Education Commons^™

Developing Schools' Capacity To Make Performance Judgements, William Loudy, Helen Wildy

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

The State Of Science In Australian Secondary Schools, Mark W. Hackling, Denis Goodrum, Leonie Rennie

Research outputs pre 2011

Presents research which sets out to establish two pictures: one of the ideal regarding the teaching and learning of science, the other of the reality of what is actually happening in Australian schools. Identifies issues and implications for science teachers and the profession.

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 …

An Evaluation Of The Orientation Program For Newly Appointed Catholic Primary Principals, Samuel G. Fontaine

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The structure and operation of Catholic schools in Western Australia have been in a process of change since the early 1970’s. Prior to 1971, most Catholic primary schools were administered by religious orders and much of the religious character of the school reflected the charisma of the particular religious order that operated the school. In the Year 2000 most Catholic primary schools former part of a state-wide system in which the Catholic Education Office (CEO) plays a major administrative and co-ordinating role.

Early Childhood Teachers' Knowledge Of Children With Disabilities And Teaching Children With Disabilities, Pamela A. Kilgallon

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Trends to integrate students with disabilities into general education schools, rely on early childhood teachers utilising their knowledge and skills to provide successful induction into the education system, and fully including students with disabilities in the teaching program. This study describes early childhood teachers' knowledge of children with disabilities, and the teaching of these children, through teachers recounting their sources of knowledge and experiences in teaching children with disabilities. This study was conducted in the northern metropolitan teaching districts of Perth, Western Australia. Using both quantitative and qualitative methodology, 22 early childhood teachers completed a survey involving open-ended questions, followed …

Relationship Between Early Development Of Spelling And Reading, Lorraine S. Hammond

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The research reported in this thesis examined the relationship between beginning spelling and reading. More specifically, it focussed on the relationship between the development of early reading and spelling in a context where the approach to early reading instruction includes systematic phonological awareness and decoding instruction. A critical assumption made by proponents of developmental early literacy models is that transfer of skills and knowledge from reading to spelling will occur spontaneously and without formal instruction (Frith, 1980). By contrast instruction-centred approaches make the assumption that there are critical pre-requisite skills that can and should be taught explicitly (Carnine, Silbert & …

Number Sense In Urban Aboriginal Primary Students, Kathryn J. Lyon

Theses : Honours

This paper examines the number sense of urban Aboriginal primary students attending school in Perth. The subjects were asked to complete a test designed to assess their number sense, which has been defined as "[a] propensity for and an ability to use numbers and quantitative methods as a means of communicating, processing and interpreting information" (McIntosh, Reys, Reys, Bana & Farrell, 1997, p. 61). It involves an intuitive understanding about numbers and how to use them in practical ways. Some subjects were also interviewed, so that a greater understanding of their number sens8 could be gained. It was found that …

School-Community Links : Taking Cricket In Sport Education Beyond Bell Times, Adrian Lister

Theses : Honours

The aim of this study is to provide an in-depth analysis of several schools and their attempts to forge school-community links with local clubs during a season of SEPEP Cricket. This research complements ongoing research of the SEPEP curriculum model by focusing on the type of school-community links possible during a season of SEPEP Cricket. Teachers suggested a range of school-community link strategies that sought to increase the participation of students in community sporting programs through links developed with school sport and physical education programs. Adopting quantitative and qualitative research methods, mainly survey and interview data collection procedures, the perceptions …

Teaching Practices Which Enhance Rhythm Development In Junior Primary Students : Case Studies In The South West Region Of Western Australia, Natalie Oddy

Theses : Honours

This thesis has arisen from a desire to enhance the benefits of musical development, in particular, rhythm, for children in junior primary classrooms. Music plays an important role in the overall development of the child as it ''aids a child's development in other areas such as overall academic achievement, ability to concentrate, creative and artistic expression, social skills and emotional stability" (Parkinson, 1989, p. 3). Therefore music education plays an important part in the academic curriculum. The researcher selected rhythm as the element of music to focus on as it is "the most basic element of music" (Latham and Sadie, …

The Development Of A Valid And Reliable Instrument To Assess Constructivist Practices In Primary Classrooms, Bianca Herlihy

Theses : Honours

This study investigates the development of an instrument to measure teachers' constructivist practices in their classrooms. The Department of Education Curriculum Framework for Western Australia is based on a constructivist learning environment, and this study has sought to develop an instrument for exploring individual Western Australian teachers utilisation of a constructivist learning environment in their classrooms. While there are a number of studies relating to constructivist classroom practices, the literature review indicates that there is little research about actual practice in a Western Australian primary school context. The instrument was developed from an extensive review of the literature. Key theorists …

An Evaluation Of A Web-Based Tool To Assist Transition To University, Jack Seddon

Theses : Honours

This study sought to evaluate the user experience of the Race Around ECU (NAHCU) Web site (Seddon. Grant, Kosh, White & Hunt, 2000) http://www.ecu.edu.au/pa/raecu, in an attempt to understand the extent that a web-based solution can enhance high school students prior knowledge of the issues that students encounter during transition to university and how effective the site is in raising their aspirations to attend university. It sought to determine the extent to which the provision of Web promoted engagement and to explore the extent to which teaching strategies that support the integration of Web site use within existing class structures …

Hpe Teachers' Collection Of Information On Student Physical Activity Levels, S. A. Tonkin

Theses : Honours

This exploratory study sought to identify whether Health and Physical Education (HPE) Heads of Department (HODs) used a process of reflection to identify students' physical activity levels in compulsory general HPE (years 8-1 0) at secondary schools in the northern metropolitan suburbs of Perth. This study used a questionnaire, administered by research assistants, to learn what teachers believe students should be taught about physical activity. It utilised the Pollard & Tann (1993) reflective teaching process to determine if teachers collected written information on students' physical activity levels. It asked whether they analysed, evaluated, reflected, planed, made provision and acted on …

Girls Playing Netball : Factors Influencing Participation In Community Sport During A Transition Phase, Suzanne Sharp

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study describes the influences on continued sporting participation in netball for a group of adolescent girls as they make the transition from primary to secondary school and between sub-junior and junior sporting structures. A qualitative research design using one to one and semi structured focus group interviews was applied. The research describes how these meanings and identities both influence decisions about ongoing sporting participation and are influenced by situations, events and people as the participants move from primary to secondary school. Individual and focus group interview and survey data, indicate that for this group of young adolescent girls a …

Communicative Interaction In The English Language Classroom : A Field Study Of A Western Teacher As Change Agent In Two Chinese Primary Schools In Zhong Shan, People's Republic Of China, Monika Trittibach-Andres

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of a 'Change Agent' in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Chinese primary schools, and to determine whether changes were perceivable in the number and type of communicative interactions that occurred in EFL classrooms. The Department of Education of Zhong Shan, People's Republic of China, welcomed this research as the communicative approach to teaching English is sanctioned by the authorities. However, the formality of the actual classroom in primary schools often precludes much use of this method. An Investigation of the influence of a Westerner in the role …

Young Children's Collaborative Interactions In An Educational Computer Environment, Mohamad I. Shahrimin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study investigated the collaborative interaction patterns exhibited by five-year old pre-primary children in an educational computer environment. The case study method was used in one pre-primary centre in metropolitan Perth, Western Australia, to examine the patterns of collaborative interaction among young children whilst engaged with the computer. The one event case study was of the interactions exhibited by pre-primary children whilst engaged, in dyads, with the computer within a naturalistic classroom environment. This study involved three phases of data collection. Phase I consisted of observations and videotaping sessions, compilation of written observations, narrative descriptions and relevant field notes on …

What Features Of Interactive Multimedia Technology Maximise The Motivation Of Primary School Aged Children Learning Music Theory?, Nick Netis

Theses : Honours

This study was conducted to find out what features of interactive multimedia elements best engage children between the ages of 8 and 12 in the process of learning music theory. Previous research into similar areas has indicated that multimedia technologies, such as CD-ROM, arc advantageous in teaching musical theory. A commercially available software application, Musicolour, that uses multimedia delivery of musical theory lessons, was analysed to identify the elements that the students found motivating. These features included the use of a combination of audio cues, graphical cues and interactivity. The findings were analysed to determine which multimedia elements or combination …

Aboriginal Parental Involvement In Early Childhood Education, Rosalyn M. Frecker

Theses : Honours

Aboriginal parent and community participation in the education process has been identified as a priority for educators of Aboriginal children in Western Australia. The priority is one strategy aimed at addressing the inequity of student outcomes for Aboriginal children. This study set out to investigate the opinions of school staff and Aboriginal parents regarding the opportunity for, and value of Aboriginal parental involvement in the education process. Also, similarities and differences of opinion between school staff and parents were identified and discussed. The study employed qualitative methodology and included triangulation for internal validity. Semi-structured interview schedules were used to collect …

An Exploratory Study Into The Relationship Between Moral Judgement And Academic Ability By School, Gender, And Socio-Economic Status, Kathleen Bancroft

Theses : Honours

Society appears to be exhibiting an innate belief that the private school system provides a better education, a moral education and the opportunity to secure a place in the workforce more so than its counterpart, the public school system (Australian Council of Educational Research, 1980). A 1.5% shill of Australian school students from the public school system to the private school system each year has been reported (Kemp, 1997). Previous research indicates that parents are choosing the private system as they perceive an educational advantage over public schools (Australian Council of Educational Research, 1980). The purpose of this study is …

Adolescents And Sport : A Case Study Of Boys' Drop-Out From Basketball, P. N. A. Jelovsek

Theses : Honours

This thesis was designed to acquire comprehensible awareness of specific drop-out cases from basketball, specifically adolescent boys between the ages of twelve and fifteen, at Cockburn Basketball Stadium and hence abate the incidence of adolescent drop-out. My intention was to uncover what happened to these adolescents and what led them to decide to stop playing basketball. I also wished to ascertain what meaning these adolescents ascribed to the events that occurred whilst playing which led them to decide to stop playing. The Cockburn Basketball Association had 190-plus junior teams in semester 1, 1996 and only 86 junior teams in semester …

A Socio-Historical Study Of The Construction Of Knowledge In Secondary Media Education In Western Australia - Whose Knowledge?, Robyn Quin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis investigates the history of the construction of knowledge in the school subject media studies using the Western Australian experience as the case for the study. It seeks to explain why the subject media studies looks and sounds the way it does today through the production of a genealogy of the subject. The problems addressed are first, why was this subject introduced into the curriculum in the 1970s. Secondly, how has the knowledge in the subject been defined and contested, how and why has it changed in the course of the subject’s history. Thirdly, which knowledge attains the status …

Teacher Perceptions Of Student Speech, Yvonne G. Haig

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Although language variation is widespread and natural,it is subject to judgement. Where a standard language has developed, other varieties tend to be judged against its "standards". While a number of overseas studies have found that this type of linguistic bias occurs in education and negatively impacts on dialect speakers, there has been little research in Australia. The research reported in this thesis investigates how teachers perceive the speech of school-aged students and whether the socio-economic status or level of schooling of the students influence these perceptions. Further, it examines the relationships between the teachers' background, the way they define Standard …

Creating Non-Representational Art By Students Who Are Severely Intellectually Disabled Through A Pictorial And Musical Program, Jane Riddoch

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The main purpose of this research study was to investigate the worth of a recently developed Pictorial and Musical art program for severely intellectually disabled students, and to compare the non-representational art work produced by lower primary students in a special education school to similar art work being produced by lower primary students in a regular school, when taught in the same program. A subsidiary purpose of the study was to investigate teacher reactions in the art classroom of each participating school, and to observe the extent of the Pictorial and Musical program interventions on the students' attitudes and production …

Aid Administration Of Bilateral, Multilateral And Non-Government Organisations In The Primary Education Sector: A Comparative Case Study Analysis Of Zambia, Patrick Nkhoma

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This is a study of the administration of aid by bilateral, multilateral and non-government organisations in Zambia during the period 1990 to 2000. The particular purpose of this study is to compare the aid programs administered by the above organisations to the primary education sector using a case study approach. The study critically analyses how the performance of these organisation is or is not influenced by setting clear objectives, by elaborating planning processes and implementation arrangements. The study uses a matrix table developed through a NUD*IST retrieval reports generated from the data collected from each organisation’s documentation and in-depth interviews …

Factors Influencing Students Who Continue Or Discontinue Their Music Studies From Year 8 To Year 9: A Survey Of Selected Western Australian Secondary Schools, Wendy-Cara Frisina

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research examined the most significant factors which influence students' decisions to continue or discontinue their music studies from Year 8 to Year 9, in selected Western Australian Secondary Schools. The research was conducted during term 4, 2000. Results from the questionnaires were analysed and interpreted to determine the most significant factors which contribute to the discontinuation or continuation of instrumental music studies. Analysis of data examined factors as to why students continued or discontinued learning music or studying an instrument. Findings indicated that students' self-concept and music ability levels strongly influence the success or failure of a student undertaking …

Cognitive Apprenticeship In A Building Design Office, Craig A. Baird

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis presents a research study that investigated student learning in a mentor supported design office situation, using a cognitive apprenticeship learning approach that utilised authentic design project tusks. In this study, 29 final year Technical And Further Education (TAFE) building design students undertook authentic building design projects with expert building designers, who acted as mentors, in commercial design office situations. The mentors guided student learning by using a cognitive apprenticeship approach to learning, implemented with authentic design projects designed to replicate the everyday culture of practice activities typical of commercial design office operations. This study follows the progress of …

The Derivation Of Principles For Appropriate Vocational Education In Papua New Guinea, Calvin Graydon

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Restructuring an education system provides an opportunity to select appropriate programmes for schooling. This thesis develops principles to select an appropriate vocational education for schools in Papua New Guinea. History and past programmes in developed and developing countries have provided a comparison of examples where successful elements and problems have been associated with acceptance of vocational education. Developed countries have highly advanced vocational education systems catering to a range of industries. The United States of America, Britain and Australia have begun an integration of general and vocational subjects to improve cross-disciplinary relationships of subjects to students. Transnational transfer of programmes …

Curriculum And Assessment : A Question Of Politics?, Christine R. Brew, Gilah C. Leder

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) has been subject to ongoing modifications since its full introduction in 1992. These changes were largely driven by vocal opponents of this educational reform. In this paper we give voice to teachers charged with implementing the curriculum and assessment directives of the VCE. Specifically, we draw on the experiences of close to 500 senior mathematics teachers – through interview and survey data - to consider the impact on them of the evolution of the VCE.

Critical Reflective Practice And Workplace Learning : Impediments And Possibilities In Teacher Education, Barry Down, Carol Hogan

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Professional practica are an essential part of teacher education and other professional education programs, but university staff often express concern that prac. experiences are fundamentally conservative, emphasising preparation for the status quo rather than for what might be. In recent years other forms of workplace-based university learning have been devised, where staff have sought to build units of study around a core of reflective practice, action research and professional development. This paper describes one such initiative, a final semester internship for fourth year education students which enabled them to design and negotiate their own professional development plans in any one …

Transference And Psychological-Mindedness In Teachers, Erin Hanifin, Stephen Appel

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The article is an argument for the relevance for our understanding of the pedagogic relationship of Freud’s discovery of transference. Commonalities between teaching and psychoanalysis are reviewed prior to a discussion of how the concept of transference might be applied to teaching, particularly to improving the teacher’s ‘psychological-mindedness’. The article concludes by considering the moral/professional issue of teachers making use of the transference processes at work in their classrooms.

Book Reviews, Bruce Haynes, Dianne Chambers, Ken Spencer

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Scott A. and Freeman-Moir J. (Eds), (2000). Tomorrow's Teachers : International and Critical Perspectives on Teacher Education, Christchurch, Canterbury University Press.

Peter Benton & Tim O’Brien (Eds.), (2000). Special Needs and the Beginning Teacher London: Continuum (ISBN 0 8264 4889 5)

Bailey,R. & Macfadyen,T. (Eds.) (2000) Teaching Physical Education 5-11. London: Continuum. (ISBN 0 8264 4842 9