Education Commons^™

Finding The Right Fit: University Course Selection And Completion, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

As higher education enrolments continue to climb, the proportion of students failing to graduate remains high among some cohorts, according to analysis by Daniel Edwards.

Equipping Students For Life After School, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Identifying and developing the knowledge, skills and attributes required for life and work is an ongoing challenge in school education.

Diving Deeper With Assessment, Hilary Hollingsworth

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

ACER is helping educators to understand and implement assessment practices for positive classroom change and improved learning.

Students’ Views About Learning With Technologies: A Literature Review, Kathryn Moyle, Guus Wijingaards, Susanne Owen

Professor Kathryn Moyle

There is a paucity of recent, formal education research that listens directly to students’ views of learning with technologies. Much of the research that has been conducted has tended to focus on evaluating students’ current experiences within a specific course, or concerned with tangible issues such as frequency of computer use, access to computers and the Internet, and evaluations of technical skill levels. Available research has tended to use quantitative or mixed method approaches, with data collected through surveys using convenience samples, Likert scales and free response questions. These methods are sometimes supplemented with interviews and observations. To establish an …

Faculty Roles: A Primer For Students And Professionals Interested In Careers In Academia, Bryn Harris, Amanda Sullivan

Bryn Harris

No abstract provided.

The Importance Of Fractional Thinking As A Bridge To Algebraic Reasoning, Catherine Pearn, Max Stephens

Catherine Pearn

This presentation will discuss how Year 6 primary school students create algebraic meaning and syntax through their solutions of standard fraction problems. Sample solutions will show how students use best available symbols to move beyond arithmetic calculation and to create innovative chains of algebraic reasoning. Several efficient and successful multiplicative methods are used to achieve this goal—in contrast to less efficient methods, usually additive, which may work only with simple fractions. Teachers need to recognise the underlying algebraic meaning emerging from students solutions and help all students use more efficient strategies and build their own bridges to algebra.

Good Practice Guides: Students, Institutions And Employers, Chris Ziguras, Jo Doyle, Cate Gribble, Racquel Shroff

Jo Doyle

University Completions And Equity, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

University students from disadvantaged groups have a lower completion rate than their more advantaged peers, but most disadvantaged students do complete their degrees, research reveals.

Zhong Guo Chu Zhong Sheng Yin Jiu Xing Wei Yu Qi Ta Jian Kang Wei Xian Xing Wei De Guan Xi [Alcohol Use And Associated Risk Factors Among Chinese Middle School Students], Teresa Merrick, Ying Zhang, Ben-Chun Tian, Ling Qian, Ian Newman

Ian Newman

Objective-- To explore the relationship between reported alcohol-use in Chinese youth to other reported health risk behaviors, and to provide bases for their health education. Methods -- The data of 2003 Global School-Based Student Health Survey in China and related material of survey came from WHO website. SPSS 13.0 was applied for cross-tabulated data analysis and Chi-square test was used to analyze the relationships between alcohol-use and other risk behaviors. Results -- Students who reported alcohol use within the last 30 days were also at significant risk from direct health behaviors, other health behaviors, environmental factors and psychological factors, especially …

Addressing The Learning Needs Of All Students, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Year-level curriculum expectations in our schools sometimes impose artificial ceilings on student learning, and many of Australia’s most able students are not achieving their true potential as a result. Geoff Masters explains why.

Remember The Students: Lessons For Learning Outcomes Assessments, Jacob Pearce, Daniel Edwards

Dr Jacob Pearce

Assessments of student learning outcomes are important for institutional and system-level quality assurance, but should also help students improve their knowledge and skills.

Remember The Students: Lessons For Learning Outcomes Assessments, Jacob Pearce, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

Assessments of student learning outcomes are important for institutional and system-level quality assurance, but should also help students improve their knowledge and skills.

Pathways To University: Beyond Prior School Achievement, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

Daniel Edwards explores whether Australia’s university admissions pathways adequately meet the needs of students and society.

Focused: Why A Teaching Team Is Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts, Ray Peck

Ray Peck

Ray Peck reports on new research revealing that focused teaching teams assist the mathematics learning of students with Down syndrome.

Icils Questionnaire Development, Wolfram Schulz, John Ainley

Dr Wolfram Schulz

In this chapter, we describe the development of the international questionnaires for students, teachers, school principals, information and communication technology (ICT) coordinators, and national research centers. The student questionnaire was designed to gather information about students’ personal and home background as well as use of and familiarity with computers and computing. It included questions relating to students’ background characteristics, their experience and use of computers and ICT to complete a range of different tasks in school and out of school, and their attitudes toward the use of computers and ICT. The teacher questionnaire was designed to gather teachers’ perspectives on …

Wikis For Group Work: Encouraging Transparency, Benchmarking And Feedback, Amir Abdekhodaee, Dini Kourosh, Farnaz Modarres, Anne-Marie Chase, Bella Ross

Dr Anne-Marie Chase

Ieaa International Employability Guide: International Students, Jo Doyle

Jo Doyle

Promoting Cross-Border Education – Provider Mobility, Sarah Richardson, Ali Radloff

Ali Radloff

In this four-part series, Sarah Richardson and Ali Radloff highlight the key considerations for strengthening collaboration around cross-border education. Here they address the establishment of international university campuses and joint-degree programs.

Promoting Cross-Border Education – Virtual Mobility, Sarah Richardson, Ali Radloff

Ali Radloff

In this four-part series, Sarah Richardson and Ali Radloff highlight the key considerations for strengthening collaboration around cross-border education. Here they address the use of technology to facilitate international mobility without movement.

A New Deal For End-Of-School Assessment, Geoff Masters, Gabrielle Matters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

A review of the processes involved in senior assessment and tertiary entrance in Queensland recommends a redesign to make them more appropriate to the 21st century. Geoff Masters and Gabrielle Matters explain the thinking behind their recommendations.

A New Deal For End-Of-School Assessment, Geoff N. Masters, Gabrielle Matters

Dr Gabrielle Matters

Interactive Whiteboards As A Tool For Teaching Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Irina Verenikina, Kathleen Tanner, Roselyn Dixon, Elleni De Graaf

I. Verenikina

This paper presents part of a research study on the affordances of digital technologies in the learning of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) undertaken in the Faculty of Education, University of Wollongong. The study is framed around the understanding of modern digital technologies, and Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) in particular, as cognitive tools for teaching and learning based on the theory of social and cultural mediation of children’s development and learning (Vygotsky, 1978; Engestrom, 2001). The view of the IWB as a teaching and learning tool is twofold: firstly, the IWB is analysed as a tool that can be used …

Determining The Quality Of Assessment Items In Collaborations: Aspects To Discuss To Reach Agreement, Lambert Schuwirth, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.

Perceptions Of Instructors And Students With Respect To Synchronous Video Learning, John Griffith, Marian C. Schultz

John Griffith

Visual Discrimination Of Letters In The Alphabet By Young Children: A Rasch Measurement Analysis, Janet Richmond, Russell Waugh

Janet E Richmond PhD

Data on 30 items for upper case letters and 36 items for lower case letters, where each item was scored in one of two categories (wrong scored zero and correct scored one), were Rasch analysed to create two linear scales . The student sample was N=324 pre-primary and primary students (aged 5 to 9 years) in Perth, Western Australia. Twelve of the initial 30 items of Visual Discrimination of Upper Case Letters were deleted due to item misfit statistics leaving 18 items and five of the original 36 items for Visual Discrimination of Lower Case Letters were deleted leaving 31 …

Mental Health Promotion And Wellbeing In Schools: Everyone's Right To Feel Safe, Katherine Dix, Tracy Zilm

Dr Katherine Dix

What Information From Pisa Is Useful For Teachers? How Can Pisa Help Our Students To Become More Proficient?, Juliette Mendelovits, Dara Searle, Tom Lumley

Juliette Mendelovits

A frequent objection to large-scale testing programs, both national and international, is that they are used as an instrument of control, rather than as a means of providing information to effect change. Moreover, concerns about large-scale testing often take the form of objection to the specific characteristics of the assessments as being prescriptive and proscriptive, leading to a narrowing of the curriculum and the spectre of 'teaching to the test' to the exclusion of more important educational content. Taking PISA reading literacy as its focus, this paper proposes, on the contrary, that a coherent assessment system is valuable in so …

Ict Skills, Knowledge And Attitudes Of Staff And Students, Tony Fetherston

Tony Fetherston

The results of a questionnaire administered to Education Staff and students in a metropolitan university are presented. The 73 item questionnaire provided results, from a total of 158 respondents, which will be used to plan the integration of ICT into pre service teacher education courses at the university. Results revealed that staff skill levels are lower than those of the students, that Staff report lower pedagogical understandings than the students in regard to the use of ICT and there are few differences in attitudes towards the use of computers in learning.

Designing Online Assessment For Improved Student Learning And Experience, Roy Wybrow, Pauline Taylor, David Smorfitt

Associate Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy

Students' Perceptions Of On-Line Assessment : Financial And Educational Implications, David Smorfitt, Roy Wybrow, Pauline Taylor

Associate Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy