Education Commons^™

Online Initial Teacher Education In Australia: Affordances For Pedagogy, Practice And Outcomes, Jillian J. Downing, Janet E. Dyment, Cathy Stone

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper reports on interviews with 19 senior teacher educators from 18 universities across Australia who offer fully online courses in initial teacher education (ITE). Teacher educators provided insight into four focus areas related to online ITE: 1) institutional practices; 2) affordances; 3) challenges; and 4) research priorities. Analysis revealed teacher educators perceived that online ITE can not only match on campus delivery but is also able to respond to reform agendas in ITE, including attracting students with attributes and characteristics that are likely to see them succeed as teachers, enabling students to experience contemporary approaches to learning, building strong …

Achieving Economic Sustainability For Niche Social Profession Courses In The Australian Higher Education Sector: Final Report, Trudi Cooper, Miriam Rose Brooker

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The purpose of this fellowship was to develop a nationwide collaborative strategy to improve the economic sustainability and geographic availability of niche social profession courses. The niche courses in social professions examined in this program meet specialist social needs in disability services, social gerontology, and youth work. Specialist courses in social professions have limited availability across the Australian university sector and availability has declined over the last decade. This is despite a continuing need for specialist graduates, as attested by the relevant professional bodies, and by policy implementation reviews in the areas where graduates from these courses might provide stronger …

A Public Health Perspective Of The Higher Education Experiences Of Women Studying Nursing: A Hermeneutic Inquiry Into Commencement And Progression, Lesley Jane Andrew

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

While student retention is a central goal across higher education, the projected shortage in the Australian health workforce has intensified its importance to undergraduate nursing.

Nursing degrees attract a higher proportion of mature-age women students than ever before. More are therefore beginning university at life stage characterised by marriage (or co-habitation) and traditional family structures. Nursing retention strategies require an understanding of the unique university experiences of these women, however, this is missing in the nursing literature. This study is the first to explore the experiences of these women students, doing so from the perspective of Bachelor of Science (Nursing) …

Creating Multicultural Music Opportunities In Teacher Education: Sharing Diversity Through Songs, Dawn Joseph, Rohan Nethsinghe, Alberto Cabedo Mas

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper contributes to the knowledge base for preparing pre-service teachers (PSTs) for contemporary multicultural classrooms. To do so, we refer to our ongoing project “See, Listen and Share: Exploring intercultural music education in a transnational experience” across three Higher Education sites (Australia and Spain). Drawing on our narrative, and PSTs’ questionnaire data, using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to analyze and code the PST data, we report on our initial experience and findings across the three sites and cultural contexts. Generalisations to other institutions cannot be made. We discuss what was taught and how it was taught in our three settings, …

Print Versus Digital Preferences Of University Students In Australia, Nicole Johnston, A.M. Salaz

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This paper presents findings of a survey that investigated the reading preferences of university students at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia. This survey is being undertaken as part of the Academic Reading Format International Study (ARFIS), which is investigating print versus digital reading preferences in 31 countries. A total of 582 students completed the survey. Results from the survey indicate a strong preference for reading in print because of issues such as eyestrain, tactile features, better focus, and ability to highlight and take notes. Issues such as cost, usability and accessibility also impacted on students’ reading decisions.

The Online Student Experience: An Exploration Of First-Year University Students’ Expectations, Experiences And Outcomes Of Online Education, Melanie Henry

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Online higher education presents a critical opportunity to extend and diversify the student body. The Online Student Experience (OSE), and online student outcomes, however, remain shrouded in ambiguity. The literature presents conflicting reports of online education (OE) quality, confounded by a lack of appreciation for potential differences between online and on-campus education, and a diversity of interpretations for what constitutes OE. The present research conceptualises OE as representing university courses that require students to interact with instructors and course materials via the internet, with no expectation of attending a university campus. A broad student-centred perspective is notably lacking from the …

Retention In A Bachelor Of Education (Early Childhood Studies) Course: Students Say Why They Stay And Others Leave, Gillian Kirk

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The literature suggests that student attrition at the university level has been of growing concern in many countries. Student attrition has a number of implications for universities, chief amongst them are losses to revenue and investment in higher education. While many studies have examined causes for attrition from an institutional perspective, this study examines how the Bachelor of Education (Early childhood studies) that sits within the School of Education can support the retention of students from the students’ perspectives. Using a qualitative methodology that recorded up to 40 hours of interviews with 20 students provided insights into why they stay …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Using Peer-Dialogue Assessment (Pda) For Improving Pre-Service Teachers' Perceived Confidence And Competence To Teach Physical Education, Narelle Eather, Nick Riley, Drew Miller, Bradley Jones

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Developing effective methods for improving student learning in higher education is a priority. Recent findings have shown that feedback on student work can effectively facilitate learning if students are engaged as active participants in the feedback cycle; where they seek, generate and use feedback in the form of dialogue. This novel study investigates the use of peer dialogue assessment as an assessment for learning tool used in an existing undergraduate physical education course. Our findings demonstrate that when thirty six undergraduate physical education students were provided with instruction and practice using peer dialogue assessment after consecutive teaching performances, they exhibit …

International Students Experience In Teacher Education: Creating Context Through Play Workshops, Dawn Joseph, Elizabeth Rouse

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Higher education in Australia attracts many international students. Universities are challenged to prepare them with the necessary understandings, knowledge and skills to effectively participate in their study. For international students, understanding Early Childhood contexts in Australia is a new way of viewing teaching and learning from their own cultural perspective. This paper situates itself as part of a wider study “Improving work placement for international students, their mentors and other stakeholders”. A pilot program was run at Deakin University for the Master of Teaching Early Childhood students to undertake play workshops before commencing placement. Questionnaires were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological …

Curriculum Renewal: Barriers To Successful Curriculum Change And Suggestions For Improvement, Trudi Cooper

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This article examines the practical difficulties encountered when a renewed curriculum is implemented in higher education. Attention has been given in the literature to the importance of coherent curriculum and approaches to curriculum design. Less attention has been paid to whether the renewed curriculum can be faithfully implemented within a given university context and how constraints to implementation change the curriculum design. Practical barriers to implementation arose from several sources. These included: how to ensure that all staff understood and supported the new approaches, in the context of a casualized academic workforce; the need for academics to find sufficient time …

Innovation In Course Design, Sally Knipe

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Initial teacher education programs offered at Australian universities tend to qualify graduates to teach in the age-related contexts of early childhood/primary or secondary, a model that has reflected the organisational evolution of schools. Greater flexibility is required in the design of teacher preparation courses in order to produce graduates who meet teacher registration requirements for early childhood/primary and secondary and who have a better understanding of and focus on the academic and developmental needs of a diverse range of young people. With the establishment and growth of schools with Foundation to Year 9/10/12 learning environments a demand has been created …

Ethics Education In Australian Preservice Teacher Programs: A Hidden Imperative?, Helen J. Boon, Bruce Maxwell

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper provides a snapshot of the current approach to ethics education in accredited Australian pre-service teacher programs. Methods included a manual calendar search of ethics related subjects required in teacher programs using a sample of 24 Australian universities and a survey of 26 university representatives. Findings show a paucity of required standalone ethics subjects in the pre-service teacher training programs despite recent accreditation requirements by AITSL. When analysed by program type, the prevalence of an ethics related subject requirement in pre-service teacher programs revealed a concerning trend; post graduate programs, as a general rule, had a much lower prevalence …

Valuing The Leadership Role Of University Unit Coordinators, Coral Pepper, Susan Roberts

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

In this paper we describe the experiences of 64 unit coordinators across 15 Australian universities, gathered during 2011/2012 as part of an Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) project. Our intention was to gain insight into how unit coordinators (academics who coordinate a discrete unit of study) perceive their role as leaders of learning in higher education and whether the support provided to them by their institutions meets their needs. The study is of international significance given the rapidly changing higher education landscape with larger class sizes, reduced funding and the increasing use of technology occurring globally. Following a brief …

Learning To See, Seeing To Learn: The Learning Journey Of Three Pre-Service Teachers In A Video Club Setting, Catherine Moore

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study sought to develop a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of professional growth in pre-service teachers during their final practicum. The research was situated in a primary school and involved three pre-service teachers with widely differing backgrounds who brought differing experiences to the practicum. The study identified personal and contextual variables that affected the pre-service teachers’ professional growth and explored how professional discourse within a learning community of peers, informed by multiple perspectives on teaching practice that were facilitated by video, influenced professional growth.

This qualitative research project used a broad phenomenological approach in that the methods used were …

Motherhood First: An Interpretive Description Of The Experience Of Mature Age Female Students With Dependent Children At One Regional University Campus In Australia, Amanda Draper

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study explored the experience of mature age female students with dependent children at one regional university campus in Western Australia, Edith Cowan University South West (ECUSW). These students are one of many student groups whose experience differs to that of more traditional students such as young, unmarried, and well-supported school-leaver students. Although all students enter university with experiences that make them valuable to the university institution, mature age female students with dependent children enter university with unique knowledge, experiences and attitudes making them potentially valuable contributors to their own and others’ learning (Martins & Anthony, 2007). Whilst at university, …

Working Together To Achieve Better Work Integrated Learning Outcomes: Improving Productivity Through Better Employer Involvement, Denise Jackson, Sonia Ferns, David Rowbottom, Diane Mclaren

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The overarching aim of this twelve-month project, funded by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was to develop industry understanding of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) and assess the support needed by employers to better engage in WIL. Data gathered in a survey of Western Australian employers and industry focus groups prompted the establishment of a WIL Advisory Service (WAS). The service was founded by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia (CCIWA) to broker relationships between employers and universities, and provide support to improve WIL outcomes. In this study, student and employer users of WAS were asked to …

"Network Teach": How A Student Led Organisation Supports The Transition To University, Deborah Callcott, Marianne J. Knaus, Judy Warren, Ashleigh Wenban

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

It is well documented that the first-year experience is crucial to student success at university. The transition to university provides many challenges for students from a personal, social and academic perspective. Over several decades, universities across Australia have implemented strategies to improve the attrition rate of first year students. This paper discusses a program designed to meet the specific needs of students in the School of Education, at a university in a metropolitan suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The Network Teach program is unique in that it is a student-run organisation. It offers social networking and academic support systems to …

Beginning Teacher Support In Australia: Towards An Online Community To Augment Current Support, Nick Kelly, Shirley Reushle, Sayan Chakrabarty, Anna Kinnane

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper describes opportunities to improve the current support provided to beginning teachers in Australia. It holds that there is a need for approaches that go beyond school-based induction and support. The paper presents data from a survey of beginning teachers in Queensland, with aims to determine current access to support and perceptions about gaps in support. It uses these findings alongside existing evidence to make arguments, that some beginning teachers are effectively unsupported and that universities have the potential to play a greater role in beginning teacher support. Further results are used to suggest guidelines for developing a national …

The Outcomes Of New Teachers Being Reflective, John Whittington Seddon

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

New university teachers are typically advancing scholars who have recently commenced academic teaching duties. Referred to as neophytes in this study, these teachers are usually early career academics, postgraduate students or sessional lecturers who begin teaching with little more training than attendance at short professional development courses or seminars. Their teaching and learning theories are generally naive and their practice is often limited. In view of the already substantiated connections that have been found between teachers’ conceptions of teaching (COTs) and their practical approaches to teaching, the COTs held by neophytes are of consequence, as they are usually indicative of …

Ensuring The Development Of Digital Literacy In Higher Education Curricula, Mark T. Mcmahon

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Digital Literacy is widely considered to be an essential attribute for both academic and professional success. In an increasingly regulated and standards -based higher education environment, however, there is a lack of clear guidance as to what constitutes the nature of appropriate level of Digital Literacy that graduates need to demonstrate. This paper argues for the application of a Digital Literacy Taxonomy to articulate the dimensions inherent in it, which can then be applied to student activities and curricula. This process can be used to assist academics in identifying the literacy requirements of their courses, their own opportunities for professional …

Enhancing First Year Student Engagement: Collaborative Practice In A Core Business Unit, Tina Fleming, Alicia Stanway

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The purpose of this paper, informed by an action research framework, was to evaluate how a collaborative approach between unit facilitators and learning advisors in a first-year core business unit contributes to an environment where students are actively engaged in their learning. Student engagement in their learning is a key priority for university faculties, particularly in first year, as it is a key factor in student performance and persistence in their studies. Using the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement as a benchmark, a mixed-methods approach was adopted using an online survey (n_171) and focus groups

(n _ …

Editorial 23(2): Special Issue: Teaching And Learning In Higher Education: Western Australia's Tl Forum, Roger Atkinson, Clare Mcbeath, Anne Coffey, Sarah Etherington, Pamela Martin-Lynch, Catherine Moore, Angus Morrison-Saunders, Sid Nair, Megan Paull, Rob Philips

Research outputs 2013

The Teaching and Learning Forum series of annual conferences has been conducted since 1992 by the five universities in Perth, Western Australia, namely Curtin University, Edith Cowan University, Murdoch University, The University of Notre Dame Australia, and The University of Western Australia. After 22 years of TL Forums, it is timely to present this Special issue of Issues in Educational Research, for which the broad purpose is to advance fine examples of the TL Forum's activities, selected from one of its categories, namely full papers accepted via a peer review process.

The Piloting Of An Academic Literacy Education Course (Alec) To Improve Academic Literacy Of First Semester Undergraduate Students In A Western Australian University, Joyce M. Hendricks, Lesley J. Andrew, Amanda C. Fowler

Research outputs 2013

Widening participation has enabled access to higher education for an increasing number of students via a range of non-traditional pathways. Consequently, whilst having a large repertoire of skills and experience, these students may not have developed sufficient competence in academic literacy. The School of Nursing and Midwifery has a large proportion of such students who have difficulty making the academic transition to university study. It is believed that a ‘built in’ approach to supporting these students to develop academic literacy will result in an improvement in their abilities to meet the requirements of the University and to better prepare them …

Effects Of Increased Self-Regulated Learning Opportunities On Student Teachers’ Motivation And Use Of Metacognitive Skills, Emmy Vrieling, Theo Bastiaens, Sjef Stijnen

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This intervention study focused on the relationships between primary student teachers’ self-regulated learning (SRL) opportunities, their motivation for learning and their use of metacognitive learning strategies. The participants were 3 teacher educators and 136 first-year student teachers. During one semester, teacher educators and student teachers were monitored by questionnaires measuring opportunities for SRL offered by the program. Questionnaires were also administered monitoring student teachers’ motivation and metacognition. During data collection, teacher educators participated in training courses and tutorial conversations aimed at increasing student teachers’ SRL opportunities in the curriculum. At the end of the research period, all teacher educators and …

Infusing Critical Thinking Into An Employability Skills Program: The Effectiveness Of An Immersion Approach, Sophie Kennedy

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The demands of the knowledge economy have placed renewed emphasis on graduate employability and the development of higher-order thinking skills. Preparing graduates for the workplace requires new instructional approaches to develop a matrix of interrelated skills. This study investigates an immersion approach to developing employability skills with emphasis on the infusion of critical thinking skills in an undergraduate business degree.

The research is situated within the pragmatic paradigm and comprises a mixed methods approach. Analyses of project instructions, student reflections and test scores are presented in an explanatory case study in three parts: the infusion of critical thinking skills in …

Engaging First Year Students Using A Web-Supported Inquiry-Based Learning, Ron Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper describes a study that explored the utility and efficacy of the application of a Web-based tool to promote learner engagement among first year students in a large class in an undergraduate communications degree. The Web-based tool was developed to support an inquiry-based learning approach that was characterised by strong learning scaffolds, meaningful contexts, feedback and support and administrative efficiencies. The study explored the forms of engagement that the Web-supported inquiry-based learning approach was able to engender among first year undergraduate students and the factors that were found to influence students’ levels of engagement and achievement in the approach.

Perceptions And Needs Of Rural Young People In The South-West Of Western Australia : Implications For Pedagogy, Rhonda Oliver, Lynelle Watts, Joan Strikwerda-Brown, David Hodgson, Marilyn Palmer

Research outputs pre 2011

The original purpose of this study was to investigate youth needs, specifically in the south western region (the 'South West') of Western Australia, and then to explore how these needs might be addressed in terms of current curriculum and teaching practices. The following research questions guided our investigation:

- What are the educational and occupational aspirations of young people from the South West of Western Australia?

- What do young people identify as influences on their educational and occupational aspirations and attainment?

As the data collection progressed, it was evident to all those involved that, whilst there were expressed needs, …

Lecturer Receptivity To A Major Planned Educational Change At Rajabhat Universities In Thailand, Anusak Ketusiri, Russell F. Waugh

EDU-COM International Conference

Thailand passed the National Education Act (1999) which introduced the largest educational change there in over 50 years. This study investigated lecturer receptivity to that change at four Rajabhat Universities in the second year of the implementation stage during 2002. Lecturer receptivity was conceptualised as relating to nine aspects of the change. Data were collected by questionnaire (N=659) with 50 stem-items answered in three perspectives. These were (1) how I expect the change to be planned, (2) how I think the change was really implemented, and (3) what my actual behaviour was. Data were analysed with a Rasch measurement model. …

Edu-Com 2004 International Conference: New Challenges For Sustainability And Growth In Higher Education, John Renner (Ed.)

Research outputs pre 2011

EDU-COM 2004, an international conference held in Khon Kaen, Thailand from the 24th to the 26th November, 2004 took the theme: New Challenges for Sustainability and Growth in Higher Education. EDU-COM 2004 was sponsored and organised by Edith Cowan University, Khon Kaen University and Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat University/

The Conference was structured to address five sub-themes pertinent to the challenges facing higher education worldwide:

• Collaboration between campus and community in Higher Education

• Collaboration targeting multi-cultural and cross-cultural issues in Higher Education

• Collaboration through new teaching and learning technologies in Higher Education

• Collaboration for quality: valuing and evaluating …

Teaching And Learning Online: A Beginner's Guide To E-Learning And E-Teaching In Higher Education, Ron Oliver, Jan Herrington

Research outputs pre 2011

The move to online learning has a huge groundswell of approval and support across all sectors of education and it is likely that this level of interest which has been growing steadily will continue to grow even further in the immediate future. There are a number of clear reasons that can be seen to sit behind the popularity of this form of technology-based education. Some of the more common factors and influences driving the uptake of online delivery include:

• Flexibility: In many institutions, administrators are seeing advantage in the flexibility that online learning settings create for course delivery. The …