Education Commons^™

Issues In Primary Mathematics Education Computers: Classroom Practice And Curriculum Reform, Lorraine Kershaw, Kevin Jones, Len Sparrow

Research outputs pre 2011

The advent of an interactive multimedia approach in teaching and learning has opened up yet another horizon to be explored in search of the perceived potential of the computer in primary mathematics education. Benefits promoted have included its use as a motivational aid, the developing of content knowledge and problem solving skills of children of varying abilities, its capacity to support an integrated curriculum, and to assist children in controlling their own learning. Many have doubts about the veracity of these assertions and disagree about the types of appropriate uses of the computer. For classroom teachers, software and hardware availability, …

Sharing Teachers' Stories Of Sport Education : A Summary Of Findings From The 1994 National Sepep Trials, Andrew Medland, Stephen Thorpe, Ken Alexander, Andrew Taggart

Research outputs pre 2011

Sport Education is an innovative curriculum model, increasingly used as a component of upper primary and secondary school physical education programs and exhibiting many parallels with community junior sport. Within normally scheduled physical education lessons, mixed ability teams are formed at the start of a 20 session (approximately) competitive "season".

In addition to the aim of helping students learn to become good players, Sport Education encourages students to fulfil other roles such as umpiring, acting as a team coach, manager or captain, serving on a sports management board or duty team and working as a publicity officer/journalist. As students assume …

Creating Waves : Towards An Educological Paradigm Of Teacher Education., David Tripp

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In this paper it is argued that teacher education has already gone through two major stages (or waves) in its development, and is perhaps about to embark on a third. The first part presents a broad history of various models in terms of three major variables: where pre-service learning is located, how the study of education is constituted, and who controls accreditation. It is suggested that Australia is likely to return to an earlier model of teacher education unless teacher educators themselves produce a better way in which to meet current criticisms. A new' educological' model is proposed which involves …

Field Of Dreams : Australia's National Schools Project, William Louden, John Wallace

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

"If you build it, they will come," says one of the characters in the film Field of Dreams. In the key scene of the film, the magical power of belief draws dreamers and long-dead baseball heros together in a baseball diamond cut from a mId-western farmer's corn field. Belief overcomes reality, and the film's characters and their baseball heroes play the perfect baseball games of imagination in the light of a long golden dusk. The National Schools Project is like that, we think in three ways. First, its creators have believed that it is possible for Australian schools to be …

Its Time For A Total Curriculum Approach To Preservice Teacher Education Programs : A Personal Viewpoint., Ian Macpherson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article contests the ways in which preservice teacher education programs have been conceptualised, planned and implemented in universities. The article, therefore, is NOT about responding in technocratic ways alone to institutional, practising school, and employer constraints. Rather, it is about conceptualising preservice teacher education programs so that intending graduates work towards becoming reflective practitioners with a commitment to social justice. Such a conceptualisation is considered appropriate given the increasing diversity of learners and learning settings; the increasing complexity of communities and society; the growing possibilities for engaging in truly collaborative approaches to teacher education; and the expanding challenge of …

The Collaborating Teacher As Co-Educator In Teacher Education., Hans Hulshof, Nico Verloop

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In this article a report will be given on a research project of the Teacher Education Department of Leiden University, The Netherlands. The research focuses on the role of the collaborating / cooperating teacher in the one year postgraduate teacher training course which is followed by candidates having their masters in a variety of subjects.

A Meeting Of Minds : Journals, Gloria Latham

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

It is a circuitous and often lonely journey being educated and educating others. I have found journal writing to be a buffer against the isolation by recording moments along the path and lingering from time to time on a fresh idea or a memory. Reflective journals fill my bookshelves and feed my professional practice as I continue to map my journey. This is why when I first heard I would be teaching a new subject entitled, 'Reflective Learning and Teaching' with a three year journal component I felt confident, I knew I could share my own use of the professional …

What Motivates People To Become Teachers., Don Alexander, David Chant, Bernard Cox

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

There is no shortage of attempts to explain why people want to be teachers, and many of these attempts are used to frame this paper. Most of the research cited comes from the United States, some comes from Australia, and a few references are made to research from other countries. What attracts people to teaching has been a popular research theme for several decades, and it has been simultaneously quite popular in many countries. In Israet for example, 9.9% of all educational research done between 1974 and 1985 related to "teachers' education, attitudes and behaviours" (Peritz, 1989:62). Prominent among the …

Computer Education: New Perspectives, Martyn Wild (Ed.)

Research outputs pre 2011

Computer technologies were introduced into educational contexts over two decades ago and while there is some argument about the extent to which computers have realised their potential, they have undoubtedly had a significant impact on education. A look into any school will reveal computers being used widely by clerical staff, teachers and children.

It is clear that computers are here to stay, but it is less clear as to how effectively they are being used in the learning process. Teachers not only need to use computers but they need to use them well, and in order to do this they …

Introduction By Max Angus, Guest Editor, And, Contents Page, Max Angus

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This issue will focus on the National Schools Project, an ambitious action research project involving 200 schools across the country. At one level, the Project is only incidentally pertinent to teacher educators - it has been a large, costly attempt to change the way schools operate; should it succeed in the longer term in achieving its purposes, prospective teachers will require a new range of skills and understandings. There is a second more immediate reason. In some states, teacher educators have played an influential role as 'critical friends' of school staff engaged in the taxing task of changing the way …

Creating A Collaborative Culture In A National Schools Project School., John Rooney, Alastair Drew

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The school's desire to be a part of the National Schools Project arose from its local circumstances. Situated in the northern suburbs of AdelaIde, Salisbury North Primary School caters to a highly disadvantaged community. Over 80 per cent of students are from households whose income is low enough to qualify for government assistance. This figure has been steadily rising over the last few years. The student population is also remarkably diverse. Of an enrolment of 280 children in year levels 3-7, thirty percent are of non-English speaking background, twenty five percent are part of a new arrivals program, and over …

Issues In Primary Mathematics Education: Calculators: Research And Curriculum Implications, Len Sparrow, Lorraine Kershaw, Kevin Jones

Research outputs pre 2011

Calculators: Research and curriculum implications is one of a series of monographs on issues in primary mathematics education. It has been written to support initiatives in the development of student-centred learning programs at Edith Cowan University - programs designed to accommodate current views on effective adult learning strategies, as wells as the development of professional and generic (key) competencies. Irrespective of the nature of individual learning programs, students and teachers working at undergraduate and postgraduate levels will find the series useful- either as a synthesis of currently available research findings and reference material, to identify potentially significant initiatives and developments …

School Non-Attendance: A Literature Review, Irene Ioannakis

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

A Preliminary Study Of The Potential For Recycling And Waste Minimisation At Edith Cowan University: Report To The Edith Cowan University Student Guild, Eddie Van Etten, Mark Lund, Robert Troeth

Research outputs pre 2011

In recent years there has been a growing realisation worldwide that disposing of large quantities of waste to landfill was not only causing problems of pollution(e.g. leachate and gas production) but suitable sites were rapidly filling up. In Perth it is has been estimated that present landfill sites will only last until 2007 (Sinclair and Knight, 1991). To help extend the life of current landfill sites and in response to environmental concerns the Western . Australia Government produced a State Recycling Blueprint (Department of Commerce and Trade, 1993). This describes strategies for the minimisation of waste production and maximisation of …

Quality In Teaching And Learning: Making It Happen: The Proceedings Of The Teaching & Learning Forum, Laurie Summers (Ed.)

Research outputs pre 2011

These papers represent the proceedings of the third Teaching and Learning Forum to be conducted in Perth, the first two by Curtin University and this one by Edith Cowan University....

The Forum was organised around three major themes - or at least it was in the beginning! Papers that were presented, and the discussion that was generated, led us to concede that there was really a great deal of interaction between the themes, which were:

• ways of defining quality

• working towards quality

• evaluating quality

Accordingly, we have not attempted to designate papers as being solely or even …

Number Sense And Computation In The Classroom, Kevin Jones, Lorraine Kershaw, Len Sparrow

Research outputs pre 2011

Number sense and computation in the classroom is one of a series of monographs on issues in primary mathematics education. It has been written to support initiatives in the development of student-centred learning programs at Edith Cowan University - programs designed to accommodate current views on effective adult learning strategies, as wells as the development of professional and generic (key) competencies. Irrespective of the nature of individual learning programs, students and teachers working at undergraduate and postgraduate levels will find the series useful- either as a synthesis of currently available research findings and reference material, to identify potentially significant initiatives …

Telematics In Rural Education : An Investigation Of The Use Of Telematics For The Delivery Of Specialist Programmes For Students In Rural Schools, Ron Oliver, Tom Reeves

Research outputs pre 2011

Rural students face many problems that do not necessarily confront their city counterparts. Education is a process that carries strong economies of scale. It is economical in instances where resources and facilities can be shared. It is very much resource based and much of the quality of educational programmes is derived from the resources and facilities that support the teaching/learning programme. This type of scenario makes it possible for a strong distinctions to emerge in the quality of the educational programmes received by rural and metropolitan students...

The Induction Of Beginning Teachers In Western Australian Catholic Primary Schools, Matthew Faulkner

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The survey study was primarily exploratory and descriptive in nature and attempted to report on the perceptions of beginning teachers entering the Catholic primary schools in Western Australia in 1991. Their perceptions on the form of induction they received, and how their pre-service teacher education equipped them for this transition were attained. In addition, data from Catholic primary school principals, Catholic Education Office of Western Australia administrators and teacher institutions administrators were collected in relation to perceptions of the transitions from teacher training to teacher employment. The main sources of data collection were questionnaires and interviews. The data collated indicated …

The Effects Of Teaching A Specific Top-Level Structure On The Organization Of Written Texts, K Brown

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of teaching a specific top-level structure on students' recall and organization of expository text. The hypothesis to be investigated was that students explicitly taught the scientific report text structure schema would show improved recall and organization of written report text protocols. The report text structure utilized in this study was derived from Sloan and Latham's top-level structure of text organization devised from schema theory and semantic memory models.

An Attitudinal Study Of Computer-Based Learning For English Language Competence With Learning Disabled Secondary School Students, Dorothy Sinclair

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The issue of sub-standard English language competence in school leavers is one of prime concern to educators. Some Western Australian secondary school teachers endeavouring to improve English language competence in students with learning disabilities have implemented computer-based learning programmes. The purpose of this project was to establish, through the students' attitudes and the teachers' perceptions, whether or not computer-based learning for English language competence is perceived to be successful for those Western Australian secondary school students who have learning disabilities. The study will benefit Western Australian secondary English teachers who may be searching for alternative strategies for inclusion in future …

The Regulation Of Teaching : Lessons From The National Schools Project, Max Angus

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

It is conceivable that the present generation of Australian teachers has been engaged in more workplace reform over a longer period of time than any other occupational group. Teachers can recite a near-interminable list of changes to work practices initiated during the 70s and 80s which required revisions of content to be taught, changes in methods of instruction and the introduction of modified patterns of school organisation. Yet the more things change the more they appear the same. The salient features of schools of 20 years ago are salient today - classes of thirty of so students, dominated by teacher …

Research And Development As An Essential Work Practice For Teachers., Sharan Burrow

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Educators who have promoted the societal value of life-long learning must take heart from the growing acceptance by business and industry leaders that career-long education and development is essential for their survivaL This dawning realisation has been prompted by the harsh realities of competitive, global economics. Increasingly business leaders recognise that managers and employees must learn and adapt or contract and shut down. Ironically, much of the tough language of business and industry in regard to essential learnings and understandings (competencies) can be found in documented debate, system reports and teacher discourse of the seventies, a discourse labelled 'soft' by …

Qualifications Of Entrants Into Graduate Diploma Courses Of Education, Bruce Haynes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The qualifications of those offered places in Graduate Diplomas in Education at Edith Cowan University in 1994 were of high quality and similar to the qualifications of students in these courses In recent years. An account of the quality of those qualifications is presented here to assist those wishing to judge the quality of teachers. Impressions of the quality of teachers in schools are formed by people using various types of evidence. Teachers' salary scales, levels of industrial dispute, academic qualifications, socio-economic origins, children's examination results, level of juvenile criminal and anti-social behaviour, public utterances by teachers and their representatives, …

"New Production Concepts" And The Reconstruction Of Teacher Education : A Post-Fordist Critique., Susan L. Robertson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse the reconstruction of teacher education in order to initiate a more systematic debate.To undertake this task, I will first locate the current proposals for the reform of teacher education in a brief historical context, before moving on to outline the proposed changes to teacher education. I will argue that these policy shifts must be understood within the wider post-Fordist debate and that the new production concepts of skilling, reprofessionalism and task integration provide a useful basis on which the current restructuring proposals. I will conclude my analysis by arguing that while …

The Process Of Learning, Peter Cole

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Biggs, J. B. and Moore, P.J. (1993) The Process of Learning (3rd ed.) Sydney : Prentice Hall. 582 p.

The Development And Use In A Study Of An Instrument To Measure Teacher's Perceptions Of Their Effectiveness In Teaching Catholic Moral Principles To Middle And Upper Secondary Students, Peter Cassidy

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this study was to design an instrument and to use it in a study to measure teachers' perceptions of their effectiveness in teaching Catholic moral principles to middle and upper secondary students. As well, a final version of the instrument based on the results of the study and respondent feedback was to be developed. The study was justified on the following grounds: - less than half of Western Australia's Catholic secondary teachers of Religious Education are qualified to teach Religious Education. - Research findings (Fahy, 1980; Flynn, 1985; Angus, 1988) cast doubt on the effectiveness of moral …

The Identification Of Conceptual And Strategic Difficulties Encountered By Students When Using An Electronic Spreadsheet, Craig Clapham

Theses : Honours

The call for the use of computer technology in mathematics education has been heeded by the Ministry of Education in Western Australia. The syllabus documents for the Upper Secondary mathematics courses recommend the use of computer software packages for the teaching of the concepts involved in these courses. In particular, the electronic spreadsheet is suggested as a versatile and useful tool for simulations and problem-solving by students, although very little formal study has been undertaken to support or refute such beliefs. This study involved teaching a group of four Year 12 students to operate a spreadsheet, and then examined the …

Factors Contributing To The Underrepresentation Of Girls In Year 11 Outdoor Education At A Selected Government School, Ruth H. Rynehart

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors contributing to the underrepresentation of girls in the Year 11 Outdoor Education course in a selected government school. Enrolment statistics provided by the Secondary Education Authority indicate a possible gender orientation of the course which is problematic under the Social justice in education: Policy and guidelines for gender equity (Ministry of Education, 1991 ).

In Western Australian schools, enrolments in Outdoor Education have increased steadily since lower school units were introduced in 1987. However, the participation rate has consistently been about two times greater for boys than for girls. Of concern …

The Effect Of Instruction On Short And Long Term Memory Of Songs And Their Musical Elements, Alanna Campbell

Theses : Honours

This research project investigated the extent to which two methods of instruction enhance memory (short and long term) and transfer of the knowledge into various contexts of songs and their musical elements. The two methods of instruction investigated were the rote memorisation and the whole method. Students of one year three class from a metropolitan, co-educational government school were the participants in the research. The students served as both the control and experimental groups. They were taught four songs over a course of eight weeks by the school's music specialist. The eight weeks were divided into two four week sessions. …

Challenging Student Alternative Frameworks Of Electrical Circuits, Lauril Jones

Theses : Honours

Student alternative frameworks were found by the researcher to be a problem when teaching the topic of electricity to Year 9 science students. It was recognised that the alternative frameworks had to be identified and a constructivist teaching strategy that would facilitate conceptual change within these students needed to be adopted. A pre-test-post-test, control group-treatment group study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a constructivist approach to instruction. The treatment group in the study received instruction based on the 'four phase model for teaching for conceptual change', a constructivist approach to teaching suggested by Cosgrove and Osborne (1985) as …