Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemMicroWorlds programming, mathematical problem solving and teaching for transfer : a year long classroom study( 2000)This thesis is based on research conducted to investigate the effects of computer programming on cognitive and affective outcomes in two upper primary classes. The subjects of the research comprised two classes of eleven to twelve year old students at the same school in Melbourne, Victoria. The aims of the research were to establish whether a particular type of methodological intervention, which reinforced strategies developed in a programming context, could improve the likelihood that problem-solving strategies acquired through programming would be transferred to mathematical problem-solving. In addition, the research set out to investigate whether programming affected individuals with differing personality traits in different ways. Students worked over a twelve-month period with the programming software MicroWorlds. In the first term they learned basic semantics and syntax of the programming language and thereafter completed five tasks that were research assignments from a range of key learning areas. These tasks were called Lap-T tasks and as part of the overall curriculum were completed and presented for evaluation. Pre and post-tests in maths problem solving which sought evidence of ability to obtain correct answers, identify appropriate strategies and articulate strategies used, were administered at the beginning and end of the year. In addition, students completed a questionnaire at the beginning, middle and end of the year to establish attitude change to aspects of learning with computers and learning through programming. Other data was obtained through the Rosenberg Self Esteem Test and the Eysenck Personality Inventory. Students kept journals in which they reflected on their programming experience. A series of class lessons for highlighting strategies developed in programming, called strategy training was directed towards one group only, the Strategy Training Group or STG for a total of 18 hours. The other group, the Independent Learning Group, was not assisted to make connections beyond those automatically acquired while programming. The findings of the research were an affirmation for the value of the strategy training for improving the likelihood that strategies acquired during programming would transfer to other problem-solving contexts. In addition, there was confirmation that programming is a valuable addition to an upper primary curriculum, contributing to students' perceptions of control of their own learning and providing challenge and satisfaction while developing transferable problem-solving skills. The research indicates that strategic use of programming in the primary school curriculum can be utilised in the development of improved use of mathematical problem-solving strategies.
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ItemPredictors of performance in arithmetic in the middle years of primary school( 2002)While the amount of research into difficulties in mathematics has increased markedly over recent years there continues to be a need for more research into mathematics in the middle years of Primary School. The present study examined the extent to which performance on various maths related processing tasks (e.g. reading numbers, reading number statements, mental arithmetic) and measures of maths understanding (e.g. numeration and counting) predicted maths computation ability as determined by performance on typical Year 3-5 un-timed pen and paper arithmetic tasks. Analysis consisted of a stepwise regression for each of the three year levels. Some of these tasks were found to be highly predictive of achievement in arithmetic. The multiple regression was not only significant at each of the three year levels but accounted for a substantial proportion of achievement criterion variance: Year 3: 61%, Year 4: 59.8% and Year 5: 61.5%. Achievement in arithmetic was best predicted by a combination of factors at each year level with some similarities occurring across levels. The most striking of these is Mental Arithmetic: multiplication which was found to be a predictive factor at all three levels. Other significant predictive factors included Mental Arithmetic: subtraction (Year 3), Numeration: tens of thousands (Years 3 & 4), Processing of 4-digit numerals (Years 4 & 5), and Mental Arithmetic: addition (Year 5).
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ItemThe Problems of verbal interaction for victims of warfare trauma in the ESL classroom( 1995)This thesis identifies and investigates the difficulties surrounding the participation in verbal interaction by victims of warfare trauma in the ESL classroom. The literature reviewed falls into three main categories; The Problems of Refugee Resettlement, Motivation and Anxiety in Language Learning and The Importance of Verbal Interaction in Second Language Learning. Case Study research methodology was chosen as the most appropriate framework on which to base this thesis and three ESL students were chosen as subjects. The findings of the research suggest that the problems associated with resettlement and prior experiences may have been contributing factors in the lack of motivation and high levels of anxiety experienced by each of the case study subjects. This in turn, may have affected their participation in verbal interaction in the classroom and ultimately, their acquisition of English.
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ItemPerceptions of transformation in Mohini?ttam : an educational perspective( 1996)This study focuses on transformation in the classical Indian dance style of Mohiniattam. Mohiniattam is embedded in the ancient traditions of classical Indian dance. Perceptions of transformation in Mohiniattam, as performed, taught and learnt in Natya Sudha, a classical Indian dance company in Melbourne, Australia, were the focus of this study. Using a qualitative approach perceptions of transformation in Mohiniattam were gathered from the dancers through unstructured, in-depth interviews. Interviews took place over twelve months from June 1993 to May 1994. The generated narrative was then analysed for meaning using techniques derived from phenomenology, hermeneutics and case study. Transformation was found to be a multi-faceted phenomenon of the inner world of the dancers, their personal and cultural connections to the dance, and the external form and setting of MohinTattam. The inner world of the dancer involved an internal integration of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual states; a high state of concentration; and a sense of enjoyment in dancing. The external form, that is, the world of MohinTattam, was achieved through various pathways and stimuli that included the educational domain of Natya Sudha, and the performance experience. An interface between the inner world and the outer world, that is, where the dancer meets the dance, was described which incorporated a cultural and personal connection to Mohiniattam.
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ItemOf secrets, sorrows, and shame: undergraduate nurses' experiences of death and dying( 2007)This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of undergraduate nursing students who cared for the dying and deceased whilst on clinical placement. To this point, studies on this phenomenon have focused on the experienced, qualified nurse. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the impacts of caring for the dying and deceased, on the student-nurse, and the implications for nursing education. The ten study participants were undergraduates enrolled in the Bachelor of Nursing program at a metropolitan-based university in Melbourne. The study of their experiences, from the perspectives of the student-nurses, was conducted using a semi-structured interview for data collection. Analysis of the data, using a Miles and Huberman (1994) style matrix, revealed four emergent themes: intensity of emotion; perceptions, growth and awareness; and opportunities. These themes were explored to yield results which established there were often profound, and sometimes disturbing, impacts of grief for both the student-nurse, the patient, and others. This study contributes to the This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of undergraduate nursing students who cared for the dying and deceased whilst on clinical placement. To this point, studies on this phenomenon have focused on the experienced, qualified nurse. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the impacts of caring for the dying and deceased, on the student-nurse, and the implications for nursing education.
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ItemChild science to teacher science: a comparison of conceptual transition in the nature of light and the particle theory( 1992)Child Science caught the imagination of science educators in the early 1980's. Since that time, much work has gone into the investigation of Child Science and the concept is now well recognised throughout the world. This study investigates the nature of Child Science and Teacher Science as it relates to two specific concept areas in science - that is, the concepts of Light and the Particle Theory. Students in Victorian schools at Year levels 5 & 9 were compared, as was a gender comparison made for each of the two concepts. Students were first categorised as operating from a Child Science or Teacher Science framework and their subsequent answers to three open-ended questions in the concept areas were examined. The study shows that there is a clear progression towards the embracing of Teacher Science at the Year 9 level, but that the transition is by no means complete for all students. The transition to Teacher Science for the Particle Theory is more dichotomous than for the Light Theory, which has a strong transitional phase. For both concept areas, girls pass through a stronger transitional phase, whereas boys tend to progress more rapidly to the use of Teacher Science. Girls also tend to answer questions relating to these concepts in the ways teachers might expect, whereas boys were more inclined to answer in a way that made little or no sense from a teacher's perspective or did not answer the question at all. The implications for the classroom teacher are considered in light of these findings. How might these strongly held Child Science views be refined, developed or replaced; and the need for recognition by teachers that the teacher needs to provide a suitable transitional framework that promotes intellectual security and a mechanism that will encourage the replacement of the Child Science perceptions with more elaborate, scientifically accepted perceptions.
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ItemChildbirth and childbirth education: a study of critical factors in psychological adaptation among primigravidae( 1978)Factors which facilitate or retard psychological adaptation in the stressful period of childbearing have been the focus of a continuing theoretical controversy, begun by Grantly Dick-Read (1944) and Helene Deutsch (1945). Their disagreement centred on the effectiveness of ante-natal education in reducing maternal anxiety through the provision of information about the reproductive process, as well as the advisability of attempting to reduce anxiety. For Dick-Read and subsequent childbirth educators, anxiety in pregnancy was predictive of physical and psychological maladjustment. Consequently, the elimination of anxiety and the production of self-esteem have been fundamental aims for ante-natal education programs. Deutsch argued that Dick-Read had ignored important primal anxieties which neither could nor should be removed through ante-natal education, because of the crucial role they played in preparing women for the stresses of labour. The theoretical disagreement between these two writers provided a context within which subsequent empirical research findings were evaluated, and informed the experimental hypotheses of the present study. Ninety primigravidae, of whom 45 attended ante-natal education classes and 45 did not, took part in the investigation carried out between May 1976 and May 1977. Subjects were tested late in pregnancy, during labour and early in the post partum, on a variety of questionnaire measures concerning attitudes towards various aspects of reproduction, state and trait anxiety, and attitudes towards self and significant others. Subjects were also interviewed individually about their labour experience in the early post partum. During labour, subjects were randomly assigned to a no treatment group, a group which listened to popular music, and one which listened to a tape giving information on coping with labour. Only state anxiety level was ascertained during labour. Contrary to prediction, women who had attended ante-natal education classes did not have significantly lower levels of state or trait anxiety on any of the testing occasions than did untrained women. Similarly, there was no significant difference in state anxiety depending on an interaction between group membership and treatment level during labour. There were no significant differences favouring trained women over untrained women on any of the obstetrical indices of labour. Of the significant results which were obtained, most favoured untrained women. Thus, in the post partum, untrained women perceived greater congruence between current self-concepts and those relating to 'doctors', 'pleasant and good things', 'nurses', 'childbirth' and 'the ideal mother', contrary to prediction. There were also highly significant changes in state and trait anxiety over the testing occasions regardless of group membership. It was concluded that the significant changes in state and trait anxiety supported the notion of childbearing as a crisis which ante-natal education did little to ameliorate. The possibility that anxiety played a useful role in preparing women for labour was considered. Ways of improving antenatal education, based on the findings of the current study and those from the research literature on coping with stress, were discussed.