Dr Ria Hanewald (EdD), Monash University, A journey without maps. Supervisor: Bernard Holkner.

This research was undertaken to obtain an insight into teacher professional development (PD). Both traditional and online modes of delivery were investigated. A major focus was the utilisation of information technology for PD of German language teachers and their subsequent application in the classroom. Thus, this study spans across several disciplines: teacher professional development, which is situated in education; information technology; and language teaching and learning, which is part of the field of linguistics. The interdisciplinary nature of this research makes it necessary to unpack the historical, social and political past within each field in order to gain a fundamental understanding of the issues.

Dr Lisa Hunter (PhD), University of Queensland, Young people, physical education, and transition: Understanding practices in the middle years of schooling.

Schooling is charged with the formal and compulsory education of young people yet processes and practices go well beyond formal curriculum and constitute society within the individual (Bourdieu, 1977; 1990). In Australia, knowledge around the experiences of young people in their middle years of schooling and the influence of 'practice' as enculturation and/or agentic processes is minimal. Chapter 1 contextualizes the study within Australian education, the field of physical education and the middle years of schooling, literature informing these fields being visually mapped in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 outlines the theoretical perspectives drawn from (critical pedagogy, post-structural feminism, cultural studies, and youth studies). Through the use of these perspectives the relational positioning of 24 students within their physical education class is suggested using Bourdieu's conceptual tools of habitus, field, capital, and practice. The participants included 24 students in one Year 7 class (final year of primary school) into their Year 8 classes (first year secondary or middle school), and 7 teachers. Data was generated through a multi-method approach (interviews, field observations, questionnaires, journals, videoing, photography, and Qsorts), then analyzed using grounded theory, critical discourse analysis, descriptive statistics and Qmethodology to constitute a theory of practice (Bourdieu, 1977; 1990). Issues arising from the reflexive research process between data, theory, and my own habitus were ongoing throughout the study and reflected upon in an Epilogue. Chapters 4 to 6 present literature, data, and discussion focussing on three dimensions relating to the thesis questions. Chapter 4 centres on the practices and processes of transition within the middle years of schooling. Physical education as a social field acts as the organizing theme for Chapter 5 before concentrating on student habitus in Chapter 6. Key findings suggest that schooling in general, and physical education in particular, needs to redefine and refocus practices within the middle years, before, during and after transfer.

Dr Carl Leonard (PhD), University of Newcastle, Quality of life and attendance in primary schools. Supervisors: Sid Bourke & Neville Schofield.

This dissertation presents the results of a study to assess the impact of a stress management, a self-development, and a relaxation technique on the quality of school life and attendance of 448 Year 5 and 6 students in 16 classes at 4 Lower Hunter Valley primary schools in New South Wales, Australia, in 2000. The importance of contextualising student quality of school life as a key indicator of school effectiveness and measure of school improvement is also argued. The Quality of School Life questionnaire (Ainley & Bourke, 1992) scales were used pre- and post- intervention as indicators of student perception of aspects of their school life including stressful and satisfying elements. Various student, teacher, and class contextual variables were also investigated. Overall, the interventions implemented in this study appeared to have had some small impact on student quality of school life, student absence, teacher stress, teacher satisfaction, and teacher absence. Of particular interest are the apparent differential effects of some of the interventions for: teachers and students, classes, schools, and, at least in part, the effectiveness of the implementation of the interventions. Possible explanations of these differences are discussed while implications including the apparent importance of positive peer relationships and an exciting and enjoyable curriculum in ensuring students have a high quality of school life are described. In the broader context of school effectiveness and school improvement, it is hoped that further investigation will be undertaken of the intervention strategies explored and refined in this study, and perhaps other strategies intended to enhance student quality of school life. In particular, interventions are needed that facilitate the establishment of classroom environments where students and teachers want to be, where educational outcomes are enhanced, and students are led to a broader life experience.

Dr Tholimpilo Masango (EdD), Monash University, White Paper on Higher Education: An evaluation of government university policy proposals in the post apartheid South Africa. Supervisor: Simon Marginson.

This thesis evaluates policies for the restructuring of higher education in post apartheid South Africa, including policy implementation in three universities. A qualitative approach on performance was followed and the analyses offered of the state of education. The transformation of higher education reflected the need to produce economically productive citizens and the political imperatives of redress and transformation of an authoritarian, undemocratic society into the more democratic one. A strong emphasis was placed on expansion and redress occurring in a context of fiscal austerity. Educational transformation in South Africa is driven by internal socio-political transformation imperatives - a commitment to redressing apartheid inequalities in education, work opportunities and political power, and by external economic efficiency imperatives - a recognition that South Africa has joined a globalised world economy and has, thus, become subject to rapid changes in knowledge and work taking place there, was well as the need for a skilled and productive work force that can compete globally. The thesis concludes with recommendations for improving higher education so as to better serve the needs of the mass of the people in the context of the global economy.

Dr Junaidi Mistar (PhD), Monash University, Strategies of Indonesian learners of English across individual differences. Supervisor: David Harvey.

This thesis investigates the strategies of Indonesians in learning English, what variables affect their use, and how they predict proficiency. Three-hundred and eighty six students from the three universities in Malang, Indonesia, participated in the study, nine of whom were selected for interviews. The Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT), the short form of the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R short Forms), the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) and the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) were administered for data collection. An interview protocol was also prepared for interview sessions. Factor analysis and standard regression analyses were used to analyse the collected data. The findings show that the students are moderate users of learning strategies, that attitude and motivation are more significant than aptitude and personality traits in predicting strategy use, and the strategy use affects proficiency attainment. These suggest that strategy training programs are beneficial for the students.

Dr Philip Morgan (PhD), University of Newcastle, Personal school experiences, attitudes, & efficacy beliefs: A causal analysis focusing on the primary school physical education teacher. Supervisor: Allyson Holbrook.

This study aimed to investigate the relationships between a number of variables relating to personal school experiences in physical education, involvement in sport and physical activity, and attitudinal disposition and efficacy beliefs towards physical education teaching for prospective and practising teachers of primary school physical education. Currently, little is known about these relationships, particularly for non-specialist teachers. A major focus of this study was to examine the influence of theoretically substantiated variables on a teacher's personal physical education teacher efficacy. Quantitative data were gathered by questionnaires administered to 570 preservice teachers (in 2 nd , 3 rd , and 4 th Year of their degree studies) and 111 inservice teachers. Of the total respondent sample of 681, 485 were non-specialists and 196 were specialists. To answer many of the research questions of this investigation, a causal model was developed which allowed complex multidimensional effects to be analysed by testing hypothetical cause and effect relationships between developed constructs. Measurement constructs were developed for the main outcomes of interest using LISREL8 fitted one-factor congeneric measurement models. The existence and strength of relationships were then tested at the same, and also at different, levels of a multilevel structure comparing findings from both non-specialist and specialist multilevel structural equation models. The results for both models demonstrated a causal link between personal school experiences and a range of pertinent attitudinal and efficacy belief constructs considered important for effective teaching in physical education. The multilevel analysis revealed that slightly more than half of the variation in personal physical education teacher efficacy could be explained by the explanatory variables for both the non-specialists and the specialists. Some interesting findings emerged upon examination of level-2 effects. For non-specialists, there was a tendency for scores on attitudinal measures to be higher for more advanced cohorts in preservice education, and to wane to various extents for inservice teachers. For specialists, scores on various constructs seemed to vary depending on the nature and depth of teaching experience.

Dr Brad Shipway (PhD), Southern Cross University, Implications of a critical realist perspective in education. Supervisor: John Barrie

Critical realism has established itself as a significant intellectual force in the social sciences, and its potential in a number of theoretical and practical disciplines continues to be explored. This thesis explores the implications of a critical realist perspective for the field of education. Areas of consonance and divergence between two traditions of critical realism which have previously not referenced each other are outlined. It is argued that both theological critical realism and "Bhaskarian" critical realism are consonant in terms of their base tenets, and support the concept of a postfoundational, dialectical, stratified and alethic model of truth. The implications of this model, and the potential of other critical realist doctrines for education are then examined. It is argued that the combination of critical realism's epistemological relativism and ontological realism allows it to steer a course between the extremes of other dominant positions, which are ultimately susceptible to either the foundationalism of positivism, or the regression of idealism. It is suggested that critical realism is uniquely positioned to provide an antidote to the problems besetting contemporary educational research - especially in instances where modern and postmodern influences are involved in a recalcitrant, self-sustaining conflict. The postfoundationalist doctrines of critical realism enable it to appropriate deconstructionist research methods, but deploy them from within a realist framework. The implications of a critical realist perspective also go beyond educational research, indicating a conception of education as an emancipatory enterprise. By virtue of its evolutionary, stratified model of human rationality, critical realism raises significant challenges to dominant views of pedagogy and praxis in education. Given its concern with absenting constraints upon human freedom, it is claimed that critical realism reveals the real task of education as facilitating the emergent rationality of students towards emancipation. In light of this emancipatory mission, the possible contribution of critical realism to the field of education is too significant to ignore.

Dr Richard Taffe (PhD), University of Sydney, Social skills training with young, aggressive-rejected children: The effects of self-as-model technique on behavioural, social cognitive and peer assessment variables. Supervisors: Ray Debus and Elaine Chapman

The study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of self-as-model videotape feedback on the improvement of aggressive-rejected children's social functioning. The study also sought to confirm whether social self-efficacy played a mediating role in effects resulting from the implementation of a Social Skills Training (SST) program. Study participants included six and seven-year-old children from 3 rural primary schools who were classified as aggressive and rejected (N= 26). A combination of behavioural observations, social self-efficacy ratings, and peer behaviour nominations and play ratings was employed both before and after the execution of a 6-week SST program delivered by the experimenter and a concurrent classroom program delivered by the classroom teacher. The same measures were re-administered six weeks later as a follow-up. A series of interviews was also conducted with participating classroom teachers, targeted children and their training partners to allow a more fine-grained examination of the effects of the training program on particular participants. Further interviews were conducted with a small selection of participants and their current classroom teachers one year later. Results showed that target children's playground behaviour improved significantly over time and they became more accepted over the duration of the study. Possible effects of overestimation of efficacy affected the interpretability of the social self-efficacy data. These effects placed limits on the study's ability to confirm the mediating role of social self-efficacy perceptions in peer relations interventions like SST. The interview data showed that aggressive children experience rejection on a number of different levels within the school including at the level of peers, teachers, and at the institutional level of the school. Such a multi-layered experience of rejection is considered to contribute to the development of reputational stability and therefore make aggressive-rejected children more resistant to programs of behaviour change such as SST. Such stability, it is argued, creates particular difficulties for interventions designed to treat aggressive-rejected children because treatment programs must not only address target children's behaviour and social cognitions, they must also modify reputational effects found at each level of the school ecology.

Dr Chi-Yan Tsui (PhD), Curtin University of Technology, Teaching and learning genetics with multiple representations. Supervisor: David Treagust

This study investigated the teaching and learning of genetics using an interactive computer program BioLogica in senior high schools. Genetics is important for academic study, research, and understanding of contemporary issues but it remains a conceptually and linguistically difficult topic at school. Latest computer multimedia provide new learning opportunities as they represent knowledge with multiple external representations (MERs) which, as researchers claim, support learners by complementing information or processes, constraining interpretation of phenomena and promoting construction of deeper understanding. Using an interpretive, case-based research approach with multiple methods, the study focused on teaching and learning genetics with BioLogica alongside other resources. The theoretical framework drew on psychology, science education, cognitive/computational sciences and teacher education. Teaching and learning were analysed and interpreted using a multidimensional conceptual change framework that includes social/affective, epistemological and ontological dimensions. Triangulation was used to increase the rigour of analysis and interpretation. The case studies--conducted during 2001 and 2002 in four senior high schools in Perth, Western Australia-- involved five science teachers and their Years 10 and 12 students. The findings suggest that teachers idiosyncratically incorporated and implemented BioLogica activities in their teaching based on their beliefs and referents with their actions being affected by their knowledge, institutional support, technical issues, and time constraints. Motivation, enjoyment and active engagement were not enough for students to improve their conceptual learning; they also needed mindfulness, learning with peers, and scaffolded learning within their zone of proximal development. Overall, students exhibited social/affective and epistemological conceptual change but little or no ontological change. The findings have implications for future research into the use of conceptual status in analysing conceptual learning, new learning opportunities and challenges of MERs, the ways to improve genetics teaching and learning and the notion of multiple representations for unifying theories in teaching and learning science.