Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe impact of writing for different kinds of audience on a group of year 11 students' writing proficiency at an inner city secondary college in Victoria( 1993)This study was carried out with the purpose of finding out the influence of audience on the students writing proficiency It was carried out with the help of forty students who were studying at Year 1 1 at an inner city secondary college. The students belonged to three different classes or three intact groups. Each student produced three pieces of writing one of which was for no audience the second one of which was for an imaginary audience and the third one of which was for a real audience. Since the sequence of tasks could be a compounding variable in this study it was decided to give the three groups of students the tasks in three different orders. The students writings were assessed by three raters using a multitrait method of scoring. The components of writing and scales used were derived from those proposed by Hamp Lyons (1986). For any large discrepancy a fourth rater was invited to rate the specific samples of writing again. The data was analysed by ANOVA and F comparison. The results of the study reveal that audience has a significant impact on the students writing proficiency. However when the students wrote for an imaginary audience their writing was rated as less proficient than when they wrote for no audience. The most interesting result was the one relating to students writing for a real audience In this case students proficiency was judged by the raters to be greater than for the other two types of audience. This research has provided some interesting insights for teachers and composition and direct writing assessment researchers.
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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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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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ItemProfessional development as work-based, collective learning : a study of curriculum implementation and change( 1997)Change is now synonymous with education. Curriculum and school organisational reform currently infiltrate every aspect of school life, with teachers in many instances expected to take on myriad initiatives and school improvement proposals. This study, of curriculum change and implementation, was designed to gain insight into effective change processes and the learning opportunities provided to support teachers as significant curriculum reforms were introduced. The Early Literacy Research Project (ELRP) was used as vehicle for this study. Schools participating in the ELRP were to implement a comprehensive approach to literacy teaching and learning for students in the early years of schooling with the design of the project providing significant support for teaching teams as changes were introduced. A selective and focussed review of literature relating to the process of change in schools has been completed. This is discussed in relation to Matthew Mile's Triple I Model which outlines stages and factors in the change process. Particular emphasis has been given to literature which links teacher learning to the process of change, focussing on teacher collaboration and collective, work-embedded learning. The aim of the study was to monitor the process of change in ELRP schools and to identify the factors which supported teachers as they endeavoured to make significant and sustainable changes to their teaching programs. The study was seen as an opportunity to consider the relevance of the Triple I Model as a means of interpreting change in schools. A case study approach to the research task, using observations, interviews, document analysis and questionnaires, facilitated the monitoring of the process of curriculum implementation in ELRP schools. Throughout the study the intention was to record the 'teacher voice' during the change process to ensure the validity and authenticity of insights gained throughout this dissertation. The results indicated that change is far from a linear process. Stages and factors within the change process were seen to overlap and occur simultaneously as changes were implemented. The study highlighted the importance of specific change factors and in particular those which related to teacher learning and collaboration. It emphasised the key role personnel responsible for change can play when this role is well resourced and linked to the provision of work-based professional development. The study also promoted discussion in relation to placement of a number of factors within the change model. This led to the development of an adaptation of the Triple I Model. It is suggested that this revised model provides a conceptual frame which may be used to assist schools in planning, monitoring and explaining authentic school reform projects. iv
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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.
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ItemAppraising a narrative-based in-house staff training and professional development model for a Tongan school( 1996)This thesis describes a narrative-based staff development and evaluation program after Wood (1992) that the author expects to implement at St Joseph's Business College, Nuku'alofa, Kingdom of Tonga. An investigation of the model was performed by the author at a TAFE Institute in Melbourne, in which four experienced teachers from the Business and Marketing Departments volunteered to recount and discuss stories of their professional development. A pre-structured case study approach after Miles (1990) was seen an appropriate means of dealing with data reduction and presentation arising from the collaborative composed personal narratives and evaluative comments by the four teachers. The problems and prospects of implementing a culturally recognised professional development model at St Joseph's Business College are discussed in the light of the author's experience in the study.