Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemCultural barriers for Chinese women studying in Australian universities( 1998)This is a qualitative study examining cultural barriers experienced by Chinese women students in Australian universities. It is found, by reviewing the literature, that no specific research has been done to explore the relationships between problems of Chinese women students in Australia and values embodied in their culture. Consequently, the present study is open to new findings, and does not proceed on a basis of a hypothesis. To collect data, four focus groups of Chinese women students were interviewed. The focus questions concentrated on Chinese women's roles, attitudes towards education, English language problems, initial adjustment, family relationships and friendships, and problems relating to ethnic and gender background. The responses from the focus groups were summarised, and cultural barriers for Chinese women students studying in Australia were identified. The discussion points raised in the above interviews led to the discovery of significant issues, such as the conflict between Chinese women's traditional and modem roles, their low English fluency and unaccustomed teaching and learning styles, the difficulty of friendships with local students, and inattention of Australian universities to the needs of Chinese females. It is concluded that Chinese women need to be made more aware of the cultural barriers facing them, and be prepared to alter their approach to learning in order to facilitate a more successful academic life in Australia. More importantly, Australian tertiary institutions need to accommodate the cultural differences in an educational context, and to be ready to provide more efficient support to minority student groups.
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ItemCharacteristics of reflective practice in students of a diploma in nursing program : an issue-centred curriculum evaluation( 1993)This case study was a theory-driven evaluation and an issue-centred curriculum evaluation. By methods of critical multiplism a Diploma in Nursing program was evaluated to identify how a reflective approach to clinical practice was characterised by students, and how the reflective approach to teaching and learning was implemented in the program. Sources of data were the curriculum, Schon's writings and speeches on reflective practice, students, sessional clinical teachers and lecturers. First year graduates of the program were also surveyed, giving a longitudinal aspect to the study. Conclusions were that reflection in action or 'action present' was characterised in students of the course by excellent processes and actions of thinking and attitudes relative to client care when faced with unique, conflicting or divergent situations in practice The student' characteristics included a professional appreciative system of doing the right 'thing' by clients, within the boundaries or role frame of nursing practice. Graduates of the program displayed these characteristics in more autonomous situations consistent with their post-registration status. The structural and administrative arrangements for clinical conferences/reflective seminars were the main factor in developing a reflective approach in students. Implementation of a reflective approach to teaching and learning by means of formal policies or guidelines on the topic was poor. However, although unaware of the reflective approach as a teaching/learning strategy in the formal sense, sessional clinical teachers facilitated reflection on scientific, procedural and intersubjective concepts of understanding with the students, for the purpose of nursing care delivery, as prescribed in the curriculum.
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ItemHearing-impaired students in post-secondary education in Victoria, Australia: some teacher beliefs regarding student entry skills and student support services( 1989)Opportunities in Australia for post-secondary study by hearing-impaired individuals appear to be increasing. To prepare students adequately, educators require information regarding those skills hearing-impaired students will need on entry to post-secondary study, and the type and extent of the services required to support them in that study. A questionnaire was constructed to record the beliefs on those matters of teachers of hearing-impaired post-secondary students, and respondents were sought in every post-secondary educational institution in Victoria, Australia. From the results of the survey, lists were constructed of necessary student entry skills and student support services. A number of differences were observed between the beliefs of teachers in the different types of post-secondary institutions. Teacher beliefs regarding student entry skills were recorded for both normally-hearing and hearing-impaired students. Few differences between the entry skill needs of the two groups of students were observed.
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ItemHenry Sidgwick and reform at Cambridge, 1859 to 1900( 1990)Henry Sidgwick was the epitome of a 'Victorian Don'. He first went up to Cambridge in 1857, was elected to a trinity Fellowship in 1859, and lived and worked at the University until his death in 1900. On the rare occasions that he receives acknowledgement for his academic and reforming achievements there is a tendency for authors to depict him as a rather unfulfilled intellectual, hidden in the 'ivory tower' atmosphere of Cambridge University, writing dull uninteresting treatises on moral philosophy. This picture is untrue and is more a reflection of twentieth century perception of the Victorian Era than of reality. Henry Sidgwick was an attractive vital man who translated this vitality into joining the reform movement at Cambridge. He lived out his life at Cambridge, from the age of seventeen years until his death, as an active reformer of university education, and man fully aware of the worldly scene. Sidgwick mixed with and was related to some of the most influential men in England. His sister's husband, Edward Benson, became Archbishop of Canterbury, and his wife's brother, Arthur Balfour, the Earl of Balfour, was an active politician who became Prime Minister of Great Britain after Henry's death. Henry Sidgwick took a vigorous interest in many aspects of life, the role of the Church, politics, theology, psychic phenomena, as well as academic reform; he was never trapped in an ivory tower. He was a gregarious individual whose presence enhanced any social gathering, a sturdy don who, when instructed by his doctor to get more exercise, ran through the streets of Cambridge daily, his gown billowing in the wind: A man singularly lacking in vanity, he neither sought or expected recognition and although considered by some as the author of the most important contribution by an Englishman to moral philosophy, he is not well-known. He has not received due recognition for his efforts, mainly successful, to reform education at Cambridge. The aim of this thesis is to shed some further light on the personality and reforming achievements of this enlightened and just man, without whom Cambridge and higher education would have been the poorer.
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ItemIndian students' perspective on student decision-making and their expectations of their chosen Australian university( 2006)Set in a Victorian research-intensive university, this study investigates the decision making criteria of Australian bound Indian students. It investigates the factors that influence the formation of initial expectations of Indian students of their chosen Australian University. Six distinct areas, namely, course curriculum, teaching staff, student life, classmates, on-campus facilities and support services are explored to find out what the Indian students' expectations of these six areas are and how they came about expecting the same. Previous student experience studies have identified that marketing of education has the potential to shape the expectations of the prospective students' university experience. Furthermore, dissatisfaction resulting from a mismatch between what students expect and what is delivered could result in an increase in the withdrawal of students in the first year. While there has been substantial research in the area of student decision-making in relation to choice of higher education institution and destination of study, little is known about international student expectations of their chosen university. Drawing from key studies in both the higher education sector and the business discipline, this study lifts the curtain on important issues regarding Indian students' decision-making and expectations. Not only are key decision-making criteria and initial expectations identified, but also, important issues like assumptions that students make when deciding upon a university and reasons why students form their initial expectations are also discussed. These findings add to the present body of knowledge on the subject by proposing a conceptual model depicting how students' expectations about higher education change over time. The study also makes a notable contribution by highlighting significant principles that may guide future research, policy and practice in relation to the international student market in Australian higher education.