AARE
Australian Association for Research in Education

1996 Conference Abstracts

Compiler and Editor: Peter L. Jeffery.

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Factors which influence student evaluation of teaching ratings

Moya Adams, Ruth Neumann and Cathy Rytmeister, Macquarie University, Australia

When university teachers interpret their ratings on student questionnaires evaluating teaching, factors other than their own teaching may affect the evaluations. Research has been directed towards understanding these factors since the seventies, but most of it has occurred in the USA, and does not necessarily apply to the Australian university context.

This paper reports on research conducted at Macquarie University on data from the Student Evaluation of Teaching and Subjects (SETS) questionnaire, accumulated from 1989 to 1994. Specifically, the paper addresses the question of what teacher variables and teaching context variables influence students' ratings of teaching and whether the data at Macquarie is consistent with research elsewhere.

The analysis looks at the relationship between four aspects of teaching: communication, organisation, availability/accessibility and assessment/feedback and teacher variables (gender, position/experience and age) and context variables (discipline groups, class size, year level) to students' ratings of these aspects.

Four scales representing aspects of teaching were developed from the core questions of SETS using principal components analysis:. The paper firstly examines the relationship of teaching and secondly examines the relationship of ratings on to the global question on good teaching to each aspect of teaching.

While data concerning context variables was consistent with overseas data, there were some interesting differences in teacher variables. A significant finding was that gender differences at Macquarie reversed existing data, with female teachers rating significantly higher than male teachers across all scales.

Students attitude toward mathematics over time: A Rasch analysis

Tilahun Mengesha Afrassa, The Flinders University of South Australia, Australia

In 1964, 1978 and 1994, Australia participated in the IEA studies of mathematics at the 13-year-old level. In addition to mathematics achievement tests, in all the three studies, students were required to respond to an attitude questionnaire concerning their attitudes towards mathematics, the learning of mathematics and school learning. This project aims to analyse and scale the model using the QUEST (Adams & Khoo, 1993) computer program. The attitude data for the students on the three occasions can be brought to common attitude scales. Each common scale is independent of both the samples of students tested and the samples of items employed provided the items satisfy the requirement of unidimensionality. These common scales are used to examine changes over time in the Australian students' attitudes towards mathematics. Conclusions are drawn as to the robustness of the common scales and changes in the Australian students' attitudes towards mathematics.

An investigation in the geometric understanding among elementary preservice teachers

O P Ahuja, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

The van Hiele level theory, developed by two Dutch mathematics educators in the late 1950's, suggests that all students progress through five sequential, hierarchical levels of thought as their understanding of geometry develops: visualisation, analysis, abstraction, deduction and rigor. If one level is not mastered before instruction proceeds to the next level, a student may perform only algorithmically. It also suggests that the progress from one level to the next is independent of age or maturation. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the van Hiele model accurately describes the geometric thinking of the elementary preservice teachers.

The population of this study consists of preservice teachers for primary schools. All these students must have done their A-level (with or without mathematics) with formal geometry in high school. This study shows that most students need levels 2 and 3 experiences to provide a foundation for their mathematical preparation of elementary teachers.

AINLJ96.171

Socioeconomic status and educational outcomes

John Ainley, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia

Relationships between the socioeconomic status of parents and the educational achievements of their children have been investigated in a variety of contexts over a number of years. Despite this there remains debate about the definition and measurement of the construct. This paper will report on various approaches to the measurement of socioeconomic status and the effects of those approaches on observed relationships with achievement and other educational outcomes. The analysis is based on data from a nationally representative sample of 4,400 Australian secondary school students. Indexes based on information from individual students were compared with those computed from census data for their collection districts. Associations between each type of index and educational outcomes were estimated. Results indicated that the use of separate components rather than composite indexes, and the use of area-based rather than individual-based measures, results in an underestimation of the relationship between socioeconomic status and achievement. Area-based measures were shown to be quite inaccurate for rural areas and were likely to lead to misleading conclusions. The paper reports on different results obtained from analyses conducted using various units of analysis, including a multi-level analysis. It demonstrates the importance of taking account of the unit of analysis when interpreting results. The paper concludes that socioeconomic status is still a powerful determinant of educational outcomes, but that care is needed in its measurement and application.

AJISC96.260

Learning styles of Indonesian students

Clara Ajisuksmo, Atma Jaya Research Centre, Indonesia

This paper will be presented as part of Symposium 19, The interface of learning and culture in academic study.

SOLO, RASCH, QUEST and curriculum evaluation

S Alagumalai, Flinders University of South Australia, Australia

The Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) taxonomy describes the growth in performance in many learning tasks, beginning from task engagement to expertise level. On the other hand, the Rasch analysis could provide greater information available from several questions per level to achieve a more complete understanding of a learner's progress in a particular topic or subject. This paper attempts to review curriculum evaluation and modification from the perspective of the SOLO taxonomy and the Rasch model, with the help of the QUEST software. It is believed that the SOLO taxonomy, coupled with the Rasch model and QUEST software, would enable teachers to specify levels of competence in particular sections in a topic that is generalisable across students, topics and levels, which makes possible meaningful curriculum evaluation and modification.

Disattenuated correlation and unidimensionality

S. Alagumalai and J.P. Keeves, Flinders University of South Australia, Australia

Prior to using any multivariate or inferential statistics, items in an instrument have to be validated, i.e. with reference to the latent trait(s) it intends to measure. Particularly in the Rasch model, unidimensionality has to be ascertained, and precedes any item analysis. This paper attempts to explore the techniques used to detect unidimensionality and provides a solution with Linear Structural Equations through the use of disattenuated correlation.

ALEXK96.282

From the Great Society to the Great Community: Education's role in a postmodern youth culture

Ken Alexander, Edith Cowan University, Australia

Dewey distinguished the "Great Society" from the "Great Community" when he warned, in the 1930s, of the "machine age's" capacity to destroy communitarianism, a key plank in the platform of a civil society. The "dissolution of mankind into monads" is now being realised in the world-wide movement toward "triumphant individualism", aided and abetted by a postmodern world in which commitment to community is being rapidly replaced by TV and PC-based infotainment. Hobbes, Locke and Hume pondered the role of sovereign/central authority in the social contract while speculating upon and analysing the "nature of man". Is that nature for humans to be basically self-interested or are we inclined to seek, in the interests of "peace, commerce and mutual succour" (Hume), enlightenment in pursuit of the common good? What is the nature of shared cooperative activity and what lessons are there in the evolution of cooperation?

As the Civics Expert Group (Macintyre) and Eva Cox (Boyer Lectures) examine the nature of a civil society, and National Curriculum Statements and Profiles (in their state-by-state conceptualisations) increasingly include outcomes embodying students' involvement in community (viz, Studies of Society and Environment; English; Health and Physical Education), the isolating forces of a postmodern youth culture and "me" society gain strength. Attempting to theorise education in the face of these forces is the topic of this paper.

Teachers: Choir or soloists?

Jennifer Allen, University of Newcastle, Australia

Educational discourses surrounding 'teacher thinking' are constrained historically by normative theory. These discourses have excluded the significance of critique in 'teacher thinking' definitions and disregarded the influence of ideology, resistance and 'vision'. This exclusion has constrained and 'objectified' constructions of teacher thinking. To challenge existing understandings of critical thinking and to reconstruct critical reflection as critique, this paper will explore the significance of the conversation between theory and practice, in the construction of 'critical thinking'.

The aim of this paper is to provide a critique of the discourses that have historically defined teacher thinking through an investigation of six teacher's personal and collective contexts. The paper will report on the everyday lives of these teachers using critical ethnography and an archaeological approach. Furthermore the paper will aim to reconstruct a discourse of teacher thinking that includes critique, whereby critical reflection encompasses the critique of individual and collective context through the historical analysis of ideology, resistance, and vision.

Coping with political change: Three women college professionals of China

Kate Allen

As English has become increasingly popular around the world, much attention among teachers has been focused on the development of appropriate methodologies so that the teaching and learning of that language may be more effective. At the same time, English teachers have become more aware of issues of cross-cultural communication and what it means to learn English as a foreign language. Teachers have also developed their own organisations to foster a sense of professionalism and help them remain up-to-date with new ideas in methodology. Most of these organisations focus on practical issues. They concentrate on what goes on in the classroom rather than on the place of an English teacher in society. Many teachers of English have had to and continue to face difficulties especially when it is politically unacceptable, even dangerous to teach English.

By examining the careers of three generations of college teachers in China, the manner in which the social-political context can influence the teaching and learning of English is described. The difficulties encountered by the women as they struggled to become accepted as professionals and their responses to the various political pressures, can help us understand the relationship between political stability and professional opportunities for women.

Investigative work in school science: A comparative study of student performance in open and closed investigations

Amarjit Singh Dhillon,University of Auckland, New Zealand

Investigative work is a compulsory component in the school science curriculum in practically most countries. The tasks which constitute investigative work differ a great deal, ranging from closed and highly structured experiments termed practicals to open and somewhat exploratory oriented investigations. Whatever the form of the investigative work, the global aims of including it in the curriculum are common to a large extent. Apart from complementing theoretical class instruction in science, the main essential aim being to teach the processes of science. These processes include skills such as planning, asking suitable questions, making measurements and observations, recording, predicting through the use of evidence, interpreting, analysing, providing explanations, drawing conclusions, and inferring relationships. This study identifies a variety of such skills which students are required to commonly acquire through investigative work.

Students of 12 to 17 years in age in New Zealand and Singapore have been studied to identify the specific skills which they acquire. The skills students acquire are related to the type of investigative work they experience in the science classroom. The findings are used to highlight the weaknesses and strengths of closed versus exploratory investigative work providing implications for the use of the different types of investigative work.

ANDED96.051

From citizen to consumer: the impact of market ideology on vocational education and training in Australia

Damon Anderson, Monash University, Australia

Over the past two decades, there has been a massive transformation of the vocational education and training (VET) system in Australia. Underlying these changes is a fundamental shift in the ideological paradigm which has re-defined the nature and purposes of VET. The social democratic principles of access and equity which originally informed the development of the public technical and further education (TAFE) system in Australia in the mid-1970s have been replaced with a set of principles whose origins lie in neo-classical economic theory. Economic rationalism, corporate managerialism and public choice theory have been instrumental in shaping the policy discourse associated with contemporary reforms of policy and practice in the Australian VET sector.

This paper examines the nature of these changes from a historical perspective, and deconstructs some of the central myths which have assumed the status of `universal truths' in the policy discourse relating to recent VET reform in Australia. In the course of this analysis, the paper examines some of the implications of these reforms for students and teachers in the VET sector.

Market reform in the Australian vocational education and training sector

Damon Anderson, Monash University, Australia

Since the late 1980s, Federal and State governments in Australia have attempted to construct a national vocational education and training (VET) market in Australia. This paper traces the origins and development of market reform in the VET sector in Australia. The impact of market reforms on the structure, composition and balance of the VET sector in Australia are analysed.

The paper argues that, by reconstructing the regulatory and financial basis of the VET system, the training market reforms have created the conditions for private sector growth and are facilitating the rapid emergence of parallel public and private training sectors in Australia within the context of a unified national VET system.

The paper is based on current research on the formation of a training market, including a review of relevant policy and research literature, and an analysis of emerging data on the dimensions and implications of a market-driven approach to VET provision.

Participation and access in TAFE: social service or economic utility?

Margaret Powles, University of Melbourne and Damon Anderson, Monash University, Australia

This paper provides an analysis of participation and access issues which where identified by the Kangan Report of 1974 and which remain significant in Australian Technical and Further Education in the 1990s. A conjectural and deliberately dichotomous 'social service'/'economic utility' framework is superimposed upon some of 'TAFE's features in order to explore changes in the system and the attendant assumptions about participation and access. Sectoral growth, attendance patterns, and socio-economic shifts in the TAFE population are examined within the framework, providing a basis far an exploration of specific, but inter-related issues: women's participation, access courses, the emergence of selective admissions, academic drift, and costs to the student. In each case it is shown how the notions of participation and access may be interpreted and what might be the future consequences of policies which tip the balance between social service and economic utility in either direction.

ANDEJ96.452

From text-based pedagogy to cyber-based methodology

J. Anderson and S. Alagumalai, Flinders University of South Australia, Australia

Traditional teaching pedagogies and student-based methodologies have anchored themselves very strongly on texts and hard-copies that can be centrally placed in a library. However, with the expanding knowledge structures, and the need for "real-time" information and contexts, both pedagogies and classroom methodologies are undergoing numerous changes. These coupled with the current needs of both students and instructors, access outside the "centralised library", has been facilitated by the Internet and "Cyberaries." This paper will attempt to outline this gradual transformation in information search and use, with its consequential effect on teaching pedagogies and methodologies via the students and their instructors. Collaborative work between individuals and institutions will be explored, with examples from the Flinders University Education Home Page and The Curriculum Development Institute of Education's Student-Teacher Workbench.

ANGKL96.402

Nutrition education

Ang, Kai Ling, Nanyang Technological University-National Institute of Education, Singapore

The paper examines the present scenario of nutrition education in Singapore. Many of these are didactic in nature. In our current society, where stress is on creative thinking, information dissemination may not effectively work for the much informed people today. We therefore should look into other approaches, where consumers can voluntarily make a wise choice of good nutrition. This would require us to look into successful nutrition education programs that involves a behavioral change.

Different models for nutrition education will be introduced. The paper will highlight the major concerns on the nutrition education for our preschoolers and school-going children in Singapore. One way to combat the obesity problem among school-going children is to introduce effective nutrition curricula and materials, such that they can take responsibility to take charge of their own health.

Paths to Pathways: VET provision for educationally disadvantaged groups

Jennifer Angwin, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

This paper will present some interim findings of an Australian National Training Authority Research Advisory Council (ANTA RAC) funded project undertaken at Deakin University this year. The research aimed to investigate the reasons for young people, some of whom are early school leavers with low levels of educational attainment, who are not in full time employment and do not participate in Vocational Education and Training (VET). The reasons for this lack of participation appear complex and multi faceted and under researched. The Corio area of Geelong has been identified as having high numbers of young people in this situation. As with other similar areas in Australia, current VET provision does not appear to be meeting the needs of these young people. The area has a range of VET provision from the ;local TAFE and a number of private providers. Geelong has been adversely affected by labour market reconstruction. Many of the industries which used to provide vocational education and training for young people have closed and new employment opportunities have not been established. The project aimed to involve these young people in the research task itself, by preparing the young people to become participant researchers and to interview young unemployed young people from different backgrounds. As well local VET providers and employers were interviewed, to gain a number of perspectives on training and employment opportunities in this area. The research findings will inform VET providers, schools and employers as to the barriers to participation that these disadvantaged young people experience.

Empowering students to learn mathematics through journal entries: Examples from Canada and Singapore

Sitsofe Enyonam Anku, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

One of the most constructive and empowering goals of mathematics education would be to equip students to monitor their own progress. Such self-monitoring can be expressed through students making journal entries. To investigate what sense students make of the mathematics they learn, I asked different groups of preservice student-teachers in Canada and Singapore to make journal entries. Students were to i) summarise the main points of the lesson, ii) state and explain what they understood from the day's lesson, iii) identify what they did not still understand, and iv) pass any other comments. Results showed that students from both countries found making the journal entries very useful as "it forced" them to learn harder and understand the concepts better. However, while the group of students from Canada were very expressive, the group of students from Singapore seemed limited by the language.

The "ESAM" model for assessment in mathematics

Sitsofe Enyonam Anku, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Using the framework for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) reform documents (NCTM, 1989, 1991, 1995), I propose a multi-dimensional assessment model (the "ESAM" model) that should help expand the scope of assessment in mathematics. This model uses a context based on reasoning and discourse and has components that comprise mathematical concepts, mathematical procedures, mathematical communication, mathematical problem solving, and mathematical disposition.

Values and value priorities of Singaporean and Australian swimmers

Nicholas G. Aplin, Singapore Olympic Academy, Singapore, and John E. Saunders, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia

This is an examination of the impact of values on participation in competitive swimming in Singapore and Australia. Values are the broad goals or criteria that direct individual behaviour previously initiated by motivational traits such as needs, interests, and attitudes. Values are conceptualized as being related to personality in that they account for individual differences. Subjects, who competed in the National Age-Group Championships of their respective countries, completed the values instrument developed by Schwartz and Bilsky (1987, 1990) and refined by Schwartz (1992, 1995).

Similarity structure analysis (SSA) and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) were the tools of analysis. Significant main effects were reported for group and gender, but not the group/gender interaction. Australian swimmers placed more emphasis on achievement, hedonism, stimulation, and self-direction than their Singaporean counterparts. Singaporean swimmers placed more emphasis on universalism, benevolence, tradition, conformity, security and power than their Australian counterparts. The achievement value type was the highest in value type priority for both groups.

Student beliefs about learning and their relationships with ability, academic course satisfaction and performance

Jennifer Archer, Sid Bourke and Robert Cantwell, University of Newcastle, Australia

The paper addresses relationships between self reports of achievement goals (Archer, 1994) and control beliefs (Cantwell & Moore, 1995), and their relationships with measures of general abilities (ACER, 1982), course satisfaction (Ramsden 1990) and course achievement. Participants in the study were 223 mature-age students completing a foundation course as preparation for undergraduate university entry. Constructs for achievement goals (mastery, performance and academic alienation) and control beliefs (adaptive, inflexible and irresolute) were developed using a series of one-factor congeneric models. The first part of the study sought to specify the interrelationships between control beliefs and achievement, and to investigate the degree of independence between student beliefs and more general verbal reasoning abilities. In the second part of the study, the relationships between beliefs, ability and the measures of course satisfaction and course achievement were investigated and modelled.

Preliminary results indicate that, for these students, both mastery and performance goals have positive correlations with adaptive control and negative correlations with irresolute control. Academic alienation exhibited a different pattern being significantly negatively correlated only with inflexible control. Only a mastery orientation was significantly correlated with ability. Mastery goals and adaptive control were both associated with greater course satisfaction while irresolute control was associated with lower course satisfaction. Of all six achievement goals and control beliefs, only adaptive control was significantly correlated with course achievement. Theoretical and applied implications of these result are discussed.

The theory and principles of psychodynamic pedagogy

Roslyn Arnold, The University of Sydney, Australia

This paper will be presented as part of Symposium 20 Psychodynamic pedagogy.

The role of classroom mediation in young children's problem solving

Jean Ashton, University of Western Sydney Nepean, Australia

This paper will be presented as part of Symposium 16, Culture, diversity and learning: The contextualisation of young children's thinking and problem-solving.

ASMAC96.085

The research experience of early career academic women in Australia

Christine Asmar, Macquarie University, Australia

In 1995 the Australian Research Council (ARC) commissioned a national study of early career academic (ECA) researchers. The impetus for the study arose out of concern that such academics may be having difficulties in establishing the kind of "track record" in research which forms the basis of an academic research career. Women returning to or starting late in their research endeavours because of family responsibilities were thought particularly likely to be among the disadvantaged.

The research was carried out by a research team, including the writer, based at the University of Western Sydney Research Office. Quantitative data was obtained via questionnaires sent to recent PhD graduates and ECAs from six discipline groups and a range of universities. Qualitative data came from sources such as heads of school, established researchers, and communications from ECAs themselves.

This paper reports the study's findings regarding the research experience of women ECAs. Some of the findings reverse traditional expectations regarding female academic researchers. For example, the study found that:

• It was discipline area rather than gender which explained differences in publication rates;

More male applicants than females succeeded in obtaining ARC large grants for their research, but this was because females did not apply at the same rate. When they did apply, females were proportionately just as successful as males;

Male and female academics were equally likely to report that family responsibilities inhibited their research.

ASPLT96.292

Insights into curriculum leadership: Taking a narrative turn

Tania Aspland, Christine Proudford and Ross Brooker, Queensland University of Technology, Stephen Kemmis and Adrian McInman, Australia

This paper will be presented as part of Symposium 1, Theorising curriculum leadership for effective learning and teaching: Reporting progress in an ARC collaborative research project.

Assimilation, absorption, or separatism?: Observations from a High School study

Brian Astill, The Flinders University of South Australia, Australia

The paper reports on an examination of the social values of senior students within a high school with a culturally diverse population, in South Australia. The sample (n=98) comprised Australian born students of Australian parents (34 per cent), Asian born students of Asian parents (41 per cent), and students of continental European origin (24 per cent). Their social value patterns were determined using the internationally-recognised Schwartz Values Questionnaire, and compared with a control group of Australian born students of Australian parents in a representative group of culturally monogamous schools.

Findings gave support for the 'melting pot' approach to cultural interaction, though there was some evidence of cultural resistance in particular areas of valuing.

The results suggest that there is room for doubt that a particular minority culture can survive in its original form, even if an enclave is set up (either voluntarily or by external design) to protect it. Additionally, the idea that the majority culture can remain unaffected by a large influx of people of 'foreign' cultures, was not supported.

The work has relevance to teaching methodology, and suggests that special sensitivity might need to be developed towards cultural imperatives and values in a multi-racial setting.

Parental perspectives on being empowered or disempowered for the inclusion of their children with disabilities

Gregory Auhl, MacKillop College, Bathurst, and Levan Lim, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia

In the Australian context, the inclusion of children with disabilities within regular school and community settings has been steadily reinforced with more accepting public attitudes and a growing body of research documenting the benefits of inclusive education. The process of parents striving for and achieving inclusion for their children depends much on whether parents are empowered or disempowered for doing so. Until very recently, little research has been conducted to examine parental perspectives in journeying through the educational inclusion process. This dearth of literature is surprising considering that an understanding of parental perspectives on the process of seeking inclusion for their children is vital to providing information on how successful the educational context is in facilitating inclusion.

The purpose of this paper is provide parental perspectives on being empowered or disempowered for the inclusion of their children with disabilities in educational settings in an Australian rural context. The parents of five children with disabilities were interviewed for the purpose of describing the impact of policies, procedures and people they encountered while attempting to enrol their children in regular school settings. Qualitative indepth interviews with the parents revealed a number of individual and common themes. These findings and their implications for how schools can facilitate inclusion will be discussed during the presentation.

An investigation into grade 6 responses to a random generator

Paul L Ayres, University of Western Sydney, Nepean, Australia

The study reported here was designed to add to the literature on probabilistic development. Two groups of students (grade six) were asked to make a number of predictions based on a random generator: a box containing 6 brown, 3 white and 1 yellow cube. Students observed the outcomes of 5 selections (with replacement) before making a prediction about the next selection. This process was repeated six times.

The first group exhibited behaviour consistent with developed probabilistic reasoning as their predictions were consistent with the observed frequencies. There was little evidence of the gambler's fallacy (switching from a frequent event to a non-frequent even because it is the latter's turn) which is often observed in young children. In contrast, the second group observed a colour sequence which contained fewer browns; although, still the most frequent colour. Students in this group demonstrated fewer signs of probabilistic reasoning and appeared to on many guesses. However, there is quantitative and qualitative evidence to suggest that many students in the second group rejected the overall picture and concentrated on the patterns displayed by the outcomes of the critical events. These students experienced little reward by choosing the most frequent colour, in contrast to the first group. In conclusion, it was argued that students of this age are able to make logical predictions based on observed frequencies. However, if these predictions are not rewarded then students are likely to reject the overall odds and adopt more selective strategies. A trait common to many older gamblers.

Cognitive mapping of Advanced level Physics students' conceptions of Quantum Physics

Azam Mashhadi and Brian Woolnough

Students experience considerable conceptual difficulties in trying to incorporate the ideas of quantum physics into their overall cognitive framework. The preliminary findings of a study investigating students' understanding of quantum phenomena is presented.

The powerful heuristic metaphor of the map is used to construct graphic representations of students' understanding being represented by their construction of groupings of ideas in a personal psychological space, with underlying dimensions providing a co-ordinate system for their perceptions. The relationships between students' conceptions (at the level of the population group) of quantum phenomena are investigated using a structured questionnaire, and multivariate analytical techniques (multidimensional scaling, cluster analysis, and factor analysis). Groupings of conceptions are identified and related to underlying interpretable dimensions.

Complementary, not contradictory: the spurious conflict between qualitative and quantitative research methodologies

Azam Mashhadi

Zubir and Pope (1984), and Howe (1985, 1988) have both argued against the 'tyranny of methodological dogma' and that the division between quantitative psychometric and qualitative phenomenological and anthropological traditions is unnecessary. The post-modern self-consciousness of educational research has resulted in the realisation that there is an unavoidable interaction between the researcher and the researched. Likewise modern physics acknowledges that it is not a mirror of nature but a 'myth' about it (Mahootian, 1990). The history of science is arguably not a history of discovery but a history of metaphoric construction (Rorty, 1989). Niels Bohr's framework of complementarity provides a powerful metaphoric conceptual viewpoint for resolving the paradigm war between quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The reductionist-mechanistic and holistic-anthropomorphic methodologies or paradigms are not contradictory but complementary. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies provide insight into differing aspects of a constructed reality that is too complex to be comprehended from only one view-point.

Educational research and the Internet

Azam Mashhadi and Christine Han

The use of the Internet has grown exponentially, and is thought to have currently 40 million users. The Internet has major implications for both education and educational research. According to Dewey (1916) the form of experience that is most educative is participation in shared inquiry. The Internet is arguably the greatest resource ever invented for fostering growth as it 'represents a dynamically evolving virtual world, with virtual communities forming all over the place, each composed of people with similar interests but diverse locations' (Cunningham, 1996: 3). With most universities, and Schools of Education now on the World Wide Web this paper explores the issues raised for the academic community of the move from traditional to Information Technology-assisted information skills, collaborations research projects, materials available for research on the Internet, and the interchange of ideas within a new intellectual community present on the Internet (Hale, 1995; Barry, 1996).

Graph theory and the analysis of ordered tree responses

Michael Bailey, University of Sydney, and Jude Butcher, Australian Catholic University - Sydney, Australia

The analysis of changes in people's cognitive structures has been found to be an important means of studying the influence of education programs. Ordered trees are a valid tool for identifying differences and changes in cognitive structure. In an earlier paper, the authors applied graph-theoretic concepts to the analysis of ordered tree task responses and suggested some quantitative and qualitative measures applicable across tree and associative network type concept structures. The present paper develops further the possible application of and discusses issues involved in the use of some graph-theoretic concepts and procedures to the analysis of concept maps. One of the chief difficulties in applying quantitative methods to the analysis of concepts is the development of meaningful measures which can be applied to both associative and hierarchical structures. The application of the suggested measures is illustrated with some example data.

Student perceptions of the teaching/learning processes of teachers: How close is the partnership?

Robert G Baker, Curtin University of Technology, and Wally Moroz, Edith Cowan University Australia

As Hornstein observed in the beginning of the 1990's, the "enduring pattern" of instruction in social studies lessons is that which revolves around traditional "teacher-centred and text-centred" teaching strategies (Hornstein, 1990). However, other research programs which have investigated the status of social studies (Cuban, 1991; Good & Harmon, 1987; Haladyna, et al, 1982) have indicated that the core subject rates well with students when teaching strategies are interactive, inductive, and student-centred. As Hutchens (1990) found, students became "hooked" on social studies when it involved cooperative learning, and student research strategies. In 1995, Moroz, Baker & McDonald, reported the findings of a large survey of over 3000 Western Australian primary school children (grades 4-7) and noted that social studies rated second last to religion out of a list of 13 school subjects. The teachers, however, had a disparate view of the subject from that of their children. An investigation of the teaching/learning strategies experienced by these children revealed lessons were mainly copying from the blackboard, reading, whole-class discussion, colouring in, and looking at pictures and diagrams. This paper investigates the differing perceptions of the key members of the teaching/learning partnership in our classrooms, the ability of teachers to engage students in cooperative learning, the teachers' background in the social sciences and curriculum and instruction courses, and explores ways to bridge this gap and improve the status of an important core subject in our schools.

BALUA96.238

Concurrent full-time study and part-time employment among Australian high school students: Reasons for, experiences in, and the impact of work involvement

A. P. Baluyot, I. D. Smith and W. Bailey, University of Sydney, Australia

Part-time work during the high school years is now a major part of the lives of Australian and American adolescents. American research has found that student-workers invest many hours (20+) in the workplace each week. This is believed to be responsible for the observed "negative" over-time relation between school-year employment and various aspects of adolescent development and well-being (Bachman & Schulenberg, 1993; Steinberg, Fegley and Dornbusch, 1992). In Australia, the handful of studies examining part-time work have been generally supportive of the assumed benefits of working. This is believed to be due to the fact that Australian student-workers work very modest hours (5-11) each week (Ashenden, 1990). However further investigation is warranted as (i) there has been no real attempt to document those issues faced by the adolescent both before taking on, and during school-year employment; (ii) there has been a call for the strengthening of the links between school and work; and (iii) anecdotal evidence suggests that Australian adolescents work more hours than before.

The study involved 200 15 to 18 year-old high-school students completing a questionnaire designed to assess the impact of working on schooling, peer relations, recreational activities, and scholastic, social and job competence. 12 of the participants were also subsequently interviewed. Questionnaire data was subjected to regression analysis while the interview data was content analysed.

BALZN96.431

Young university students: Expectations of university and dominant life style

Newton Cesar Balzan, State University of Campinas, and Catholic University of Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil

This work studies the expectations of University and the dominant life style of young people today who after concluding Secondary School apply for admission to the University.

The study is mainly based on information collected from 337,547 candidates that applied for admission to 41 courses at an advanced Brazilian University during the period 1987 - 1996.

Data analyzed and information collected from other young University students permitted establishing comparisons between expectations in relation to the University and some characteristics of today's life-styles and students who preceeded them, mainly in the 50s and the 60s.

Comparisons with young university students' profiles in other countries are also drawn. The study takes as reference the social and cultural context as a whole, including the phenomena of globalisation.

Do you speak academically?

Alex Barthel, University of Sydney, Australia

Many students who come from language backgrounds other than English have considerable difficulties in speaking English. Difficulties exist at the discourse, the interactive, the morpho-syntactic as well as the suprasegmental and paralinguistic levels.

This paper examines some of the problems in spoken English faced by university students. Particular emphasis is placed on the problems faced by students from differing cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The presentation gives a brief analysis of the causes of the main pronunciation problems of South East .Asian students.

Students of South East Asian backgrounds, speak languages (Cantonese, Vietnamese, etc.) which are based on supra segmental and paralinguistic codes considerably different from English. This results in them having more serious pronunciation problems than students who speak languages closer to English at the suprasegmental level (Danish, Dutch, German, etc.)

A range of academic contexts, formal and informal, where spoken language is the main communication channel is examined: these include seminar presentations, tutorial participation, casual conversation and administrative negotiations. The role of formal tuition in spoken communication (at discourse, suprasegmental and segmental level) and several options to integrate the development of spoken discourse skills into courses will be discussed.

The educational costs of managerialism

Richard Bates, Deakin University, Australia

Managerialism is a distinct ideology with two distinct claims: a. efficient management can solve almost any problem; b. practices which are appropriate for the conduct of private sector enterprises can also be applied to public sector services (Rees, 1995). This paper examines these claims in relation to education in as a public service and in particular contrasts the practices of managerialism with the requirements of the message systems of schools: curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. In doing so it also examines Hunter's (1994) construction of education as a pastoral bureaucracy and its potential for reconstruction as a private market (Kenway et al, 1995).

A comparison of teacher and teacher educator attitudes toward provision for the education of gifted and talented children in schools

Neil E. BAchervaise, University of Sydney, Australia

Decreased mobility of teaching staff has generated an Australia-wide teaching profile with an average age of 42 years (the average length of a teaching career is nine years!). The aging teaching force seriously concerns educators promoting policy implementation and classroom change towards the next millennium

Amalgamation of teacher education institutions with universities under the tertiary unification program of the late 1980s has resulted in Education Faculties displaying a similar age profile to the teaching cohort they seek to replenish and sustain at levels appropriate to the needs and demands of the various State education systems.

This atmosphere of positive policy change provides a unique opportunity to observe the impact of established attitudes on provision for gifted and talented students across primary and secondary schools.

This paper describes a small scale comparison of the attitudinal response to gifted and talented students held by a group of teachers working in a medium sized K-12 school and a group of teacher educators working in a large Australian university. The paper concludes that: attitudes developed during training are modified then confirmed in practice; and that, length of service in a defined educational field has significant impact on attitudes to change.

Meaning-making power of psychodynamics in informal learning situations

Neil Bechervaise, The University of Sydney, Australia

This paper will be presented as part of Symposium 20 Psychodynamic pedagogy.

Management learning

David Beckett, University of Melbourne, Australia

This paper will be presented as part of Symposium 7, Workplace learning and assessment: The agenda for research.

KASSEL project: An international comparative project in the teaching and learning of mathematics

Berinderjeet Kaur and Sook-Fe Yap, National Institute of Education, Singapore, and David Burghes, University of Exeter, United Kingdom

The KASSEL project is an example of collaborative effort which reflects the conference theme "Educational research: Building new partnerships". The project began in September 1993 in England, Scotland and Germany. It was originally designed to compare the mathematical progress made by secondary school pupils in England, Scotland and Germany and consequently to determine the factors that give rise to enhanced progress and make recommendations for good practice in mathematics teaching and learning in the United Kingdom.

Over the years, the project has grown and at present 18 countires (Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, England, Finland, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Japan, Malaysia, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Singapore, Thailand and United States of America) are participating in it. The main aim of the Kassel project is now to carry out research into the teaching and leaarning of Mathematics in different countries, and ultimately to make recommendations about good practice in helping pupils achieve their mathematical potential.

The paper will share with conference participants the methodology of this research; Singapore's contribution to the project; recommendations for mathematics teaching and learning in the United Kingdom; the MEP Demonstration project in United Kingdom.

Citizenship education: Australian and Singaporean perspectives

Richard G Berlach, Edith Cowan University, Australia, and Christine Han, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

The issue of what it means to be a citizen of a country is currently on the educational agenda in both Australia and Singapore. It seems that over the years, both nations have realised that the schooling system is a powerful and effective vehicle through which a country's united vision can be disseminated, and through which individuals can be encouraged to make a valuable contribution to the national good. Far a variety of reasons, however, the nature of a united vision appears to be problematic for both Australia as well as Singapore. With both countries being considered, this paper presents a brief history of the citizenship debate; reports on the current status of this debate; explores the place and role of the schooling system in citizenship education; suggests what the two countries have in common and how they can learn from each other; and offers suggestions for essentials which need to be incorporated into any citizenship education curricula which may be envisaged.

BLACD96.021

Dual identification: A challenge for Australian ethnic minority adolescents

Dasia Black-Gutman, Australian Catholic University, Australia

The study explores dual identification, that is, identification with both their ethnic minority and with the majority group, of 114 Australian-born adolescents from non-English-speaking-background, attending schools in an inner metropolitan area. Participants were administered an adaptation of Bat-Chava and Deaux' (1990) Dual Identification Scale, consisting of Majority and Minority Identification items. Two majority identification factors, Assimilation Orientation and Socialising with the Majority and three minority indentification factors, Ethnic Orientation, Discomfort with the Majority and Bicultural Difficulties were identified. There was a curvilinear tendency for the middle age group, 13 - 14 years, to identify more strongly with the majority group as compared with the other age groups (11 - 12, 15 - 16). There was also a tendency for the 15 - 16 year olds to score lower on Ethnic Orientation than the younger groups, while also scoring lower on Socialising with the Majority. Adolescents who described themselves as 'Australians', were more uncomfortable in majority settings and had greater difficulty with bicultural behaviours as compared with those who saw themselves as hyphenated Australians (e.g. Italian-Australian). Qualitative data on the concerns of these adolescents about "being bicultural" was also obtained.

Learning to change in a devolving school system: The Victorian case

Jill Blackmore, Chris Bigum, Louise Laskey and John Hodgens, Deakin University, Australia

Self managing schools have become a feature of the restructuring of education systems in many Western liberal capitalist states during the 1980s and 1990s. The claims about the benefits of self management and devolution were made with little substantive empirical evidence: that self managing schools and devolved systems led to improvement in educational practice and outcomes for students and were more equitable and community responsive. This ARC research project investigated the claims of the Victorian policies of reform--Schools of the Future and the raft of policies such as the Professional Recognition Program, Curriculum Standards Framework and Learning Assessment Program-- which led to the radical restructuring of teachers' career structures, industrial relations, the role of the principal and School Council, as well as the daily aspects of teachers' work in curriculum and assessment. We focused upon how schools, principals, teachers and parents dealt with managing change in this context through four central concepts of communities of change, management of change, information technology and texts of change. This was done through case studies and surveys which elicited 'stories' about change. The project draws upon the new policy sociology and theories of change and restructuring.

'Consuming passions': Women and leadership in times of uncertainty

Jill Blackmore, Deakin University, and Judyth Sachs, The University of Sydney, Australia

In this paper we are concerned with investigating the broad question what are the experiences of women in leadership in schools? Drawing on current ARC funded research in schools in Queensland and Victoria we argue that in mainstream organisational and leadership theory, leadership is always treated as a technical and intellectual skill. What is missing in these accounts are issues of sexuality, the body, and emotion. While we will deal with issues of sexuality and the body in later work, in this paper we focus on the emotional aspects of leadership in a time of educational restructuring at the system and school level.

We explore the contradiction between how management in greedy institutions tends to intellectualise and technologise leadership while simultaneously it both exploits and manages the emotions of women educational leaders, their desires, pleasures and ambitions. At the same time it disa11ows them to publicly show the negative emotions of fear, frustration and anger arising out of times of uncertainty, ambiguity and rapid change. This not only has significant implications for women principals' work satisfaction but also for the forms of system wide support and their professional development.

Teaching Australian studies at Southeast Asian universities

Kevin Blackburn, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

This paper looks at the teaching of Australia and its culture in Southeast Asia, using Singapore as a case study. The paper compares the reaction of students in Singapore to studying Australia at a tertiary level with the reactions of students in Australia. Australian studies has been taught at a tertiary level to Singapore students since 1994. The course has had excellent enrolments since then.

Whereas Australian students studying their own culture sometimes find it boring and Southeast Asian studies exotic, Singapore students tend to regard Australia as exotic; so one has this reversal of perceptions because each group of students is presented with something that is outside their experience.

The students taking Australian history in Singapore as part of their BA are interested to hear universal themes being played out in Australia. These include crime and punishment in the convict era, the impact of geography on the people of the country, the themes of racial domination and oppression in European-Aboriginal relations, the racism found in the White Australia Policy, and the rise of its opposite, the multicultural society of the present.

Singapore students react differently than Australian students do to the material presented in the course. The racist cartoons of the Chinese that appeared in such nationalist magazines like the 'Bulletin' in the late nineteenth century are always a source of great amusement when they appear in the course - the classes are predominantly Chinese, reflecting the population of Singapore (other ethnic groups represented are the Indians and Malays, who also find the course content of interest). Australian students tend to feel embarrassment when presented with similar material.

The experience of teaching Australian studies in Southeast Asia tends to confirm the criticism that Australians are all too ready to assume that everybody else finds us insignificant, whereas it's perfectly understandable that we study other countries and their histories.

Mentoring in higher education: Issues to be addressed in developing a mentoring program

Sandra Bochner, Macquarie University, Australia

A review of recent literature on the topic of mentoring (e.g. Caldwell & Carter, 1993; Wunsch, 1994) identified many issues that need to be considered when introducing a mentoring system at the tertiary level. For example, choices can be made between informal systems (relationships "left to chance") and more formal arrangements (relationships planned and purposeful, with clear agreement on roles and responsibilities of both mentor and mentee). Issues raised in the literature (e.g. Janette Long's 1994 AARE Conference paper on the "dark side of mentoring") suggest that more formal arrangements may have advantages, on the grounds that clear agreement can be achieved on issues such as the main focus of the relationship (e.g. writing research grant applications, writing for publication), the rights and responsibilities of partners (e.g. frequency of contact, rights re authorship of publications, amount of direct involvement or other contribution in joint research projects). Apparently mentoring arrangements work best if all parties are very clear about their roles.

Other issues to consider include support (some programs provide funds for mentee and mentor), mentors sometimes selected from outside the Department (this has the advantage of a wider field to identify needed skills and less risk of negative outcomes if the relationship sours). This paper is based on experiences associated with the introduction of a mentoring system in a Department of Education at an Australian university. Procedures followed in developing the system are described and conclusions draw about the use of mentors in university contexts.

BODYP96.508

Developing a construct of the ideal teacher: The influence of educative cultures on preservice teacher thinking about language teaching and learning

Peter Bodycott, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong

Explorations into teacher thinking have illustrated the considerable influence that prior experience exerts on the developing cognition of teachers. This paper extends the discussion by examining the influence of informal and formal educative cultures on the development of individual trainee constructs of language teachers, teaching and learning. Participants in this study were all preservice teachers training to be specialist Malay, Tamil, Chinese or English language teachers. Data was collected through the use of written biography, metaphor and personal construct interviews. Analysis of data reveals that trainees enter formal teacher training with well developed constructs of the ideal language teacher and related approaches to language learning. However, it was also found that trainees have less knowledge of language teaching pedagogy. Similarities and differences in the constructs of the ideal teacher and preferred approaches to language learning of the various cultural groups of trainees will be discussed. The study reveals a number of significant attributes of, and influences by, individuals from different educative settings which may effect the way trainees approach their program of professional development and/or the way they may conduct themselves, as language teachers in the classroom.

Can undergraduates and graduates reason scientifically?

Boo Hong Kwen, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

This paper reports on work which is an extension of the work previously reported in Boo (1995) which involved A-level chemistry students. The present paper reports on investigative studies conducted with university undergraduates and graduates in chemistry to examine their ability to reason scientifically when confronted with a range of chemical phenomena. The chief data collection instrument is the clinical interview. Five familiar chemical reactions were used as foci for discussion in the interviews; during which interviewees were asked to make predictions about the type of change expected, including the overall energy change involved. They were also asked to describe how they thought the change proceeded at the microscopic level as well as to explain why they thought the change took place at all.

The effects of classroom processes on student attitudes and mathematics achievement

Sid Bourke and Max Smith, University of Newcastle, Australia

This paper focuses on the effects of classroom processes on senior secondary student quality of school life (Ainley, 1986), self ratings of ability (Bourke & Smith, 1995) and mathematics achievement. The processes of interest include instructional delivery systems, and a wide range of student and teacher behaviours, roles and instructional activities (Bourke & Smith, 1993). School, teacher and student questionnaires and lesson observations were used to gather appropriate information about 359 Year 11 students in 28 mathematics classes at 14 schools.

A three-level, two-stage model including school, class and student variables was developed and tested. The model proposed that school and student background variables would affect classroom structures, teaching practices and class activities, which would in turn affect student attitudes to school and their own ability and student achievement. Previous achievement in the School Certificate at the end of Year 10 was also included in the model as an explanatory variable and teacher assessment of student mathematics achievement in Year 11 was an outcome or response variable. Relationships in the model are described and discussed.

Rural education provision: Insights from Malaysia and Australia

Colin Boylan, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Asutralia, and Sharifah Nor and Azizah Abdul Rahman, Universiti Pertanian Malaysia.

An analysis of government policies on educational provision in New South Wales and Malaysia for rural children. The impact of programs on rural school organisation, curriculum delivery and teacher training are examined. Issues of educational disadvantage and sustainability of programs are examined as a basis for recommending actions that can improve the quality of education for rural students.

Helping isolated rural parents: The Home Tutor Support Program

Colin Boylan, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia

The Home Tutor Support Program has developed as an educational partnership between Charles Sturt University and the Broken Hill School of the Air. The principle purpose of the program is to assist home tutors implement the primary distance education materials for their children. The characteristics of the home tutors and their specific needs will be discussed. An overview of the program and its modular structure will be provided and the reactions by the home tutors to the modules will be included.

Official discourses of new information technologies in two school systems

Marie Brennan, Central Queensland University, Australia

Schools in Australia have been positioned as a strong focus for the development and marketing of new information technologies in curriculum and school administration. This study provides a critical examination of the official discourses of two Australian state education departments around new information technologies. A discourse analysis of formal departmental publications over two years in the states of Queensland and Victoria reveals a range of justifications for the potential achievements of the new technologies. Metaphors from the past - such as pioneering and navigation - have been deployed to establish technologies as both the means and the ends for creating what is presented as a necessarily technology-rich future for the education sector. The justifications are couched in ideal terms, and identify assumptions about the strength, longevity, and reliability of the spcific technologies and the positive benefits claimed to result for students, teachers, administrators and the credibility of school systems.

BROWN96.284

The representing relation between subject content and outcome statements in the National Curriculum

Neil Brown, University of New South Wales, Australia

This paper will be presented as part of Symposium 14, Curriculum development and reform.

BROWT96.347

Exploring assessment and possibilities under sport education

Tom Browne, Edith Cowan University, Australia

This paper examines the findings of one of three case studies, Beauview High School researched during 1994 whilst employing the sport education in physical education program (SEPEP).

Qualitative research methods adopting interpretative principles in a multiple site case study were employed. Illumination is provided through description and interpretation of the teacher's world and the context of assessment in sport education. Key comments by principals, senior teachers and physical education teachers are highlighted.

The paper describes some of the assessment rhetoric and observed changes to assessment practices that occurred during the implementation of the program (SEPEP). The case studies findings are reported based on the following structure.

Establishing the settings by analysis of the school and departmental context, aims, policy and reasons for trialing the program. Assessment under sport education employing Choi's (1992) framework of curriculum dimensions considering teachers thoughts related to the problems of assessment definitions and purpose, the benefits and opportunities attributed to SEPEP and alternative assessment, the observations of teachers assessing sport education and lessons learnt for future sport and education seasons.

Affective outcomes in sport education and the provision of opportunity to teach promoting non traditional physical education outcomes. Amongst the conclusions information is presented related to a functional assessment model for physical education based on sport education and authentic assessment.

A metacognitive program for improving the word identification and reading comprehension skills of upper primary poor readers

Merle Bruce, Avondale College, Australia and Gregory Robinson, University of Newcastle, Australia

The general aim of the research reported here was to examine the effects of a classroom-based program designed to improve the reading skills of upper primary poor readers by combining metacognitive instruction in word identification with reciprocal teaching of comprehension strategies.

This paper firstly examines recent research on remediation of reading difficulties, and then reports briefly on the development and trialling of the proposed metacognitive program. This is followed by a description of the present study, which involved 80 poor readers from 14 upper primary classrooms in 5 schools. Subjects were assigned by classroom to one of three experimental groups. During phase one of the intervention Group 1 subjects received metacognitive instruction in word identification skills plus reciprocal teaching of comprehension skills; Group 2 received normal classroom word study and comprehension training; while Group 3 received only reciprocal teaching of comprehension skills. During phase two all subjects received reciprocal teaching of comprehension skills. All instruction was given by the classroom teachers or a qualified person within the school.

Subjects were tested pre-, mid-, and post-intervention with a range of measures in word identification, comprehension, metacognitive abilities, and perceived academic competence. The results are discussed in the light of current research.

Integral Pedagogy Process (IPP)

Andre Bruylants, St Xavier's Collegiate School, Calcutta, India

In 1986 the Indian Government published the National Policy on Education '86. The thrust:

1. education of the whole person through integral approach to the teaching-learning process;