Education Commons^™

'Trends And Imperatives In Educational Leadership', In Nsw Det, Stephen Dinham, Narottam L. Bhindi

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The job of the principal and other school leaders has become more demanding, stressful and complex. Whitaker (2003) argues that the contextual changes and shifting roles of principals have contributed to problems of selection, recruitment, and retention of quality candidates.

Factors Influencing The Employment Experience And Aspirations Of A Cohort Of Beginning Teachers: Two Years On, Ted Booth, Jennifer Runge

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Contemporary beginning teachers have a diverse mix of ages and prior experiences and many are seeking teaching work beyond their own state in a rapidly changing national and international market. The purpose of this longitudinal study is to investigate the employment experience and changing aspirations of a cohort of newly qualified teachers (NQTs) who entered the teaching workforce in 2003 in a ‘tight teaching labour market’. The case study commenced with a sample of 174 beginning teachers from a regional Australian university. The purpose of this paper is to report on their employment experiences two years on and changes in …

Hanging Out In The School Ground : A Reflective Look At Researching Children's Environmental Learning, Paul Tranter, Karen A. Malone

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The authors take a reflective journey to explore the research methodology utilised in a multi-method, multi-site research study of children’s environmental learning in schoolgrounds in Australia. Informed by an extensive literature review and dialogue with researchers around the world, the study constructed a research design and procedure that could be utilized by practitioner researchers and academic researchers as the foundation for further research on children’s learning in schoolgrounds. This paper has the specific task of sharing our research story and lessons learnt as a conversation to those who intend to conduct future research with children on schoolground greening projects.

Science Thinking Books: Children Talking, Thinking And Drawing Their Way Into Science, Karen A. Malone

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This article presents the story of how as a science teacher I came to use Science Thinking Books as a tool for supporting children to explore and share their experiences, thinking and understanding of the world.

Developing An Internet-Based Community For Special Education In Bulgaria, R. Peterson

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Research on special education practices in Bulgaria to develop an Internet-based community of practice is now underway. The study will answer a call to action to test the potential of online communities of practice (OCoPs) to close the gap between education research and practice. A secondary goal is to update findings about the feasibility of Internet-based instruction in Bulgaria. Qualitative and quantitative methods will be used to develop and evaluate a website and propose design principles for future OCoP development. Research has been guided by situated learning and legitimate peripheral participation theory as well as the design-based research approach. This …

The State Of The Art Of Design-Based Research, R. Peterson, J. Herrington

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Ann Brown (1992) and Allan Collins (1992) introduced the term design experiment in 1992 as an innovative approach to educational research. Today, commonly termed design-based research (DBR), the approach itself is still very much being designed. There is a general consensus that DBR standards need to be set by addressing such questions as: What kinds of knowledge should DBR be expected generate? What theoretical requirements should be imposed on DBR? and What types of research can be considered DBR? Given the drive for empirical educational research and escalating interest in DBR, it is hoped that continued expert commentary will lead …

Authentic Tasks In E-Learning Designs, Janice A. Herrington

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Constructivist approaches to learning design, while gaining increased acceptance in the higher education community, are the exception rather than the rule in the majority of web-based courses currently offered by universities throughout the world. The adoption of university quality standards and the widespread use of course management programs have inadvertently constrained more authentic and innovative approaches to online learning. Contemporary trends in e-learning designs are highlighting the value of authentic approaches to learning. This paper argues that authentic tasks that guide complex and sustained learning endeavours can be adopted in web-based courses, and provides guidelines for implementation, together with examples …

Re-Organising And Integrating The Knowledge Bases Of Initial Teacher Education : The Knowledge Building Community Program, Julie Kiggins, Brian Ferry, Brian L. Cambourne

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

In a Report submitted to the NSW government in 2000, Gregor Ramsay made a claim that should challenge pre-service teacher educators in all Western democracies:

“…it is possible to reorganise the knowledge bases of undergraduate teacher education subjects so that they are more integrated with school and classroom culture, and therefore more relevant, more meaningful, better appreciated by student teachers, with less duplication across subject areas” (Ramsay, 2000, p57)

While such rhetoric sounds appealing, it begs the question of how pre-service teacher educators might realise such rhetoric in practice, given the entrenched transmission of information + practicum model of program …

An Investigation Into Visual Design In The Development Of Educational Web-Based Projects, Lesley J. Knapp, Susan J. Bennett, Ian M. Brown

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

There is an increasing demand on teachers to use computer technology in their teaching practice, often without support or training to use the technology to its full potential. The study reported in this paper investigated teachers from an Australian government secondary school, involved in a qualitative study into methods of developing visually coherent educational projects for the World Wide Web. The teachers participated in a university funded project, to develop Web-based learning materials for high-school students. The teachers involved in the study developed a project from a multidisciplinary perspective, specifically for the World Wide Web. The perceptions and experiences of …