Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemSearching for a fair assessment( 1995)The full implementation of the VCE in 1992 represented significant changes to senior secondary schooling in Victoria. These changes were strikingly evident in the new assessment methods and procedures of the Art test CAT. The difference between the HSC Art Appreciation examination process and the 1992 VCE Art test CAT assessment was more than a difference in practices and methods. The ideological foundations of the two examination systems were vastly different. The HSC system served to rank students so that universities could select the best candidates. The BOS promoted the VCE as more 'equitable', 'accountable' and 'inclusive 'than the HSC. These concepts derived from the recommendations of the Blackburn Report (1985) which advocated major reform of the senior curricula and assessment. I interviewed five experienced Art Appreciation examiners in order to acquire a perspective of the two examination systems during' a time of change (1987-92) and ultimately focused upon the fairness values that were evident in the examination process. I compared published policy statements regarding fairness and equity with the examination practices that the five examiners described and analysed during our interviews. The theories of Foucault and Bourdieu enabled me to understand that examinations are part of a systematic social selection process. How can 'fairness' be defined and embodied in examination practices if examinations inherently represent a form of social power? Bourdieu and Foucault nourished this type of reflection. The Blackburn Report, the views of the five examiners and the social theories of Foucault and Bourdieu led me to consider the Art test CAT (1992) as a representation of the equity values that were defended by the BOS. Fullan's theories revealed that disorder usually accompanies educational change and added -another dimension to this investigation of 'fairness and justice' in the Art Appreciation examination (1987-92). In addition, this research study evaluates the practice of the BOS policy regarding equity and fairness, as evident in the VCE Art test CAT assessment process (1992), because the Board promoted the view that the VCE would provide greater equity and fairness to all Victorian students than the HSC.
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ItemNew tools for an old craft : introducing information and communication technologies to Victorian schools( 2001)Many teachers in Victorian schools are using information and communication technologies (ICT's) in their teaching. This study investigates the relationship between the use of ICT's and teachers' work practices. The first part of the thesis (sections one and two) outlines the prevailing stories associated with ICT's and the various perspectives on technology. Different perspectives of technology are explored to show how they influence what we believe can be achieved with the use of ICT's in the classroom. The second part of the thesis (sections three and four) uses actor network theory (ANT) to build a local network of teachers and machines. The aim is to show that the relationship between teachers and ICT's may be better conceived as a 'sociotechnical' network of people and technical objects. The work concludes by examining the political implications of a sociotechnical network on the practices of teaching and explores the available opportunities for teachers to re-fashion their craft.
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ItemWhat is a quality rubric? : curriculum design, state frameworks and local assessment of secondary science( 2009)In explicating Science the science teacher is likely to say, 'I have reached Chapter 9!' Bureaucracy has its own logic and State curriculum writers have pushed for results that looked rational: results that could codify, sort and explain to their masters. The schools and universities have responded. The rubric has recently entered the teacher lexicon as a quasi professional tool for instructional planning and student assessment in the public domain as a response to central accountability requirements in relation to mandated curricula and standards of student and teacher performance. The rubric is characteristically a grid which defines any piece of instruction, a list of anticipated educational attainments, stated as criteria, against levels or standards of attainment, stated as descriptors. The rubric has become a public statement, a quasi contract written by groups of teachers in a school that identifies what can be expected in terms of teaching behaviours and student learning, in the name of a school or the state. But how would the quality of a rubric be discussed or assessed in relation to science education? The study explores the use of rubrics to support situated cognition and social constructivist science teaching. This thesis does not investigate the question of educational 'quality' per se. It does not set out to prescribe or stipulate ideals. Nor does it recommend how teachers ought to use rubrics to measure or assess such ideals. Rather it is an ethnogenic study of the judgements made about the qualities of the rubrics designed and used by science teachers and a particular group of students in an inner urban secondary school. The students in this study are enrolled in the Select Entry Accelerated Learning program at Hill View Secondary College which seeks to engage them in higher levels of educational involvement and attainment.
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ItemEvaluating the Santa Maria College information literacy program( 2007)This is an impact study, which evaluates an Information Literacy Program that has been running in the Santa Maria College Library since February 2000. It investigates the effectiveness of the Program inputs and processes and seeks to identify impacts on learning in student outputs and College wide outcomes. The study builds on previous research that was conducted from 2000 to 2004 and seeks to develop new understandings through new methods. This study draws on literature that examines methods of collecting evidence of learning impact in school libraries. The literature recommends micro-research in secondary schools that examines students' skills before and after they have been involved in integrated information literacy instruction, as well as empirical studies about the impact of the six step research process model on learning. The literature also suggests investigation of the impact of school libraries on the broad aspects of learning, and the development and application of new methods for collecting qualitative data in the library setting. From Terms One to Term Four in 2005, mixed methods were used to capture evidence of student learning in the Santa Maria College Library. Students were observed as they carried out Program research tasks. The assignments that they produced at the end of the research process were assessed. Surveys and focus group interviews explored the perceptions of a sample of the students and teachers who participated in the Program. In exploring the data, changes in learning behaviour and attitudes to the research process were identified and analysed. The effectiveness of various aspects of the Program such as task design, explicit process instruction, cognitive strategies, note taking scaffolds and assessment practices were examined. Two theoretical frameworks synthesised from the literature were used in the research. The first framework is based on criteria for effective libraries such as staffing, funding, collection size and technological infrastructure. The second framework combines the effective approaches to learning in school libraries that are evident in the literature. Those frameworks were applied to assess the pre-conditions for learning in the Santa Maria Library. A third framework based on criteria that identify outcomes and indicators of student learning in school libraries, was used to identify evidence of student learning across the data sets. The key research questions were used to organise the discussion of the findings. The findings demonstrated that student outcomes have improved in a broad range of learning experiences. The study deepened my understanding of the distinctive features of the Program and its strengths and weaknesses. The strengths included: the use of constructivist pedagogy and inquiry learning; the collaborative planning, implementation and review processes; the infusion of the learning activities in real units of work; the learning scaffolds and instructional interventions at the point of need; and the assessment and feedback strategies. All of those inputs and processes are critical success factors in the Program. The note taking grids and the associated skill development in reading for meaning, identifying and recording key points, and combining information for final products are particularly effective aspects of the Program, which were highly regarded by the students. The weaknesses of the Program included: the gradual erosion of collaborative planning, implementation and evaluation processes; a general feeling of Program fatigue; the fact that the assessment of student outputs to track Progress is not standard practice; and the lack of a process for fading scaffolds in the Year 9 and 10 levels to shift control of the learning process from the teachers and teacher librarians to the students as they move through the Program. The study incorporates a series of recommendations for ongoing monitoring, and future Program delivery and implementation.