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Selected Works

Selected Works

2016

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Marguerite Maher

Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Education

Retention And Attrition Of Students In Higher Education: Challenges In Modern Times To What Works, Marguerite Maher, Helen Macallister May 2016

Retention And Attrition Of Students In Higher Education: Challenges In Modern Times To What Works, Marguerite Maher, Helen Macallister

Marguerite Maher

Retention and attrition rates in higher education have long been a focus of research. This paper presents findingsof a single case study, undertaken in a School of Education, which identify important strategies that have led to attrition of five to eight per cent, compared with 18 per cent cross the education sector in Australia (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2004). Findings include: individual admissions interviews, funding of an Associate Dean Pastoral Care, course coordinators providing continuity of support, easy access for students to academic staff, well-supported, extended professional experience, senior staff lecturing undergraduates, congruence between co-curricular supports and the …

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Out Of "Dark Backrooms And Sheds", Marguerite Maher M.Ed May 2016

Out Of "Dark Backrooms And Sheds", Marguerite Maher M.Ed

Marguerite Maher

Commitment to a single, inclusive education system has been the aspiration of reform in education in a democratic South Africa as articulated in White Paper 6: Special needs education: Building an inclusive education and training system (Department of Education, 2001, referred to hereafter as White Paper 6). Within a ‘barriers to learning’ approach to inclusive education, progress is being made with improved facilities and the implementation of AIDS awareness programmes. Managing the transition towards an inclusive education system has proved challenging in some areas, however, and the specific provision in policy documents directed towards children with disabilities is behind schedule. …

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The Class Size Paradox, Boris Handal, Marguerite Maher, Kevin Watson May 2016

The Class Size Paradox, Boris Handal, Marguerite Maher, Kevin Watson

Marguerite Maher

No abstract provided.

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E-Portfolios As A Pedagogical Device In Primary Teacher Education: The Aut University Experience, Marguerite Maher, Philippa Gerbic May 2016

E-Portfolios As A Pedagogical Device In Primary Teacher Education: The Aut University Experience, Marguerite Maher, Philippa Gerbic

Marguerite Maher

Portfolios have a long tradition in teacher education and now these are available in electronic form. At the same time, there are increasing demands for primary teachers to be technologically capable and confident in classrooms. When teacher educators wish to respond through the introduction of new technologies such as e-portfolios, there are significant issues of professional learning. This paper discusses one response, a collaborative self-study, around the introduction of an e-portfolio as a pedagogical device. It highlights two key aspects of the study: first, it considers how collaborative self-study as a methodology proved crucial for sustaining lecturer motivation and commitment …

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Early Childhood Project Analysed Within A Model Enhancing The Self-Efficacy Of Indigenous People, Marguerite Maher May 2016

Early Childhood Project Analysed Within A Model Enhancing The Self-Efficacy Of Indigenous People, Marguerite Maher

Marguerite Maher

This paper presents a model which weaves together an adaptation of Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological model (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1989, 1993) and the tenets of human agency theory (Bandura, 2001; Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 1996; Bandura, Pastorelli, Barbaranelli, & Caprara, 1999; Carlson, 1997), which are central to decision-making, self-regulation and self-determination. This model provides a framework to explain how non-Indigenous lecturers were able to work in culturally appropriate ways with community members in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, Australia, on a project which focussed on improving the literacy and numeracy skills of four-year-old children. The aim of this initiative was …

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Lighting Up Learning: Mathematics Becoming Less Of A 'Killer Subject' In Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Marguerite Maher May 2016

Lighting Up Learning: Mathematics Becoming Less Of A 'Killer Subject' In Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Marguerite Maher

Marguerite Maher

This paper reports the findings of an evaluative study of an initiative, in its sixth year of implementation, enhancing the learning and teaching of mathematics in 20 disadvantaged secondary schools in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, twenty years after democracy. Findings highlight the importance of initial and ongoing professional development for under-qualified teachers. Support and strategies that have enhanced the achievement in mathematics of learners in these still under-resourced schools, are described.

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Numeracy Education Through Mobile Apps, Boris Handal, Iona Novak, Kevin Watson, Marguerite Maher, Jean Macnish, Katrina Eddles-Hirsch May 2016

Numeracy Education Through Mobile Apps, Boris Handal, Iona Novak, Kevin Watson, Marguerite Maher, Jean Macnish, Katrina Eddles-Hirsch

Marguerite Maher

Numeracy achievement of Australian school children is a national priority according to the Australian Curriculum. There is increasingly compelling evidence that numeracy needs to be a focus in all curriculum areas, not solely in mathematics (Human Capital Working Group, 2008). At the same time, there is an ever-increasing scope for the use of mobile technologies to enhance learning and teaching. This article examines how numeracy and mobile learning work together as teachers in the Middle Years are mentored to use iPad applications (apps) effectively within their own curriculum area to enhance the learning of numeracy for children in their classes.

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