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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    Gesture-based approaches to language learning
    McKinney, Jennifer. (University of Melbourne, 2012)
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    SOTF principals' roles and preparation
    Mbuye, E. A. (University of Melbourne, 1995)
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    Aims and experience in outdoor education
    Nicolson, Malcolm A. (University of Melbourne, 2010)
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    Scaffolding practices in ESL writing classes in Zanzibar
    Maalim, Haroun Ayoub. (University of Melbourne, 2009)
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    More than music : freely painting in glorious sound
    Davies-Splitter, Susie (University of Melbourne, 2009)
    The study consisted of the design and implementation of a course of musical instruction based on the teachings of Carl Orff (1895-1982), specifically through an approach based on improvisation. Twenty six participants volunteered to take part in a 25 contact hour course run over seven weeks. All had at least a rudimentary knowledge of improvisation and all but one (a music therapist) were actively teaching music in a classroom or studio setting prior to the course. The main aim of the course was to instil a sense of confidence in the participants in relation to musical improvisation, a determinate of self that has been lacking in many teachers, according to anecdotal evidence. It was not a jazz or piano based course and was 'More than Music', as it aimed to teach values and life skills as well as music skills. The course consisted of a series of activities that included practical music-making in small and large groups, discussion and reflection, and special guests that culminated in a recording studio experience. Data was collected through questionnaires, both pre-course and post-course, mid-course evaluations, reflective journals, interviews, video-tapes and photographs, and analysed for themes and content. Results of the investigation showed that most participants felt their confidence in improvising had increased and that, following the completion of the course of instruction, most were using the Orff approach in their teaching. A further outcome of the course was the production of a teaching manual and three CDs that have been used in further courses of instruction.
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    Lined scaffolding : mediating the learning of early writing
    Clifton, Elisabeth. (University of Melbourne, 2008)