Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemEvaluation for Evidence-Based Performance Management: Understanding and Measuring Performance Managers’ Perceptions( 2020)A common claim is that high-performing organizations use evidence-based practice to manage staff performance, herein called performance management. The literature showed that the implementation of performance management policies is crucial because even well-designed performance management models fail if they are not implemented as intended (Armstrong, 2015). Given that behavior can be mediated by perception, this thesis focused on the perceptions held by implementers of performance management that might mediate their implementation of performance management policies. This is important because, despite the research on evidence-based performance management, there remains a gap in understanding and measuring the perceptions held by the implementers. Moreover, there is a sizeable gap between performance management research and practice due to a plethora of obstacles like poor access to reliable research. Three sequential research stages were conducted focusing on item generation, scale development and scale refinement and validation, respectively. An initial set of 130 items was developed, based on a thematic analysis in the narrative literature review and a scoping literature review study (Stage 1). These items were reduced to a set of 55, then 41 items in Stages 2 and 3, respectively, using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, Cronbach’s alpha calculations and examination of conceptual importance of data from a combined 589 survey respondents. Furthermore, the effect of several antecedent factors was tested using multivariate analysis of variance. The thesis findings enhanced the extant understanding by presenting perception of performance management as a broad concept encompassing two higher order factors (Perception of Efforts and Perception of Results) and eight lower order factors (perception of Performance Evaluation, Documentation, Organizational Support, Supervisory Support, Climate, Turnover, Critical staff Withdrawal and New staff Withdrawal). The findings also added to the literature on the effect of antecedent factors, particularly age, work role, organizational size, industry sector and workforce experience. Finally, the thesis further narrowed the gap between research and practice by creating a theoretically grounded and empirically validated performance management perceptions scale for organizations to use in in evidence-based performance management.
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ItemLink between teacher-student relationship, student emotional wellbeing, coping styles, classroom engagement and peer relationships( 2007)This research explored the link between teacher-student relationship, student emotional wellbeing, coping styles, peer relationship and classroom engagement of year 8 students. The participants were Catholic school students and the focus was limited to English class and teacher. The data sources were a Student-Survey (SS) and the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS) (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993). The first component of the research was scale development, to validate the hypothetical categorization of items in the scales; the second was the testing of the hypotheses. Teacher-student relationship was highly correlated with classroom engagement and coping style-solving the problem. The correlation between other variables was positive but not significant.
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ItemAn evaluation of quality assurance implementation at a higher education institution in Bangkok( 2005)This study aimed to investigate the implementation of Quality Assurance (OA) regarding two compulsory English courses in a Rajabhat University in Bangkok. Quality of these courses is considered to be crucial because they are required for the completion of all undergraduate degrees in every program of study in the Rajabhat. The study intended particularly, to examine the level of success of QA implementation in order to recommend improvements to the implementation process. The study employed a qualitative case study of the institution to reveal factors affecting QA implementation and to construct an improved QA management model for such courses. Document analysis and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The participants of the research were purposively selected according to their levels of participation in the QA program, namely, policy makers, transmitters of the policy and implementers. Miles & Huberman-style grids were employed to facilitate data analysis and then Fullan's theory of change was used as a framework for discussion of the findings. Analysis revealed that QA was thought to be needed but the level of success of the QA implementation was rather low at the course level due to a lack of efficient communication between the systems level and implementers on the ground. Consequently, teaching staff's knowledge and understanding of the QA operation was inadequate. However, strengths of the program included availability of financial and physical supports, i.e. multi-media teaching materials, IT infrastructure and provision of professional development. Perhaps the most important strength was the awareness and willingness of lecturers to implement QA during routine teaching. Nevertheless, IT literacy, teamwork skills and explicit systematic QA implementation documents were inadequate. Overall, this study has demonstrated a limited level of success regarding QA implementation in this Thai context due to various factors. Therefore, recommendations for improvement are presented and a QA model for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) is proposed.
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ItemA study of transformational and transactional leadership among leaders at the Rajabhat University, Thailand( 2007)The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the leadership styles and organizational culture in The Rajabhat University in Thailand as viewed from the leaders' and non-leaders' perspectives. The study examined leadership behavior based on the notions of transformational and transactional leadership. A survey research methodology was used to gather data from six departments in The Rajabhat University. A total of 96 leaders and 99 non-leaders responded to the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), and 95 leaders and 101 non-leaders responded to the Organizational Description Questionnaire (ODQ). Leaders perceived their leadership styles to be transformational. Conversely, the non-leaders perceived the leadership styles of their leaders as highly transactional. These results were confirmed by the results of the organizational culture surveys both leaders and non-leaders agreed that the organizational culture were moderately transformational and highly transactional, with non-leaders viewing organizational culture as more transactional than that viewed by the leaders. Transformational leadership culture has been associated with improved organizational outcomes These findings suggest that organizations like The Rajabhat University may need to develop a more transformational leadership culture.
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ItemThe academic achievements of language centre students at a secondary college( 2001)What are the academic achievements of adolescent new-arrival English as a Second Language (ESL) students at secondary schools in Victoria, Australia? Research on Non-English Speaking Background (NESB) students in Australia has tended to neglect new arrival ESL students. To examine the academic achievements of this important subgroup of NESB students, the current study will highlight the academic achievements of a cohort of Victorian Language Centre students at a Secondary College over six years with interruption to schooling in their first language (L1) as the key variable linked to academic achievement in their second language (L2). Victorian Language Centres provide new-arrival ESL students with the English skills they need to start their secondary educations in L2. The current study examined the academic achievement of two groups of Language Centre students, those who completed their Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) and those who left the Secondary College prior to completing VCE. Their academic results were summarised into spreadsheets for quantitative analysis. Subsequent to the quantitative analysis interviews were conducted with four ESL students from the Language Centre currently completing their VCE studies to provide further insight into the factors that enabled them to do their VCE. Results indicate that the academic achievements of this cohort of ESL Language Centre students are poor and that interruption to education in Ll had a major impact on the students' ability to achieve academically at the Secondary College. The study suggests that L1 education is the key variable influencing the student's ability to acquire the academic language skills necessary to meet the academic demands of secondary education, particularly the VCE. Other factors such as support for learning and strong motivation were found to help students overcome difficulties encountered in their secondary education. However, students who were unable to overcome these difficulties left the College prior to completing VCE. It was concluded that the majority of Language Centre students faced uncertain economic futures once they left the Secondary College. The results of the study suggest that Language Centre students need more support and assistance to enable them to complete VCE or to access educational alternatives to the VCE. This study also suggests that more research into the effect of L1 education on L2 education be conducted as this was found to be the key variable in the students' ability to acquire the academic language skills necessary to meet the academic demands of VCE.
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ItemApplications of item response theory to identify and correct for suspect rater data( 2006)This thesis describes a plausible values imputation approach for deriving population estimates on several language proficiency domains. The approach harnessed a multi-dimensional item response analysis combining student responses, rater judgements and student background variables. The target student population was lower grade primary school students enrolled in the Hong Kong schooling system. The raters consisted of local teachers of English employed within the sampled target schools. The primary objective of this research was to impute plausible values where no data was provided or where rater data was deemed suspect. By necessity, a secondary objective of this study was to establish rules for justly excluding particular data on the basis of questionable validity. Surveys such as TIMSS, PISA and NAEP have used such "plausible value" methodologies to account for incomplete test designs and person non-response (Beaton & Johnson, 1990; Yamamoto & Kulick, 2000; Adams & Wu, 2002). The point of difference between this study and other similar studies was the use of item response theory (in particular plausible values imputation) to identify and correct for invalid rater judgements in a large-scale educational survey. An additional research outcome included a derived index of rater data quality based upon imputation scores.
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ItemSchool evaluation practice in Japan : case studies of four public schools in Hiroshima( 2006)This thesis analyses and discusses recent developments in the practice of school evaluation in Japan. Such an investigation was considered to be valuable because there appeared to be little research that had elucidated how Japanese schools actually set about self-evaluation. Therefore, this thesis aimed to identify ways in which school evaluation occurs and how it can be embedded in Japanese public schools. To achieve this aim, four questions were posed to find out: (a) how evaluations are carried out in Japanese schools, specifically in the Hiroshima Prefecture; (b) how such school evaluation contributes towards school improvement; (c) what constitutes 'best evaluation practice' in the Japanese school context; and (d) how other Japanese schools can be assisted to introduce best evaluation practice. To find answers to these questions, a qualitative case study approach was used and data were collected from four Japanese public schools (two primary and two middle schools) in Hiroshima City. The four case schools were selected because they had previously participated in a pilot project of school evaluation and, therefore, were considered to be exemplary. Other information was obtained from a local education board and an educational training centre. Findings from the data analysis demonstrated that: 1. School evaluation in Hiroshima involved a form of Action Research and comprised both school-self evaluation and external evaluation; 2. Positive impacts on teachers from the evaluation experience (both individually and collectively) were considered to contribute towards an evolving process that could eventually lead to overall improvements in the quality of school education in the Prefecture; and 3. 'Best evaluation practice' in the Japanese school context comprised: (1) Systematic planning and implementation of the evaluation; (2) A clear vision and relevant goals set by school principals in relation to all school activities; (3) Involvement of all school staff in undertaking evaluation tasks; (4) School evaluation models that were instigated by schools, rather than imposed by those outside the school; (5) The prioritisation of school goals and improvement strategies; and (6) Teachers who were motivated regarding improvement. It was also suggested that there was a particular local educational culture underlying the embedding of school evaluation in Hiroshima. Such a context was regarded as one of the enabling conditions related to the advancement of school evaluation in the Prefecture. Based on these findings, the research produced some useful lessons regarding how to introduce successful evaluation so that other Japanese schools might be encouraged to evaluate their own practices.
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ItemInstitutional influences on approaches to teaching within a flexible university : a cultural historical investigation( 2010)This study investigated the teaching approaches of two business academics located within an Australian university developing its flexible teaching and learning practices over the past twenty years. The interview subjects are highly regarded educators with formative backgrounds in on-campus or off-campus distance teaching. Each has had a long professional relationship with the researcher in her centrally situated position's as an educational developer within the institution. A review of the student learning literature pertaining to teaching and learning approaches in the higher education sector over the last thirty years, shows that "teaching approaches" can influence "student learning approaches"(Ramsden, Paul 2003) and outcomes, (Biggs, J. 2003; Lizzio, Alf, Wilson, Keithia & Simons, Roland 2002) however "institutional influences" upon teaching approaches seems to be substantially overlooked. (Kernber & Kwan 2000) The academics were invited to participate in this study agreeing to retrospectively review and discuss their teaching in three progressive phases of their working history. They were invited to consider their teaching approach using the Approach to Teaching Inventory (Trigwell, Prosser et. al. 2005) in order to reflect upon their personal positioning (Harre September 2004), institutional practice and societal rhetoric in relation to an academic life in various periods of their teaching history. Discursive analysis has been undertaken of the resulting conversations guided by Cultural Historical Analysis Theory, (Vygotsky 1978, Engestrom 1987). This investigation reveals profound institutional influences on the approaches of teachers to their work. Influences on academic life have usually been studied independent of the Higher education teaching and learning literature. This study points to an urgent need to integrate these research interests to inform understanding of material transformative activity for policy makers in higher education.
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ItemDiscovering the fruits of your labour : guidance for program practitioners to develop their own evaluation models( 2002)The thesis of this dissertation is that present auditing practices provide for accountability that is intermittent rather than continual. A consistent recommendation across performance audits conducted throughout the world is for persons responsible for implementing, facilitating and/or managing programs, (i.e. program practitioners) to undertake continuous evaluation of effectiveness as a foundation towards continuous improvement. I argue that current deficiencies encountered by the public sector in realising an environment of continuous improvement can be overcome by establishing a continuous evaluation culture. This is based on the premise that by evaluating public sector programs on a continuous basis, practitioners can achieve higher levels of knowledge about what the programs are doing and what the programs are achieving. Practitioners can use this knowledge to improve work practices and to alter current programs to become more effective in achieving desired outcomes. This paper seeks to facilitate the adoption of a continuous evaluation culture across the public sector by providing program practitioners a good understanding of evaluation principles and practices which they can use to conceptualise evaluation models to suit the programs they are responsible for. The first part of the paper explains the purpose of program evaluation and its various applications. The paper then attempts to build on public sector theory and models by describing examples of a selection of evaluation models that have been undertaken on a variety of programs. The final part of the paper provides guidance to program practitioners on how to evaluate their programs by informing them of evaluation techniques, protocols and concepts which should be taken into account by practitioners when designing evaluation models.
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ItemLearning for independence : the learning experience of some East Timorese scholarship students in Australia 2001 - 2005( 2007)The people of East Timor voted for independence in a UN sponsored referendum in 1999. The departing Indonesian Army left widespread devastation in its wake. In 2000 the first students left independent East Timor to take up scholarships around the world to help build its human resource. This thesis reports on research into the learning experiences of some members of the early groups of East Timorese scholarship students at different universities in Melbourne. Their experience during the scholarship period is analysed through the framework of adult learning including formal, non-formal, informal and unintentional learning. The students have learned English, taken their studies seriously, created their own community, and, through the support movement for East Timor, have had a range of opportunities to participate in the host community. Despite their formal educational experiences, they are enthusiastic learners committed to contributing to the development of East Timor. This thesis indicates that educators and those in the community support movement can learn from, and contribute to, the learning experience of future students from East Timor. It discusses some attitudes in the student community, shows the students' learning from observation of, and. participation in aspects of the Australian community, and their imagination and citizenship commitment in adapting their learning to the East Timorese.. context.