Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe academic achievements of language centre students at a secondary college( 2001)What are the academic achievements of adolescent new-arrival English as a Second Language (ESL) students at secondary schools in Victoria, Australia? Research on Non-English Speaking Background (NESB) students in Australia has tended to neglect new arrival ESL students. To examine the academic achievements of this important subgroup of NESB students, the current study will highlight the academic achievements of a cohort of Victorian Language Centre students at a Secondary College over six years with interruption to schooling in their first language (L1) as the key variable linked to academic achievement in their second language (L2). Victorian Language Centres provide new-arrival ESL students with the English skills they need to start their secondary educations in L2. The current study examined the academic achievement of two groups of Language Centre students, those who completed their Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) and those who left the Secondary College prior to completing VCE. Their academic results were summarised into spreadsheets for quantitative analysis. Subsequent to the quantitative analysis interviews were conducted with four ESL students from the Language Centre currently completing their VCE studies to provide further insight into the factors that enabled them to do their VCE. Results indicate that the academic achievements of this cohort of ESL Language Centre students are poor and that interruption to education in Ll had a major impact on the students' ability to achieve academically at the Secondary College. The study suggests that L1 education is the key variable influencing the student's ability to acquire the academic language skills necessary to meet the academic demands of secondary education, particularly the VCE. Other factors such as support for learning and strong motivation were found to help students overcome difficulties encountered in their secondary education. However, students who were unable to overcome these difficulties left the College prior to completing VCE. It was concluded that the majority of Language Centre students faced uncertain economic futures once they left the Secondary College. The results of the study suggest that Language Centre students need more support and assistance to enable them to complete VCE or to access educational alternatives to the VCE. This study also suggests that more research into the effect of L1 education on L2 education be conducted as this was found to be the key variable in the students' ability to acquire the academic language skills necessary to meet the academic demands of VCE.
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ItemProfessional development : returning to industry : implications for VET trainers and teachers of hospitality( 2000)This study was designed to investigate the practices of professional development within the vocational education and training, hospitality sector. The study aimed to explore the effectiveness of the learning arising out of a return to industry activity. Qualitative research offered the opportunity to explore the rich contextual elements central to this type of study. Particular methods applied were questionnaires, a group interview and in-depth interviews. Data were collected and collated concerning the experiences of trainers and teachers during a return to industry activity. Findings generally indicated that a return to industry activity was a very valuable form of professional development for vocational education and training trainers and teachers. A model is posed for return to industry activities. However, critical analysis of the data revealed numerous difficulties associated with the accomplishment of a return to industry activity. Among the implications of this study is a suggestion that Registered Training Organisations and the hospitality industry must embrace greater responsibility for the implementation of return to industry experiences. The study furnished findings with important implications to contribute to the understanding of effective professional development practices of VET hospitality trainers and teachers and also identified critical directions for further research.
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ItemChinese/Anglo-Celtic bicultural children's education experiences in Australia( 2001)This study explores, through three case studies, how home, school and community factors have influenced the education and development experiences of Chinese/Anglo-Celtic bicultural children attending Australian schools. The worldwide lack of previous research on the education of bicultural children and the high outmarriage rate of Chinese-Australian women make it important to understand whether Chinese/Anglo-Celtic children experience similar or different education problems to those experienced by monocultural minority and mainstream children The data was collected from parents and children through questionnaires and individual interviews conducted at each family home. All the participant families were referred to the researcher by colleagues and were previously unknown to the researcher. The findings indicate that the children's home environments have influenced the varying levels of their Chinese and Australian cultural values and language skills. However, they all generally appear psychologically stable and have successfully integrated into their respective schools and mainstream society.
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ItemEnhancing student learning through mentoring: an action research study( 2001)Mentoring has been used throughout history to develop each person through interaction with a 'wiser', usually older, other. In January 2000 I set up a mentoring program for students enrolled in the Diploma of Hospitality (Management) Conventions/Exhibitions course to enhance their learning and provide them with links to the Meetings Industry. Using an action research methodology, this research aimed to identify the processes necessary for establishing an effective mentoring program for students and explore the circumstances in which particular mentees come to `belong' to the industry. The mentoring program was established for three consecutive groups of mentors and mentees. The action research approach used planning, acting, observing, reflecting and re-planning in relation to each successive mentoring program. Data were collected through focus groups held with mentors and mentees and in journals kept by myself and mentees. Actions were planned to improve the mentoring program, based on interpretations of the data from each group, and these were explored in practice with each subsequent group. Based on the interpretation of data collected and analysed, the major insights gained in this study are that, for an effective mentoring program in this context, mentees need opportunities to choose their own mentors, negotiate their Mentoring Agreements and become involved in real workplace activities. I argue that, in order to help build mentees' identities of confidence, competence and belonging to the Meetings Industry, mentoring programs need to provide: ways of enabling mentees to network with and/or become informed about potential mentors with whom, and with whose workplace, they can easily identify - this then informs their choice of mentor; structured opportunities for mentees to plan and negotiate potential learning experiences with their mentors, giving them substantial ownership of the mentoring process; and real work experiences and other forms of participation for mentees, from which they can develop new skills, knowledge and attitudes appropriate to the industry.
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ItemLearning to write scientific discourse( 2000)This thesis describes the perceptions of a group of first year science students about writing tasks during first semester of their tertiary studies. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data from students. An interview was also conducted with one key science lecturer. The questionnaire and interview responses were analysed using the framework of four features of scientific academic writing - Generic Structure, Content, Surface Level Features and Access. The students' questionnaire and interview responses provided insights about their perceptions of the differences between writing at school and at university and also about the difficulties they experienced with learning to write scientific discourse. The students came to realise during the semester that they were not adequately prepared to cope with writing across the range of scientific genres or with the more sophisticated level of contextual knowledge required in their university studies. The interview with the science lecturer revealed a gap between the students' and the lecturer's perceptions that may be a factor in the problematic nature of learning to write scientific discourse at university. While the students did not appear to consider the language of science relevant to their contextual knowledge, the lecturer indicated that he perceived the language of science to be intrinsically bound with a command of the content. The students also indicated that the lecturer's expectations about discourse requirements were not sufficiently explicit. The lecturer, on the other hand, indicated that explicit instructions about discourse requirements were provided for students. This study signals the need for closer collaboration between Communication Skills lecturers and science subject lecturers in bringing the perceptions of the students and the lecturers closer together. The Communication Skills lecturer can assist students to learn the required scientific discourse by working alongside science subject lecturers to collaboratively provide in-context, explicit instruction, scaffolding and modelling of specific written tasks.