Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe experience of transition and adjustment for mature-age, undergraduate students in their first year of university(University of Melbourne, 2015)
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ItemDevelopmental assessment and metacognition in teachers' professional learning and differentiated teaching(University of Melbourne, 2014)
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ItemMeasurement of the ability to generate higher order learning in MOOCs(University of Melbourne, 2016)
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ItemRetheorising equity in everyday routines in early childhood : a poststructuralist action research story(University of Melbourne, 2010)
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ItemParent-professional relationships in early intervention for children with hearing impairment : the Malaysian experience(University of Melbourne, 2010)Establishing collaborative parent-professional relationships is one of the central values of the family-centred approach to early intervention (Blue-Banning, Summers, Frankland, Nelson, & Beegle, 2004; Dunst, 2002; Park & Turnbull, 2002). The shift from a professionally-centred to a family-centred approach in early intervention has been documented in western countries over the last three decades (Brader, 2000; Espe-Sherwindt, 2008). However, there is a dearth of similar reports based on studies conducted in Asian countries, such as Malaysia. This study describes parent-professional relationships in the context of early intervention for children with hearing impairment in Malaysia. Twenty-two parents of children with hearing impairment and ten professionals who provided early intervention services to the parents were recruited from four programs in Kuala Lumpur and surrounds. The majority of parents were mothers, and all the professionals were speech-language pathologists who had been consistently working with the family for at least one year prior to this study. There were two stages of data collection. During Stage 1, all the parent and professional participants individually completed questionnaires. The questionnaires investigated the beliefs, interaction behaviours, and quality of relationships of the parents and professionals involved in this study. The parent participants also responded to two additional domains of investigation: family functioning and service satisfaction. Five parent-professional pairs who reported highly positive relationships in their questionnaires participated in Stage 2. They were firstly videotaped during an intervention session, and then interviewed separately about their parent-professional interactions. The videotapes were used to study the pairs� interaction behaviours. The interviews provided insights from these participants on their roles and interactions in their parent-professional relationships. The questionnaire, video, and interview data were firstly analysed separately, and then were triangulated to generate case studies. Results yielded from all sources of data have been reframed according to the relational and participatory helpgiving practices (Dunst, Johanson, Trivette, & Hamby, 1991; Dunst & Trivette, 1996). Relational helpgiving practices were strongly evident in this study, such as professionals displaying positive interpersonal skills, and establishing positive relationships with parents. Furthermore, positive attitudes towards parent capabilities were also found, where the parents� knowledge about their child, and the parents� roles as their child�s teachers at home, were highly valued by the professionals. The participants in this study not only believed in equal relationships, they also ranked their parent-professional relationships as equal. However, the participatory helpgiving practices were markedly absent from this study�s findings. The professionals� specialized knowledge and skills, decisions, and behaviours, were the driving factors in the intervention. The professionals also assumed many leading roles in intervention, such as the decision maker, planner, controller, and instructor to parent. Parent involvement, although deemed as important, was defined by the professionals as parent compliance to professionals� instructions. Other less empowering roles assumed by the parents, such as the non-participating observer in intervention session, indicate inequality in the parent-professional relationships. Being trained in a professionally-centred model, the professionals focussed their intervention on the child, rather than on the family. A generic program for all families was also implemented by the professionals. This may help to explain the family�s report that their own strengths and resources being under-utilized, and their specific family needs not addressed by the professionals. The presence of relational helpgiving and the absence of participatory help giving identify the parent-professional relationships in this study as characteristic of a family-allied model of intervention rather than family-centred.
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ItemVCAL: growth and performance( 2015)This thesis examines a major curriculum innovation that was introduced into the upper secondary curriculum in the Australian state of Victoria in 2002 – the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL). Victoria is the only state in Australia which has developed a separate senior secondary certificate, a vocational certificate to sit alongside the general Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). The VCAL claims to be a comprehensive attempt to anchor vocational learning within the secondary school environment in Australia. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the VCAL has delivered on its promise to provide an educational opportunity for students for whom the VCE is not appropriate; an opportunity to experience success and move into appropriate pathways into further education and training and employment. It is important to assess the educational impact a vocational program like the VCAL has had within the senior secondary curriculum. To see this in context, the research literature on vocational and applied learning in schools is examined through various approaches that are used in the delivery of vocational and applied learning to school-age students internationally and in Australia. The research focuses on two main models of differentiation – whether they are predominantly school-based or employment-based and the age at which differentiation into academic and vocational programs occurs. The research also examines the effectiveness of these programs and their impact on school retention, student engagement and their ability to create effective pathways into a range of destinations, including further education, training and employment. The story of vocational education and training (VET) in the Australian state of Victoria is seen in an historical context as the researcher explores the history of curriculum change in Victoria over many decades, leading to the senior secondary offerings available today. The thesis concludes that the VCAL has on the whole been successful in engaging the VCAL students who participated in this study. It has also provided strong pathways in apprenticeships. However, pathways into employment in particular, full-time employment are less than optimal. The VCAL also continues to face many challenges, particularly in terms of perceptions and ownership at a local level. The thesis argues for a new educational philosophy and a redefinition of upper secondary curriculum to place VCAL as a credible alternative to the VCE. It argues for a redesign of the VCAL program requiring all VCAL students to enrol in the VCAL as an apprentice or trainee. Finally, it argues for a whole school approach and commitment to the VCAL program with strong leadership support and active involvement in the VCAL program.
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ItemInvestigating the effect of mathematics problem context on the performance of Year 10 students( 2016)This thesis is to revisit and scrutinise a possible effect of problem context familiarity, context engagement, and levels of context use on the performance of Year 10 students in PISA and PISA-like problems. Two research phases (i.e. a quantitative phase and a qualitative phase) shaped the design of this study. These research phases adhere to the mixed methods explanatory sequential design. The quantitative phase investigated whether an alteration of students' context familiarity and context engagement influenced the students' performance when solving PISA and PISA-like problems—that were controlled, to the best extent possible, in their textual and problem core features. There were two experiments that differed in the criteria for choosing the problem contexts (expert judgement vs students judgment). Then, students' performance was compared at different levels of context use. Later, the relationship between students’ performance and degrees of context familiarity, degrees of context engagement, and levels of context use was examined, principally using an ordinal logistic regression model. The qualitative phase used stimulated recall interviews to understand how students interpreted and experienced context familiarity and context engagement as well as the students' behaviours towards the accessibility of problems and the solution methods to the problems, and therefore students’ performance. The results of the quantitative phase showed that more familiar and engaging contexts did not improve students’ performance in either experiment, that the performance decreased as levels of context use increased, and that neither higher degrees of context familiarity nor higher degrees of context engagement affected the students' performance but higher levels of context use did. Added to this—and as part of the research work involved in the quantitative phase— a system to classify mathematical problems in terms of levels of context use was developed theoretically and validated statistically. Main results of the qualitative phase indicated that although students appeared to have a well-established understanding of context familiarity this was not strong enough to influence the use of the problem context as a resource to solve a problem that required the students’ interaction with the real-world context.
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ItemA study of moral positioning in sites of high-rise public housing: exploring ontologies of pro-environmental practices in Australia and Mexico( 2017)This doctoral research addresses the dearth of sustained research on the pro-environmental practices of individuals and communities living in high-rise public housing. This ethnographic cross-site study focuses on two high-rise sites: Collingwood high-rise public housing, in Melbourne, Australia; and Tlatelolco high-rise public housing, in Mexico City, Mexico. The thesis, drawing upon Positioning Theory (Harré) and Site Ontology (Schatzki) as its main theoretical frameworks, revealed the ontological meanings of each site and the moral positions that helped to sustain or disrupt the pro-environmental practices of residents. What emerged were new understandings of how pro-environmental practices can be conditioned by past experiences, attachment to place, material infrastructure, the social production of fear, and the lack of reinforcement of social rules.
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ItemTeaching academics’ perceptions of ‘Asia Literacy’ and its integration into undergraduate curricula: A case study in three Australian universities( 2017)The imperative of including Asia in education has been Australia’s national interest since 1970s, which has been reiterated under successive policies through the promotion of ‘Asia literacy’ in terms of Asian languages and studies. While its relevance to Australian students in economic, political, social, cultural and intellectual terms has been widely discussed in public policy and academic contexts, recently, the place of Asia has gained currency and traction in Australian higher education in light of universities’ strategic focus on Asia and graduate attributes linked to intercultural competence. Despite this, after more than four decades of work to build ‘Asia literacy’, its meanings and pedagogical strategies remain unclear (Halse, 2015; Halse et al., 2013; Rizvi, 2013, 2015; Salter, 2013, 2014, 2015). The poor understanding of this concept in higher education, coupled with a notable absence of studies on pedagogical implications of ‘Asia literacy’ for different curriculum domains, points to a pressing need for evidence-based and theorised research to inform a better articulation of university strategies on Asia in teaching practice. To address this, empirically, this study investigated the notion, value and integration of ‘Asia literacy’, and factors that may influence this integration. Theoretically, this study contributes to the knowledge field by adopting a sociological view of curriculum for investigation, which has not provided a major perspective of research on ‘Asia literacy’. Drawing on Young’s (2008) social realism and Maton’s (2014) Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) as major conceptual lens, this study explored the disciplinary principles that underpin curricular integration of Asia, and academic’s agency in navigating the idea of ‘Asia literacy’ within their disciplinary conditions. Given this fresh perspective, this supported an exploratory case study approach that took place in undergraduate programs at three Australian universities with institutional approaches that favoured students’ intercultural/international development to optimise opportunities for exploration. The focus on disciplinarity further informed the selection of disciplines that represent distinctive knowledge fields (Trowler et al., 2012). This study has identified the layered notion of ‘Asia literacy’ associated with cultural differences, internationalisation and languages; its multifaceted roles in enhancing students’ employability, cultural engagement and worldviews; and its curricular integration through discipline-specific strategies. The nuances of teaching practice of ‘Asia literacy’ offer insights into how disciplinary structures and academics play out in the integration, their interplay with other important factors such as students and external bodies in different disciplines, and the tension of how ‘difference voices’, as Ashwin (2014) describes, seek to legitimate knowledge of Asia. To advance the understanding of ‘Asia literacy’, this study proposes a reconceptualisation to encapsulate the contextual meanings for higher education: it unpacks the conceptual complexity and the place of Asia for undergraduate curricula. It identifies possibilities for curricular integration of Asia across the university. It highlights the specialisation of disciplinary structures, and urges universities to take this into account in policy-making, and improve visibility of their directives to incentivise academics’ articulation of the Asian focus in teaching practice. Finally, it suggests promising areas for future research in methodological and theoretical aspects.