Education Commons^™

Aboriginal Research And Study Protocols, Dan Mcaullay, Colleen Hayward

Research outputs 2012

The Aboriginal Research and Study Protocols have been developed as a guide for ECU staff and students undertaking research, projects or fieldwork that involve Indigenous Australian issues, people or knowledge or that impact on Indigenous people or communities.

These protocols fulfil a strategic priority of ECU’s Reconciliation Action Plan: Develop clear and agreed protocols around Indigenous Australian research to ensure that research activity is informed by thorough cultural awareness and respect.

They also reflect the requirements of key documents that must be addressed by applicants as required by the ECU Human Research Ethics Committee. If the proposed project relates to …

Testing A Model Of Undergraduate Competence In Employability Skills And Its Implications For Stakeholders, Denise Jackson

Research outputs 2012

Despite the development of employability skills being firmly entrenched in higher education’s strategic agenda worldwide; recent graduates’ standards in certain skills are not meeting industry expectations. This paper presents and tests a model of undergraduate competence in employability skills. It highlights those factors which impact on competence in employability skills and identify ways in which stakeholders can adjust curricula and pedagogy to enhance graduate skill outcomes. Data was gathered from an online survey of 1008 business undergraduates who self-rated their competence against a framework of employability skills typically considered essential in graduates. The data was analysed using multiple regression techniques. …

Do You Want Authenticity With That?: Online Practical Exams In An Engineering Course, Jeremy Pagram, P. John Williams

Research outputs 2012

This paper reports on part of the results of a three-year study conducted at the Centre for Schooling and Learning Technologies (CSaLT) at Edith Cowan University in collaboration with the Curriculum Council of Western Australia. This paper focuses on the use of a computer managed examination in Engineering Studies. A computer-managed examination was designed that consisted of a design task that was broken down into a number of timed activities. Students were paced through each activity, recording their input in the form of a portfolio. Input consisted of text, graphics through a camera, video and voice. The exam outputs were …

Work Integrated Learning And Business Education: A Legitimate Reverse Mapping Approach?, David Holloway, Donell Holloway

Research outputs 2012

This paper investigates whether work integrated learning (WIL) can be effectively implemented by using students existing workplace experiences (full-time or part-time). Students had to be in a work placement as a precondition for unit enrolment. The learning outcomes focussed on the ‘authenticity’ and relevance of University based learning when mapped against students ‘real world’ work experiences. Students were asked to reassess, question and integrate their individual (and collective) work-based experiences and acquired ‘real life’ knowledge against their business-based university learning. Students concluded that the learning topics had provided critical and personally useful insights into their own and the wider work …

Using Cctv Footage As A Communication Training And Safety Resource, Carole Teague, Lelia Green

Research outputs 2012

This paper is based in the experience of an in-depth industrial ethnography with an Australian public transport organisation. The ethnographer began by undertaking the 12‐week transit officer training program and moved into a behind‐the‐scenes role watching CCTV footage of their duties and activities for a further 4 weeks before the organisation allowed her to go ‘on the tracks’. Once full participation alongside the transit officer workforce had been agreed, the ethnographer spent four months rostered into a late night work schedule alongside her research participants. This in‐the‐role experience was augmented by 41 in-depth semi‐structured interviews. It was followed up with …

Children's Interests In The National Classification Scheme Review, Lelia Green

Research outputs 2012

It is twenty years since the last thorough review of the National Classification System, and those twenty years have witnessed the burgeoning of the internet and the impact of convergence on what used to be the separate spheres of media, telecommunications and information and communication technologies. Over that time there has been an increasing emphasis placed on children: the need to promote their opportunities in the digital world, and the responsibility of parents, policy makers, content providers and other adults to help protect them from risks. This paper examines the recommendations of the National Classification System Review bearing in mind …

Effective School Leadership For Return On Investment In Ict, Christopher Newhouse

Research outputs 2012

Research in Western Australian schools and reports from studies across the nation over the past decade have supported international research to find that the leadership of a school is a critical factor in the way in which of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) are used, and their subsequent impact on teaching and learning. This paper discusses this relationship by drawing on a range of local research and international reports. In a range of school situations it was found that particular characteristics of the leadership of a school and related decision-making processes are key determinants to the successful integration of ICT …

Ethical Research In Indigenous Australian Contexts And Its Practical Implementation, Graeme Gower

Research outputs 2012

This paper is based on a three year longitudinal case study involving a number of Indigenous Australian communities in metropolitan, rural and remote settings. It will briefly discuss current ethical guidelines which have been developed by the National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for the conduct of research involving Indigenous Australian subjects (2003). These guidelines are in addition to the National Statement on ethical conduct in research involving humans (1999) and are aimed at incorporating values and principles of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander cultures in the conduct of research. In the case of Indigenous communities, research has historically …

Juggling Professional Identities: Perspectives Of A Developing Researcher In A Study On Sessional Vet Practitioners, Natalie Jacques, Susanne Bahn

Research outputs 2012

This paper has a dual purpose. First it details key findings of a research study conducted in 2011 for the National Centre for Vocational Educational Research (NCVER) Community of Practice Scholarship Program investigating the implications of the increased use of sessional workers in the vocational education and training (VET) sector. The study used narrative from a purposively selected sample of sessional VET workers in a Western Australian state provider registered training organisation. Key findings include an analysis of the characteristics and capabilities of sessional VET practitioners; workforce planning and development strategies to support sessional VET practitioners; and their contributions to …

Cross-Cultural Probing: An Examination Of University Student Ict Ownership And Use Of E-Learning Materials In Thai And Australian Contexts, Jeremy Pagram, Martin Cooper

Research outputs 2012

This paper reports on the second phase of an ongoing project being carried out at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Western Australia examining ECU Education students’ ownership and use of information and communication technologies (ICT). It is critical that modern universities understand their students’ ICT capabilities in terms of hardware ownership, software facility, and preferences in order that online course and content delivery may be tailored to deliver effective, usable and engaging learning resources (Smith & Caruso, 2010). In addition, with universities placing greater focus upon attracting students from beyond the borders of any one country though e‐learning, it is …

Cutting Corners: How Pre-Site Construction Induction Training Improves Work Safety But Illuminates The Issues Of Online Certification, Llandis Barratt-Pugh, Susanne Bahn

Research outputs 2012

Introducing practices to reduce the work-related injuries in the construction industry is a continual challenge, specifically in WA where the industry is experiencing a second development boom. In 2006, Worksafe WA responded by introducing pre-site mandatory certification in safety awareness training for all construction employees. This paper reviews the impact of this training on the housing and civil sectors of the industry. It is a mixed mode study presenting the lost time injury/disease statistics, perceptions of the stakeholders from survey responses, and from subsequent interviews. The findings indicate a positive cultural change within the industry but an increasing scepticism about …

Drug Education In Victorian Schools (Devs): The Study Protocol For A Harm Reduction Focused School Drug Education Trial, Richard Midford, Helen Cahill, David Foxcroft, Leanne Lester, Lynne Venning, Robyn Ramsden, Michelle Pose

Research outputs 2012

Background: This study seeks to extend earlier Australian school drug education research by developing and measuring the effectiveness of a comprehensive, evidence-based, harm reduction focused school drug education program for junior secondary students aged 13 to 15 years. The intervention draws on the recent literature as to the common elements in effective school curriculum. It seeks to incorporate the social influence of parents through home activities. It also emphasises the use of appropriate pedagogy in the delivery of classroom lessons. Methods/Design. A cluster randomised school drug education trial will be conducted with 1746 junior high school students in 21 Victorian …

A Theoretically Grounded Exploration Of The Social And Emotional Outcomes Of Transition To Secondary School, Stacey Waters, Leanne Lester, Elizabeth Wenden, Donna Cross

Research outputs 2012

Adolescent development involves a complex interplay between genetics, biology, and social and emotional relationships within multiple contexts of home, school and the broader community. The transition from primary to secondary school, coupled with the onset of puberty, can therefore be a difficult period for young people to negotiate at a critical period of their developmental pathway. Using a social ecological perspective, this article examines the impact of the transition experience on adolescent social and emotional health, both immediately following transition to secondary school and at the end of the first year in this new school environment. This 1-year prospective study …

Knights, Pigeons, And Chapman's All Fools, Charles Edelman

Research outputs 2012

OF all the writers providing comedies for Philip Henslowe at the Rose Theatre in 1596 and 1597, none was more successful than George Chapman. Henslowe’s records of box-office takings show that Chapman’s Blind Beggar of Alexandria was the most successful offering of 1596, and Chapman followed that with the biggest hit of 1597, An Humorous Day’s Mirth. No wonder, then, that between May and October of 1598, along with payments to Chapman for the completion of a play begun by Ben Jonson and an unnamed tragedy, Henslowe made a series of payments for a Chapman comedy called The Will of …

Lessons For Teachers: What Lower Secondary School Students Tell Us About Learning A Musical Instrument, Geoffrey Lowe

Research outputs 2012

In this study I set out to investigate why many students drop out from elective instrument programmes, particularly in lower secondary school. I examined the values and beliefs a sample of students in their first year in secondary school attach to learning an instrument, and the impact of the instrument lesson upon these values and beliefs. Forty-eight year 8 students (aged 12-13) from the Perth metropolitan area participated in eight focus groups. The study found that, while participants had strong cognitive and affective reasons for learning, their competence beliefs were fragile, due in part to the dislocation associated with the …

Remembering Rhetoric: Recalling A Tradition Of Explicit Instruction In Writing, Brian Moon

Research outputs 2012

Modern secondary courses in English differ from classical tradition in their tendency to avoid direct instruction in the content and style of writing. Such avoidance is partly a function of anxieties about the role of English in students' personal development and a fear of limiting their self expression. Neither of the dominant writing pedagogies from the last 50 years wholly escapes this problem. A historical consideration of the issue suggests that fears surrounding explicit instruction arise from a range of misperceptions about writing and English. Modern writing pedagogy may therefore be improved by an acquaintance with traditions of explicit instruction, …

Direct Instruction And Music Literacy: One Approach To Augmenting The Diminishing?, Geoffrey Lowe, Steven Belcher

Research outputs 2012

One of the many challenges facing music educators is diminishing class time in lower secondary school in the face of the increasingly crowded curriculum and the advent of arts 'taster' courses. However, music educators are still expected to be able to produce musically literate students capable of completing high level music courses in upper secondary school. This article reports on an intervention study which set out to accelerate music literacy acquisition among Year 7 students through use of a Direct Instruction (DI) teaching approach. Although controversial, Direct Instruction was chosen because its advocates claim its effectiveness and time efficiency in …

Getting Serious With Ipads: The Intersection Of Game Design And Teaching Principals, Martin Masek, Karen Murcia, Jason Morrison

Research outputs 2012

Mobile devices, such as tablets and smart phones, are increasingly being utilised as tools for education, with tablets such as the Apple iPad being introduced into many classrooms. These devices are seen as enablers of learning through a fun, interactive interface; however the process of producing a pedagogically valid, yet entertaining application is often poorly understood. This problem motivated the authors to work collaboratively on the design and development of an iPad game targeted at foundation level classrooms and linked to the Australian science curriculum. In this paper we review the tools and processes that are available for the production …

Writing, Remembering And Embodiment: Australian Literary Responses To The First World War, Ffion Murphy, Richard Nile

Research outputs 2012

This paper is part of a larger project exploring Australian literary responses to the Great War of 1914-1918. It draws on theories of embodiment, mourning, ritual and the recuperative potential of writing, together with a brief discussion of selected exemplars, to suggest that literary works of the period contain and lay bare a suite of creative, corporeal and social impulses, including resurrection, placation or stilling of ghosts, and formation of an empathic and duty-bound community.

Which To Become? Encountering Fungi In Australian Poetry, John Ryan

Research outputs 2012

As a largely unexplored group of organisms, fungi are ecologically complex members of the Australian biota. Fungi represent non-human alterity and interstitiality-neither animal not plant, beautiful yet evanescent, slimy and lethal, and eliding scientific categorisations. Donna Haraway's notion of "companion species" and Anna Tsing's "arts of inclusion" remind us that sensory entanglements are intrinsic to human-fungi relations. Drawing conceptually from Haraway and Tsing, this paper will examine examples of poetry from John Shaw Neilson, Jan Owen, Douglas Stewart, Geoffrey Dutton, Caroline Caddy, Michael Dransfield, Philip Hodgins, Jaime Grant and John Kinsella that represent sensory involvements with fungi based in smell, …

Mentoring The Next Researcher Generation: Reflections On Three Years Of Building Vet Research Capacity And Infrastructure, Llandis Barratt-Pugh

Research outputs 2012

During 2008-2011, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) funded a programme to build Australian VET research capacity and rejuvenate what has been seen as the existing 'greying' researcher pool. This paper is a reflective narrative about experiences of constructing the programme with a specific focus on the mentoring activity. It is about researching how we develop VET researchers, and specifically the role that experienced researchers can play. In the first three years, more than 40 experienced VET researchers have been associated with the programme, mainly as mentors and facilitators. These mentors have supported 30 new VET researchers undertaking …

The Loneliness Of The Long-Distance Principal: Tales From Remote Western Australia, Graeme Lock, Fiona Budgen, Grace Oakley, Ralph Lunay

Research outputs 2012

This research investigated the experience of leadership in an isolated school. Data were obtained through structured and semi-structured interviews (Burns, 2000) with a total of eight principals whose experience of leadership in remote communities ranged from new recruits to several decades. Three research questions guided the investigation: What are the social-biographical characteristics of principals in isolated schools? What are the characteristics of the schools? What are the professional and pedagogical aspects of their current position? The interviews were conducted while the principals were gathered at a central location for professional learning workshops prior to the beginning of a new term. …

Welcome To The Outback: The Paradoxes Of Living And Teaching In Remote Western Australian Schools, Graeme Lock, Fiona Budgen, Ralph Lunay, Grace Oakley

Research outputs 2012

Teaching in remote schools can prove to be a challenging experience. Twenty three teachers from remote schools, located in Western Australia, were interviewed about their teaching and living experiences in isolated communities. The interview questions were designed to elicit information regarding three areas: demographic information; reasons for applying for a position in an isolated school and living in a remote community; and, professional factors impacting on the respondents. Interviews were conducted during a residential professional development session and involved twenty-three teachers with wide ranging ages and teaching experience. These teachers identified a number of affective factors including what attracted them …

Patience Is Not The Only Virtue: The Relationship Between Time Preferences, Class Attendance And Final Marks, Margaret Giles, Y H. Cheung, Jacqui Whale

Research outputs 2012

No abstract provided.

Public Libraries : Celebrating Diversity, Rajeswari Chelliah, Justin A. Brown, Barbara Combes

Research outputs 2012

No abstract provided.

What A Difference A Year Made! : An Evaluation Of The National Year Of Reading 2012 In Western Australia, Queensland And The Australian Capital Territory, Caroline Barratt-Pugh, Pru Smith, Karen Anderson

Research outputs 2012

This report is an evaluation of how the National Year of Reading helped to build a reading culture across the nation. The evaluation was undertaken by The Centre for Research in Early Childhood Education, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia . The report describes the nature and outcomes of the National Year of Reading in the four case studies, including a consideration of what participating organisations delivered beyond what would normally be expected of them. The findings lead to a series of conclusions about the program's successes, challenges and legacy followed by recommendations about how these successes can be sustained and …

Read To Me I Love It! Evaluation Of The Better Beginnings Program For Remote Aboriginal Communities, Lennie Barblett

Research outputs 2012

Better Beginnings for remote Aboriginal communities started in 2010 with the aim of bringing literacy resources to families with children up to five years of age in remote communities. It was developed as part of the Better Beginnings program which is a universal program for children and their families that aims to develop literacy skills through fostering a love of books and language. A finding in the larger evaluation of this project (Barrat-Pugh, Rohl & Statkus, 2010) found that there was a need for targeted strategies and resources to better support Aboriginal families and hence Better Beginnings for remote Aboriginal …

Patience Is A Virtue: The Effect Of Students' Time Preferences On Their Academic Results, Y Cheung, Margaret Giles, Jacqui Whale

Research outputs 2012

No abstract provided.

The Lady In The Carriage: Trauma, Embodiment, And The Drive For Resolution, Josephine Taylor

Research outputs 2012

Not available

Cca3101/4101 Environmental Humanities: The History Of A Unit Through An Ecopedagogical Lens, John Ryan

Research outputs 2012

In 2011 the author taught, for the first time, the well-established unit CCA3101/4101 Environmental Humanities in the School of Communications and Arts at ECU (Edith Cowan University) in Western Australia. The unit has a 20-year history through associate professor Rod Giblett and parallels the development of the environmental humanities as a field in Australia, advanced since the 1990s by environmental scholars Deborah Bird Rose, Val Plumwood, Libby Robin, and Rod Giblett. The interdisciplinary field represents growing scholarly interest in the ecological aspects of humanities disciplinesincluding literature, visual arts, theology, philosophy, and cultural studies—and the development of humanities-based approaches for addressing …