Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemGesture-based approaches to language learning(University of Melbourne, 2012)
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ItemAims and experience in outdoor education(University of Melbourne, 2010)
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ItemExploring the qualities of Electronic Health Record medical student documentation( 2016)Written communication within the health professions has been rapidly changing over the last decade. Implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHR) in health services is now widespread. Medical student teaching and learning of the skills specifically required for EHRs has lagged behind the implementation. Very few original studies have focused on EHR skills and there are no validated measures by which to assess any of the EHR skills students are expected to develop. Our study explored the attributes of quality EHR documentation recorded by medical students, with the purpose of the EHR documentation being the communication between health care professionals to share or transfer the clinical care of a patient. Recently there have been published validated instruments for measuring quality in physician EHR documentation, one being Physician Documentation Quality Instrument (PDQI-9). The purpose of this study was to explore the attributes of quality of EHR documentation written by first-year clinical medical students by building upon existing literature. The PDQI-9 was used as a basis for defining the attributes of quality in EHR documentation as a foundation for assessing and providing feedback on the performance of documentation to medical students. With the focus on assessment, and providing a content validated test domain for assessment in quality EHR documentation, we utilised Kane’s framework for validity to structure the study and a mixed method study design to achieve the depth of exploration required to examine the performance of quality documentation fully. The study was conducted in two stages. In the first stage of the study, an expert panel of assessors applied the PDQI-9 to existing EHR data recorded by first clinical year medical students in a graduate entry program. The assessors both scored the records and justified their grading. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were undertaken on the data collected, and the findings triangulated with the literature review. The second stage employed explanatory semi-structured interviews with the expert assessors to better understand the findings of the first stage and reach consensus on a test domain for assessing quality documentation recorded by medical students. Outcomes from our study indicated that the PDQI-9 in its current format was not valid in a medical student setting, however most of the attributes assessed by the PDQI-9 were deemed relevant and meaningful to assess if their interpretations were clarified. In addition, Professionalism of documentation was regarded as a quality attribute. Consensus was reached on modifications that have the potential to improve the validity of the assessment of quality documentation recorded by medical students. Further studies need to complete Kane’s framework of validity for an assessment instrument and collect evidence to broaden the validity of the scoring, the generalization of the assessment items, the extrapolation to the real world and the implications of this assessment for students and health services.
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ItemDesigning and implementing an intervention program to improve under-achieving Year 8 students’ understanding of multiplicative thinking and assess associated gains in motivation and engagement( 2016)A fifteen-week intervention was carried out in order to examine the efficacy of the Scaffolding Numeracy in the Middle Years (SNMY) (Education Victoria, 2013b) instructional resources in improving the multiplicative thinking of eight under-achieving Year 8 students. The eight students participating in the intervention were contrasted against a similarly profiled control group of ten students. Participants were drawn from a co-educational high school on the lands of the People of the Kulin Nation in Northern Metropolitan Melbourne. Changes in students’ multiplicative thinking, as well as associated changes in motivation and engagement, were measured in pre- and post-intervention assessments. Multiplicative thinking was measured with the SNMY Assessment Booklets 1 and 2, with motivation and engagement examined by use of the High School Motivation and Engagement Scale (MES-HS) (Martin, 2003), also prior-to and following the intervention. These quantitative data sources were complemented with qualitative sources in the form of researcher’s notes and student work samples. Whilst analysis of quantitative data did not indicate significant changes in multiplicative thinking for either the intervention or the control groups, qualitative data sources indicated that students within the intervention group demonstrated modest gains in multiplicative thinking. No statistically significant changes to motivation and engagement were recorded for students in the control group, whereas those in the intervention group showed a significant decrease in both failure avoidance and anxiety, and a significant increase in disengagement between pre- and post-testing. Findings point to several barriers to achievement for mathematically under- achieving students in the middle years, as well as directions for the improvement of similar interventions in future.
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ItemBreadth: the interdisciplinary experiment: an investigation of students' expectations of The University of Melbourne's breadth subjects and the 'Melbourne Model'( 2016)The University of Melbourne introduced far reaching and controversial changes to its program in 2008, when the Melbourne Model was introduced incorporating New Generation degrees and interdisciplinary Breadth subjects now numbering in their hundreds. The success and popularity of these has varied, and the aim of this study was to investigate student expectations of Breadth and whether these expectations have been met. As outlined by the University of Melbourne (UOM) Handbook, “Breadth subjects allow you to gain knowledge and understanding across a broader range of disciplines, enabling you to develop insight, experience, and new ways of thinking in areas distinct from the main fields of study in your degree” (2015). This thesis looks at the range of Breadth subjects the students’ have taken up to this point in time, and specifically at the second year Breadth subject, Sport and Education in Australia, a subject developed and taught over the last 5 years. The aim of the research was to determine whether student expectations were the same as those outlined by The University of Melbourne, and furthermore, whether these expectations were met and the desired outcomes achieved. This was a qualitative study and relied on student feedback. The project is significant in the light of the recent introduction of the Melbourne Curriculum Model to the University of Melbourne in 2006, and was intended to ascertain the success or otherwise of the Breadth Program as a key element of the new curriculum model. The study and related research suggests that Breadth has been successful and has met many of the intended goals of the UOM. Student responses are predominantly positive, with expectations having been met if not surpassed.
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ItemThe constructivist learner: towards a genealogy( 2016)This thesis traces the genealogy of constructivism in Australian primary mathematics education. I place my focus on the mathematical learner and consider how this learner has been shaped, in turn and together, by three significant forms of the discourse—Piagetian, radical and social constructivism. Motivated by my own experiences as a primary teacher and educational publisher, I investigate how it has been possible for the constructivist learner to become a leading learner subjectivity in mathematics education today and analyse the effects of this predominance. To study this ‘problem’ of the constructivist learner, I follow Michel Foucault’s genealogical approach to discourse analysis, and undertake a history of the present. Drawing on a range of documents including curriculum frameworks, mathematics education association material and teacher education texts, I study the constructivist learner of three different eras—1965–1975, 1985–1995 and 2005–2015. I examine the conditions of possibility for each learner, consider who this learner is allowed to be, and, who is allowed to be this learner. Taking a step back from taken for granted assumptions about constructivism, I reflect upon what this opens up and closes down for learners and learning. The thesis analyses the constructivist learner as a shifting subject, emerging from historical-cultural contexts, and in response to theoretical shifts in—and pedagogical recontextualisations of—the constructivist discourse. However, the thesis also finds certain continuities in the conceptualisations: the constructivist learner is engaged, active, a rational thinker and a collaborative problem-solver. I propose that this subjectivity embodies Australia’s hopes for the ideal 21st century citizen and fears for those who fail to attain this ideal. While these aspirations are future-oriented, I claim they attach to our progressivist past as well as our neoliberal present. In understanding subjectivity as both discursively produced and mutable, I argue that the constructivist learner is neither a natural, nor necessary, subjectivity and that its dominance has closed down the possibility of other learner subjectivities. Rather than arguing against constructivism, I seek a consideration of other types of learners and space for other learning theories.
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ItemGifted and overexcitable: positive disintegration, artistic self-perception and their impact on adolescent creative writing( 2016)Although creativity has become a source of great interest in both the public sphere and in educational research, identification of gifted students continues to focus more on cognitive ability than on artistic creativity. As a result, the unique needs of artistically gifted students are often neglected in school contexts. Further, discussions around the emotional needs and psychological well-being of gifted students present difficulties when comparing studies of gifted children which use disparate means of identification or incompatible definitions of creativity or giftedness. Dabrowski’s Five Overexcitabilities (OEs) offer a possible means of understanding the psychological traits of creative students as well as the emotional impact of their creativity upon their learning experience. In linking the OEs to creative production, Dabrowski (1964) suggests that creativity is the result of the inner workings of emotional and psychological upheaval in highly capable individuals. Using a mixed-methods, explanatory design, this study seeks to clarify the links between the OEs and artistic creativity, using students’ self-perception in a variety of artistic domains and their creative production in writing. The study focuses on creative writing because it is largely neglected in the literature on adolescent artistic giftedness. Findings of the study indicate a strong relationship between both artistic and intellectual traits in students displaying ability in creative writing, and finds support for the association between the OEs and artistic giftedness, particularly Intellectual OE. Recommendations are made regarding future study to examine more closely the links between artistic giftedness and the overexcitabilities, especially as they impact upon young creative writers.
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ItemA political malaise: education for political understandings in Australian curriculum: history( 2016)This study examines the notion that Australia has entered a condition of political malaise. It seeks to find explanation for this development in a particular domain: Australian history education. Recent developments therein are assessed for the extent to which political understandings have been made available to students. On this basis the newly implemented Australian Curriculum: History is evaluated. The study employs a methodology of discourse analysis. Perspectives of politicians, experts and theorists are collected to examine contemporary political conditions. Theories regarding the manner in which history and education are harnessed for the purpose of constituting political and national identities are considered. Australian Curriculum: History is scrutinized in the context of the contestation that surrounded its creation and reception. The study posits the notion that the historical discourse has been coopted into the ideological conflicts of Australian party politics; that Australian Curriculum: History is constitutive of ideological predilections of antagonistic parties rather the historically informed critical faculties necessary for useful democratic participation.
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ItemValuing the voice of the learners: negotiating an inquiry-based curriculum with grade 5/6 students( 2016)Garth Boomer is championed for his impact on curriculum design and pedagogy, yet his curriculum negotiation approach has not been widely adopted by schools (Green & Meiers, 2013). My interest in what resonance and application his ideas have for current teachers and students, and for mandated curriculums, grounded the investigation undertaken for this thesis. The study explores how grade five and six teachers and their students in a government primary school in the state of Victoria, Australia, applied Garth Boomer’s (1982) conceptualisation of curriculum negotiation when undertaking inquiry-based learning. A qualitative case study methodology was adopted with a threefold aim: to identify how two teachers and 10 students enact negotiated inquiries; to determine the pedagogies and conditions that support the teacher-student negotiations; and to elicit the students and teachers’ perspectives of the negotiated curriculum process. Consistent with a qualitative study’s naturalistic, interpretive research approach (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2011), the data collection methods included semistructured teacher interviews, student focus groups, classroom observations, and document analysis of student work samples. These methods facilitated an exploration of the meanings and interpretations of the participants regarding their experiences, and the gathering of what Yin (2012) describes as rich description. A school enculturation of inquiry learning, explicit facilitative structures, and student-centred pedagogies are identified as the enabling conditions that support the curriculum negotiation process. From these findings, evidence-based principles are proposed to support negotiating aspects of the curriculum when engaging with inquiry-based learning approaches. The evidence based principles highlight the powerful and progressive pedagogies enacted by the teachers, such as: the use of student contracts and conferencing; scaffolding that includes explicit instruction at the point of need; regular assessment to inform teachers’ practice; and effective feedback for students to maximize their learning and to guide their inquiry foci. The study revealed that Boomer’s proposition of negotiating the curriculum has some resonance with mandated curriculums and can still has currency in its application within today’s schools and classrooms.