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Western Australian Institute for Educational Research Forum 1996
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Interpersonal teacher behaviour in the primary school
Jill M. Aldridge & Barry J. Fraser
Curtin University of Technology
ifraserb@info.curtin.edu.au, ealdridge@cc.curtin.edu.au
Motivation in post-compulsory secondary students - a longitudinal study
Susan Beltman
Murdoch University
beltman@central.murdoch.edu.au
Higher order learning across the curriculum: the WA context
Catherine McLoughlin
Edith Cowan University
c.mcloughlin@cowan.edu.au
An empirical investigation on the effectiveness
of teaching subject content and learning strategies at
university
Denise Chalmers, Richard Fuller & Andrew Guilfoyle
Edith Cowan University
d.chalmers@cowan.edu.au, r.fuller@cowan.edu.au
ADD and ADHD: The prevalence of these conditions and its management in a Western Australian educational context
P. G. Cole
Edith Cowan University
p.cole@cowan.edu.au
Portfolio assessment in higher education
Trudi Cooper
Edith Cowan University
t.cooper@cowan.edu.au
Developing software for analysis of video tape as data
Tony Fetherston and Ken Knibb
Edith Cowan University
t.fetherston@cowan.edu.au
Development of personal and class forms of a classroom environment questionnaire
Barry Fraser, Campbell McRobbie and Darrell Fisher
Curtin University of Technology
A model of the factors contributing to school retention for Aboriginal secondary students
Gary Partington
Edith Cowan University
G.Partington@cowan.edu.au
Writing child welfare history: An historiographical jigsaw?
Rosemary Kerr
Curtin University
pkerrrb@cc.curtin.edu.au
EdStats: A statistical package for beginning researchers
Ken Knibb
Edith Cowan University
k.knibb@cowan.edu.au
Perceptions of lower secondary design and technology teachers about the utilisation of the design process
Désiré Mallet
Edith Cowan University
d.mallet@cowan.edu.au
A strategy for curriculum dissemination
Clare McBeath
Curtin University of Technology
McBeathC@educ.curtin.edu.au
What is good for the goose.... Different truth games within upper school science classrooms
Carolyn Montgomery
Curtin University
rmontgom@alpha1.curtin.edu.au
Is it fair to assess English with
multiple choice items?
Bob Peck
Secondary Education Authority
peckb@sea.wa.edu.au
Journal writing in maths?
R. Montgomery
Associations between teacher-student interpersonal behaviour and student attitudes in mathematics classes
Darrell Fisher and Tony Rickards
erickards@cc.curtin.edu.au
Professionalism and portfolios: Possibilities and pointers
Helen Wildy and John Wallace
Curtin University of Technology
iwallace@info.curtin.edu.au
The Nestor of British colonial education: A portrait of Arthur Mayhew (1878-1948)
Clive Whitehead
University of Western Australia
cwhitehe@ecel.uwa.edu.au
Providing for maximum student engagement in multimedia learning materials at tertiary level
M. Wild, R. Oliver, S. Wynn, C. McLoughlin and J. Herrington
Edith Cowan University
m.wild@cowan.edu.au
School effectiveness research in rural schools
Deidra J. Young and Darrell L. Fisher
Curtin University of Technology
Research supervision for NESB postgraduates at an Australian university: A narrative perspective
John Hall
Curtin University
hallj@educ.curtin.edu.au
Although substantial research has been undertaken
into the interactions between students and their teacher at the
high school level, relatively few such investigations have been
undertaken at the primary school level. This study aimed to explore,
through primary school students' perceptions, interpersonal teacher
behaviour and its impact on self-reports of student satisfaction.
The investigation involved the administration of two questionnaires
to a sample of 560 students from 22 upper primary classes. The
instruments included a 'personal' form of a primary version of
the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI/Primary), to measure
interpersonal teacher behaviour, and a student satisfaction scale,
to measure students' attitudes toward their class. The research
reported made distinctive contributions to the field of classroom
environment research in that, firstly, the Quesionnaire on
Teacher Interaction (QTI) was modified for use in the primary
school and, secondly, a 'personal' form of the Questionnaire
on Teacher Interaction/ Primary (involving a student's perception
of his/her individual role within the classroom) was developed
and validated. Analysis of the data supported the reliability
and validity of the 'personal' form of the QTI/Primary. Further
analysis suggested associations between student satisfaction and
dimensions of interpersonal teacher behaviour. Generally, girls
held more favorable perceptions of interpersonal teacher behavior
than did boys.
Motivation in post-compulsory secondary students - a longitudinal study
[Full paper]
Susan Beltman
Recent research on motivation has focussed on students'
personal goals. Evidence supports the encouragement of task goals
in schools. These are associated with feelings of success through
mastering new tasks, with applying effort in difficult learning
situations, with intentions to continue with schooling, with greater
reported satisfaction in school and with the use of more effective
learning strategies.
Anderman and Maehr (1994) review research which shows a decline
in motivation during early adolescence and suggest that school
environments are in part contributing to this. Cross age research
in Australia (Clayton-Jones et al, 1992) has indicated differences
in goals at different ages and between genders. A longitudinal
study in Perth (MacCallum, 1993) found a significant increase
in work avoidan
ce goals over the transition from primary to secondary
school.
This paper presents the findings of a longitudinal study with
post-compulsory school-aged adolescents over two years. Subjects
were 67 (46 male and 21 female) students from a Perth Senior High
School who were of different achievement levels and were enrolled
in a variety of courses. Similar questionnaires were administered
to the same students in Year 11 (May) and in Year 12 (October),
regarding personal goals and satisfaction with various aspects
of school.
Most prior research has focussed on task and ego goals, with some
investigation of work avoidance goals. This study included these
three academic as well as two social goals - social responsibility
and prosocial.
Changes in personal motivational goals and in satisfaction with
various aspects of school over the two years were investigated.
Overall, task goals and enjoyment of school decreased and work
avoidance goals increased. Some limitations of this study, implications
for schools and directions for future research are briefly considered.
Higher order learning across the curriculum: The WA context
Catherine McLoughlin
The development of higher order thinking skills,
or critical thinking, is becoming an increasingly important educational
outcome across primary and secondary curricula. One of the barriers
to implementing a program for critical thinking is the abundance
of definitions of the term , and the consequent confusion in teachers'
minds when the term 'critical thinking' is mentioned. This paper
will clarify ambiguities surrounding the term and illustrate a
working definition which enables teachers to share common understandings
about the term. In addition the paper will discuss various strategies
currently applied in Wa schools to foster higher order thinking
skills.
An empirical investigation on the effectiveness of teaching subject content and learning strategies at university
Denise Chalmers, Richard Fuller & Andrew Guilfoyle
Many universities offer courses in learning and study skills to help students improve the effectiveness of their learning. These courses are usually taught by specialist teachers and are not related to specific subject matter or particular courses of study. There is evidence that these courses have little long term effects on student learning. An alternative approach to improve student learning is for university teachers to teach learning strategies in the context of their regular coursework. This allows students to learn the subject content and apply the strategies for learning this content at the same time. Although it is argued that this is the more effective approach, there is little empirical evidence to support this claim.
This paper reports the results of one study in a research program
which investigated the effectiveness of in-context instruction
in learning strategies with first year education students. Three
groups of students were taught by experienced university lecturers.
The experimental group was taught learning strategies by their
regular lecturer in the context of the regular unit of coursework.
The control group was taught the unit content in the normal way
which focused on the subject content and did not include instruction
in learning strategies. The voluntary group of students volunteered
to attend sessions in their own time to learn some of the same
strategies taught to the experimental group. The strategies instruction
was situated in the same subject content covered by the experimental
and control groups.
All students completed an essay assignment that drew on the learning
strategies taught in the program as part of the formal assessment
requirements of the unit. The assignments were marked by independent
markers under controlled conditions. The in-context learning
strategies program was effective with both the experimental and
voluntary groups achieving higher results and demonstrating more
effective use of strategies than the control group. Both groups
of students who received the in-context instruction in learning
strategies wrote assignments that were better structured and contained
more relevant content than those who did not participate in the
program. No differences were observed between the groups in the
conventional and technical aspects of assignment writing, such
as grammar and expression. These results provide empirical support
for the claim that teaching students learning strategies in the
context of regular coursework can enhance learning and performance.
The implications of this research for university teachers are
discussed.
The terms ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) are now commonly applied to children
with hyperactivity, disinhibition or attention deficits in school
classrooms. These behavioural states have only recently been given
disorder status in reputable psychological and medical classificatory
schemes. Hyperactivity, distractibility and impulsivity are the
relevant underlying psychological concepts. Professional opinion
is divided on the aetiology, prevalence and significance of these
conditions. The disorders are said to be neurodevelopmental conditions
of genetic origin. Stimulant drugs (mainly Ritalin) are widely
used in the USA to control ADD/ADHD and such treatment are now
used frequently in Australia. Amphetamines and pemoline (both
stimulants) are also used in selected cases. Recent research in
Western Australia has indicated that the conditions are frequently
diagnosed in Western Australian schoolchildren and the disorder
is associated with significant adaptive behaviour deficits and
learning disabilities. Sample data from a Western Australian high
school will be used to illustrate the extent of the problem. The
sample includes two hundred and forty-eight year eight high school
mathematics students. Achievement data on the ADD/ADHD subjects
will be compared with those not classified as ADD/ADHD. A survey
of significant research done in Australia and overseas will also
be summarised. The paper will contain a synopsis of the arguments
for and against the validity of these disorders and commentary
on the current preference in medical circles for stimulant drug
management. Ethical considerations will also be examined in this
context.
Portfolio assessment in higher education [Full paper]
Trudi Cooper
The youth work degree course at Edith Cowan University has adopted
portfolio assessment as a central feature of the assessment of
students in their practical placement. This paper briefly outlines
some of the reasons for adopting portfolio assessment and reports
the steps taken in implementing this method of assessment with
first year students who commenced the course this year. The paper
discusses the findings of an independent evaluation of the opinions
of students, placement agency supervisors and university staff
involved in teaching the unit about the advantages and disadvantages
of using this method of assessment. The paper concludes with a
summary of the main learning from this experience and indicates
the likely implications for future development in Practicum teaching
and assessment within the youth work programme.
Developing software for analysis of video tape as data
Tony Fetherston and Ken Knibb
Researchers are making increasing use of video as
a way of recording what happens in classrooms. The richness of
the information captured by the medium provides the researcher
with much more information than audio recordings. With the increasing
power of desktop computers it is now theoretically possible to
treat video recordings in the same fashion as audio recordings.
That is, it is now theoretically possible to display vi
deo on
the desktop machine and then analyse. But how should we analyse
video? In this session some possible ways will be presented and
feedback and ideas will be sought in order to guide the development
of a software program to analyse multimedia.
Development of personal and class forms of a classroom environment questionnaire [Full paper]
Barry Fraser, Campbell McRobbie and Darrell Fisher
This study involved the development of separate personal
and class forms of a new classroom environment instrument which
synthesises salient dimensions from existing instruments as well
as including relevant new dimensions. Personal forms are more
appropriate for identifying differences between subgroups of students
within a class and in the construction of case studies of individuals.
Quantitative methods and qualitative methods were combined both
in the validation phase and in several research applications.
Following a pilot study, the questionnaire was administered to
a sample of approximately 800 high school science students in
30 science classes. The study resulted in a new widely-applicable
classroom environment questionnaire with similar statistical characteristics
for the personal and class forms. It was found that: student
perceptions on the 'personal' form were systematically less positive
than their perceptions of the same class using the conventional
'class' form; gender differences in classroom environment perceptions
were greater for the 'personal' form than for the 'class' form;
and attitude-environment associations were of comparable magnitudes
for the 'personal' and 'class' forms, although each form accounted
for unique variance in attitude scores.
A model of the factors contributing to school retention for Aboriginal secondary students
Gary Partington
Aboriginal students in Western Australia constitute a diverse
group who share a common characteristic with regard to school:
some 80% drop out before reaching the end of Year 12. To remedy
this situation requires a sound understanding of the contributory
factors. An examination of the literature on school dropouts provides
the potential factors involved in decisions to remain or leave
school. These parallel the factors related to non-Aboriginal students,
but diferences accrue due to the influence of racism and cultural
differences. In this paper a theoretical model of the process
of interaction as drawn from the literature will be developed.
Writing child welfare history: An historiographical jigsaw? [Full paper]
Rosemary Kerr
Child welfare history has evolved over the past 30 years using
theoretical frameworks that have emerged as tools for interpretation
in the writing of history. Anthony Platt's (1967) study of juvenile
delinquency was a turning point in the study of welfare with his
rejection of whig traditional interpretations. Since then marxist
and feminist theoretical frameworks have provided useful tools
in the field, sparking debate about the nature of welfare history
and the need for consideration of class and gender. In the 1980s
social theory became a concern for welfare historians and debate
about theoretical concerns such as `hegemony' and `social control'
are still prevalent. In the 1990s there is a degree of ambivalence
amongst some historians about the use of social theory in welfare
history. Indeed, the adherance to any one particular theoretical
framework as the linchpin to a study is being challenged. A number
of welfare historians are proposing a broader theoretical approach
to help interpret the seeming paradoxes that emerge when analysing
ideologies and practices in welfare. It has been suggested that
other theoretical frameworks such as Liberalism and social democracy,
as expressed by the policies of the Australian Labor Party, may
provide bodies of theory which offer an explanation for the connectons
between ideology, the structure of power and the provision of
services to the public. This paper will examine the main theoretical
concerns that have dominated welfare history and invites discussion
about the use and limitations of theory in writing history.
EdStats: A statistical package for beginning researchers
Ken Knibb
EdStats is a Macintosh statistics computer program designed for
students beginning their studies of quantitative analysis. Currently,
the program is being used in a core first year education unit,
Information Technology and Research at Edith Cowan University
as well as other units on educational measurement and evaluation.
During development, attention centred on producing an interface
that was easy for the students to use and understand. Most students
are able to master the basic operation of the interface during
their first session with the package. This paper describes the
features of the program and the development history.
Perceptions of lower secondary design and technology teachers about the utilisation of the design process
[Full paper]
Desire Mallet
The process of designing, making and appraising is being presented
by the Education Department as central to Technology Education.
However, it is not known how this approach could be used to demonstrate
students' achievements in Design and Technology. In this connection,
seven teachers were interviewed individually in August-September
1995. The study found that the teachers were not all convinced
about the practicality of the design process in Design and Technology.
The making component of the approach was perceived as the raison
d'etre of Design and Technology. Still, the teachers
felt that a design process allowed students to think for themselves
while making something desirable. However, it was also noted that
the students were not always able to complete their work when
they used a design process.The teachers felt alienation vis-a-vis
this new technological approach, and they blamed both the universities
and the Education Department for their inefficiencies in devising
a proper teachers' training scheme for the teaching of Technology.
But, they also agreed that, through the
design process, students were learning a set of skills much more
relevant than that offered by the traditional Manual Arts courses.
Assessment was another area of major concern as teachers were
not sure about how it should be carried out. On one side, teachers
broke down the total mark for a particular project into many small
components to enable them to monitor certain specific objectives,
and to justify their marking procedure. On the other side, the
teachers believed that it was possible to form comprehensive judgements
about the performance of students.
Finally, even if the teachers have explained how the clientele
for Design and Technology traditionally came from a low-ability
range group, these teachers have called attention to some other
areas of major importance. These included the provision of a selected
repertoire of basic skills to students; the development of the
graphical abilities of students; and the designing of relevant
curriculum material.
It may be concluded that the inclusion of the design process in
the Technology and Enterprise learning area is not being done
smoothly. Some of the recommendations which were made as a result
of this research were: (a) to make Technology compulsory at both
the primary and the secondary levels, (b) to expose student-teachers
to the new technological methods and to new technologies, (c)
to offer relevant units in Technology to already trained Manual
Arts and Design and Technology teachers, and (d) to provide Design
and Technology teachers with clear guidelines about assessment.
A strategy for curriculum dissemination
Clare McBeath
Research into the issues of curriculum dissemination and impleme
ntation,
and the factors affecting their success, has found that curriculum
change is a complex and difficult process and requires careful
planning, adequate time, funding and support and opportunities
for teacher involvement. Much of the literature recognises the
variability and liquidity of individual situations, and the difficulty
of determining a single model to suit all. The complexity of change
means that, as research seeks key concepts, it must also recognise
the dynamics of each innovation as being uniquely different. A
number of researchers have stressed the importance of a strong
teacher participation role in curriculum change and the need for
involvement of teachers in the development and decision making
process.
In post compulsory eduction, one of the barriers to effective
training is the difficulty instructors and trainers experience
in adopting and implementing new courses and procedures to meet
the rapidly changing needs of industry. This is an important part
of the TAFE curriculum change process and we need to examine carefully
the factors which present unnecessary obstacles to change.
This paper calls on research into dissemination of new curriculum materials in the Technical and Further Education sector in Western Australia. The research identified the need for more information, involvement and support in curriculum innovation. It explored the hypothesis that much of the frustration and inefficiency which occurs when TAFE courses are revised can be eradicated by attention given to well developed dissemination strategies. The paper assesses a dissemination strategy in practice with the new Certificate of Horticultural Skills. The strategy encouraged two-way communication, collaboration in joint materials development and lecturer reflection on their practice. It fostered teacher meaning and a sense of ownership. It extended current practice from being one of administrative or management concern, to one involving the users in the process, and overcoming feelings of alienation and lack of support.
The paper describes the seven "tactics" used in the
strategy and assesses their effectiveness in breaking down the
barriers to effective educational change.
What is good for the goose.... Different truth games within upper school science classrooms
Carolyn Montgomery
Throughout the period between 1975 and 1985, a major concern in
post-compulsory schooling was the conflict in providing an appropriate
programme of study for those who aspire and those who do not aspire
to tertiary study. Increased retention rates led to major changes
being made to the Western Australian post-compulsory secondary
educational procedures in 1985, from a fine focus on tertiary
bound students to a more broad focus to include non-tertiary bound
students.
The question yet to be addressed in relation to these changes
is: What type of student is created and constituted by the changes?
How are individuals constituted in regard to 'failing' or 'succeeding'?
What are the 'truth games' (Foucault, 1983) that are being played
out in upper school science classrooms? Are these truth games
fair to all players?
This paper will address these questions by focussing on the manner in which upper school Physics and Senior Science students are constituted as individuals within post-compulsory schooling. Dealing specifically with Foucault's notion of games of truth, we compare the day-to-day classroom experiences of upper school Physics students and Senior Science students. We demonstrate that, from this perspective, there are differences between the normalising procedures of Physics and Senior Science. In particular, we argue that the current practices in upper school science education construct inequitable outcomes and therefore need to be challenged.
Associations between teacher-student interpersonal behaviour and student attitudes in mathematics classes [Full paper]
Darrell Fisher and Tony Rickards
This paper reports on research using a convenient questionnaire designed to allow mathematics teachers to assess teacher-student interpersonal behaviour in their classrooms. The paper discusses the various forms of the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI), and reports its use in past research and in particular provides validation data for the first use of the QTI with a large sample of mathematics classes. The effect of teacher-student interpersonal behaviour on the students' attitude towards their mathematics class was investigated and the dimensions of the QTI were found to be associated significantly with student attitude scores. The paper also describes how mathematics teachers can and have used the questionnaire to assess perceptions of their own teacher-student interpersonal behaviour and use this as a basis for reflecting on their own teaching.
Associations between teacher-student interpersonal behaviour, cultural background and achievement [Full paper]
Tony Rickards and Darrell Fisher
The purpose of this study was to determine associations between
students' perceptions of their teachers' interpersonal behaviour,
some factors of the students' cultural backgrounds and their attitudinal
and achievement outcomes. A sample of 3994 students from 182
secondary school science and mathematics classes in 35 schools
completed a survey including the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction
(QTI), an attitude to class scale and questions relating to cultural
background. The sample was chosen carefully so as to be representative.
Achievement on internal school benchmark assessment tests were
used as student outcome measures. Statistical analyses confirmed
the reliability and validity of the QTI for secondary school science
and mathematics students. Furthermore, it was found that student
perceptions of teacher-student interpersonal behaviour were related
to their achievement and there were differences in the perceptions
of students from different cultural backgrounds.
Is it fair to assess English with multiple choice items?
Bob Peck
This exploratory study is a test of the validity of using multiple
choice testing to assess Reading Comprehension in the Tertiary
Entrance Examination (TEE) in English in Western Australia. It
addresses a current concern of the English Syllabus Committee:
that it may be theoretically unsound to have a single 'correct'
answer to a question about the meaning of a given text.
It is intended that the English TEE should assess achievement
of the objectives of the course. Ideally, results should depend
only on achievement of these objectives and should not be determined
by individual differences in prior learning. Candidates with some
commonality of cultural background could be expected to have certain
shared understandings, and these would be expected to vary systematically
from those of candidates whose cultural background was different.
If this prior learning plays a significant part in Reading Comprehension
one would expect to find differences in the examination results
obtained by students of different cultural backgrounds.
In an empirical test of bias, the results of a sample of over
a thousand candidates in the 1994 English TEE were compared using
the Rasch Model to estimate item difficulties. The item difficulties
were estimated for several groups of candidates, from different
cultural backgrounds, and compared. These item difficulties are
expected to be independent of cultural background in an unbiased
test. An analysis of item types was carried out to identify the
kinds of item most likely to give rise to bias. Information gained
from this study could lead to the removal of potentially biased
items at the test design stage, which could increase the validity
of this mode of testing.
Journal writing in maths?
R. Montgomery
I have been
intending to include journal writing in my maths classes
for a number of years now. I have attended workshops on language
in mathematics and have completed the Stepping Out professional
development (PD) program. All these workshops and PD sessions
have espoused the value of journal writing as a teaching/learning
tool. My own significant background study in language development
also lends support to the notion of concept development through
journal writing. So I was keen to trail journal writing as a
teaching/learning strategy in high school mathematics.
This year I have moved to a District High School in the Great
Southern. I have trialed journal writing with four maths development
classes during the first semester of this year (1996). Being in
a small scale environment like this has given me the flexibility
I needed. I have made attempts to trial journal writing in larger
Senior High Schools without much success. Pressures to keep up
with other teachers who are not trialing journal writing has meant
that I have always had to abandon the trials due to time pressure.
In the District High School setting I have been in control of
the programming and have made the time to trial journal writing.
After the trial I have come to believe that journal writing was
good for my teaching and I believe the adjustments I was able
to make to my teaching have benefited my students. However, I
took me up most of my DOTT time reading journals. I attempted
to streamline the process and gained some benefits but it still
took most of my DOTT time. This will not do. I have too many other
things to do. Journal writing, as useful and powerful as it is,
will have to become part of the curriculum. It is far too time
consuming to do as a sideline.
Professionalism and portfolios: Possibilities and pointers
Helen Wildy and John Wallace
Two reform approaches-the portfolio culture and teacher
professionalism-converge
in the context of a system-wide program for the professional development
of school leaders in the State of Western Australia. We report
the use of the portfolio to assist principals, deputy principals
and heads of subject departments improve their performance through
the development of accountability relationships. As a process,
the portfolio was intended to stimulate growth because it is reflective,
collaborative, formative, and developed over time. As an artefact,
the portfolio was supposed to contain evidence of growth. However,
participants used their portfolios for a range of purposes: to
document improvement in performance; to organise; to record achievement;
and to collect samples. Participants' difficulty in adopting the
portfolio for professional accountability arose from a number
of tensions: between theory and practice; public and private demands
of portfolios; the practical nature of leaders' work and the reflective
nature of the portfolio; the portfolio as product and as process;
and between choice and compliance. Balancing competing demands
will help leaders use the portfolio to understand their accountability
relationships and account to their peers for their practice. Our
study shows that, despite cultural and logistic problems, the
portfolio has potential to develop the professional knowledge
and practice of school leaders.
The Nestor of British colonial education: A portrait of Arthur Mayhew (1878-1948)
Clive Whitehead
The paper constitutes a resume of Mayhew's life and work based
on official sources and those provided by his surviving family.
Mayhew was a product of Winchester and New College who joined
the elite Indian Educational Service at the turn of the century
and rose to be Director of Public Instruction[Education] in the
Central Provinces before returning to England in 1922. He then
had a spell as a Classics Master at Eton College before becoming
Joint-Secretary of the Colonial Office Advisory Committee on Education
in the Colonies in 1929. He retired from this position in December
1939. He died in 1948. In the period between the two world wars
he was the foremost scholar and unofficial spokesman on British
colonial education - hence the title of the essay.
Providing for maximum student engagement in multimedia learning materials at tertiary level
M. Wild, R. Oliver, S. Wynn, C. McLoughlin and J. Herrington
A major difficulty with designing instruction in multimedia materials,
is resolving how to promote meaningful student cognitive engagement
with content information, while at the same time ensuring students
are motivated by the learning experience. Essentially the difficulty
lies with the nature of use of multimedia materials; that is,
they are usually designed to be used outside of a traditional
classroom context, without the prescence of a teacher or lecturer.
In this context, it is impossible to monitor, negotiate or adapt
the teaching-learning experience for individual students; or perhaps,
to plan for incidental learning. There are some theoretical frameworks
that might provide part-solutions to the problem; but none of
these appear to be the whole solution. This presentation will
demonstrate two multimedia learning products that, each in different
ways, attempts to provide a solution to the problem; it will also
examine the problem in greater detail and provide opportunities
for the audience to discuss the issues with presenters.
School effectiveness research in rural schools
[Full paper]
Deidra J. Young and Darrell L. Fisher
Two rural schools formed part of a larger study by agreeing to
participate in a pilot study of the effectiveness of schools in
rural Western Australia. A number of measures were employed to
collect data at the teacher, student and parent levels. These
included measures of satisfaction with the school itself and the
school climate. Characteristics of these two schools are compared
and findings reported regarding the differences in parent involvement
in the school, classroom learning environment, student self-concept
and student satisfaction. For the purposes of this study, the
effect of the learning environment and self-concept were analysed
for their effects on student satisfaction with the school.
Research supervision for NESB postgraduates at an Australian university: A narrative perspective
John Hall
In this paper I begin to explore what might be glossed as Australian NESB postgraduates' powerlessness in their supervisory relationships. I set out initially to undertake a 'qualitative' study of international and NESB students' perceptions of their research supervision, as a counterbalance and complement to the standard survey approach of my colleagues. My first reporting of 'findings, however, was in compliance with the overall (fairly positivist) objective of producing frequency distributions to indicate such things as levels of satisfaction and problems with the practice of supervision etc. Now I am revisiting some of the interview material I collected/constructed with a view to exploiting its narrative potential.