A scale for monitoring students' attitudes to learning mathematics with technology
- Authors: Pierce, Robyn , Stacey, Kaye , Barkatsas, Anastasios
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Computers and Education Vol. 48, no. 2 (2007), p. 285-300
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- Description: The Mathematics and Technology Attitudes Scale (MTAS) is a simple scale for middle secondary years students that monitors five affective variables relevant to learning mathematics with technology. The subscales measure mathematics confidence, confidence with technology, attitude to learning mathematics with technology and two aspects of engagement in learning mathematics. The paper presents a model of how technology use can enhance mathematics achievement, a review of other instruments and a psychometric analysis of the MTAS. It also reports the responses of 350 students from 6 schools to demonstrate the power of the MTAS to provide useful insights for teachers and researchers. 'Attitude to learning mathematics with technology' had a wider range of scores than other variables studied. For boys, this attitude is correlated only with confidence in using technology, but for girls the only relationship found was a negative correlation with mathematics confidence. These differences need to be taken into account when planning instruction. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003004898
Addressing literacy in secondary schools : Introduction
- Authors: May, Stephen , Smyth, John
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Language and Education Vol. 21, no. 5 (2007), p. 365-369
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- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005591
"They do it just to show off." Year 9 girls,' boys' and their teachers' explanations for boys' aggression to girls
- Authors: Owens, Larry , Shute, Rosalyn , Slee, Phillip
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Adolescence and Youth Vol. 13, no. 4 (2007), p. 343-360
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- Description: Because children and young teenagers usually associate in same-sex groups, study of aggression in schools has often focused on within-sex interactions. However, during adolescence, boys and girls increasingly interact with each other which provides the opportunity for constructive pro-social relationships as well as for damaging conflict and aggression. This paper examines the explanations of boys' aggression to girls provided in focus group discussions and individual interviews at four middle class Adelaide metropolitan schools by Grade 9 boys, girls and their teachers. Thematic analyses revealed some common and some differing explanations across boys, girls and teachers. AU agreed that boys were verbally aggressive to girls in order to impress other boys and for their own entertainment or fun (i.e., to get a laugh). Boys and teachers reported that boys' offensive behaviour to girls was sometimes an attempt to impress girls. For some boys, the motive for hurting girls was revenge. Some teachers suggested that boys' hurtful behaviour may be explained by sexist attitudes learned at home. This study highlights the vital role of the peer group in motivating boys' aggressive behaviour toward girls. It also emphasizes the importance of understanding behaviour from the different perspectives of boys, girls and teachers. © 2007 A B Academic Publishers.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005852
Associations between psychosocial environment and outcomes in technology-rich classrooms in Australian secondary schools
- Authors: Dorman, Jeffrey
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Research in Education Vol. 2009, no. 82 (2009), p. 69-84
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- Description: This research investigated associations between classroom environment and student affective outcomes in Australian secondary schools. The Technology-Rich Outcomes-Focused Learning Environment Inventory (TROFLEI) was used to assess 10 classroom environment dimensions: student cohesiveness, teacher support, involvement, investigation, task orientation, cooperation, equity, differentiation, computer usage, and young adult ethos. A sample of 4,407 secondary school students from 286 classes in Queensland and Western Australia responded to the TROFLEI and three student outcome measures: academic efficacy, attitude to the subject, and attitude to computer use. Multilevel analyses with the 10 TROFLEI scales as explanatory variables and the three outcome scales as response variables were conducted. Statistically significant associations between classroom environment and these student affective outcomes were evident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] (AN: 48688520)
Teachers learning through complex social processes
- Authors: McGraw, Amanda
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Idiom Vol. 40, no. 3 (2004), p. 55-64
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- Description: The author works in a partnership between a regional secondary college and the University of Ballarat. She discusses an initiative that allows teachers to work in collaborative learning partnerships. Teachers observe one another in classrooms and reflect in conversation on emerging ideas, thoughts, and patterns. She draws on some of these conversations as teachers make sense of their learning and what it is that is helping them to see their practice differently. [Author abstract, ed]
Transition in participation in sport and unstructured physical activity for rural living adolescent girls
- Authors: Eime, Rochelle , Payne, Warren , Casey, Meghan , Harvey, Jack
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Health Education Research Vol. 25, no. 2 (2010), p. 282–293
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- Description: Physical activity (PA) is important for lifelong health; however, participation is lower in rural compared with metropolitan areas and declines during adolescence, particularly for girls. It is likely that this decline is related to the number of life transitions that occur during adolescence. This qualitative study examined the views of active rural living girls regarding the factors affecting their sport and PA participation, using the socioecological model. Twenty-seven girls aged 16-17 from four schools participated in semi-structured focus group discussions. Content and thematic analysis was conducted from verbatim transcripts using NVivo. The girls enjoyed involvement in community club sport with friends and they reported living in communities where participation in sport was a major form of social interaction. However, the desire to succeed educationally was a critical factor affecting their participation in sport and PA and influenced their movement from structured club sport to more flexible, but socially isolated individual activities. It is recommended that future longitudinal research should track rural living adolescent females as they complete secondary school, in order to better understand the influence of educational priorities upon sport and PA participation and to identify practical strategies for both schools and community organizations to foster continuing participation throughout this crucial period of life transition.
- Description: 2003006479
Teenage technological experts' views of schooling
- Authors: Johnson, Nicola
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Educational Researcher Vol. 36, no. 1 (2009 2009), p. 59-72
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- Description: Utilising Pierre Bourdieu's formula for studying social practice, this study explored the construction of technological expertise amongst a heterogenous group of New Zealand teenagers. The qualitative study employed observations and interviews with five boys and three girls aged 13 - 17, who considered themselves to be technological experts; their peers and/or their family also considered them to be technological experts. For seven of the eight participants, their primary site of leisure was their home computer use. This article gives some examples about how the participants' understand schooling and its relevance to them. It engages with ideas concerning the performance of school, and argues that the participants' practice in this field of home computer use for leisure tends to be misrecognised. The article concludes by discussing the implications this misrecognition has for the structures of formal schooling.
University fodder : Understanding the place of select entry and high performing government schools
- Authors: Tsolidis, Georgina
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Universities Review Vol. 51, no. 2 (2009), p. 4-8
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- Description: School choice is most commonly considered in the context of private/public schooling and access to university. University entry remains a key element in family decision-making about which school they would like their children to attend. Debates about school choice are most commonly framed in relation to marketisation and the relative popularity of private and public schools. However, the demand for high performing Government schools is likely to increase and in turn have an impact on the means by which families argue their case for entry. In this article the place of elite government schools in school choice within the Government sector is explored, most particularly within Victoria, where there have been a number of pertinent policy initiatives. These are emphasising selective schools, league tables and performance measures linked to possible school closures. The popularity of high-performing schools offers an opportunity to understand what families find attractive in a school. And the link between such schools and elite universities may allow these universities to diversify their student populations. However, without adequate resourcing, Government schools are unlikely to support the broad range of students achieve their aspirations, making access to university the prerogative of the resourceful, regardless of whether being resourceful is linked to postcode or knowing what high-performing schools use as indicators of success. [Author abstract, ed]
- Description: 2003007963
Using the student perceptions of assessment questionnaire (SPAQ) to develop an assessment typology for science classes
- Authors: Dorman, Jeffrey , Waldrip, Bruce , Fisher, Darrell
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Foundation Journal of Science Education Vol. 9, no. 1 (2008), p. 13-17
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- Description: This article reports research conducted on students’ perceptions of assessment in science classes in Queensland and Western Australia. A specially developed instrument, the Student Perceptions of Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ) which assesses Congruence with Planned Learning, Authenticity, Student Consultation, Transparency, and Diversity was used to collect data from 3,055 students. Hierarchical cluster analysis resulted in a four cluster solution being accepted. While one cluster of 799 students held positive perceptions of assessment, another cluster of 640 students held negative views. The SPAQ allows for a greater focus on classroom-based perceptions of assessment rather than crude external accountability measures that decontextualise classroom assessment.
The Texas Earth and Space Science (TXESS) revolution : A model for the delivery of earth science professional development to minority-serving teachers
- Authors: Ellins, Katherine , Snow, Eleanour , Olson, Hilary , Stocks, Eric , Willis, M. , Olson, Jon , Odell, Michael
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Geoscience Education Vol. 61, no. 2 (2013), p. 187-201
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- Description: The Texas Earth and Space Science (TXESS) Revolution was a 5-y teacher professional development project that aimed to increase teachers' content knowledge in Earth science and preparing them to teach a 12th-grade capstone Earth and Space Science course, which is new to the Texas curriculum. The National Science Foundation-supported project was designed around six principles that proved to be critical to in its success: (1) model best practices in workshop presentations, (2) use authentic Earth science data and cybertechnology to teach up-to-date content, (3) provide ongoing training to cohorts of learners over a 2-y period, (4) involve geoscience consortia and programs that can provide proven content for classrooms, (5) use ongoing evaluations to guide future workshops, and (6) provide opportunities for leadership development through participation in research and curriculum development projects. The project served 177 science teachers by supporting them with the pedagogical, technological, and scientific tools to teach modern geoscience. TXESS Revolution teachers directly impacted more than 29,000 students, of which about 69% are nonwhite, by exposing students in Texas to the geosciences and planting the seeds for them to pursue geoscience as a field of study. Using a train-the-trainer approach, TXESS Revolution teachers shared their professional development with other Texas teachers, strengthening Earth science education at all K-12 levels throughout the state, an impact that extends beyond preparation in Earth and space science. © 2013 National Association of Geoscience Teachers.
Serving multiple masters : Reviewing the role and recognition of VET within the Victorian Senior Secondary School Certificates
- Authors: Brown, Michael , Sutton, Daryl
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at AVETRA 2008 Conference, Adelaide : 3rd-4th April 2008
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- Description: This paper reviews a selection of the policy, curriculum, operational and research literature associated with the recognition of Vocational Education and Training (VET) within the Victorian senior secondary certificates; the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), and the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL). The central tenet of our paper is that VET in Victorian schools serves multiple purposes and in doing so it offers both risks and opportunities. While the achieved outcomes of the Victorian VET programs achieve national recognition, the recognition of these programs for broader educational certification has become diverse and complex. We use statistical participation data to argue that the incorporation of VET into these senior secondary certificates, appeals to students and offers increased options and pathways in the post-compulsory years of schooling. A range of assessment strategies and procedures have been developed to assist in the recognition of VET within these senior secondary school certificates. In particular, scored assessment and its contribution to national tertiary entrance (ENTER) scores is at the centre of the debates over recognition of VET within VCE. Also in this mix for recognizing VET within the senior secondary certificates are pre-apprenticeship programs, (included as part of the VCE VET suite of programs), school-based apprenticeships and traineeships. The operational, procedural and research literature associated with the complexities of the tandem usage of competency-based and scored assessment are reviewed as they apply in the Victorian context. As with the VCE, VET is also incorporated into VCAL programs through the industry specific and work-related skills streams. VET is mandatory within the intermediate and senior levels of VCAL. Our paper tries to identify and discuss the complexities in this area of VET provision.
- Description: 2003006632
The “perfect score” : the burden of educational elitism on children in out-of-home care
- Authors: Wilson, Jacqueline , Harvey, Andrew , Goodwin-Burns, Pearl , Humphries, Joanna
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Education in out-of-home care : international perspectives on policy, practice and research p. 211-223
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- Description: Annual media attention in Australia on the students and schools with the highest scores in the final year of secondary education (Year 12) promotes a narrow and elitist perception of the educational value of such statistical achievement. This in turn leaves disadvantaged students and their schools effectively stigmatised. Various disadvantaged groups benefit from equalising processes built into the senior-year system, but children in or recently discharged from out-of-home care (OHC) and adults who were in care as children are excluded from the official list of “equity” groups at secondary and tertiary levels. A very small percentage of those in OHC complete secondary school successfully, and even fewer care-leavers attempt tertiary education. We argue that the elitist ethos embraced by the secondary education system and legitimised by the media plays a key role in disadvantaging these groups. We examine as case studies the media coverage of final secondary results, juxtaposed with the experiences of several care-leavers currently attending a regional university, as gleaned from in-depth interviews and enrolment data-analysis. These accounts consistently affirm an array of systemic and cultural obstacles to the successful pursuit of their education.
Nurturing students' spiritual well-being : Caring for the whole child
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2008
- Type: Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Christian Education Vol. 51, no. 1 (2008), p. 7-20
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- Description: Spiritual well-being is reflected in up to four sets of relationships that people have; namely with themselves, with others, with the environment, and/or with God. Details are provided about quantitative measures for spiritual well-being used with students and teachers in Victorian Christian primary and secondary schools. The results obtained are presented and discussed. Case studies illustrate how such quantitative measures can be used to inform pastoral care of students to help ensure the holistic development of each child in our schools.
The impact of complex social processes, observation and reflective thinking on teacher learning and practice
- Authors: McGraw, Amanda
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at NIE International Conference 2005: Redesigning Pedagogy: Research, Policy, Practice, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore : 30th May - 1st June 2005
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- Description: In an educational climate sharply focused on school improvement, a large Australian multi-campus secondary college has developed a formal and ongoing partnership with the School of Education at their regional university. This paper examines one of the initiatives they developed together; an approach aptly called Collaborative Learning Partnerships that aims to enable teachers to learn more deeply in the context of their work through critical reflection, self-analysis, collaborative planning processes, substantive conversation and the testing of new ideas and approaches. The initial concept was inspired by the growing body of research that indicates that teachers make the fundamental difference to students' learning. If teacher learning became a real priority in the college it was felt that students'; learning would subsequently be enhanced. How then could the classroom, the space where teachers spend most of their working time, be used as a context in which teachers too could learn deeply about their role and the complexity of their work? This paper points to the influence of complex social processes that are at play when teachers work together in this way and to the understandings about learning itself that are surfaced through such processes.