Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe learning needs of non-English-speaking-background student nurses( 1998)This thesis has investigated the learning needs of non-English-speaking-background (NESB) students in a tertiary nursing course and whether they are being met. It has reviewed literature predominently from Australia, Britain and the USA. Whilst there are similarites it has been recognised that all situations are not the same so the literature has been used appropritely to establish the theoretical framework for the study and in the support of the research findings. Qualitative methodology has been used focusing on observation, survey, and interview methods from two groups studied, ie., NESB students and academics. The findings from the two groups researched, are expressed as results; from students who have analysed that their learning as affected by predominently academic factors, such as reading and writing for assessments and professional documentation, and on a minor level by language and cultural expectations in relation to teaching/learning. Academic findings support students responses but also identify some professional nursing issues such as expectations of students as affecting the learning needs of these students. The recommendations of this thesis are to provide better academic support for NESB students and to effect greater academic and university awareness of the learning needs of NESB students.
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ItemThe characteristics of exchange structure patterns of an adult low-level ESL classroom using a genre-based approach to the teaching of writing : a study of classroom discourse( 1994)This study is concerned with the characteristics of exchange structure patterns of an adult low-level English as a second language (ESL) classroom using a genre-based approach to the teaching of writing in an Australian context. To provide an appropriate system of analysis, Ventola's (1987; 1988h) system for analysing conversational structure in service encounter texts has been expanded to suit the characteristics of the data in the current study. Applying the expanded version of Ventola's system, the whole data have been segmented into exchanges. Two major categories of exchange structure patterns have been identified: non-anomalous, which comprises simple and complex exchanges, and anomalous, which comprises elliptical, defective, and broken exchanges. Using this exchange categorisation as a basis, the characteristics of the interactional patterns, the shifts of roles of information supplier, and the variability of language use in a genre-based approach classroom have been identified and explicated. Exchange structure patterns dominant in certain sub-stages vary in accordance with the variation of other factors. In conjunction with the shifts of roles of the information supplier, for example, in Sub-stage 1, in which the students were cast to serve the function of information supplier, B-event exchanges were dominant, Only a small number of A-event exchanges occur in this sub-stage. In contrast, in Sub-stage 2 and Rehearsal where the teacher served the function of information supplier, A-event exchanges were dominant.
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ItemHuman capital : a case study of the AMEP( 1995)This study is an investigation of the Human Capital Approach to education in Australia. It examines whether or not the Commonwealth Government is steering education towards the incorporation of policies that invest greater emphasis and resources into human beings as contributors to economic productivity than it invests in their cultural and aesthetic value. The study incorporates the philosophies of the Human Capitalists and how successive Commonwealth and State Governments apply these philosophies in education policy formulation - particularly the provision of English language to adult migrants through the Adult Migrant Education Program in Victoria. The methodology used is a questionnaire of closed and open-ended questions distributed to AMEP teachers. The researcher duly followed up the questionnaire with interviews of four AMEP teachers in an endeavour to shed more light on the reasons behind the responses given by teachers in the questionnaire. The researcher undertook an analysis of the responses in order to investigate whether or not the Commonwealth Government gives primacy to economic objectives of the migration program over its social, cultural and linguistic objectives. The findings are that the AMEP teachers surveyed believe that the Commonwealth Government does emphasize economic objectives over all other objectives of the migration program. A Human Capital approach to education, reflected in the application of Economic Rationalism, is apparent in Australia's education system according to AMEP teachers surveyed and that such has been the case since the late 1970s. The literary works of Schultz, Smith, Dawkins, Piore, Crittenden, Benovat, Green, Pusey, Kennedy, Marginson and Grubb are included in this study. These works form the literature review of the Human Capital approach. As well, the Reports chaired by Karmel, Williams, Kirby, Fitzgerald and Campbell, and a variety of Commonwealth Reports and Working Party Papers into various aspects of education in Australia are represented in an investigation of the application of the Human Capital approach to education in Australia's main education policies. The findings of this research are that the Human Capital approach to education is influencing the AMEP and that this has wider implications for the national education system in Australia. Almost all AMEP teachers surveyed believe the AMEP no longer follows its own National Plan, in which it spells out its aims and objectives, but pursues the Commonwealth Government's primary objective of pursuing the economic aims and benefits of the migration program.
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ItemThe selection and role of literary texts in the ESL classroom( 1995)This study investigated five secondary teachers selection of literary texts and perception of the role literature plays in the ESL language classroom. The teachers were chosen from four schools in the Melbourne metropolitan area and were interviewed individually except for one school where two teachers were interviewed for the research. The interviews were tape recorded and transcribed and formed the main body of data As supplementary data interviews were also conducted with ten students (one 'good student and one weak student chosen by each teacher). The case studies revealed that criteria for text selection were related to considerations for students needs features of the text the teachers preferences in reading practical issues related to the availability of text and examination requirements. The research confirmed the perceptions of writers on this area who have maintained that literature is often used as a context for generating language activities and for imparting knowledge about the target culture The data also found that literature was used to affirm the students own cultural identities.
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ItemStanding strong or standing weak? Equal opportunity, violence against women and the school curriculum : a case study( 1994)Despite violence against women becoming a very public issue in recent years, remarkably little material on this subject has so far found its way into the school curriculum. This thesis examines a set of curriculum materials called Standing Strong, which specifically aims to help students make sense of violent and sexually abusive relationships. The thesis outlines and evaluates the materials in light of their ability to achieve one of the major objectives of recent equal opportunity policy, namely, to help achieve "equality between the sexes, and...improv(e) the conditions of life for girls and women...taking account of their cultural, language, and socio-economic diversity...". (Commonwealth Schools Commission, 1987: Recommendation 2, p. 25). The evaluation takes two main forms, one theoretical, the other empirical. The theoretical evaluation draws upon recent post structuralist and constructionist feminist writings. The empirical evaluation is undertaken by drawing upon the research findings derived from in-depth interviews with 24 young women who had used the Standing Strong materials during their secondary school education. The thesis argues that Standing Strong is flawed theoretically, and that this is likely to hamper its usefulness in practice. The research data confirm this pessimistic conclusion. The thesis concludes by reflecting on whether a focus on education might be more of a hindrance than a help to the development of a meaningful and effective solutions to violence against women.
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ItemThe march of the calculator into Malaysian classrooms?( 1995)Calculators are used extensively in the workplace and are part of the technological change that is taking place in Malaysian society. However they are not used widely in the classrooms. About 200 primary, secondary and college teachers in Malaysia were surveyed about their attitudes toward the student use of calculators in the classroom and their current teaching practices. As many as 98% of the primary teachers and 83% of the lower secondary teachers have never used calculators in their mathematics lessons. The upper secondary teachers were using calculators in their classrooms because the present Malaysian national mathematics curriculum encourages and allows the use of calculators only at these levels. Most Malaysian teachers held more conservative views on calculator use than the teachers surveyed in Victoria, Australia in 1980. They felt that calculators should only be used after students have mastered basic number facts, acquired paper and pencil skills and understood the meaning of the four operations. About 29% of the teachers surveyed supported the introduction of calculators into primary classes. Although teachers believed that calculator use would enhance mathematics learning, many would not allow calculators to be used in class if they were not allowed on tests or examinations. Teachers also believed that parents would be against calculator use in the classrooms if they were not allowed on tests and examinations. It is recommended that the Malaysian Ministry of Education must allow calculator use on tests and examinations in order to encourage their use in primary and lower secondary classrooms.
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ItemA study into the effectiveness of a genre-based approach to teaching writing( 1994)An exploratory study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of an approach to teaching writing based on genre theory, with particular reference to the impact of individual differences in cognitive style on that effectiveness. The writing performance of 31 secondary school students was assessed under a variety of conditions prior to and after genre-based teaching. The position of the students on one of two fundamental cognitive style dimensions was assessed using the Cognitive Style Assessment Task. A comparison of writing performance under different conditions indicated that genre-based teaching did benefit all students, but this improvement was not maintained over time and was not transferable to unfamiliar situations unless models and support were available. A comparison of cognitive style and writing performance showed a significant interaction under some writing conditions. This indicated that genre-based teaching may be more effective for some cognitive style groups than others.
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ItemInformation technology in social education: a study of the factors influencing social education database development( 1995)This study of the creation of Development, Boom and Bust investigates the reasons for the use of information technology in social education, examines the issues involved in preparing and publishing projects of this type, and suggests reasons for the dearth of recent published material of this nature. Development, Boom and Bust comprises data from the rate records of the City of South Melbourne. Two areas, representative of working class and middle class ownership, were selected for entry over the years 1855 to 1899. Along with descriptions and value of each property, occupations of both occupier and owner were recorded, and student activities were developed to accompany the data disk.