Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemCatholic higher education in Victoria : a survey based upon the careers of matriculation students, 1950 to 1955( 1966)The survey was based upon a complete census of the students from Victorian Catholic schools who presented for Matriculation between 1950 and 1958, and followed their careers until the end of 1964. The-first part compared the results of the Catholic and of the other schools in Victoria taken together. At Matriculation level, the students from the Catholic schools performed at least as satisfactorily as the students from the other schools. This was,due, however, to the boys rather than the girls, whose results were less satisfactory, than those of the other girls. At university level, the Catholic results in the first year examinations, as far as the limited data permit one to judge, appeared to be below the level of the other students; but when all years were taken into account; there was no significant difference in overall performance of the Catholic and other students. The second part of the survey studied the factors that determined the success or failure of the Catholic schools, and comparisons were made solely between Catholic schools. There was no significant difference between the results of Catholic boy and girl students in their best three subjects in a single presentation for Matriculation, nor between their pass-rates in the first or first three years in the university. The unmatched teaching institutes showed significant differences within each sex division in the Matriculation, but practically none in the first year and in the first three years in the university. The significant differences even at Matriculation, however, tended to disappear, when the institutes were matched on other circumstances influencing achievement. Finally, individual schools showed significant differences in Matriculation results within each sex division, but these tended to disappear in the first and first three years' university results. Significant differences between the results of those presenting for the first time and those for the second time, in favour of the latter, were frequently observed at Matriculation level but scarcely at all in the university. Among the other circumstances influencing achievement, at Matriculation level, socio-economic status was significant for boys' schools, in favour of the higher levels, but not for girls' schools. Size of Matriculation class was significant for boys' schools, in favour of larger classes (20 or more, compared with 10 to 19), but not for the corresponding larger classes in girls' schools (10 or more, compared with 1 to 9). Locality (metropolitan, urban, rural) was not significant for boys' schools, but it was for the girls', in favour of the metropolitan compared with the urban schools. Practically no significance was found in accommodation (boarding compared with day schools, or in educational classification (A and B class schools). At university level, the only circumstance that proved significant was size of class, in favour of schools with larger Matriculation classes among the boys (20 or more, compared with 10 to 19), and with smaller classes among the girls (1 to 9, compared with 10 to 19). On the whole, over the triennia, the standard of results for both male and female schools appeared to be improving significantly.
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ItemEvaluating the Santa Maria College information literacy program( 2007)This is an impact study, which evaluates an Information Literacy Program that has been running in the Santa Maria College Library since February 2000. It investigates the effectiveness of the Program inputs and processes and seeks to identify impacts on learning in student outputs and College wide outcomes. The study builds on previous research that was conducted from 2000 to 2004 and seeks to develop new understandings through new methods. This study draws on literature that examines methods of collecting evidence of learning impact in school libraries. The literature recommends micro-research in secondary schools that examines students' skills before and after they have been involved in integrated information literacy instruction, as well as empirical studies about the impact of the six step research process model on learning. The literature also suggests investigation of the impact of school libraries on the broad aspects of learning, and the development and application of new methods for collecting qualitative data in the library setting. From Terms One to Term Four in 2005, mixed methods were used to capture evidence of student learning in the Santa Maria College Library. Students were observed as they carried out Program research tasks. The assignments that they produced at the end of the research process were assessed. Surveys and focus group interviews explored the perceptions of a sample of the students and teachers who participated in the Program. In exploring the data, changes in learning behaviour and attitudes to the research process were identified and analysed. The effectiveness of various aspects of the Program such as task design, explicit process instruction, cognitive strategies, note taking scaffolds and assessment practices were examined. Two theoretical frameworks synthesised from the literature were used in the research. The first framework is based on criteria for effective libraries such as staffing, funding, collection size and technological infrastructure. The second framework combines the effective approaches to learning in school libraries that are evident in the literature. Those frameworks were applied to assess the pre-conditions for learning in the Santa Maria Library. A third framework based on criteria that identify outcomes and indicators of student learning in school libraries, was used to identify evidence of student learning across the data sets. The key research questions were used to organise the discussion of the findings. The findings demonstrated that student outcomes have improved in a broad range of learning experiences. The study deepened my understanding of the distinctive features of the Program and its strengths and weaknesses. The strengths included: the use of constructivist pedagogy and inquiry learning; the collaborative planning, implementation and review processes; the infusion of the learning activities in real units of work; the learning scaffolds and instructional interventions at the point of need; and the assessment and feedback strategies. All of those inputs and processes are critical success factors in the Program. The note taking grids and the associated skill development in reading for meaning, identifying and recording key points, and combining information for final products are particularly effective aspects of the Program, which were highly regarded by the students. The weaknesses of the Program included: the gradual erosion of collaborative planning, implementation and evaluation processes; a general feeling of Program fatigue; the fact that the assessment of student outputs to track Progress is not standard practice; and the lack of a process for fading scaffolds in the Year 9 and 10 levels to shift control of the learning process from the teachers and teacher librarians to the students as they move through the Program. The study incorporates a series of recommendations for ongoing monitoring, and future Program delivery and implementation.