Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemRater consistency and judgment in the direct assessment of second language writing ability within the certificates in spoken and written English( 1998)The introduction of competency-based models of language and literacy education in Australia has, to a large degree, coincided with an increased emphasis on direct assessment as the most common means of evaluating second language writing ability within the Adult Migrant English Program. The key problem in directly assessing writing ability is having two or more raters arrive at a similar judgment or rating for the same piece of writing. While there is a long tradition of research on rater consistency and judgment in the holistic assessment of writing ability, similar research on the direct assessment of second language writing ability within the context of competency-based language and literacy education is almost non-existent. This study aims to determine the degree to which the performance criteria designed to assess second language writing ability within the Certificates in Spoken and Written English can ensure acceptable levels of rater consistency, and to describe the decision-making behaviours and strategies used by raters when reading for the purposes of assessment. The think-aloud verbal reports of six experienced ESL raters assessing three texts written by intermediate level adult ESL learners were transcribed and subjected to a rigorous interpretive analysis. In terms of rater consistency, analysis of raters verbal reports indicated that while there was generally a high degree of rater consistency at the overall performance or text level there was considerably tess agreement at the level of individual performance criteria. Analysis of the data revealed that raters adopted distinctive styles or approaches to reading for the purposes of assessment and that raters interpreted and applied the performance criteria statements in a range of different ways. These findings have significant implications not only for the development of competency-based assessment procedures but also for the training of raters. v11
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ItemHuman capital : a case study of the AMEP( 1995)This study is an investigation of the Human Capital Approach to education in Australia. It examines whether or not the Commonwealth Government is steering education towards the incorporation of policies that invest greater emphasis and resources into human beings as contributors to economic productivity than it invests in their cultural and aesthetic value. The study incorporates the philosophies of the Human Capitalists and how successive Commonwealth and State Governments apply these philosophies in education policy formulation - particularly the provision of English language to adult migrants through the Adult Migrant Education Program in Victoria. The methodology used is a questionnaire of closed and open-ended questions distributed to AMEP teachers. The researcher duly followed up the questionnaire with interviews of four AMEP teachers in an endeavour to shed more light on the reasons behind the responses given by teachers in the questionnaire. The researcher undertook an analysis of the responses in order to investigate whether or not the Commonwealth Government gives primacy to economic objectives of the migration program over its social, cultural and linguistic objectives. The findings are that the AMEP teachers surveyed believe that the Commonwealth Government does emphasize economic objectives over all other objectives of the migration program. A Human Capital approach to education, reflected in the application of Economic Rationalism, is apparent in Australia's education system according to AMEP teachers surveyed and that such has been the case since the late 1970s. The literary works of Schultz, Smith, Dawkins, Piore, Crittenden, Benovat, Green, Pusey, Kennedy, Marginson and Grubb are included in this study. These works form the literature review of the Human Capital approach. As well, the Reports chaired by Karmel, Williams, Kirby, Fitzgerald and Campbell, and a variety of Commonwealth Reports and Working Party Papers into various aspects of education in Australia are represented in an investigation of the application of the Human Capital approach to education in Australia's main education policies. The findings of this research are that the Human Capital approach to education is influencing the AMEP and that this has wider implications for the national education system in Australia. Almost all AMEP teachers surveyed believe the AMEP no longer follows its own National Plan, in which it spells out its aims and objectives, but pursues the Commonwealth Government's primary objective of pursuing the economic aims and benefits of the migration program.
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ItemLearning literacy : a case study of the development of English literacy skills in two adult ESL students( 1997)This minor thesis reports on the findings of a study done of two adult international students of English as a Second Language. The study attempts to outline the issue of difficulties experienced by these students while learning to write in English in preparation for tertiary studies in Australia. The main aim of the study was to attempt to illustrate that international students need to be instructed by their teachers in how to write in the genre required for tertiary study. An attempt was made to measure the language level of the two students to determine how thoroughly prepared they were in the genre they were mainly required to write in their tertiary study. For these two students, this genre was business report writing. It was realised that although the two students had received practice in responding to General English writing tasks, they had not been taught how to write business reports. This conclusion was drawn through the study in which qualitative techniques of research and text analysis were used. Firstly, the students were given a series of reading and writing tasks to perform to determine their levels of English at the start of the study. At the end of the study there was a similar set of tasks for the students to perform. Secondly, the students and two of their teachers were interviewed. The students tried to reveal their perception of what their English Language intensive courses had taught them. The teachers who had taught these students attempted, through their responses to the interview questions, to outline the objectives of the courses they had delivered Thirdly, the students' attempt at writing report genres in their tertiary study was commented upon. At the end a short business report was selected as the target text and this was analysed. Systemic functional grammar was drawn upon to analyse the target text. The analysis of this model text was used to compare the analyses of the responses of the students to business report writing tasks. A summary of the findings is presented in this thesis and comparisons made in order to come to a conclusion that there does exist a need for overseas students intending to go on to further tertiary study to be taught explicitly through deconstruction of model texts by the teacher. The genre of the model text has to be directly related to the tertiary course of study that the students are going to follow. The students need to be provided with close guidance by their teachers, and constant practice of the genre is required.
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ItemThe graduate nursing program : an exercise in reality orientation for the beginning practitioner in transition( 1995)Graduate Nurse Education, so long taken for granted, has of recent times been trust into the clinical spotlight. This, from the clinician practitioners, as much as anyone, has come about from the changed focus of undergraduate preparation. Whilst completing baccalaureate preparation in a University has had perceived positive results from a professional perspective it has arguably resulted in graduates demonstrating different attributes to their predecessors. No longer bureaucratically encultured, and with limited exposure to the clinical setting, the requirements of the contemporary graduate program is vastly different to its historical counterpart. Whilst the academics argue the role and place of the "Graduate Year Program" this dissertation seeks to illuminate the requirements of such a program from the unique perspective of the graduate clinician participants. That a program is a requirements is taken as granted, and arguments into the role and place of these programs are presented. The abundant literature related to the experience is discussed, in a focussed sense, within the constructs of its Australian application and in particular the Victorian precepts. The sense of "de ja vue" experienced whilst reviewing the Kramer and Benner experience arguably illuminates the discussion. The Phenomenological approach to the research task, utilising the notion of grounded theory facilitates the story of the Graduates as they experience the first three months of clinical practice in a major metropolitan hospital. An attempt is made to return to the academic agenda the notion of the "Graduate Internship" with recognition of the differing emotions that this notion evokes. The experience is further validated by canvassing the Nurse Unit Manager perceptions of the process. The findings demonstrate the importance of a clinically based transition program, one that this author believes is best offered as a component of a service based practice year. The components of a practice based year are demonstrated as best being advocated by the clinician participants of the program. The validity of their insight into their requirements are born out in this dissertation. What is important is their continued exposure to the rigours of clinical practice. This, to best translate their theoretical preparation into a capacity to meet clinical service needs. Whether these objectives have been successfully achieved will be judged by the readers of this work. Make no mistake, however, that this is an important topic and requires of the profession critical reflection and revision of the impact of the critical first few months of clinical experience for the neophyte practitioner. This is a testament to their own experiences. Experiences that they have agreed to share with us. Listen to the lesson they give, and learn for the future, the future of the Nursing Profession.
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ItemStanding strong or standing weak? Equal opportunity, violence against women and the school curriculum : a case study( 1994)Despite violence against women becoming a very public issue in recent years, remarkably little material on this subject has so far found its way into the school curriculum. This thesis examines a set of curriculum materials called Standing Strong, which specifically aims to help students make sense of violent and sexually abusive relationships. The thesis outlines and evaluates the materials in light of their ability to achieve one of the major objectives of recent equal opportunity policy, namely, to help achieve "equality between the sexes, and...improv(e) the conditions of life for girls and women...taking account of their cultural, language, and socio-economic diversity...". (Commonwealth Schools Commission, 1987: Recommendation 2, p. 25). The evaluation takes two main forms, one theoretical, the other empirical. The theoretical evaluation draws upon recent post structuralist and constructionist feminist writings. The empirical evaluation is undertaken by drawing upon the research findings derived from in-depth interviews with 24 young women who had used the Standing Strong materials during their secondary school education. The thesis argues that Standing Strong is flawed theoretically, and that this is likely to hamper its usefulness in practice. The research data confirm this pessimistic conclusion. The thesis concludes by reflecting on whether a focus on education might be more of a hindrance than a help to the development of a meaningful and effective solutions to violence against women.
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ItemAn evaluation of the Australian Paediatric Review Training Program in Victoria( 1999)The Australian Paediatric Review Training Program (APRTP) is a continuing medical education program in paediatric and adolescent health for general practitioners. The educational structure of the APRTP includes a pre-meeting quiz, attendance at a meeting, a post-meeting quiz and quiz feedback, with completion of the post-meeting quiz optional. This evaluation of the APRTP in Victoria was undertaken two and a half years after the commencement of the Program, as a pilot for a national evaluation of the Program. A "critical multiplist" approach was used in evaluating the APRTP in Victoria, combining data from a number of different evaluation methodologies - participant meeting evaluation, pre and post meeting quiz analysis, one-to-one semi-structured interviews and a participant survey. The interviews and participant survey were informed by the development of a program theory for the APRTP, based on the literature on continuing medical education and behaviour change theories. As the Medical Educator in the Program my role includes designing the Program process, developing the educational objectives and material for each of the meetings, and coding and interpreting evaluation data from the meeting and quizzes. This role expanded to include all aspects of the evaluation of the Program apart from the analysis of quiz and survey data which was undertaken by the external consultant statistician employed by the Program. There were good response rates to the various evaluation instruments (69%-82%). The evaluation results confirmed the process, components and educational activities described in the program theory and further strengthened the program theory. Overall, the data gathered confirmed that participants were positive about the value of the Program and its various components, reinforcing that the structure of the Program should be maintained. The evaluation also identified areas of the Program which require change - the meeting format (meeting group size and more effective small group work), meeting delivery (appropriate selection and adequate briefing of resource people to ensure relevance for general practice), administrative problems (more reliable mailout), and access to the Program (distance education, more venues etc). The evaluation results identified that sessions within a meeting were valued differently by participants and had differing impact. The extent of changes identified varied from meeting to meeting and knowledge acquisition was more likely to occur than identification of a change in practice, which is consistent with the literature. While the evaluation gathered evidence that change was most likely when new clinical knowledge or information about new clinical approaches was presented, the actual content and delivery of the material were also important in influencing change. The evaluation also highlighted that the Program does not assess actual physician performance and therefore does not identify whether changes due to Program participation are translated into actual clinical practice.
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ItemThe implementation of the English language framework P-10: a case study( 1994)The following case study examined and evaluated a teacher's perception of the influence of the implementation of an externally mandated innovation, the English Language Framework P-10, in a Victorian outer metropolitan primary school in order to determine the factors that fostered/hindered implementation within that particular context. To assist in this analysis and to verify its results, a comparison was made between this innovation's implementation and the successful implementation of Integrated Curriculum. The purposes of the study were to 1. evaluate the implementation of the Framework by the teacher in the study; 2. analyse the factors which affected this implementation; and 3. determine the subsequent implications for the implementation of future innovations in the same context. Because the findings of the study were context dependent, large generalisations about aspects of the change process were not expected to emerge from the study's conclusions. Rather, the study sought to provide an understanding of change within this particular context. For such reasons, a case study approach based on the axioms of the 'naturalistic paradigm' were employed. This mode required that the design 'emerge' as the study progressed. Each subsequent phase of data collection was therefore based on the salient elements which emerged through interviews, observations and/or document analysis. The study's conclusions find that the largest hindrances to the implementation of the Framework arose from its failure to address the teacher's specific needs; its lack of clarity due to diffuse goals and vague means of implementation; and a lack of external support in the form of materials, consultants and professional development courses. The implications of the study question the feasibility of externally mandated innovations which fail to address a particular school's situation and suggest that a combination of individual and institutional development which supports change initiated and enacted at the local level would be the most beneficial for this study's site and others like it.