Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe effectiveness of review planning at the University of Adelaide( 1995)This study investigates the response of academic staff in two faculties (A and B) to the implementation of a new performance appraisal scheme termed Review Planning at the University of Adelaide. Review Planning requires academic staff to participate in annual discussions with their head of department or senior colleague regarding their current work performance and their individual goals for the next 12 month period particularly in relation to professional development. These sessions are designed to create conditions under which staff motivation is enhanced and to assist heads and staff with strategic planning for their departments. Review Planning was introduced to all staff of the University in 1991 and is a condition of the Australian Universities Academic Staff (Conditions of Employment) Award (1988). Most staff have participated in the process at least once but until now no formal review has taken place to explore the response of staff to the implementation of Review Planning. The findings of this study provide a useful comparison with the work of other writers in the field of appraisal from both the private and public sectors. Some contrasts can also be made with studies of related schemes operating within higher education institutions in Australia and overseas. Faculties A and B were chosen because they are both large containing numerous departments and provide contrasts in gender discipline funding and staffing. A quantitative approach to this study was chosen over other qualitative methods as it seemed the most appropriate given the large size of the sample population and the relatively short time frame in which to work. A survey was conducted through use of a questionnaire which was circulated to all academic staff of the two faculties. It was anticipated that there would be some differences in response to the implementation of the scheme at the faculty level or on the basis of gender but no meaningful differences were found Instead an overall view of the response of staff from the two faculties was gained. The key findings of this study show that most full time academic staff have participated in Review Planning and many have found the interviews to be a positive experience. However staff and heads do not yet see a clear link between Review Planning and longer term strategic planning. Staff believe that there are few opportunities and limited resources available for professional development and this affects their motivation. Training materials are viewed as being helpful to staff in their preparations for Review Planning but workshops have not been well attended. Heads of departments generally agreed that Review Planning is a demanding and time consuming role for which training is required.
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ItemAdvancement for women in organizations: a training perspective( 1980)This thesis will attempt to add a practical case history to the growing body of literature on special 'In-house' training programs for women. A special training program for women was designed and implemented in the South Australian Public Service as part of that organizations' overall Affirmative Action Plan to effect Equal Opportunity. The literature review (Chapter I) determines and explores the nature of the barriers women experience at work today and considers the alternatives in overcoming them from an 'In-house' training perspective. A complex interplay of internal barriers within the woman herself and external barriers created by the organization is offered as an explanation of the real problem women are facing at work today. 'In-house' training, amidst other 'Equal Opportunity' strategies which are designed to take account of the whole organization system, is offered as a partial solution to the problem under consideration. An exploration of the nature of the 'In-house' training which should be offered by the organization is then undertaken. In this regard the case 'for' and 'against' special training programs for women is presented; the former position being advocated by this writer. As this 'Women in Organizations Workshop' program was one of the first of its kind developed in Australia an attempt has been made to detail the history of the development of the program and consider the question 'why' it was developed and implemented in the South Australian Public Service in 1977. A modern Administrative Theory, known as 'Systems Theory' has been used as the conceptual framework for this historical analysis which is contained in Chapter II. Chapter III also uses the conceptual framework of 'Systems Theory' to detail the actual 'Women in Organizations Workshop' program content, design and its management by the two women lecturers of the Training and Development Branch of the Department of Further Education in South Australia. The 'Women in Organizations Workshop' program, being a pilot program, was evaluated by various groups throughout 1977 and 1978 (Chapter IV). The Occupational Psychology Branch of the Public Service Board of the South Australian Public Service undertook a rigorous, formal evaluation of the program. This Branch represented the major client of the workshop program. They interviewed a substantial proportion of the workshop participants, two months after the completion of the program. A 'significant incident' method was employed which required interviewers to state whether they had employed skills, knowledge and attitudes gained in the workshop, at their workplace by recalling a specific situation. The two women lecturers' evaluations of the program are then detailed, these being both formal and informal. A final evaluation is given, that-of the Review Committee established in 1978 to evaluate the overall Training and Development activities of the Training and Development Branch of the Department of Further Education. All evaluations conducted of: the program considered it as a great success. Finally, a conclusion (Chapter V) is given which offers recommendations as to the value of this experiment conducted in the South Australian Public Service. Congruent with the research it is argued that currently, special 'In-house' training programs for women are viable and necessary given their current status in the workforce. However these programs are of an essentially short-run duration (approximately 5 to 10 years). An 'Androgynous Management Style' is offered as the future management model to be utilized in all management training programs. The total organization is then considered from a 'Systems Theory' perspective; strategies to implement Equal Opportunity, apart from (or in addition to) 'In-house training' are mentioned.
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ItemA comparative survey of the teaching of mathematics in primary schools in South Australia and Victoria( 1976)During the last two decades the teaching of mathematics in Australian primary schools has experienced widespread changes in content and method. These changes were introduced, mainly, in an attempt to overcome certain problems associated with the teaching of the subject. The views of psychologists and mathematicians influenced the new approaches to a greater extent than on any previous occasion. At the outset this thesis discusses some of the problems encountered in the teaching of mathematics and outlines three areas.requiring attention. An overview is given of the place of mathematics in the primary school curriculum in South Australia and Victoria since the middle of the nineteenth century. In tracing this development, an historical setting is given for the current controversies in the teaching of mathematics. A number of important changes in the teaching of mathematics emerge. In particular the changes which have occurred during the last twenty years are considered in some detail. An attempt is made to compare these recent developments and special attention is given to the period since the Australian conference on primary school mathematics in 1964, when a major restructuring of courses was proposed. Finally, it is shown that in attempting to overcome the problems associated with the teaching of mathematics, other factors have emerged which have implications for future developments. The current claim that the 3 R's have been neglected is likely to bring about a change in emphasis.