Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemConflicting demands affecting the development of secondary education in Victoria, 1910-1970(University of Melbourne, 1971)
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ItemAn analysis of the logic of film criticism with special reference to film study courses in schools( 1970)The distinctive concepts, relationships between concepts, criteria and procedures for judgement-making which constitute the logic of film criticism have been left largely unexplored. As a consequence, film critics and film teachers, lacking an understanding of the distinot body of concepts and procedures characteristic of this form of discourse, have been unable to offer convincing justifications for critical judgements on the one hand, and f o r the belief that film study i s properly an educational activity on the other. In each case, factors or principles extrinsic to the internal logic of film criticism have been offered as justifications. It is shown that the search for justifications for both aesthetic and educational judgements which appeal to necessary formal or moral principles, or to the consequences believed to follow from an experiencing of films, cannot withstand analysis. A critical scourse in the arts i s properly effected by presenting descriptions of the works, expressed i n terms of, and justified with reference to, those concepts and criteriadistinctive of the form of art i n question. It is argued that the work of the English film critic, Robin Wood, and some recent semiological studies on the nature of meaning i n films, represent the beginnings of a clarification of the logic of film criticism. The matter is of central importance to the form and purpose of film study courses. If, to be counted as educational, an activity must be concerned with judgements publicly testable for truth or appropriateness, and if such judgements can occur only within the logical structure of a form of knowledge or discourse, then film teaching can properly be termed educational only if film study courses are informed by an understanding of the logic of film criticism. It follows then that Robin Wood's criticism and the small body of semiological work at present available could well serve as the source of this understanding.
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ItemFormal adult education in Victoria, 1890 to 1950( 1971)This history deals mainly with four official groups: a sub-committee of the University of Melbourne, the Extension Board; a voluntary agency symbiotic with the university, the Workers' Educational Association; the Joint Committee of these two; and a later, separate statutory body, the Council of Adult Education. Because, however, it is concerned with education it also takes note of some social history, history of ideas, and biographies. Adult education in Victoria has always been an offering made by its providers, rather than the result of a demand from potential students; and the innovations made, as each provision proved inappropriate to the community, have been based on an ideal or an idea. Those ideas appear to have been formed largely from two sets of pre-suppositions: some overall view of the nature of man, and some view of educational rigour - what degree of systematic teaching or learning was appropriate. In particular, the period under review saw the end of the motivating force of philanthropy in adult education, and the rise of something closer to the concept of a welfare service for all taxpayers. Chapter One covers the background of ideas abroad before 1891, and the institutions that embodied them in Victoria. Chapter Two takes the beginning of University Extension as the first major provision of adult education, embodying a philanthropic ideal originating in England. Chapter Three introduces the W.E.A., who challenged philanthropy and achieved state subsidy for the learning of the workers, now called upon by universal suffrage to share in government. The workers failed to cooperate with the movement, and Chapter Four details the hopelessness of both the Extension and the W.E.A. ideals as guides to practice, and the consequent parasitism of the Victorian W.E.A. on the university. Chapter Five covers the rejection of the W.E.A. from its entanglement in the counsels and finances of the university, its eventual extinction, and the successful move of the Director of Extension to push the management of adult education off the campus. Chapter Six is a brief overview.
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ItemChurch and state relations as they affected the Lutheran Church and its schools in South Australia, 1838-1900( 1971)Basically there were three stages in the development of the Lutheran attitude to, and relationship with, the State in nineteenth century South Australia. Education was the main issue involved. 1. Fear of State Interference, 1838-c.1865 The first Lutherans migrated to South Australia after suffering religious persecution at the hands of the Prussian State. They immediately established denominational schools, the first in the colony, and thereby gave effect to two principles of continuing importance for the Lutheran Synods. According to these education was primarily a parental responsibility and schools were nurseries of the Church. The Synods declined State aid for churches and schools between 1846 and 1852. 2. Desire for Cooperation, c.1865-c.1890 Although aid to denominational schools was abolished in 1852, various congregations in two of the three Synods accepted government grants for their schools between c.1865 and 1875. Independent Lutherans, who had no synodical connections, did likewise. To qualify for assistance these schools gave denominational instruction outside normal hours. In 1871 and 1873 synodical Lutherans campaigned for the retention of such an arrangement. However, the 1875 Act introduced a 'secular' solution. Consequently, independent Lutheran schools were ceded to the State and synodical schools had to compete with a much-improved State system. Synodical leaders continued to press for aid to Lutheran schools,. particularly between 1878 and 1884 when attention was focussed on the inspection of private schools, capitation grants and free education. 3. Independence, c.1890 After firmly opposing free education in 1890-1, the Synods adopted a policy of complete independence from the State in education. While the Lutherans had little influence on legislation concerning education, both they and their schools were strongly affected by the various Acts. Before 1875 the grant system led to some bitter controversies. The 1875 Act induced the Synods to introduce teacher training schemes. After 1878 fear of State inspection prompted increased concern about the efficiency of Lutheran schools., The introduction of free education in 1892 adversely affected Lutheran enrolments. It also led to significant curriculum improvements. However, the basic weakness of Lutheran schools, their lack of cohesion, persisted despite attempts at reform.
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ItemRestricted conjunctive concept attainment( 1970)A restricted conjunctive concept is defined by the joint presence of a number of relevant attribute values and the absence of another attribute value. Such concepts are relevant to scientific generalizations. Three series of experiments were performed. Experiments IA, IB, and IC were designed to investigate the relative difficulties of restricted conjunctive concepts and conjunctive concepts, using Neisser and Weene type nonsense syllables as stimuli. Ss found the restricted conjunctive concept slightly more difficult to attain; time to solution for the restricted conjunctive concept was significantly higher. In Experiment II, the effects of three factors upon restricted conjunctive concept attainment were investigated: presentation sequence,in which positive, negative, and restricted, instances were presented in different orders. . amount of irrelevant information, in which stimuli varied in the amount of irrelevant information they contained. instructional conditions, in which Ss were given no hints ("complete learning"), hints about the nature of the rule, ("attribute identification"), hints about the relevant attributes ("rule learning"). A 3-factor anova design was used; only presentation sequence was a significant source of variance. Experiment III was a study of a scientific restricted conjunctive concept. Diagrams representing objects, with symbols representing force, distance, angle, time and speed, were used to define a restricted conjunctive concept. A 3-factor anova design was used to investigate the effects of the same factors. As in Experiment II, presentation sequence was a significant source of variance; unlike Experiment II, irrelevant information was a highly significant source of variance. Experiments II and III provided data which were used to test the one-element Markov ("all-or-none") model of concept learning. Tests of the binomial distributions of four-tuples and stationarity could not reject this model. When the strings of responses were Vincentized, the model still could not be rejected for the data of Experiment II, but was clearly rejected for the data of Experiment III. A two-element (three-state) model might account for the data of both experiments, but this was not tested statistically.
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ItemNon-professional and non-governmental organisations and the provision of public education, 1850-1969( 1971)The beginnings of the public education system in New South Wales are briefly examined to set the background for the development of public education in Victoria. An examination is made of the system of patrons instituted under the administration of the National Schools Board and the Common Schools Board. The 1872 Education Act replaced the patrons with boards of advice, and the 1910 Education Act replaced the boards of advice with the present system of school committees and councils. The effectiveness of the boards of advice and the school committees and councils is also assessed. A common theme is shown to have emerged from the earliest time, that the professional educationist has firmly maintained that the non-professional and non-governmental organisation has only a minor contribution to make in the control of public education. The final chapter indicates that there appears to be some change forthcoming in this attitude, because the non-professional and non-governmental organisations are beginning to realize the need for political rather than organisational action.
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ItemThe development of the logical concept of intersection( 1970)The primary objective of this study has been an examination of two of the logical concepts that are held to be basic to the higher forms of human reasoning; viz. multiplicative classification and intersection. The focal points of the investigation have been the questions of the influence of grade level and intelligence upon the development of these concepts, the influence of specialized training on their development, and their order of development. A secondary aspect of this study has been a consideration of the question of the development of the attitude of judgment-restraint in children in uncertain situations. As far as multiplicative classification is concerned the results of this study agree with those of Inhelder and Piaget who found that two-attribute matrix problems were handled with a 75% success level by children in grade 3. However, with respect to the three-attribute matrices, the results of this investigation are at variance with those of the earlier workers. The success level of the children participating in this study was considerably lower than that claimed by Inhelder and Piaget, and, in consequence, it is contended that serious doubt must now fall on the Piagetian generalizations with regard to the relative importance of graphic and operational factors in the solution of matrix problems. Evidence has also been adduced in support of the view that the concept of intersection is highly influenced by intelligence and grade level, but not by the one-hour period of specialized training given to the experimental subjects. However, there are trends that suggest that a longer period of training may produce a significant effect. With respect to the question of the relative order of development of the two concepts, evidence has been presented in support of the view that multiplicative classification and intersection emerge at different stages of cognitive development. The results of the study also suggest that the process skills, e.g. multiplicative classification, can be developed and improved by the appropriate training, and it seems likely that children of lower intelligence are more likely to benefit from such training. The evidence from this investigation also suggests that the specialized training given to the experimental subjects in this study was of more value to the more intelligent children of grades 5 and 6 with respect to the development of the attitude of judgment-restraint than to the other children.
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ItemIntelligence and originality, and the manifestation of humour under varying conditions( 1971)On the basis of experiments with a group of gifted American adolescents, Getzels and Jackson (1962) reported that whilst the written and artistic productions of their "highly creative" subjects were characterised by the presence of humour, those of their "highly intelligent" subjects were not. The present study describes a partial replication of Getzels and Jackson's work using as subjects, older adolescents from a different culture and of a lower mean I.Q. Originality, a more manageable concept than creativity, has been employed and operationally defined. An investigation using specially constructed Originality and Humour Tests, and involving a partitioned chi-square and an analysis of variance was adopted as being a more controlled examination of humour as an aspect of Creativity than the anecdotal approach adopted by previous experimenters. The presence or absence of humour on a paper and pencil test and the degree of humour displayed, seems to depend mainly on the type of instruction given, and to a lesser extent on level of intelligence. Less humour of the type evident in Getzels and Jackson's protocols was manifested in the scripts in this study, paralleling findings by Hudson (1967) with a group of clever English schoolboys. The pattern emerging from a factor analysis of types of humour, although not definitive, indicates that certain types of humour may be associated with particular situations. Humour may well be in part situationally determined and in part the result of a specific or generalised set rather than being the salient feature of a particular mode of cognitive functioning. Further replications using similar instruments are needed on subjects differing from those in the present study in age, social-class and cultural background. Detailed examination of scripts, using more precisely defined "popular" types of humour may reveal differences in degree and type of humour which could add to the understanding of the functioning of the "original" or in broader terms, the "creative" individual.
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ItemOrigins of the Victorian Apprenticeship Commission: a history of apprenticeship regulation in Victoria 1896-1927( 1970)By the eighteen nineties, factory methods had encouraged looseness or avoidance of apprenticeship contracts. The improver system, under which employers were not responsible for teaching, flourished. Youths grew up insufficiently skilled to command full tradesman's pay, thus threatening adult jobs and wages. In 1896, following anti-sweating agitation, wages boards were established to determine minimum rates and maximum numbers of juveniles in certain seriously exploited trades. By 1900, this system was extended to other trades, but the minimum duration of apprenticeship contracts was set at only one year. Because employers resented limitation, wages boards in 1903 lost the power to fix the proportion of apprentices; but in compensation an apprentice was redefined as one bound to be taught for at least three years. Nevertheless, without adequate means of training, adequate definition of trade skills, or an adequate tribunal, the situation remained unsatisfactory. Trade classes were developed to supplement workshop experience, but they had little effect. In 1907 a Conference recommended that an Apprenticeship Commission take control of certain skilled trades and establish the numbers to be admitted as apprentices, their wages, and the goals and methods of their training, including technical education. Improvers would be excluded from those trades. Although wages boards gained power to prescribe indentures in 1909, and regained their limitation powers in 1910, when Bills to establish a Commission were presented in 1911 and 1912, both the form of the proposals and the antagonism of employers resulted in their rejection. A second Conference in 1911 recommended that apprenticeship be left to the wages boards. Between 1911 and 1921, the Federal Arbitration Court improved apprenticeship conditions in some trades; the technical school system developed its capacity, especially in preparatory work; and a Repatriation Training Scheme adopted organisational machinery similar to that proposed in 1907.