Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Theses

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    What is logical deduction, in relation to physics, and how can students improve in this?
    McKenzie, Russell David ( 2023-11)
    This research was done in the context of the increasing emphasis on thinking in education and the contention by many researchers that improvement in thinking leads to improvement in learning. The other context is the difficulty of physics as a subject at high school and the constant search for better methods of teaching the subject. The objective was to investigate the suitability of logic education as a method to improve students understanding of physics. The current state of physics and thinking education was explored in the Literature Review. This included an analysis of methods aimed at improving student performance in physics, improving thinking and improving performance in physics by improving the thinking that occurs in this subject. Consequently, logical deduction in physics was deemed an area with the potential to support such improvement. As well, the process of logical deduction was found to need clarification. The nature of logical deduction was, therefore, explored using a philosophical method. The first outcome of this was that the process usually thought of as ‘logical deduction’ was reconceptualised as ‘deductive inferring’. This was to better reflect its nature as a thinking process. Wittgenstein’s critique of solitary rule-following was then applied to the processes of deductive and inductive inferring, and they were problematised accordingly. Consequently, a more accurate delineation of these processes was given as deductive-like and inductive-like inferring. To assess the suitability of logic education for physics education, the thinking involved in physics problem-solving was investigated empirically using a think-aloud method. It was found that deductive-like inferring played a key role in this thinking. For instance, it was implicated in moving from the information given in a question, alongside assumed knowledge, towards an answer. The results strongly suggested that logical deduction should be an element in a suite of thinking skills explicitly taught to high school physics students, and that more emphasis should be placed on logic and thinking more generally in education. The results of these analyses also motivate further research in this area and suggestions for these were made.
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    Investigating the Use of Augmented Reality Game-Based Learning in Classrooms to Support Student Learning in Victoria
    Dixon, Janelle Denise ( 2023-09)
    In our rapidly changing world, technology has become an inescapable part of people’s lives. Unprecedented availability of cost-effective technology offers opportunities to innovate teaching practices to match the demand for young people to understand and use emerging technologies. Despite the importance of augmented reality as an emerging technology that affords students access to tools and environments not available previously, and the opportunities it offers when combined with game-based learning to form augmented reality game-based learning (ARGBL) for innovative practice in education, there has been limited research conducted into the emerging area of ARGBL. Specifically, there is a lack of research into teachers’ perceptions and use of ARGBL in classrooms in Victoria, Australia. This two-phase qualitative case study that consisted of an online survey and semistructured interviews investigated how ARGBL is used in classrooms across Victoria and identified how teachers use ARGBL in classrooms and for what purpose. The online survey and semistructured interviews had eleven and four participants, respectively. The study found that a range of teachers in different school settings across Victoria use AR and ARGBL across nearly all learning areas. The affordances of ARGBL were focused on the unique presentation that ARGBL facilitates and how this benefits student engagement and learning outcomes. The main areas teachers found challenging when implementing ARGBL were cost, technical issues, easy-to-use technology, and the ability and confidence to employ an emerging technology in their classrooms. This research also demonstrated how the TPACK Framework can be used to model and analyse the knowledges required to integrate ARGBL into the classroom. This study contributes a new understanding of the ways in which teachers integrate ARGBL into their classrooms to support student learning in Victoria, providing a new perspective on Victorian teachers’ practice, experience, and perspectives on using ARGBL in their classrooms.
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    Complex syntax use in children with hearing loss
    Klieve, Sharon Anne ( 2023-07)
    Children with hearing loss (CHL) present with a wide variety of language and literacy profiles unique to this population. Even with advancements in early identification, technology, and early intervention, many CHL continue to show language difficulties when compared to their typically hearing peers. These difficulties are across multiple aspects of language including phonology, vocabulary, and morphosyntax. One area that has been explored minimally is complex syntax. Complex syntax competence is important for language, reading comprehension, writing proficiency, and social relationships. Complex syntax is often mistakenly assumed to be a later developing skill that follows mastery of grammatical morphology and simple sentence structure. However, complex syntax is simultaneously acquired, with grammatical morphology and basic clausal structure (Barako Arndt & Schuele, 2013) emerging at a relatively young age. Complex syntax is shown to be a continuing area of challenge for CHL. The purpose of this study was to describe and profile CHL’s complex syntax use to better understand the vulnerabilities and resiliency in language for these children. This PhD study examined complex syntax use by 8- to 10-year-old CHL as compared to their typically hearing peers. The two groups undertook a range of language and cognitive measures, including elicited language samples. Frequency, variety, and accuracy of complex syntactic productions were compared across the groups. Results indicate that while CHL produce a similar range of complex syntax types, they exhibit less frequent use, less variety, and reduced accuracy across and within complex syntax types as compared to their typically hearing peers. CHL demonstrate a range of error types that suggest challenges across multiple language domains. Greater processing demands are suggested to cause breakdowns across multiple levels of sentence production, with CHL demonstrating differences in a range of cognitive processes, particularly phonological memory. The differences, although somewhat reduced as compared to previous research, and possibly masked by the small sample size, warrant further investigation. This research contributes valuable information for clinicians, educational professionals, and researchers around strengths and challenges in CHL’s complex syntax use. The novel assessment protocol has promise as a comprehensive battery that can provide a deeper analysis of complex syntax in individual CHL. This research also focused attention on the importance of considering the interactions between language domains and the interrelationships between language and cognitive capacities. Further research should continue to investigate this important area of language.
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    Democracy, meaning, and general self-efficacy in democratic and mainstream schools
    Singh, Neha ( 2023-11)
    Meaning in life (ML), meaningful work (MW), and general self-efficacy (GSE) are constructs related to numerous positive life outcomes. Meaning allows individuals to navigate personal and social changes, which is vital at a time of declining democracy, pandemics, political polarisation, wars, climate crisis, and other upheavals. The experience of meaning begins during the school age years; thus, it is imperative that well-being education explores the experience and impact of meaning in school (MS). This comparative thesis is conducted in the context of democratic schools, where students have greater control over their personal study plans and school governance, and mainstream schools, where these features are not central. Through two mixed-method studies involving a case-study approach to distinguish the schools and then a large-scale enquiry into MS in these schools and its impacts on adult ML, MW, and GSE, I aimed to understand how schools can foster democracy and meaning. In Study A, using thematic and content analysis, I analysed four Australian democratic and mainstream schools’ policy documents to identify similarities and differences between them pertaining to the schools’ salient features and beliefs underpinning them and the democratic potential of these policies. Notable were the stark differences in the conceptualisation of community, schools’ beliefs about students, and students’ voices and autonomy. The interrelated impacts of these three themes on other aspects of schooling were also significant. The first part of Study B conceptualised MS. I used Study A’s findings and existing literature on meaning to operationalise MS and develop the Meaning in School Scale (MSS). I then tested the MSS for content validity with experts (N = 5), face validity with non-experts (N = 7), and construct validity with former democratic and mainstream students (N = 641), which resulted in a 3-factor measure consisting of Academic Content, Family Role, and Psychosocial Factors. Study B then explored dissimilarities in the levels of these variables by school type; the role of MS on adult life outcomes; model invariance; and the differences between the effects of MS on the adult variables by school type using online questionnaire data from former students of democratic and mainstream schools (N = 641) using structural equation modelling methods. Findings demonstrated that the structural model for the two school types was invariant. Regarding differences between the two school types, the democratic sample reported higher MS, but ML, MW, and GSE were similar. Next, the effects of schooling on adult life indicated that Psychosocial Factors and Academic Content were associated with adults’ ML, while Academic Content predicted GSE, but MS had no impact on MW. Finally, incidental findings revealed that Psychosocial Factors experienced during school appear to be an important driver of only the democratic sample’s GSE, whereas Academic Content affects GSE only for the mainstream sample. However, this possible moderation effect needs to be investigated further. The research highlights the distinctions between the two school systems. Further, it suggests that democratic school structures can contribute to stronger school and future democracies and provide insights into making schooling more meaningful and the ways they impact upon adult ML and GSE.
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    What role can universal design play in facilitating inclusive learning and teaching within online business degree programs at Australian universities?
    Edwards, Miriam Ruth ( 2023-11)
    In an attempt to be inclusive, Australian universities have traditionally provided reasonable adjustments to students living with disability. This process has been criticised for requiring students to self-report based upon narrow classifications of impairment (Pitman et al., 2021). Another concern has been students under-reporting disability (Brett, 2016a) for a variety of reasons, including stigma (Berman et al., 2020). Trends have suggested that the number of students living with disability will continue to increase (ADCET, 2021), and as such, reasonable adjustments may not offer a sustainable approach in future. This view aligns with those who have advocated for a universally designed curriculum (Burgstahler, 2020; Novak & Bracken, 2019). Universal Design (UD) refers to products and environments designed to be useable by as many people as possible, without adaptation (CUD, 1997). This is consistent with the social model of disability since it assigns the responsibility of inclusion to society rather than the individual (Oliver, 1986). With that in mind, this study sought to identify practices within Australian universities based upon UD principles. In doing so, business faculties were targeted due to the reach they have and their diverse student cohort. This study also argued that online delivery has become ubiquitous with university coursework, and as with others (Kent et al., 2018), it challenged assumptions about inclusivity in such cases. As a result, this study asked, “What role can universal design play in facilitating inclusive learning and teaching within online business degree programs at Australian universities?” The literature review found reports of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (CAST, 2018) within individual subjects and the suggestion that Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) (Scott et al., 2003) could potentially support broader organisational change (Black et al., 2014; Rao et al., 2021). Based on that review, the investigation included surveying and interviewing disability support staff and educational designers to learn about professional practice as it related to UDI (Scott et al., 2003). This produced 14 survey responses and seven interviews involving educational designers along with five survey responses and one interview involving disability support staff. Collectively participants identified 10 Australian universities. This was complemented with a desktop environmental scan of all disability action plans (DAPs) published by Australian universities. It was found that although reference to UD was appearing more often within DAPs, most actions taken to address disability were reactive in nature. Participants reported challenges due to lack of influence, ignorance towards disability, and competing demands placed upon academics. Despite this, it was found that at one university a widescale initiative had allowed for the application of UDL (CAST, 2018). The aim of that institution was to not only address the needs of students with disability, but to anticipate diversity more broadly. These findings suggested that universities looking to employ UD should develop a widescale approach extending beyond the teaching academic (Lawrie et al., 2017) while also offering reasonable adjustments when needed. Because of this, the discussion focussed on the importance of stakeholder relationships, the need for common understandings about inclusive practice, and policy which contextualises UD within each university (Fovet, 2020). Recommendations have been offered, along with the limitations of this study. In way of conclusion the main research question was revisited and ideas for future research shared.
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    Exploring perceptions of quality TVET teachers in Laos through the lens of the capability approach
    Saephan, Sanva ( 2023-10)
    Improving the quality of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) teachers in Laos has been a national priority for more than a decade. Policy documents from the Ministry of Education and Sports in Laos have identified the poor quality of TVET teachers as a major challenge to the development of a quality TVET education sector (GoL, 2007, 2016e, 2021b). This, in turn, affects national socio-economic development. However, the way quality TVET teachers are conceptualised in policy documents from the Ministry of Education and Sports is narrow, focusing solely on the capacity of individual TVET teachers. The external conditions that shape teaching practice are disregarded. To broaden the understanding of quality TVET teachers in Laos, this study adopts the capability approach as a conceptual framework to both examine the intersection between individual and contextual factors and capture the voice of TVET teachers and policymakers. It uses a mixed-method approach to analyse the elements of quality TVET teachers valued by TVET teachers and policymakers. It also examines the opportunities and constraints that impact the teachers’ capacity to implement and develop what they value in teaching. The findings reveal that both TVET teachers and policymakers value the following five elements of quality TVET teachers in Laos: (1) Assessment Competencies; (2) Pedagogical Competencies; (3) Occupational Competencies; (4) Professionalism; and (5) Personality Traits. The study uncovers multiple systemic challenges that impact the quality of TVET teachers in Laos. These challenges include nepotism, ambiguous rules and regulations, limited capacities of TVET teachers and insufficient resources, particularly in terms of funding. These obstacles impede the ability of TVET teachers to excel in their roles. Due to the challenges and limited opportunities they face, TVET teachers turn to informal peer-to-peer learning as a means of creating opportunities for themselves. Moreover, they exploit ambiguities in the rules and regulations to manipulate them for personal gain, often to the detriment of their colleagues. The findings of the study shed light on the intricate relationship between social structures and individuals. This study makes three significant contributions. Firstly, it contributes to our knowledge of what constitutes quality TVET teachers by considering not only individual and social factors, but also local norms and practices, and the agency of teachers and policymakers. This comprehensive perspective deepens knowledge of the subjective nature of teacher quality. Secondly, it offers insights that could inform education policies designed to improve the teacher quality by aligning the values of TVET teachers and policymakers. This insight facilitates targeted policies and efficient allocation of resources, while also informing the development of curriculum for pre-service and in-service TVET teachers. Thirdly, the study holds methodological significance because it operationalises the capability approach and develops a scale to measure the elements that characterise quality TVET teachers, an area with limited existing literature. The creation of this instrument provides a valuable frame of reference for future research, enabling more rigorous investigations into the factors that contribute to teacher quality in the TVET education sector.
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    Repertoires of Resistance: The Lived Experiences of Women of Colour Early Childhood Educators
    Lam, Claudine Jane Kyen Yin ( 2023-08)
    Deploying four core tenets of Critical Race Theory to problematise inequitable power relationships, my research investigated how women of colour early childhood educators in Australia experience race and how this informed their teaching practices. In doing this, it interrogated how the circulation of power inherent within constructs of race, racialisation and discourses of racism authorise and legitimise whose lived experiences of racial inequity are privileged or silenced. Drawing on data collected via Walking Interviews, Photovoice and Critical Group Discussions, three significant findings emerged. Firstly, the circulation of majoritarian narratives and discourses of denial of racism operate to (re)centre and preserve white privilege and power. Secondly, the conflation of diversity and difference with discourses of multiculturalism obscures and reinforces the fabrication of a colonised, racialised ‘other’. Finally, counter-narratives can be deployed to resist and decolonise the impacts of race, racialisation and discourses of racism. Collectively, these findings make visible the need to centre, honour and celebrate the voices and lived experiences of women of colour early childhood educators, speak back to the early childhood profession and further explore diverse theories of social change.
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    The Internet of Toys: Exploring multimodal learning in the lifeworlds of young children
    Ling, Li ( 2023-09)
    Young children are growing up with an array of playthings including those in the category of the Internet of Toys (IoToys). They are not only playing with certain Internet-connected items that are manufactured to be children’s toys, but also turning many Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as smartphones and tablets, into their playthings. To provide a clear and comprehensive interpretation of what the IoToys might be, and to enable future research on the IoToys to be conducted in a systematic and holistic way, a new conceptualisation of the Internet of Toys is proposed in this work. Based on this novel conceptualisation, an online survey and five case studies were conducted following a convergent mixed methods design, in order to explore young children’s play practices with their IoToys in the home settings and to determine any associated influences on children’s play and learning. Additionally, some elements influencing young children’s play choices with the IoToys were investigated. A total of 730 Chinese parents/caregivers from four different schools participated in the survey. Descriptive analyses and correlational analyses were conducted to analyse the survey data. Five families with six children participated in the case studies. Each participant family was visited on five to eight occasions, with interviews and observations being conducted over a period of four months. Thematic analysis was then employed to analyse the data generated from the case studies. The findings from this research reveal that the IoToys items, with their range of activities, were very popular among young children. Because of the ubiquitous nature of the IoT devices, a majority of the children started to play with the IoToys at a young age. The qualitative data suggested several similarities among the children’s play practices with the IoToys, and demonstrated that the children could acquire varied knowledge from their free play with their IoToys. What the children may learn from their IoToys play was largely determined by the specific content of the play activities conducted (e.g., games and cartoons) rather than the devices themselves. The survey explored whether there existed a relationship between the IoToys play at home and academic performance at school. The data from the case studies and those from the survey together showed some elements that may influence children’s play practices with their IoToys, such as their parents’ mediation strategies and attitudes, and the parents’ own IoToys play habits. Several challenges associated with the children’s IoToys play were revealed, such as a consideration of what is now regarded as being age-inappropriate content in social media. The findings have important implications for future research and make a significant contribution to the current debates in the research literature about digital play. Finally, valuable suggestions for families about IoToys possibilities and for the toy industry about design can also be obtained.
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    Holistic Learning in Outdoor Settings: Educators' Practices, Experiences, and Integration of Outdoor Community Learning in Kindergarten Curriculum
    Ng, Siew Chin ( 2023-09)
    International early learning guidelines and frameworks conceptualise holistic learning in terms of the integration of various learning and developmental domains. An alternative perspective of holistic learning in the early childhood years would be to consider postfoundational theories to disrupt the norms of a linear developmental perspective. This would enable rethinking the taken for granted developmental views currently normalised and elevating the strengths of children’s deep learning. Such rethinking would include consideration of the discourses of meaning-making elements which can be found in the Common Worlds framework based on emerging theoretical perspectives about the relations between human and more-than-human worlds. Focusing on teaching and learning outdoors, in the first phase this study investigated early educators’ current practices when teaching outdoors. In the second phase, the early childhood educators were introduced to post-humanist perspectives as well as the Out and About Manifesto. This work then extended the Common Worlds framework in practice starting with a focus on educators’ own thinking about outdoor experiences. Highlighting the assemblage of relations in everyday environments, the Ten Key Encounters in an Urbanised Outdoor Landscape consisting of first, continuing, and sustaining encounters were conceptualised. Ultimately, this study explored how early educators can transform their beliefs, pedagogies, and practices by connecting to the outdoors in order to promote holistic learning in community places. The project contributes significantly to our knowledge of how educators and researchers could rethink outdoor practices with a post-humanist or post-qualitative perspective. Contributing to this would be the professional learning of early educators and the possibilities to transform their outdoor pedagogies and practices in new and dynamic ways to encourage deep learning, sustainability and embrace holistic learning.
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    An investigation of how Vietnamese primary school teachers develop competence in formative assessment
    Nguyen, Giang H. T. ( 2023-07)
    Since Black and Wiliam (1998a) published their paper on formative assessment (FA) as a way to improve teaching quality and learning achievement, FA has attracted widespread attention from educators and policy-makers in Western countries. A rich body of research on FA has developed, much of which has focused on exploring its purposes, its benefits to teaching and learning, and the key operational elements of its practice. However, how these benefits have been realised in Eastern contexts has remained under-researched. How teachers develop competence in FA is also not well understood. Therefore, drawing on the Dreyfus and Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition (1986), this study aims to empirically determine how Vietnamese primary school teachers typically develop competence in FA. In consultation with subject matter experts, a 19-item Formative Assessment Competency (FAC) scale was developed to enable primary school teachers in Vietnam to self-assess their levels of FA competence. Using survey methodology, the study asked 461 primary school teachers in Vietnam to complete the FAC scale and supply background information about their assessment and teaching experience. Both Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory analyses indicated that the scale had satisfactory psychometric properties, and partial credit analyses confirmed a developmental competency progression of five consecutive stages articulating how the teachers typically progress in their FA competence. Through multilevel modelling, four factors were found to impact the development of FA competence among Vietnamese primary school teachers: pre-service training in assessment, in-service training in FA, school location, and levels of interaction with colleagues on FA topics. Pre-service training was found to have the highest predictive power, and levels of interaction with colleagues the least. Finally, interviews were conducted with 13 primary school teachers to seek further insights into the associations found, drawing on skill acquisition models, social learning theories and the concept of teacher agency. The findings have direct implications for FA policy development and pre-service training in Vietnam, as well as curriculum development for pre- and in-service teacher education programs in developing, Eastern countries.