Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemTeacher's management of learning in small groups in science classes( 1993)Established curriculum documents in Victoria recommend group work as an effective teaching strategy but the implementation and management of such groups is poorly understood by many teachers. This study investigated two management strategies which differed in the degree of role attribution amongst group members and the effect of the strategies on communication, behaviour patterns and achievement on a problem solving investigation. Students in three parallel year eight science classes from one school were observed over an eight week period. A low level and a high level management strategy were randomly allocated to each of two classes and used to manage group work. After four weeks the management strategies were exchanged. The third class, which was used as the control, was managed in a way which was more typical of a traditional science class. Randomly selected groups of students from each class carried out a practical problem solving investigation as a pretest, then again at the completion of the first four weeks (phase 1) and again after the completion of the second four weeks (phase 2). Student conversations within groups were recorded and coded to identify levels of communication types. Students' written reports for each test were assessed and scores analysed. Teachers completed an observation schedule to identify styles of leadership and types of group behaviour within each class. It was found that the use of the low level management strategy, in particular, did increase the relative frequency of communication at higher cognitive levels, those of conceptualisations, as compared with the control treatment. Problem solving skills as measured by achievement on the written practical investigation improved over time and there was a significant effect in the area of "making measurements" when the management strategies were used as compared to the control treatment.
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ItemThe morning after : a novella based on a study of a drama performance exploring young people's views of teenage pregnancy( 2004)This thesis is in two parts. Firstly I describe my research, which centred on a Drama performance devised for the 2002 Monash Schools Drama Festival. The performance project was coordinated by myself, as the school Drama teacher, and involved twelve students from Years 9 and 10. The performance focused on the theme of teenage pregnancy and explored some of the difficulties a young girl encounters when faced with an unplanned pregnancy. The story created for the performance project then became the basis for the second part of this thesis, a novella - 'The Morning After'. As a practitioner teacher-researcher, I collected data through interviews with my students and observations of their work in drama as they created the storyline and constructed the performance for the Monash Drama Festival. Through the process of discussion and improvisation, students revealed their perceptions, life experiences, questions and concerns around the issue of teenage pregnancy. These insights were reflected in the play and then this data was analyzed, organized into themes, interpreted and transformed into the novella - The Morning After'. This study reveals a need for more effective forums for discussing sex education and teenage relationships and pregnancy with young people in schools. The Morning After' aims to preserve the story at the heart of the students' play by offering it in fictional form to other young people.
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ItemGhost stories : an ethnographic journey( 1998)This is an ethnographic study of a school theatre project, 'Ghost Stories'. The study explores what the role and nature of extra curricular theatre is in an independent boys' school. The concept of 'school theatre' is defined as an aesthetically rich, extra curricular event. The study argues that a teacher of 'school theatre' creates learning experiences for students that empower and challenge the politically or economically sanctioned educational culture. The value of school theatre, the role of the teacher, the development of students' artistic and personal skills and the relationship between school theatre and the dramatic heritage is investigated. The study argues that a believable, trustworthy account of the school theatre event needs to incorporate the variety of participant voices. The report is written in the form of a narrative and is told by the drama teacher responsible for the performance project, a male and female student, a teacher assisting in the performance project and a senior member of the administration. The narrative traces the participants' motives in becoming involved in the 'Ghost Stories' performance project, the various perceptions of the value of student devised performance texts, the conflicts within this educational context, culminating in the final night's presentation ceremony. The 'Ghost Stories' performance event challenges the conduct of teaching and learning in this educational context. The study contends that a teacher of 'school theatre is engaged in 'critical pedagogy'.
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ItemA study of religious education in Catholic secondary schools : attitudes of students, content, methodology and gender issues( 1999)The subject of Religious Education (RE) is the one feature distinguishing Catholic Schools from Government Schools. It is a unique subject because its impact on students' lives is long-lasting and important. The factors influencing students' attitudes and perceptions of RE are examined in this study. Two of the main factors researched here include the content of Religious Education lessons and the methodology employed by teachers, as perceived by students. Marked differences in the gender responses of students were observed to be very significant and these are discussed and explored. Recommendations for possible ways of addressing these disparities are also included.
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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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ItemStudents' early understanding in calculus( 1991)Students' Early Understanding of Calculus The study undertaken here looked at difficulties associated with the first principles approach to the derivative of a function and concentrated in particular on the first five lessons in calculus as experienced by a typical group of nineteen year 10 students who were preparing to take calculus at year 11. A traditional teaching approach was contrasted with an alternative computer teaching approach and both approaches were analysed for success in terms of conceptual understanding, skill acquisition and student perceptions of whether the work was easy to understand. As calculus has served as a critical filter for further study in mathematics, teaching methodology and student attitudes to the topic were a focus of the study. It was found that the students in the study had a limited concept image for gradient ('measure rise/run') and that a greater development of the global ideas associated with the gradient of a straight line needed to be a focus of learning before the idea of gradient of a curve should be introduced in beginning calculus. It was found that the use of a tangent to a curve at a point to measure gradient of the curve was not a spontaneous intuition and it is recommended that more time be given to this notion in the first principles approach to differentiation. The traditional first principles approach was found to be too cognitively demanding for the students who demonstrated a 'rush to the rule' for meaning. Students undergoing the computer treatment also demonstrated this 'rush to rule' and therefore very gradual development is recommended for students in their first encounters with calculus.
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ItemUse of computers in mathematics teaching and learning : transition from grade 6 to year 7( 2001)Over the past ten years computer resources within Victorian schools have improved. Adequate level of facilities and resources has enabled teachers and students to use computers in the teaching and learning of mathematics. However it appears that computer skills acquired during primary years are not always the basis for further and continuous development of skills in the early years of secondary schooling. Research shows that during transition from grade 6 to year 7 there is need for stability and a sense of continuity in the adolescents' education and this applies to the area of mathematics as well. To gain further insight, this research investigated the use of computers in mathematics in a group of feeder primary schools and their linked secondary school. The study initially investigates whether the computer skills introduced in primary schools were known or built upon in secondary schools. The research then makes recommendations to the network of schools involved concerning continuity in teaching and using computer skills in the teaching and learning of mathematics during the transition years. This study was qualitative and involved parents, students and teachers. Questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations were used to obtain data. Recommendations include the need for continuous communication between grade 6 and year 7 mathematics teachers to form and maintain links regarding the development of computer skills, the need to develop a common goal for all grade 6 teachers in terms of teaching computer skills to prepare students for secondary school and finally, the need to increase computer literacy of primary and secondary mathematics teachers and make hardware and software available and accessible to all.
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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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ItemArt and the art of coping( 1998)Consider the conscious not as a purely passive but as an independent active factor... artistic forms not as a facade but as an extremely important mechanism and technique... and include in its sphere of investigation the sum total of human life... Art is the social technique of emotion, a tool of society which brings the most intimate and personal aspects of our being into the circle of social life. (Vygotsky, 1971, p. 249). This thesis reports how young adolescents increased their awareness of themselves and their coping skills experientially through the arts in the context of a teacher/student relationship. Through a series of art sessions the students become aware of significant issues in their lives. The unfolding of meanings occurred in relationship with a teacher or in collaboration with peers. The relationship became a key to self-understanding: this key is called 'intersubjectivity'. Facilitating students' shift in awareness and uncovering the meaning made by the students of their experiences was grounded in the methodology and procedures of existential, experiential phenomenology. This thesis is a study of three case studies. In these case studies the students communicated metaphorically through the arts their feelings and thoughts about concerns and how they cope with these concerns. This communication occurred in the context of a relationship with a teacher and/or peers. The students explored their lived-experience, concerns and ways of coping with concerns through the arts, that is in drawing, painting, pottery, movement, dialogue and written form. Students explored their coping skills also by completing the Adolescent Coping Scale (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993) and reflecting on their experiences of coping through the arts. The next level of the experience for the student involved them reviewing their art and text and describing themes and the essence(s) of their experiences, this was mostly a creative and reflective process in the arts. This study illuminates the processes that facilitate the development of awareness and coping skills. It marks arts expressions as modes of inquiry and validates the significance of the intersubjective relationship in developing young people's awareness of themselves and their coping skills. The intersubjective relationship in this study was empathic, didactic and encouraging; the teacher reflected student's expressions, and encouraged and taught skills, while maintaining a focus on coping.