research outputs pre 2011

Singapore, a small island city-state, has achieved notable economic advancement within 40 years since independence. It is fast becoming a global city and a knowledge society. In education and training, the Singapore system has evolved from its British roots. Macro performance indicators of participation rate, literacy rate and mean years of schooling, show that the current education system can be regarded as highly successful. The contributions of general education as well as technical education and training1 to the overall success of the nation are often cited. Technical education and training, which is globally perceived as having a lower status than …

Pastoral Care In Education, Lydia Hearn, Renee Campbell-Pope, Joanne House, Donna Cross

Research outputs pre 2011

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. During the past decade, there has been growing recognition the school environment plays a major role in the social and emotional competence and wellbeing of children. As a consequence, increasing national and international commitment has been directed towards the development of Health Promoting Schools2, with efforts being made to assess how curriculum and pastoral practice can best contribute to students’ social, emotional, physical and moral wellbeing. Within Australia, the National Safe Schools Framework3 has set as a key priority the importance of achieving a shared vision of physical and emotional safety and wellbeing for all students …

Rags To Riches And Conflict On The Playground: Contrasting Narratives Of E-Learning In An Educational Faculty, Geoffrey Lautenbach, Duan Van Der Westhuizen, Joseph Luca

Research outputs pre 2011

We have argued before that personal learning experiences and, to a degree, the teaching experiences of lecturers could be seen as directive indicators of their e-learning uptake. We have also proposed that their 'narrative situatedness' is where we believe reasoning about engagement with educational technology can be found. Through narrative analysis of a number of interviews conducted with lecturers we have identified contrasting 'stories' from two lecturers who started out using technology in their teaching at around about the same time within an Education Faculty. These two narratives provide insight into why the one lecturer (Ellen) succeeded in her e-learning …

A Technology-Facilitated Learning Design Supporting Quality Assurance For Off-Campus And Off-Shore Course, Ron Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper describes a teaching approach that uses technology to support and encourage student learning in a first year university unit. At the same time, the technology provides a powerful support for quality assuring the delivery of the unit in off-campus mode and offshore modes. The paper describes the online system and its supports for learning. It also discusses the opportunities that this and similar applications of technology can afford the quality-assurance processes associated with teaching.

Online Student Contracts To Promote Metacognitive Development, Mark Mcmahon, Joseph Luca

Research outputs pre 2011

Knowing about one’s own cognitive ability, and how best to use this ability in understanding new educational content, solving problems and making effective decisions is one of the holy grails of education! Metacognition is widely perceived as being integral to effective learning and much literature and research has been devoted to this area. However online learning environments that effectively support the development of students’ metacognition are rare and difficult to develop. This paper describes one component (the student contract) of an online learning environment designed to support the development of metacognition through a cycle of planning, monitoring and evaluation. Students …

Ronline: Mediating Artefacts To Support Technology Facilitated Learning, Ron Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper describes a suite of tools designed to provide teachers with generic content-free online learning activities that support interactive and engaging learning. The paper describes the tools and the results from a survey conducted among users that sought to explore the utility of the system and their perceptions of the learning opportunities afforded by the tools. Feedback revealed a number of learning advantages were gained from use of the tools as mediating artefacts. In particular the teachers appreciated the minimal effort required to create customised technology-based settings for their students.

Reusable And Shareable Learning Objects Supporting Students Learning Of Data Structures In University Courses, Kacha Chansilp, Ron Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Best Practice In Online Assessment: Principles, Processes And Outcomes, Catherine E Mcloughlin, Joseph Luca

Research outputs pre 2011

Instead of using narrowly defined learning outcomes tested by examinations, technology offers a total environment where real life skills, such as written and verbal communication, collaboration and team work can be assessed by the team and tutor by giving learners multiple channels of expression, such as visualisation, multimedia presentations, audio and video resources. Thus, information technologies are closely inter-woven with the quality of the learning experience, and can be used to create authentic tasks for assessment. The paper presents several examples of authentic assesment utising information and communications technology.

Aboriginal Students And The Western Australian Literacy And Numeracy Assessment, Sean Gorman

Research outputs pre 2011

Since the introduction of standardised testing in Western Australia with the Western Australian Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (WALNA) it has become quite evident that Indigenous students' performance is well below that of non-Indigenous students.

As WALNA is now very much a part of the pedagogical landscape steps must be taken to ensure that those students who are not reaching the benchmark scores or the MSE requirements do progress...

The Trial Of Learning Objects: Exploring The Design And Delivery Of Vte Courses With Learning Objects, Ron Oliver, Mark Mcmahon, Peter Higgs, Rose Shum, Lisa Wait, Domenic Lou

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper describes a project undertaken in the Australian vocational training and education (VTE) sector that sought to investigate success factors associated with the design and delivery of courses using learning objects (LOs). The project explored the strategies used by three teachers as they used digital repositories to discover learning objects, and then applied the objects through a content management system to create online courses. The paper reports the factors that were found to influence the online learning settings that resulted and teachers' perceptions of LOs as building blocks for online courses.

Developing A Positive Experience Of Introductory Information Systems For Women At Two Australasian Universities, Rosemary Stockdale, Susan Stoney

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper examines how academics can contribute to encouraging greater uptake of IS majors by women. Using a qualitative reflective approach we identify the perceptions and experiences of female undergraduates taking introductory IS courses in two universities, one in Australia and one in New Zealand, and discuss ways in which to improve their learning experience. We examine ways to improve the delivery of introductory IS courses in order to make information systems more relevant and less dreary to women undergraduates. The paper concludes with some recommendations for marketing courses and areas of further research.

Information Systems In Western Australian Universities, Craig Standing, Janice Burn, Chad Lin

Research outputs pre 2011

Systems (IS) teaching and research within Western Australia (WA). A brief overview of the WA environment is followed by an exploration of teaching and research in the four main Universities. This is examined against the framework for the study and, in particular, the impact of social processes (Ariav et al, 1987; Klein et al, 1991) and local contingencies (Culnan et al, 1993; Checkland and Howell, 1998), which are found to be of relevance to historic developments.

Identifying The Challenges In Teaching Computer Science Topics Online, Yuwanuch Gulatee, Barbara Combes

Research outputs pre 2011

In an attempt to provide educational opportunities to the students who are working or have other constraints on their time, many universities are developing distance education programs. In the past decade, web technology has been adopted to assist learners with studying at a distance. However, distance learning in the field of computer science, such as studying programming languages, remains challenging to teach via the web medium. There is little evidence that the effectiveness of web-based learning includes a process to solve complex problems. REFERENCES IN AN ABSTRACT!? In particular it can be problematic for technical subjects to be taught online …

Mark-Up: Design And Evaluation Of An On-Line Annotation Tool To Support Metacognitive Development Of Reading Comprehension, Mark Mcmahon, Ron Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

The mutability of contemporary work practice requires graduates who can continue to develop in self-regulated ways. This paper describes research into design and evaluation of a product to assist learners in engaging in the metacognitive processes inherent in the domain of reading comprehension. Findings identified strengths of the product and a number of features that could be improved, as well as contextual factors that may impact on the implementation of such learning environments.

Is Role-Play An Effective Teaching Approach To Assist Tertiary Students To Improve Teamwork Skills, Joseph Luca, Deanna Heal

Research outputs pre 2011

Often student teams become dysfunctional as a result of inexperience and lack of prior knowledge. This exploratory study implements and evaluates a framework that attempts to scaffold teamwork skills through role-play activities. The review highlighted five essential teamwork skills that are supported with teaching materials. The results indicated that measuring change in team performance is difficult. However, the study showed that roleplay was an effective teaching approach and well received by the students.

Tackling Talk Through Action Learning, Rhonda Oliver, Yvonne Haig, Samantha Vanderford

Research outputs pre 2011

Tackling Talk Through Action Learning was a collaborative project involving teachers in both metropolitan and rural independent schools in Western Australia and a team of researchers from Edith Cowan University. The research was sponsored by the Association of Independent Schools of WA (AISWA) through its literacy funding. The teachers who volunteered to be involved in the project were guided in their investigation of the teaching and assessment of oral language based on an understanding of their students' oral language needs in the broader community. The teachers investigated how language is IJSed in their local area and what communication skills their …

Child-Centred Environments To Limit Early Aggression (Childhood Aggression Prevention (Cap) Project) Progress Report: Presented To The Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation, Child Health Promotion Research Centre, Edith Cowan University

Research outputs pre 2011

A growing body of evidence indicates that early intervention may be most effective in preventing the high health and social costs of violence, victimisation, and other outcomes of aggression. The Childhood Aggression Prevention (CAP) Project is a trial of a new classroom-based intervention designed to prevent problems associated with aggression and other problem behaviours in early-primary years students. The intervention was developed through a review of established and previously-evaluated programs with similar aims and through a formative study conducted previously by the Child Health Promotion Research Centre. The CAP Project aims to reduce overt physical and verbal aggression, but also …

Beyond Marks And Measurement: Developing Dynamic And Authentic Forms Of E-Assessment, Catherine E Mcloughlin, Joseph Luca

Research outputs pre 2011

E-learning has transformed both pedagogy and learning environments and a new generation of learners has emerged, who require immediacy, connection and personalised opportunities for both formal and informal learning. Instead of using narrowly defined learning outcomes tested by examinations, social software tools offer scope for social connection and self-governed assessment tasks such as critical inquiry, collaboration and team work, giving learners multiple channels of expression, and perspective taking. While social software tools can be closely inter-woven with learning management systems, and be used to scaffold authentic tasks for assessment, there remain design and pedagogical challenges. The paper critiques current practice …

Developing Multidisciplinary Teams Through Self-Assessment, Supported With Online Tools, Joseph Luca, Mark Mcmahon

Research outputs pre 2011

Teamwork skills and the ability to effectively collaborate with peers continue to be hailed as essential skills by employers and higher education funding authorities, and many employers require new graduates to demonstrate theses skills as part of the selection criteria. How then can we prepare graduates for this employment market that actively assesses teamwork and other generic skills such as communication, problem solving and leadership skills? This paper outlines an on-line learning environment that incorporates an self-assessment tool designed to assist students in developing understandings of themselves necessary in the selection of team roles and to provide a basis for …