Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemUse of computers in mathematics teaching and learning : transition from grade 6 to year 7( 2001)Over the past ten years computer resources within Victorian schools have improved. Adequate level of facilities and resources has enabled teachers and students to use computers in the teaching and learning of mathematics. However it appears that computer skills acquired during primary years are not always the basis for further and continuous development of skills in the early years of secondary schooling. Research shows that during transition from grade 6 to year 7 there is need for stability and a sense of continuity in the adolescents' education and this applies to the area of mathematics as well. To gain further insight, this research investigated the use of computers in mathematics in a group of feeder primary schools and their linked secondary school. The study initially investigates whether the computer skills introduced in primary schools were known or built upon in secondary schools. The research then makes recommendations to the network of schools involved concerning continuity in teaching and using computer skills in the teaching and learning of mathematics during the transition years. This study was qualitative and involved parents, students and teachers. Questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations were used to obtain data. Recommendations include the need for continuous communication between grade 6 and year 7 mathematics teachers to form and maintain links regarding the development of computer skills, the need to develop a common goal for all grade 6 teachers in terms of teaching computer skills to prepare students for secondary school and finally, the need to increase computer literacy of primary and secondary mathematics teachers and make hardware and software available and accessible to all.
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ItemTeaching genres in the primary school : what teachers know and do( 2000)In recent times in Australia much has been written and debated about what literacy is, what schools should teach in regards to literacy and how teachers should teach it. Teachers vary in their approaches to teaching literacy in the primary school, depending on many factors. One important factor is the quality of teacher knowledge of language and the associated capacity to use it to guide student literacy learning. This study focuses on teacher knowledge of genres and its relevance to the teaching of literacy in a Victorian Catholic primary school classroom with students from diverse language backgrounds. The concept of genres is clearly embedded in current curriculum documents, namely. the Curriculum and Standards Framework Il- English (Board of Studies, 2000). The explicitly stated outcomes consistently refer to students being able to use, analyse and control different genres and their related' structures and features. This implies that teachers need to have knowledge of genres as well as a range of strategies for teaching genres. In order to explore what knowledge teachers have about language and genres and how teachers teach this knowledge, this research involves a qualitative case study of an individual teacher in a Catholic primary school. The findings. suggest that the kinds of knowledge the teacher has about language and how to teach literacy is related to the practices adopted in the classroom and to the outcomes of student learning.
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ItemAn investigation into one experienced mainstream classroom teacher's implementation of the early years literacy program( 2004)Within the last decade in Australia, there has been an increased commitment to improving literacy standards with subsequent focus towards enhancing literacy education in the early years of schooling. This has led to the development of classroom-based literacy programs designed to meet the needs of all learners, including ESL learners. The Early Years Literacy Program (EYLP), a Victorian literacy initiative, was developed and is currently used by early years educators in all Victorian Government Primary Schools as a resource to plan for a strategic and comprehensive approach to early literacy achievement in the first five years of schooling (DET 2002). The study reported in this thesis investigates how one experienced mainstream classroom teacher, who does not have ESL training or receive ESL support, caters for the needs of a group of ESL learners within the Early Years writing program. An aim of this study is to build on the existing limited body of scholarship and identify areas of future research concerning the ways in which the writing component of the EYLP can be implemented to cater for the learning needs of primary ESL learners. As such, this research investigation is significant as it specifically examines the implementation of the writing component of the EYLP and explores the needs of Year One and Two primary ESL learners who entered school with limited English. This is in contrast to recent research that has focussed attention primarily on the reading component of the EYLP and young ESL learners in the early years of schooling. This investigation adopts a case study approach that allows for an in-depth exploration of one mainstream classroom teacher's implementation of the writing component of the EYLP and the detailed investigation of the needs of a group of ESL learners. As part of this study, the mainstream classroom teacher's teaching practice was observed during ten one-hour writing sessions. Other sources of data included a semi- structured interview, stimulated recall notes and samples of ESL students' written texts produced over a ten week data collection period. The findings of the study suggest that while the teacher was able to identify her ESL students areas of weakness in relation to writing, and whilst she recognised some of her students' needs, she often struggled to cater fully and effectively for her ESL students' learning requirements within the daily one hour writing program of the EYLP.
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ItemNegotiating and enabling change in a primary school: identifying strategies that assist classroom teachers with the teaching and learning of science( 2006)The purpose of this research was to investigate strategies that assist classroom teachers with the teaching and learning of science. The researcher, a classroom teacher and science coordinator at Karingal Heights Primary School (KHPS), decided to conduct the study because of the researcher's desire to improve current practices at KHPS. The researcher's belief that, examining current practices, investigating alternatives and documenting what works for individual teachers are essential elements for successful teaching and learning. The methodology of action research was the most appropriate tool because it allowed for collaboration and reflection. The research period was ten months and involved classroom teachers at KHPS in a process of inquiry and. reflection. Classroom teachers became active participants in identifying strategies that assisted.them with the teaching and learning of science. Finding links to science across the curriculum led to a wider vision of what constituted science and resulted in more science happening at KHPS. Action Research became a strategy that promoted science teaching and learning because it provided classroom teachers with a focused process of investigation and reflection. What emerged was a broader view of science, linked more to the lives and interests of the school community and the conclusion that, although a variety of strategies assist classroom teachers with the teaching and learning of science, collaborative work practices emerged as the most valuable strategy for the classroom teachers at KHPS.
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ItemAn investigation of the effect of teachers' reflection on their development of pedagogical content knowledge for teaching primary mathematics( 2008)In recent years, teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has become the subject of an increasing volume of research. Another body of literature has grown around the subject of reflection, and its effect on practice. Although a link between the two has often been assumed, few have attempted to map this link explicitly. This study investigates the possibility of such a link, and explores possible descriptions of the link. This case study compared two primary (elementary) teachers, investigating both their PCK and their reflection. The teachers were asked to complete a written questionnaire about mathematics teaching, including some questions requiring a response to hypothetical classroom situations. They were then interviewed about the questionnaire. The teachers were observed as they taught, and interviewed about those lessons. The questionnaire and first interview were used to investigate the teachers' PCK, and all interviews were used to investigate the teachers' reflection. One teacher was found to have both rich and well-connected PCK, and a strong tendency to reflect. The second teacher was found to have much weaker PCK than the first, and also demonstrated less reflection. Some examples of the first teacher's reflection were examined, to investigate the possibility that the teacher's reflection had an influence on the development of PCK. PCK was observed to develop during reflection, suggesting that reflection influences the development of PCK.
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ItemResearching teacher agency in primary school science: a discursive psychological approach( 2004)This ontological study is concerned with analyses of the problem of the scientific reform of the primary school curriculum. It was conducted at a time when a solution was sought through State mandated curriculum and standards specification and primary teacher accountability. The case study developed as an interactive ethnography (Woods 1996) written from the point of view of the facilitator of a whole school science curriculum project. The focus of the enquiry emerged as an exploration of social episodes in the life of two experienced Early Years teachers engaged in the yearlong project. Discursive psychology became the theoretical framework for the analysis of the primary teachers' professional identity formation in their professional work=place conversations with the author. Pronominal coding has been used to mark the teachers' psychological location in their storylines of the implementation of enquiry-based science education in their classes. In the teachers' accounts they simultaneously position themselves in their acts and actions and in the local moral order of duties and responsibilities. A significant disparity is shown to exist between the ontologies of the primary teachers' and research accounts, which present mental state analyses of teachers' lack of confidence or reluctance to teach science related to limited scientific understanding. The. study offers a schematic model of social action that theorizes human agency as, developing and functioning within the interactional nexus of local community settings. The community operates in the lives of these teachers not as a latent, abstract concept; instead it gives ideological differences and teachers' understandings of themselves significance in everyday educational practices.
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ItemWhere is Tora?: implementing process drama in Japanese language classes at an Australian primary school( 2001)This study investigates how Australian primary school students respond to process drama in their Japanese language classes. It considers whether this method is appropriate in the second language curriculum. This study was conducted by a teacher researcher using participatory action research methodology. It is a case study of Year Six students' participation in Drama-Japanese classes at a primary school. A review of related literature focuses on the recent teaching methodologies in Language Other Than English (LOTE) and drama as a teaching methodology within second language classes. As participatory action research is used as a methodology, action research cycles are implemented in the Drama-Japanese project. Each chapter of the thesis relates to stages of an action research cycle. The main chapter is a discussion of insights into my teaching and the students' experiences in learning Japanese as their second language through process drama. Research outcomes are examined in relation to relevant literature. The significance of the teacher's role in providing effective second language learning methods for primary school students emerges from the data. It becomes evident that various process drama activities tend to engage the language learners and enhance their interest in Japanese language and culture. This study indicates that process drama can be successfully incorporated into Japanese language teaching and learning. It suggests possibilities for other second language teachers to employ this drama method as an alternative teaching method in their teaching practice with their students.