Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemInfluences on engineering education in Australia( 1976)This thesis is concerned with the identification and examination of the various types of influences on professional engineering education in Australia. It commences with a study of what a professional person in general, and a professional engineer in particular, should be, and describes the functions and characteristics of such a person. This is followed by an examination of curriculum design, and how the curricula of professional courses are controlled by professional societies. The various influences on engineering curricula are then considered in detail in four broad categories, namely historical influences, formal influences, informal influences, and societal influences within each of these categories, various tapes of influences are identified, and their method of application, and relative effectiveness, discussed. Apart from the chapters on terminology and historical influences, which have been researched from existing publications, the content of the thesis is original, and, as far as can be ascertained, is the first attempt to examine the subject of Australian engineering education in a sociological context.
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ItemA preliminary investigation of language function and educational success in primary school children( 1980)This study is an attempt to establish if there exist differences in pupil performance at the level of language function which will support teachers' intuitive judgements of pupil ability in the context of the primary school classroom. The type of study was naturalistic and descriptive and involved children in grades two and six of a regional city State Primary School. The 12 subjects were selected by the respective grade teachers on perceived performance, and allocated by them to either an upper or lower ability grouping. Each group consisted of three pupils and the same teacher conducted each lesson in the same classroom situation. The task was concerned with the developing concept of floating and sinking and involved pupils having to initially classify 82 items as either float or sink objects. After this task was completed the pupils tested each object to establish if their initial hypothesis was correct. Results were analysed using an interaction based functional model of language and subjected to statistical analyses to establish which functions reached a level of significance. Results indicate that significant differences do exist at the level of function between ability groups at each grade level and between respective grades. The lower ability pupils at grade two appear to interpret the demands of the educational task differently from their upper ability counterparts. At the level of cognitive discourse function the lower ability group interpreted the task as requiring the use of the hypothesis discourse function which was linguistically realised principally by use of the one term/single response strategy and by general statement. The upper group however interpreted the task as requiring the use of evidence in support of any hypothesis made in an initial response and this function was linguistically expressed by using the causal statement strategies. The lower ability group also used the procedural function as a continuous commentary on their ongoing actions but the upper group employed this function significantly less. There was no significant difference in the choice of cognitive discourse function between groups at grade six, and both groups interpreted the task as demanding a different approach than that adopted by grade two. Both groups employed the 'use evidence' function as an initial response and the procedural function virtually disappeared. Differences did emerge in the selection of linguistic strategies to realise the cognitive discourse functions and three of these reached a level of significant difference. These were the one word/single term, single attribute, and no response strategies which were consistently employed by the lower ability group. The upper ability group employed more anecdote and affirm/ deny strategies than the lower group. The use of the social discourse function also changed between grades. At grade two both ability groups interposed their own social discourse between educational exchanges with the teacher. By grade six this function was almost exclusively used by both groups to support peer statements and acted as a cohesive element in the discourse. At the level of teacher reaction the teacher used significantly more of those reaction types which extended discourse with upper ability groups at both grade levels. The teacher also employed 'request for extension' significantly more at the grade six level than with the grade two groups. In this study, because only two groups of three subjects each have been compared, individual differences could influence the results obtained and therefore any interpretation and generalisation from the results found in this study will have to be limited and tentative in nature.
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ItemThe triple-I model of continuing development in school communities( 1984)The Triple-I Model of Professional Development was first aired in the James Report (England, 1972) and developed by the Research Unit of the School of Education, Bristol University, under the direction of Dr. Ray Bolam. This Pilot Study- is an initiative of the Catholic Education Office of Victoria. The research project is an illuminative study of the Triple-I Model of Continuing Development Programmes of fourteen Catholic Parish Primary Schools, over a period of two years. It is assumed in this model of continuing development that schools are groups of people engaged in an educational enterprise. Positive outcomes have resulted in the development and sharing of personal resources within these school communities. Within this context, the teacher moves more surely through the INITIATION, INDUCTION and IN-SERVICE (Triple-I) phases of personal and professional development. This report concludes with recommendations and suggests further research, particularly in the area of resource processes for school principals.
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ItemThe effects of schools on achievement in science( 1975)The study sought to identify factors which were based in schools which affected the performance of sixth form students in science in Victorian schools, In order to identify school effects, allowance was made using multiple regression analysis for factors which were shown to contribute to academic performance but were those over which the school had no control. Use was made of information collected during a. study of science achievement by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). A sample of 37 schools was used the probability of selection of the school was proportional to its enrolment. Within each school, a random sample of students in the sixth form was made to select the students to take part in the testing program. Information collected enabled a predicted score for each school to be made and this was compared with the actual score obtained by averaging the scores of each student in the sample. Two groups of five schools were then selected for comparative study; one group which had performed better than expected and the other which had performed below expectations. The comparison of the two groups of schools to identify school factors was achieved by the study of the responses of teachers, students and school principals on survey instruments. In addition a visit was made to each school to gather further information. These procedures enabled the identification of school characteristics which were seen as contributing factors to the performance of students on tests of science achievement.
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ItemYouth unemployment : a force for change in the existing class structure of Western society( 1981)The main theme of the thesis is the inter-relationship between unemployed youth, the educational process and the work-world. A subsidiary theme is the underemployment which has emerged as a result of a large number of graduates from tertiary institutions flooding the labor market and the subsequent lack of suitable employment to fit their professional qualifications. The first chapter gives a short description of the nature of technological change that is causing structural unemployment. The chapter then appraises the nature and cause of underemploymeat. in the second chapter the ways in. which governments exercise social control over unemployed youth is examined, especially in Australia. Chapter Three goes on to look at the ways in which youth has responded to unemployment and underemployment and discusses the theories of job-entitlement beliefs propounded by a number of sociologists. The final chapter is devoted to an analysis of the problems of unemployment in Australia and the effect it has had. in raising the class awareness and cultural consciousness of youth. The position taken by various employment agencies is also discussed in relation to what they see as the role of educational institutions.
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ItemEgan's stage theory : an exploratory study of its use in the analysis of science textbooks( 1985)Kieran Egan (1979) has challenged educationists to consider the need for a Theory of Development which is specifically Educational. Such a need is discussed and examined in the context of science teaching. Egan's Theory was applied to the selection of science text material for a group of eleven and twelve year old students. The students' responses to the materials were compared with Egan's descriptions of certain developmental stages, particularly of his Romantic Stage. The author concluded that Egan's theoretical proposition assisted in interpeting certain student behaviour and preferences. Possible classroom uses of Egan's theory are discussed, implications for text usage and design are outlined, and some areas of research are suggested.
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ItemThe history of the development of specialist teaching training programmes for teachers of migrant children, 1947-1973( 1983)Information concerning the development of specialist teacher training programmes for teachers of migrant children is fragmentary, being scattered through some 130 published and unpublished documents. The aim of this thesis has been to present, with some degree of order and continuity, that information in a single volume. The resulting compilation is largely descriptive, though some analysis and interpretation could not be avoided. To supplement and to substantiate some of the data collated from the numerous documents, the experiences of a number of teachers who have taught significant proportions of migrant children between 1947 and 1973 have been related. Some of these experiences were gathered by means of a questionnaire which was completed by teachers who had responded to advertisements placed by the writer in The Sun (August 4, 1983) and The Age (August 15, 1983). The advertisements are included as Appendix A.1, and the questionnaire as Appendix A.2. Other experiences were gathered by means of personal interviews with a number of teachers. A full list of all persons from whom information was gathered appears as Appendix A.3. The paper concentrates on the development of specialist teacher training programmes within the Federal and State education systems, with only brief mention of developments within the Catholic education system. Such concentration is not intended to reflect a view that efforts made by the Catholic Church towards the problems of migrant children are insignificant. Indeed, the Catholic schools bore a very substantial share of the influx of migrant children and faced immense educational difficulties as a result, yet they succeeded in making as good a job as possible under the circumstances. Because the history of developments within the Catholic education system is a considerable area on its own, and because much material in that area has already been documented by Carmel O'Dwyer (Responses of Government and Catholic Educational Authorities to the influx of migrants, 1950-1960, with special reference to the experience of a selected group of schools conducted by the Victorian Sisters of Mercy),1 Michael Elliot (Migrant Education in Fitzroy, 1965-1975),2 and Denis Moore (The initial response to the migrant presence in four inner suburban Christian Brothers' schools as revealed in the inspectors' reports and other available sources),3 those developments are not included in this history. The population elements to which the discussion refers to as 'migrants' are those people from 'non-English speaking' origin, excluding Aboriginals. 1. Unpublished Master of Education Thesis, University of Melbourne, 1977. 2. Unpublished Master of Education Thesis, University of Melbourne, 1977. 3. Unpublished Master of Education Thesis, University of Melbourne, 1981. The introductory chapter briefly outlines the Federal Government's immediate steps to provide some training for teachers of adult migrants, and serves to highlight the official indifference outlined by Chapters II, III and IV, to the needs of training for teachers of migrant children until the late sixties when short in-service training courses were introduced. Chapter V traces the history of these short courses. Chapter VI presents the development of in-service teacher training under the Child Migrant Education Programme, the development of some tertiary courses leading to awards, and the development of pre-service courses, all of which take place in the emerging notion of 'multiculturalism'. The initial assumption levelled at teachers of migrant children was that no special training in migrant education was necessary because no special effort was necessary to teach migrant children. If teachers were kindly and understanding, and approached the problem with good sense, migrant children in their care would be rapidly assimilated. Requests for specialist help were made as early as 1954, but a general lack of appreciation of the problem by administrators ensured that these requests were unheeded. The contents of the Haines Report and the Dovey Report in the late fifties vindicated the belief that teachers of migrants did not require special training. The Dovey Report in particular lulled disquiet about the problems of migrant school children, for the four years immediately following its release witnessed only a few ad hoc and unco-ordinated attempts to draw attention to the need for teacher training. By the mid-sixties, however, a number of changes in educational thought were responsible for some new developments in migrant education. It became a public issue, and a number of surveys highlighted its needs. The result was the introduction in Victoria in 1968 of some short in-service teacher training courses. The inadequacies of these courses were soon felt. A survey conducted in New South Wales in 1969 prompted the Commonwealth Government to assume responsibility for the development, management and financial control of child migrant education. Financial assistance was provided to cover the cost of special training courses for teachers, in the method of teaching English as a foreign language. These four-week courses were introduced in 1970. At the same time, and in the setting of a developing notion of multicultural education, the first specialized teacher training course in migrant education to be offered by an Australian tertiary institution was developed. This course led to the award of the Diploma of Migrant Teaching, and commenced at Armidale Teachers' College in 1973. By the end of 1973, some other tertiary institutions were developing graduate and pre-service courses. The history of the development of specialist teacher training programmes obviously does not end in 1973. That year was chosen as the cut-off date for this history for two reasons. Firstly it was, as stated previously, the year in which the first specialized course was offered by an Australian tertiary institution. Secondly, by 1973 the stage was set, in terms of an awareness of the urgent need for pre-service and in-service teacher training,, for the developments that were to take place from 1973 to the present time.4 4. Cf. L. Sislov, Conceptions of Bilingual Education; the contexts in which conceptions emerge and certain practical pedagogical initiations emerging therefrom in Australia and other countries. Unpublished Master of Education Thesis, University of Melbourne, 1982, Chapters 9 and 10.
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ItemComputer-assisted instruction, for elementary school mathematics( 1985)In the 1960s, many educational researchers in the U.S. were attracted to the instructional potential of the computer. In the late 1970s, some of this potential had begun to be realized, as schools gained computing facilities consisting mainly of lower-cost micro-computers. This instructional medium has relatively recently begun to find its way into Australian schools and those of other western countries. Although there are many ways computers may be used to assist the teaching/ learning process, the available educational software tends to consist largely of what is referred to as C.A.I. This is probably the result of the majority of software being of U.S. origin, and of early developmental emphasis placed on this type of program. Programs of this type attempt to perform the function of the teacher by direct instruction of students or examination of their knowledge of a usually elementary topic. (Preferable usage regards the computer as a tool which enables the student to explore or carry out other useful tasks related to learning.) This investigation represents an early attempt at examining the effectiveness and feasibility of this type of instructional computer use in a Victorian primary school. It includes a description of the modes of computerized instruction and learning, together with claimed advantages and perceived drawbacks attaching to this practice. A survey of the use of computers in western countries is included, together with an examination of some of the early C.A.I. research conducted in the U.S. The practical component of the investigation involved the development of a C.A.I. program for the teaching of addition of vulgar fractions. This was subsequently tested with 19 Grade Five children at an independent primary school. The children were tested on the topic before and after exposure to the program, and also received a questionnaire on their attitudes and perceptions. The results were analysed by comparing the performances and responses of children of differing mathematical abilities (measured by prior administration of an achievement test). The program appeared to be only moderately effective. This could have. been because of deficiencies in the program and/or the shortage of student exposure. The effectiveness appeared to be greater for students of "medium" ability. Use of the computer on the other hand proved to be highly motivational to all of the children. There seemed to be some evidence that children of higher ability found the experience easier and more enjoyable, and that some children exhibited somewhat immature perceptions of the computer and of their own computer-related behaviour. The report includes criticisms of the program as tested and recommendations for improvement. Finally, recommendations are included for further research, as well as for any intending educational computer users and programmers. Note: In keeping with the investigational topic, the computer was utilized in the preparation of the report in two ways:- (i) A computerized search of the ERIC educational data base was conducted, to locate reports dealing with C.A.I. in elementary school mathematics. (ii) After experiencing a number of difficulties with typists, the report was produced by the investigator himself, using the WORDSTAR word-processing program. It should be pointed out that the investigator is, at best, a "two-finger" typist! Use of this method of report preparation, although consuming considerable time, is thoroughly recommended to other research students.
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ItemThe nature and organization of secondary "method" programmes in teacher education : a comparison between selected institutions in Australia and England( 1977)Although Method of Teaching courses are conducted in all institutions preparing secondary teachers in Victoria, South Australia and England (the regions examined in this thesis), little research has been conducted in this field. Programmes tend to be derived from a combination of factors: personal teaching experience, intuitive judgements about student needs, the practice of colleagues and their comments on the lecturer's own course, and folklore. Whilst the survey on which this thesis is based revealed that instruction in teaching techniques and curriculum design and the provision of information about resources are given high priority in Method courses, this seems to be the result of a pragmatic rather than a coherently developed theoretical approach to the problem of what should be included in such courses. There is a lack of agreement among the lecturers responsible for this aspect of teacher education on the most effective way of building Method of Teaching into the administrative structures. The existing patterns - either including Method in academic subject departments or incorporating Method in a School or Department of Education - have their advantages and disadvantages. It would seem that historical and political rather than strictly educational reasons account for the particular format chosen in each institution. The survey showed that the staff who plan and teach courses in Method are either part-time practising teachers or have taught in schools in recent years, and the majority have less experience in tertiary education than other colleagues in the institution. This may explain why their status is relatively low and why they have rarely managed to develop structures which could enhance their group identity. In this thesis, some possible ways of developing both such a sense of identity and a more informed awareness of the major aims of courses in Method have been examined, and some new approaches to course review and development have been suggested.