bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bringing Them in: The Experiences of Imported and Overseas-Qualified Teachers
Authors: Sharplin Elaine
Published: March 2013

This qualitative multiple-site case study explores the experiences of imported and overseas-qualified teachers appointed to fill ‘difficult-to-staff’ Western Australian rural schools. In a climate of global teacher shortages, investigation of the strategies adopted to solve this problem requires empirical examination. The study of six imported and overseas-qualified teachers found that they experienced difficulties with the employment application process, were not adequately inducted into the system and experienced difficulties with cultural adaptation related to pedagogy, behaviour management and language. These teachers still remained in schools for lengths of time comparable to their Australian-born counterparts. Transitions into schools could be assisted with improved appointment processes, induction and school-based support. A research agenda for further investigation of this field is recommended.
The Wider Social Benefits of Higher Education: What do We Know about Them?
Authors: Murray Joy
Published: March 2013

There has recently been a shift towards private expenditure in the tertiary education sector accompanied by a shift of public subsidies to students themselves. Implicit in this shift is the message that tertiary education is a private rather than public good, belonging to individual students rather than society. This paper explores the research on the wider social benefits of higher education and the data and methodologies that exist to underpin it. Its focus is on benefits to society but, since individual social benefits are entangled with wider benefits, both are discussed. The paper finds that little research has been undertaken in Australia even though understanding the wider social benefits of higher education is considered important to policy development. Longitudinal survey data do exist that could be extended and harnessed for such research.
Teachers' Perceptions of Physical Aggression among Secondary School Students: A New Zealand View
Authors: Marsh Louise , McGee Rob , Williams Sheila
Published: March 2013

Previous research has found differences between adults' and students' perceptions of adolescents' aggressive behaviour. This study examines teachers' perceptions of physical aggression among New Zealand secondary school students. A survey assessed teachers' perceptions of problematic behaviour, and physical aggression by students towards teachers. An online survey assessed students' self-reports of physical fighting and weapon carrying. The findings show that, while teachers did not consider physical aggression a major problem in their schools, they did report frequent occurrences of physical fighting. Some teachers also reported experiencing significant physical aggression towards them by students. Student aggression was not significantly associated with teachers' perceptions of physical aggression in their schools. Teachers are facing physical aggression in their workplace, making schools a stressful working and learning environment.
Mentoring Early Career Special Education Teachers
Authors: Dempsey Ian , Arthur-Kelly Michael , Carty Breda
Published: March 2013

For some time, special education has been plagued by shortages of qualified teaching staff and by high turnover rates for these staff. While several factors—external, employment and personal—are largely responsible for this situation, the research demonstrates that the initial professional experiences of early career teachers are closely associated with their longevity in the field. This paper reviews the literature on mentoring support for beginning teachers, mentoring models and the use of information technologies in mentoring support. The paper concludes with recommendations for methods of support for Australian early career special-education teachers.
Choosers and Losers: The Impact of Government Subsidies on Australian Secondary Schools
Authors: Watson Louise , Ryan Chris
Published: March 2013

For over three decades, government subsidies have been a major source of funds for private schools in Australia. Private schools now enrol more than one-third of all students. Analysing administrative and participation data, we find that Australian private schools have used government subsidies to increase the quality of their services (that is, to reduce student:teacher ratios) rather than to reduce their fees. As a consequence, the socio-economic composition of private schools has remained above average while a higher proportion of public school students now come from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds. The data suggest that Australia's government funding scheme is ineffective in facilitating access to private schools for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and has undermined the viability of public secondary schools.
Rethinking Our Assumptions about Teachers' Job Satisfaction in China and the West
Authors: Kwong Julia , Wang Haiping , Clifton Rodney A.
Published: March 2013

This study examined job satisfaction among schoolteachers in Beijing and compared the findings with what is known from the English-language literature. The Chinese teachers, like their Western counterparts, found satisfaction in student progress and a supportive teaching environment but they enjoyed close collaboration with colleagues in executing their duties, welcomed government intervention, and were content to stay out of school governance—arrangements teachers in the West might find unacceptable. The pattern of job satisfaction among Chinese public schoolteachers was similar to the many Western private schoolteachers, and the Chinese private schoolteachers' pattern of job satisfaction more like that of Western public schoolteachers. The findings reveal considerable commonalities in what is satisfying to the Chinese and Western teachers but also major differences. These contrasting findings underscore cultural diversities among teachers in different societies, point to the need to go beyond labels (public/private) to examine school structures, and raise the possibility that policies proven successful in one situation may not work in another.
National Curriculum: A Political-Educational Tangle
Authors: Brennan Marie
Published: March 2013

Recent moves in Australia to institute a national curriculum emanated from federal governments of ostensibly different political persuasions in the period from 2003, building on developments that go back over 25 years. This article traces continuities and new developments, meditating on two questions: whether the current moves are politically likely to move along federalism in Australian education and whether the current approach to national curriculum is educationally sound. Lack of infrastructure to support teachers and schools, lack of necessary feedback loops into policy and development, and lack of appropriate evolving and specified relationships among levels of government may well undo all the important educational work on national curriculum. On the educational front, the overcrowding of specified content, its specification at age levels, and the disjuncture between content, assessment and pedagogies do not bode well for providing practicable and well-resourced support for teachers. But, given other national partnerships and work on federalising many spheres (including the two big spending areas still under states' control: health and education), it may be that national curriculum is a project whose time has come. If so—and this is still not certain—it signals major shifts in the governance of curriculum and particularly has implications for the role of teachers in the core of their work.
Adolescent Thinking in History-Type Material
Authors: Jurd M. F.
Published: March 2013

Evidence was sought for the application of Piaget's theory to the thinking of 350 students between 6th class primary and 6th form secondary school with history-type material. The nature of the material required several adaptations to tests usually given for formal operations. The results showed that stages defined by logical operations and strategies within those stages may be identified by questions designed for testing concrete or formal operations. A smaller longitudinal sample cast doubt on the measurement of discontinuity between stages.
Structural Changes in the Australian Teaching Workforce—A Female Takeover Bid?
Authors: Collins J. Maxwell
Published: March 2013

Comments have been made on the high proportion of male teachers in the Australian teaching workforce in contrast to many other parts of the world. This paper presents evidence which suggests that this phenomenon may not last for very much longer. Suggestions are also made as to possible implications, both of an administrative nature and in relation to the development of social values, of such changes in the structure of the Australian teaching workforce.
The Validity of Taxonomic Classifications Used by a National Item Pool
Authors: Dunstan M.
Published: March 2013

The success of examiners in classifying test items in terms of the levels of a taxonomy of educational skills and curriculum core categories in a national item pool is examined by comparing examiner's classifications with item difficulty.

The relation between taxonomy level and difficulty was found to be greater than for core categories but in neither case was it very marked. The implications of this finding are discussed.
Study Behaviour and Performance in Objective and Essay Formats
Authors: Biggs J. B.
Published: March 2013

The effects of student motivation and study behaviour on performance in different types of test were investigated. Test scores in two undergraduate educational psychology courses were factor analysed and factor scores for performance in general achievement, objective format and essay format were obtained. Academic motivation and preferred study behaviours were assessed by means of questionnaire. High achievement was related, independently of format, to two kinds of study strategy, reproductive and transformational. Reproductive strategies were successful in students motivated pragmatically; transformational in those with more ‘academic’ motivations. Performance specific to the objective format was related to student characteristics that stemmed from the cognitive style of convergence. Performance specific to essays was associated with several marker/student characteristics. Some implications for teaching and evaluating student performance were noted.
Some Implications of Population Growth for Senior Secondary School Enrolments
Authors: Sheehan Barry A.
Published: March 2013

The marked post-war expansion in the secondary school population is explained by both the growth in the overall population and by the heightened aspirations and expectations which have resulted in an increasing rate of retention. It is here demonstrated on the basis of a number of apparently tenable assumptions that in the approaching decades both tendencies will continue to put heavy strains upon the school system. A strong case can be put for an appeal to demographers to apply themselves to the problems of educational planning.

The area of greatest growth and greatest uncertainty is the 15–18 age group. This is largely a ‘new’ school population, coming from a different socio-economic stratum than the pre-war 8–10 per cent of the age-group from middle-class educated homes who were generally destined for university, or for a predetermined career, and may have very different expectations.

Many important policy decisions must be made in relation to this expanded group, but the research evidence available and upon which these can be based, is fragmented and scanty. It is to help alleviate this situation that the research project from which this report is an early product is directed.
Learning to Teach: A ‘Dimensional Skills’ Approach for Teacher Education
Authors: Thew Dawn M.
Published: March 2013

The study attempted to extend the microteaching instructional technique to include a more integrative approach to the analysis of teaching behaviour. By examining essential ‘dimensional skills’ of classroom teaching and interaction, more emphasis is given to the on-going role enactments of the teacher and class together in differing learning settings. Elements of classroom social organization provide a basis for this approach. A classroom Social Organization Category System, SOCS, was devised and used in conjunction with microteaching to provide maximum personal feedback to the student teacher concerning his performance. The evidence favours the use of specific feedback data from the SOCS analysis in significantly changing teaching behaviour to achieve more flexibility in the teaching role.
Compensatory Education: A Subtle Form of Racism?
Authors: Kelly M. E. , McConnochie K. R.
Published: March 2013

Is compensatory education based on the cultural deficit/early intervention model an effective means of alleviating minority group failure in schools, or is it a form of racism disguised under the cloak of social welfare? It is argued that attributing failure to environmental factors located in the home is not necessarily less racist than attributing failure to genetic deficit, when the assumptions underlying these two models of failure are considered. Furthermore, whether an environmental or genetic model is assumed, the cause of failure is located within the family and seldom is the contribution of the school seriously considered. It is argued that the school contributes to failure through destruction of identity with, and respect for, minority group cultures and by early socialization into a European value system. Insofar as this subtle racism exists in the present school system it is argued that it should not be extended to the pre-school level but rather should be abandoned at all levels. Some ways in which this might be achieved are discussed.
Procedures for Assessing the Statistical Significance of the Difference between an Individual's Scores on Two Standardized Tests
Authors: Tuck B. F.
Published: March 2013

The scores an individual obtains on standardized tests are frequently used for educational guidance. Often it is the differences between the scores which are important. This paper presents the general argument underlying the statistical evaluation of the significance of the difference between an individual's scores on a pair of standardized tests. Two simple methods of evaluating the statistical significance of such a difference are provided and certain cautions and restrictions on the use of these methods are given.
Students' Perception of Factors Contributing to the Difficulty of Secondary School Science
Authors: Stanhope Roy W. , Richardson E.
Published: March 2013

This research concerns secondary pupils' interest in school science and their reasons for finding it difficult. In a preliminary study 24 categories of hardness were identified in the free responses from 1,700 pupils. In the main study 3,808 students in seven other Sydney schools indicated their degree of interest in science and its difficulty in comparison with other subjects; then, through their responses to 33 structured items based upon the categories of hardness, they assessed particular situations and whether in consequence science was hard, easy or about right. With increasing exposure to science, interest progressively declined, most markedly from Form I to Form II, while its reported difficulty increased except for a trend reversal with boys in Forms IV and V. Positive relationships are reported between degree of interest in science and of its difficulty for all respondents and for various sub-groups. Further analyses of response differences between boys and girls and between junior and senior pupils are presented.
A Study of the Effects of Teaching Strategies in A.S.E.P. Classrooms
Authors: Tisher R. P. , Power C. N.
Published: March 2013

This paper reports the results of two experimental studies of teaching in A.S.E.P. classrooms. Initially, two instruments designed to measure teacher educational values were administered to 157 persons. Six teachers and 15 science Diploma in Education students representing the major value orientations identified were selected for the experimental studies. Half the experienced teachers received inservice training and half did not. The data indicate that training in the use of the materials was beneficial, particularly for teachers whose values are dissonant to those embodied in the new curriculum. Classes of the diplomates were assigned to three treatments which differed in the degree to which activities were structured by the teacher and the materials. The relationships found in this study were complex, but do indicate that additional structuring by the teacher can be advantageous while too great a divergence from the curriculum guide is likely to lead to lower achievement.
Relationships between Verbal and Non-Verbal Abilities for Migrant Children and Australian Children of Low Socio-Economic Status: Similarities and Contrasts
Authors: Evans Glen T. , Poole Millicent E.
Published: March 2013

Previous research indicates that mean patterns of mental ability show striking differences between different ethnic groups. In this paper, some salient features of information processing on which there are likely to be differences between children of Australian born parents of low SES and children of migrant parents are discussed. An empirical study of these differences is described. The mean performance of the migrant children studied compared with children of low SES Australian born parents was found to be related to the balance between verbal and cognitive aspects of the task. The greater the cognitive demand for a given verbal requirement the better the performance of the migrant children relative to the children in the “Australian” group. Further, the intercorrelations between performances were found to be markedly different for the two groups. The results suggest that migrant children in particular may benefit from teaching which emphasises the pragmatic use of language to indicate desired discriminations and concepts.
Influence of Industry in Higher Education: A Survey of Viewpoints
Authors: Graycar Adam
Published: March 2013

It is often claimed that our tertiary educational institutions are subservient to industry and that their autonomy is severely limited. To discover the level and nature of influence that exists, or is seen to exist in one area of professional education (engineering education), surveys were carried out with employers, rank and file engineers, as well as academics in a university and a college of advanced education. Interests of industry are seen to be accommodated more in a C.A.E. than in a university, though non-academic engineers believe they are not being given a hearing in the educational bodies. The channels for the exertion of influence are mostly informal channels and the process is often not perceived by the actors as involving the exercise or exertion of influence.
Futures Research in Education
Authors: O'Brien Peter W.
Published: March 2013

Since the Second World War, new emphases in policy research and long-range planning have emerged, resulting in the growth of a new research discipline called “Futures Research”. This article outlines the growth of futures research and the role accorded to it in Europe, North America and elsewhere, particularly with reference to work being carried out in the United States. It examines some of the futures research techniques used, and contrasts the important place in educational planning which futures research is beginning to occupy in Europe and North America with the position which it occupies in Australia. The article also calls for the establishment in Australia of Educational Policy Research Centres to undertake long-range educational planning studies.
Teacher-Principal Interaction Leading to Feelings of Concern or Pleasure
Authors: Simpson T. A.
Published: March 2013

This investigation was concerned with the detection and study of types of behaviour of principals with teachers which led to teachers experiencing concern or pleasure.

From free response data in an initial phase of the study, common sources of teacher concern and pleasure in teacher-principal interaction were derived. In the main phase of the study, the 13 concern-causing types of behaviour and 12 pleasure-giving types derived were investigated further. These items were scored by 232 teachers from 14 Queensland state high schools for degree of pleasure or concern experienced and frequency of occurrence. Principal axis analyses and subsequent rotation of the axes yielded three concern-causing factors, “Aloofness”, “Hindrance”, and “Lacking Consideration”, and two pleasure-giving factors, “Leadership” and “Support”.
Introversion/Extraversion and Children's Aversion to Social Isolation and Corporal Punishment
Authors: Parker J. L.
Published: March 2013

Introversion/extraversion, anxiety and the fourteen personality source traits of the H.S.P.Q. were tested as discriminants for categorizing children as expressing aversion to physical punishment or detention. None of the factors was shown to exercise a discriminant function. Sex-type and aversion for punishment type were shown to be related, males expressing greater aversion for detention and females for physical punishment. The negative finding for introversion/extra-version failed to support a prediction from Eysenck's theory that extraverts would exhibit a greater aversion for detention and introverts for physical punishment. Eysenck's criticism of this result, based on the contention that anxiety may be a confounding variable, found no support.
Friendship Choice and Attitudes to School
Authors: Kafer Norman F.
Published: March 2013

This study was designed to test hypotheses relating pupils' attitudes towards the school environment to their social groupings within the classroom. These relationships were examined in a survey of 804 fifth-grade children in ten coeducational schools. The results showed that friendship clusters of pupils with similar school-related attitudes were characteristic of school classes, and that groups could be classified as being positive or negative in orientation towards the school environment. The property of cohesion was found to be positively related to the clustering tendency, such that the more cohesive the group, the greater the number of members within the group who shared similar attitudes to school.
Sex and Student Role Stereotypes in Australian University Students
Authors: Winkler Anne
Published: March 2013

Students from Macquarie University and University of New South Wales filled out semantic differential scales to indicate the qualities they believed the ‘excellent’ university student and a member of their own or the other sex should possess. Male and female students in the Macquarie sample agreed closely in their conception of the ‘excellent student’. Female ratings for the female role however differed more from their ratings of the ‘excellent student’ role, than did male ratings of male sex role and ‘excellent student’ role. In the New South Wales sample, male students rated the female role as more discrepant from the ‘excellent student’ role than the male role.
A Study of Attitudes to the Introduction of Ethnic Languages and Cultures in Australian Schools
Authors: Smolicz J. J. , Secombe M. J.
Published: March 2013

In view of the recent demands for the introduction of courses in ethnic languages and cultures into Australian schools, it is important that educational authorities should know what attitudes different groups in Australia adopt toward such innovations, as well as the grounds on which they do so. Humanistic sociology provides a specially sensitive methodological approach to investigate such questions. It has, therefore, been applied here to the analysis of submissions received by the Australian Government's Committee on the Teaching of Migrant Languages in Australian Schools. Although the majority of submissions favoured the introduction of ethnic languages and cultures into Australian schools, the reasons they gave revealed a number of different attitudes to cultural interaction. Most of the submissions stressed the benefits that Australian society as a whole would gain from ethnic education, as well as the way it could help individual ethnics. Only submissions from ethnic organizations, however, clearly recognized the importance of the maintenance of cultural heritage of ethnic groups in Australia as a prerequisite for significant two-way interaction.
Moral Judgments and History Teaching
Authors: Black Hedda
Published: March 2013

Affective objectives, stressing the humanity aspect of history, are often written into history syllabuses. Yet these objectives are very soon eroded because of the relative lack of knowledge of the psychological equivalent of affective objectives. It is suggested in this paper that Piaget's theory of the development of moral judgment from a stage of heteronomy or morality of obedience to one of autonomy, of reciprocity towards other humans who are now viewed as selves equal to oneself, may provide the much needed psychological basis. By providing adolescents with the opportunity to interact with a much extended social environment of humans past and distant, the history teacher is able to promote maturity of moral judgment as an important aspect of social development. Some normative data relating to this transition in adolescents are briefly presented and some of the conditions that stimulate the shift towards a more advanced stage of development are discussed, with particular reference to Turiel's research.
Models for Tertiary Teaching Units
Authors: Hall William C.
Published: March 2013

The majority of Australia's universities and many colleges of advanced education now have tertiary teaching units. Existing statements, such as the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee published guidelines for the setting up of tertiary teaching units have failed to suggest appropriate models for teaching units or to propose adequate criteria for evaluating existing units.

In the present analysis the functions of tertiary teaching units are examined. Six models for tertiary teaching units are identified together with suggested criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of such units.
Preparation for the Transition from School to Work
Authors: Morgan C. J.
Published: March 2013

The transition from secondary schooling to employment offers to many students a marked change in life-style and outlook. It is the passport to greater sexual freedom, to more subtle social competition and to a more complex concept of leisure. This paper suggests that students need both formal and informal preparation for such changes through the provision of a comprehensive guidance program that both encourages a closer informal relationship between staff and students and offers a link between school, external guidance agencies and employers as well as curriculum preparation for social change. The paper looks at the work that has been done in this area in Australia and suggests that employers as well as schools have a role to play in the facilitation of the transfer to employment. It is suggested that improvements in both school and employer provisions may require some prior reappraisal of the aims of education.
The Effect of Preschool Kindergarten Attendance on Language and School Achievement: A Review of Research
Authors: Braggett E. J.
Published: March 2013

The effects of preschool attendance on language and school achievement have been researched for over 40 years. Studies with both advantaged children and educable mental retardates prior to 1965 revealed no clear trend. Since 1965 most investigations have concerned educationally disadvantaged children. Summer Head Start (HS) programs proved relatively ineffective in producing lasting gains in academic achievement but year long HS programs indicated marginal gains which lasted into the early elementary grades. More structured programs, developed in the 1960's and 70's, were associated with larger gains on language and achievement outcome measures but these generally diminished during the early school years. Longitudinal comparative studies often indicated that more striking short term language/school achievement gains were associated with more structured preschool programs, but results were not consistent and again the accelerated gains were not usually maintained during the early elementary school years.
Test Anxiety and Hypnosis: A Different Approach to An Important Problem
Authors: Stanton H. E.
Published: March 2013

Some of the approaches employed to reduce students' test anxiety are briefly reviewed and attention is focussed upon the use of hypnosis. A one-to-one therapeutic approach using hypnosis as a technique is outlined and the feasibility of its extension to group treatment is explored in an experimental context. One hundred Grade 7 primary school students were administered the Test Anxiety Scale for Children (TASC). Pairs were matched on the basis of these scores and assigned either to an experimental group experiencing three treatment sessions or a control group. The TASC was readministered after treatment had concluded, and again after a six month period had elapsed. Results indicated that the group hypnotherapeutic sessions had been successful in reducing students' test anxiety.
Identifying Early School Leaving
Authors: Poole Millicent E.
Published: March 2013

This paper examines some of the major variables associated with early school leaving. Using a matched sample of “stayers” and “leavers”, an attempt was made, via multiple discriminant analysis, to identify the significant characteristics which distinguish early leavers from their peers who remain at school. The results indicated that leavers and stayers were markedly similar in terms of value orientations and personality, but differed significantly in terms of educational expectations and aspirations, perceived parental job aspirations for them, academic achievement, motivation and the students' own job aspirations. In addition, early school leavers generally disliked school, found it irrelevant in terms of their future occupational plans, and were generally unable or unwilling to cope with further schooling.
Relationships between Professional Self Perception and Commitment to Teaching
Authors: Elsworth Gerald R. , Coulter Frank
Published: March 2013

As part of an evaluative study of the impact of the year in which initial classroom teaching experience occurs, a sample of 768 students in concurrent and consecutive teacher education courses responded to test-retest administrations of a set of professional self perception scales and a measure of commitment to teaching. Reliable individual changes over the eight month period of the study were observed on commitment and the seven dimensions of self perception measured, and the relationships between these two facets of variables were found to be stronger at posttest than at pretest. Additionally, significant concomitant changes in self perception and commitment occurred. The results suggest that professional self perceptions become more central to the commitment of student teachers during training and that self perception and commitment to teaching are dynamically interrelated. It is concluded that course and practicum experiences during the year of professional experience have a major impact on the two facets of professional socialization studied.
Level of Intellectual Development of Teacher Education Students
Authors: Blake Anthony J. D.
Published: March 2013

This report describes a study of level of intellectual development displayed by a population of primary teacher education students at the time of entry to college. The results presented are in broad agreement with United States studies which indicate that a significant proportion of the high school and college population is not at the level of formal operations. Moreover, the results suggest that, for the population studied at least, there was no relationship between level of intellectual development and performance on the New South Wales Higher School Certificate. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for secondary and tertiary education.
Effects of Modelling and Instruction on Problem-Solving by School Children with Different Expectations of Success
Authors: Viney Linda L. , Clarke Alex M.
Published: March 2013

The effects of peer modelling and adult instruction, singly and in combination, on the adoption of an advocated strategy for problem-solving and on subsequent speed and accuracy, were examined in school children who had reported high or low expectations of success on the problem-solving task (WISC Block Design). Peer modelling combined with adult instruction proved to be the most influential treatment for strategy adoption and more influential than peer modelling alone and adult instruction alone in that order. Expectation of success was not found to be a mediating variable for strategy adoption but was for problem-solving performance. In terms of speed and accuracy, the most influential treatments were peer modelling alone or in combination with adult instruction for children with high expectations but adult instruction alone for children with low expectations.
Pupil Evaluation of Teachers
Authors: Biggs John , Chopra Pran
Published: March 2013

Pupil feedback as formative evaluation of teaching has been widely used at the tertiary level, but relatively little in the school situation, and scarcely at all with student teachers. The present investigation is concerned with (a) constructing a pupil evaluation of teachers (PET) scale, for use throughout years 7 to 11, incorporating certain areas of teaching behaviour, and affective pupil responses to teachers; and (b) using the scale as a source of feedback to both regular and student teachers for improving teaching behaviour.

After a series of studies, PET was reduced to four areas of teaching behaviour (Management, Negative Focusing, Faulty Verbalization and Teaching Clarity) and one scale of Pupil Reaction to the teacher. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were high in all scales for regular and student teachers, while between-class agreement was high for regular teachers but somewhat lower for student teachers. Ratings were little affected by sex of pupil or teaching year of pupil or ability level.

PET was used in two feedback studies involving 19 regular and 23 student teachers but no evidence was obtained in either case that teaching behaviour had changed in a way perceptible to pupil raters.
The Transformed Lecturer: A Case Study in Consultancy
Authors: Stanton H. E.
Published: March 2013

A rationale for the use of student evaluation of courses and teachers, and the functions such feedback can fulfil, are outlined. Attention is focused upon the way in which it might be used to improve the quality of teaching in higher education. The importance of an educational consultant, working with the lecturer to help him interpret and use the student-generated information, is stressed. A case study embodying these elements—student feedback, lecturer-student-advisor co-operation, and improved teaching techniques—is described, leading to the conclusion that such an approach offers one possible way of improving the standard of tertiary teaching.
From School to University
Authors: Powell J. P.
Published: March 2013

Problems associated with the transition from schooling to higher education are assuming increasing significance as demand for places slackens. Student entry characteristics and adjustment difficulties are discussed in relation to choice of course and institution. It is argued that urgent action is needed to deal with transition problems and a number of possible solutions are suggested.
Moral Reasoning in Young Children: A Review of Research into Intentionality and Implications for Education
Authors: Yates Gregory C. R. , Yates Shirley M.
Published: March 2013

This article reviews recent investigations into intentionality (use of motive information) in young children's moral judgements. Intentionality has been shown to vary as a function of the nature of the vignette used in assessment and the manner in which the vignette is presented. Research has disclosed that young children can reliably use motive information in moral evaluations and that this capability can be facilitated through training experiences. The educational implications of Piagetian theory and cognitive social learning theory for moral development are discussed.
Multiple Seriation and Learning to Read
Authors: Watson Alan J.
Published: March 2013

In order to investigate the reasoning capacities involved in learning to read, a Test of Multiple Seriation (from Piaget) was developed with an alpha reliability of .76. Problems of an earlier test used by Lunzer, Dolan and Wilkinson (1976) are discussed. The results show that Word Recognition and Reading Comprehension at year 4 (age 9) correlate significantly with multiple seriation (.49 and .56 respectively). Evidence that this relationship is relatively independent of I.Q. is presented. The nature of reading as a serial ordering task, some implications for instruction and further unresolved issues, are discussed.
Parental Attitudes to Cultural and Linguistic Pluralism in Australia: A Humanistic Sociological Approach
Authors: Smolicz J. J. , Lean R.
Published: March 2013

Over the last thirty years a major shift has occurred in the ethnic composition of Australian society. Although the initial policy of Anglo-assimilation has been officially rejected, there have been relatively few changes in school curricula to reflect the cultural complexion of the population. The failure of the assimilationist approach has led many individuals to re-examine their attitudes to cultural diversity. In this paper the extent of this change in value orientation towards cultural and linguistic pluralism is considered from a humanistic sociological perspective. Empirical data are drawn from an extensive survey of parents of all year 10 students in all Catholic secondary schools in South Australia.

It was found that while there was very considerable support for cultural pluralism and language maintenance, there remains a significant minority, especially among British- and Irish-Australians, who opposed the continued presence in Australia of any ethnic languages and cultures.
If Art is Knowledge, Then …
Authors: Chambers John H.
Published: March 2013

It is argued that visual art makes statements analogous to the statements of science, morals, etc. Such art statements are provided by entities like Guernica, The Fighting Temeraire, and pictures on the walls of the local gallery, and concern themselves with things-in-themselves. The whole point of art criticism is to make clearer this thing-in-itself. In the way that other sorts of statement shape the world, so art statements shape the world. We do not know the world and then superimpose art statements upon it; we know the world through the art statements.

This thesis has curriculum implications. It indicates the need for art encounters and techniques of various sorts, since the knowledge of art statements can only be apprehended through engaging in art and from intense verbal communication with teachers about art and its qualities.
An Australian Study of School Environments
Authors: Beck Tinsley
Published: March 2013

A recent national study of the influence of openness of school buildings upon teaching practices and pupil outcomes has found that schools of open area design were associated with lower scores on tests of basic skills. Several possible explanations for the association are suggested in terms of the history of the open planning innovation and observed patterns of usage of school buildings. An interaction was found between school design and school social status on a measure of pupil self-esteem. No association was found between measures of openness of teaching practices and any of the pupil outcomes. Some conceptual problems are examined, especially relating to the definition of “openness” and the importance of values in the application of research findings to educational issues.
Training in Information Selection for Communication
Authors: Evans Glen , Georgeff Michael , Poole Millicent E.
Published: March 2013

An analysis of communication difficulties experienced by Australian children of lower socio-economic status and/or immigrant background led to the development of a program aimed at helping children in the age range 8–12 years develop linguistic selection rules necessary for effective information transfer and processing. The tasks were designed so that children were required to communicate through an opaque partition and, in turn, take the role of speaker and listener in communicating information about especially designed sets of objects and constructions. Evaluation of the materials and procedures was carried out in two metropolitan schools using a set of pretests and posttests. It was concluded that use of the materials for a period of one half day per week for nine weeks resulted in substantial gains, when compared with control groups, at two grade levels, in the children's encoding skills.
The Educational Orientations of Lecturers and Their Students: A Case Study of an Australian University
Authors: Watkins David , Morstain Barry
Published: March 2013

The educational orientations of 1,331 internal and external students and 154 staff at the University of New England were investigated using two recently developed U.S. measuring instruments. Significant differences between the views of staff and students were found in the areas of assessment, the role of students in decision-making, and (in the case of the internals) the vocational relevance of courses and the importance of learning for its own sake. The views of the teaching staff more closely corresponded to those of the external rather than internal students. The importance of these findings is discussed in the context of the desirability for our tertiary institutions to adapt to the possibly changing needs of their student bodies.
Pupil Engaged Learning Time: Concepts, Findings and Implications
Authors: Smyth W. John
Published: March 2013

Contrary to the claims of pessimists and soothsayers who would have us believe that the area of research on teaching is essentially barren and unproductive with few consistent findings that are usable in classrooms, this paper seeks to dispel some of this gloom by focusing on an area that not only has a well established research tradition, but which is generating considerable interest at the moment. Recent research has substantiated what classroom practitioners have long believed about the relationship between pupil engagement and achievement. Furthermore, consistent teaching behaviours and classroom variables are beginning to emerge that are associated with pupil engagement on learning tasks. Systematic and detailed analysis of the related variables incorporated under “academic learning time” represent one of the most hopeful leading edges at the moment in research on teaching.
Simultaneous-Successive Syntheses, Planning Strategies and Education: A Process Approach toward an Integrated Theory
Authors: Molloy Geoffrey N. , Das J. P.
Published: March 2013

This paper reviews recent research on simultaneous-successive processing and planning and traces the development of an integrated model of cognition stemming from Soviet neuropsychology and evolving from a succession of factor analytic studies beginning in the early 1970's. The evolution of the model parallels a contemporary shift in cognitive psychology toward the study of processes and strategic behaviour vis-à-vis the more traditional abilities approach with its emphasis on power or quantitative aspects of learning. Some theoretical and practical implications as they pertain to the educative process are discussed in the light of the model.
The Review Process in Universities
Authors: Holdaway Edward A.
Published: March 2013

Reviews of programs in North American universities are becoming common as pressures increase for greater accountability and more careful use of resources. Considerable expert support exists for the position that reviews directed at program improvement should be conducted by universities themselves rather than by external agencies. This procedure has also been advocated for Australian universities and colleges. When adopting a system of reviews, attention needs to be paid to methods for increasing the benefits of reviews relative to their costs. One method is to establish an appropriate campus co-ordinating committee which has clear and acceptable administrative linkages and methods of operation. Alternative types of committees can be classified as participatory governance, executive, governing board, or state models. A detailed account is presented of the development of the executive model at The University of Alberta.
A Study of Teacher Epistemologies
Authors: Young R. E.
Published: March 2013

Teachers' views of knowledge, their epistemologies, are likely to affect the way they organize and transmit information in the classroom. After ethnographic study had revealed that teachers' epistemologies varied greatly in their degree of formalization, a theory of the practical implications of teacher epistemologies was developed based on Basil Bernstein's account of visible and invisible pedagogies. Epistemology and curriculum code, assessment approach and control ideology were operationalized in four Likert scales. A survey was conducted and analysis of the data lent strong support both to the Bernstein theory and its extension to include the role played by epistemology.
Australian Research on Classroom Environment: State of the Art
Authors: Fraser Barry J.
Published: March 2013

International work involving the measurement and investigation of perceptions of psychosocial characteristics of school classrooms has firmly established classroom learning environment as a thriving field of study. Furthermore Australian educational researchers have made sizable and distinctive contributions to this research effort. This paper provides an overview of overseas work on the development and use of classroom environment instruments, reports normative and validation data from the use of new or modified scales among large Australian samples, and reviews the Australian research in the area. In particular, Australian research has involved predictive validity studies of outcome-environment relationships, use of environment perceptions as criterion variables, investigation of differences between student and teacher perceptions of actual and preferred environment, person-environment fit studies of relationships between student learning and actual-preferred congruence, and practical attempts to facilitate environmental change. Taken together, Australian studies provide much evidence which supports the validity of various classroom environment instruments, which attests to their usefulness as sources of both predictor and criterion variables for a variety of educational research purposes, and which suggests promising new directions for future research.
Fixed Role Treatment: Enacting Alternative Scenarios
Authors: Diamond C. T. Patrick
Published: March 2013

Kelly's (1955) theoretical constructs were applied in the design and implementation of a program of Fixed Role Treatment in which a teacher educator sought to subsume the personal construct systems of 15 experienced teachers. Fresh construct avenues were set out in alternative teaching scenarios. These roles were devised to be quite different from those ascribed to each teacher on the basis of their repertory grid delineations of the teacher I am and pupils. The teachers adopted their roles as fully as possible for ten consecutive teaching days and then repeated the grid. The FOCUS program analysed each grid to present tree diagrams for the elements and constructs and SOCIOGRIDS compared each teacher's pre- and post-test grids to produce a measure of similarity. A mode grid was also extracted for the whole group on each occasion. Considerable movement was indicated and pupils came to be construed much more positively. Though the effects of suggestion are difficult to isolate, most of the teachers attributed increased feelings of potency and self-contact to their role enactments.