Education Commons^™

Using Wikis To Facilitate Communication For Rural, Remote, And At-Risk Practicum Students, Serena Davie, Richard G. Berlach

Serena Davie

The practicum experience is often highlighted as the core of any pre-service teacher education course. Unless effective communication mechanisms can be established to support students in off-campus locations, the practicum experience can be compromised if students feel isolated and abandoned when faced with difficulties. Such a scenario may be particularly relevant to students in remote placements or for those who have been identified as being at-risk. The main goal of this project was to determine whether a Wiki could be an effective tool for facilitating meaningful dialogue between the university, school-based personnel and students during the practicum. A Wiki was …

Towards Excellence In Mathematics Teaching: Forging Links Between National Curriculum And Professional Standards Initiatives, Hilary Hollingsworth, Catherine Pearn

Catherine Pearn

No abstract provided.

Thelma Perso And Colleen Hayward, Teaching Indigenous Students: Cultural Awareness And Classroom Strategies For Improving Learning Outcomes, Jacynta Krakouer, Troy Meston

Jacynta Krakouer

Assessment And Reporting – Key Concepts, Ray Philpot

Ray Philpot

A one-day workshop on the key concepts of assessment and reporting across the subjects of English, Mathematics and Science presented to teachers. Included how to use good quality assessments to monitor student growth and to inform teaching and learning.

Professional Learning Communities: What Are The Important Questions For An Educator To Ensure A Sustainable Community?, Catherine Pearn

Catherine Pearn

No abstract provided.

Supporting University Teachers Create Pedagogically Sound Learning Environments Using Learning Designs And Learning Objects, Susan Bennett, Shirley Agostinho, Lori Lockyer, Barry Harper, Jason Lukasiak

Professor Lori Lockyer

With Information and Communication Technology (ICT) becoming mainstream in the higher education sector, university teachers are faced with the ongoing challenge of incorporating Internet technologies into their teaching practices. At the same time there is significant pressure to raise the quality of university teaching to make it more student-centred and more flexible. This climate requires that university teachers examine their instructional strategies to offer high quality learning opportunities. Reuse, through the sharing of digital learning resources and through the adaptation of learning designs that model expert practice, offer strategies to support university teachers in this change process. Whilst online repositories …

Investigating University Teachers' Design Practices, Sue Bennett, Shirley Agostinho, Lori Lockyer, Lisa Kosta, Jennifer Jones, Barry Harper

Professor Lori Lockyer

No abstract provided.

The Potential Of Perspectivism For Science Education, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

Many science teachers are presented with the challenge of characterising science as a dynamic, human endeavour. Perspectivism, as a hermeneutic philosophy of science, has the potential to be a learning tool for teachers as they elucidate the complex nature of science. Developed earlier by Nietzsche and others, perspectivism has recently re-emerged in the context of the philosophy of science in the work of Ronald Giere. Giere presents a compelling case that scientific theories and scientific observation are perspectival by using science itself. There are many tangible examples already present in science textbooks which, when approached in a certain way, offer …

How Do You Do What You Do? Examining The Development Of Quality Teaching In Using Gca In Pete Teachers, Gregory Forrest, Jan Wright, Phil Pearson

Greg J Forrest

Background: The move for educational reform to improve student outcomes and learning has been the subject of ongoing debate over the last 15 years in Australia and internationally. In Australia, Game Centred Approaches (GCA) such as Game Sense have been positioned by advocates as having the capacity to achieve these characteristics in physical education. However, despite some 15 years of exposure to, and professional development in, GCA in Australia, there has been very little change in teaching practices in games and sports. Purpose: The paper will focus on physical education teacher education (PETE) undergraduates' attitudes to games and sports and …

Carving A Space For Themselves: Evolving Roles And Perspectives In Supervising Pre-Service Teachers, Zeynep Isik-Ercan

Zeynep Isik-Ercan

No abstract provided.

Towards Excellence In Mathematics Teaching: Forging Links Between National Curriculum And Professional Standards Initiatives, Hilary Hollingsworth, Catherine Pearn

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

No abstract provided.

What Is The Value Of Educational Technologies In Schools?: Initial Findings From The International Research Project ‘Measuring The Value Of Educational Technologies In Schools’, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle

Understanding the costs as well as the value of educational technologies in schools is important for school leaders to be able to strategically lead school development processes. This paper outlines some of the findings from the first case studies emerging from the international project, Measuring the value of educational technologies in schools, involving a school in each of USA, UK and Australia. The Measuring the value of educational technologies in schools research project is examining the relationships that exist in schools between educational technologies or ‘tangible information technology (IT) assets’, and ‘intangible assets’ such as the capabilities of teachers and …

Towards A Moving School, John Fleming, Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Explores how schools become 'moving' schools, with teachers who have high levels of professional accountability, taking personal and collective responsibility for improving students' learning and their own teaching methods.

Innovation In Practice : From Consumption To Creation, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This paper focuses on three aspects of innovation: its purpose of supporting lifelong learning during and after schooling, the ways that information and communications technology (ICT) supports learning and knowledge creation, and digital portfolios as an example of learning and innovation. Digital portfolios, containers of multimedia forms of evidence of activities, achievements and reflections, are just one way in which technology can support lifelong learning and the creation and sharing of knowledge.

New Roles For Knowledge Builders : What Teachers Tell Us About Working In The 21st Century., Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

The author explores the current roles of teachers in classrooms using computers, and identifies ways in which anticipated changes in practice are actually occurring.

Elaborating A Model Of Teacher Professional Growth, David Clarke, Hilary Hollingsworth

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

This paper details a model of teacher professional growth and relates the model to the research data on which the model is empirically founded. A key feature of the model is its inclusion of four analytic domains in close correspondence to those employed by Guskey (Educational Researcher 15(5), 1986) and others, but the model proposed in this paper identifies the specific mechanisms by which change in one domain is associated with change in another. The interconnected, non-linear structure of the model enabled the identification of particular “change sequences” and “growth networks”, giving recognition to the idiosyncratic and individual nature of …

Graphics Calculators In Victorian Secondary Schools: Teacher Perceptions Of Use, Alla Routitsky

Dr Alla Routitsky

Since Victoria permitted the use of graphics calculators in final external examinations, their use has become quite widespread. A survey of secondary schools undertaken to gauge the response of teachers to these tools, provides information on how teachers view graphics calculator use in secondary mathematics courses.

Assessing Principals' Interpersonal Behaviour With Their Teachers, John Cresswell, D Fisher

Dr John Cresswell

In the past 25 years much attention has been given to the development and use of instruments to assess the qualities of the classroom and school environment from the perspectives of students and teachers. This paper describes the development, validation and application of an instrument, the Principal Interaction Questionnaire, to measure principals' interpersonal behaviour in a school. The new instrument was based on the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction, first devised in The Netherlands. It contains eight scales to measure various aspects of a principal's interpersonal behaviour such as Directive behaviour, Strict/Inflexible behaviour and Understanding behaviour. The questionnaire was sent to …

Profiling Esl Children: How Teachers Interpret And Use National And State Assessment Frameworks, M Breen, C Barratt-Pugh, B Derewianka, H House, C Hudson, Tom Lumley, M Rohl

Dr Tom Lumley

No abstract provided.

Mathematics, Creating The Future: Proceedings Of The 16th Biennial Conference Of The Australian Association Of Mathematics Teachers, Melbourne, July 1997

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

No abstract provided.

School Focused Professional Development And The Interaction Of Teachers, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This study is concerned with school focused professional development in Fairhills High School. Data from teachers in the school has been analysed in order to provide a basis for planning a professional development program in the light of government initiatives. In particular, the study analyses the communication patterns within the school in an attempt to ascertain the extent of collaboration which occurs between teachers, and the factors which influence professional interaction. Recommendations for professional development at Fairhills High School are based on discussion of the data. In addition, the study suggests implications for all schools. The results reported in this …

Assessment At Fairhills High School: A Case Study Of The Process Of Change, Marilyn Huber, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Like many schools Fairhills High School uses reports to parents which indicate achievement grades as well as providing a written comment. In 184 discussions began in the English faculty about ways of improving report-writing. Teachers wrote discussion papers and awareness was raised. This was one step on the road to change.

Affirmative Action: A Case Study, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This paper explores what is a timely and overdue issue in educational administration: women's access to positions of responibility. Through a case study the author provides us with some insights on how the issues were played out in one school.