Education Commons^™

Teaching To Think, Felicity Haynes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Given that a devolved curriculum empowers a teacher to educate for change, and indeed encourages cross curricular critical and creative thinking, this article offers a broad review of three current strategies for helping anyone to think critically and creatively instruction in formal logic, training in focusing attention, and creating a community of inquiry. It concludes that the latter is the preferred mode of teaching thinking for understanding and responsibility, both in schools and in pre service teacher education, because it captures the best balance between student engagement, the presentation of external social standards and the need for ongoing reflection on …

Practice Teaching In Remote Aboriginal Communities: The Need For Adaptation To The Social And Cultural Context, Gary Partington

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

As part of the teacher education program at Edith Cowan University, a small group of student teachers experience teaching practice in remote Aboriginal communities. In this paper, student teacher perceptions of their experiences on such a practice are presented to illustrate the influence of the practice on their views about teaching Aboriginal children. Through an investigation of journals written during the practice, it is apparent that students had considerable difficulty adapting their teaching to the context in which they were working, particularly in relation to the different cultural and social demands of the situation.

Student And Teacher Perceptions Of Teaching/Learning Processes In Classrooms: How Close Is The Partnership?, Robert G. Barker, Wally Moroz

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

As Hornstein observed in the beginning of the 1990s, the "enduring pattern" of instruction in social studies lessons is that which revolves around traditional "teacher centred and text-centred" teaching strategies (Hornstein, 1990). However, other research programs which have investigated the status of social studies (Cuban, 1991; Good and Harmon, 1987; Haladyna, Shaughnessy and Redsun, 1982a) have indicated that the core subject rates well with students when teaching strategies are interactive, inductive, and student centred. As Hutchens (1993) found, students became "hooked" on social studies when it involved cooperative learning, and student research strategies. In 1995, Moroz, Baker and McDonald, reported …

Constructivism And Scientific Realism? Which Is The Better Framework For Educational Research, Peter G. Cole

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The doctrines of constructivism and scientific realism have had a profound impact on recent progress in educational research. These doctrines are often depicted as conflicting doctrines in theoretical papers and methodology texts dealing with educational research issues. This paper explores the differences between the major tenets of constructivism and scientific reason. Different values ascribed to the scientific method in the context of these two doctrines are also examined. The paper focuses on three problems that have dogged the education research agenda: the conflict between the constructivist and scientific realistic viewpoints on science, the validity of observation statements and the role …

Number Sense In School Mathematics: Student Performance In Four Countries, Alistair Mcintosh, Barbara Reys, Robert Reys, Jack Bana, Brian Farrell

Research outputs pre 2011

Since 1988 teams of researchers in the United States, Japan and Australia have been involved in a collaborative research project to assess the mental computation ability of their students. The results of this research have been reported elsewhere (Mcintosh, Bana & Farrell 1995; Mcintosh, Nohda, Reys & Reys 1995). The researchers involved were Professors Robert and Barbara Reys of the University of Missouri - Columbia, Professor Nobuhiko Nohda of the University of Tsukuba and Alistair Mcintosh, Jack Bana and Brian Farrell of Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia.

The United States and Australian researchers went on to assess the number …

Investigating Assessment Strategies In Mathematics Classrooms : A Cd-Rom Resource Enabling Teachers To Explore Assessment Strategies In Mathematics Education, Tony Herrington, Len Sparrow, Jan Herrington, Ron Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Profiling Esl Children: How Teachers Interpret And Use National And State Assessment Frameworks: Volume 1: Key Issues & Findings, Michael P. Breen, Caroline Barratt-Pugh, Beverly Derewianka, Helen House, Catherine Hudson, Tom Lumley, Mary Rohl

Research outputs pre 2011

The three volumes which make up this study describe in detail how a number of teachers in different school situations in different parts of Australia undertook the assessment of young children's development of English as a second language. Most of the teachers worked in pre-primary to Year 3 classrooms where the majority of the children were aged between five and eight years. The majority worked in a mainstream context in which the number of children speaking English as a second language (ESL) varied from more than half the class to two or three students. About a third of the teachers …

Investigating Teaching Strategies In Mathematics Classrooms : A Cd-Rom Resource Enabling Teachers To Explore Teaching Strategies In Mathematics Education, Tony John Herrington, Len Sparrow, Jan Herrington, Ron Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

Teaching mathematics has traditionally followed a standard pattern across the world. Students are placed in classrooms where they are seated individually, are required to listen passively and observe the teacher demonstrating mathematical procedure and then s1 end extensive time practicing the newly acquired ski ll s. Generally the content being taught comprises mathematical facts and skills taught sequentially in the order presented by a textbook. Students are then assessed by unseen pencil and paper tests for the purpose of grading and ranking. This cycle is then repeated with another mathematical topic which is viewed by students as discrete from the …

Address By Justice Robert Nicholson, Judge Of The Federal Court Of Australia, On The Occasion Of His Installation As Chancellor On Tuesday, 18 February 1997, Robert Nicholson

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Profiling Esl Children: How Teachers Interpret And Use National And State Assessment Frameworks: Volume 3: The Eastern States Case Studies, Michael P. Breen, Caroline Barratt-Pugh, Beverly Derewianka, Helen House, Catherine Hudson, Tom Lumley, Mary Rohl

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Getting Started In Technology And Enterprise : Case Studies In Primary And Secondary Schools, Jack Bana, Lorraine Kershaw

Research outputs pre 2011

This monograph describes the experiences of five Western Australian Schools, which were involved in a year-long school-based professional development program during 1996 in the Technology and Enterprise Learning Area. The program was part of a larger Technology and Enterprise project, which had been funded by the Federal Department o f Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA), as part of a National Professional Development Program (NPDP).

Profiling Esl Children: How Teachers Interpret And Use National And State Assessment Frameworks: Volume 2: The Western Australia Case Studies, Michael P. Breen, Caroline Barratt-Pugh, Beverly Derewianka, Helen House, Catherine Hudson, Tom Lumley, Mary Rohl

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Calculator Use In Western Australian Primary Schools, Len Sparrow, Paul Swan

Research outputs pre 2011

There are very few issues in mathematics teaching over the past twenty five years which have caused so much debate among teachers, parents and the community than the use of calculators in primary schools. Letters to newspapers, magazine articles and public comment often express the opinion that the apparent decline in the ability of young people to calculate, even simple computations, is a direct result of the use of calculators in schools. Anecdotal evidence in the form of reports from teaching practice students, personal observation in schools and comments from teachers suggests there is, in fact, very little calculator use …

The All Encompassing Role And Function Of The Computing Coordinator In Western Australian Government Senior High Schools, Diana C. Brown

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this study was to determine the role and support afforded Computing Coordinators at Western Australian government senior high schools by undertaking a census survey. Previous studies performed by Weber and Kershaw (1990) and Kershaw and Weber {1991), portrayed the role of Computing Coordinators at Australian high schools as demanding a diversity of knowledge and skills in computer technology together with excellent management qualities. The literature also suggested that time management skills were a major factor in how effectively coordinators carried out the myriad of tasks expected of them. This study found that most Computing Coordinators considered their …

Ritual And Pedagogy : Teachers' Use Of Ritual In Pre-Primary Classroom Settings, Carmel Maloney

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Pre-primary teachers' daily organisation and routines are established through repetitive patterns of actions which become highly ritualised. This study examines how pre-primary teachers use ritual and how ritual structures teaching in pre-primary classroom settings and in doing so serves a pedagogical purpose for teachers. Describing forms and functions of ritual provides a way of examining and interpreting what teachers know and do and how they go about their work. The interpretive paradigm of qualitative methodology has been adopted for the study. Participant observation and structured interviews are used as the primary methods of conducting field work and collecting data. The …

Increasing Eye Contact And Appropriate Verbalizations Of Young Children With Autistic Characteristics, Ping P. Seah

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Social skills have been widely regarded by researchers and educators to be crucial to successful school performances as well as an individual's overall social functioning. The need to be competent in social skills increases for children with autism or autistic characteristics. A teaching strategy was modelled and taught to increase appropriate verbal and nonverbal responses of the participants through sociodramatic play with the researcher and trained peers. Hats and toys belonging to various occupations were used as training material. The two dependent variables measured were the number of appropriate verbalizations and total length of eye contact time given by each …