Education Commons^™

Technological Issues For Computer-Based Assessment, Beno Csapó, John Ainley, Randy Bennett, Thibaud Latour, Nancy Law

Dr John Ainley

This chapter reviews the contribution of new information-communication technologies to the advancement of educational assessment. Improvements can be described in terms of precision in detecting the actual values of the observed variables, efficiency in collecting and processing information, and speed and frequency of feedback given to the participants and stakeholders. The chapter reviews previous research and development in two ways, describing the main tendencies in four continents (Asia, Australia, Europe and the US) as well as summarising research on how technology advances assessment in certain crucial dimensions (assessment of established constructs, extension of assessment domains, assessment of new constructs and …

Enhancing Education, Sheldon Rothman, David Slattery, Sarah Buckley, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

Iccs 2009 International Report: Civic Knowledge, Attitudes And Engagement Among Lower Secondary School Students In Thirty-Eight Countries., Wolfram Schulz, John Ainley, Julian Fraillon, David Kerr, Bruno Losito

Dr John Ainley

The International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) studied the ways in which countries prepare their young people to undertake their roles as citizens. ICCS was based on the premise that preparing students for citizenship roles involves helping them develop relevant knowledge and understanding and form positive attitudes toward being a citizen and participating in activities related to civic and citizenship education. These notions were elaborated in the ICCS framework, which was the first publication to emerge from ICCS (Schulz, Fraillon, Ainley, Losito, & Kerr, 2008).

Attitudes To School, Educational Intentions And Participations, Siek Khoo, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

No abstract provided.

Examining The Use Of Ict In Mathematics And Science Teaching, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

Australian science and mathematics teachers are leaders in the useof ICT in school education according to an international comparativestudy, and ACER is set to lead further research in this area.John Ainley explains.

Can Improving Working Memory Prevent Academic Difficulties? A School Based Randomised Controlled Trial., John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

Low academic achievement is common and is associated with adverse outcomes such as grade repetition, behavioural disorders and unemployment. The ability to accurately identify these children and intervene before they experience academic failure would be a major advance over the current 'wait to fail' model. Recent research suggests that a possible modifiable factor for low academic achievement is working memory, the ability to temporarily store and manipulate information in a 'mental workspace'. Children with working memory difficulties are at high risk of academic failure. It has recently been demonstrated that working memory can be improved with adaptive training tasks that …

Ict In The Teaching Of Science And Mathematics In Year 8 In Australia: Report From The Iea Second International Technology In Education Study (Sites) Survey, John Ainley, Frances Eveleigh, Chris Freeman, Kate O'Malley

Dr John Ainley

The IEA Second International Technology in Education Study (SITES) is an international comparative research program studying the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in education. Its central focus is on understanding how ICT affects the way teaching and learning takes place in schools. In many educational systems there is a desire to use ICT to support changes in teaching and learning and policies have been implemented to promote the use of ICT by equipping schools with computers and network connections, training teachers in the use of ICT and providing digital resources. Although there is a growing body of research …

Ict Literacy On Target, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

Australian students have a high level of technological literacy, but schools must continue to provide systematic and explicit teaching of information and communication technology, as John Ainley reports.

A Cultural Perspective On The Structure Of Student Interest In Science, John Ainley, Mary Ainley

Dr John Ainley

In this article, the authors examine the nature of interest in science as represented in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006 data. They discuss the interconnections between measures of knowledge, affect, and value as components of interest in science. Working from a perspective acknowledging that many of the models of motivation represented in the literature have been developed in Western countries, the authors investigated whether the ways that knowledge, affect, and value combine in the structure of students' interest in science might vary in line with historical and cultural traditions. Four countries were chosen to represent contrasting cultural …

Student Engagement With Science In Early Adolescence : The Contribution Of Enjoyment To Students' Continuing Interest In Learning About Science, John Ainley, Mary Ainley

Dr John Ainley

Recent research has expanded understanding of the contribution of emotions to student engagement and achievement. Achievement emotions can be conceptualized as general ways of responding to achievement settings or specific emotional states aroused during a specific learning activity. Emotion processes can be distinguished as positive or negative, activating or deactivating. Using data from an international survey of science achievement (PISA 2006; N > 400,000 15-year-old students from 57 countries), relations between the positive, activating achievement emotion of enjoyment and a number of variables that combine with enjoyment to define students’ engagement with learning science are examined. Previously, we reported that enjoyment …

The International Civic And Citizenship Education Study (Iccs), Wolfram Schulz, Julian Fraillon, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

The IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) investigated the ways in which young people are prepared for, and consequently ready and able to undertake their roles as citizens. Consequently, it studied student knowledge and understanding of civics and citizenship as well as affective and behavioral aspects of civics and citizenship such as value beliefs, attitudes, intended behaviors and current activities related to civic and citizenship education. Contextual data from education systems and schools were analyzed to help explain variation in these outcome variables. ICCS built on the previous IEA studies of civic education (Arnadeo et. al., 2002; Schulz …

Apprenticeships And Traineeships: Participation, Progress And Completion, John Ainley, Steve Holden, Sheldon Rothman

Dr John Ainley

This Briefing draws together findings from two LSAY Research Reports: Participation in and Progress through New Apprenticeships; and the VET Pathways Taken by School Leavers. They report on the characteristics of young people who become apprentices and trainees, their points of entry to, and patterns of progress, and completion of training.

What Can Australian Students Do With Computers?, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

This article describes the latest findings of the National Assessment Program- ICT Literacy, conducted by ACER for the Australian government, which show some mixed results in Australian students’ proficiency with computers.

What Can Australian Students Do With Computers?, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

This article describes the latest findings of the National Assessment Program- ICT Literacy, conducted by ACER for the Australian government, which show some mixed results in Australian students’ proficiency with computers.

National Assessment Program : Ict Literacy Years 6 & 10 Report 2008, John Ainley, Julian Fraillon, Chris Freeman

Dr John Ainley

This report presents the findings from the National Assessment Program –ICT literacy assessment conducted in 2008 under the auspices of the national council of education ministers, the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA). National samples of Year 6 and Year 10 students were assessed to determine their levels of confidence, creativity and skill development in the use of information and communication technologies. This report compares the results of Australian school students by state and territory and student sub-groups, and provides details of their achievement against an ICT literacy scale. It also enables the most recent …

The Measurement Of Language Background, Culture And Ethnicity For The Reporting Of Nationally Comparable Outcomes Of Schooling, John Ainley, Tracey Frigo, Gary Marks, Silvia Mccormack, Julie Mcmillan, Marion Meiers, Susan Zammit

Dr John Ainley

Report for the National Education Performance Monitoring Taskforce. MCEETYA (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs) .

The Measurement Of Socioeconomic Status For The Reporting Of Nationally Comparable Outcomes Of Schooling, Gary Marks, Julie Mcmillan, Frank Jones, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

The main purpose of this discussion paper is to develop a common definition of socioeconomic position to be used for reporting of nationally comparable outcomes of schooling within the context of the statement of National Goals for Schooling in the Twentyfirst Century. Report for the National Education Performance Monitoring Taskforce. MCEETYA

Policy Issues For Australia's Education Systems : Evidence From International And Australian Research, Gary Marks, Julie Mcmillan, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

This article discusses education policy issues in the context of empirical evidence. It notes that many commonly held beliefs about Australian education such as, the relative performance and participation levels of Australian students; the importance of socioeconomic background on educational outcomes both relative to other countries and changes over-time; gender differences in mathematics and science; and the labour market situation of early school leavers; are not supported by empirical research. Such findings have implications for government policies. The article also questions current policy directions toward increasing Year 12 participation, expanding both secondary and post-secondary vocational education and reducing class sizes. …

Resource Allocation In The Government Schools Of Australia And New Zealand: A Summary Of The Reports Of The Staffing And Resources Study, John Ainley, John P Keeves, Phil Mckenzie, Andrew Sturman

Dr John Ainley

Issues of resource allocation to schools extend beyond the question of class size. Patterns of resource allocation are likely to be influenced by three continuing debates. One involves balancing equity in school staffing with encouraging diversity in school programs. Another involves the encouragement of devolution of authority to schools against a tradition of centralized political responsibility. A third centres on the debate about priorities among the many purposes of schooling. Schools now fill an expanded role which matches widening community expectations. Support for that role has implications for the level and type of resources allocated to schools. This book is …

Principally For Principals: Resource Allocation And Government Schools In Australia And New Zealand, John Ainley, Phil Mckenzie

Dr John Ainley

No abstract provided.

Staffing Government Schools, John Ainley, Phil Mckenzie

Dr John Ainley

No abstract provided.

Subject Choice In Years 11 And 12, John Ainley, Lyn Robinson, Adrian Beavis, Gerald Elsworth, M Fleming

Dr John Ainley

This report describes patterns of subject enrolments by students in the final two years of secondary school and the relationship of those patterns with a range of personal, social and school characteristics. It examines the combination of subjects which students include in their programs since the package of subjects may be more influential than enrolment in any particular subject.

Explaining Socioeconomic Inequalities In Student Achievement, Gary Marks, John Cresswell, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

This paper examines the extent that material, social, and cultural resources and schools account for the relationship between socioeconomic background and student achievement among 15-year-olds in 30 countries. Generally, cultural factors play a more important role in most countries although in a small minority of countries, material resources have a substantial impact. Most often, social resources have little impact. In many countries, educational differentiation - that is, school tracks and school types, and curriculum tracking within schools - mediates the relationship between socioeconomic background and student achievement. Countries with highly tracked systems tend to show stronger relationships. On average, over …

Explaining Socioeconomic Inequalities In Student Achievement, Gary Marks, John Cresswell, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

This paper examines the extent that material, social, and cultural resources and schools account for the relationship between socioeconomic background and student achievement among 15-year-olds in 30 countries. Generally, cultural factors play a more important role in most countries although in a small minority of countries, material resources have a substantial impact. Most often, social resources have little impact. In many countries, educational differentiation - that is, school tracks and school types, and curriculum tracking within schools - mediates the relationship between socioeconomic background and student achievement. Countries with highly tracked systems tend to show stronger relationships. On average, over …

The Measurement And Determinants Of Growth In Receptive Vocabulary, Sheldon Rothman, John Ainley, Kylie Hillman

Dr John Ainley

No abstract provided.

Reporting And Comparing School Performances, Geoff Masters, Glenn Rowley, John Ainley, Siek Toon Khoo

Dr John Ainley

This report provides advice on the collection and reporting of information about the performances of Australian schools. The focus is on the collection of nationally comparable data. Two purposes are envisaged: use by education authorities and governments to monitor school performances and, in particular, to identify schools that are performing unusually well or unusually poorly given their circumstances; and use by parents/caregivers and the public to make informed judgements about, and meaningful comparisons of, schools and their offerings. Our advice is based on a review of recent Australian and international research and experience in reporting on the performances of schools. …

Generic Interests And School Subject Choice, Gerald Elsworth, Adrian Beavis, John Ainley, Sergio Fabris

Dr John Ainley

While empirical research on school subject preferences and choices has a long history, 'interest' has infrequently been invoked as an explanatory construct. Three levels on which interest is conceptualised in educational research are identified. The most general derives from vocational psychology and may be characterised by the themes of Holland's RIASEC typology. The results of five recent Australian studies in which interests were related to school subject preferences and choices are reviewed, and a series of multi- level models of data from the most recent are presented. The models offer a coherent summary of interest - school subject choice relations …

Mapping Educational Research And Its Impact On Australian Schools, John Ainley, Allyson Holbrook, Sid Bourke, John Owen, Phil Mckenzie, Sebastian Misson, Trevor Johnson

Dr John Ainley

This report provides an analysis of educational research and its impact on Australian schools. It has a particular focus on research done by academic staff and postgraduate students in university faculties of education, since around 90 percent of the resources involved in Australian educational research are located in those faculties. Within the total research endeavour the report concentrates on research concerned with Australian schools and schooling. The report developed an analytical framework drawn from the literature concerned with knowledge utilisation. The report has provided the most comprehensive mapping yet undertaken of the educational research that was underway in Australia in …

Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire 2000, Adrian Beavis, John Ainley, Gerald Elsworth, B Guthrie

Dr John Ainley

This report describes the views of graduates from Australian universities on their experience of postgraduate research. It focuses specifically on graduates who completed their courses of study in 2000 but also references the previous cohort of postgraduate research students. The Post-Graduate Research Experience Questionnaire enables graduates to express their degree of agreement or disagreement on the following facets of their courses : quality of supervision; intellectual climate of the department in which the respondent was based; development of skills; quality of the infrastructure provided by the university; the thesis examination process; and the clarity of goals and expectations.

School Governance : Research On Educational And Management Issues, John Ainley, Phil Mckenzie

Dr John Ainley

In a number of countries the past 20 years have seen increases decentralisation of authority for a range of decisions to individual schools. A range of arguments has been advanced in support of decentralisation but a common belief is that shifting authority to schools will enhance the quality, effectiveness and responsiveness of public education. This paper argues decentralisation is not a unitary concept and can be applied to different elements of the teaching and learning environment: curriculum organisation, financial management, personnel management and resource allocation. Research that has investigated the impact of decentralisation itself on student learning outcomes has not …