Education Commons^™

Timss 2015 : A First Look At Australia's Results, Sue Thomson, Nicole Wernert, Elizabeth O'Grady, Sima Rodrigues

Elizabeth O'Grady

The goal of TIMSS is to provide comparative information about educational achievement across countries to improve teaching and learning in mathematics and science. It is designed, broadly, to align with the mathematics and science curricula in the participating education systems and countries, and focuses on assessment at Year 4 and Year 8. It also provides comparative perspectives on trends in achievement in the context of different education systems, school organisational approaches and instructional practices; and to enable this, TIMSS collects a rich array of background data from students, schools and teachers, and also collects data about the education systems themselves. …

Icils At A Glance: Highlights From The Full Australian Report – Australian Students’ Readiness For Study, Work And Life In The Digital Age, Lisa De Bortoli, Sarah Buckley, Catherine Underwood, Elizabeth O'Grady, Eveline Gebhardt

Elizabeth O'Grady

The International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) is the first international comparative study that examines students’ acquisition of computer and information literacy: ‘the ability to use computers to investigate, create and communicate in order to participate effectively at home, at school, in the workplace and in society'. This publication includes highlights from the full Australian report called ICILS 2013: Australian students’ readiness for study, work and life in the digital age which is available for download from http://research.acer.edu.au/ict_literacy/6/

Are The Kids Alright? Young Australians In Their Middle Years : Final Summary Report Of The Australian Child Wellbeing Project, Gerry Redmond, Jennifer Skattebol, Peter Saunders, Petra Lietz, Gabriella Zizzo, Elizabeth O'Grady, Mollie Tobin, Vanessa Maurici, Jasmine Huynh, Anna Moffat, Melissa Wong, Bruce Bradbury, Kelly Roberts

Elizabeth O'Grady

Compared with the early years and adolescence, young people in their middle years (ages 8-14 years) have received relatively little attention from policymakers other than in the space of academic achievement, where national curriculums have been developed, and a national testing regime is in place. Yet there is growing recognition that this is a critical time when young people experience rapid physical and mental development, in addition to facing a significant transition from primary to secondary school. The Australian Child Wellbeing Project (ACWP) asked young people about their lives and wellbeing during this crucial period. Wellbeing can be seen as …

The Acwp Questionnaire : Results Of The Field Trial : The Australian Child Wellbeing Project : Draft Phase Three Report, Petra Lietz, Elizabeth O'Grady, Mollie Tobin, Helen Popple, Myra Hamilton, Gerry Redmond

Elizabeth O'Grady

This is the Phase Three report of the Australian Child Wellbeing Project (ACWP) which is a child-centred study that started with young people’s perspectives to design a major nationally representative survey of wellbeing among 8-14 year olds. The Phase three report describes and presents analysis on the field trial of the ACWP survey which occurred in ten schools in New South Wales and Victoria in March 2014. The chapters in this report cover: sample characteristics and missing data analysis, descriptive and frequency analysis, factor and reliability analysis, examination of specific questions or items and question order, measuring affluence deprivation, inserting …

Towards The Acwp Questionnaire : The Australian Child Wellbeing Project : Final Phase Two Report, Petra Lietz, Elizabeth O'Grady, Mollie Tobin, Alice Mcentee, Gerry Redmond

Elizabeth O'Grady

This is the Phase Two report of the Australian Child Wellbeing Project (ACWP) which is a child-centred study that started with young people’s perspectives to design a major nationally representative survey of wellbeing among 8 - 14 year olds. The survey will benchmark child wellbeing in Australia and provide information that contributes to the development of effective services for young people’s healthy development. This document reports on Phase Two of the project: development of the wellbeing indicators. The development of indicators was informed by the findings of the first qualitative phase of the project, a review of literature and existing …

Assuring The Quality Of Future Victorian Teachers : Acer Response To Det Discussion Paper: Working Together To Shape Teacher Education In Victoria, Lawrence Ingvarson

Dr Lawrence Ingvarson (Consultant)

ACER’s response to the August 2016 discussion paper on teacher education titled, 'Working Together To Shape Teacher Education in Victoria' released by James Merlino, the Minister for Education and Training in Victoria. This response addresses focus areas including: Raising the quality and status of teaching: a profession of choice Ensuring high quality pathways into the profession Improving course quality Developing Early Career Teachers

Selecting Criteria To Evaluate Qualitative Research, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

While the evaluation of quantitative research frequently depends on judgements based on the “holy trinity” of objectivity, reliability and validity (Spencer, Ritchie, Lewis, & Dillon, 2003, p. 59), applying these traditional criteria to qualitative research is not always a “good fit” (Schofield, 2002). Instead, educational researchers who engage in qualitative research have suggested various sets of alternative criteria including: transferability, generalisability, ontological authenticity, reciprocity, dependability, confirmability, reflexivity, fittingness, vitality and, even, sacredness and goodness (Creswell, 2002; Garman, 1996; Guba & Lincoln, 1989; Patton, 2002; Spencer et al., 2003; Stige, Malterud, & Midtgarden, 2009). While over one hundred sets of qualitative …

Prior Mentoring And Computer-Mediated Experiences Influence On Willingness To Engage In E-Mentoring, Marty Thomas, Ellen Ensher

Ellen Ensher

The practice of mentoring has proliferated tremendously and occurs in many different forms. The advent of Internet technology offers some new possibilities to traditional face-to-face mentoring relationships in which mentoring relationships are not constrained by physical proximity (e-mentoring). This presentation will describe the results of a research study involving the relationship between willingness to participate in e-mentoring relationships and prior mentoring and CMC experiences. The researchers considered three hypotheses: 1) positive prior mentoring experiences will increase the likelihood of participating in e-mentoring; 2) positive prior experiences with CMC will increase the likelihood of participating in e-mentoring; 3) the form of …

Iea International Civic And Citizenship Education Study 2016 Assessment Framework, Wolfram Schulz, John Ainley, Julian Fraillon, Bruno Losito, Gabriella Agrusti

Julian Fraillon

The purpose of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) is to investigate the ways in which young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens in a range of countries in the second decade of the 21th century. ICCS 2016 is a continuation of this study, which was initiated in 2009. The development of a framework for ICCS 2016 needed to take account of recent developments and ongoing challenges. The international project team identified areas related to civics and citizenship education, which had either gained more attention in recent years or were regarded as relevant, but which …

Pisa 2015 : A First Look At Australia’S Results, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Catherine Underwood

Lisa De Bortoli

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international comparative study of student achievement directed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PISA 2015 represents the sixth such study since PISA was first conducted in 2000. Seventy-two OECD countries or partner economies participated in PISA 2015. In Australia, PISA is managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and is jointly funded by the Australian Government and the state and territory governments. The goal of PISA is to measure how well 15-year-olds, who are nearing the end of their compulsory schooling in most participating educational systems, …

Learn By Doing: A Case Study On Enhancing Students' Entrepreneurial Skills, Christiane Schroeter, Lindsey Higgins

Christiane Schroeter

No abstract provided.

Timss 2015 : A First Look At Australia's Results, Sue Thomson, Nicole Wernert, Elizabeth O'Grady, Sima Rodrigues

Nicole Wernert

The goal of TIMSS is to provide comparative information about educational achievement across countries to improve teaching and learning in mathematics and science. It is designed, broadly, to align with the mathematics and science curricula in the participating education systems and countries, and focuses on assessment at Year 4 and Year 8. It also provides comparative perspectives on trends in achievement in the context of different education systems, school organisational approaches and instructional practices; and to enable this, TIMSS collects a rich array of background data from students, schools and teachers, and also collects data about the education systems themselves. …

Testing The Effectiveness Of A Quality Assurance System: The Example Of Hong Kong, David Lim

Prof. David Lim

Operating a quality assurance system in tertiary education is the rule rather than the exception, because of the belief that it will improve quality. However, proving this is not easy. This study examines three ways of providing the evidence: the a priori method, the stepwise backtracking method, and the external evaluation method. The quality assurance system of the Vocational Training Council of Hong Kong is used as a case‐study, but the findings on the advantages and disadvantages of using these methods have relevance for testing the effectiveness of quality assurance systems for other education institutions.

Connecting Self-Efficacy And Views About Nature Of Science In Undergraduate Research Experiences, Gina M. Quan, Andrew Elby

Gina Quan

Understanding Student Evaluations : A Black Faculty Perspective., Armon R. Perry, Sherri L. Wallace, Sharon E. Moore, Gwendolyn D. Perry-Burney

Sharon E. Moore

Student evaluations of faculty teaching are critical components to the evaluation of faculty performance. These evaluations are used to determine teaching effectiveness and they influence tenure and promotion decisions. Although they are designed as objective assessments of teaching performance, extraneous factors, including the instructors’ race, can affect the composition and educational atmosphere at colleges and universities. In this reflection, we briefly review some literature on the use and utility of student evaluations and present narratives from social work faculty in which students’ evaluation contained perceived racial bias.

Understanding Student Evaluations : A Black Faculty Perspective., Armon R. Perry, Sherri L. Wallace, Sharon E. Moore, Gwendolyn D. Perry-Burney

Sherri L. Wallace

Student evaluations of faculty teaching are critical components to the evaluation of faculty performance. These evaluations are used to determine teaching effectiveness and they influence tenure and promotion decisions. Although they are designed as objective assessments of teaching performance, extraneous factors, including the instructors’ race, can affect the composition and educational atmosphere at colleges and universities. In this reflection, we briefly review some literature on the use and utility of student evaluations and present narratives from social work faculty in which students’ evaluation contained perceived racial bias.

School Staff Workload Study: Final Report To The Australian Education Union – Victorian Branch, Paul R. Weldon, Lawrence Ingvarson

Dr Lawrence Ingvarson (Consultant)

The School Staff Workload Study was commissioned by the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union (the Union) in March 2016. The study involved the design and delivery of an online survey by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). The survey was a census of the Union membership and was open to the majority of members in Term 2, June 2016. The survey targeted three groups: teachers, school leaders (Principal class), and education support staff. The survey was intended to provide a detailed picture of the workload of the Union membership and, by extension, Victorian government school staff. Attention …

School Staff Workload Study: Final Report To The Australian Education Union – Victorian Branch, Paul R. Weldon, Lawrence Ingvarson

Dr Paul Weldon

The School Staff Workload Study was commissioned by the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union (the Union) in March 2016. The study involved the design and delivery of an online survey by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). The survey was a census of the Union membership and was open to the majority of members in Term 2, June 2016. The survey targeted three groups: teachers, school leaders (Principal class), and education support staff. The survey was intended to provide a detailed picture of the workload of the Union membership and, by extension, Victorian government school staff. Attention …

Students' Perceptions Of Student Evaluation Of Teaching (Set) Process, Ale J. Hejase, Rana S. Al Kaakour, Leila A. Halawi, Hussin J. Hejase

Leila A. Halawi

Researchers have mixed views about Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) as means to evaluate teaching where some agreed and others viewed SET as being biased. This study aims to measure students’ perceptions of the effectiveness and appropriateness of the evaluation process in Lebanon. A survey questionnaire was administered to students from five Lebanese universities. Findings revealed that students were positive and perceived the evaluation process as effective and appropriate to evaluate teaching. Students identified students’ perceptions, instructors’ behavior, and course characteristics as variables that may impact the process. Results and implications were discussed for future research.

Australian Child Wellbeing Project Technical Report, Petra Lietz, Elizabeth O'Grady, Mollie Tobin, Martin Murphy, Greg Macaskill, Gerry Redmond, Katherine Dix, Sue Thomson

Dr Martin Murphy

The Australian Child Wellbeing Project (ACWP) was conducted from 2012 – 2015 using a mixed-methods, child-centred approach. Young people’s perspectives were used to inform a nationally representative survey of children’s wellbeing in the middle years. The aims of the ACWP survey were to benchmark child wellbeing in Australia and to provide useful information for services that promote young people’s healthy development. A final outcome of this project was to make the extensive ACWP database publically available in order to provide further opportunity to exploit the rich data and improve understanding. Accordingly, this technical report consolidates the research conducted by ACER …

National Assessment Program : Civics And Citizenship 2013 Year 6 And Year 10 : Technical Report, Kate O'Malley, Eveline Gebhardt, Renee Chow, Martin Murphy, Wolfram Schulz, Judy Nixon, Julian Fraillon

Dr Martin Murphy

In 1999, the State, Territory and Commonwealth Ministers of Education, meeting as the tenth Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA), agreed to the National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-first Century. Subsequently, MCEETYA agreed to report on progress toward the achievement of the National Goals on a nationally-comparable basis, via the National Assessment Program (NAP). As part of NAP, a three-yearly cycle of sample assessments in primary science, civics and citizenship and ICT was established. The three previous cycles of NAP – CC were conducted in 2004, 2007 and 2010. As a result of a 2010 …

Population Definitions For Comparative Surveys In Education, Martin Murphy

Dr Martin Murphy

This paper provides an overview of population definitions for large-scale comparative educational surveys. It has been prepared to help inform the development of a population definition and sampling framework that will be used in the British Council Global English research project. This paper examines a number of large-scale surveys including the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which is conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), as well as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and the Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO), both of which the Organisation for Economic Co-operation …

Longitudinal Success Of Calculus I Reform, Doug Bullock, Kathrine E. Johnson, Janet Callahan

Janet M. Callahan

This paper describes the second year of an ongoing project to transform calculus instruction at Boise State University. Over the past several years, Calculus I has undergone a complete overhaul that has involved a movement from a collection of independent, uncoordinated, personalized, lecture-based sections, into a single coherent multi-section course with an activelearning pedagogical approach. The overhaul also significantly impacted the course content and learning objectives. The project is now in its fifth semester and has reached a steady state where the reformed practices are normative within the subset of instructors who might be called upon to teach Calculus I. …

Revealing Student Misconceptions And Instructor Blind Spots With Muddiest Point Formative Feedback, Cindy Waters, Stephen J. Krause, Janet Callahan, Barry Dupen, Mary B. Vollaro, Peggie Weeks

Janet M. Callahan

Of interest to all engineering disciplines, well-designed formative feedback has the potential to enhance both instructor teaching and student learning. Delivering fundamental courses year after year, can ultimately lead faculty to use stale notes or slides from past years. This approach may save time, but does not meet the shifting needs of our students who have high expectations from their instructors. One simple method to improve teaching is to employ muddiest point reflections. Muddiest point reflections involve simply asking students to anonymously reflect on what was “muddy”, i.e. confusing, during class and to rank their level of confusion which not …

Evolution Of A First-Year Engineering Course, Noah Salzman, Janet Callahan, Gary Leroy Hunt, Carol Sevier, Amy J. Moll

Amy J. Moll

The first-year engineering course at Boise State University has evolved significantly over the past decade as a result of continuous improvement with a particular focus on student retention. The course was originally created in 1999-2001 as an “Introduction to Engineering” course in order to recruit students to one of the fields of engineering, by introducing those fields of engineering as topics across the semester. Over the first ten years, the course continued that introductory-to-field focus while also introducing a significant design element solving openended engineering problems. As a result of a five-year grant aimed toward improving first-year retention, the first-year …

Evolution Of A First-Year Engineering Course, Noah Salzman, Janet Callahan, Gary Leroy Hunt, Carol Sevier, Amy J. Moll

Janet M. Callahan

The first-year engineering course at Boise State University has evolved significantly over the past decade as a result of continuous improvement with a particular focus on student retention. The course was originally created in 1999-2001 as an “Introduction to Engineering” course in order to recruit students to one of the fields of engineering, by introducing those fields of engineering as topics across the semester. Over the first ten years, the course continued that introductory-to-field focus while also introducing a significant design element solving openended engineering problems. As a result of a five-year grant aimed toward improving first-year retention, the first-year …

English Learner Oral Language Production In Middle School Academic Classes, Kathryn Brooks

Kathryn Brooks

Because of current federal and state educational policies, oral language development is an often overlooked aspect of language and literacy use and development of English Learning (EL) students in K-12 schools in the United States. This article describes a study in which a researcher used an ecobehavioral approach to investigate the conditional probability that young adolescent EL students would produce language in content area classes as they engaged in four different instructional grouping configurations: whole class, small group, one-to-one, and individual instruction. Significant differences emerged between instructional grouping configurations in terms of EL student production of oral academic language. Overall, …

English Language Learner Academic Engagement And Instructional Grouping Configurations, Kathryn Brooks, Linda P. Thurston

Kathryn Brooks

This study used and ecobehavioral approach to investigate the conditional probability that English language learning (ELL) students would engage in academic tasks in urban middle school content area classrooms within different instructional grouping configurations. These configurations included whole class, small group, one-to-one, and individual instructions. The participants in the study included 28 native Spanish-speaking students who were all identified as being English language learners (ELL). The findings on this study indicate that participants were most likely to engage in academic tasks during small group and one-to-one instruction. They were least likely to engage in academic tasks during whole class and …

Creating Conditions For Transforming Practicing K-12 Mainstream Teachers Of English Language Learners, Susan R. Adams, Kathryn Brooks

Kathryn Brooks

Critical incident reflection journal writing provides a rich source for identifying high impact components of Project Alianza, a graduate course for mainstream secondary teachers funded by a US Department of Education Title III Professional Development grant. In this narrative pilot study featuring one strand of existing data, the co-authors, who are also co-instructors and co-researchers, begin the first rounds of analysis to identify emerging key conditions and contributing factors featured within specialized graduate courses for encouraging dispositional change and professional efficacy toward English language learners (ELLs) in practicing K-12 mainstream educators. Using Mezirow’s adult transformational learning theory (1991), Kegan’s stage …

Creating Inclusive Learning Communities For Ell Students: Transforming School Principals' Perspectives, Kathryn Brooks, Susan R. Adams, Trish Morita-Mullaney

Kathryn Brooks

School-level administrators are often concerned about tertiary supports for English language learners (ELLs), such as translating signs and school documents or offering Spanish classes for their teachers. Although modeling and learning the heritage language(s) of the ESL population can be helpful, its focus on language differences can limit our considerations of broader systemic challenges that impact the success of ELLs in our schools. This article shares the dialogues that school administrators are having about ELL students and discusses the use of social justice and equity focused professional learning communities as a way to transform this discourse to address the broader …