bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Improvements over the Educational Career of Immigrant Students
Authors: Marks Gary
Published: March 2013

Many studies of immigrant students in education focus on a single point in time. As a result, explanations of the performance of immigrant and minority students tend to be static, emphasising enduring socioeconomic, school or cultural factors. This article examines the dynamics of the differences in educational outcomes between immigrant and non-immigrant students in Australia over a five-year period from middle secondary school to university. It finds remarkable improvements in the outcomes of immigrant students. These changes are inconsistent with static explanations and point to the influence of educational factors during middle and upper secondary school. Further analyses show that educational factors such as more positive attitudes to students' own achievement, academic press and strategic course selection mostly account for the higher level of performance of most immigrant student groups at the end of secondary school.
Are Universities Responding to the Needs of Students from Refugee Backgrounds?
Authors: Earnest Jaya , Joyce Andrew , de Mori Gabriella , Silvagni Genevieve
Published: March 2013

Although many Australian universities have been proactive in responding to students' diverse needs through orientation and support programs, very little is known about programs needed for the successful transition of students from refugee backgrounds into tertiary study. Facilitating the early engagement of students with their studies and campus life is linked to greater student satisfaction, improved retention rates and better educational outcomes. One of the challenges that academics face is the paucity of research on the learning styles and academic needs of African and Middle Eastern students from refugee backgrounds. This paper reports on a needs analysis undertaken with a group of students from refugee backgrounds in Victoria and Western Australia, using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Participants reported that current support systems and programs are inadequate or non-existent and that many feel disadvantaged compared to Australian-born and international students. The article concludes with recommendations on how universities can better respond to the needs of students from refugee backgrounds.
Estimating Gender Ratios of Poor Reading Using Large-Scale Assessments
Authors: Limbrick Lisa , Wheldall Kevin , Madelaine Alison
Published: March 2013

Extensive research indicates that there are more boys than girls who are struggling readers, although considerable variation in gender ratios has been reported as a result of a lack of consensus in defining and measuring poor reading. The purpose of this study was to establish stable and consistent gender ratios for poor reading using a single definition and measure Australia-wide. The National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is the first large-scale assessment to assess all students across Australia on the same measure, at the same time. By defining poor reading as scoring in the lowest band, gender ratios computed for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 ranged from 1.44 to 1.68. Gender ratios decreased when a less stringent definition was applied. Gender ratios for poor performance in writing, spelling, punctuation and grammar, and numeracy are also reported.
How Important are School and Interpersonal Student Characteristics in Determining Later Adolescent School Connectedness, by School Sector?
Authors: Waters Stacey K. , Cross Donna , Shaw Therese
Published: March 2013

The extent to which students feel connected to their school is a powerful predictor of many health, social and academic outcomes. These outcomes are also influenced by other factors including characteristics of the school such as its size, policies and practices, but how do these characteristics modify the relationship between a student and his or her later school connectedness? This article draws on Western Australian data describing 5159 students from 39 schools who were tracked for the first two years of their secondary schooling. Controlling for interpersonal predictors of adolescent connectedness, the extent to which school characteristics, represented by school sector, modified later school connectedness was assessed using random intercept multi-level models. Significant interactions between school and individual student characteristics of interpersonal relationships as well as mental health were found for later school connectedness, suggesting the sector to which a school belongs influences a student's sense of connectedness to school.
Starry Eyes and Subservient Selves: Portraits of ‘Well-Rounded’ Girlhood in the Prospectuses of All-Girl Elite Private Schools
Authors: Wardman Natasha , Hutchesson Rachael , Gottschall Kristina , Drew Christopher , Saltmarsh Sue
Published: March 2013

This article continues a discussion about the ways in which gender is constructed in the aesthetic presentation and impression management strategies of elite private schools. While before we focused on the construction and promotion of valorised masculinities in elite private boys school prospectuses (Gottschall, Wardman, Edgeworth, Hutchesson & Saltmarsh, 2010), we now extend that work by investigating the versions of femininity celebrated in the promotional materials of elite girls schools. We also contrast, compare and critique the subjectivities constructed by elite private girls schools in relation to the elite private boys schools. Drawing on feminist and post-structuralist theoretical frames and semiotic techniques, we consider how the text, layout and images of the prospectuses work to legitimate and/or disrupt hegemonic versions of ‘well-rounded’ femininity predicated on physical beauty, passivity and subservience.
The Utility of General Self-Esteem and Domain-Specific Self-Concepts: Their Influence on Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Students' Educational Outcomes
Authors: Bodkin-Andrews Gawaian , O'Rourke Virginia , Craven Rhonda G.
Published: March 2013

It is only relatively recently that empirical research has begun to emerge that has sought to further understand the factors that may contribute to the educational inequities between Indigenous Australian and non-Indigenous Australian students. Although it has been argued that research has typically employed small, unrepresentative case studies and weak statistical approaches, a new wave of Indigenous educational research is seeking to understand the impact of psychological constructs on educational outcomes for Indigenous (and non-Indigenous) students. Embedded within this research is a careful consideration as to whether measures used are not only equivalent in meaning for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students but also equivalent in their ability to predict important schooling outcomes. Using this approach, this investigation tests the relation of multiple dimensions of self-concept to Indigenous and non-Indigenous students' educational outcomes. The validity of the quantitative measures was tested through a range of reliability, confirmatory factor analyses and invariance tests with the results demonstrating cross-cultural equivalence of the measures investigated. In addition, moderating structural equation modelling path analyses attested to the predictive power of specific dimensions of self-concept in relation to schooling outcomes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students and some subtle differences were noted. The results imply that targeting domain-specific self-concepts to increase both Indigenous and non-Indigenous educational outcomes can provide potentially potent solutions for contributing to realising equitable educational standards in Australia.
Lifelong Effects of Attendance at Kindergarten Union Preschools in South Australia
Authors: D'Onise Katina , Lynch John W. , McDermott Robyn A.
Published: March 2013

While there is some evidence of long-term social benefits from early childhood educational interventions conducted in socially disadvantaged populations in the USA, there is limited evidence of similar benefits in different populations and countries. This study examined a range of social outcomes of adults aged 34-67 years who, between 1940 and 1972, attended a Kindergarten Union preschool in South Australia, a comprehensive, high-quality, centre-based preschool program. There were modest benefits on educational attainment, risk of unemployment and income, but no evidence was found to support effects on type of occupation, full-time employment or housing tenure. Preschool programs have the potential to enhance human capital development into adulthood.
Formative Assessment: ‘There is Nothing so Practical as a Good Theory’
Authors: Clark Ian
Published: March 2013

In K–12 education, formative assessment is a pedagogical process gathering momentum among researchers and practitioners. It has become a common theme at educational conferences, a key Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) research theme since 2002 and the subject of increasingly frequent requests for government funding in various nations around the world. A school that implements formative assessment reform is engaged in a dynamic process that links instruction and curriculum with assessment in order to support individual learning in the social setting of the classroom. Formative assessment is described, with the elements and principles that direct the assessment process delineated. The importance of high-quality interactions to formative assessment is considered, as well as an evaluation of the theories that form the basis for the formative assessment process.
Improving the Small Rural or Remote School: The Role of the District
Authors: Clarke Simon , Wildy Helen
Published: March 2013

There is a robust body of work highlighting distinctive challenges encountered by leaders of small schools in pursuit of school improvement but this work has focused on the school as the unit of change and neglects the role of the district. As the district potentially influences what principals know and how they use their knowledge, this article examines how districts provide professional support for principals of small schools in rural or remote environments. The article identifies from the literature features of effective districts in supporting change and improvement in their schools. A case study is then presented of one district in Western Australia. This district's magnitude and remoteness yield rich insights into strategies assisting principals to enhance performance and vitality of rural or remote schools and their communities. Finally, suggestions are made for strengthening these strategies referring to the new model of supporting schools on the cusp of its implementation in Western Australia.
Village Schools in England: At the Heart of Their Community?
Authors: Bagley Carl , Hillyard Sam
Published: March 2013

Recent debates within UK rural studies have stressed the shifting interplay of economic, social, political and cultural forces, with a concomitant blurring as to what constitutes rural living, rural spaces and even rural occupations. This article situates the rural school within this social, cultural and political landscape and attends to the frequently heralded discursive policy conviction that ‘local schools are at the heart of many rural communities’. The research applies an inclusive model of ethnography, drawing on participant observation, interviews and documentary analysis, to facilitate a multifaceted engagement, and holistic exploration of the role and place of the village school in two contrasting English rural localities.
Resourcing Change in Small Schools
Authors: Anderson Michelle , White Simone
Published: March 2013

The theme of this article is the challenge that school leaders face in creating the conditions for learning in small schools. We draw on the concepts of ‘social capital’ and ‘social entrepreneurship’ to identify tensions and possibilities for school leaders in a case study of a small rural school as they seek to find resources for school-community change. We found that the nature of social challenges increasingly demands that leaders adopt creative ways to counter social disadvantage. School leaders need to rethink existing resources and harness new opportunities for themselves and their communities with implications for the knowledge and skills required of principals and others in schools. The case study demonstrates that leadership for learning requires alternative ways of thinking about and accessing resources to support change for improvement.
Digital Natives? New and Old Media and Children's Outcomes
Authors: Bittman Michael , Rutherford Leonie , Brown Jude , Unsworth Lens
Published: March 2013

The current generation of young children has been described as ‘digital natives’, having been born into a ubiquitous digital media environment. They are envisaged as educationally independent of the guided interaction provided by ‘digital immigrants’: parents and teachers. This article uses data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) to study the development of vocabulary and traditional literacy in children aged from 0 to 8 years; their access to digital devices; parental mediation practices; children's use of digital devices as recorded in time-diaries; and, finally, the association between patterns of media use and family contexts on children's learning. The analysis shows the importance of the parental context in framing media use for acquiring vocabulary, and suggests that computer (but not games) use is associated with more developed language skills. Independently of these factors, raw exposure to television is not harmful to learning.
The Australian Curriculum: Continuing the National Conversation
Authors: Atweh Bill , Singh Parlo
Published: March 2013

The purpose of this article is to identify some key areas of the Australian curriculum that remain sites of struggle and contestation. We propose that there remain a number of contentious points in relation to the national curriculum. These points relate variously to the content and form of the curricular documents; assumptions about knowledge, learning, teaching and assessment; questions about the aims and rationale of these documents; and whether the documents deal with wider economic, cultural and technological changes. These points set the scene for a continuation of the conversation about the national curriculum and provide a framework for considering the issues raised in the remaining five articles in this Special Issue on the Australian curriculum.
Building a Knowledge Structure for English: Reflections on the Challenges of Coherence, Cumulative Learning, Portability and Face Validity
Authors: Macken-Horarik Mary
Published: March 2013

A curriculum is a knowledge structure outlining what is to be learned in what order. The Australian curriculum for English emphasises creation of a ‘coherent’ and ‘cumulative’ ‘body of knowledge about how the English language works’, with learning that is ‘portable and applicable to new settings across the school years and beyond’ (National Curriculum Board, 2009, p. 9, emphasis added). But what happens when those charged with implementing curriculum cannot agree on ‘what counts’ This article reflects on key differences between stakeholders about disciplinarity in English, drawing on sociological categories of Bernstein and Maton. The fourth challenge facing implementation is ‘face validity’. The creation of a viable knowledge structure for English makes it crucial that teachers and professional bodies find it acceptable. The article concludes with a heuristic figure for representing key parameters of knowledge structure in English and a proposal for interrelating these so as to optimize implementation of the curriculum in Australian classrooms.
The Australian Mathematics Curriculum: A Move Forward or Back to the Future?
Authors: Atweh Bill , Goos Merrilyn
Published: March 2013

The release of the Australian curriculum: Mathematics has generated considerable debate in the education community. Some educators warn that this debate has centred on mathematical content and skills, setting the conditions for a ‘back to basics’ movement in line with the political rhetoric that accompanied the national curriculum development. But the Shape of the Australian curriculum: Mathematics document contains a commitment to provide a futures-oriented curriculum. This article provides a critical analysis of the released curriculum document in the light of these claims. It questions whether the direction taken in the curriculum demonstrates a futuristic view of mathematics education. It considers whether the document is aligned with a national focus on education for citizenship, identified in past government declarations on education as the basis for the development of the national curriculum, and the role of technology in teaching mathematics based on decades of theorising and research in this area.
Indigenous Children in Australia: Health, Education and Optimism for the Future
Authors: Lyons Zaza , Janca Aleksandar
Published: March 2013

In Australia, Indigenous children are disproportionately affected by poor health. The combined consequences of illness and social factors in this population have an adverse affect on educational outcomes for Indigenous children, resulting in lower levels of achievement and attainment compared with non-Indigenous children. From early childhood, infectious diseases are significantly more common among these children compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts and there are a number of risk factors that contribute to this burden of disease. Health and education are inextricably linked but, for the most part, the two sectors operate independently of each other in the provision of health and educational services. This article will discuss the health and educational status of Indigenous children and describe a range of programs and initiatives from both sectors that aim to improve outcomes for this population.
Children's use of Meta-Cognition in Solving Everyday Problems: Children'S Monetary Decisionmaking
Authors: Lee Chwee Beng , Koh Noi Keng , Cai Xin Le , Quek Choon Lang
Published: March 2013

The purpose of this study was to understand how children use meta-cognition in their everyday problem-solving, particularly making monetary decisions. A particular focus was to identify components of meta-cognition, such as regulation of cognition and knowledge of cognition observed in children's monetary decision-making process, the roles of meta-cognition in children's monetary decisionmaking process, and the emerging factors that help to explain children's monetary decision-making processes. Data were collected from 136 mixed ability fifth-grade students (typically 10 years of age) from six different government primary schools in Singapore through focus group and one-to-one interviews. Using grounded theory, it was found that children's monetary decision-making is a complex process, that children often reflect upon unwise decisions and unpleasant experiences, and that parental involvement was an influential factor in their children's decision-making.
Cane Toad or Computer Mouse? Real and Computer-Simulated Laboratory Exercises in Physiology Classes
Authors: West Jan , Veenstra Anneke
Published: March 2013

Traditional practical classes in many countries are being rationalised to reduce costs. The challenge for university educators is to provide students with the opportunity to reinforce theoretical concepts by running something other than a traditional practical program. One alternative is to replace wet labs with comparable computer simulations. These virtual experiments involve no harm to animals and require little ongoing expenditure. This study documents second-year physiology students' perceptions of and attitudes to simulations by incorporating several computer simulations into the practical program. Computer simulations met the conceptual and, to some extent, the motivational goals of university practical programs. While students enjoyed both wet labs and computer-simulated exercises, overwhelmingly the wet lab provided the more memorable and stimulating learning experience. Based on this study, students suggested that computer simulations could be effectively used to complement rather than replace practical classes where students gain laboratory skills.
Discipline and Régime
Authors: Crane A. R.
Published: March 2013

(The following article is one of a series on “The Method of Organising the Educational Process” which is published in Makarenko's collected works. This particular article was written in 1936. In it Makarenko, looking back over his experience in the Gorki and Dzerzhinski Communes between 1920 and 1934, describes the procedures he learned to adopt and which, under his leadership, proved such an outstanding success.)
N.S.W. Kindergarten Children's Knowledge of First Grade Social Studies Content Prior to Instruction—A Pilot Investigation
Authors: Braithwaite R. J.
Published: March 2013

This study sought to investigate kindergarten children's knowledge of the first grade social studies syllabus in N.S.W. prior to instruction. A forty item test which measured the cognitive outcomes of the first grade syllabus was constructed and administered in November to ninety first grade and ninety kindergarten children in three metropolitan schools. While the mean scores of the first grade and kindergarten children were significantly different, it was argued that the difference did not justify the extra year of instruction given to the first grade children. Moreover, there were no significant qualitative differences obtained in the levels of knowledge possessed by the children either in the first grade or kindergarten sample. Suggestions for future curriculum revision in the social studies were made.
Operational Definitions in Educational Research
Authors: Hill Brian V.
Published: March 2013

The use of operational definitions is necessary to educational research of the “normal” kind, but can easily lead to philosophical naiveté and the misleading reporting of results. Robert Ennis's recommendations on the logical form of operational definitions are supported, as a means of avoiding constricting research dogmas, but a case is also made for reminding research trainees of the richness of many educational concepts borrowed from ordinary usage, and of what Polanyi calls the fruitfulness of concepts that are not completely specifiable.
Towards a More Articulate Australia: The Case for Applied Linguistics and Language Centres
Authors: Ingram D. E.
Published: March 2013

The urgent need to develop in Australians inter-cultural understanding and the ability to communicate with non-English speakers is observed. The failure of the present education system to cope with this need is traced back to insufficient and low quality language teaching. It is argued that this problem can be rectified only through better understanding of the nature of the task, i.e., especially by more emphasis on the study of linguistics in the education of teachers of language. Rather than for general linguistics, however, the need is shown to be for facilities for work in applied linguistics. Language centres are shown to be the ideal site for such work since their inter-disciplinary nature brings together workers in all the sciences of language and language teaching. The lack of such centres in Australia has led to the difficulty language teachers face of finding worthwhile post-graduate training or research facilities in Australia. It is emphasized throughout that the notions discussed, though especially relevant to foreign language teaching, are also pertinent to other forms of language teaching (such as English to native speakers and speech education).
Charles Nicholson: Improbable Commissioner of National Education
Authors: Gawne P. C.
Published: March 2013

Charles Nicholson was appointed in 1848 as one of the first three Commissioners of National Education in New South Wales. This appointment has understandably influenced many scholars to conclude that Nicholson was a pioneer of that system of education in the colony. In fact he was not. He was a consistent supporter of denominational education and in 1837 actually allied himself with Bishop Broughton's opposition to National education. However from 1844 onwards his attitude to the latter system softened. During the same period he became increasingly estranged from the person and policies of Broughton, and eventually dissociated himself completely from all Broughton's works. Thus he was free to work for the National system of education which he had come to regard as a necessary complement to the denominational system.
The Innovative School: Some Organizational Characteristics
Authors: Thomas A. Ross
Published: March 2013

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between school innovativeness-the tendency of a school to adopt innovations before other schools—and organizational climate-often referred to as school “tone”, “feel”, “atmosphere” or “climate”. Innovativeness in schools was measured by a combination of (i) initial rating by the Director of Primary Education; (ii) rating by a panel of headmasters and inspectors; (iii) completion of an “adoption scale” by participating headmasters indicating what innovations had been adopted (and when) in their schools during their respective terms of office; (iv) completion of a “change behaviour” instrument by teachers and (v) the completion of an adjectival check list by teachers.

Preliminary analysis of these data enabled a clear demarcation to be made between nine more innovative schools and ten less innovative schools. Organizational climate was measured by the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (OCDQ). This instrument measures four dimensions of climate: Supportiveness, Operations Emphasis, Intimacy and Disaffiliation. Analysis of data revealed that (1) principal supportiveness in the more innovative schools was significantly greater than that in the less innovative schools; (i) principal operations emphasis in the more innovative schools was significantly lower than that in the less innovative schools; (iii) teacher intimacy in the more innovative schools was significantly higher than that in the less innovative schools and (iv) teacher disaffiliation did not differ significantly between the two groups of schools.
A New Equilibrium in the Government of Public Education: A Comparison of Trends in Three National Systems
Authors: Johnston G. L.
Published: March 2013

It is apparent that formal education has become a subject of high public interest and a source of social conflict; consequently, it is not surprising that there has developed a variety of pressures for the rearrangement of the power to control education. The most obvious manifestation of this power is the formal authority available at different levels of government. This article is an attempt to identify and account for the major recent trends in the patterns of government authority for education in England, the United States, and Australia, and on the basis of those trends to forecast the likely future roles of central, intermediate, and local government bodies in the control of education.
Content to Process
Authors: Biggs J. B.
Published: March 2013

Content and process learning are described as two important and complementary ways of looking at the educational experience, and their relationship to the function of schooling in society is outlined. Educational experiences send out both explicit and implicit messages: the explicit ones are the ‘official’ concern of educators; the implicit ones refer to ‘unofficial’ beliefs and values about society and the self. Process and content learnings are maximally beneficial when the implicit and explicit messages are compatible. Strategies of facilitating and of evaluating compatible content and process learnings are outlined.
The Impact of Class Size on the Quality of Teaching and Learning — A Review
Authors: Eastcott Leslie R.
Published: March 2013

This paper reviews some of the salient research into the complex issue of the impact of class size on the quality of teaching and learning. It describes the general attitude of the teaching profession towards class size and discusses some of the claims made regarding the influence of the variable on teaching and learning. Some evidence is presented to illustrate the nature of the profession's stand on the issue.

It is acknowledged that the real impact of class size is much less clear than is implied by the normal assertions regarding its importance, and some of the important literature is examined to illustrate this point. From the discussion several suggestions emerge for desirable procedures in the further investigation of this area.
Social Class Differences in Language Predictability: Written
Authors: Poole Millicent E.
Published: March 2013

Two cloze-tests were constructed from written essays encoded by 80 first-year university students of middle-class and working-class origin. In a second experimental situation, 46 tertiary subjects were asked to ‘fill in’ the missing cloze deletions of these written passages. Within the terms of the Bernstein elaborated-restricted code framework it was posited that, since working class language is thought to be characterized by greater lexical and structural predictability, these passages would facilitate the decoding task. The analysis was based firstly on a ‘verbatim’ cloze completion criterion and secondly utilized an information theory approach. Results on the first criterion indicated significant social class differences (higher predictability of working-class messages on lexical and total cloze deletions); whereas those on the second criterion were nonsignificant. Possible implications of the study for teaching were explored.
Lifelong Education: A Panacea for All Educational Ills?
Authors: Cropley A. J.
Published: March 2013

The increasing pace of social and technological change which has marked recent years, along with the desire of educators to foster greater social and vocational equality between classes and among nations, has facilitated the development of the concept of ‘lifelong education’. According to this principle, education is a lifelong process, and should not be confined to certain age-groups, but should be available to all people throughout their lives. Formal education should, therefore, be a preparation for a lifetime of learning as an adaptation to change, while the teacher's role should also be modified. Unfortunately, writers in the area tend to be excessively enthusiastic, and to describe Ufelong education as leading to all things they regard as good. Thus, they present it as a kind of universal educational panacea. Nonetheless, life-long education is an organizational principle of considerable interest, and deserves serious study, especially of an empirical kind.
Differences in Attitudes and Values of Students in Relation to Program of Study at a College of Advanced Education
Authors: Feather N. T. , Collins J. Maxwell
Published: March 2013

This paper presents and discusses the results of an empirical study of value orientations of a sample of students entering three different programs of study at a college of advanced education. The research instrument used in ascertaining the values of the students was the Rokeach Value Survey.

The data analysed in the study support the general hypothesis that there are differences in the values and attitudes held by students entering different programs of study. Some evidence is presented which suggests that students involved in a business studies program are more conservative on social issues and assign relatively greater importance to values concerned with material well-being and social status than students in teacher education or general studies programs. The data also suggest that teacher education and general studies students place more emphasis on social and moral values.
Educational Segregation in Victoria 1900–1968: A View from the Sociology of Deviance
Authors: Newman Graeme R.
Published: March 2013

The labelling theory of deviance is applied to the study of historical materials concerning the segregation of educational deviants. It is suggested that educational segregation in Victoria gained impetus as a result of various campaigners (‘moral entrepreneurs’), and in addition, the introduction of mental testing with its assumptions of fixed intelligence and dullness provided the rationale for the removal of educational deviants into segregated classes. These classes flourished as a result of pressure brought to bear by various interest groups such as the Teachers' Union and Head Teachers' groups.

The ideas of McRae, the architect of the highly flexible segregational system in the 1920's, were subsequently taken over by the Victorian Education Department and turned into a rigid structure, emphasizing the abrupt separation of educational deviants from the normals. This system remained intact until 1968 when a ‘new’ move was made to change opportunity grades into more flexible teaching units.
An Attempt to Measure the Logical Consistency of a Theory of Academic Motivation
Authors: Campbell Elizabeth M.
Published: March 2013

This paper is concerned with measuring the logical consistency of a theory of academic motivation which involves three classes of phenomena: personality dispositions, values, and situational variables. Two hundred boys and 194 girls completed a motivational exercise under non-test and test conditions, and, by means of path analysis following regression analysis, an attempt was made to assess the consistency of the theory. The model stood up to the empirical test well, but the amount of test motivation that was explained by the independent variables (39.17 per cent) was modest. With the wisdom of hindsight, some suggestions are made for the improvement of the model.
The Effect of Commonwealth Libraries upon Academic Motivation
Authors: Campbell W. J.
Published: March 2013

A total of 484 tenth-grade students, evenly divided between schools with Commonwealth libraries and those without, were assessed for motivational dispositions (need for achievement, test anxiety, and sense of responsibility for successes and failures), academic values, and displayed motivation (as revealed in choice of tasks). The two groups of students did not differ with respect to dispositions and values, but those from schools with Commonwealth libraries showed greater motivation. This finding is interpreted as evidence that the effects of improved library facilities have now seeped through teaching and learning strategies to an important outcome in students.
Problems and Needs of Education in a Developing Country: The Papua New Guinean Experience
Authors: Thomas E. Barrington
Published: March 2013

Four major educational problems in Papua New Guinea are identified and examined in some depth: the quantity and quality of the teaching force, the curriculum, the clients, and school leavers and employment. From this discussion the author suggests some needs, two of which are politically controversial.
Pressures Contributing to the Decision to Dropout—Comparison between Dropouts and Persisters
Authors: Hayes Susan
Published: March 2013

Questionnaire and interview data were obtained from a sample of 129 students who voluntarily withdrew from their university course and a matched sample of 131 persisting students. The results of the study indicated that dropouts and persisters experienced similar problems whilst at university, yet reacted differently. Furthermore, dropouts appeared to have short-term rather than long-term goals; were disappointed in and dissatisfied with university; did not enjoy attending university; and were lonely and friendless.

Pressures to remain at university emanating from parents, peers, and their own personal and career aspirations were considerable, but nevertheless weaker for dropouts than persisters, whereas the stress generated by dropouts' unhappiness at university was great. Dropouts resolved the conflict by withdrawing from university.
Anxiety and Classroom Performance
Authors: Heys T. A.
Published: March 2013

This paper reports the dimensions found in the responses of a sample of Sydney fifth grade children to an omnibus anxiety questionnaire. It also reports the correlation of full-scale and factorial dimensional measures of anxiety with performance on a battery of standardized academic achievement tests.

For both sexes factors that referred to anxiety responses in specific situations in the classroom were found, with test and recitation situations being the most salient. Factors were also found that referred, inter alia, to trait-like feelings of lack of confidence and self-doubt, to anxiety in dreams, and to anxiety generally about classroom performance. Sex differences were clearly observed with regard to the nature and item composition of obtained factors although some similarities across sex were apparent.

The correlational analyses generally produced higher negative correlations between anxiety and performance for girls than for boys; and factorial measures of lack of confidence (for both girls and boys) and generalized anxiety about performance in class (for girls only) consistently showed stronger negative correlations with performance than did other full-scale or factorial measures.
Anxiety and Cognitive Processes in Problem Solving
Authors: Sinclair Kenneth E. , Heys Terence A. , Kemmis Stephen de C.
Published: March 2013

In this paper a trait-state conception of anxiety is presented which incorporates a number of extensions to current theorizing. The conception is a cognitive one in that it emphasizes information processing that occurs with respect to both the trait and state components of anxiety. The conception indicates a number of insights into human problem solving that can be made through a consideration of cognitive processing, anxiety processing, and their interaction. In particular, the role of coping styles in threat reduction and the influence of A-state on specific cognitive processes are examined. Implications for theory and further research are discussed.
Some Effects of Teaching Practice
Authors: Poole Charles , Gaudry Eric
Published: March 2013

Responses to a questionnaire concerning experiences on their first teaching practice and their reactions to it were obtained for 218 Diploma of Education students at the University of Melbourne. Six main factors were investigated and compared with a similar analysis for Canadian students. The relationships between these factors and changes in attitudes, anxiety and commitment to teaching were examined for a sub-group of 95 students.

The major factor to emerge was marked by the students' impression of having students respond well to their teaching, little trouble with discipline and satisfaction with teaching as a future prospect. Those who felt they had learnt a lot from teaching practice tended to be those who had been given close supervision and good facilities in the school in addition to getting a good response from the children. A teachers' strike which was in progress at the time had little influence, except that contact with radical teachers seemed to shift the students' attitudes on pupil control in the humanistic direction.
D. H. Lawrence and Deschooling
Authors: Harris Colman K.
Published: March 2013

The deschooling argument, as being put forward so forcibly today by Illich, Reimer, and others, is not new. One person who has proposed a similar case is D. H. Lawrence. His proposal is attended to here, not so much because of its placement in history, but because of the important nature of the arguments which support it. Lawrence, at the beginning of the universal compulsory schooling movement, foresaw problems and dangers which others, with half a century's hindsight, are only beginning to focus on.
Implications for Moral Education of Some Current Conceptions of Morality
Authors: Hill Brian V.
Published: March 2013

Those who claim to have made discussion of moral education easier by establishing a value-free concept of morality appeal to ordinary language as justification. This article claims that the discourse of ordinary people conceals at least four significantly divergent conceptions, and shows how the implications for curriculum which flow from each of these differ seriously.
Verbal Analogies and Concrete Operations
Authors: Sheppard John L.
Published: March 2013

In two studies children in the age range 6–11 years were given tests of verbal analogies, of word associations, and of concrete operations. Analogies used were at two levels of difficulty. The more difficult ones involved more advanced vocabulary, required more knowledge, or had a more unusual relation between terms. By refining the easier analogies items it was possible to remove the influence of a word association strategy which might have contributed to correct answers without involving the eduction of relations and correlates. Children successful on tests of concrete operations were able to demonstrate logical reasoning on these refined analogies items. The solving of verbal analogies can therefore be seen as related to concrete operational thought, rather than as requiring formal operational thought.
Sixty Years of Public Examinations and Matriculation Policy in Western Australia
Authors: White M. A.
Published: March 2013

Public examinations and matriculation policy in Western Australia are studied during four periods of development: (a) an establishment phase (1890 to 1919), (b) a stage of entrenchment (1920 to 1939), (c) a decade of abortive reform movements (1940 to 1950), and (d) a final phase of major changes during the 1960's.

The article examines events in the context of shifting relationships between interest groups and personalities involved, movements in the purposes and emphases of secondary and higher education, and other background factors. Of special importance is the role of matriculation policy at the University of Western Australia, which from 1913 to 1961 was Australia's only “free” university.
The Effect of Adjunct Questions on Learning from Written Instruction by Students from Different Achievement Levels
Authors: Watts Graeme H.
Published: March 2013

Sixth grade pupils from two distinct achievement levels read passages with or without adjunct questions. These adjunct questions were described as Repetition questions as they were directly related to specific information in the passage. A posttest repeated these adjunct questions, an equal number of ‘Incidental’ repetition questions, and a set of Integration questions requiring some combination of points or interpretation of material. High achievement level pupils performed significantly better than low achievement level pupils irrespective of treatments. The presence or absence of adjunct questions during instruction only had a significant effect on posttest performance with low achievement level pupils.
Simulation Methods in Teacher Education
Authors: Hughes P. W. , Traill R. D.
Published: March 2013

Teacher educators continue to seek ways in which teacher education programs can provide experiences for student teachers which will assist them to acquire the skills necessary in promoting effective classroom interactions. It is not always possible, nor for that matter on all occasions desirable, that such experiences be provided in actual classroom practice teaching settings. This article discusses the role that simulation might play in providing meaningful practice situations for student teachers. Research literature has been reviewed to indicate ways in which simulation has been found to be effective in the development of teaching competencies. Examples of simulated activities are discussed by the authors to illustrate how programs might develop a wider range of practical experiences for student teachers.
The Use of Behaviour Modification to Achieve Humanistic Aims
Authors: Stanton H. E.
Published: March 2013

The basic disagreement between Humanists and Behaviourists is outlined, and evidence advanced that the two positions are not as mutually exclusive as is often suggested. Attention is focussed upon the issue of positive self-concept development, an important Humanistic goal, and the position taken that one effective means of achieving this desirable end might be the use of behaviour modification techniques. To obviate the criticism that such techniques involve manipulation of the individual by another person, the importance of self-control of the modification program is stressed. An experiment carried out with education students at Flinders University is reported, and although the findings are only suggestive, the feasibility of the general hypothesis is indicated.
Cognitive Performance: A Model for Analysis
Authors: Marjoribanks Kevin
Published: March 2013

Large scale studies that have examined the correlates of the cognitive performance of children have generally concentrated on the use of global environmental predictors, such as social status characteristics, and they have ignored almost completely assessments of the affective characteristics of the children. In the present study, cognitive performance was examined by analysing a path model which included family environment variables, social status indicators, and a set of enabling conditions consisting of self-esteem, attitudes toward schoolwork and educational and occupational aspirations. Longitudinal data that were collected over a 4-year period for boys and girls were used to test the model. The sample included 2,400 English children divided into three age-cohorts with approximately 800, equally divided between boys and girls, in each of the cohorts.

Moderate to large percentages of the variance in the cognitive performance of the children were accounted for by the model, ranging from 46 per cent for the junior girls to 68 per cent for the senior girls. Analyses of path regression coefficients and path coefficients indicated that the cognitive performance of the children became more stable as the age of the children increased. However, even for the senior children, the environment measures and the enabling conditions were significant predictors of cognitive performance. The findings suggest that our understanding of individual differences in cognitive performance is likely to be enhanced if research is guided by the construction of statistical models.
Coercion and Teaching: An Alternative View
Authors: Beran Harry
Published: March 2013

In Coercion and Teaching (this journal, June 1973). Hobson argues for the view that one cannot be coerced to learn that X. The present paper tries to show that Hobson's argument for this view depends on a misunderstanding of the concept of coercion and that the conclusion of his argument is false.
Coercion and Teaching: Further Reflections
Authors: Hobson P. R.
Published: March 2013

In this rejoinder it is argued that the main objections advanced by Beran can be met if two important senses of the concepts of coercion and teaching are distinguished; these are called the “loose” and “tight” senses. With these distinctions in mind, the question of when coercion can be a method of teaching is further examined and it is found that the main contention of the initial paper still appears valid. Coercion and teaching only overlap either when they are both interpreted in a loose sense or when the teaching is concerned just with the acquisition of basic habits as argued previously. It is further maintained that even where we can talk in a loose sense of coerced belief, it is a more difficult task to coerce false than true belief, and finally that the concepts of education and coercion are incompatible.
Children's Performance on a Test of the Concept of Horizontality, Using Water Levels
Authors: Sheppard John L.
Published: March 2013

A test of the concept of horizontality was devised to examine the performance of a sample of 861 Australian school children in grades 1 to 6 tested in their classrooms. They were required to pencil in the water on eight outline drawings of a bottle standing at various angles. The concept was found to be quite difficult to attain, for not until age 10 years did more than 50% of subjects score well. A confusion of the horizontal and vertical was observed with some subjects, the confusion significantly occurring with those who had developed an appreciable understanding of the concept of horizontality, but were not fully operational.