Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemIssues of curriculum transition from secondary to tertiary drama education( 2005)This case study aims to explore issues of curriculum transition for those students moving from secondary to tertiary study in drama and theatre studies. Its purpose is to examine the relationship between first year tertiary drama and theatre studies courses and VCE Drama/Theatre Studies, and whether these tertiary courses are meeting the needs of those students who have this particular VCE study as their foundation. As a means of investigating this issue, a group of first year tertiary students was selected as participants after they had enrolled in the unit Body, Text and Performance offered by the School of Creative Arts at the University of Melbourne through the Theatre Studies stream. Other participants included the coordinating lecturer, as well as the tutors delivering the practical component of the curriculum. This qualitative study seeks to examine the nature of this unit through the responses and attitudes of both students and staff. As a secondary drama teacher, VCAA Examiner and Auditor, the researcher has witnessed directly the marked improvement in senior drama education since the introduction of VCE in 1991. This study seeks to ascertain to what extent tertiary courses have responded to these changes in the VCE and whether curriculum at this level is informed by students' previous experiences, knowledge and learning from their secondary senior schooling.
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ItemThe impact of content-based instruction on the teaching of English to first-year students of a provincial secondary school in Thailand( 2008)English as an international language has been recognized as important to Thailand's economic development. Because of the persistent problems in English education in Thai school, particularly students' inadequate use of English to communicate orally and the need for a capacity to use English professionally and for higher education, significant reform of the learning/teaching process in schools is needed. Because of the gap between the theoretical teaching pedagogy and its applicability in real school contexts, many Thai teachers of English find it hard to adopt the CLT approach promoted. by the Ministry of Education. In addition, as the register of English taught in school is typically an everyday one, college students find it hard to de�l with their specialized academic English. It seems necessary that academic English be promoted at lower educational levels. Content-based instruction (CBI) is proposed as a form of teaching English communicatively and an opportunity for young Thai students to access to academic English. A science-based CBI course implemented for a group of highly motivated M l students at a provincial secondary school in Thailand enabled. the action researcher team to gain an understanding of CBI and its applicability in the research context. The course syllabus emphasized the use of the students' background knowledge in both science and English, and the science content helped the students to interact meaningfully. Consequently, the students' academic English oral skills improved as the analysis of the data gained from the research participants' reflections and the classroom discourse revealed, and as measured by the attitudinal questionnaire and the interview test. It is recommended that an action research process be initiated to help Thai teachers overcome the challenges of implementing a science-based CBI course, and that a science-based CBI course be distinctively recognized and promoted by the Ministry of Education as a means to advance learning/teaching English communicatively and therefore to boost its education reform policy.