Education Commons^™

In Whose Name? Mapping Voice And Vision In A Critical Examination Of Literature On Literacy In The Lower Primary School Years, Pauline J. Harris, Lisa K. Kervin

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper presents the outcomes of a critical analysis of journal art icles, government reports and agendas on l iteracy in lower Primary classrooms. While different voices and perspectives clearly emerge, our concern is not engaging with or promoting par ticular viewpoints and agendas per se. Rather, this paper moves beyond debate to focus on mapping these voices onto the kinds of literacy/ies they characterise, the instructional practices they port ray, the research frameworks they ut ilise, the issues they art iculate, the groups they represent, the venues in which they are heard, the audiences to which they speak, and …

Authentic Conditions For Authentic Assessment: Aligning Task And Assessment, Janice A. Herrington, Anthony J. Herrington

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Despite major discussion and consideration of authentic assessment through the 1990s, little progress appears to have been made towards its widespread adoption in higher education. Universities often serve to limit the use of authentic approaches in learning tasks and assessment, through restrictive policies. In this paper, we briefly review the literature and summarise the characteristic elements of authentic assessment, and argue that task, assessment and university policies must be aligned for truly effective use of authentic assessment to occur in higher education.

The 'Copy And Paste' Function: A Flawed Cognitive Tool In Need Of Redesign, Gwyn J. Brickell, Barry M. Harper, Michael Morgan

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper argues that the traditional version of the ‘copy and paste’ function used in many computer-mediated learning environments is a flawed cognitive tool for learning applications and may in fact subvert the constructivist philosophy of many learning packages. An initial study was conducted, using distributed cognition theory to redesign the interface of the ‘copy and paste’ function, to examine the efficacy of embedding a specific interaction strategy (reported in Morgan et al., 2006a, 2006b). The embedded interaction strategy involved summarisation note taking tasks and the results of this empirical study are outlined in order to establish the efficacy of …

Being Special In A Meritocracy: The Role Of Special Education In Singapore, Deslea M. Konza, Abi Tan

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

For more than three decades the education system in Singapore, based on the mantra of meritocracy, has been successful in steering the island state towards high achievement. A strong political will has framed the educational policy as an investment for a productive and cohesive society in an internationally competitive context. Education is considered to be a powerful tool by which the integration of culturally different racial groups is facilitated. In the education of children with special needs, Singapore currently shares similar provisions with countries such as the United States, Britain and Australia. Besides special schools, there is provision for inclusion …

Scaffolding Numeracy: Pre-Service Teachers' Perspective, Irina M. Verenikina, Mohan Chinnappan

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Scaffolding has become increasingly popular as it provides teachers with an appealing alternative to traditional classroom techniques of teaching. Recent research identified a number of different ways that scaffolding can be used in the classroom to improve students’ numeracy levels in primary schools. However, despite the importance of scaffolding, pre-service teachers experience difficulties in understanding the complex techniques of scaffolding and often fail to make connections between theoretical explanations and their practical use. This paper examines current perceptions of scaffolding by a cohort of pre-service teachers, both in its conceptual framework and its practical implications to teaching in the classroom, …

The Use Of A Visual Learning Design Representation To Document And Communicate Teaching Ideas, Shirley Agostinho

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

A learning design is a representation of teaching and learning practice documented in some notational form so that it can serve as a model or template adaptable by a teacher to suit his/her context. This paper presents a work-in-progress of a research study that is examining how a learning design representation developed in an Australian federally funded project known as the Learning Designs project (www.learningdesigns.uow.edu.au) is being used. Eleven participants were interviewed to investigate how they are using the learning design representation and how such a representation could be improved. Preliminary findings indicate that the visual characteristic of this learning …

Cross-Cultural Online Communication: Making Connections Through Project-Based Learning, Mike Keppell, Morris Jong, Harold Tsang, Susan J. Bennett, Lori Lockyer

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper examines a project that encourages cross-cultural communication among teachereducation students through online discussion and project-based learning. An authentic case was presented to eleven students (divided into two groups) who volunteered to participate in the project over one semester. The case focussed on the development of a website by the two groups which would provide information to local Hong Kong students visiting the University of Wollongong on an intensive English immersion programme. The students were encouraged to seek advice from their HKIEd mentor and UOW advisor via synchronous and asynchronous communication tools available in the Blackboard Learning Management System. …

Nsw High School Students Construction Of Democratic Citizenship Through Language Learning: A Case Study Of Japanese Language Learning Experience, Yuko Ramzan

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This study reports on the perceptions of five high school students in NSW who have been studying Japanese language since their primary schooling. The study examines how the students construct their self and others within their Japanese language classes and how the classes contribute to citizenship education. The discussion, based on data derived from in-depth and semi-structured interviews is focused on perceptions of language learning, interculturality and citizenship education. The results suggest that language learning contributes to the students’ construction of interculturality, which in turn provides a focus for meting the students’ needs for citizenship education.

Grade 12 Mathematics Teachers' Views On Curriculum Reform In New South Wales, Paul L. Ayres, John M. Mccormick

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper reports on teachers’ perceptions of major curriculum reform in New South Wales at the Higher School Certificate. Quantitative and qualitative data are presented. Measures of teacher self-efficacy and stress related to the innovation, as well as general perceptions of the implementation are reported. Mathematics teachers' views of the curriculum reform are also compared with those of other subject teachers.

The Self-Monitoring Of Expert Sport Instructors, Paul G. Schempp, Bryan A. Mccullick, Christopher Busch, Collin A. Webster, Ilse Sannen Mason

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This study identified the major facets of professional practice monitored by expert teachers. Specifically, the skills and knowledge expert sport instructors regularly scrutinized in order to improve their teaching and coaching were categorized and examined. Data were collected from 31 teachers listed by Golf Magazine as the Top 100 Golf Instructors in America. The teachers listed aspects of their teaching they regularly monitored in assessing their own strengths and weaknesses. Data were analyzed in three steps. First, responses were reviewed to identify the characteristics monitored by the teachers. Second, characteristics grouped under each theme were reviewed and clustered into representative …

Longitudinal Qualitative Research Design: Experience Over Time, Stacy M. Carter

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In this paper I examine time in qualitative researchdesign. I focus on a study design that is almost absent from the literature, inwhich qualitative data are collected repeatedly and prospectively from a cohort of individuals over a long period. I will refer to this design as longitudinal qualitative research, and argue that it carries risks and benefits. It heightens the need for ethical clarity, particularly in respect to repeated participation. Unless the aim is to examine a trajectory of experience, longitudinal design may diminish a study's explanatory power by making the sampling less purposive: commitments to long engagement must be …

What Makes A Screening Program Ethical?, Annette J. Braunack-Mayer

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Ethics, as a discipline, asks "is this decision, situation, program or policy good? Under what circumstances is it good? Why?". This paper applies these questions to screening: "Is screening good? Under what circumstances is it good? Why is it good?". Of course, the answer to these questions depends on how one defines "good". A consequentialist, for instance, will suggest that a screening program is good when it prevents or, at least, reduces harm and suffering1 whereas non-consequentialists are likely to take a rather different approach. In this short paper, I have room only to skate across the surface of these …

Research Within The Privacy Regulations: Problems And Solutions For Database Custodians, Ea Mulligan, Wendy Rogers, Annette J. Braunack-Mayer

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

State and Federal legislation governing health information and privacy in Australia is complex and relatively untested, causing confusion amongst database custodians as to what conduct is required. Some database custodians believe that providing privacy will allay public anxiety and consequently support research. Others argue that data managers have become fearful of litigation and that this will restrict the access of researchers to data. Two of the significant ethical issues to be considered are the right to privacy, and whether using information poses a risk to data subjects. Data custodians have sought to address concerns about privacy in two main ways. …

What Do We Know About Men's Help-Seeking And Health Service Use?, James A. Smith, Annette J. Braunack-Mayer, Gary Wittert

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

• Men seek help and use health services less frequently than women do.

• Men’s help-seeking practices and health service use are complex issues involving biological, psychological and sociological considerations.

• Most discussion on men’s help-seeking positions them as reluctant consumers or “behaving badly” with respect to their health.

• Few studies have explored whether health service providers are equipped to deal with men’s health issues appropriately.

• The current health system appears not to be tailored to meet the health needs of men.

• Better collaboration is required across disciplines, to further investigate men’s health using both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Conflicts Of Interest In Divisions Of General Practice, N Palmer, Annette J. Braunack-Mayer, Wendy Rogers, C Provis, G Cullity

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Community-based healthcare organisations manage competing, and often conflicting, priorities. These conflicts can arise from the multiple roles these organisations take up, and from the diverse range of stakeholders to whom they must be responsive. Often such conflicts may be titled conflicts of interest; however, what precisely constitutes such conflicts and what should be done about them is not always clear. Clarity about the duties owed by organisations and the roles they assume can help identify and manage some of these conflicts. Taking divisions of general practice in Australia as an example, this paper sets out to distinguish two main types …

Effective Pre-School And Primary Education 3-11 Project (Eppe 3-11): The Effectiveness Of Primary Schools In England In Key Stage 2 For 2002, 2003 And 2004, Edward Melhuish, Helena Romaniuk, Pam Sammons, Kathy Sylva, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Brenda Taggart

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This research brief reports the results of value added multilevel models to investigate pupil progress during Key Stage 2, controlling for prior attainment and other background factors, for all schools in England over a three year period (2002-4). These models build upon existing work on school effectiveness undertaken by DfES/Ofsted and others by incorporating further area-level variables, examining gender by ethnicity interactions and exploring differential effectiveness of primary schools for pupils with different levels of ability. The work is part of the wider Effective Pre-school and Primary Education 3-11 (EPPE 3-11) project which is studying the development and attainment of …

Effective Pre-School And Primary Education 3-11 Project (Eppe 3-11): Variations In Teacher And Pupil Behaviours In Year 5 Classes, Pam Sammons, Brenda Taggart, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Kathy Sylva, Edward Melhuish, Sofka Barreau

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The EPPE 3-11 Project builds on the work of the earlier Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) project, which was the first major longitudinal study in Europe to investigate the impact of pre-school provision on a national sample of young children, tracing their development between the ages of 3 and 7 years. EPPE 3-11 follows the same sample of 2500 plus children to age 11 years, the end of Key Stage 2 (KS2). This research brief reports the results of detailed observations of practice conducted in 125 Year 5 classes attended by EPPE children, and measures the variation in teachers' …

Variations In Teacher And Pupil Behaviours In Year 5 Classes, Pam Sammons, Brenda Taggart, Kathy Sylva, Edward Melhuish, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Sofka Barreau, Laura Manni

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The Effective Pre-school and Primary Education Project 3-11 (EPPE 3-11) involves a number of components of "Tiers" of research. Tier 1 involves the analysis of primary school effectiveness across all primary schools in England using value added approaches (Melhuish et al, 2006). Tier 2 focuses on following up the academic and social/behavioural progress of children in the original pre-school sample across Key Stage 2 of primary education (age 7 to 11 years). In the original EPPE research children were tracked from age 3 years to the end of Key Stage 1, at aged 7 years plus (see Appendix O for …

The Effectiveness Of Primary Schools In England In Key Stage 2 For 2002, 2003 And 2004, Edward Melhuish, Helena Romaniuk, Pam Sammons, Kathy Sylva, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Brenda Taggart

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This report covers children's progress during Key Stage 2 in all primary schools in England over a three year period (2002-2004). Value added multilevel models are used to investigate children's progress in Key Stage 2 by controlling for prior attainment, as well as several background influences. These analyses allow measurement of the extent to which children's progress can be attributed to the primary school attended. Primary schools where children make significantly greater progress than predicted (on the basis of prior attainment and intake characteristics) can be viewed as more effective and schools where children make less progress than predicted can …

Master-Planned Estates And Suburban Complexity, Robyn Dowling, Pauline M. Mcguirk

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The establishment of new residential neighbourhoods - by builders, developers, government and residents - has been one of the defining features of twentieth century suburbs in general and western Sydney in particular. Recent years have witnessed a number of changes in the processes establishing these neighbourhoods: in the organisations and relationships providing them; in the political and planning processes governing their provision; in the ideologies underpinning them; and in the practices of everyday life constituting them. One of the more recent forms of residential neighbourhood is seen to exemplify these changes: master-planned communities, master-planned residential developments, or, in our preferred …

Stigma And Discrimination Related To Hiv/Aids: A Study Of The Iranian Community In The Sydney Metropolitan Area, Hassan Hosseinzadeh, Syeda Z. Hossain

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the XVI International AIDS Conference, 13-18 August 2006, Toronto, Canada

Stigma And Discrimination Related To Hiv/Aids, Hassan Hosseinzadeh, Syeda Z. Hossain

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the Fifth Health Research Conference 2006, 9-10 November 2006, Leura, Australia

Protocol For The Immediate Delivery Versus Expectant Care Of Women With Preterm Prelabour Rupture Of The Membranes Close To Term (Ppromt) Trial [Isrctn44485060], Jonathan Morris, Christine Roberts, Caroline Crowther, Sarah Buchanan, David Henderson-Smart, Glenn P. Salkeld

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Preterm prelabour rupture of membranes (PPROM) complicates up to 2% of all pregnancies and is the cause of 40% of all preterm births. The optimal management of women with PPROM prior to 37 weeks, is not known. Furthermore, diversity in current clinical practice suggests uncertainty about the appropriate clinical management. There are two options for managing PPROM, expectant management (a wait and see approach) or early planned birth. Infection is the main risk for women in which management is expectant. This risk need to be balanced against the risk of iatrogenic prematurity if early delivery is planned. The different …

Informed Choice For Screening: Implications For Evaluation, Les Irwig, Kirsten Mccaffery, Glenn P. Salkeld, Patrick Bossuyt

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Evaluation of screening should reflect consumer priorities. We need to make more effort to find out what they really are.

Meeting The Challenge Of Assessing In A Standards Based Education System, Jim S. Tognolini

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The purpose of this report is to address a number of issues about assessment that have emerged as a consequence of the changes that have taken place since the inception of new Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) courses in Years 11 and 12 and to provide advice on how these issues might be resolved in the light of the recommendations of the Andrich report.

Factors Associated With Self-Efficacy For Condom Use And Sexual Negotiation Among South African Youth, Jennifer Sayles, Audrey Pettifor, Mitchell D. Wong, Catherine L. Mac Phail, Sung-Jae Lee, Ellen Hendriksen, Helen Rees, Thomas Coates

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objectives: To use logistic regression modeling to identify factors associated with high self-efficacy for sexual negotiation and condom use in a sample of South African youth. Methods: The Reproductive Health and HIV Research Unit (RHRU) National Youth Survey examined a nationally representative sample of 7409 sexually active South African youth aged 15 to 24 years. We used logistic regression modeling in this sample to identify factors associated with the main outcome of high self-efficacy. Results: Among female respondents (n = 3890), factors associated with high self-efficacy in the adjusted model were knowing how to avoid HIV (odds ratio [OR] = …

Roles Of Rifampicin In Drug-Drug Interactions: Underlying Molecular Mechanisms Involving Nuclear Receptor Pxr, Jiezhong Chen, Kenneth Raymond

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Rifampicin, an important drug in the treatment of tuberculosis, is used extensively despite its broad effects on drug-drug interactions, creating serious problems. The clinical importance of such interactions includes autoinduction leading to suboptimal or failed treatment. The concomitantly administered effects of rifampicin on other drugs can result in their altered metabolism or transportation that are metabolised by cytochromes P450 or transported by p-glycoprotein in the gastrointestinal tract and liver. This review paper summarises recent findings with emphases on the molecular mechanisms used to explain these broad drug-drug interactions. In general, rifampicin can act on a pattern: rifampicin activates the nuclear …

Online Forum Discussion Interactions As An Indicator Of Student Community, Shane Dawson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Given the current diversity of communication tools at an educator's disposal, what role (if any) does the discussion forum play in the development of a strong sense of community among students? This study sought to investigate the relationship between discussion forum interaction and perceived student sense of community. The results of the study demonstrate that while mere quantity of discussion forum postings is not an indicator of community development, a significant relationship is observed when contributions are codified into the various discussion interaction types (learner -learner; learner - content; system), An implication emerging from these findings is the ability for …

"The Real Work Is What They Do Together": Peer Support And Birth Parent Change, Laura Frame, Amy Conley Wright, Jill Duerr Berrick

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This article examines a peer support intervention with birth parents in the child welfare system. Literature on the emotional change process for child welfare-involved parents, peer-support intervention-outcome studies in child welfare, and findings on peer support in related fields is reviewed. The Mendocino County Family Services Center (MCFSC) model is described, and findings from an exploratory study are presented and discussed. This model engages parents in a sequence of services based on developmental stages. The study used focus groups, interviews, and observation to understand the key components of the MCFSC peer support intervention, and the experience of birth-parent participants with …

The Effects Of Training In Behaviour Modification Strategies On Stress, Burnout, And Therapeutic Attitudes In Frontline Inpatient Mental Health Nurses, Hamish J. Mcleod, Lisa Densley, Kate Chapman

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Psychiatric nursing is a stressful profession associated with high levels of burnout. Previous research has demonstrated that burnout in psychiatric nurses can be reduced via training that improves behaviour modification skills. However, the minimum amount of training required to demonstrate a beneficial effect is unclear. We evaluated the impact of a 4-day behaviour modification training program on stress, burnout, and therapeutic attitudes in nurses who were in frequent daily inpatient contact with patients with severe mental illnesses. Nurses working in the same wards served as a control group. Training improved therapeutic attitudes but did not alter self ratings of job-stress …