bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Action and Reaction in Labelling the Stutterer: Reviewing Our Responsibility
Authors: Porter Jeannie F.
Published: March 2013

A review of the research evidence suggests that labelling the nonfluent child as a stutterer may not always be warranted. Premature labelling may even lead to deleterious effects on the development of a child's self-concept and progressive socialization. The responsibility rests with adults as significant others in the child's conceptual world to both appreciate and anticipate the reactions that any overt or covert action of labelling might precipitate.
A Model for Pre-Trial Formative Curriculum Evaluation: Its Development and Application
Authors: Clarke John A.
Published: March 2013

A brief review of formative evaluation strategies highlights a number of problems. A model, incorporating an objective thematic and structural analysis technique, is proposed with the aim of removing some of the existing problems. The model is applied to an existing curriculum unit and produces a theoretically better unit. The original and revised units are then compared in a field-trial, and the theoretically better unit is shown to be also better in practice in terms of pupil achievement. Implications of the model and the thematic and structural analysis technique are then discussed.
Inquiry Teaching in Social Studies and the Social Sciences: A Critical Review of Research Findings 1967–1972
Authors: Marsh Colin J.
Published: March 2013

In this paper, twenty-eight recent research studies on inquiry teaching in social studies and the social sciences are reviewed. Although a number of statistically significant results were claimed by the respective researchers, methodological deficiencies in many of the studies greatly reduce the importance of their efforts. Reference is made to a number of research deficiencies, including unsuitable evaluation instruments, lack of comparability of groups, lack of comparability of tasks and instructors for experimental and control groups and inadequate research designs. Although inquiry teaching has become widely espoused as a teaching method in schools, there are few substantial research studies to support its superiority over other teaching methods.
Domestic Science Schools and Woman's Place
Authors: Bessant Bob
Published: March 2013

Domestic science was originally introduced into the school curriculum to raise the prestige of household work. Every home was to become an efficient and healthy unit within a state working towards ‘national efficiency’ and maintaining its racial superiority. At the same time it was believed that it would be easier to attract girls into domestic service if the status of the work was raised. The girl was destined to spend most of her life as a housewife and mother and therefore it was just as necessary for her to be efficiently trained as it was for the boy to be competent at his trade or profession.

Home is essentially a women's sphere. There is nothing better calculated to develop a woman morally, mentally and physically, than the conscientious performance of all household arts.

— J. W. Turner, N.S.W. Superintendent of Technical Education.

The wife devotes herself to household duties which defy glorification, and which only the philistines of the nineteenth century can promote into virtues.

— Anny Latour.
Are Girls a Disadvantaged Group?
Authors: Rowlands R. G.
Published: March 2013

Statistics from the Victorian H.S.C. Examination over the period 1944 to 1974 reveal consistent trends in the relative numbers of boys and girls remaining at school for the full six years of secondary education and qualifying for entrance to tertiary institutions. Coupled with this there have been trends in the relative popularity of individual subjects and of the combinations of subjects taken by large numbers of boys and girls. These trends in relative success rates and in subjects studied by the two sexes cast serious doubt on the adequacy of the “female disadvantage model” as a guide to action. Predictions derived from this model and an alternative “interdependent sub-cultures model” are examined in the light of the statistical data. The predictions of the latter model are found to conform more closely with the available data. It is suggested that, before any further commitment is made to large scale programs based on “disadvantage models”, there should be careful consideration of possible alternatives.
What Does School Mean to the Greek Immigrant Parent and His Child?
Authors: Noble Toni , Ryan Maureen
Published: March 2013

Data from a questionnaire survey completed by fifty Australian-born parents and fifty Greek-born parents of grade three children in seven inner-urban schools in Melbourne draw attention to the parents' different attitudes towards and understanding of the primary schools which their children attend. Although the groups of parents are not directly comparable, recurrent themes emerging in the responses particularly reflect the Australian parents' concern for the individual child's development and the Greek parents' concern with teacher control. The Greek parents generally revealed a greater understanding of Greek schools than of the state primary schools that their children were attending. Possible effects of such attitudes on the Greek child in his quest for identity and the role of the school in coping with these difficulties are discussed.
Delphi in Education: Review and Assessment
Authors: McGaw B. , Browne R. K. , Rees P.
Published: March 2013

The Delphi technique provides a means for obtaining systematic judgments about future policies or events. Exploratory Delphi studies have sought to develop accurate pictures of the future as it will inevitably be. Normative Delphi studies have sought to establish the shape of the future which is desired, to provide a basis for policy manipulation. This paper reviews applications of the Delphi methodology to educational issues and provides an evaluation of present trends in its development. The results of methodological studies of the technique are also considered within this general context.

“I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.” A. Einstein.
School Structures and Moral Learning
Authors: Biggs J. B.
Published: March 2013

Two models of schooling, conformity and process, are distinguished. Conformity schools are involved in the transfer of particular values and attitudes concerning the mutual interaction of people, and process schools in facilitating the growth of students with respect to sophisticated moral processing styles.

Research in this area has been fragmentary and often lacking in a coherent conceptual framework. The account of moral development by Piaget and Kohlberg is useful as a language for describing styles of handling moral problems, but instrumentation in this area is presently weak.

Environmental variables, called here “activity structures”, play an important role in the direct learning of moral content, when their perceived importance exceeds their functional importance. The present model suggests several hypotheses concerning relationships between the school environment and the moral learning of students.
Intellectual Environment and Academic Achievement at Tertiary Level
Authors: Docking Russell A.
Published: March 2013

In the search for determinants of academic success at University, many attempts to determine the effects of intellectual, social and physical environment on achievement in education have been hampered by the lack of theoretical framework, inadequate experimental design or analysis, and invalid measures of environment and achievement. The study reported in this paper, conducted with Physics students at university, attempts to overcome each of these problems. This has entailed the development of new measures of intellectual environment, the adaption of models of interaction and learning to the University situation, and the use of an unusual research design.

Two major hypotheses are tested, one related to the impact on achievement of staff/student congruence in student goal orientation, the other to the impact of congruence in staff role orientation. Data supported the first but not the second hypothesis in all groups of students.
Students' Ability to Predict Examination Performance
Authors: Hall W. C. , Veale J. L.
Published: March 2013

It is sometimes assumed that students (a) know which questions they will be best at answering in an examination, and (b) know how well they have performed after completing an examination. These two hypotheses were tested for 60 third-year dental students who completed a six-question essay examination in Human Physiology and Pharmacology.

A questionnaire was administered after the students had read the examination questions but before they attempted to answer them. A second questionnaire was administered after the examination.

The tentative conclusions from the study are that students are unable to predict the questions they will be best at, do not know how well they have performed, and generally answer questions in the printed order on the examination paper.
Study of Discontinuing Students at Macquarie University
Authors: Baumgart Neil
Published: March 2013

In a study of discontinuing students at Macquarie University major analyses were based on a sample of 444 students divided into four categories: students still persisting in Term 3 of second year, students who discontinued during first year, students who voluntarily discontinued after first year, and students excluded because of failure at the end of first year.

Multiple discriminant analyses were used to relate potential predictors to category membership. Predictors included both entry and process variables. Results are reported separately for full-time and part-time students, and for males and females within these categories. The major findings carry implications for those who need to make management decisions in relation to higher education. Additionally, the paper attempts to highlight some of the design problems inherent in correlational studies and to present selected methodological strategies used in this study to minimize the effects of these problems.
How Do You Prefer Your Item Analyses: Traditional or Rasch?
Authors: Thomson J. D. , Parkin B.
Published: March 2013

Item analyses of a 22-item attitude questionnaire were undertaken using both a traditional approach and the Rasch technique. These analyses, obtained from the responses of a sample of 158 Year 5 children indicated, at first glance, discrepant results.

Initial inspection of the traditional item analysis suggested that, due to extremely low discrimination indices, all of the items were unsatisfactory. For the Rasch model, however, all items appeared to refer to a unidimensional trait and formed a very comformable set.

Our reconciliation of these seemingly disparate results is based upon three considerations: first, whether the items do or do not measure a single trait; second, whether the interaction of the subjects with the items has resulted in a set of random responses, and third, whether there is an adequate dispersion of subjects along the scale continuum.
Some Current Trends and Issues in the Governance of Australian Colleges of Advanced Education
Authors: Harman G. S. , Smith C. Selby
Published: March 2013

This paper attempts to isolate some key current trends and issues of particular importance for the governance of Australian CAEs and explores a small number of their implications for governance at institutional level, at State level and at national level. The paper is divided into six sections, including a brief introduction. The second section identifies five current trends and issues which may have significant implications for the governance of Australian CAEs over the next decade. The next three sections consider some implications of these trends and issues for the governance of CAEs at individual institution. State and national levels. The final section presents some overall conclusions but the authors are sceptical about the existence of any single correct answer. The paper assumes a general understanding of the colleges of advanced education and their governance.
Objective Tests, Creativity and Language Games
Authors: Stenhouse David
Published: March 2013

Two frequent criticisms, that they are “merely verbal”, and inimical to “higher” functions, notably creativity, are argued as not intrinsic to “objective”-type tests. Using Wittgenstein's “language-game” concept, it is shown that high scores (statistically improbable, hence significant) on a well designed test depend on good understanding of both extremes of the practicality/abstract-possibility spectrum, and seem to involve processes similar or identical to those of creativity. Hence the use of such tests in a routine multi-modal examining program could provide better diagnosis of creative potential than do specialized creativity tests.
Cultural Differences and Similarities in Academic Motivation: A Comparison of Indian and Australian Student Attitudes
Authors: Beswick D. G. , Rao G. Lakshmana
Published: March 2013

A comparison is made of the attitudes, motives and expectations for vocational and educational development of senior secondary and tertiary students in Australia and India. Questionnaires were administered to 440 students in South India containing questions to which responses have been made by 7,000 students in several Australian samples. Students in both countries show similar evidence of the effects of processes of urbanization against a background of common elements in the educational systems founded by British colonial administrations and subject to similar modern influences. The effects of long term cultural differences and rates of economic development are, however, strongly evident. Australian students tend to be more pragmatically oriented, more inclined to approve risk-taking with an expectation of success, while Indian students adopt a more passive, fatalistic attitude. On several curiosity items Indian students scored higher than Australians except in aspects most relevant to creativity. Indian students tend to aim for unrealistically high status occupations more than Australians who envisage a wider variety of vocational choice. Australian students express dissatisfaction with their teachers' dominant role while Indian students more readily accept one-way processes of communication.
A Study of the Maintenance of Some Pedagogical Attitudes Held by Social Studies Teachers after Their First Year of Teaching in a School
Authors: Marsh Colin J.
Published: March 2013

The maintenance of specific pedagogical attitudes held by a group of student teachers during the period from fourth year preservice teaching training, through to the end of their first year of teaching was investigated. Attitudes to characteristics pertaining to inquiry teaching in social studies at the high school level in Western Australia were examined by a semantic differential. After extensive pilot testing of concepts and bipolar scales, the final form of the semantic differential was administered to a final year (N = 63) group of social studies preservice teachers. The instrument was again administered to the group (N = 40), after they had completed their first year of teaching. Significant differences on seven concepts revealed a decline in attitude scores on some major characteristics of inquiry teaching, especially on concepts representing classroom management techniques in inquiry teaching.
The Effects of Advance Organizer, Sequence of Instruction, and Post Organizer on the Learning and Retention of a Taxonomy of Concepts
Authors: Bernard Michael E.
Published: March 2013

The present study examined instructional conditions that underly the learning and retention of a group of three related concepts represented in a taxonomy of behaviour management concepts. A total of 225 students in fifth and sixth form classes read instructional material on the first day of the study and were assessed on the second and eighth days. Both advance and post organizers were found to facilitate the learning and retention of the superordinate-coordinate-subordinate relationships among the concepts. Whereas an organizer did not facilitate the initial learning of the individual concepts, both an advance and post organizer significantly affected the retention of the concepts. The sequence in which the concepts were taught did not influence learning or retention. It was concluded that the internal organization of information is an extremely important condition for durable concept learning.
Choosing the Appropriate Unit for Investigating School Effects
Authors: Burstein Leigh , Smith Ian D.
Published: March 2013

Problems associated with the analysis and interpretation of aggregated data in school effects research are discussed. The multilevel character of school effects research is described. Data from the IEA Six-Subjects Survey of Science Achievement in Australia are used to illustrate the differences in between-student and between-school models of the factors influencing student achievement. The conceptual and statistical aspects of selecting the appropriate unit of analysis are discussed. Recommendations are given for collecting and analysing data in future large-scale investigations of schooling.
Cognitive Development in Papua New Guinea—Some Comparative Data
Authors: Philp Hugh , Kelly M. R.
Published: March 2013

Data gathered from three Papua New Guinea samples on a range of tasks derived from the theoretical positions of Piaget and Bruner were analysed at the level of individual language/culture groups. This analysis suggested that the differences within the groups of Papua New Guineans chosen were more significant than the differences between the Papua New Guinea agglomerate sample and samples of Western European children previously reported (Philp and Kelly, 1974). Indeed the important variable appears to be a language/culture one rather than one related to schooling. In other words, current school procedures in Papua New Guinea are probably having an effect on cognitive development only in the direction that existing cultural forces are already moving the child.
Progressivism and Traditionalism in Teachers' Attitudes towards Education
Authors: McAtee W. A. , Punch Keith F.
Published: March 2013

This paper analyses the pattern of responses of a representative sample of 841 Western Australian secondary school teachers to the Kerlinger Education Scale VII. The analysis shows clearly the two dimensional factor structure commonly postulated, with one factor bringing together the “progressive” educational referents, and the other bringing together the “traditional” educational referents. Interesting bivariate relationships, some of which may challenge conventional stereotypes, occur between scores on these orthogonal factors, and background variables of the teachers and situational variables of the schools. Not surprisingly, however, only a small proportion of the variation between teachers in progressivism and traditionalism can be accounted for by such variables.
Interactive Curriculum Development in Secondary School: A Phenomenological Perspective
Authors: Soliman I. K.
Published: March 2013

With the decentralisation of educational policies in Australia and in other countries, more teachers, and to a lesser degree, students, are likely to be involved in the development of curricula. This paper argues in favour of greater student participation in curriculum planning in secondary school. An “interactive” curriculum development model is thus proposed to accommodate student/teacher participation in curriculum development, based on a phenomenological approach to education and on three examples of curriculum development which appear to implement phenomenological ideas and provide alternatives to traditional approaches.
Compromise and Conflict in Teacher Education at the University of Melbourne, 1919–1939
Authors: Hyams B. K.
Published: March 2013

This paper offers a case study of the difficulties involved in associating teachers' college and university in teacher preparation through the device of joint appointment of professor-principal. The dual post, which was created in Melbourne in 1919, terminated in 1939 in an atmosphere in which the aims and ideals of university and State education department respectively were patently in conflict. Compromise negotiations in 1938–1939 served largely instead to underline incompatibilities between bureaucratic control and academic freedom. Even more fundamentally, the 1938–1939 experience demonstrated the difference between departmental stress on “technical” training and university emphasis on liberal education for teachers.
A Comparative Study of Teaching Styles in the State Secondary Schools of New Zealand and Queensland
Authors: Campbell Elizabeth M. , Campbell W. J.
Published: March 2013

When teaching styles in New Zealand and Queensland are considered within the framework of basic value orientations—industrial, social, academic, and humanistic—it is clear that within both educational systems the traditional values are deeply entrenched. Queensland styles are somewhat bland and austere, and show little evidence of the humanistic orientation; New Zealand styles peak on industrial and academic orientations, and dip on the social one. In neither location do schools appear as “humane learning communities” and it would be difficult to sustain a claim that any alleged drop in educational standards is due to “progressivism”, “soft pedagogy”, or “Beebyism”.
Discrimination in Teacher Employment: A Case Study of Change
Authors: Harrold Ross
Published: March 2013

Many assume that job discrimination is a manifestation of employer chauvinism. This article considers how discrimination can result from employer efforts to maintain flexibility of control in staffing policies. It then recounts the social, demographic and industrial factors which led one State education authority to change a regulation which discriminated against female employees. The article concludes by observing some of the consequences of this change in situations of teacher undersupply and oversupply.
Mathematics Attitudes and Achievement among Student Teachers
Authors: Schofield Hilary L. , Start K. B.
Published: March 2013

Concern regarding the prevalence in primary school teachers of poor attitudes towards and low achievement in mathematics has received some empirical support. But the common assumptions (i) that attitudes towards, and achievement in, mathematics are substantially related, and (ii) that teachers' attitudes and achievement in mathematics affect pupils' attitudes and achievement, await empirical verification. While studies relating teachers' attitudes toward pupils' attitudes and achievements are sparse, those relating attitude and achievement within teachers or within pupils have typically shown a low positive relationship not always reaching statistical significance. Some writers use this as evidence to discount the importance of attitudes in achievement, but the present paper contends that a partial explanation for the lack of the expected result may arise from the measurement assumption that attitude to mathematics is a unidimensional phenomenon. Two multidimensional attitude instruments were constructed and administered to 317 final year prospective primary school teachers. Although the two instruments employed widely differing techniques for tapping attitudes to mathematics and mathematics teaching, dimensions from both instruments showed substantial correlations with mathematics achievement. The findings gave support for the contention that attitude to mathematics is not a unidimensional phenomenon. The consistency of findings within and between both attitude instruments suggests a good validation of each. The contention that teachers' attitudes (and achievement) affect pupil attitudes and achievement is yet to be tested.
Five Teaching Methods: A Comparative Study in Nurse Education
Authors: Tibbitts George E. , Nicholas John R. , McKay Ronald J.
Published: March 2013

The relative instructional effectiveness of five teaching methods, Reading, Lecture-traditional, Lecture-audiotape, Programmed Instruction and Multimedia, was studied. Comparisons were based on test scores obtained by trainee nurses on three different occasions following instruction on a topic in renal physiology. The Multimedia method appeared to be most immediately effective, and the two Lecture methods least effective, in terms of students' ability to recall information following an instruction session. On short term retention of information with no reinforcement of material presented during the instruction session, the situation apparent on immediate recall persisted but differences in effectiveness were less marked. On long term retention of information, with no reinforcement, the effect of the five teaching methods was virtually indistinguishable.
The North American Community College and Australian Higher Education
Authors: Harman G. S.
Published: March 2013

This paper discusses the development of community colleges in the United States and Canada, outlines some of their key distinguishing characteristics and the main models that have developed with regard to student entry to higher education and student transfer between institutions, and attempts an evaluation of the community college idea, looking at both strengths and weaknesses. The paper then explores the possible relevance of the community college for Australian higher education today.
MACOS in Queensland: The Politics of Educational Knowledge
Authors: Smith R. A. , Knight J.
Published: March 2013

The paper is concerned with the controversy about a primary school level social studies course, MACOS, which occurred in Queensland in 1977. The course was attacked by religious fundamentalists over a period of four months and consequently was banned from Queensland State schools by Cabinet in January 1978.

The paper provides background to the debate in order to show that the Queensland campaign against MACOS was similar to those which occurred in the U.S.A. in recent years. A content analysis of fundamentalist writings and MACOS materials is described. The results show that fundamentalist writings and MACOS materials are diametrically opposed at the level of cultural presuppositions. In addition, an attempt is made to demonstrate a connection between knowledge and the use of power by the political elite. We argue that the fundamentalist paradigm for society is favoured by the Queensland Cabinet over competing versions of social reality. The decision to ban MACOS (and SEMP later) can be understood then as a political move to ensure that the schools reinforce the views of the political elite.
Ethnicity, Family Environment, School Attitudes and Academic Achievement
Authors: Marjoribanks Kevin
Published: March 2013

Regression surface analysis was used to examine relations between the family environment and measures of academic achievement at different levels of school-related attitudes for 800 11-year-old children from different Australian social groups. The sample included lower social-status families from the following groups: Anglo Australian (250), Greek (170), recent English immigrants (120), and Southern Italian (120). In addition, there were 140 Anglo-Australian middle social-status families. A semi-structured family interview schedule was used to assess parents' aspirations for the child, press for English in the family, satisfaction with the child's school, and satisfaction with teaching in the school. Standardized tests were used to measure performance in mathematics, word knowledge, and word comprehension while an attitude schedule was devised to assess children's affective commitment to school and their academic adjustment to school. The regression surfaces were generated from models that examined possible linear, interaction, and curvilinear relations between the variables. Results indicate that there are differential relations between family environments, attitudes, and children's academic achievement within the ethnic and social-status groups. Tentative support is provided for a theoretical framework which suggests that there can be no change of social reality which is not the common effect of pre-existing social values and individual attitudes acting upon them.
Social Control and the Extracurriculum
Authors: Kapferer Judith
Published: March 2013

Drawing on a study of three South Australian schools, this paper traces a perceived decline in extracurricular activities to the invalidity of the functionalist rationale for the existence of such activities. It is contended that the development of the extracurriculum has been seen by teachers as a method of integrating the school and community, a method which does not threaten the core business of the school with interference by lay people. Further it is suggested that teachers have become disenchanted with the proposition that the extracurriculum would serve to inculcate values deemed necessary for the maintenance of social order: team-work, co-operativeness, future time orientation, deferred gratification, and the constructive use of leisure time. The contradictions between school and community on the one hand, and education for work and for leisure on the other, have produced a decline in the extracurriculum and the integration of many erstwhile extracurricular activities with the formal curriculum in an effort to achieve social and ideological integration of school and community.
Grouping Primary School Pupils for Instruction in Reading on the Basis of Scores from Standardized Reading Tests
Authors: Hogben Donald
Published: March 2013

Some of the problems and hazards associated with the use of standardized reading test scores in the formation and re-formation of ability groups for reading instruction are discussed in this paper. The notion of “homogeneous grouping” is briefly examined, and some procedures that are commonly employed for the grouping of pupils on the basis of test scores are looked at together with a consideration of test error. Problems associated with the determination of pupil “growth”, and the re-location of pupils in reading groups on the basis of test score change, are examined in some detail. Particular attention is given to two of the major defects of “gain scores” (correlation between pretest and gain scores, and gain score unreliability), the influence of “time of testing” on test scores, and the conclusions that might be drawn about the effectiveness of grouping and instructional procedures.
Financing Tertiary Education: Grants versus Loans
Authors: Ip Pui Chi
Published: March 2013

The issue of whether students should receive an interest-free non-repayable grant or an interest-bearing loan is analysed in terms of an actuarial comparison of the relative costs of financing tertiary education under a pure loan as against a pure grant scheme. Whether one is cheaper than the other to the students depends on factors such as the loan rate of interest, the student population growth rate, the number of years of a program of study, the working life span, and the failure rate of students. Due to the political obstacles of levying a “tertiary education tax”, a loan scheme may be more flexible and efficient than a grant scheme in meeting the needs of the students.
A Critique of Standardization by Bivariate Adjustment
Authors: Hasofer A. M.
Published: March 2013

The assumptions underlying standardization procedures involving moderator variables which use bivariate adjustment are critically examined. It is shown that under reasonable assumptions regarding the selection of candidates sitting for an achievement test, the currently used bivariate adjustment procedures grossly underestimate the average ability of the candidates and put a premium on mediocrity.
Expectations and Realities: A Study of Transition from Primary to Secondary School
Authors: Cotterell J. L.
Published: March 2013

The study describes student expectations of secondary school at the close of primary schooling, and compares these with the realities of their experience in the early part of their secondary schooling. The results showed that students expected teachers at high school to be strict, schoolwork to be hard, and older students to be unfriendly and aggressive. Students from small schools construed events in the transition more positively than did those from large schools. Follow up data revealed a uniform trend towards more favourable views of school, suggesting the growth-enhancing influences of high school upon new students.
Some Noncognitive Effects of Streaming and Tracking in the Primary School
Authors: Nicholson Penny , Brown L. B. , Kenna C. P.
Published: March 2013

Children in primary schools can be horizontally grouped by ability and achievement, or by random allocation to classes. The present study aimed to explore some noncognitive concomitants of these two methods of school organization specifically in relation to self-esteem, academic self-concept, sociometric choice and attitude to the school environment. A significantly lower self-esteem was found among pupils streamed in lower socio-economic areas, but a higher self-esteem for those in streamed classes in higher status areas. In both of these areas social choices were less widely diffused in streamed than in tracked classes.
Delimitation of State-Trait Curiosity in Relation to State Anxiety and Learning Task Performance
Authors: Boyle Gregory J.
Published: March 2013

The present study tested the validity of the state-trait curiosity distinction, investigated the effect of manipulating state curiosity upon learning performance, and assessed the reliability and validity of state (C-State) and trait (C-Trait) curiosity scales. Three hundred senior secondary school students were assigned randomly to (i) Curiosity Stimulating Instructions (CSI); (ii) Neutral Instructions (NI); or (iii) Boredom Inducing Instructions (BII) groups respectively. These treatments preceded the first administration of a test-battery (comprised of C-State, a state epistemic curiosity measure; SECS, a state curiosity scale; A-State; and C-Trait). A learning task (prose passage) ensued, followed by a second administration of the test-battery. Finally a posttest of immediate retention permitted assessment of each group's learning performance. Alpha coefficients for both C-State and C-Trait scales ranged from .86 to .92. Stability (test-retest) correlations were higher for the C-Trait scale than for C-State. Both concurrent and discriminant validity correlations were significant. Only tentative support for the state-trait curiosity distinction resulted, since the factor analyses were dominated by reversed and nonreversed items and subscales. Only for females in grade 12 did the instructional sets influence C-State scores and subsequent learning performance as predicted.
Intellectual Abilities and Processes: An Exploratory Study with Implications for Person-Teaching Method Interactions
Authors: Molloy Geoffrey N. , Das J. P.
Published: March 2013

The present study examines some relationships pertaining to socioeconomic status (SES) and cognitive ability patterns of primary school children. Specifically the purpose of the study was to explore the relative merits of an hierarchical theory of two levels of cognitive ability, in contrast to a process scheme, positing two parallel modes of coding information. The subjects were 120 grade 4 primary school students. Analyses of the data are supportive of a simultaneous-successive process distinction and provide little confirmation for the hierarchical model. Some suggestions for the apparent lack of support for the hierarchical model are presented and implications for future research are considered.
Sex Stereotypes: Some Evidence from Australian Schools
Authors: Sampson S.
Published: March 2013

Sex stereotypes help to support a view of the male sex as naturally possessing qualities relevant to leadership which are believed to be lacking in the female. These assumptions are apparent in accounts of male and female family and economic roles and are reflected in attitudes to sex roles in many situations.

Although objective reality may be similar for both, boys are more likely to believe in the deficient female stereotype than girls. Comparisons of the attitudes and sex stereotypes of girls and boys in high schools with a female principal and high schools with a male principal were investigated to ascertain whether having experience of women in leadership roles was related to greater acceptance of women's capabilities. Findings of this research indicate that boys significantly more often than girls believed that women generally did not possess the characteristics necessary for leadership, regardless of the sex of the principal. Male attitudes to female capacities may partially account for women's lack of career advancement.
Community Expectations of Numeracy in Schools
Authors: Bourke Sid
Published: March 2013

This study set out to validate the intention and content of the numeracy tests used in the Australian Studies in School Performance against concepts of numeracy held by significant but diverse community groups. Individuals randomly selected from each group were asked to rate the importance for everyday life of the tasks tested and items used in the tests. In general differences between the groups were very small and not statistically significant. This and other evidence suggests that, at least in relation to a basic level of numeracy, the often-postulated conflict over differences in goals or objectives held by educational and other community groups does not exist. However, the regular obtaining of systematic and more widely representative information on community expectations of schooling is recommended.
Anxiety, Achievement and Cognitive Incongruity
Authors: Docking Russell A. , Thornton Jennifer A.
Published: March 2013

Two studies were conducted to determine whether an antecedent of ineffective communication, cognitive incongruence, is related to raised states of anxiety and to lower achievement. A response paradigm derived from Rogers' self theory was considered as a possible explanation of the frequently observed negative correlation between anxiety and achievement. It was hypothesized that there was a significant positive relationship between student/lecturer congruence and student performance with that lecturer, and that there was a significant negative relationship between student/lecturer congruence and student anxiety. The findings of both studies supported these hypotheses. The results lend support to the Rogers/Hogan paradigm as a potential explanation of the relationship between anxiety and achievement.
The Distribution of Primary and Secondary School Places between Provinces in Papua New Guinea from 1972 to 1978
Authors: Sheret M. A.
Published: March 2013

Lorenz curves and Gini coefficients of concentration are used to measure the extent to which school places are uniformly distributed between provinces in Papua New Guinea. Enrolment and school age population data for 1972, 1975 and 1978 are used. For both primary and secondary places, the distribution has become significantly more uniform over the period studied. This is in keeping with PNG's planning objectives to spread educational opportunity more evenly throughout the country.
Differential Effects of Sex-Oriented Reading Material on Children's Reading Performance
Authors: Johnson E. G. , Gibbons L. , Kepsi H. , Parker R.
Published: March 2013

Sex-oriented reading materials were found to have a differential effect on the recall scores of boys and girls at the Year 4 level. A similar, non-significant trend was found for the comprehension scores based on the cloze procedure. The sex of the tester was found to have no significant effect on the performance of either boys or girls.
Prediction of University Success: A Follow-up Study of the 1977 Internal Intake to the University of New England
Authors: Watkins David
Published: March 2013

A follow-up study of 275 first year university entrants showed that a measure of good study methods made a worthwhile contribution to the prediction of tertiary performance beyond the level of the Higher School Certificate alone. Other possible predictors included in this study (satisfaction with university and various personality measures) showed little predictive power.
Dreams and Realities about Values and Core Curriculum in Secondary Schools
Authors: Toomey Ron
Published: March 2013

Core curriculum is a design concept planned around common, agreed values or universally desired outcomes and common learning experiences. Recently, there has been considerable interest, both in Australia and in other places such as U.K., U.S.A., and Canada, in the possibility of identifying a content and structure for a core curriculum.

This paper argues that the beginnings of a core curriculum (and not one tied to traditional subjects) already exist in Australia. Furthermore, it proposes that the major obstacle in moving schools towards a core curriculum lies not in identifying appropriate content and structure but rather in providing school level support for program design and effective installation.
Measuring Organizational Climate in Secondary Schools
Authors: Deer Christine E.
Published: March 2013

Organizational climate refers to the notion of perceived environmental quality. This paper reports research conducted in ten New South Wales State secondary schools measuring organizational climate by taking account of pupil and teacher perceptions. It builds on the earlier work of Finlayson, Banks and Loughran in the United Kingdom and serves as a means of validating their dimensions of organizational climate. A technique for clustering schools according to organizational climate and for identifying the separation of the clusters is reported enabling a comparison across schools to be made.

The measures reported have potential for schools wishing to review their current state of organizational health as a means of improving the quality of life for all concerned.
Drop-Outs at the Open University
Authors: Keegan Desmond J.
Published: March 2013

The year 1979 marks the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Open University. During this period it has come to be recognized as one of the major innovations in higher education in recent years. The Open University set out to attempt to solve the problem of drop-outs which had been a source of criticism for other distance education institutions in the past. To a large extent it has been successful in reducing drop-outs to an acceptable minimum. The importance of its success for other institutions which teach at a distance, both in Australia and overseas, is discussed. Caution is expressed about the lack of unanimity in terminology in studies of “drop-outs” and the danger of using “drop-outs” in comparing one institution with another.
A Quantitative Analysis of Changes in the New South Wales Education System 1950–1975
Authors: O'Mara Deborah A. , Johnstone James N.
Published: March 2013

The identification and discussion of general trends in an education system is difficult if only single variables are considered. A synthesis of the comments made by a diversity of variables provides a more reliable and valid basis. The paper demonstrates a methodology through which significant and meaningful patterns of change can be identified. These patterns can then be interpreted in terms of the political, social and economic contexts of the years to which they pertain. Data for the NSW education system have been used for the longitudinal analysis and they cover the period 1950 to 1975. Patterns in system inputs are identified and discussed separately from patterns in system processes.
Teacher as Community Leader: A Philippine Example
Authors: Smart J. E.
Published: March 2013

Research interest in the school-community relationship has focused specifically on the influence which parents and other community members exert on school policy and curriculum. By contrast, the extra-school role which teachers play in the community at large is a relatively neglected consideration. While expectations in the Australian context appear, with some exceptions, to limit the character of teacher participation in the community, an isolated region of the Philippines provides an example of a context in which teachers are likely to assume a general leadership role. Here, the conflict of two leadership traditions, in conjunction with the unique historical position of the teacher, opens the way to local leadership. The need for those teachers, choosing to act as community leaders, to conform to a specific cultural profile is detailed in a case study.
The Subject Coordinator: Significance of the Role
Authors: Bartlett Leo , Ogilvie Doug
Published: March 2013

Responses from teachers, subject coordinators and school administrators in twenty-three Queensland state high schools were analyzed to ascertain the perceived importance of subject coordinators to teacher satisfaction, teacher dissatisfaction and the learning of students in classrooms. Subject coordinators were seen by respondents to make a more significant contribution to these outputs than occupants of any other hierarchical position in the schools.
The Centralization Problematic
Authors: Bannister Helen
Published: March 2013

The paper examines a debate in the history of Australian education between historians G. V. Portus, A. G. Austin and J. B. Hirst, concerning explanations of the centralized organization of Australia's public education systems. It is argued that the historians have defined the problem of centralization in education as part of a wider problem of explaining the interventionist nature of the state in nineteenth century Australia. W. K. Hancock's explanation of the origins of the “interventionist” state is presented to show the limits of the problematic within which Portus, Austin and Hirst are writing. A consensus among the historians is revealed in the construction of historical problems, in methodology and, most particularly, in assumptions about the nature of the nineteenth century Australian state. A critical examination of the organizing presuppositions of the historians' work, that is, of their problematic, questions its adequacy and points to what might be a more adequate problematic predicated on a different concept of the state.
Fieldwork in Schools: The Reciprocity of Bias
Authors: Kapferer Judith L.
Published: March 2013

This paper contains a plea for sociologists of education to utilise qualitative research methods, particularly fieldwork, in order to advance our understanding of the motives and meanings of actors in educational contexts. Some of the major problems of conducting fieldwork in schools—problems of time and working hours, conflicting research paradigms, interpersonal relations in institutional settings and financial and moral support—are discussed. Examples are drawn from the writer's research experience in three schools in Adelaide, South Australia and analysed within a conceptual framework which stresses the importance of the establishment and maintenance of inter-subjective understandings for the conduct of action-oriented research in schools. Some solutions to the problems of the reciprocal bias which too often exists between researchers and research subjects are proffered in the belief that fieldwork, as a method, provides a sound basis for overcoming such problems.