Beginning a University degree that includes computer-based delivery of subjects can be an overwhelming experience for many first year students, especially students who are not computer literate. For some mature age students computer use begins at University. This paper investigates the experiences of mature age students using computer technology at Swinburne University of Technology's Lilydale campus. It compares the experience of students enrolled in each of the three major degree disciplines (Social Science, Business and Applied Science) and addresses four key issues:
The life and learning adjustments that mature age students have had to make as the result of using computers, including their responses to using on-line learning materials, financial issues relating to purchase and maintenance of computer equipment, reliability of on-line resources delivered by the university, and coping with new learning styles.The paper will also address beliefs that mature age students have about the reality of computer technology at Lilydale - what it is and what it should be.
RIC99670
Stability and consistency in students' VCE achievements, 1994-1998
Carmel Richardson, University of Melbourne
This paper presents a summary of an investigation into the magnitude and pattern of variation in performance in students' Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) study scores over a five-year period (1994-1998). While it is known that more variation exists within schools than between schools (Hill & Rowe, 1996, 1998; Reynolds & Packer, 1992; Rowe & Hill, 1994, 1998; Scheerens, 1993), and that there is considerable variation within and between subjects and students in secondary schools (Rowe, 1998), there has been little research on the degree and extent of this variation. This report of a retrospective, longitudinal study discusses work done to develop indices of stability and consistency at the school level, which would enable identification of schools demonstrating stable high performance in particular subjects year by year, and consistent successful achievement across all subjects each year, and over a five year period. This paper provides examples of schools exhibiting the typical pattern of variable performance, along with those showing a trend of positive improving performance and schools with stable and/or consistent high performance. Explanations of factors at the school, class/teacher and student levels contributing to such stability and change in students' final secondary outcomes will be discussed at the Conference.
RIC99829
Resources and outcomes in secondary schools
Carmel Richardson, University of Melbourne
Throughout the nineties, major reforms in public education in many countries resulted in responsibility and accountability for resource allocation being decentralised to the school level. The first phase of an international co-operative project, involving researchers in the US (Odden), the UK (Levacic) and Australia (Caldwell and Hill), investigated models of resource allocation in schools, and the second phase (ROSS Research Project) aimed to assess the impact of decentralisation on quality of schooling in the government education system in Australia. Research in Victorian Primary schools (Wee, 1998; Hillier, 1999) indicated that positive student learning gains could be linked, under certain conditions, to the Schools of the Future reforms, and the ROSS Project (Resources and Outcomes in Secondary Schools) was designed to search for evidence of improved student learning outcomes, and to backmap from these to initiatives taken within the secondary school. This paper provides a preliminary report outlining initial findings from one case study, and discusses the difficulties and benefits schools reported in gathering and utilising data to drive teaching and curriculum change. The beliefs and attributions of staff regarding the claimed links between student learning outcomes and school-based management and leadership initiatives are also discussed.
ROB99395
Paper
Students perceptions of the Undergraduate Statistics Unit
Lyn Roberts, University of Ballarat
Many university courses require their students to study a unit in statistics to prepare them for a research task or project in the later part of their course. Numerous papers (see for example A'Brook & Weyers, 1996; Boland, 1995; Wild, 1995) have described the difficulties associated with teaching such units, where the students often lack motivation and cannot see the relevance of the material to their major studies. Previous research has concentrated on students' results and attitudes at the time or shortly after they have completed the statistics unit. This paper describes an investigation that has taken a longer-term perspective. Third year undergraduate university students doing minor research projects in science, human movement and psychology were surveyed about their perceptions of their first year statistics studies. The aim was to find out if students considered that they needed statistics in their current course, and if they felt that they had benefited from their statistics studies. Almost all of those surveyed saw the need for statistical skills in their current activities, and many had an increased perception of the relevance of statistics since the time when it was taught. On the other hand, few were confident in their ability to carry out more than the basic tasks of descriptive statistics and data presentation. There is a perceived need for either the initial teaching or a substantial revision of the statistics content to occur closer in time to when the skills are to be used in a practical context.
ROB99437
Paper
Lyn Roberts, Paul Kelly; University of Ballarat
Technology is changing the relationship between teacher and student. Electronic communication and collaboration is increasingly being used to facilitate learning, particularly in the tertiary environment. Many university lecturers make their lecture notes or powerpoint slides available on the World Wide Web. Others are designing entire units of material to be taught either over the Web or from a CD. In the light of these developments there is a need to rethink the nature of the teacher / student interaction. Whilst distance education has always been with us, most teachers and undergraduate students feel that one of the main benefits of a university education lies in the personal interactions of campus life. How can these interactions be maintained and even improved electronically? Until very recently, most electronic communication (in the form of personal email or group discussion lists) has been asynchronous. However as PC power and communications bandwidth increases, synchronous on-line teaching is becoming a possibility. In 1999 the University of Ballarat began supplementary instruction for a small group of off campus students using synchronous on-line lessons. Students log on to the class web site at specified times. Lessons comprise a selection of powerpoint slide presentations, pre-authored computer based instruction modules, shared applications such as spreadsheets, shared whiteboards, question and answer sessions, voice communication and text chat. This presentation will demonstrate some on-line class activities, outline student responses to the project, and discuss the implications for lecturers in terms of how they must design their teaching materials for this new approach to delivery.
ROB99500
Paper
Graduate learning: A leadership development model
Jan M Robertson & Charles F Webber,University of Waikato
This paper describes the use of a specific leadership development framework, called the Boundary-Breaking Leadership Development Model, as the basis for designing a graduate-level travel study exchange between a university in Canada and another in New Zealand. A key attribute of the Boundary-Breaking Leadership Development Model is the provision of international perspectives to participants. Therefore, in the first part of the study, 3 New Zealand and 16 Canadian graduate students plus a researcher from the United Kingdom participated for two weeks of classes, meetings, seminars, and school visits in Calgary, Alberta. Then, 10 Canadian participants went to Hamilton, New Zealand, for two weeks of parallel activities. Other participants included over one hundred guest participants in public seminars and field trips in Canada and New Zealand. Study data were gathered from graduate students' reflective journals, researchers' field notes, survey responses, and end-of-course evaluations. Data were sorted and resorted into related categories until four broad groups of findings emerged. The categories focused primarily on the effects of the cross-cultural exchange on the graduate student participants: emotional engagement with learning, development of a critical perspective, movement beyond self, and development of agency. The researchers determined that the Boundary-Breaking Leadership Development Model should include, in addition to a clear set of instructional attributes and practices, a set of desired outcomes relevant to the current context of leadership development programs. The researchers concluded that the Boundary-Breaking Leadership Development Model is a powerful leadership development framework that contributes to clear and desirable learning outcomes.
ROB99563
ROB99805
Paper
Educating for creativity and difference.
Dianne Roberts OAM, Minimbah Aboriginal Pre-and Primary School, Armidale,
Creativity stems from difference, not sameness. For some, globalisation means turning the world into one homogenous identity like a giant Disneyland, or a sea of golden arches. Standards have their place, but if educators attempt to move students through the system, as if one T-shirt fits all, without nurturing difference, the world will be a poorer place.
Educators have an obligation to each and every child in their care to nurture that child towards his/ her potential. Each child has different beliefs and values, interests, skills, abilities and needs. To give full attention to each child is not an easy task in a crowded classroom.
Aboriginal children historically have been considered as problems, and when Minimbah was founded, some educators were glad to pass their problems to Minimbah. For Aboriginal children, education is more than learning about, and preserving their culture. Culture is not static. Education is about creating the skills and building the self esteem to walk confidently in 'the world out there'- the mainstream. To walk with pride, with dignity and knowledge of their true history.
This paper aims to provide an insight into the growth and development of the Minimbah school community as it creatively strives to tap into, and encourage the rich diversity of the children who are its focus through a program of individualisation.
ROB99824
ROC99417
ROH99708
Measurement of two self-evaluative dimensions: Sense of achievement and sense of self-integrity
Meg Rohan, University of New South Wales
Theoretical underpinnings of a two-dimensional framework for understanding self-evaluations, the development of a scale for measuring the two dimensions, and implications for programmes designed to improve self-esteem will be discussed. The Sense of Achievement dimension concerns people's answers to the question "How am I doing generally?"; the Sense of Self-Integrity dimension concerns people's answers to the question "what do I think of who I am?" Empirical support for the hypothesis that traditional self-esteem scales are capturing the positivity or negativity of people's Sense of Achievement will be presented. In addition, empirical support for the importance of measuring both the Sense of Achievement and the Sense of Self-Integrity dimension will be provided. The implications of this framework centre on the notion that it is critically important for people to separate "who they are" from "what they do."
RON99402
Paper
Learning in a "community of practice" - a discussion of the applicability of the situated learning theory in an analysis of learning strategies in PE in schools.
Helle Rřnholt, University of Copenhagen,
The view on learning today is that the individual actively processes new information and constructs his or her own knowledge. However, cognitive psychology is criticised because significant factors are ignored when the focus is exclusively on the cognitive processes. In this connection, Shuell &Moran (1994) point out a number of shortcomings in the theoretical considerations. For example, adequate account is not taken of a) the social/cultural nature of learning, b) the importance of authenticity (the real world rather than artificial tasks) c) the importance of motivation, interest and emotions, and d) the specific nature of the learning domain. The school is an important place for learning, with the explicit responsibility of contributing to the development of the child. When and what a child learns is an interesting question with regard to school policy and educational theory. -This paper examines the situated learning theory (Lave & Wenger, 1991), which basically understands learning as a dimension in a social practice and not just something that goes on inside the head of the learning person. The study tests the power of the situated learning theory in a re-analysis of empirical points from a qualitative study of PE teaching in schools (Rřnholt, 1996). Analysis examples show that there is reason to take an interest in theories that are concerned with the shortcomings pointed out by Shuell & Moran. The situated learning theory can give new understandings of childrens' learning strategies in PE. But the analysis also shows that the situated learning theory has limitations, which will have to be taken into account in future studies.
ROT99019
Paper
Factors influencing assigned student achievement levels ii: Mathematics, the arts, health and physical education, and languages other than English
Sheldon Rothman, South Australian Department of Education, Training and Employment
In 1997, the South Australian Department of Education, Training and Employment collected student achievement data on a sample of students in Years 1-8 in English, Science, Studies of Society and Environment, and Technology, four of the eight national curriculum profiles learning areas. Summaries were reported to teachers in Xpress, the Department's fortnightly newspaper, and at the 1998 AARE conference ("Factors Influencing Assigned Student Achievement Levels"). In 1998, the Department completed the collection of profiles data, with information on student achievement in Mathematics, The Arts, Health and Physical Education, and Languages Other Than English.
Using these data, the Department is investigating relationships across the eight learning areas, achievement differences by student background factors, and the consistency in teacher judgments across the learning areas. This paper reports the findings.
ROT99020
Paper
A multilevel model of student non-attendance
Sheldon Rothman, , South Australian Department of Education, Training and Employment
Regular attendance at school is important for students to achieve social and academic outcomes of schooling. Individual school attendance practices vary, which may result in differential student outcomes. The development of multilevel models has allowed researchers to examine relationships between student-level and school-level variables, and to determine whether the variation in attendance patterns is associated with school-level practices. In 1997 and 1998, the South Australian Department of Education, Training and Employment collected student-level non-attendance records for Term 2 of each year from 60 percent of schools, accounting for more than 62 percent of students in Reception to Year 12. The data were used to develop multilevel models to examine variation at both the student and school level, and to identify relationships among student background characteristics, school characteristics and student non-attendance. This paper reports on the findings and recommends actions for further research.
ROT99021
Paper
Non-attendance and student background factors
Dr Sheldon Rothman, Chief Statistician, South Australian Department of Education, Training and Employment
Regular attendance at school is important for students to achieve social and academic outcomes of schooling. The monitoring of student attendance is seen as a school function, with state education departments collecting only summary school attendance data. Recent developments in information management systems have allowed education departments to collect student-level attendance data from schools, offering opportunities for administrators to improve their understanding of the nature of student non-attendance, and providing schools with benchmarks for attendance.
In 1997, the South Australian Department of Education, Training and Employment commenced an annual collection of student-level non-attendance records for Term 2 of each year. Sixty percent of schools, accounting for more than 62 percent of students in Reception to Year 12, provided data in the first year; a similar number of schools provided data in 1998. This paper reports on the analysis of these data, providing details on the first comprehensive collection and examination of student non-attendance data in a state education system in Australia. Using the available data, analyses were conducted to identify: patterns of student non-attendance; differences in absence rates between groups of students, by gender, indigenous background, socioeconomic status, year level and location; and reasons reported for student non-attendance, and the relationship with student background. This paper reports on the findings of the first comprehensive analysis of student absence data in Australian schools, and recommends actions for further research.
ROU99011
Accessibility of and teacher attitudes to graphics calculators in Victorian secondary schools
Alla Routitsky, Australian Council for Educational Research, and Patrick Tobin, Swinburne University of Technology
In 1997, Victoria became the first state to permit the use of graphics calculators in final external examinations. The action was seen as radical for both social and educational reasons. The use of graphics calculators has become quite widespread. Concerns were raised about the propriety of using the calculators and whether their use would add to existing educational disparities. With the support of the Board of Studies, a survey of secondary schools was undertaken to gauge the response of teachers to these tools. This paper provides information on how teachers view graphics calculator use in secondary mathematics courses.
ROU99183
Paper
Analysing the interviewer's work in generating research data
Kathy Roulston,University of Queensland
Interview subjects of research projects produce talk in order to answer researchers' questions and provide descriptions of their experiences and viewpoints. The research data generated from such interviews may be viewed from different theoretical positions and diverse readings produced. Methods of analysis chosen by qualitative researchers orient to different features of talk. For example, three such methods include organisation of 'thematic' content, examination of subject positions adopted by speakers, or the turn-by-turn interaction of speakers.
In this paper I argue that the latter perspective on data produced in research interviews -- that of conversation analysis -- produces a complementary order of data reflective of the propositional content of talk about this approach to analysis is that questions become part of data, and the researcher's work in generating data becomes much more evident.
Analysis of data drawn from a three-year study examining the work of itinerant primary music teachers found that interview talk was replete with complaint sequences produced by speakers. The analysis highlights the researcher's role in the co-production (or not) of complaint sequences and shows how the interviewer's management of complaint sequences in a research setting is consequential for subsequent talk and thus directly affects the data generated. For researchers using the interview as a way of generating data, these issues should not be overlooked -- whatever method of data analysis is later employed.
ROW99124
Addressing the challenge of literacy under-achievement and inattentive behaviour problems: The case for building 'fences' at the top of the 'cliff' in preference to 'ambulance' services at the bottom
Ken Rowe &Katherine Rowe University of Melbourne,
: Effects of the overlap between students' poor achievement progress in literacy and inattentive behaviour problems (ADD/ADHD) are highly prevalent, costly and resistant to intervention. This overlap such that what should primarily be an 'education issue' has become a major 'health issue'. Increasing numbers of parents and teachers are seeking help from health professionals for their distressed children and students whose behaviour problems are related to learning difficulties and failure to acquire initial and subsequent literacy skills. However, both the predominant psycho-behavioural and medical approaches to intervention that merely target 'inattentive' behaviours are inadequate and problematic. In highlighting these issues, this paper reports key findings from three large-scale, longitudinal studies of factors affecting students' literacy progress that provide evidence for:
- The positive effects which a whole-school-design approach to early literacy has on significantly reducing children's initial and subsequent inattentive behaviours, and increasing their early and later literacy achievements, and
- professional development programs in literacy have in accelerating and relocating children 'at risk' of literacy under-achievement on positive behavioural and achievement 'growth trajectories' that are sustained over time. The findings suggest that education and health systems stand condemned for their neglect if mere 'ambulance services' are provided at the bottom of the 'cliff' when 'fences' should have first been built at the top. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of both policy and practice for education and health professionals - at the student, class/teacher, school, and system levels.
ROW99125
Paper
The 'myth' of school effectiveness: Locating and estimating the magnitudes of major sources of variation in students' Year 12 achievements within and between schools over five years
Ken Rowe University of Melbourne; Ross Turner, Kerry Lane (Board of Studies, Victoria)
In the high stakes milieu of Year 12 assessments that determine, in large part, students' subsequent access to tertiary education and/or the workplace, the rhetoric of 'school effectiveness' has been reconstructed in terms of the market-place language of 'winners' and 'losers'. Unfortunately, the growing use of Year 12 'school effectiveness' indicators in the form of students' mean examination scores - aggregated at the school-level - tends to be narrowly focused on annual productions of 'league table'-type RANKINGS of schools' results rather than on locating and estimating the magnitudes of major sources of variation designed to EXPLAIN variation within and between schools. This paper addresses some of the prevailing myths about 'school effectiveness' by reporting key findings from multivariate, multilevel analyses of data obtained over 5 years (1994-1998) for 53 studies (subjects) of the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), from 2.2 million students located in 600 government, Catholic, independent and adult VCE providers. After adjusting for the effects of student gender, 'general ability' and sector, the results indicate significantly greater variation across studies within schools than between schools. It is concluded that providers of secondary schooling are 'effective' only to the extent that they establish 'effective' teaching and learning programs that maximise students' achievements across ALL areas of the curriculum.The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for both policy and practice.
ROW99126
Paper
A method for estimating the reliability of assessments that involve combinations of school-assessed tasks and external examinations
Dr Ken Rowe (University of Melbourne);: Ross Turner,John Houghton & Kerry Lane (Board of Studies, Victoria)
Among the characteristic features of educational policy activity during the past two decades has been an emphasis on measurable 'outcomes' related to performance indicators, accountability, quality assurance, standards monitoring and benchmarking. These 'outcomes' issues - especially those related to students' assessments at the 'high stakes' end of secondary schooling - have occupied front and centre of the political and media stage with persistent regularity, and will undoubtedly continue to do so into the new millennium. Despite considerable fulmination surrounding emergent notions of 'authentic assessment' and the relative merits of 'solely examination' versus 'moderated school-based assessments' (or combinations thereof), the purveyors of this fulmination have rarely drawn support from empirical evidence to argue for or against the' validity'and/or 'reliability' of such procedures. In the context of a discussion of these issues, this paper presents a method for estimating the reliability of assessment modes that involve combinations of school-assessed tasks and external examinations. The method draws upon data obtained from 2.2 million Year 12 students across 53 studies of the Victorian Certificate of Education over the past five years (1994-1998), and demonstrates the utility of fitting congeneric measurement models to data derived from multiple modes and sources of assessment.
ROW99656
Paper
Assessment, performance indicators, 'league tables', 'value-added' measures and school effectiveness? Consider the issues and 'let's get real'!
Ken Rowe, University of Melbourne
Current policy activity related to 'outcomes-based' educational performance indicators and its link with growing demands for accountability, standards monitoring, benchmarking and school effectiveness is widespread - both internationally and in Australia. Within this context, the present paper highlights the limitations of using performance indicators based on test or examination scores as accountability measures at the school- and system-level, or indeed, as measures of student learning outcomes. The issues raised are presented for consideration, stressing the need for caution in generating and publishing potentially invalid and misleading information, especially in the typically published form of 'league tables' consisting of schools' raw, 'ability-adjusted', or 'value-added' average achievement scores, with the risk of generating both individual and institutional harm. As a means of at least minimising such problems, the paper outlines a code of ethics for the publication of educational performance indicators along the lines proposed by Goldstein and Myers (1996), and Myers and Goldstein (1996).
RUB99116
Paper
KIA KAHA: IMPROVING CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE THROUGH DEVELOPING CULTURAL AWARENESS.
Christine Ruie,University of Auckland
This study considers the effect of a Maori Culture Group experience on the self-esteem, locus of control and academic performance of the participants. A range of intervention procedures designed to enhance self-esteem and increase internality formed the basis of the training programme which culminated in representing New Zealand at a children's festival in Turkey. Literature related to adventure prgorammes and developing ethnic identity was drawn upon extensively in structuring the training programme.
Maori Culture Group members and matched controls were pre-tested on a self-esteem scale, a locus of control scale and a range of academic measures. Post-testing was completed one year later. A subgroup of Maori Cultu re Group children, their caregivers and teachers were also interviewed regarding their experience of the programme.
Statistically significant positive changes in the self-esteem and locus of control of the children in the Maori Culture Group were not paralleled by the control subjects. The interviews confirmed these developments.Furthermore, although the cultural group intervention was not linked directly to the academic activities assessed by the testing, a facilitative effect of the intervention on academic achievement is suggested in the data. This finding was also reinforced by the interviews.
The results are discussed in terms of their significance for educators in designing educational programmes for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds and minority groups in particular. The usefulness of an intense learning experience outside of the traditional classroom context is considered. Potential directions for future research are suggested.
RUM99207
Paper
Converging technologies: the implications for vocational and workplace educators
David Rumsey,Deakin University
The convergence of information and communications technologies has become a key global issue for countries across the world. Manifestations of this convergence are evident in the growth in the use of the Internet, e-commerce, on-line services, interactive broadcasting, and interactive multimedia entertainment and education. For vocational and workplace educators in Australia and New Zealand, these trends have major implications for what needs to be learned in vocational education and training, as well as how it is learned. The trends are impacting significantly on the roles of vocational educators and workplace trainers. The paper discusses the nature of the trends, their impact on VET curriculum and instruction methods and the likely impact on the functions and required skills and knowledge of VET educators and trainers. It identifies relevant existing research on the topic and also the scope for future research. The author draws upon his experience in reviewing the impact on VET curriculum of the growth in e-commerce, on-line services, interactive multimedia and the general convergence of technologies; as well as the results of his postgraduate research work on the way workplace communities deal with new situations and change.
RUS99022
Paper
Bridges and launchingpads
Barbara Russell, Massey University
This research is a case study of teachers who have taken time away from theclassroom to work on short term contracts (normally one to two years) in aUniversity College of Education preservice teacher training programme. Thestudy considers their perceptions of the ways in which this experience hasenhanced their professional development in terms of greater understanding,expertise and/or career prospects. It considers their positive and negativeexperiences at the college and makes recommendations of ways in which thepositive aspects can be maximised. The research examines the ways in whichthis experience has changed their teaching practices and enhanced theirability to work with preservice teachers as lecturers/tutors and associateteachers. It also explores whether this experience has enhanced theirprofessional roles within the school setting, particularly in having inputinto new initiatives and policies. The final section considers principals'perceptions of releasing staff members for short term contracts at theUniversity College of Education.Findings suggest that for these interviewees teaching in a tertiaryinstitution is a very valuable professional experience. However there aresome limitations associated with a one year contract resulting from the needto become familiar with college structures, course content, new terminologyand adjust to teaching adult learners. Results also indicated that, as aconsequence of working at the college, a number of those interviewed havesubsequently sought more challenging positions within the school systemrather than return to the position they previously held.
RYA99305
Paper
Visions of inclusion: Special needs children in New Zealand Primary Schools
Heather Ryan, Massey University
The experience and support provided for special needs students included within the regular classrooms of four Central North Island Primary Schools, investigated through intensive ethnographic observations and interviews, will be reported. The four schools span the socio-economic, rural/urban and ethnic spectrum of the NZ primary system. Perceptions of the stakeholders and research observations as to the influence of these factors upon resourcing, student learning and development within these settings will be explored. Those interviewed include the personnel who provide support for the students, their teachers, the children and their families. The strategies employed to support the special needs students and the nature of the resources provided will be documented.
An experienced classroom researcher will base her conclusions upon videotape of the classes and journal details of the experiences of the special needs children throughout term 3 and at year end, thus exploring the events throughout the school week in each of the classrooms. The videotape will expose strategies used by those supporting the school experiences of the special needs students and identify "best practice" to maximise the learning experience for all children in these inclusive classrooms. Potential for these resources as a teaching tool in schools, tertiary teacher education programs, clinical psychology and counselling will be considered. There is also potential for website sharing of this material. An additional benefit is the training provided for graduate students, preparing them to conduct many of the interviews. These skills and the resultant data will be useful for completion of their own thesis requirements.
RYA99356
Paper
Putting the E into Technology Education: Is there a case for teaching ethics?
Sue Ryan, Massey University
The area of Biotechnology in the new curriculum for Technology Education, raises many issues of an ethical nature. Bioethics, broadly defined, is the study of decision making that is associated with the use of living organisms. Biotechnology has expanded rapidly in the last two decades with the advent of Recombinat-DNA-Technology and this has led to much debate about the acceptability of certain kinds of research and the commercial applications of that research. The major ethical issues in biotechnology are centred around the fields of ecology; animal reproduction; the genetic engineering of plants and animals; human health; social biology and human responsibilities to other species. While there is a large and growing body of literature on bioethics, this has rarely been applied to the field of technology education. This paper surveys the literature on bioethics and how it relates to the new Technology Curriculum. The paper also examines the proposition that technology teachers may be avoiding the issues of bioethics in their technology programmes, because of a lack of knowledge, skill and confidence in how to conduct such lessons. Since the one of the stated aims of the curriculum is to develop technologically literate citizens, who are able to make informed judgements and decisions about new technological developments, any research which examines current practice in this field can only help improve the future delivery of the Technology Curriculum.
SAC99611
Paper
Teacher Professional Identity: competing discourses, competing outcomes
Judyth Sachs, University of Sydney
In this paper I focus issues of professional identity of teachers in Australia under conditions of significant change in government policy and educational restructuring. My argument is in two parts. First I argue that two competing discourses are shaping the professional identity of teachers. These discourses are democratic and managerial professionalism. The first is emerging from the profession itself and the second is being reinforced by employing authorities through their policies on teacher professional development. The second part of the paper examines the types of professional identity emerging from these discourses and the influence these discourses will have on the teaching profession itself in terms of its ability to provide moral and intellectual leadership for the profession of teaching.
SAF99801
SAF99742
An investigation of the factors which influence Year 9 South Australian girls involvement in physical activity
Amy Safe, University of South Australia
The construction of gender has been the intense focus of scholars both within the institution of sport and culture in general (Cahn, 1994; Hall, 1996). Research indicates that gender identity has historically and socially been constructed and is deeply inscribed in social institutions, processes and practices, including those of the school (Scraton, 1996). Both sexes at some point are exposed to the pressure of gender conformity. Such pressures have the power to influence and impact upon individuals self esteem, body image and social/physical development.
The aim of the research reported in this paper was to develop an understanding of how year 9 girls' perceptions of gender and wider experiences of physical education impact on their own commitment to physical activity. Furthermore, the research focused upon body image as a major influencing factor in this commitment.
Approximately 500 year 9 girls were surveyed from a cross section of South Australian schools. Following this, focus group interviews were conducted with around 100 of these girls. These 100 girls were selected because of their strong participation or non- participation in, and attitude toward, physical activity.
The findings of the research have the potential to assist in identifying issues impacting upon physical participation levels of adolescent female students. This knowledge may be used to foster lifelong positive attitudes toward physical activity and promote improved health outcomes.
SAL99443
Paper
Policy dilemmas: A problem based learning approach to teaching education policy to pre-service teachers
David Saltmarsh,Maquarie University
Problem Based Learning (PBL) is an approach to teaching that has recently gained acceptance in many areas of education for the professions. However, it has not been widely adopted as a style of pre-service teacher education. This paper examines the merits of PBL as teaching strategy and the ways that it has been used in teacher education. Consequently, the various styles of teacher education programs are briefly explored, in the context of professional education. The teaching of education policy is an area of particular interest when considering the application of PBL strategies. This paper outlines a number of activities designed to place pre-service teachers in the position of having to consider the policy connotations of teaching practices. These exercises, therefore, aim to give practical expression a range of philosophical, sociological and political dimensions, generally presented in a theoretical context.
SAL99814
SAN99597
Performativity, professionalism and power: An adventure in 'postmodern' participatory action research
Jill Sanguinetti, Deakin University
In this paper I describe a 'postmodern' action research project amongst a group of TAFE teachers responding to institutional and policy change. A number of authors have addressed the implications of poststrucural and postmodern theory to the field of action research (Kemmis 1996, McTaggart 1994, Jennings and Graham 1996, Usher, Bryant et al. 1997). Their work constitutes some significant challenges for participatory action research in the light of Foucauldian notions of power and discourse. In particular, the notion of the discursively constituted subject suggests a new approach to practices of collective 'reflection'. Reflexivity (about participant's discursive positioning and the fields of discourse in which they operate) needs to be incorporated into group reflections about the problems and issues at hand. Taking up that challenge, I developed a method of discourse mapping and a method for delineating micropractices of resistance within transcripts of the teacher' discussions. I progressively fed back to the participants my interpretations of their discourse as a way of facilitating their reflexive thinking about the problems they were experiencing and the implications of change for the adult literacy teaching profession. While the immediate outcomes were inconclusive, the project suggests that the 'discourse of discourse' is a powerful tool which may strengthen the reflexive and strategic thinking of teachers. It also demonstrates the potential role of participatory action research as a way of supporting the 'politics of discourse' (Yeatman 1990) amongst teachers in grass roots institutional settings.
SAN99668
Teacher or trainer, student or worker?: The shaping of teacher and learner identities in vocational education contexts
Ninetta Santoro, Deakin University
In response to changing government funding priorities there has been a shift away from the provision of needs based language and personal development courses for adults in community based contexts towards the delivery of vocational education. Much vocational education is characterised by competency-based curriculum and outcomes influenced by the needs of the current labour market as well as economic driven initiatives such as competitive tendering for short-term course funding. These trends have resulted in changes to the nature of curriculum development, assessment and the purpose and nature of the delivery of courses to adult learners. In turn, these changes affect the ways in which teachers and students see themselves, each other and carry out their respective roles as learners and teachers. These changes have particularly impacted on the work of teachers in many community education centres and Adult Multicultural Education Service (AMES) centres who have traditionally focused on the teaching of needs based language or personal development courses.
This paper explores the ways in which the current discourses of vocational education shape teacher identities and adult learner identities across a variety of community-based vocational education contexts and the ways in which identities are played out in classroom practices, particularly in interactions between teachers and students.
SCO99058
Paper
The development of scales to measure teacher and school executive occupational satisfaction
Dr Catherine Scott,UWS Hawkesbury , Dr Steve Dinham,UWS Nepean & Dr Robert Brooks St John of God Hospital Richmond.
Interest in teacher 'stress' and 'burnout' and their relationship to teacher well being has a long history. However, there has been criticism of this research endeavour for, among other problems, its conceptual narrowness and its lack of psychometric rigour.
An interest in the consequences for teachers and school executive of the changing and turbulent international context of education led the researchers to develop a model of teachers' occupational well-being that was wider in focus than 'stress', and included occupational motivation and satisfaction.
This paper reports on a sub-aspect of that research, the development of scales to measure teacher and school executive satisfaction with the work of teaching and its context. As a first step, an instrument was developed to measure teachers' occupational satisfaction, motivation, and mental well-being. Satisfaction items utilised a seven point scale (7 = highly satisfied 1= highly dissatisfied) and included ratings of 75 items covering aspects teaching and its school and social context, as well as self-ratings for overall satisfaction, and change in satisfaction since commencing teaching.
Data were first collected from a sample of 892 Australian public school teachers. Exploratory factor analysis conducted in SPSS for Windows indicated that the final model would contain between 7 and 14 scales. Confirmatory factor analysis conducted in LISREL 8 resulted in the acceptance of a preliminary model which contained 8 scales (Root Mean Sq Error of Approximation = 0.047, GFI = .88, AGFI = 0.86).
Data from 607 British teachers were obtained and the 8 scale model tested. Fit statistics were found to be very similar to the Australian figures (Root Mean Sq Error of Approximation = .045, GFI = .87, AGFI = .84). Confirmatory factor analyses of each individual scale revealed that the fit for these were mostly excellent with two exceptions which, whilst these 'worked' quite well as scales, might best be further broken down into two scales, leading to the developement of a ten scale model.
The ten scale model was further tested and validated using data collected from a sample of 565 New Zealand teachers.
Development and testing of the scales is continuing with data recently obtained from a sample of 600 teachers from the USA.
SC099698
SCR99178
Paper
Professional leadership in early childhood: The New Zealand kindergarten experience
Cushla Scrivens,Massey University College of Education
The kindergarten service in New Zealand was, until 1997, a state sector service. It has since 1989 been at the forefront of restructuring changes in education. 'Senior Teachers' in the service, who are mostly women, carry responsibility for professional leadership. This paper, which reports on an exploratory study, examines the ideas about leadership that a group of Senior Teachers have for themselves and investigates dilemmas, tensions and constraints for them in enacting their leadership in an increasingly neoliberal governmental environment.
SED99589
Paper
Social capital, capacity building and trends in education and training reform
Terri Seddon, Monash University
This paper attempts to conceptualise emergent practices, future directions and political priorities in the social organisation of learning and work in Australia. It begins by reviewing the recent trajectories of education and training reform and the way these trends have been contextualised in the broader restructuring of work and globalisation. Within this changing landscape of education and training, the paper identifies notions of 'social capital' and 'capacity building' as significant developments in the contemporary politics of education and training. Drawing on recent research, the paper will illustrate the practical significance of these notions in the work of teachers and managers, documenting the way educators are using capacity-building strategies as a way of pursuing and redefining their educational projects within the context of marketised and decentralised education and training provision. Conceptualisations of social capital and capacity building will be discussed with a view to clarifying the way 'social capital' and 'capacity-building' are being integrated into the politics of education. The implications of these practical developments and contradictory conceptualisations for ongoing debates about education will be considered.
SED99831
SET99468
Paper
A survey of the language learning strategies of tertiary EFL students in Indonesia
Ag.Bambang Setiyadi, Lampung University-Indonesia, L.Holliday and R.Lewis, La Trobe University
Many studies have been conducted to explore language learning strategies (Rubin,1975; Naiman et al., 1978; Fillmore, 1979; O'Mally et al.,1985 and 1990; Politzer and Groarty, 1985; Prokop, 1989; Oxford, 1990; Wenden, 1991). In the current study a total of 79 university students participating in a three-month English course participated. This study attempted to explore what language learning strategies successful learners used and to what extent the strategies contributed to success in learning English in Indonesia. Factor analyses accounted for 62.1%, 56%, 41.1% and 43.5% of the variance of speaking, listening, reading and writing measures in the language learning strategy questionnaire.
Regression analyses, performed using scales based on these factors revealed significant main effects for the use of the language learning strategies in learning English, constituting 43% of the variance in the post test English achievement scores. An analysis of variance of the gain scores of the highest, middle and the lowest groups of performers suggested a greater use of metacognitive strategies among successful learners and a greater use of surface level cognitive strategies among unsuccessful learners. This study also revealed that students improved their learning strategies while they were learning English during the experiment. Implications for the classroom and future research are also discussed.
SEW99301
Paper
"I'll have a go at that!": Developing efficacy beliefs in the classroom
Alison Sewell and Alison St. George, Massey University
A major goal of education is to equip children with the knowledge, skills and self-beliefs to be confident and informed citizens - citizens who continue to see themselves as learners beyond 'graduation'. This presentation will look at the key role of nurturing efficacy beliefs to learn and participate in society. Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief in his or her ability to perform a behaviour in a given situation (Bandura, 1988). Research findings conducted within a social studies context are presented showing how strategy instruction can enhance self-efficacy for learning. As part of this research, Creative Problem Solving (CPS) (Parnes, 1981) was taught to children as a means to motivate and support learning. It will be shown that the use of CPS can have positive effects on self-efficacy for learning, and that it can be a valuable framework to involve children in social decision making and social action. Implications of this and other research findings for learning and teaching in general are discussed, including key principles for designing a curriculum that enhances self-efficacy and motivation to learn.
SHO99564
SIL99461
Paper
Organisational learning in Australian high schools - Nature and practices
Halia Silins,Bill Mulford &Silja Zarins
The concept of schools as learning organisations has evolved in response to the difficulties experienced in bringing about school reform. Successful restructuring of schools may be dependent on the extent that whole school staff can learn and put learnings to use. This capacity for collaborative learning defines the process of organisational learning in schools. This study examined the nature of organisational learning and the conditions that foster it in Australian high schools. The responses of 2,500 teachers, including principals, from 96 secondary schools drawn from Tasmania and South Australia provided the data for this investigation. A four dimensional model of organisational learning was identified and employed (using path analysis) to identify the conditions fostering organisational learning in schools. The predominant influences of resources, principals' practices, distribution of leadership, and significant teacher effects are discussed.
SIN99170
The globalisation of environmental education and the politics of engagement with the racialised other
Michael Singh, RMIT University
The argument advanced in this paper is that, in these times of uncertainty and risk, the internationalisation of ideas - specifically the globalisation of environmental education, must also engage critically with local deployments of environmental politics against those designated as racially different. This argument is structured around four major points.My starting point is a description of the transnational network and collaborative action research developed by the Learning for a Sustainable Environment (LSE) Innovation in Teacher Education Project. I briefly escribe the three stages of the project-in-action, giving a general indication of what happened, when and with whom. The section which follows explores the achievements made possible by the action research network.While this section is concerned with the reasons underlying the Project's achievements, it also marks the beginning of efforts to transform routinised perceptions of the LSE Project. The third section of this paper foregrounds dilemmas confronting efforts such as this to spread ideas about environmental education globally, while local environmental politics is directed against the very presence of these people in this country. In this way the papers provides an account of selected dilemmas raised through the important work of the LSE Project by locating it within broader socio-political questions. Based on the foregoing account the final section, which is future-oriented, considers possibilities for reconceptualising the local/global interconnections of environmental education and politics.
SIN99206
Paper
Pedagogic work, social class and cultural difference
Parlo Singh, Griffith University
This paper reports on the accounts of pedagogic work provided by 35 paraprofessionals who were responsible for forging lines of communication between government funded secondary schools and the Indigenous, migrant, working class and unemployed communities n the local area of an Australian city. A qualitative (interview) methodology was selected for this study to document paraprofessionals' understandings of pedagogic work, particularly the ways in which paraprofessionals talked about forging links between different institutional contexts (i.e., family, community, and schooling). All of the interview participants spoke about differences in the form and content of school and home/community pedagogy. Moreover, all of the participants suggested that the demeanour of respect and obedience/servitude acquired by Samoan children in the local community, differed significantly from the individualist demeanour of student produced in and through the different forms of pedagogy (conservative, liberal progressive, radical) of the classroom. The paper concluded that in order to be successful, radical pedagogues must take account of specific differences in communicative practices between the home/community and school. Moreover, pedagogic work should aim to assist students with border crossing, that is, making the transition between communicative contexts regulated by different principles of power and control. Acquisition of the discursive resources transmitted through schooling necessitates taking up the role of student in a pedagogic relation with the teacher. (Acknowledgements: Funding for this study was provided by the Australian Research Council)
SIN99758
An investigation of how middle primary students undertake a design task
Shane Singlehurst, University of South Australia
In design and technology, students use a range of strategies to generate design solutions. They invent and explore alternatives to overcome problems, visualise and verbalise mental images, and through hand and mind interactions they modify, adapt and redefine ideas.
This paper discusses an investigation of how middle primary students undertook design task. Two female students and two male students from a year 5 class in an Adelaide metropolitan school took part in the study. The investigation provided insights into the students' thought processes and feelings as they solved problems, made decisions and processed information.
Differences and similarities between students' design thinking and ability to conceptualise images are discussed in relation to issues of gender and background experience.
SIN99758
SKA99780
The integration of evaluation research, strategic planning and business improvement in a TAFE institute
John McCrum, Ivan Skaines, Meg McCloghry and Catherine Daley, Hunter Institute of Technology
A number of innovative processes have recently been established by the Hunter Institute of Technology to integrate evaluation research, planning and business improvement. This paper will focus on the Institute's implementation of the Australian Quality Council's ADRI (Approach, Deployment, Results and Improvement) model, and other quality improvement tools.
As the largest provider of vocational education and training in the Hunter and Central Coast Regions of NSW, the Hunter Institute operates in a rapidly changing social, economic and political environment. In order to better understand the internal and external environments in which it operates, the Institute has adopted an on-going research program that includes regular customer satisfaction research (students and commercial customers), as well as research into the perceptions and attitudes of staff, potential customers and the general community. The results of the research, along with data from other sources, are used to monitor the performance of the Institute against the goals identified in the Strategic Plan.
The paper will discuss the extent to which the cyclical ADRI model provides a practical framework for integrating evaluation research and performance reporting, on-going business improvement and strategic, operational and day to day planning in a TAFE setting. The ADRI will also be compared with other planning and change management models.
SLA99336
SMA99191
Paper
When the war is over: Anti-sectarian adult education in Northern Ireland
Simone Smala, University of Queensland
The Good Friday Agreement in 1998 paved the way for the Belfast branch of the Workers' Educational Association to implement an extensive anti-sectarian project. The "Interface Project" developed three educational packs which cover political education, Irish history and the sense of Northern Irish identity.
After many years of cross-cultural educational programmes, many organisations, including the WEA, have now started to focus on single-identity education. These programmes take place in either the Catholic or Protestant community and aim at deconstructing myths and creating empathy for the others. This paper will report on preliminary findings in a research project in progress about the "Interface Project".
In the face of the global upsurge of ethnic conflict - Kosovo and Indonesia among many other "hotspots" - it is vital to look at local educational programmes addressing reconcilation among adults. Northern Ireland is experiencing a post-conflict situation after 30 years of interethnic/interreligious fighting. Parameters of successful anti-sectarian education could be applied in other post-violent ethnic conflict areas globally. Single-identity educational programmes may be a more successful attempt to create empathy by using factual knowledge and by safely addressing the others' reality.
SMI99210
Paper
Factor structure of academic goal orientation scales and relationships with negative affective responses
Lorraine Smith, Kenneth E. Sinclair, University of Sydney
This paper reports the analysis of data collected as part of a longitudinal study into the relationships between negative affective reponses and learning in senior school students. Factor analysis was carried out on two scales measuring student academic self-efficacy, goal orientations and learning strategies in a sample of 400 Year 12 students from four Sydney metropolitan high schools. The scales are Patterns of Adaptive Learning Survey and Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. These scales have been used separately in a number of research studies but have considerable overlap in subscale structure and item content. Factor analysis was used to (i) determine the factor structure of the two scales independently and (ii) determine factors that emerge when both scales are combined. In addition, the relationships between factor scores on academic self-efficacy and goal orientations, and students' negative affective responses (depression, anxiety, stress) are discussed. Comparisons are made with the results from the first dataset of the study, reported at the 1998 AARE conference, which revealed high levels of depression, anxiety and/or stress in 31% of Year 12 and 25% of Year 11 students. This study also revealed significant relationships between the affective measures and performance-avoidance goal orientations.
SMI99290
Re-visioning science education from a critical futures perspective
Lyn Carter and Caroline Smith ,Australian Catholic University, Melbourne.
A millennium project in which the science education community is currently engaged is a critique of science itself that has far-reaching implications for both school and tertiary science curriculum. Such critiques aim to reformulate the principles underlying science education curriculum. Amongst the many discourses supporting this aim, one perspective that has been overlooked is that of Critical Futures Studies. This represents a glaring oversight given the centrality and potency of science in the construction of the Western worldview and its obvious impact on the future of the planet. Critical Futures Studies provides a novel means of organising the many critiques of science in a way that provides a framework for the development of principles to re-vision science education.
This session examines the critiques of science and science education through a critical futures perspective. It goes on to present preliminary results from on-going research examining Victorian school science curriculum documents for their representations of the future and the implications of these findings for the re-visioning project.
SMI99485
Paper
Are there any answers out there? Children, their questions, student teachers and the Internet
Robyn Smits,Wellington College of Education
Integrating the use of the Internet into a resource based approach to learning may seem straightforward on the surface. At Wellington College of Education we have been designing courses for pre-service primary teachers which emphasise the Internet as a resource for children to use in exploring their own questions. In early 1999 our course involved 30 children from a local school aged between 11 and 12, their questions which were focussed on the broad topic of Space, 20 student teachers and a range of resources including the Internet. The children's questions were rich, varied and challenging. For example, they included the following: how do they know that space goes on forever?, how does the earth keep hold of the moon?, why did they think everything went around the earth? and when travelling to and from the moon, what direction do you go in: up, down, left, right?
In this paper an action research approach is described using reflective notes from the lecturer and the student teachers. Observations of the processes of generating questions, researching the questions and synthesising information into knowledge also form data for the study. The paper reflects on these processes for both student teachers and for children and speculates on whether the answers out there on the Internet really satisfy what these children wanted to know.
SMI99558
Paper
We need more males in primary teacher education! Or do we?
Janet Smith, University of Canberra
The cry of "we need more males in primary teaching" is frequently uttered by the media and is currently echoed in schools, the community and the academy. This paper explores both sides of the debate and takes contrasting perspectives to determine whether more males are needed in primary teaching and in primary teacher education.
The paper examines the issues faced by males who decide to become primary teachers, and emanates from longitudinal research carried out on a group of males training to become primary school teachers at the University of Canberra. The research utilised life history interviews to explore both the decision of males to train as primary teachers and their experiences whilst training.
The paper analyses and deconstructs the evidence which is commonly cited for needing more male primary teachers, such as the number of children living in single-parent families. It also looks at ways in which school systems and universities can encourage more males and explores what is at stake if such methods are employed.
SMI99653
Hot heads and buzzing ears: Investigating students' physical learning environments
Mary Bevis, Peter Hallinan, Allan Harrison, Prue Howard, Bruce Knight, Judy Kraatz, Jim Mienczakowski, Lynn Smith and Howard Walmsley, Central Queensland University
Recent learning environment research concentrates on the cognitive and social aspects of student learning with much less attention devoted to researching learning's physical surroundings. The research described in this paper was, therefore, initiated by a multi-disciplinary team (Education, Engineering and Architecture) at Central Queensland University to investigate the physical conditions in classrooms. The research asked whether there are inadequacies in education's physical environments and, if significant short-falls exist, what remedies are available to enhance the physical work environments for school students? Available and emerging evidence suggests that the physical learning conditions experienced by many students in Queensland are less than ideal with respect to excessive noise and carbon dioxide levels; high temperatures and humidity; inadequate lighting; and inefficient workspaces. The team identified the need for a blend of qualitative and quantitative approaches aimed at producing rich case studies and numerical evidence and the formative outcomes are described in this paper. The theoretical framework, its methods and techniques were drawn from the post-modern research paradigm and emphasise the construction of meanings that are viable for both researchers and stakeholders. To achieve this outcome, issues of credibility, transferability and dependability were foremost and a range of interview techniques were used. The paper also discusses the challenges involved in framing a multi-disciplinary study in a field where there is limited prior research and where the research methodology and interpretive framework needed to accommodate many different needs.
SMI99735
SMY99016
Paper
A cultural ecology of teachers' work in the devolved school
John Smyth Flinders University
This paper represents a "policy archaeology" (Scheurich, 1994) that examines the social and political economy of schooling against the emerging worldwide background of changes to teachers' work. The focus is specifically on the devolved school as the central organising problematic. The paper draws upon and extends Scheurich's heuristic to explore: (i) the homogenising, naturalising, and rationalising (Smyth, Hattam, et al, 1999) of the self-managing school, by asking how it is that this came to be the problem; (ii) the grids or regularities by which the need for the devolved school became visible, and credible as a policy solution; (iii) the way in which this grid of regularities "constitutes some policy choices as relevant and other virtually invisible" (Scheurich, 1994, p. 303) in the pursuit of the devolved school; and finally, (iv) how the field of policy studies itself has predisposed the self-managing school as a policy solution. The intersection of these policy axes are explored through a cultural ecology of the work of teaching as it is increasingly marked out by the following kinds of oppressive contours: technisation; managerialisation; intensification; marketisation; segmentation; feminisation; re-centralisation; and the increasing moves towards accountability, standardisation, and re-professionalisation.
SMY99017
Paper
Voiced research: bringing in the epistemologically marginalised ?
John Smyth Flinders University
Qualitative educational research has travelled some considerable distance in the past 20 years, from being on the fringes, to assuming a proud and prominent position in the field. But, there are many issues remaining unresolved, and this paper canvasses some of them by drawing on recent experiences in two ARC funded projects and a recently completed PhD. Some of these issues include: the embeddedness of the author in the research; addressing the ethical reflexivity of the research; the creation rather than the collection of data; the intersection of micro and macro aspects of power; breaking down formulaic forms of representation; pursuing accessibility while holding onto academic rigour; and, writing for multiple audiences. One of the issues is the quite different set of canons or criteria against which this kind of research is coming to be judged. The paper will pay particular attention to Polkinghorne's (1997) invitation to shift from "logician or debater" to that of "storyteller". As he says: "By changing their voice to storyteller, researchers will also change the way the voices of their 'subjec or participants can be heard. As logicians 'subjects' appear as actors in a research narrative" (p. 3).
SNO99148
Paper
Teacher education:Can it contribute to a learned profession
Ivan Snook, Massey Univerity
Current policies in teacher education in New Zealand (eg. in the Green paper and the Partington Report) contain contradictions which strike at the very heart of attempts to make teaching a learned profession. Both argue the importance of the teac the contextual studies,such as sociology, history and philosophy of education. Yet both documents advocate increased competition for the training of teachers. A major way to compete is to produce courses which are cheaper, shorter and easier than those of the rivals. This works against substantial demands on the intellectual competence of students. I shall argue that this "dumbing down" of teacher education is already happening. There is now at least anecdotal evidence of a deterioration in standards and a steady decline in the amount of sustained discipline-based study as 7 a result of the short courses, including the short degree courses.
This paper will discuss the history of teacher education in NZ and the tensions which have marked it. It will argue that for a variety of reasons , teacher education has involved conflict between two models: teaching as a skilled trade and teaching as a learned profession. It will be argued that the trade training concept has been to the fore. It will then outline the many recent changes to education in NZ and their effect on teacher education. I shall shall show, that despite the claims about the importance of competition and the superiority of university based teacher education, the facts are that the situation is now worse than before the competitive programme and before the rise of university based programmes.
This paper will the argue for the centrality of 1. Subject studies (rather than curriculum studies) and 2. Contextual studies (rather than 'methods courses'). It will that these are necessary for the development of a learned profession. It will also be argued that both of these sort of studies are more 'practical' in the long run than narrow technocratic programmes. The role of competition will be discussed with a view to arguing that competition is mose unlikely to produce sound programmes of teacher education.
SOM99140
Effects of a Formal Schema on Reading Comprehension Performance of EFL University Students in Thailand
Monnipha Somphong,University of Sydney
Academic achievement of ESL/EFL university students largely depends on the acquisition of effective skills for academic reading in English. Reading comprehension problems may be attributable to lack of background knowledge of topic or poorly-developed language skills. Lack of understanding of text organisation is often ignored by ESL/EFL teachers.
The research aims at investigating the effects of different types of text organisation on reading comprehension performance of EFL students in the Faculty of Science and Technology at Thammasat University, Thailand. The study explores the difference in reading comprehension performance of second-year science students when reading passages from science and General English textbooks written in three major text genres: information report,explanation, and procedure.
The aim of this investigation is to provide information about the factors underlying EFL students' ability to comprehend passages written in different text genres. Students read 6 passages (3 genres in science and General English each) and completed two tests on each. The test results were analysed in order to assess comprehension (multiple-choice questions via the Rasch model and the four-way analysis of covariance) and recall (protocols via the significance test for proportion). This helps establish a difficulty rating of text genres and, through the use of different types of English textbooks, determines whether professional or General English textbooks cause more trouble for students. The research justifies providing instruction in English for Science and Technology (EST) at tertiary level and will assist the preparation of English reading materials where differences in text genres and their effects on reading comprehension are taken into consideration.
SPI99778
Paper
An investigation of the extent of congruence between the principles and practices of middle schooling in one South Australian high school
Melissa Spicer, University of South Australia
A significant number of schools around Australia are currently attempting to better address the needs of young adolescents by implementing the principles of middle schooling as part of everyday schooling. In the study reported in this paper, the middle schooling practices of one school were compared with a set of theoretical principles derived from the literature. Data were collected through observation, document analysis, questionnaires and informal interviews.
It was found that many of the many principles of middle schooling had been implemented at the school but that some residual practices from traditional secondary school structures still persisted. These are discussed in relation to two perspectives on innovation implementation - the 'fidelity' perspective and the 'adaptation' perspective. It is concluded that 'blended' outcomes are probably inevitable, despite strong levels of support for changes in middle school practice.
SPR99177
Paper
Fundamental motor skill intervention Programs:Improving performance?
Judith Sprinkle and Scott Dickson,University of New England
Fundamental motor skill proficiency has been linked to continued participation in sporting activity. However, a number of investigations across Australia have reported inferior levels of the process performance of skills such as kicking, throwing, striking, and catching. Recommendations eminating from the most recent NSW Fitness and Physical Activity Survey included greater attention to preparing generalist teachers at the tertiary level. The logical assumption being this will translate into better instruction, and therefore greater proficiency, in fundamental motor skills of primary aged children. This paper reports on the efficacy of an intervention designed to improve the process forms of the two fundamental motor skills, i.e., the two handed sidearm strike and the overhand throw. A five week intensive instruction program for ten year old boys and girls (n=150) was implemented. Two schools were involved. One rural school implemented a program to improve striking and one urban school implemented a program to improve the overhand throw. Both schools utilised the Victorian Fundamental Motor Skills manual and instrument for assessing the 'process' forms of each skill. Data were analysed using Multivariate techniques. Group means evidenced improvement, and trends of improvement within gender groups were unique, however, no significant differences (p3/4.05) were found. The results are viewed in terms of improving skill levels in the primary school setting through the accepted four to five week physical education unit.
SQU99123
Paper
Restructuring and reculturing: practicum supervision as professional development for teachers
Wendy Hastings, Don Squires:, Charles Sturt University
This paper describes a set of arrangements whereby secondary teachers associated with the Graduate Diploma of Education program at Charles Sturt Universaity have been supported in taking up an expanded 'mentor' role with student teachers. The paper examines the effects of changing structures on the culture of the practicum -- in the schools, and in the university.
The international literature makes a strong case for reform of the practicum curriculum in a way that moves the focus away from skills acquisition towards a more explicit understanding of the processes of learning to teach. Following Zeichner (1986) the trend has been to look at the practicum experience in terms of what is learned and how it is learned, taking the context, the student teacher and the program's philosophical base into account. The approach is said to have advantages for all of the participants in the practicum -- student teachers, associates in the field, students being taught and university teacher educators.
In human organisations structures are vital in shaping outcomes. Structures provide the framework around which rules, roles, responsibilities and relationships are built and maintained. To a large extent, structures shape the culture of the organisation. Restructuring the practicum involves making changes to the roles and responsibilities of the various participants. A key example would be the withdrawal of the role of 'supervisor' and its replacement with a 'mentor' role. At present, the relationship between the university and the rest of the profession is shaped by traditional attitudes and expectations, based on the largely unquestioned assumption that power over the design and execution of the practicum rightly resides with the university. The strong message from the international and Australian literature on the practicum is that this arrangement can and does seriously inhibit student learning. The paper will examine insights about the processes of learning to teach from student teachers and their professional associates.
STA99217
The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet (Aristotle) Catholic secondary schools in Victoria 1840 - 1940.
David Stapleton University of Melbourne
This paper attempts to set the scene for the formation of Catholic secondary schools in Victoria in the 1840s and their development up to the 1940s. It incorporates into that story the social, economic and political influences affecting such a formation and development. The paper also examines the cyclic nature of leadership from religious to lay and back to religious administration in Catholic secondary schools in Victoria, for the same time period.
Many authors have choreographed the early formation of Catholic schools in Victoria, but this paper deals solely with the secondary sector. The administration of educational systems from Sydney, the rapid growth of the population, and the establishment of a separate state, all contributed to the process and direction of Catholic secondary education in Victoria. Catholic educational authorities had to appreciate the Irish ancestry of its people and its relationship to the embryonic Catholic Church in Australia,and through need to take a valiant step and invite overseas religious brothers and sisters into the schools. Such an action changed the face of Catholic secondary education throughout Australia.
The paper intends to tell a story of struggle against politics, other faiths, a lack of central organisation, and secularism. This struggle provides the platform on which, like in other states, the Catholic schools came about, and from which the Catholic Church had to defiantly persevere to maintain a system of schools which exists to the present day.
STA99569
Paper
Essential learning about New Zealand society
Dean Stanley, Learning Enhancement Associates (NZ) Ltd
During the 1990s New Zealand has been working through the process of developing a new curriculum framework for schools. The framework consists of seven learning areas, of which the Social Sciences is one. The Ministry of Education has been progressively releasing curriculum statements for each of these learning areas, and in 1997 published Social Studies in the New Zealand Curriculum.
The Social Studies document describes the content and structure within which Social Studies should be taught from years 1 - 13 in New Zealand schools. It includes strands through which learning should take place, such as Social Organisation or Culture and Heritage. It describes processes which students should use within Social Studies such as Inquiry, Values Exploration and Social Decision Making. On top of this, the document describes essential learning about New Zealand which students should encounter during their time at school.
Since the launch of the new Social Studies curriculum, schools and teachers throughout New Zealand have been developing implementation plans and gaining an understanding of how to deliver units of work for Social Studies education. One area of the curriculum with which they have had some difficulty is the Essential Learning About New Zealand component. The problem which schools have with this area is working out what essential learning should be taught when, and to what degree it should be taught at a range of achievement levels.
During 1999 a research project has been established to investigate ways in which schools and teachers might deal with the Essential Learning About New Zealand component of the Social Studies curriculum. The project is attempting to answer two questions as follows:
How can schools ensure coverage of the Essential Learning about New Zealand element of the Social Studies curriculum?
Is there a hierarchy of understandings that students pass through when developing Essential Learning about New Zealand, and if so, what might such a taxonomy look like?
The paper will present an update of progress with the project and will discuss some of the key research findings.
STE99005
Paper
Exploring conditions for effective use of computerised cognitive tools within a tertiary learning environment
Carole Steketee, Jan Herrington and Ron Oliver, Edith Cowan University
Over the last two decades, a steady stream of literature has heralded the computer as a form of externalised cognitive tool which, used effectively, has the potential to enable students to expand their intellectual capabilities (Adams, 1985), to work harder, faster and smarter (Norman, 1997), and even transcend the boundaries of human information processing (Pea, 1985).
Despite these powerful claims, exposure to technology within teacher-education courses has been largely superficial, and is often focussed on the objective of learning about computers, rather than how students can learn with them (Crook, 1996). Computers are predominantly viewed as teaching tools, rather than learning tools and use is often kept to a minimum. While the reasons behind this resistance are not fully known, a lack of information on reliable implementation procedures may be partly responsible.
This paper explores an implementation framework that was developed as part of a PhD study, which is still in progress. This framework is based on co-constructivism, where the process of learning is not an individual pursuit, but rather is distributed between learners and other resources found within the learning environment. Using action-research methodology, six students were observed and interviewed at length in an effort to determine the extent to which this distributed learning environment promoted effective learning. This framework will subsequently provide the catalyst for exploring how computers can be used as cognitive tools, and the extent to which they promote and foster learning in higher education. It is intended that the outcomes of these findings will guide and inform the successful integration of cognitive tools into various learning contexts to empower learners and to support their learning processes.
STE99273
Paper
"A model for the professional development of teachers in design and technology"
Sarah J. Stein, Campbell J. Mc Robbie and Ian Ginns,Queensland Institute of Technology
The implementation of the technology key learning area in the primary school sector during the last few years has resulted in issues being raised relating to teachers' knowledge of technology, and their propensities for incorporating it into an already packed curriculum. During the study reported in this paper, three teachers designed and implemented units of work around ideas which they drew from the national statement on technology, A Statement on Technology for Australian Schools (Curriculum Corporation, 1994). These teachers were faced with challenges to their various teaching professional knowledges and to their prior and developing understandings of the conceptual and procedural aspects of technology. A theoretical model for professional development is thus presented in the light of these teachers' experiences. The model highlights the need for professional developers to be aware of the impact that teachers' prior knowledge and beliefs about teaching and learning and about technology can have upon the meaning they make of the key learning area. The model also stresses that there is need for a combination of theoretical, practical and reflective experiences to be built into a professional development program to provide teachers with the oppotunities they may need to develop their understandings, while at the same time repesent and promote technology as a process, rather than only as a product.
STE99285
STE99302
The use of information and telecommunications technologies to enhance teaching and learning in rural communities
Ken Stevens, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and Andrew Higgins, University of Otago
In schools in New Zealand, Canada, Australia and other countries with modern telecommunications infrastructures, the potential of teleteaching and telelearning is being realized as a way of extending educational opportunities. Teachers with access to appropriate computer technology and the Internet can, potentially, teach at a distance as well as in their conventional classrooms. At the present time there is considerable experimentation with telecommunications technologies in classrooms in New Zealand schools as teachers and students together explore new ways of both teaching and learning.
In many rural communities in New Zealand information and communications technologies have particular significance for sustaining small schools and enabling people to access a growing range of educational opportunities. These technologies enable rural teachers and students to link with one another electronically and thereby share resources.
New Zealand teachers and students from rural communities who have tele-presences in multiple sites during the course of a school day are discovering new ways of teaching and organizing learning using information and communication technologies. The increasingly prominent role of these technologies in linking teachers and learners across multiple sites is raising both administrative and policy issues. The electronic networks that have developed between schools in rural New Zealand are important steps in the creation of a new educational structure - the virtual school.
STE99697
Paper
SYMPOSIUM 32: The kindness of strangers - Indigenous rights and the provision of education for Indigenous Australian students
Clare Stehbens and Lynette Anderson, Central Queensland University, Jeannie Herbert and John Scott, James Cook University
PAPER 1:
SCO99698
Paper
Indigenous education rights and school absenteeism
John Scott, James Cook University
In recent times Indigenous peoples have used sophisticated networks and modern technologies to assist us in articulating Indigenous Education Rights as we see them.
There exists a number of global documents that articulate these rights, including:
- The Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples
- the Coolongatta Statement
- the UN WGIP draft discussion paper - Our Children, Our Future.
In the Australian context these rights are echoed in the 11 educational recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and recommendation 8 (a&b) of the Bringing Them Home report.
At a domestic level lack of political will in fully implementing these recommendations and statements has ensured that our education system/s continue to fail Indigenous Australian children. Education systems continually review policies that have never been fully implemented as if the policies themselves are at fault. The fault lies in the implementation and the political will to do so !
Education on Indigenous terms must come from a rights based approach. Our children must have their cultural perspectives valued and respected (in both the curriculum and the management of schools) if we are to feel any sense of ownership of the education system. Welfare and deficit models have failed our children and continue to marginalise us as Indigenous people/s.
Education rights cannot be accessed without the pre-eminent Indigenous (collective) right of Self-determination.
Without massive change/s in the current half-hearted government approach to our children's education, our children will continue to vote with their feet and school absenteeism will continue unabaited.
PAPER 2:
HER99699
Paper
Where do we belong...in the system?
Jeannie Herbert, James Cook University, Lynette Anderson and Clare Stehbens, Central Queensland University
This paper will provide an opportunity to examine Aboriginal student perceptions of themselves in terms of their participation in the education process. The secondary students, participating in this research project, were responding to questions regarding the learning environments that existed for them within their schools. The questionnaire focused on aspects of the teacher-student relationship in order to gain insights into:
- the way in which students responded to their teachers; and
- the implications of this for the individual student in terms of educational outcomes.
The research would seem to reveal that a critical factor in enabling an Aboriginal student to experience a sense of belonging within the school environment is the degree to which an individual is able to take pride in their identity as an Aboriginal person and to feel that others value who they are. Responses clearly demonstrated how important it is for students to be positioned within a world which has meaning for them. Sensitive teachers have recognised this and in catering for the needs of their Aboriginal students who must operate within two worlds, tend to focus on the building of sound student-teacher relationships. It would appear this could be a critical step in changing Aboriginal students' perceptions of schools and the value of the education they offer Indigenous Australians.
PAPER 3:
AND99700
Paper
Implications of Indigenous community participation in formal schooling for the retention and success of Indigenous students
Lynette Anderson and Clare Stehbens, Central Queensland University and Jeannie Herbert, James Cook University
In examining the factors which could have implications for the participation of Indigenous Australian students in education, it can be seen that there is a growing recognition of the need to broaden the focus of formal schooling to consider the implication of community within that.
In accord with policy, schools must foster relations with the communities within which their students belong. For the most part schools, like the wider society, tend to homogenise the notion of 'community'. However, Aboriginal students belong to communities that are diverse and complex and which are not necessarily modelled on the mainstream notion of community. Consequently the inclusion of Indigenous communities in decision making process within schools is often relegated to a position of tokenistic representation. Unfortunately, in many schools there is an apparent absence of any Indigenous representation.
This paper will identify those issues that create the paradox between schools and Indigenous communities as well as those factors that bring about a pragmatic and effective working relationship between schools and Indigenous communities.
Furthermore, the paper will explore the notion of Indigenous rights based education whereby Indigenous communities assert their rights to ensure that Indigenous children are participating in schooling which respects and fosters their cultural identity and integrity.
PAPER 4:
STE99701
Paper
"From little things, big things explode....."
Clare Stehbens and Lynette Anderson, Central Queensland University and Jeanie Herbert, James Cook University
The media hype which accompanied the 1999 Australian Federal budget stated that this would be the budget which in particular would benefit the education of "Indigenous Australians". Key Budget strategies announced, included the National Indigenous English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy and the National Indigenous Students' School Attendance Strategy.
While not underestimating the potential importance of a National Indigenous Attendance Strategy, the research which forms the base of this paper, highlights that the uncritical willingness on the part of many schools and the community to locate the blame for Indigenous non-attendance in deficit notions of the students and their families, ignores the systemic factors which impact on Indigenous students' participation in the school. Related to this are issues of institutionalised and personal oppression, control and violence which occur both directly and indirectly as part of the daily life experiences of many Indigenous Australian students within the school setting. Such matters are in tension with demands for "safe" school environments and departmental behaviour management policies which may not be culturally neutral. Indigenous Australian students are over-represented in many States' data on student suspensions and exclusions, particularly of secondary students.
Where schools have attempted strategies to address this situation, often they are failed by a system which is under-resourced and inadequately trained to respond to these students. However, international statements and agreements on the rights of the child and Indigenous peoples emphasise the importance of children and Indigenous parents being able to choose the kind of education that is to be given to their children. At a local level these sentiments are often embodied in State and local educational policy documents. However, statistics in relation to school attendance and achievement for Indigenous students indicate that these students are not fully exercising and in some instances may even be being denied their rights to an education.
SUL99051
Enabling student empowerment
Anna Sullivan,Edith ,Cowan University
Increasingly there are calls for teachers to empower students yet there appears to be little understanding of the area. So how can teachers enable student empowerment? Teachers have power over students and are left to make a decision about how they use or exert their power. Teachers who choose to enable student empowerment can share power with students to establish positive forces of power. The literature suggests that there are two dimensions that need to be considered to enable student empowerment: (a) the teacher's philosophy, and (b) the establishment of processes (Sullivan & King, 1998). To date a small amount of research has been conducted on student empowerment in education. Nevertheless, there is a need for research to examine how teachers can enable students to become empowered and to determine the appropriateness of the dimensions identified in the literature.
This paper reports a study, which addresses this need for research on student empowerment. A descriptive study using ethnographic techniques was conducted in the natural setting of a primary school classroom. The study was exploratory attempting to identify and describe variables of how student empowerment is enabled. Data analysis confirmed the two dimensions that enable student empowerment suggested in the literature and identified two additional dimensions. These findings have led to the development of a framework, which describes the variables enabling student empowerment and their interrelationship. This framework should enable teachers to improve classroom practice
SUL99090
Paper
"Teacher standards and professionalism: contested perspectives in a decade of reform"
Keith Sullivan, Victoria,University of Wellington
In this chapter, the debate around professional standards for secondary teachers and performance-related pay is examined via the presentation and an analysis of the recent public debate on this matter between, Howard Fancy, Secretary of Education and Roger Tobin, Acting President of the Post Primary Teachers Association. The author argues: i. that the government is attempting to use conditions of service improvement to bribe teachers to accept government proposals on professional issues, and ii. that the main reason for the inability of the two parties to come to an agreed settlement is because the government perspective is ideologically opposed to and completely undermines the professional foundations of teachers. He also warns that if the Government goes ahead with its proposal to create a government-controlled professional body for teachers that this is tantamount to fascism and that the teachers need to be aware of the implications of the establishment of such a body and vehemently to resist it.
SUM99057
A comparative study of the influences on the career choice of Canadian and Australian preservice teachers
Jennifer Sumsion, Macquarie University
A comparison of University entrance requirements for professional preparation programs in Australia suggests that, in general, teaching is not a highly regarded career choice for academically able school leavers. In NSW, for example, the former Tertiary Entrance Ranking (TER) required for entry into some teacher education programs was almost half that required to gain entry to medicine. In Ontario, Canada, conversely, where teaching is typically seen as a higher status career than in Australia, some teacher education programs have required a TER equivalent to, or higher, than that required by medicine. Entry to these programs is so competitive that up to 90% of applicants are unsuccessful. This stark difference in the status of teaching and entry requirements prompted me to undertake comparative study of the influences on the career choice of preservice teachers enrolled in a teacher education program in Ontario, Canada and preservice teachers enrolled in a teacher education program in NSW. The study involved semi-structured interviews with 20 Canadian and 20 Australian preservice teachers. This paper reports findings emerging from the interview data.
SUR99673
Paper
A methodologically inclusive model for research synthesis
Harsh Suri, University of Melbourne
This paper builds on a paper presented by the author at AARE 1998 that critiqued the contemporary methods of research synthesis. This paper proposes a method of research synthesis that overcomes many of the criticisms of the contemporary methods of research synthesis. This multi-stage model, referred to as the Methodologically Inclusive Research Synthesis Model (MIRSM), does not exclude any good research study based on the positioning of its methodological paradigm. This model argues against a research synthesis based on a rigid set of rules and procedures. Instead, at every stage of MIRSM, an inductive approach is used where the choice of technique for research synthesis is guided by the nature of individual findings and the relationship between the individual findings. The synthesis process is dialectical and hermeneutic rather than sequential. The synthesis of qualitative findings is interpretive and not aggregative. Qualitative reports are summarised in a useable format while maintaining the integrity and holism of individual reports by using different techniques such as content analysis of themes, phenomenography, reciprocal translational synthesis, refutational synthesis or lines-of-argument synthesis. Quantitative studies are synthesised using meta-analytic procedures. Visual displays of data and exploratory analysis techniques are used to understand the nature of the data, and subsequently make informed choices about different procedures for meta-analysis. At every stage of the synthesis, a dynamic interplay is maintained between the synthesis of qualitative findings and quantitative findings where the synthesis results of qualitative findings inform the synthesis process of quantitative findings and vice-versa. The feasibility and applicability of the MIRSM model are tested by applying it to synthesise research on the efficacy of asynchronous computer-mediated communication as a medium for classroom interactions, among the students and between the students and the instructor, in post-secondary courses.
TAF99682
Social self-efficacy and the development of young children's social competence
Richard Taffe, Charles Sturt University
Perceived self-efficacy is considered to have important effects on learning and the reproduction of learned behaviour in many areas of human functioning. Indeed, current theory involving motivational processes in learning postulate that the individual's self-efficacy for performing specific behaviours is a key indicant of the individual's decision-making to enact those behaviours.
The application of the self-efficacy construct has been widespread across many studies in various domains. However, up to now, few intervention studies in the area of children's social adjustment have explicitly sought to incorporate the self-efficacy construct as a treatment variable.
This paper reports on the results of a study aimed at identifying the role of self-efficacy perceptions in the enactment, maintenance and generalisation of trained social behaviours. Specifically, this paper attempts to report on the employment and evaluation of self-efficacy enhancement techniques with young children. Issues associated with the measurement of social self-efficacy and the utility of self-efficacy enhancement techniques (such as self-as-model video recordings) with younger populations will be discussed.
TAI99583
Paper
Technology, progressivism, inclusivity: learning to be a 'good teacher' in the contemporary university
Gordon Tait and Belinda Carpenter, Queensland University of Technology
This paper questions some of the dominant assumptions about the relationship between technological proficiency and what counts as good practice in the university setting. That is, it is now widely regarded as impossible for academics to educate their student without using inclusive and dialogical methods of instruction. In the modern university, this is often measured by an effective use of technology. However this paper argues, first, that progressive education emerged not as an inevitable pedagogic advancement, but rather as an historical contingency; second, that progressive education is itself premised upon a number of domain assumptions about the nature of identity which have been challenged within the wider domain of social and cultural theory; and third, that that the new valorised practices of progressive education often depend upon the old derogated practices, but this reliance is down-played or disregarded.
TAL99781
Paper
Web-supported teaching of a core undergraduate unit in early childhood
Ayshe Talay-Ongan and Maree Gosper, Macquarie University
Information technology has become central in flexible learning. In view of the paradigm shifts occurring in delivery of teaching and learning materials, a second year core unit, Development, Difference and Disability at the Institute of Early Childhood was trialed to be taught as a flexible learning package, supported by The Vice-Chancellor's development grant in 1998. The unit catered to 120 students, 55 of whom were externally enrolled. The flexible learning package for the unit employed multiple technologies, such as weekly face-to-face (audiotaped) lectures, a text book, and a web site which contained not only the unit outline materials, but also curriculum content. As such, the web site included weekly tutorial application and reflection exercises, weekly self-assessment tasks in alternating forms of a quiz and a case study, weekly lecture notes, additional resources such as related web sites and abstracts of relevant articles for that topic, and extensive individual (e-mail) and group (bulletin board) communication facilities. Face-to-face tutorial sessions were replaced by tutors moderating six student forums on the web bulletin board. A number of technical resources were employed in the preparation of the web-supported package in its construction and delivery, in student training for its use, as well as in weekly updating of materials, technical assistance and servicing as necessary. Resulting educational benefits of this innovative mode of delivery were substantial, and were evaluated using summative and formative techniques. The findings of the formal evaluation detailed below, indicate a strong degree of support for the efficacy of web-supported learning, as well as highlighting some issues for future applications. The modifications to improve the teaching and learning outcomes derived from this experience, an implications of the findings for the sequelae of the resources developed are presented.
TAM99530
Early childhood settings as sites for enhancing children's narratives
MacDonald,S., McNaughton, S., Tamarua Turoa, L.T., & Phillips, G. University of Auckland
The extent to which children can participate in narrative discussion has educational and developmental significance. We report an experimental study of children's narratives in an early childhood setting. Teacher's provided focussed guidance for Maori and Pacific Island children's narratives during two language activities. Repeated measures of content and form as well as analyses of teacher guidance are described. Patterns of narrative and cultural identity are discussed.
TAN99510
Paper
The effect of modes of presentation on the evaluation of marching band by musicians and nonmusicians
Jessie Tan, GreenRidge Secondary School
Can the use of video technology assist teachers in teaching music listening? While results of the audio-visual condition versus audio-only condition indicate no significant difference, written evaluation analysis provided other interesting information and raised other questions. Does the visual element possibly increase subjects' understanding, interest, curiosity, liking or valuing? This paper examines the effect of modes of presentation on the evaluation of marching band by musicians and nonmusicians. For this study, 135 musicians and 78 nonmusicians were randomly assigned to three experimental groups: audio-only, visual-only, and combined audio-visual. The stimuli used for the experimental conditions were two contrasting marching bands commercially recorded at a "live" marching band competition, one performing The Inferno, by Robert Smith (One minute, 58 seconds), and the other performing Gavornka Fanfare, by Jack Stamp (One minute, 32 seconds). Subject demographic data were collected by means of a questionnaire. Subjects completed a written evaluation assigning an overall numerical-preference rating indicated no significant between groups or among treatments. There was a significant difference between ratings for Example One and those for Example Two. For the free response questions, on the whole, subjects made more nonmusical comments and musical comments. The findings of this study indicate that musicians made more musical comments than nonmusicians. Results indicated a difference among viewing conditions with audio-only receiving the highest percentage of musical comments and visual-only receiving the lowest. Example Two received higher percentage of musical comments than did Example One.
TAY99032
Paper
From social justice to 'Literacy for all'. Australian variations on a global theme
Sandra Taylor and Miriam Henry, Queensland University of Technology
This paper reports on a study of changing conceptualisations of equity within education policy in Australia in recent times.
Questions are raised about the significance of the shift to a literacy focus. At the Commonwealth level, literacy appears to have become a surrogate for other forms of educational and social disadvantage,connecting to a number of global discources including the potentially narrow discourse of 'literacy for the knowledge economy'. At the same time,there are continuities with the older framings of equity drawing on an Australian tradition of reform, and significant State-based variations in how literacy/equity is defined and taken up in policy,reflecting local histories and conflicts. At a more theoretical level, the study raises questions about the globalisation of education policy-making and the significance of this for concepualising and researching notions of national interest and the connections between the so-called local and global.
TAY99146
Paper
IT skills and schooling:Rethinking assumptions about access
Peter Taylor,Griffith University
Where once curricula confidently mapped what had to be learned, schools are now required to develop specific capacities for engagement in lifelong learning and to provide access to and skills in the use of IT, particularly the Internet. This paper investigates aspects of this challenge, drawing on DETYA-funded research into the development of ICT skills in Australian schools (Meredyth, Russell, Blackwood, Thomas & Wise 1999). (In all, 222 principals, 1258 teachers and 6213 students from a representative sample of schools from all States and Territories completed questionnaires. Students were in the final year of their primary education, or the final year of compulsory education.)
In particular, the paper examines the issue of access in terms of expectations which are confirmed and challenged by the survey findings, and by other investigations. One focus for this examination is the finding that students tend to learn most of their IT skills in settings other than schools. Learning in those settings is contextualised by a range of agendas very unlike those of the classroom. They are commercial, action-oriented infotainment settings, where learning is likely to be problem-focused and peer-based rather than adult-led or instructional. Pointing as they do to the breakdown of the boundaries around schools, the findings challenge assumptions about the role of schooling, and the focus on skill development within curricula. The analysis provided in this paper illustrates ways that 'straight thinking' about equity and access to lifelong learning is problematised by these new learners and new technologies.
TAY99147
Paper
Thinking about new learning environments
Peter Taylor,Griffith University
The move to embrace new information and communication technologies (ICTs) in all educational sectors invites scrutiny of the consequences of their use. However, the bulk of the literature in the area of ICTs tends to be limited to advocacy for, or description of, their application. As a response to Mark Windschitl's (1998) call for research which is more detailed and critical, this paper maps several sets of literature which might inform such research. These literatures address: post-modern views culture, organisations and power; views of educational management, including the specification of curricula; social constructivist views of learning; and, ecological views of communities and resources. The purpose is to provide a conceptual basis for an examination of the intersection of the affordances of ICT-rich learning environments, pedagogy and learning,in ways which allow both critical scrutiny and informed speculation on emergent possibilities for effective practices.
The paper acknowledges that ICTs are being introduced into quite complex environments. These are outcomes of a multitude of prior investments, many of which militate against fundamental change in educational practices, as is well documented in the educational reform literature. Given such contexts, thinking about new learning environments needs to draw on multiple perspectives in order to engage effectively with these inherent complexities. Moreover, it needs to be informed by scholarship that is as contemporary as the new technologies if we are to move beyond applications of these technologies that merely extend the shelf life or the reach of old pedagogies.
THE99529
Paper
The extra tutorial for "At-risk" psychology students
Steve Theiler, Swinburne University of Technology
Not passing in first year psychology at university is often perceived by the student as the end of the road to psychologically related vocations, or the end of their tertiary education. The psychology student is assessed on their ability to be proficient in a variety of areas such as research report writing and research essays. There is also an exam at the end of the semester that tests the student's knowledge of all the topics that were covered in the weekly lectures. All of these requirements need to be mastered in a short amount of time, as a semester is only 12 weeks in duration. This paper reports on a case study that was done during the second semester (1998) with 12 first-year under-graduate students (seven females and three males; average age 19 years). These students had not achieved a pass grade for the first semester in psychology. Their marks ranged from 45 to 49 out of 100. These students were given the opportunity to continue into second semester under certain conditions. These included attending all lectures and tutorials, as well as participating in an extra tutorial each week with students who had attained similar results. Eleven of these twelve students achieved a pass grade for psychology for the second semester. The strategies that were implemented during the "extra" tutorial to help the students improve their academic performance included giving class presentations and critiques of their fellow students' written work. The long-term results from implementing similar methods of support in previous years are also reviewed.
THO99040
THO99060
Paper
Reading the work of school administrators with the help of bourdieu: Developing a 'feel for the game'
Pat Thomson,University of South Australia
In this paper I explore how the discipline of educational administration, separated out from curriculum studies and policy sociology, positions researchers to make particular kinds of readings of the work of school administrators. Such readings can be decontextualised and utopian, and the 'will to the technical' often fails to connect with the messy and contradictory everyday world of school lives.
In addition, such literatures (inadvertently?) support modernist managerial policy directions. Furthermore, if/when a select few writers find lucrative entrepreneurial pastures, such educational administrative narratives can become a significant influence in shaping a raft of policy technologies, such as school administrator selection procedures, performance reviews, quality assurance instruments and models of professional learning.
I look specifically at Bourdieu's notions of 'habitus', 'fields' and 'interests' (or 'illusio') and begin to think about an alternative reading that makes the work of educational administration researchers problematic and brings the daily conflicting demands of practising school administrators to centre stage.
The paper builds on my own experiences as a school principal and deputy, on work undertaken as part of my doctoral studies, on ongoing projects with principals' associations and in coordinating a professional doctorate in education.
THO99327
Paper
A new theory of the fundamentals of beginning reading acquisition in a range of instructional environments
Brian Thompson, Victoria University of Wellington
Compared with other contemporary accounts, the Knowledge Sources theory (Thompson, Cottrell, & Fletcher-Flinn,1996; Thompson, 1999) provides a broader conception of the alphabetic principle and its role in beginning reading, and can account for learning in a wider range of instructional environments. Evidence for this account has accumulated particularly from studies of children who do not receive explicit teaching of letter sounds. By instructional manipulation of such beginning readers' vocabulary, evidence was obtained of the operation of that one of the five sources of knowledge posited in the theory that has been traditionally ignored: children's implicit induction of letter-sound patterns from their reading vocabulary (Thompson et al., 1996). Converging evidence has now been obtained in a further series of studies (Thompson, Fletcher-Flinn & Cottrell,1999) with 5- and 6-year-old children who were starting to read and had been taught some letter names but not letter sounds. As predicted by the Knowledge Sources theory, their attempts at giving sounds for letters depended on their print word experience of the letter-sound relations (predominantly in initial position of words), when the sound could not be deduced from the letter name. One implication of the Knowledge Sources theory is that instruction for beginning reading should regard children's knowledge of the alphabetic principle not as being about a set of letter-sound correspondences but as a principle to be acquired and used by children to self-teach new instances of the principle available in the patterns inherent within their developing reading vocabulary.
THO99361
Children's understanding of the number system
Noel Thomas, Charles Sturt University
A cross-sectional study of 132 children from Kindergarten to Grade 6 assessed children's understanding of numeration and place value: counting, grouping/partitioning, number sense and structure of the number system. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of performance and strategy use were conducted to highlight which aspects were critical in developing numeration knowledge. Further investigation of children's representations of the counting sequence 1-100 analyses pictorial representations drawn from the cross-sectional study and a follow-up study of children from Grades 4 to 6. Examples of imagery provided in this study have given 'snapshots' of the developmental stages that it is suggested that children may progress through. This study distinguishes those aspects of developing number knowledge which contribute to the apparent failure of children to make sense of numeration as a system. The results show how the acquisition of numeration as compartmentalised knowledge restricts the construction of relationships and hence understanding of the number system. Conclusions drawn provide insight into the complexities of children's developing understanding of the multiplicative recursive structure of the numeration system. Implications are drawn for both curriculum and teaching.
THO99507
Paper
Environmental liberalism: A framework for sustainable higher environmental education
Matthew Thomas, University of Adelaide
There exists in current higher education rhetoric a convergence of liberal and utilitarian ideologies, evident in the recent calls for generic skills in graduates, and the notion of lifelong learning. This paper presents a theoretical examination of this ideological convergence and establishes how it can be used to form the foundations of a new potent form of environmental education. Building on John Dewey's pragmatic vision for socially and democratically empowered citizenry, it is shown here that this framework, called "environmental liberalism", provides a more authentic form of environmental education. Moreover, it does so within the existing disciplinary structures, and therefore represents a useful professional-based environmental education. It is argued that this represents an essential step towards our common goal of sustainability.
THO99508
Paper
Impacting on communication and learning: When communication technologies constrain communication
Matthew Thomas, University of Adelaide
Communication technologies, and especially web-based on-line tutorials, are receiving much attention in relation to their potential for providing effective flexible delivery of higher education. However, the current published research presents a significant bias towards projects with positive findings. This paper presents the findings of two research projects where communication technology use in a typical university setting failed to provide a forum conducive to communication. The use of web-based discussion forums engendered pre-written and overly academic contributions, and failed to facilitate the inter-student communication, debate and argument development that would be found in a traditional tutorial. This paper explores the possible causes of these findings, and offers suggestions as to the better promotion of communication on-line. The findings here question the general perception that on-line tutorials facilitate efficient and effective communication, and the simplistic comparison between learning in a traditional tutorial and an on-line tutorial must be approached with caution.
THO99669
Paper
Curriculum integration in the primary classroom: Replicating the primary classroom
Christina Thornley, University of Otago
In 1998 the University of Otago introduced a new primary teacher education degree which aimed to replicate the interdisciplinary curriculum programmes of New Zealand primary schools. This approach had significant implications for the course content and the structure of teaching programmes. It acknowledged the connected nature of the curriculum essential learning areas and influenced the cross-curricula manner in which lecturers worked. The curriculum papers also examined the theory and history of curriculum integration as a context within which the students would achieve the following programme goals;
- To develop their understandings of how children learn
- To develop the ability to plan teach and assess across the curriculum recognising the diversity of learners and
- To develop negotiated classroom curriculum programmes for children.
This paper reports on the challenges and success of this approach. Specifically it discusses the findings that are emerging from on-going student teacher interviews and their course work. It raises questions concerning the lecturers' role in the programme and the implicit and explicit elements of their teaching. It examines the student teachers' developing understandings of the various barriers and benefits that any curriculum model can present to individual children.
THO99706
Physical education and sport in South Australian public schools: The state of play
Stephen Thorpe, Russell Brown, Madeleine Murtagh, Felicity Lewis, Roy Collins, Flinders University
This paper presents the results of a DETE funded project examining the responses of public schools in South Australia to a recommendation that 100 minutes of physical education and sport be offered to all students. The discussion centres on what is being offered at present in the state's primary and secondary schools, and schools' reactions to the 100 minute recommendation. This information provides a background to discussion of the general issues facing the Health & Physical Education Learning Area now and in the future, and of the comparisons among the States.
THO99707
Globalisation and its discontents: On the usefulness of the local/global dichotomy for HPE research
Stephen Thorpe, Flinders University
This paper examines the local/global binary presented in the conference theme with a view to considering the issues for researching HPE in contemporary times. Of central interest is the way this inside/outside perspective carries important consequences for the researcher trying to understand what is happening at various levels of education. My intent is to problematise the local/global nexus in the name of a more dialogic understanding of societal processes.
THW99528
Paper
Multiple Literacies - A new direction for the arts
Trevor Thwaites, Auckland College of Education
The New Zealand Curriculum Framework identifies seven Essential Learning Areas, namely, Languages, Mathematics, Science, Social Science, Technology, Health and Physical Well Being, and The Arts. These have been in the process of development since 1993 with The Arts written in 1998 and released for consultation in 1999 in draft form. Being positioned last in curriculum development implies that the arts are at the bottom of a preferred hierarchy of knowledge promoted by the state and this has been coupled with an increased drive to promote more literacy, mathematics and information technology in schooling.
In an effort to increase the perceived value of the arts, the writers of the draft arts curriculum embraced the notion of multiple literacies which seeks to broaden the understanding of literacy in teaching and learning, and to acknowledge a multiplicity of discourses in the school curriculum. Literacy should imply a mode of meaning other than the purely linguistic and needs to incorporate visual, aural, gestural, spatial and multimodal (The New London Group, 1996) meanings. Literacies in the arts are developed as students learn in, through and about different arts forms within the arts disciplines and use its languages to communicate and interpret meaning.
This paper details the development of The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum: the resistance to the notion of literacy and to the postmodern paradigm in which the document was developed. It questions the ability of the state to move beyond a modernist view of education given that its agencies must promote normalisation and the status quo.
TIM99518
Paper
Innovation and the persistence of old solutions: Intervention dilemmas for schools at risk.
Helen Timperley, Viviane Robinson and Tony Bullard, University of Auckland
Since early 1998, the New Zealand Ministry of Education has been funding a major initiative to strengthen education in two districts with low socio-economic status in South Auckland. The main focus of the intervention has been to improve students' literacy achievement, as this is typically eighteen months to two years below the national average. Throughout the life of the initiatives, the authors have been involved in a process evaluation using an organisational learning framework. The main criterion employed to judge the adequacy of the initiatives was the extent to which the schools' organisational capacity to manage and teach literacy are increased in ways that are sustainable beyond the two-year timeframe of the additional funding. In this paper, we examine how an intervention that was initially framed in terms of promoting school review and development, resulted in most of the funding being allocated to promoting more of the kinds of solutions that previously had been judged inadequate. The complexity and difficulty of the problem led to greater emphasis being given to empowerment of schools and ownership of the solution than to analysing the adequacy of current practice and building a solution based on that analysis. We discuss the dilemmas faced by the Ministry and the schools in trying to develop an adequate solution to this complex problem and the role of the interventionists in shaping a different solution.
TIM99519
Paper
Partnership and shared information: The non-disclosure of student achievement
Viviane Robinson, Helen Timperley, University of Auckland
The involvement of communities in low socio-economic areas to bring about school improvement has gained international acceptance since the 1980's. The New Zealand Ministry of Education has tried to foster a partnership between communities and schools in its initiatives to strengthen education in two districts in South Auckland. As evaluators of this intervention, we have judged the quality of the partnership by examining the extent to which schools and parents learn from one another about how to strengthen their mutual capacity to improve student literacy in the context of reporting to parents on student achievement. The baseline conditions we propose for a mutually educative partnership through school reports are that both partners have access to accurate information about the child's current achievement level and a shared understanding of the standard used to judge that achievement. A sample of school reports on high achieving, average achieving and low achieving students from 12 schools were examined. The analysis showed that schools either described student's achievement in ways that were difficult for parents to interpret or used rating scales to indicate achievement. The standards used to judge a particular rating were rarely explicit and differed between schools. Some ratings referred to national averages, others to children in a particular class, with others referring to teachers' perceptions of an individual student's estimated potential. Most parents, on the other hand, believed the standards to be nationally based. Reasons for reporting in this way and the implications for a partnership based on unequal information are discussed further in the paper.
KNI99784
SCHOOLING, CITIZENSHIP AND DEMOCRACY
Tony Knight, LaTrobe University, and Art Pearl, University of California, Santa Cruz.
In this paper we are proposing a fundamentally different look at education. We share with many, criticisms of existing policy and practice. We however part company with most 'formers' concluding that proposed reforms will make a bad situation worse. The major problem of schools is that from first grade through graduation with an advanced degree the intelligence of students is undervalued. The gist of the argument goes something like this. The world is faced with difficult problems. These problems cannot be solved without a democratic process and become worse the more the education of the public is mbed downY Essential to to a democratic resolution of those problems is a reconstructed school that prepares all students to become effective problem solvers. The goal of each school is to prepare every person with 12 years to schooling to be informed and responsible citizens. We propose a school informed by a comprehensive general theory; the theory we recommend is a cognitive democratic theory. Our proposal, developed through nearly three decades of collaborative applied research, has at least seven critical constructs or attributes:
- the nature of educational authority;
- the ordering and inclusiveness of membership;
- the determination of important knowledge;
- the definition and availability of rights;
- the nature and participation in decisions that effect one life;
- the creation of optimum environments for learning;
- equality.
We contend that it is how each of these democratic constructs are developed or advanced that will determine whether schools become more democratic. It is through their in twinning that students are provided the opportunity to install the necessary principles of a democracy, that prepares them to assume the awesome responsibility of democratic citizenship.
TOO99642
Paper
International students in Australia: what do we know of the quality of their education?
Kylie Tootell, University of Newcastle
International students are an integral component of our higher education system. Historically international students have been viewed by Australian universities in an increasingly materialistic manner, following a shift in philosophy from educational "aid" in the 1950s to educational "trade" in the 1970s. A recent development of policy by the Government, and consequently universities, is the policy of internationalisation. As universities competitively market courses to this growing group of fee-paying students, questions are emerging regarding the effectiveness and appropriateness of the education offered to them and the scope of their needs. What is the nature and direction of research in the area of international students in Australia, and elsewhere? Has such research had an impact on the methods and processes of provision, teaching, and support services (including accommodation in halls of residence)? This paper explores the discourses that characterise the debate on the provision of education and support for international students and critically examines the research response, particularly the state of research into the quality of the educational experience for such students.
TOW99104
Paper
Educational Leadership: Theory and Practice
Frances Townsend ,Auckland
This paper explores the ill-defined area between the theory of educational leadership and elements of practice. The paper is based on he findings of research undertaken from 1995 to 1999 for a DPhil.That research explored the perceptions of a number of New Zealand school principals of their learning to be educational leaders. The conclusion was reached that this type of learning exhibited characteristics of life-long learning and consequently a marked degree of uniqueness related to the individual, the educational environment and situational factors. The paper considers these findings as local effects and theories of leadership as a global issue.
It will be argued that theories of leadership which appear to be global in their widespread following, may fail to account adequately for certain elements of leadership which can be identified at the local level. Theories of leadership tend to focus on characteristics, roles, preparation and training, and on successful leadership behaviour. In this paper these theories of leadership will be considered in the context of the research findings of principals' perceptions of their learning of educational leadership. From this perspective the reasons why individuals seek leadership and the consequences of individuality for the local leadership environment,appear to have relevance for explaining local effects.
TOW99213
Paper
Mathematics anxiety and self concept: evaluating change using the 'then-now' procedure
Michael Townsend, Mei Lai, Lyn Lavery, Carolyn Sutherland & Keri Wilton University of Auckland
The teaching of mathematics and mathematics-related skills is often made difficult because of pre-existing negative attitudes in students. Unfortunately, these attitudes are resistant to change, especially in older students, in spite of the best efforts of teachers. For example, in a previously published study by the authors, university students engaged in a second-year class in statistical methods for social sciences showed no change on instruments measuring mathematics self concept and anxiety despite strenuous efforts by the teachers and tutors to make the learning interesting and interactive. Interestingly, however, the great majority of the students also gave written reports of greatly improved content knowledge and skill. How can learners be successful in improving their skills yet remain unchanged in self concept and anxiety? The answer may lie in the threat to internal validity posed by the self-report measures used in a pre- and post-test design study. Put simply, the students' internal standards for judging their self concept and anxiety may have changed between pre-test and post-test. This change, known as response-shift bias, may be detected using a "then-now" procedure which asks students at the end of their learning to provide simultaneous judgements about their current state and (retrospectively) their beginning state. This paper reports the results of retaining a pre-test, but using a "then-now" post-test procedure, in an investigation which replicated all of the remaining features of the previously published study.
TRE99226
Paper
Square pegs and round holes - achieving a fit for students with disabilities in movement programs in educational settings.
Bob Tremayne,University of Technology Sydney
This paper outines the development of an on-going study to identify factors considered to be important in the delivery of effective movement programs in educational settings in NSW state schools. The study is based in a variety of settings reflecting the range of options available to students with disabilities. It also considers a variety of students. The variables of adaptable but meaningful activities, access opportunities available to students, and the role of personnel are identified as crucial to effective participation of students, irrespective of the nature of their disability.
Qualitative methodology was used, involving the researcher directly in the settings. A range of data-gathering strategies was employed, including observation, interviews and video-taping.
It is anticipated that the conclusion of the study will involve recommendations for inclusion of a range of students who don't quite fit in movement programs and other areas of education.
TRE99588
TRO99224
Teachers for postcolonial citizens:
Discursive themes in Western Australian teacher training,1890-1930
Janina Trotman,Edith Cowan University
As we approach the millennium, the debates about citizenship and the republic appear in many forms and from a multiplicity of sources. In the postmodern era, one of the central issues is the state's ability to deal with diversity and difference. However, at the turn of the century,instead of diversity, the emerging postcolonial Australia sought a unified national identity.
For the emerging nation state,the imperative was the creation of a 'regime of truth'- a construction and mapping of the meanings and practices of Australian citizenship. The school was a key site , and the teachers clearly instrumental in the project.
The focus of this paper is the teacher. If the school was to be a means of constructing a particular kind of citizen, what were the characteristics of the the desired teacher?
Education Department of Western Australia policies, records and reports, and archival material from the only Western Australian teachers' college at this time,Claremont College, provide data which enable a reconstruction of the 'official texts' which created the discursive field of teacher training. These texts are significant for what is said, but, also,for what is absent - especially in relation to gender and race.
In addition,the contestations and reinterpretations of these texts are appparent in oral history and archival material, and are illustrative of the complexities of policy implementation, as well as the challenges to the official discourse of Australian citizenship.
TSO99349
Paper
Practical multimedia courseware design for learner's difficulties in chemical education
Tsoi Mun Fie Raymond, Goh Ngoh Khang and Chia Lian Sai, Nanyang Technological University
The designing of multimedia chemistry courseware is a complex and challenging task for many instructional developers and writers especially in the initial stage of the prototype to be developed. As such, this paper provides insights gained into some practical design considerations in developing a multimedia courseware in chemical education at secondary school level. It concentrates on the early stage of the development process and specific design tips or guidelines based on practical pedagogical experiences in courseware design and storyboard. Among the seven major chemistry topics covered by the courseware as modules, two important modules, namely organic chemistry and experimental techniques are selected to illustrate some salient design issues that are related to certain important learning principles. The three understanding levels (macro, micro, and symbolic) related to learners' difficulties in learning chemistry will also be addressed in the development of the courseware. Implications for designing chemistry courseware, which emerge as a result of the design issues considered will also be discussed in the context of both the multimedia producer and writer.
TUC99118
Paper
Assessing student teachers' performance in practicum
Mavis,Haigh&Bryan Tuck,Auckland College of Education
After completing a degree in relevant content areas prospective high school teachers in New Zealand typically enrol in a one-year Diploma at a College of Education. The year is intensive and a critical component is supervised teaching within selected high schools. The student teacher is attached to an experience teacher, an Associate Teacher, who accepts responsibility for the day to day supervision of the student's teaching experience. During each attachment a visiting lecturer from the College of Education also observes the student teaching. This study examines the levels of agreement between the Associate Teacher and Visiting Lecturer's evaluations of 150 students' teaching experience on their third and penultimate school placement. The analyses examine correlations between the judges' holistic ratings of teaching competence and ratings of specific teaching competencies. The values of the correlations vary dramatically and significant differences exist between the mean ratings of the Associate Teachers and the Visiting Lecturers. These differences are discussed. Structural analyses of the rating instrument are reported, and the implications of the results for the assessment of practicum in teacher pre-service teacher education programmes identified.
TUC99119
Paper
Sources of occupational stress in New Zealand primary teachers
Bryan Tuck,Vivienne Adair,Eleanor Hawe,Robert Manthei & Denis Moore Auckland College of Education
Over three hundred primary teachers employed in 30 primary schools located in urban and semi-rural centres completed a survey on occupational stress. The instrument had been used previously in two published studies of stress among New Zealand primary teachers. The relationship between stress levels, job satisfaction and selected teacher characteristics, such as years of experience, were examined. Factor analyses identified eight independent sources of stress, and two groups of teachers were identified following cluster analysis; one cluster of teachers reporting moderate levels of stress and high job satisfaction and the other high levels of stress and low job satisfaction. The cluster membership of the individual teachers was then used to construct two similar clusters of schools. A series of analyses were then undertaken to identify the characteristics of schools which discriminated one cluster from the other. School characteristics tested were socio-economic rating of the school, proportion of fully registered teachers, and the stability of the school roll. In general there were differences between the characteristics of schools in the two clusters-high stress and low job satisfaction versus moderate stress and high job satisfaction, but there were significant exceptions to the trends. The educational significance of these exceptions is discussed.
TUC99720
Sources of occupational stress in New Zealand primary teachers
Bryan Tuck and Eleanor Hawe, Auckland College of Education, Vivienne Adair and Dennis Moore, University of Auckland and Robert Manthei, University of Canterbury
Over three hundred primary teachers employed in 30 primary schools located in urban and semi-rural centres completed a survey on occupational stress. The instrument had been used previously in two published studies of stress among New Zealand primary teachers. The relationship between stress levels, job satisfaction and selected teacher characteristics, such as years of experience, were examined. Factor analyses identified eight independent sources of stress, and two groups of teachers were identified following cluster analysis; one cluster of teachers reporting moderate levels of stress and high job satisfaction and the other high levels of stress and low job satisfaction. The cluster membership of the individual teachers was then used to construct two similar clusters of schools. A series of analyses were then undertaken to identify the characteristics of schools which discriminated one cluster from the other. School characteristics tested were socio-economic rating of the school, proportion of fully registered teachers, and the stability of the school roll. In general there were differences between the characteristics of schools in the two clusters-high stress and low job satisfaction versus moderate stress and high job satisfaction, but there were significant exceptions to the trends. The educational significance of these exceptions is discussed.
TUC99721
Assessing student teachers' performance in practicum
Mavis Haigh and Bryan Tuck, Auckland College of Education
After completing a degree in relevant content areas prospective high school teachers in New Zealand typically enroll in a one-year Diploma at a College of Education. The year is intensive and a critical component is supervised teaching within selected high schools. The student teacher is attached to an experience teacher, an Associate Teacher, who accepts responsibility for the day to day supervision of the student's teaching experience. During each attachment a visiting lecturer from the College of Education also observes the student teaching. This study examines the levels of agreement between the Associate Teacher and Visiting Lecturer's evaluations of 150 students' teaching experience on their third and penultimate school placement. The analyses examine correlations between the judges' holistic ratings of teaching competence and ratings of specific teaching competencies. The values of the correlations vary dramatically and significant differences exist between the mean ratings of the Associate Teachers and the Visiting Lecturers. These differences are discussed. Structural analyses of the rating instrument are reported, and the implications of the results for the assessment of practicum in teacher pre-service teacher education programmes identified.
TUF99231
Paper
Teachers' discourses on mental health and illness - implications for mental health education.
Anne Tuffin,Massey University
This paper presents an analysis of teachers' discourses when talking about mental illness and mental health. The study is informed by a social constructionist epistemology which highlights the constitutive and evaluative aspects of language use, and argues for the importance of collecting "natural" data. Interviews with eight health coordinators from a range of NZ secondary schools were transcribed and analysed. The analysis presents divergent and variable constructions of mental illness and mental health. The development of mental health and illness programs in schools is discussed in the light of this analysis.
TUN99777
Paper
Science can inform educational practice: The case of literacy
William Tunmer and James Chapman, Massey University
Antinaturalists, interpretivists, critical theorists, postmodernists, and deconstructivists have been highly critical of educational research methods that are theory driven, hypothesis testing, or generalization producing. According to extreme versions of these views research can only provide findings that are "contextually bound", in which case educational researchers should concentrate more on "telling stories" than "crunching numbers". With respect to literacy, these critics have questioned the feasibility of attempting to develop a general theory of how children learn to read (and write), and what can be done to maximize the effectiveness of literacy instruction for ALL children in the light of such findings. Instead, children's literacy experiences are seen as firmly embedded in social contexts that uniquely give meaning to their uses of literacy. In this paper we present an alternative view that begins with a definition of reading literacy that simultaneously incorporates psychological, linguistic, and sociological perspectives. We then present a brief critique of the position that literacy is primarily social, political, and relative, before turning to the primary focus of the paper, which is to provide specific examples of how theory-driven, quantitative research can inform educational practice in literacy.
TUO99265
Paper
Cognitive learning research in online multimedia education®
Juhani Touvinen, Monash University
A framework incorporating multiple modalities is proposed for cognitive research into online learning interaction. Its fundamental interaction dimensions are taken to be various combinations of text, graphics, video, sound and immersive virtual reality. These dimensions are then considered at two further levels of analysis, distinguishing between 1-way and 2-way and synchronous or asynchronous interactions.
Useful ways for siting current cognitive learning research and new research directions among these framework components are proposed. Methods for improving learning of cognitively demanding content by reducing the learning cognitive load in these online contexts are derived from recent cognition research. These are goal-free problem solving, worked and completion examples practice, reducing split-attention and redundancy effects, relating the heavy use of worked and completion examples to learners' expertise, the imagination effect, using multiple modalities and identifying and employing optimal conditions for discovery learning.
The implications and scope of effective new learning approaches for online learning and opportunities for research are discussed. The current research is argued to have immediate implications for improving learning in non-online contexts, and be highly suggestive of fruitful areas of research and development in online learning environments, especially if multimedia or virtual reality are employed as interaction modalities. It is also argued that the existing cognition research provides powerful methods of planning, prioritising, developing, implementing and evaluating online learning using judicious combinations of multiple interaction modes and instructional methods.
USH99233
Paper
Dispersing the text: Globalisation, research and writing
Robin Usher,RMIT University
Those working in the university in contemporary globalised conditions are now involved in increasingly different and often new ways of producing and disseminating knowledge at a time when generally agreed definitions of what constitutes 'knowledge' and knowledge production is changing radically. This raises questions such as-what then is research and who then is a researcher? Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are significant in relation to different ways of producing knowledge new forms of dissemination. They have enabled a proliferation and diversification of research texts and contributed to an explosion of awareness about research to the extent where to talk of research as a migratory practice is no longer purely figurative. The consequence is that research becomes increasingly a series of little narratives as the crisis of narratives brought about by globalisation results in a questioning of a grand global narrative of research.
In this paper, we will examine the contemporary state of educational research using the notion of the 'dispersal of the text' as a means of foregrounding and theorising the greater possibilities for the communication of research in diverse formats to diverse audiences which has been enabled by globalising processes and the space-time compression upon which ICTs are based. We will consider issues such as:
- authenticity, originality and intellectual property rights
- what it now means for research to be located in the literature
- the very different genres of writing now opened up by space-time compression.
USS99278
Competing discourses and assessment in the NZ health and physical education curriculum.
Bill Ussher & Doune Macdonald Waikato University
This presentation will explore the development and interpretation of "intentions" with regard to assessment in the new Health and Physical Education in New Zealand Curriculum statement. The task of resolving apparent philosophical contradictions between an outcomes-based curriculum and a child-centred curriculum, and between assessment for accountability and assessment for better learning, and between assessment as specified activity and assessment as integral to learning, has created continuing problems. The views of some of the curriculum writers are presented against a background of political, academic and practitioner discourses, as expressed through the Ministry of Education specifications, consultation notes, the final document, and initial responses from research conducted with classroom teachers. Consideration is given to Bernstein's notion of "slippage", regarding the policies and practices intended by these writers, the final curriculum "view", supplementary resource booklets, and a sample of practising teachers. The writers reflect on their intentions and analyse the statement for evidence of their ideas. This is research in progress. "The best way to a kid's mind is through his or her hands and feet
USS99281
Paper
SYMPOSIUM: 11 Issues confronting a new health and pe curriculum in the NZ primary school setting.
Names of symposium contributors Andy Fraser (Wellington College of Education) Vicki Cowley (Christchurch College of Education) Bill Ussher (University of Waikato) Lynley Stewart (University of Waikato. Discussant: Dr Doune Macdonald (University of Queensland)
Overview of the symposium
This symposium will focus on competing discourses currently encountered by practising teachers in NZ primary schools. It is intended to promote discussion focussed on the cultural, traditional, political, historical and practical views and demands confronting classroom teachers today. Identifying trends and making comparisons across New Zealand and Australian experiences in the field of physical education will be used to promote dialogue among trans-Tasman colleagues.
FRA99282
Indigenous movement in Physical Education. Important or not?
Andrew Fraser,Wellington College of Education
How significant is indigenous movement in physical education and what areour responsibilities as educators? This presentation will exploreinitiatives in New Zealand education to identify how the new Health andPhysical Education Curriculum and classroom teachers promote the uniqueplace of indigenous movement within a physical education program.2 Vicki Cowley (Senior Lecturer in Physical Education, Christchurch Collegeof Education, NZ
COW99283
Sport the final frontier. Conquered or Usurped??
Vicki Cowley,Christchurch College of Education
Sport and its place in primary physical education continues to be acontentious issue. Inclusion of sport as one of the key areas of learning (Sport Studies) continues to legitimise sport in the New Zealand educationsystem. Issues influencing the inclusion and implementation of this key areaof learning within the primary physical education program will be presented.Impact and suitability of the Sport Education model on the theoretical andstructural framework of the 1999 Health and Physical Education curriculumare presented.
USS99284
Assessment for accountability and better learning!
Bill Ussher, University of Waikato
With the many competing influences confronting classroom teachers in primary schools, assessment policies and practices often attempt to aggregate the data gathered for a multitude of purposes. Information from assessment forbetter learning is confused with or utilised for accountability purposes. This presentation explores these issues that face classroom teachers and how are they coping with the dilemmas?
STE99285
Professional development and implementation for a new curriculum
Lynley Stewart, University of Waikato
Professional development is more than acquiring new curriculum content knowledge, developing new teaching techniques, and motivating teacher-change- it is about teachers' learning. Valued opportunities for collaborative interaction with colleagues or collecting "the recipe"? Assisting teachers throughout the Waikato region to "know" and implement the Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum statement has been my responsibility during 1999. This presentation will examine the various discourses that compete to influence the content of this professional development program, its preparation, delivery and reception.
VAL99544
Paper
Meaningful mathematics in the middle years.
Colleen Vale, Victoria University of Technology
This paper describes an action research project that investigated issues concerning the teaching and learning of numeracy in the middle years. Building on research concerning the middle years of schooling, and their own experience of teaching mathematics in years 5 - 8, a group of teachers, drawn from four schools, trialed strategies intended to improve the engagement, attitudes and outcomes of their students in mathematics. The group recommended at the end of the study that mathematics needs to be meaningful for young adolescents. The concept of meaningful mathematics is explored through a description of the actions and findings of the teachers participating in this project.
VAN99762
Do attitudes and values really matter in problem solving?: The knowledge of problem solving of two groups of children and a small group of teachers
Penny Van Deur, Flinders University
This paper discusses the knowledge and behaviour on a problem solving task of a Regular group of Year 5 students and a group of Year 5 students judged to be academically gifted. The views of a small group of teachers were also sought.
Each student participated in an interview about their knowledge of problem solving; a problem solving task; a self-report of their success on the problem solving task: a rating of their ability to be a good problem solver in 6 curriculum areas. Each session was audio and video taped. Verbal protocols were coded and analysed. Five teachers wrote answers on a questionnaire which sought their views about problem solving and the reasons for the differences between successful and unsuccessful problem solvers.
The results were classified according to a problem solving framework which was devised from the psychological literature. Models of problem solving were derived from the views and behaviours of the Regular and Gifted groups as well as the from the descriptions of successful and unsuccessful problem solvers which were given by the teachers. These models were compared with the outline of the Key Competency of Solving Problems in which it is stated that: Both the principles and characteristics the committee used to construct the set of Key competencies preclude the inclusion of values and attitudes(Mayer, 1992:9).
The comparisons of the models of problem solving suggested the following questions:
- Do dispositional factors exert an influence on successful and unsuccessful problem solving?
- Do students need to be taught about self-management in problem solving?
- Can the interference of dispositional influences contribute to unsuccessful problem solving?
- Have Gifted students incorporated dispositional influences in their problem solving schema?
- Do teachers need to teach about dispositional influences in an explicit way in the classroom?
- Should the Key Competency of Solving Problems exclude reference to dispositional influences in problem solving?
VEN99681
Paper
An educational measurement model: to evaluate a program in a higher education setting
Sitalakshmi Venkatraman, Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore
In recent years, quality has become one of the buzz words in higher education, world wide. There has been a great deal of academic as well as non-academic activities taking place with regard to quality assurance in educational institutions, especially in higher educational settings. As part of the Total Quality Management (TQM), academic activities like course evaluation or a program assessment are being given substantial importance. Such evaluations are carried out with judgements based on a variety of criteria, both tangibles and intangibles. In this context, educational quality and measurement has become a major challenge for these institutions.
Many higher education institutions adopt the method of obtaining quantifiable student feedback to measure educational quality. The results obtained in such mechanisms are questionable as they are based on subjective judgements. The current practices adopted for educational measurement in higher education do not address all the tangible and intangible judgement criteria. Further, there is not much emphasis provided on the justification of the assessment scheme adopted. This paper attempts to bridge this gap by providing with a model to evaluate a higher education program that encompasses the justification of the results too.
This paper attempts to develop an educational measurement model using Criterion-Referenced Measurement for evaluating a program taking into consideration both the tangible factors as well as intangible factors. It provides a justification methodology for the validation and verification of the model results. A higher education program was considered for evaluation using this model. The study was based on a survey conducted on the students and the teaching team involved in the program under study. The results of the model based on the survey serve as meaningful feedback to students, the teaching team and the educational decision-makers. Based on the model results, the teaching team and the educational decision-makers will be able to strategically plan for continuous improvement of the higher education program.
VID99165
Paper
Globalising and localising quality policy in australian higher education.
Lesley Vidovich,University of Western Australia
On the global scene, 'quality' has achieved metadiscourse status during the 1990s across both private and public sectors, and education is no exception. 'Quality' has provided a powerful legitimating tool for restructuring education, but it is a complex and contested phenomenon which requires careful dissection in situ in its localised context.
This paper presents the findings of an analysis of quality policy processes in Australian higher education of the 1990s using a modified theoretical framework of a policy trajectory (Bowe, Ball and Gold, 1992; Ball 1994) which distinguishes contexts of influence, policy text production and practice (effects). Documents and interviews provide data on quality policy processes which extend from the global context (macro level) to individual institutions (micro level).
While global influences were significant, the particular configuration of economic, political and ideological factors on the national scene created a uniquely Australian version of quality policy for higher education, and then the particular contexts of individual universities created differentiation of quality policy processes and effects at different sites. However, despite considerable localised variation in quality policy processes, evidence is presented that the 'big picture' effect of the policy under investigation was to enhance control by Government, albeit within the policy mechanism of 'steering at a distance'. A policy trajectory, derived from the data, is constructed to depict the complex interrelationships between contexts of influence, policy text production and practice in this example, and finally the use of the modified theoretical framework is evaluated.
VIG99761
Indigenous inclusion in curriculum: The value of other forms of knowledge
Kitty Vigo and Josie Arnold, Swinburne University of Technology
Many Australian universities have acknowledged the importance of offering subjects and courses which deal with Australian Indigenous issues for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. A number of Australian universities have also recognised the importance of providing special support programs for Indigenous students. This paper examines the strategies for Indigenous inclusion in curriculum taken by a number of Australian and overseas universities, focusing in particular on the case of Swinburne University of Technology. The paper examines: how Indigenous inclusion is addressed by a number of Australian universities in their mission statements; Swinburne University's policy on Indigenous inclusion in curriculum and recent actions taken to better address issues of Indigenous inclusion in its formal course accreditation and teaching processes; programs offered by Swinburne for Indigenous students; staff responses to a survey which investigated their attitude to Indigenous inclusion; and surveys a number of subjeccts which practice Indigenous inclusion in their curriculum. The paper makes special reference to a report titled Indigenous Inclusion in Curriculum prepared by the authors and published by Swinburne through its Office for Quality Education.
VIG99820
Pre Conference Workshop-Panel
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale: A Model for Multi-modal Learning
Since its establishment in 1995 Swinburne University of Technology's Lilydale campus has been the site of significant development of flexible learning deliveries. Since its first year of operation the Multi-modal Learning Model has been adopted as the key learning and teaching strategy for the campus as whole. This model involved the development of printed Learning Guides, Study Centres, and the use of communications technologies to encourage and facilitate students' flexible, life-long learning skills. Panel participants will discuss their experiences, the problems they have confronted as teachers expected to change their teaching deliveries and the positive learning outcomes for students. They will also showcase and describe some of materials they developed, including printed Learning Guides, subject websites, on-line workbooks and CD ROMs. Some students will also be included on the panel to present their point of view.
VIG99821
Symposium - Teachers as Researchers Day
Talking technology: Internet forum and teach the teachers
A special feature of the 1999 AARE/NZARE Pre-Conference Workshop held at Lilydale is the Cybercircus. The Cybercircus is targeted at secondary school students and teachers and will provide opportunities to discuss the outcomes of the Internet Forum and the Teach the Teachers Competition. The Internet Forum gives secondary students an opportunity to debate what they see as the key issues facing education in the new millenium. The Teach the Teacher Competition invited children to enter technology-based learning materials developed by them which they believe will enhance learning of some aspect of one of their subjects. During the Cybercircus winners of the competition will teach their teachers how to use their learning materials. This symposium will showcase and discuss the contributions inn the Internet Forum and showcase prize-winning entries in the Teach the Teacher Competition.
WAI99340
If inclusion in research means the addition of researchers that look different, have you really included me at all?
Patricia Johnston and Hine Waitere-Ang, Massey University
This paper argues that methodological positions, which take for granted the universalising nature of Western philosophic approaches to research, ignores and obscures the contribution of indigenous research frameworks to the research archive. Indigenous groups who have historically been located as the object of study, and more contemporarily as co-researchers, contest universalising methodologies as problematic. This paper examines issues of research 'frames', raising the question of 'who remains the active agent in the framing process', and who has the ultimate control of the frameworks currently used in educational context.
Drawing specific examples from within Aotearoa/New Zealand, the paper argues that a major development by research agencies (in terms of addressing challenges laid down by Maori about the inequities of research practices), is the move to 'include' Maori in more "appropriate" ways. The difficulties of such inclusion positions Maori as marginal to decision-making processes. Research methodology thus continues to define how Maori should be represented, who is involved and how the research findings are disseminated. Inclusion however, continues to privilege the validity checks of the disciplines from which the methodologies are derived, at the cost of Maori who are simultaneously situated as the object of inquiry or the vestibule of the inquiry focus. The unresolved question to be addressed is: If all inclusion means is the addition of researchers who look different, (but required to conform), have you really included me at all?
WAL99002
Paper
Differences in country and metropolitan students' perceptions of teacher-student interactions and classroom learning environments
Bruce Waldrip, La Trobe University, and Darrell Fisher, Curtin University of Technology
The purpose of this study was to examine differences in metropolitan, provincial, rural and mining town students' perception of student-teacher interactions and their classroom learning environment. The study utilised a questionnaire, Cultural Learning Environment Questionnaire, that had previously been validated to assess culturally-sensitive factors of science students' learning environments. The student-teacher interactions were measured with the instrument, Questionnaire of Teacher Interaction. With a sample of over 2,000 secondary science students, the reliability of the CLEQ scales ranged from 0.70 to 0.84 and showed acceptable discrimination between the scales. The construct validity of the questionnaire was confirmed through interviews with students which are reported in the paper. While some aspects of the learning environment were similar, differences were found between students from metropolitan, provincial, rural and mining town schools. Overall, the greatest differences in perceptions occurred between metropolitan and rural students. For example, metropolitan students reported higher leadership and competition. In some aspects, provincial students were more likely to have perceptions similar to that of metropolitan students than compared to the rural students' perceptions. Mining town school students had a quite unique perceptions which might be due to the transient population of many mining towns. For example, Mining town school students were more likely to report less positive and more negative teacher-student interactions and were more likely to utilise modelling. Student gender affected these students' perceptions of their learning environment and teacher-student interactions. Metropolitan male students were reported as being the most Competitive.
WAL99318
Monsters and angels: Images of teachers in the child protection literature.
Kerryann Walsh, Queensland University of Technology
This paper reports on research which catalogues the competing and conflicting images of teachers presented in the academic child protection literature. It draws attention to how these portrayals find resonance in policy documents for teachers and in the resources that are designed for teachers to use in classroom practice. The study reported here began as a study of teachers' work with maltreated children. Early childhood teachers were invited to participate in research about their experiences of working with children with a history of abuse or neglect, but no teachers wanted, or were able to partake in this research. The main focus of the research shifted to become a quest to understand the teachers' silence. The reconceptualised project examined the taken for granted assumptions about teachers in the child protection literature. This literature, dominated by scientific and medical discourses, constructs the teacher's role in various ways. This paper argues that teachers have been ascribed certain roles and have been represented in ways that may be counter productive to their involvement in child protection and may also confound teachers' decision-making with children who have a history of abuse or neglect. Of particular interest to me is the paradoxical tension between images of teachers as saviours of young children on the one hand, and as people who are lacking in knowledge about abuse and neglect issues or even perpetrators of crimes against children on the other.
WAL99677
Paper
Innovative inclusion initiative: The resource teachers in learning and behaviour programme
Joanne Walker, Dennis Moore and Angelika Anderson, University of Auckland, Don Brown and Charlotte Thomson, University of Victoria at Wellington, Ted Glynn and Angus Macfarlane, University of Waikato
This paper offers a progress report on the implementation of the Resource Teachers in Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) programme, a significant component of Special Education 2000 in New Zealand. Three Universities (Auckland, Waikato and Victoria) are working as a collaborative team responsible for the professional development of RTLB throughout the country. This programme acknowledges the need to address important bicultural elements of New Zealand society. The RTLB initiative has the potential to influence inclusive practice in every school throughout New Zealand. This paper will report on the effectiveness of the professional development programme in relation to RTLB perceptions of their role at entry to the course, issues relating to the application of the ecological model, and school perceptions of the RTLB role and effectiveness of service delivery. Data will be presented and discussed with respect to the shift from a traditional paradigm toward a more inclusive one. Issues relating to developing and delivering a collaborative national initiative across three Universities will also be shared.
WAL99772
Professional practice: Reimagining field experience
Presenters:
1. RMIT University field experience staff
2. Field experience site partners (schools, centres, and workplaces)
3. Preservice teachers
The theme of this symposium is concerned with the changing nature of field experience within a preservice teacher education course. The presenters will report on a pilot program that was implemented in1999. The findings of this pilot will inform the new undergraduate Education degree course structure at RMIT University. As a new field experience model this program is concerned with developing understanding of what should and could be done differently within current circumstances in initial teacher education. Our experiences indicate that all partners are required to adopt and are challenged by reimagining alternative mind sets for their roles and responsibilities. The issues and potential associated with an increased site based components and co-delivery of field experience will be investigated and explored in this symposium.
The presentation will investigate some perspectives from each of the different participants - the university staff, the teaching professionals and the preservice teachers. Aspects that will be highlighted in the presentation include:
What happened in the program - the management and structure of Professional Practice
What was required from the participants - the roles of each of the participants and the relationships in the partnership
+ What was learned from the program
+ The next phase - with a focus on sustainability
WAL99835
An examination of the teaching and learning implications which result from the use of satellite based technologies with remote-isolated students.
Andrew Wallace, Colin Boylan, & Wayne Richmond,Charles Sturt University
This paper will discuss the nature of a recent trial which involved an examination of the changes which will result from the use of satellite technologies to replace radio-based systems in western New South Wales. It reports on the initial evaluation of this new technology, using software and hardware developed in Israel. Using the system, remote and isolated primary students were linked via satellite with a one-way video, two-way voice, and a data communication system (using the Internet), as the basis for lesson delivery. The students were from grades 3 and 4, and were located in geographically isolated areas, such that the resultant classroom covered one quarter of the total area of New South Wales.
The virtual classroom created as a result of this project has not, to our knowledge, been tried with primary school students before. The evaluation involved the collection of qualitative and quantitative data from teachers, professional support staff, home supervisors, and students, to explore the nature of the teaching and learning which might be anticipated within such environments. This included an examination of classroom interaction, teaching and learning styles, and the use of HTML resources by teachers and students within this virtual classroom.
WAN99537
Paper
Modeling local dependence across latent traits
Wen-Chung Wang, National Chung Cheng University, Mark Wilson, University of California at Berkeley, Ying-Yao Cheng, National Sun Yat-Sen University
It is not unusual that in questionnaires two or more rating scales with common wording are designed to be parallel in order to save space and to be easily responded. For example, in one of our study the subjects were asked to judge how important are some personal experiences, attitudes, or abilities to the development of creativity and how much do they posses these features, both on three-point rating scales. In the questionnaire, the common wording locates in the left, the "importance" scale in the middle and the "possession" scale in the right. We suspected that subjects' responses to the scales might be mutually interfered, for example, the subjects might overestimate the degrees they possess if they considered the feature important to creativity. In this paper, we propose Rasch modeling to investigate this kind of local dependence across latent traits. More specifically, the responses to the same wording on the two scales were combined into a virtual item with 9 (= 3 x 3) response categories. The eight possible parameters for the virtual item were partitioned into four item step difficulties (two for each scale) and four parameters representing the local dependence between the two latent traits. With some constraints, several reduced models of interest to us were formed. The estimation method of this modeling is addressed. The results of the simulation studies show that the parameters were very accurately recovered. A real data set was analyzed to depict the implications and applications of the proposed modeling.
WAN99538
Paper
Development and analysis of the College Teacher Evaluation
Ying-Yao Cheng, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Wen-Chung Wang, National Chung Cheng University
In this study, a college teacher evaluation inventory was developed. Ten items with five-point rating scale were formed. Each of these five points on every item was provided with specific wording, rather than simply the Likert-type rating scale. With these wordings, those college student subjects were easier to evaluate teachers' performances. Since conventional data analyses based on classical test theory were known to be problematic in many respects, such as sample-dependent and test-dependent, the Rasch measurement models were employed. If data fit the Rasch model (Rasch, 1960) or its extension, such as the partial credit model (Masters, 1982), the derived scale is specifically objective and interval. It was found that the data fit the partial credit model fairly well. Tasks with respect to instruction preparation and practice were relatively easier to achieve for most teachers. Those regarding mentoring or role model were very difficult for average teachers. The measure of teacher's performances on the subject he or she taught was denoted by the average trait levels of those students responded to the inventory. These ten iteems distinguished the teacher very well. A few teachers were found to perform outstandingly, which is the primary goal of the inventory: to identify outstanding teachers for the best teacher awards.
WAR99325
Paper
Putting praxis into practice
Gillian Ward and Mavis Haigh, Auckland College of Education
Prior to 1999 the Auckland College of Education curriculum methods courses for pre-service secondary science teachers were taught as whole year courses. These courses combined preparation for teaching junior secondary Science and a senior Science. In 1999 a restructuring of the Diploma of Teaching programme has resulted in student teachers being able to choose a combination of modules to make up what was originally the one-year course. Consequently, student teachers have had the opportunity for more personal choice with respect to the make-up of their programme. Likewise, the modularisation has provided an opportunity for the Science Education Centre to offer a module that focuses more on the findings of science education research and its implications for practice than previously. The module developed is called Theory and Practice in Science Education.
At the time of submission the two writers are working with twenty-five percent of the 1999 secondary science student teacher cohort who have enrolled in this module. An evaluation exercise is to be carried out towards the end of the module which will address questions such as: the students' reasons for choice of the module; their expectations of the module; the appropriateness of the teaching approaches of the module; the students' perceptions of their learning outcomes from the module and the value of having a module such as this in a pre-service teacher education programme. The presented paper will outline our findings of these and other questions which develop during the course of the evaluation exercise.
WAT99143
Leaning in Australian classrooms: Issues influencing adult East Asian students
Desley I. Watson,Monash University
This research is in the teaching and learning field, specifically addressing adult East Asian students learning in Australian classrooms. The initial problem observed which led this research, identified characteristics hindering a group of adult international students learning in Australia. The students' cultural, social, motivational, and communication characteristics that intertwine and assist or hinder adult East Asian students learning in Australian classrooms were identified in this research. It was accomplished through a 2 stage project. In the first half of 1998 a questionnaire was distributed to East Asian students in 3 sectors within the Australian educational post-school system, being stage 1. These educational areas were the University sector, the public Technical and Further Education (TAFE) sector, and the private TAFE sector. Background information, and information assisting the identification of characteristics hindering the targeted students was gathered through the questionnaire. The analysis of these data assisted and directed further research undertaken in the second half of 1998, being stage 2. This stage included interviews and observations of teachers, students, and classrooms in 4 selected classes. Stage 2 investigated further identification and explanations of characteristics assisting or hindering the targeted students. The questionnaire, interviews and observations verify the findings from each other, and further investigate identified issues. It is envisaged that the conclusions from this research will assist students from the countries in the East Asian region learning in Australian classrooms.
WAT99215
Paper
An international comparison of students' maths- and english-related perceptions through high school using hierarchical linear modelling
Helen M. G. Watt,University of Sydney and Jacquelynne S. Eccles University of Michigan
This large-scale international comparative study addresses changes in students' maths- and English-related self-concept of ability, subjective task-value and interest. Australian (N=1323) and American (N=651) students are from two separate studies with similar designs and samples, in three cohorts spanning grades 7 to 11 in Australia and 7 to 12 in America.
Hierarchical linear models are derived modelling gender effects over time and also cohort effects where required. Gender effects appear in the expected direction for all Australian variables excepting subjective task-value of maths. In America gender effects only appear for self-concept of ability in maths, but are evident for all English perceptions. Overall, declines in student perceptions are more apparent in Australia than America, and in maths more than English. Growth trajectories are interpreted in light of contextual school and wider sociocultural factors.
WAT99480
Paper
Teaching Bodies/Learning Desire: A reassessment of the role of desire in the pedagogic process
Megan Watkins ,University of Western Sydney
Desire is a crucial aspect of the pedagogic process. For too long, however, there has been a dichotomous relationship between the workings of teacher and student desire. The former is often configured as a pedagogic anachronism, problematised and needing to be contained. Conversely, the latter is essentialised; a limitless innate force which should not be constrained by the dictates of institutionalised education. Overall, desire in learning, especially as it pertains to schooling, has been very poorly theorised. Within mainstream education it is rarely raised as an issue. Poststructuralist theorising on the other hand, particularly in its use of psychoanalysis, tends to simply sexualise desire which obscures more productive interpretations of its role in learning. There needs to be a reconceptualisation of the role of desire in the pedagogic process that moves beyond the formulations outlined above.
This paper attempts a reassessment of the nature and function of pedagogic desire, proposing a conceptual matrix based largely upon a critical mobilisation of Bourdieu's notion of habitus and the philosophical insights of Spinoza's monist logic. In particular it examines the multivalent nature of desire, and, in relation to its pedagogic role, its embodied and intersubjective aspects. This theoretical framework is grounded by recent classroom-based research in the primary years of schooling which explores the potential productive dynamic of teacher and student desire.
WAT99853
Paper
WAU99061
Paper
Quality of student experiences at university: A Rasch measurement model analysis.
Russell Waugh,Edith Cowan University
The Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire (61 items) from the USA (Friedlander, Pace & Lehman, 1990) was revised and rewritten for Australian university students. The Australian Quality of Student Experiences Scale comprises 60 items relating to student expectations and, in direct correspondence, 60 items relating to their experiences. The items are based on a model involving academic,personal and group experiences for eight areas: My Course (18 items), The Library (14), My Lecturers (16), Student Acquaintances (12), The Arts (12), Writing (16), Science (18) and Vocations (14). The convenience sample was 305 1st year students from an Australian university and the data were analyzed with a Rasch measurement model. Fifty-eight items did not fit the model and were discarded. Most of these items came from the sub-scales: The Arts, The Sciences and Writing. The final scale of 62 items had excellent psychometric properties. Expectations are easier than experiences, as conceptualized, and the conceptual design of the scale, as involving My Course, The Library, My Lecturers, Student Acquaintances and Vocations, is confirmed.
WAU99062
Paper
The structure and meaning of self-concept for university students: A Rasch measurement model analysis.
Russell Waugh, Edith Cowan University
This study tested a multi-faceted hierarchical self-concept model devised and adapted from three similar models in the literature (Marsh, 1992c; Shavelson, Hubner & Stanton,1976; Song & Hattie, 1992, p84). Self-concept is conceptualized as comprised of three first-order orientations: academic self-concept, social self-concept and self-concept presentation of self. Academic self-concept is comprised of three 2nd order orientations: capability, achievement and confidence in academic life self-concepts. Social self-concept is comprised of same-sex peer, opposite-sex peer and family self-concepts. Self-concept presentation of self is comprised of personal confidence, physical and honest/trustworthy self-concepts. Items were modified and adapted to each of the nine 2nd order orientations (10 for each) in an ideal (45) and corresponding actual (45) form, with an ordered response category format. The convenience sample consisted of 400 first year students at an Australian university: 152 (38%) studying Media, 150 (37.5%) studying Marketing, 32 (8%) studying Computing, 62 (15.5%) studying Education and 4 (1%) studying Chemistry. The data were analyzed with the whole sample and all 90 items, then with the 66 items that fitted the model, and then with the 45 items relating to actual self-concept, using a Rasch measurement model. The 45 actual items, separately, fitted the model and formed a valid and reliable scale, Self-Concept (Actual). Twenty-four of the 45 ideal items did not fit the model. The remaining 21 ideal items together with the 45 actual items (66 items) fitted the model and formed a valid and reliable scale of Self-Concept (Actual and Ideal). The ideal items were all easier than their corresponding actual items, as conceptualized. The percentage of observed variance considered true is 94% for both scales. The results supported the multi-faceted, hierarchical model of self-concept as a unidimensional
latent trait. Self-Concept (Actual) is confirmed as involving academic self-concept (capability, achievement and confidence in academic life self-concepts), social self-concept (same-sex peer, opposite-sex peer and family self-concepts) and presentation of self (physical, personal confidence and honest/trustworthy self-concept). Self-Concept (Actual and Ideal) is confirmed as involving all the above structures, except same-sex and opposite-sex peer self-concept.
WEB99661
"Running on Ice" - leadership, careers and gender equity in Queensland secondary schools
Louisa Webb, University of Queensland
Through phallocentric discourse, educational theory and administrative practice have been dominated by men who have acted as 'gatekeepers' in setting the standards, producing the social knowledge and decreeing what is significant, relevant and important in the light of their own experience. The absence of females at Head of Department (HOD) level in secondary schools leads to the perpetuation of male discursive authorities in departmental policy, the syllabus, and the learning experiences provided for students. Researching the middle management position of HOD is significant because it has received limited attention and also raises issues embedded in specific subject areas.
Characteristics specific to Health and Physical Education (HPE) result in a unique set of circumstances that impinge upon the career development of female teachers in this subject area. The discursive practices of HPE not only reflect the expectations and constraints generated by the society, educational organisations and bureaucracies, but also the pervasive influences of working with and within sport. These influences exacerbate other factors contributing to the under representation of women in leadership roles.
This paper will discuss the analysis of case study interview data which raised issues such as contradictory subjectivities, phallocentrism, the influence of space and place, erasure from male networks, and contested discourses of the body. While the modernist theoretical frameworks of socialization underpin some of the data, postmodern and poststructural perspectives of feminist theories also inform the complexity of women's careers.
WEL99024
Going global? Internationalising Australian universities in a time of global crisis
Much has been made of of the relative success of Australian universities in internationalising their activities and profiles over the past decade orso. Statistics reveal impressive growth of international student enrolments since the mid 1980s, while the relative cost advantage of Australian fees, compared with those in the UK or the USA, while not overwhelming, may still be sheltering antipodean institutions from some of the worst effects of the Asia meltdown, at least temporarily. Equally, Australian universities are relatively cosmopolitan workplaces, with teaching and non-teaching staff often holding qualifications and experience from a wide range of countries, as compared to the staffing profiles of the professoriate in many other countries. Internationalisation of programmes, both actual and virtual, has also proceeded apace. Staining this rosy picture, however, is the complex phenomenon of globalisation, in particular the unfettered global competition of industries and institutions, including universities. In particular, while Australian universities have achieved a much more substantial presence internationally over the past decade (at least in the international student 'market'), the unending pressure on costs in Australian higher education, has seen this accomplished against a backdrop of declining staff:student ratios; massive growth in enrolments increasingly sustained by increasing resort to marginal funding; loss of tenure and increasing resort to contract and casual (teaching only) appointments; rising managerialism with a concomitant swell of resentment among academic staff; and a never-ending ethos of 'do more, with less', leading to poor morale among staff.The current paper attempts to set the two process of internationalisation and globalisation together, in an assessment of the overall character and direction of university reforms over the past decade or more. Ar eAustralian universities internationalised, or more like globalised?
WEL99232
Paper
Inputs to outcomes? Perceptions of the evolution of Commonwealth government policy approaches to outcomes-based education (1985-1996)
Mary Welsh,University of Canberra
It is important to look at the past in order to understand how current education policies have evolved. The present Commonwealth Government's policy emphasis on outcomes' measurement, benchmarking and target-setting is a case in point. This paper reports on research investigating how Commonwealth policies to promote the quality of school education evolved between 1985 and 1996. Its findings are based on extensive documentary research and on data drawn from 50 interviews with former State and Commonwealth Education Ministers, senior government officials, teacher unions, teacher professional associations, school principals, teacher educators, education consultants/commentators and a business/industry representative. The shift in Commonwealth education policies from an inputs-based approach (post Karmel Report, 1973) to a greater focus on educational accountability, outputs and the outcomes of schooling is a key issue in this research. This paper discusses perceptions of factors influencing such 'evolutionary shifts' in policy from 1985 onwards, including economic, international, political and professional agendas, key policy initiatives and the involvement of education stakeholders in national policies for schools.
WEY99522
Executive Learning - Where to next?
Ed Weymes, Univeristy of Waikato
In 1998 the United States corporate community spent more dollars on education than the US government spent on tertiary education. The focus of investment in tertiary education is shifting from the traditional public sector to the private sector. Universities and colleges may not meet the needs of the corporate sector.
This paper will discuss the changes that are being called for by some educators and the corporate community.
The 17 themes have been grouped into three categories:
- The importance of knowledge and learning. The themes identified in this section are not only proposed by the academics, they are based the approaches taken by a number of corporations including Shell and Siemens, two large organisations who consider themselves to be learning organisations
- On changing the paradigm. Many academic and non-academic authors have recognised the need for a new paradigm. Indeed Drucker refers to the new paradigm in much of his writing. Ackoff is clearly wedded to the systems thinking approach. While this approach may not be the definitive word on the subject the underlying thesis is appropriate. Reductionism is passT and we need to consider systems in totality. Ackoff explains why the reductionism approach will not lead to knowledge and wisdom. While examining a system by its constituent components will explain the processes associated with each sub-system we will never understand the system itself since we have ignored the interactions between the sub-systems. The two Peters - Drucker and Senge - have both argued that learning will create knowledge and understanding. Thus we need to understand how we learn.
- On how we learn. Traditional education programmes have considered students to be empty vessels into which academics pour their vast untapped reserves of knowledge. We then test the students learning on their ability to repeat back to us the concepts that they have been exposed to. Our traditional approach to education is well grounded in the reductionism paradigm - understand the parts and you will have an understanding of the whole. This approach has been challenged. Not only must we understand the complex relationships between the parts we must accept the fact that the environment is changing so quickly that new systems must emerge. Today's knowledge is quickly becoming tomorrow's history and new knowledge must emerge. Knowledge and wisdom are created through learning and understanding. To survive in the twenty-first century we must learn how to learn not how to regurgitate. Learning requires passion and motivation, a thirst for innovation and creativity and a will to experiment. Learning cannot occur in isolation nor can it occur when the individual is repressed by the fear of failing.
The proposed paper will develop these themes and contrast to our traditional styles of learning.
WHA99685
Paper
Reconceptualising curriculum studies in preservice teacher education
Jenny Whatman, Liz Thevenard, Marg Cosgriff, Wellington College of Education
Curriculum studies are key components of preservice secondary teacher education. These courses are designed to guide student teachers in pedagogical content knowledge. Performing Arts and Education Outside the Classroom are two unique forms of curriculum studies as they focus on cross-curricular and co-curricular applications as well as pedagogical content knowledge. The two curriculum studies share common aims and approaches: they utilise a multi-disciplinary approach; they build in personal skill building; they deliberately educate the person as well as the prospective teacher; they accept student teachers with minimal prior curriculum knowledge; and they focus on utilising an experiential approach where learning is derived from 'doing'. An intense residency project allows opportunity for sustained team teaching and learning.
This common ground was identified when course lecturers used a collaborative interview approach to discuss their courses. This paper outlines the nature of curriculum as it emerged in the exploration of the philosophy and practice of the two courses. Interviews with year one teachers who were course participants in 1998 provide a student teacher perspective. These teachers describe how their teaching practice has been influenced and informed by the courses. We see this reconceptualising of curriculum studies as a model applicable across a range of curriculum areas.
WHI99168
Reconceptualising the frames for environmental education research
When poststructuralist feminist theorising is applied to an analysis of the conceptual frames of environmental education, what emerges are different terrains of knowledge. The ground shifts away from the universalising discourses of nature production toward an emphasis on lived bodily experiences of place with all their inherent contradictions and exhilarations. There are implications for re-conceptualising environmental education research and these include: the need to think and speak differently on our makings of "environmental" understandings; the need to more intensively trouble the binaries through which we frame the Others and our gendered selves; and the necessity for paying closer attention to spaces and places where we imaginatively make ourselves through discursive land-shaping, and cyber-shaping, practices.
Implications for environmental education research practice will be spoken about with particular reference to tropical Australia where the research was conducted.
WHI99309
Paper
Learning Mathematics: A new look at generalisation and Abstraction
Paul White, Australian Catholic University, Michael Mitchelmore, Macquarie University
This paper presents a cognitive theoretical framework for the learning of mathematics which also has generic implications for other disciplines. It does not involve highly technical mathematics. The framework has been developed using a combination of established theories about the learning of mathematics and the authors' own research into the understanding of some specific types of mathematics. In particular, the framework integrates the structure of mathematics as a discipline with the work of Piaget, Skemp, Davidov, the authors, and others. The key aspect discussed is the role of abstraction and generalisation in both forming mathematical concepts and learning mathematical procedures. Analysis indicates that there are at least two different types of generalisation, the combination of which provides a powerful tool for learning mathematics. The paper concludes by using the developed framework to analyse some recent research findings, thus providing practical guidelines which can be adapted to varying contexts.
WID99444
Enactments of genres in a third grade classroom.
This study examines children's enactments of genres across curricular contexts. Informed by a theoretical perspective that views genre as social action (Miller, 1984, 1994) and inspired by the work of Bakhtin (1981, 1986), the study explores the ways in which children interpret, negotiate and respond through text to situational demands that arise in the various learning contexts found in one elementary classroom. Using ethnographic methodology, four focal children in an ethnically diverse third grade class provided case studies. Observations were conducted 1 to four times a week over a period of 6 months as children participated in literacy events embedded in math, science, social studies and language arts activities. Qualitative analyses provide a description of classroom genres and their contexts of use. Situational constraints and affordances arising from these contexts are discussed and the implications these have for the kinds of social action enacted through text are considered. Further, findings are considered in the light of research documenting the social situations and motives for writing in analogous adult disciplinary communities. Gaps between theory and practice are discussed. I contend that viewing genre as social action provides a more dynamic perspective than traditional approaches to genre description and offers a means of viewing not only the development of text but also the development of child writers
WIE99499
Paper
Lessons learned: designing and delivering a distance graduate program in workplace learning
This paper describes the evaluation process and outcomes of the Faculty of Continuing Education's critical appraisal of its new Master of Continuing Education: Workplace Learning program (MCE), delivered primarily by computer-mediated conferencing to approximately 100 students Canada-wide. The appraisal was conducted to assess how well the MCE is meeting the needs of its key stakeholder groups (students, faculty, employers, original program designers and advisory committee members, service providers and support staff), as well as defiine the future direction of this 'leading edge' program.
The critical appraisal process involved face-to-face consultations/interviews with stakeholder groups, the creation, administration and analysis of online questionnaires to students and faculty, as well as the analysis of several existing documents (e.g., student profiles and courses evaluations) in the MCE files.
A number of themes emerged from the data including: . Rationale & Philosophy - the original 'vision' was affirmed. . General Program Effectiveness - would be improved with the clarification of individual course and overall program learning outcomes, and more & better partnerships with other educational institutions and businesses were built. . Program Instruction and Delivery - would be improved with more creative utilization of the technology. . Resources - need to be increased in several aspects of the program. . Marketing - the program needs to be targeted more effectively to both new and existing audiences.
The paper will conclude with the recommendations of the critical appraisal committee regarding the MCE program's: philosophical framework, curriculum, structure, delivery, resources and marketing approach.
WIL99102
WIL99192
"Teachers' understandings of formative assessment"
The New Zealand education system has undergone radical change in a number of areas in recent years. Policies for assessment at both the local and national level outline clearly that assessment is to be carried out for both formative and summative purposes. While it is well established in the assessment literature that there is a close relationship between learning and assessment, this is a relationship which is often unclear to teachers. An extensive body of overseas literature has demonstrated that formative assessment can lead to significant learning gains for students. However, there is a corresponding amount of evidence which shows that formative assessment is not well understood by teachers and is weak in practice. Recent research supports the view that conceptually, teachers are confused about the purpose and effect of formative assessment. While they accepted the basic argument that assessment has a positive role to play in the promotion of student learning teachers were not able to articulate clearly how they utilised assessment information to enhance learning within the context of their day to day classroom programmes.
This research project investigates in greater depth teachers' understandings of formative assessment and factors contributing to those understandings.
WIL99366
No Choice but to Act... Creating a curriculum of reflection: Challenges and dilemmas.
Anne Sinclair, Lynne Anderson, Lynne Ashman, Jay Reid, Jeanne Sheehan and Robyn Fox, Auckland College of Education
This paper traces the historical development of a reflective culture in the Centre for Professional Inquiry at the Auckland College of Education. The introduction and implementation of reflection within the B Ed(Tchg) programme has been the responsibility of the Centre for Professional Inquiry. In working through this implementation, a collaborative culture has emerged within the Centre. This paper traces the development of reflection with our student teachers, and the development of a reflective Centre culture, and the challenges and dilemmas we have faced on the way. The path taken has not been an easy one, but we believe that through reflective action we are developing a connected vision and practical wisdom. It is often necessary to take action before all information is available. This paper discusses how we are taking that action.
WIL99524
Paper
Exploring congruency: Searching for our role in a changing environment
Barbara Raeburn, Sue Hodge, Ruth Williams and Robyn Fox, Auckland College of Education
The Centre for Professional Inquiry at the Auckland College of Education was established as part of the structure of the new Bachelor of Education (Tchg) degree. Reflective practice is at the heart of the philosophy of the degree. Our role in the Centre for Professional Inquiry is to introduce both the content and process of reflection to year one student teachers and to support the continued development of reflective practice throughout their teacher education.
This paper explores the evolution of the Centre for Professional Inquiry from its roots in Professional Practice: we examine the differences in philosophy, pedagogy, and content, and explore tensions inherent in these differences. We present action we have taken to develop congruency between our vision of the role, and perceptions and expectations which have lingered from the previous work of Professional Practice.
WIL99527
Paper
Defining Metacognition: A step towards recognising metacognition as a worthwhile part of the curriculum.
Jeni Wilson, University of Melbourne
Many curriculum documents in Australia promote the importance of metacognition. Research and many educators acknowledge that metacognition will improve the educational outcomes of students but much confusion in the field continues to exist. The term 'metacognition' is not clearly defined. At both research and classroom levels, it is difficult to assess what cannot be defined. Assessed curriculum is taught curriculum, therefore a likely implication is that the metacognition will not be widely embraced as a worthwhile part of the curriculum.
This paper reports on PhD research results which have explored the notion of metacognition and its assessability. A new, multi-method approach was used in the curriculum domain of mathematics. The study involved year six students from three different schools. This paper seeks to clearly define metacognition and present a tested model of metacognition. It will report on the findings of the research which relate to the nature of metacognition. The results show that students' metacognitive behavior is predictable regardless of school, class, sex and task.
WIL99623
Paper
Simplifying algebraic expressions
Tom Cooper, Anne Williams, and Annette Baturo, Queensland University of Technology
Developing ideas about the simplification of algebraic expressions (e.g., 5x+2x; 4x2p; 8x+5y+2x- 3y) requires the development of abstract schema (Ohlsson, 1993) for multiplication and addition, as well as the algebraic notion of variable. For example, simplifying by adding of like things applies in arithmetic for whole numbers (e.g., 5 tens + 2 tens = 7 tens, 50+20=70), fractions (e.g., 5 ninths +2 ninths = 7 ninths, 5/9+2/9=7/9), and decimals (e.g., 0.5+0.2=0.7), as well as in algebra (e.g., 5x+2x=7x, where x is any number, a variable). Thus, simplifying by adding of like things is an abstract schema because its meaning lies in the relationships formed between the numbers and variables, rather than in the numbers and variables themselves. A teaching experiment, whose aim was to teach simplification procedures through developing arithmetic principles as abstract schema, was conducted on grade 8 pupils. A variety of activities, including patterns and concrete materials, were employed to highlight the similarities between arithmetic and algebra in the simplification of expressions. This paper describes the activities and their rationale, and discusses the results in terms of the students' responses to the teaching episodes, and the learning exhibited in follow-up interviews.
WIL99634
In your face: a study of harassment in school
Noel Wilson and Shirley Wurst, Flinders University
This study examines the nature and effects of harassment events in schools, and in particular how such events affect the feelings, congnition and life paths of students, and the construction of their identities. The study covers harassment of students by students and teachers, and of teachers by students, and is based on data from 209 intensive interviews of early school leavers which formed the basis of the Students Completing Schooling Project. The researchers conclude that the school is a fertile context for the production of harassment events, and looks at some of the mechanisms that might explain this.
WIL99741
Paper
High and low achievers classroom interaction patterns in an upper primary classroom
Julie Willson, University of South Australia
This paper examines the nature and frequency of classroom interactions initiated by a small group of high and low achieving students in one upper primary classroom. Using a series of individual observations and unstructured interviews, student behaviour and interaction patterns were recorded and analysed. In conjunction with this, the classroom teacher's expectations and attitudes toward teaching high and low achieving students were also recorded and analysed.
Results from this study revealed that students with a high academic standing in the classroom not only had greater self-confidence in initiating interactions with their classroom teacher, but also initiated more teacher contact and received more praise than students with a low academic standing.
As past research into this area has shown, low achieving students are more passive in the learning process than higher achieving students. This proved to be the case with low achieving students in this study. Despite being the students in greatest need of teacher attention and support, low achievers were the most reluctant to seek it. Comparisons between interaction patterns of high and low achievers in classrooms, as well as factors accounting for these differences existing are discussed in the paper.
WIL99810
Paper
School principals and the dilemmas of restructuring: The problem of participation
Helen Wildy,Edith Cowan,University
Restructuring seeks to improve education by recasting the roles, relationships, and responsibilities of people in schools and central authorities. This study aimed to find out what it is about school restructuring that principals find so difficult. The study, conducted in Western Australia in the first decade of state education restructuring, involved cases rated by 1 000 school administrators, in-depth interviews with 10 principals and a six-year case study of one school principal. Interpretive-constructivist analysis of narrative accounts told in principals' voices revealed that principals find restructuring difficult because their work is saturated with dilemmas. Three dilemmas are conceptualised: the accountability dilemma that principals are accountable for decisions made by or with others; the autonomy dilemma that principals maintain authority while working collaboratively; and the efficiency dilemma that principals share decision making while using resources efficiently. Faced with the untidiness of shared decision making, principals prefer accountability, autonomy, and efficiency over collaboration. This response to the dilemmas is driven by an ethic of responsibility but it is an ethic of care that underpins participative decision making.
WON99474
Paper
The interface between theory and practice: The role of teacher educators and teachers in a school-based teacher development initiative
Winnie Wong and May Pang, Hong Kong Institute of Education
Among the various approaches that can be used to try to bring about changes in educational initiatives, the main strategies have been broadly classified into three types; those that center on problem solving processes, conceptual changes, and the power and authority of some agents over others (Morris 1996). In a highly centralized educational system such as Hong Kong, the change strategies employed in curriculum initiatives have always been associated with the third. Curriculum renewal tends to be imposed on teachers from the top such as the Education Department. Teachers as one of the major participants in the curriculum development process are rarely involved in the planning and decision-making.
This paper describes phase one of a one-year school-based teacher development initiative in which English teachers of a primary school take the initiative in making changes to their existing curriculum with on-site support from a team of teacher educators. This teacher development project aims at adopting a problem-solving and interactive approach to teacher change in curriculum initiative. It also attempts to explore the roles of teachers and teacher educators in the process of collaboration. It intends to seek the interface between theory and practice in the local educational context, in particular in empowering teachers through mutual communication, negotiation, consultation, rather than top-down persuasion.
This paper also reports the preliminary findings from the qualitative data collected and discusses implications in relation to interactive curriculum change strategies, the interface between theory and practice, and the roles of teachers and teacher educators in a collaborative project.
WOO99375
Paper
WRI99045
The place and meaning of physical activity and physical culture in the lives of young people
Jan Wright, , University of Wollongong, Doune Macdonald, , University of Queensland
A concern over the perceived decline in the participation of young people in physical activity has generated a number of state and national studies over the last two decades. Most of these have been concerned to measure participation, fitness levels, motor skill development and attitudes to participation. One important source of information rarely tapped is a qualitative understanding from the viewpoint of young people themselves of how social relations and cultural meanings influence their opportunities and choices in relation to physical activity.
The project discussed in this paper begins this process by investigating the meaning and place of physical activity and physical culture in the lives of young people in their first and fourth year of high school. This presentation will draw on interviews conducted with students from a range of cultural, social and geographical locations in New South Wales and Queensland to discuss the choices they make about physical activity, the social and cultural resources on which they draw to make these choices and the meanings their participation has in the context of their lives. In addition their responses will be analysed in the context of the meanings associated with physical activity evident in the media throughout the year of the study. The project has been funded by a Small ARC grant from the University of Wollongong and an internal grant from the University of Queensland.
WU99214
Wu Siew Mei & Desmond Alison National University of Singapore
This paper will report on an investigative comparison of teachers' and students' expectations about the various forms of writing that students undertake in the course of their academic curriculum in English Language at the National University of Singapore. The rationale for this investigation draws on, and critically though briefly examines, the following considerations: (a) positioning of Singapore in the global knowledge economy; (b) assumptions about Asian culture(s) and values; c) official and other advocacy of creative and critical thinking; (d)rapid developments in electronic forms of communication; (e) conceptions of English Language studies in a postcolonial university setting;(f)issues surrounding the notion of students' voices in academic writing and in higher education; (g) pursuit of pedagogic relevance. A groundeddescription and comparison of student and teacher expectations will then be developed from a combination of questionnaire responses and interviews, yielding extensive discourse data for content analysis and evaluative appraisal. Our account gives close attention to various ways in which research and writing tasks, feedback, general guidelines and assessment practices are talked about and procedurally implemented by different participants in the undergraduate curriculum. Implications will also be discussed for the development and evaluation of knowledge and skills in education, and for relations between maintenance and change within educational and sociopolitical cultures.
WYL99264
Paper
Choice, responsiveness, and constraint after a decade of self-managing schools in New Zealand
Cathy Wylie,NZCER
New Zealand decentralised school management to all its schools in 1989.Rationales for the reform included an emphasis on the value of local decisionmaking and financial responsibility as a means of improving school responsiveness to student and community needs, particularly for Maori students, and as a means of providing parents and students with more schooling options.
This paper uses material from a 1999 national survey of primary and intermediate schools, gathering information from principals, school board members, teachers and parents, and makes comparisons with previous national surveys in the NZCER project monitoring the impact of deventralisation. It examines the extent to which these expectations of the reform have been met, and explores the impact of factors such as competition, school accountability, school funding mechanisms and levels, central policy levers, and the socioeconomic composition of school intakes on school innovation and responsiveness, and parental perceptions of choice and school quality. .
YAT99484
Paper
Students' Explanatory Style, Goal Orientation and Achievement in Mathematics: A Longitudinal Study
Shirley M. Yates, Flinders University
During childhood students develop habitual, characteristic, optimistic or pessimistic causal explanations for the everyday events in their lives. Furthermore, they acquire attributional patterns for their educational successes and failures which influence their attitudes, motivation and goals. In this study, relationships between primary and lower secondary school students' optimistic or pessimistic explanatory style, task involvement and ego orientation goals and achievement in mathematics were examined over a period of almost three years. While achievement in mathematics was most strongly related to prior achievement, significant relationships were found between students' explanatory style and achievement in mathematics and between students' explanatory style and task involvement goals. Students' gender and grade level were also important factors. The implications of these findings for education are discussed and suggestions made for future studies.
YEU99291
Paper
Peer review in the assessment and funding of research by the Australian research council
The purpose of the proposed research study is to evaluate properties of various ratings that are part of the assessment process of the large Australian Research Council (ARC) grant program. Effects of professional and demographic information of assessors and researchers on ratings and success of the proposals are also examined. The ARC through its Large Grants Program provides funds for research in Australian universities. The successful proposals are determined by the ARC, based on individually provided assessor reports and panel assessments. Initially, applications that are ineligible or noncompetitive are excluded. The remaining proposals are sent to external assessors for assessments. Data for all the applications submitted for the 1996 round of the large grants program provided by the ARC contain 2331 proposals rated by 9700 external assessors. The findings are: (a) ratings of researcher nominated assessor are higher than those of panel selected assessors; (b) number of assessors who reviewed the proposal has little negative effect on final assessor rating of the proposal; (c) number of proposals assessed by each assessor has negative effect on ratings; (d) researcher rating is higher than project rating; (e) researcher and assessor gender have no effect on ratings; and (f) ages of researcher and assessor have only negligible effect on rating; (g) title of the researcher has some effect on ratings; and (h) ratings of Australian assessors are lower than assessors from other regions.
YEU99415
SYMPOSIUM: 18 Self-concept research: Global and local advances into the new millennium.
Alexander Yeung,University of Western Sydney
Contents and organization of the symposium:
The symposium presents recent advances in self-concept research including global developments in measurement, conceptualization, and methodology as well as local investigations of self-concept enhancement and effects on educational and psychological outcomes. The presentations are organized around these focuses in four sessions of the symposium, each chaired by an internationally reputed self-concept researcher. The measurement studies cover a range of samples ranging from infants to adults as well as a re-conceptualization of the self-concept constructs. These new conceptualizations may lead to subsequent shifts in the paradigm of self-concept research which may be further intensified by applications of sophisticated research methodologies such as meta-analysis approaches to literature review, multi-level modelling and structural equation modelling approaches to investigating interaction effects. Whereas a common emphasis of the presentations is a construct validity approach which has rapidly extended self-concept theories with intense rigour, each session will focus on one of these aspects of new advances in the field. There will be about 4 papers in each 90 min session, each to be presented in about 12 minutes, and all are related to a common focus. This will allow at least 40 minutes for questions from the audience and discussions with a focus of interest.
Paper 1:
DEB99416
Paper
Separation of competency and affect components of multiple dimensions of academic self-concept: A developmental perspective
Herbert W. Marsh, Rhonda G. Craven, University of Western Sydney,& Raymond Debus, University of Sydney,
In two large confirmatory factor analyses (Ns of 11,029 and 1,397) of Self Description Questionnaire (SDQ-I) responses, we examined how the separation of competency and affect components of Reading, Math, and School self-concept varies across ages 7-13. The SDQ-I factor structure was well-defined with factor loadings invariant over both longitudinal and cross-sectional age comparisons. Correlations among Reading, Math, and School self-concepts systematically decreased with age, but correlations between the competency and affect within each domain remained consistently large. With age and development students more clearly distinguish between different academic self-concept domains, but the relation between intrinsic liking and competency remains strong. We tentatively recommend that researchers distinguish between competency and affect components of academic self-concept, qualified by the need to evaluate further the construct validity of this separation in relation to additional external validity criteria.
Paper 2:
ROC99417
"Globalization" Threatens our understanding of teachers' self-evaluations in localcontexts: Lessons from primary and tertiary settings.
Lawrence Roche & Herbert W. Marsh, Rhonda G. Craven, University of Western Sydney,
Research on self-concept in educational settings has focused largely on the student. The challenge of adequately measuring and understanding the multidimensional complexity of self-concepts related to teaching in various school and university settings has only recently begun. Teaching self-concepts have typically been explored using either global measures of "teaching self-efficacy" or similar measures adapted to a specific academic domain. In the tertiary setting, when teachers' self-evaluations have been collected, they have typically been interpreted as a potential indicator of construct validation for students' ratings of teaching rather than as self-concept constructs of intrinsic interest to researchers. This paper draws on data from two different studies in two different teaching contexts to examine the complexity and specificity of teaching self-concepts. The first study involves preservice primary school teachers' self-concepts related to teaching across different curriculum domains, and the second investigates university teachers' self-evaluations and their relations to student ratings of teaching effectiveness and other contextual and attitudinal factors. Two different approaches to representing the multidimensionality of teaching self-concept are presented, and limitations of global measures are demonstrated. Implications for further research on teacher reflection and for improving teaching effectiveness in higher education are discussed.
Paper 3:
CRA99418
Paper
The structure and development of young children's self-concepts and influence on academic achievement: A preliminary longitudinal analysis. Rhonda G. Craven, Valentina McInerney & Herbert W. Marsh, University of Western Sydney.
Developing children's self-concepts is a critical educational goal in Australia and throughout the world. Despite considerable advances in self-concept theory, measurement, research, and practice with older students, there has been only limited progress with very young children 5-8 years of age. This is unfortunate as this developmental period may be crucial in the formation of a positive self-concept that is related to the attainment of many academic, social, physical, emotional, and developmental outcomes. This failure to pursue research with this very young age group is due, in large part, to problems associated with measuring self-concepts of very young children. In this study we report findings based on 2 waves of self-concept and academic achievement data collected from children 5-8 years of age. The structure, stability and development of young children's self-concepts is critically evaluated longitudinally in order to: (a) build on the findings of previous cross-sectional studies; (b) further establish psychometric support for the use of the individually administered Self-Description Questionnaire-I with young children; (c) test Harter's (1983) claim that general self-concept does not exist before the age of 8 years in the context of a longitudinal study; (d) test the Shavelson, Hubner and Stanton. (1976) hypothesis that self-concept becomes more differentiated with age and to provide more specific data on how the factor structure of self-concept varies in the age range of 5 to 8 years over time; and (e) evaluate the structure and stability of young children's self-concepts over time.
Paper 4:
BOW99419
Paper
Creative arts self-concept and anxiety: Do family backgrounds matter?
Deirdre Russell-Bowie, Alexander S. Yeung, & Dennis M. McInerney, University of Western Sydney.
Recent research on self-concept has emphasized multidimensionality such that self-concept and its relation to other constructs are distinct in each specific domain. The present study tests the hypothesis that self-concepts in creative arts are not only multidimensional, but are also highly related to family backgrounds in specific domains. Confirmatory factor analysis of survey responses from 312 Australian university students in teacher education showed that, in support for domain specificity, self-concepts in music, visual art, dance and drama were distinct constructs. Each of these distinct self-concepts was more positively correlated with family background in its corresponding domain than with other domains. Family background was also found to correlated more negatively with anxiety in corresponding domains than with other domains. The results show that, in creative arts education, family background may be an important factor for the formation of self-concept and anxiety. There is also further support for the multidimensionality and domain specific relations of self-concept with other constructs .
Session 2: Self-concept research: Global and local advances into the new millennium-structure and theory
Rhonda G. Craven: Herbert W. Marsh ,Charles K. C. Leung ,Dennis M. McInerney Alexander S. Yeung: name: Marsh
Paper 5:
MAR99420
Paper
An Extension of the internal/external frame of reference Model: A response to Bong (1998).: Herbert W. Marsh, University of Western Sydney, Mimi Bong, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea; & Alexander Seeshing Yeung, University of Western Sydney.
: Bong (1998) extended the internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model by attempting to operationalize the internal and external comparison processes that are central to the model and expanding the range of academic self-concept domains. Bong concluded that the "I/E failed to receive clear support" (p. 102) in relation to predictions that she derived from her extension of the original model. Our critical evaluation and reanalysis, however, reveals potential complications in the operationalization of the internal and external comparisons, the rationale for post hoc confirmatory factor analysis models and the use of correlated uniquenesses, and, thus, the original conclusions. The failure to appropriately operationalize the internal-external distinction based on the items used in the study meant that new tests of this distinction could not be pursued appropriately. The reanalysis, however, provided strong support for the original I/E model and a new extension to incorporate a wider range of academic domains consistent with Bong's original intent, University of Western Sydney.
Paper 6:
LEU99421
Paper
Validity of nonacademic facets of self description Questionnaire II.
Charles K. C. Leung, Herbert W. Marsh, & Alexander S. Yeung, University of Western Sydney
Recent studies on the validity of the Self Description Questionnaire II (SDQII) have shown a distinction between academic and nonacademic facets of self-concept. Most of these studies have focused on the academic facets than the nonacademic facets. For the academic self-concept constructs, the application of advanced confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) has provided particularly strong tests of construct validity. By correlating external criterion variables such as achievement scores and subject selection in specific academic facets to self-concept in corresponding academic facets, the distinctiveness of the self-concept constructs can be more clearly shown. However, few studies have applied a similar approach to testing the validity of nonacademic facets of the SDQII instrument. The present study examined the responses of high school students (N=244) in four nonacademic facets of the SDQ II: same-sex relation, opposite-sex relation, parent relation and honesty-trustworthiness. CFA found the four distinct factors. When nonacademic criteria including perceived support from family, perceived support from friends and adoption of avoidance strategies were added to the CFA model, the distinctiveness of these four self-concept constructs is clearly demonstrated. Perceived support from family was correlated more highly with parent relation than with other SDQ II factors, perceived support from friends was correlated more highly with same-sex relation and opposite-sex relation than with other SDQ II factors, whereas adoption of avoidance strategies was correlated more negatively with honesty-trustworthiness than with SDQ II factors. The inclusion of these nonacademic criteria has provided a strong evidence of the validity of these four nonacademic scales
Paper 7:
MCI99422
Paper
Towards a hierarchical artistic self-concept
Dennis M. McInerney, Alexander S. Yeung, & Deirdre Russell-Bowie,University of Western Sydney,
Australian students in a teacher education course (N = 284) responded to questions about their perceptions of 21 specific skills in 4 artistic domains which constituted the 4 major areas of an Arts education program. Confirmatory factor analysis found that the skill-specific perceptions formed 4 a priori domain-specific higher order factors corresponding to the 4 major areas: music, drama, dance and visual arts. These 4 domain-specific factors could also form a higher order factor which reflected a global representation of the 4 major artistic domains. The distinctiveness of the skill-specific and domain-specific factors supported the multidimensionality of self-concept. The higher order factor structure supported the hierarchical relationship of a global artistic self-concept with domain-specific and skill-specific self-concepts at subordinate levels of the hierarchy. In a specific domain such as Arts, the structure of self-concept tends to be both multidimensional and hierarchical.
Paper 8:
YEU99423
How domain specific is domain specific academic self-concept?
Alexander S. Yeung, University of Western Sydney
Recent research has consistently shown strong multidimensionality of academic self-concept in various curriculum domains. Typically, the low correlation between verbal and maths self-concepts found in Western research has made it unlikely for a global academic self-concept to represent the domain-specific verbal and maths self-concepts. Three studies examined the applicability of the domain specificity across cultures and languages. Whereas verbal self-concept typically refers to self-concept in English for students in English-speaking countries, a similar pattern of relations between maths and verbal (Chinese) self-concept was found in Study 1 with high school students in China. In Study 2 with Australian high school students studying a language other than English (LOTE), self-concepts in English and in LOTE were distinct constructs that were uncorrelated. Similarly, in Study 3 with university students in Hong Kong where Cantonese is the mother tongue whereas English is the major language of instruction, English and Cantonese self-concepts were uncorrelated, making it unlikely for a global verbal self-concept to represent the self-concepts in both language domains. Whereas the domain specificity of self-concepts seems to be applicable across cultures, academic self-concepts may be even more domain specific than most researchers may have assumed.
Session 3:
Self-concept research: Global and local advances into the new millennium-Effects
John Hattie : Andrew Martin, Paul Burnett, Roberto H. Parada,&Herbert W. Marsh
Paper 9:
MAR99424
Paper
A quadripolar need achievement representation of self-handicapping, defensive pessimism, and self-concept
Andrew Martin, Herbert W. Marsh, University of Western Sydney,& Raymond Debus, University of Sydney,
From need achievement (Atkinson, 1957) and self-worth motivation (Covington & Beery, 1976) perspectives, self-handicapping, defensive pessimism (comprising defensive expectations and reflectivity), and self-concept are integrated into a quadripolar model reflecting the motives to avoid failure and approach success (Covington & Omelich, 1991). Consistent with hypotheses, defensive expectations and self-handicapping reflected failure avoidance (with self-handicapping bordering failure acceptance); reflectivity was marked by the dual motives to avoid failure and approach success; and, self-concept essentially reflected success orientation. This quadripolar model was consistent across students' (n=328) first and second years at university. Interpretation of these constructs along failure avoidance and success orientation lines was validated through structural equation modelling in which self-handicapping, defensive pessimism, and self-concept differentially predicted a variety of academic outcomes.
Paper 10:
BUR99425
Paper
Enhancing students' self-concepts and related constructs: A critical longitudinal analysis capitalising on and combining promising enhancement techniques for educational settings
Paul Burnett, Charles Sturt University; Rhonda G. Craven and Herbert W. Marsh, University of Western Sydney,
Enhancing children's self-concepts is widely accepted as a critical educational outcome of schooling and is postulated as a mediating variable that facilitates the attainment of other desired outcomes such as improved academic achievement. Despite considerable advances in self-concept research, there has been limited progress in devising teacher-administered enhancement interventions. This is unfortunate as teachers are crucial change agents during important developmental periods when self-concept is formed. The primary aim of the present investigation is to build on the promising features of previous self-concept enhancement studies by: (a) combining two exciting research directions developed by Burnett and Craven to develop a potentially powerful cognitive-based intervention; (b) incorporating recent developments in theory and measurement to ensure that the multidimensionality of self-concept is accounted for in the research design; (c) fully investigating the effects of a potentially strong cognitive intervention on reading, mathematics, school and learning self-concepts by using a large sample size and a sophisticated research design; (d) evaluating the effects of the intervention on affective and cognitive subcomponents of reading, mathematics, school and learning self-concepts over time to test for differential effects of the intervention; (e) modifying and extending current procedures to maximise the successful implementation of a teacher-mediated intervention in a naturalistic setting by incorporating sophisticated teacher training as suggested by Hattie (1992) and including an assessment of the efficacy of implementation; and (f) examining the durability of effects associated with the intervention.
Paper 11:
PAR99426
Paper
Bullying in schools: Can self-concept theory shed any light?
Roberto H. Parada, Herbert W. Marsh, & Alexander S. Yeung, University of Western Sydney,
There is an ever-increasing concern about the apparently increasing amount of violence and aggression in our schools. This increase in violent behaviour has also been accompanied by a decrease in the average age for violent offenders. In the school setting, aggression and victimisation is increasingly being recognised as psychologically, physically, and academically damaging. This aggression and victimisation can readily be observed in acts of peer bullying. Bullying may take the form of a range of anti-social behaviours such as name calling, extortion, physical violence, nasty rumours, exclusion from the group, damage to property, and threats; and may occur in 10% of students in Australian schools at least once a week. For bullies, aggression may persist into adulthood in the form of criminality, marital violence, child abuse and sexual harassment. For victims, repeated bullying can cause psychological distress and many related difficulties, and even suicide. However, despite the pervasiveness of the issue and the handful of intervention programs that have been designed to prevent bullying, there have been few attempts to explain the possible reasons of why bullying occurs or is maintained within the school setting. This theoretical paper examines the contribution which self-concept theory may bring to this vexing issue, how self-concept may have differential influences on bullies and victims, and what implications these influences have on educational and health practices. The paper also describes a collaborative project which is currently looking into this question.
Paper
Paper 13:
Reunification of East and West German school systems: Longitudinal multilevel modeling study of the big fish little pond effect on academic self-concept.
Herbert W. Marsh, University of Western Sydney, Olaf Köller, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany;Jnrgen Baumert, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Longitudinal data from large cohorts of 7th grade (n=2,778) of East and West German students were collected at the start of the reunification of the school systems to evaluate how this remarkable social experiment effects self-concept formation. Multilevel modeling demonstrated the big fish little pond effect (BFLPE); attending classes where class-average math achievement was higher led to lower math self-concepts. West German students attended schools that were highly stratified in relation to ability before and after the reunification, whereas East German students first attended selective schools after the reunification. Consistent with theoretical predictions based on this difference, the BFLPE - the negative effect of class-average achievement - was more negative in West German schools at the start of the reunification, but this difference was smaller by the middle of the year and had disappeared by the end of the first post-reunification school year.
Whereas East and West German results both support the BFLPE, their differences supported theoretical predictions and demonstrated how changes in school policy influences the formation of academic self-concept.
Session 4:
Self-concept research: Global and local advances into the new millennium-Methodological issues
Paul Burnett ,John Hattie, Kit-Tai Hau, Rhonda G. Craven & Andrew Martin
Paper 14:
HAT99428
Weighting the multi-dimensions of self-concept
John Hattie and Richard Fletcher, The University of Auckland,
It is now commonplace to claim that self-concept is multidimensional. Typically, scales are then administered and subscale/dimension scores reported and interpreted. This assumes that the dimensions are equally weighted -- which is highly unlikely. This paper outlines a series of measurement procedures aimed at determining the most successful manner to weight the various dimensions.
Paper 14:
HAU99429
Paper
Longitudinal multilevel models of the big fish little pond effect on academic self-concept: Counterbalancing contrast and reflected glory effects in Hong Kong schools
Herbert W. Marsh, University of Western Sydney, Chit-Kwong Kong & Kit-Tai Hau, The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Longitudinal multilevel path models (7,997 students, 44 high schools, 4 years) were used to evaluate effects of school-average achievement and perceived school status on academic self-concept in Hong Kong, a collectivist culture with one of the most achievement-segregated high school systems in the world. Consistent with a priori predictions based on the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), higher school-average achievements led to lower academic self-concepts (contrast effects) and to higher perceived school status that had a counter-balancing positive effect on self-concept (reflected glory, assimilation effects). The negative BFLPE is the net effect of counterbalancing influences, stronger negative contrast effects and weaker positive assimilation effects, so that controlling perceived school status led to purer - and even more negative - estimates of the contrast effects. Attending a school where school-average achievement is high simultaneously results in a more demanding basis of comparison for one's own accomplishments (the stronger negative contrast effect) and a source of pride (the weaker positive assimilation effect). Hong Kong is an ideal setting for testing the generalizability of the BFLPE and extending this research to more fully evaluate the juxtaposition between negative contrast and positive assimilation effects. Apparently reflecting these counter-balancing predictions (bigger contrast effects due to the more ability-segregated schools, smaller contrast effects because of the more collectivist culture), the size of the negative contrast effects in this study appear roughly comparable to those found in nationally representative US samples (e.g., Marsh, 1987; 1991).
Paper 15:
CRA99430
Enhancing self-concept: A critical meta-analysis elucidating successful theory, research and practice for educational settings
Rhonda G. Craven, Herbert W. Marsh, University of Western Sydney, ; & Raymond Debus, University of Sydney.
Despite a vast literature, educators have experienced little success in identifying strategies to enhance self-concept. Given the volume and contradictory nature of the literature, reviews cannot elucidate nor test promising directions. Meta-investigation involves statistical analysis of a large number of studies to identify significant directions. The present study utilises meta-investigation to critically analyse self-concept enhancement innovations in relation to theory, research and practice. The study aims to: critically analyse and synthesise the past 12 years of self-concept enhancement literature; compare and contrast recent studies incorporating advances in self-concept enhancement research with previous research; employ the strongest available statistical tools in the context of a quantifiable, sophisticated research synthesis design; develop a new multiseriate categorisation of self-concept enhancement programs of significance for educational settings; distinguish effective theoretical orientations and identify effective research methodology in self-concept enhancements; demonstrate that Effect sizes are systematically larger for components of self-concept most logically related to the aims of a particular intervention and systematically smaller for general and less relevant specific areas of self-concept; and stimulate conceptual advances in the study of self-concept enhancement and effective classroom strategies.
MAR99431
Paper 16:
Effect of the interaction of level and stability of self-esteem on a variety of school-related outcomes: Five alternative approaches to testing interactions between latent variables
Andrew Martin & Herbert W. Marsh, University of Western Sydney,
Five alternative approaches to modelling latent variable interactions are used to test the effect of the interaction of level and stability of self-esteem on attitudes towards school, academic grades, achievement orientation, and self-utilisation. The interaction of level and stability of self-esteem - previously only tested using regression techniques with observed variables - is assessed in the present study through structural equation modeling using (a) the Ping (1998) one-step single indicator approach, (b) the Yang Jonsson (1998) one-step multiple indicator approach, (c) the Ping (1996a, 1996b, 1998) two-step multiple indicator approach, (d) the Ping (1998) two-step single indicator approach, and (e) a 'naive' approach that imposes no constraints nor fixes parameters to recommended values. Findings show that using both single and multiple indicator approaches, the interaction significantly predicted self-utilisation and academic grades. However, only the multiple indicator approaches yielded a significant interaction effect for negative attitudes towards school and were deemed as a more sensitive test of interaction effects. Clearly the best fitting models were those using a single indicator approach. In terms of the substantive issues, significant interactions were derived for academic grades, negative attitudes towards school, and self-utilisation. In general, it was the individuals high and stable in self-esteem who performed best, were least negative towards school, and were higher in self-utilisation, while the findings were mixed for individuals high but unstable in self-esteem. Those low in self-esteem - irrespective of stability - performed most poorly, were most negative towards school, and rated themselves lowest in self-utilisation.
YEW99465
The enculturated mind: To be or not to be? A question of the power of mediation in identity production
Victoria M. L. Yew University of Sydney
No sociocultural environment or identity exists independent of the way human beings seize meanings and resources from it, while every human has her or his subjectivity and mental life altered through the process of seizing meanings and resources from the sociocultural environment and using them (Shweder, 1984). Moreover, gaining mastery over cultural or mediational means and functions not only transforms one's praxis, but also transform the individual quality of perception of self, specifically, identity (Cole, 1996; Mead, 1934/1972).
This paper discusses the notion of identity production from a Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) perspective. Specifically, it focuses on the power of mediated action, mediating artefacts or means and practices on the production of human identities within cultural activities. In particular, the assumption of an identity entails embracing an enculturated nature as fashioned through one's experiences of mediation in social practices. Wertsch (1994) claims that in assuming mediation into one's practices, one experiences on the one hand, both empowering and constraining effects, and on the other hand, "spin-off" consequences. The aggregate effects of mediation thus not only transform one's existence, but severely impact on one's identity
This paper also reports extensive research (Yew & Walker, 1997a/b; Yew, 1999) on identity production involving participants' appropriation of religious artefacts and practices within the spiritual environment of a church in metropolitan Sydney, Australia. Data were analysed using primarily qualitative methods such as content analysis. Findings indicate that identity production as both process and product of participants' enculturation experiences through apprenticeship via mastery of mediating artefacts and practices. Finally, findings from this study also assert a more comprehensive view of identity production and further suggest critical implications for future research on identity and as well as maintenance of cultures.
YEW99466
A CHAT perspective of hybrid community of practice:Fertile grounds for socialisation of identity
Victoria M. L. Yew University of Sydney
Derived from Vygotskian roots, a Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) endeavours to investigate human processes that re-establish the relation between the individual and the cultural milieu where each is inherently involved in the other's definition. This approach is instrumental for an observation of identity processes as socialisation within hybrid or polycontextual community of practice. The value of a CHAT approach lies in providing conceptual and methodological research tools that involves a balance consideration of the role of individuals and their social partners actively participating in socioculturally structured collective activity.
This paper posits that identity production has its basis in socialisation processes, both shaped by and shaping of each other. More importantly, the paper also asserts that identity production arises through participation in human activity through socialisation into specific community of practice. The research contexts involved observation of two different types of religious communities of practice organised by a church in metropolitan Sydney, Australia. Findings of this study assert a more comprehensive view of identity construction of persons involved in collaborative participation in socially organised religious activities. Analyses were undertaken using qualitative methods such as context analysis.
Findings from the study assert that through involvement in socially organised activities, individuals undergo identities experiences as they gain increasing mastery of skills and knowledge necessary for future participation in specific communities of practice (Rogoff, 1995). Successful mastery of such knowledge and skills involves the process of assuming an identity as a practitioner of the acquired skills (Lave, 1996; Wenger, 1998). Identity production is thus a consequence of participation outcomes involving increased knowledge of one's skills and as well as the appropriation of the newly acquired skills. As such, both identity production and learning processes are analogous to opposite sides of the same coin.
YOU99052
Paper
The Usefulness of Value-added Research in Identifying Effective Schools.
Deidra J Young, Curtin University of Technology
During the Western Australian School Effectiveness Study (WASES) 1995-1998, 28 rural and urban high schools and 3500 students were surveyed in order to investigate features of effective schools. Effective schools were identified in terms of higher than expected levels of achievement, when socioeconomic status and student intake factors were controlled for such as prior learning. Following this quantitative phase, five rural and urban schools were selected for closer scrutiny using a constant comparative methodology. These schools were studied intensively this year (1999) and features which make them effective or ineffective were documented. This study focuses on the Science classroom and how effective science teachers work in rural schools.
YOU99482
?Pathways of beginning literacy?.
Janelle Patricia Young, Australian Catholic University
This paper will report in part, on a research study that was conducted with 114 young children from the end of their preschool year to the end of Year 1. The study investigated the different ways young children learn to be literate and involved mapping the children?s knowledge and understanding about literacy and their acquired and developing literacy skills over a twelve month period. The subjects were drawn from three preschools in a capital city area. All of the preschools were part of a preschool/primary school complex. This arrangement was chosen to enable the mapping of the children?s literacy progress to occur more easily throughout the twelve-month period, as the majority of children attending the preschools in these settings, also attend Year 1 within the complex. Two Catholic and one State preschool participated in the study. The schools were selected because of the different locality, size and population-type. Data were gathered from the children, preschool teachers, parents and Year 1 teachers. Th is paper will report on the data gathered from the children in November of the preschool year and in May/June of Year 1. Data gathered from parents relating to family literacy practices during the preschool year will also be discussed. Aspects of literacy that were gathered from the preschool children included knowledge, understanding, and skills relating to: environmental print awareness; story comprehension; children writing their own name and naming the letters; letter name and sound knowledge; concepts about print (Clay 1972); word knowledge and phonemic awareness.
YOU99550
Paper
Developing an understanding of the number system
Jenny Young-Loveridge, University of Waikato
This paper presents the findings of two research projects which explore children's understanding of the number system. The first study looked at nine-year-old children's understanding of place value and other related concepts. Some of the notable findings include the following: only about half of the nine-year-olds were able to demonstrate a satisfactory understanding place-value; approximately one third of the nine-year-olds counted on by ones to increment a number by ten; relatively few (less than one third) children could do 2-and 3-digit written subtraction problems with vertical presentation but more were successful when the problem was presented orally using a money context; some children were successful with 2- and 3-digit written addition problems with vertical presentation, despite having little, if any understanding of place value. The second study looked at seven-year-olds' understanding of the number system with a view to developing diagnostic assessment tools. The findings of both studies are considered in relation to a developmental framework for the acquisition of numeracy which shows how children's understanding about the number system becomes increasingly sophisticated as their thinking develops.
ZAJ99827
Confronting the challenge of cultural crisis and social transformation in the curriculum: Teachers and educators in post-Soviet Russia.
Joseph Zajda, Australian Catholic University & Rea Zajda James Nicholas Publishers
This paper examines the responses of teachers/educators to school curriculum change reflecting a new post-Soviet, Russian national identity and its place in the global economy. In the post-Soviet period Russian Ministry of Education directives instigated a total transformation of the social science curriculum. Teachers struggled to balance the contradictory demands of a rediscovered nationalism and a global perspective, while contending with challenges to their traditional role as interpreters of culture. Open-ended in-depth interviews with educators, ranging from a Minister of Education to teachers, documents the responses of participant teachers/educators to rapid cultural change (1993-1996) in schools.
ZEP99268
From university to diversity: a preview of public higher education circa 2000.
In examining some current social and economic trends, this paper previews a possible future for public higher education. In doing this, it describes, first, three defining concepts of the late 20th century: globalization which signals the emergence of a world culture dominated by market capitalism; massification which depicts the transition of education from the preserve of the elite few to preparation of the masses for the market place; the marketability of difference which highlights one of the consequences of the global market culture.
The paper then traces some of the drivers behind these defining concepts: economic rationalism, technology and post modernism. In economic rationalism, individuals are constituted as maximisers of their own good in the all pervasive marketplace. Computer based technology gives birth to the virtual classroom in which people access the world independent of time, place and the authority of the teacher. A persuasive post modern tradition explains and justifies diversity in the marketplace from a non-economic perspective.
The paper finally explores possible effects of the trends and their drivers on public higher education. Effects on policy frameworks, learning, teaching and institutional structures and cultures suggest that the next 20 years could see the public education sector marginalized, largely replaced by diverse institutions funded by students and sectoral interest groups.
ZIP99487
Beyond the "University in ruins": Strategies for sustaining critical spaces
Lew Zipin, University of Wisconsin-Madison
My title alludes to Bill Readings' book, The University in Ruins (1996). Readings is among a growing body of authors who analyse how corporatist and marketization trends bring "ruin" to humanities and social/hard science programs that do not readily accord with economistic rationales. My paper agrees with Readings' pessimistic analysis of how critical projects are losing their academic footholds, under regimes of `efficiency', `performance', etc. But I worry about the solutions he proposes. In his pursuit of `forward'-looking strategies for sustaining critical spaces, Readings voices a `postmodern' wariness about contestations that define themselves against -- and thus are cooptable in terms of -- the values they contest. His alternative, as I read it, is to concede to political-economic Caesars their power to `ruin,' while asking critical academics (those who survive the `downsizings') to take refuge in the interstices of the ruins, where they constantly re-negotiate their relations and values so as to elude settled -- and hence cooptable -- definitions.
I argue that this strategy ironically co-operates with `fast capitalist' regimes of `flexible' dispensability. While critics must be soberly realistic about powerful forces that constrain critique, they must also maintain a `utopian' will to imagine, define and struggle for working conditions and relations they can say they value. As many of us are forced into contract employment within contracting university programs, we of course must seek to renew critical academic spaces as best we can. At the same time, we can reach beyond universities, building connections with other sites of struggle to re-value civil institutions. I suggest that the vitality of critique requires not the slipperiness of values too indeterminate to capture, but venues and coalitional processes adequate to build a critical mass with analytic and activist capacities.
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