Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Theses

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    An evaluation of frequency transposition in hearing aids for school age children
    Smith, Alyson Jennifer (University of Melbourne, 2008)
    This study examined the changes in aided performance observed in children with hearing impairment who trialled alternative hearing aid technology. A key objective when fitting hearing aids to children is to maximise the audibility of high frequency speech cues which are critical in the understanding of spoken English. Recent advances in digital signal processing have enabled the development of hearing aids which offer linear frequency transposition as a new way of accessing these important speech sounds. The rationale behind the research was to evaluate the benefits of this new technology for six hearing-impaired children. The participants were aged between 9 and 14 years and all attended mainstream schools. Results for each participant are presented in a case study format. Objective outcome measures were comprised of tests of speech perception and speech production. These case study results illustrate individual variation, with five of the six participants recording overall positive change in both these metrics. Results also showed statistically significant improvements for the group as a whole. The objective findings were supported by positive subjective benefits measured using formal and informal questionnaires completed by the participants, their family members and their teachers. The introduction of the new technology resulted in improved hearing aid usage, increased selfconfidence, improved listening skills and global improvements in communication abilities. Differences were particularly marked for those children with extreme ski-slope hearing losses fitted with an open ear hearing aid style.
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    Using new media in the drama classroom
    Werda, Monique Kathryn (University of Melbourne, 2007)
    This study explores the ways in which primary school drama students engage with new media technologies in the drama classroom. Specifically this study investigates a multi-media project combining live role- based performance and digital role-based performance. The research addresses whether the drama classroom can operate effectively within a digital framework. In particular the study seeks to clarify whether the virtual world and the real world of the drama classroom can come together to produce new dramatic works. Using an action research approach, I draw on my teaching of nine weeks of drama in an all girls K-12 school in Melbourne, Australia. The data was collected through observing and facilitating the drama workshops, conducting interviews with both student and teacher participants and collecting digital discussion forum reflections. A review of the related literature focuses on the current state of drama education and the ways in which drama educators are adapting to the technological changes in their curricula. In the drama classes the girls were challenged to create improvisations and stories from new media pretexts and stimuli. In their dramas the girls also addressed the ways in which new technologies were present in their everyday lives and how these technologies could be used in the drama classroom. This study addresses the possibilities of building a digitally viable drama classroom that still enables students to learn and express themselves through dramatic form. The findings of this study indicate the importance of drama education to connect young people to their real life technological experiences and also the importance of giving young people physically active opportunities that they do not find in their highly mediated world.
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    Evaluation of web site design in online learning : a case study approach
    Bagg, Stefan (University of Melbourne, 2002)
    As a result of economic rationalism and technological determinism, it has been argued that a global imperative to adopt Online Learning (OLL) is being driven by "megauniversities" (Bates, 1996, p.6), in order to deliver a mass-produced education (Clark, 1996; Laurillard, 1996). While this may have been enough for its initial justification, many now believe it should provide "value-added" (Leigh, 1997, pp.5-6), benefits that also improve the quality of learning as well (Alexander, 1996; Andres 1996; Laurillard, 1996). To accomplish this, some would argue, requires a paradigm shift away from traditional "Instructional" design approaches towards a model of "Constructivism" where the delivery of education becomes learner-centred (Alexander, 1996, p.5; Jonassen, 1994, pp.1-3). The capacity of the World Wide Web (WWW) to meet these demands is wellrecognised. Not only can it deliver "anytime, anywhere" (Bates, 1996, p.1), but by incorporating interactive hypermedia (IHM) it may be possible to create an environment where opportunities for "deep" learning (through "knowledge construction"), as well as "life-long" learning may occur (Alexander 1996, pp.5-6; Jonassen, 1994, p.2). Hence it is crucial that educators are able to make informed decisions about web design strategies in order to contribute to the process of maximising quality outcomes in OLL. The purpose of this study was to investigate student perceptions of two (2) contrasting OLL sites and any effects web usability design (Nielsen, 1997), may have had upon either site's potential to value-add to a user's learning experience. Conducted within a TAFE(1) setting by a teacher using students as volunteers(2), a qualitative case study approach was applied. Prior to this investigation a specific set of web usability design (WUD) guidelines was created in order to aid in the development a model OLL web site that aimed at promoting an interesting and stimulating learning environment while simultaneously reducing the cognitive load placed upon a user. A second site containing essentially the same subject material but contrasting dramatically in terms of its delivery design was then also produced. So that a comparative evaluation of these two sites could be made twelve volunteers, of mixed gender and generally representative of a TAFE student population, were recruited to act as heuristic usability evaluators. This study demonstrates that to promote the potential for a better quality OLL experience for students, careful consideration of web usability design (WUD) is important. That teachers can play an active role in the design, development and evaluation of an OLL program is also possible given that this case study shows that it is feasible to implement an iterative design strategy that is less costly and more time efficient than traditional computer engineering models. Consequently in the process of conducting this form of inquiry it was found that in the application of these WUD guidelines a strategy that provides a more responsive approach to student needs in OLL is achievable and that in the end this must be one of the key considerations in providing a quality learning experience.
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    Evaluation of web site design in online learning : a case study approach
    Bagg, Stefan (University of Melbourne, 2002)
    As a result of economic rationalism and technological determinism, it has been argued that a global imperative to adopt Online Learning (OLL) is being driven by "megauniversities" (Bates, 1996, p.6), in order to deliver a mass-produced education (Clark, 1996; Laurillard, 1996). While this may have been enough for its initial justification, many now believe it should provide "value-added" (Leigh, 1997, pp.5-6), benefits that also improve the quality of learning as well (Alexander, 1996; Andres 1996; Laurillard, 1996). To accomplish this, some would argue, requires a paradigm shift away from traditional "Instructional" design approaches towards a model of "Constructivism" where the delivery of education becomes learner-centred (Alexander, 1996, p.5; Jonassen, 1994, pp.1-3). The capacity of the World Wide Web (WWW) to meet these demands is wellrecognised. Not only can it deliver "anytime, anywhere" (Bates, 1996, p.1), but by incorporating interactive hypermedia (IHM) it may be possible to create an environment where opportunities for "deep" learning (through "knowledge construction"), as well as "life-long" learning may occur (Alexander 1996, pp.5-6; Jonassen, 1994, p.2). Hence it is crucial that educators are able to make informed decisions about web design strategies in order to contribute to the process of maximising quality outcomes in OLL. The purpose of this study was to investigate student perceptions of two (2) contrasting OLL sites and any effects web usability design (Nielsen, 1997), may have had upon either site's potential to value-add to a user's learning experience. Conducted within a TAFE(1) setting by a teacher using students as volunteers(2), a qualitative case study approach was applied. Prior to this investigation a specific set of web usability design (WUD) guidelines was created in order to aid in the development a model OLL web site that aimed at promoting an interesting and stimulating learning environment while simultaneously reducing the cognitive load placed upon a user. A second site containing essentially the same subject material but contrasting dramatically in terms of its delivery design was then also produced. So that a comparative evaluation of these two sites could be made twelve volunteers, of mixed gender and generally representative of a TAFE student population, were recruited to act as heuristic usability evaluators. This study demonstrates that to promote the potential for a better quality OLL experience for students, careful consideration of web usability design (WUD) is important. That teachers can play an active role in the design, development and evaluation of an OLL program is also possible given that this case study shows that it is feasible to implement an iterative design strategy that is less costly and more time efficient than traditional computer engineering models. Consequently in the process of conducting this form of inquiry it was found that in the application of these WUD guidelines a strategy that provides a more responsive approach to student needs in OLL is achievable and that in the end this must be one of the key considerations in providing a quality learning experience.
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    Girls can do science!!! : a personal history of professional development
    Osman, Ann Elizabeth (University of Melbourne, 1992)
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    Girls can do science!!! : a personal history of professional development
    Osman, Ann Elizabeth (University of Melbourne, 1992)
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    The discipline of comparative education : some reflections on the nature of the discipline with particular respect to its status as a science
    White, Douglas C. (University of Melbourne, 1973)
    The discipline of Comparative Education is not well defined either in the area of its study, or in its methodology. In recent years those who have found a clearer approach to methodology in the methods of social science have brought these into Comparative Education. However, these are not new to Comparative Education. The foundations of social science lie in the positivist philosophy of post-Revolutionary France, and this philosophy had its effect on educational theory of the time, notably in the work of Jullien of Paris. Two broad traditions in educational, and related social, thought can be traced; that which begins with Jullien and is characterized by belief in science; and that which begins with Matthew Arnold, and which stresses cultural analysis. For all their differences, both have originated and been used in an effort to understand or achieve social order. The means of attaining social order have varied. The 'scientific' and 'cultural' approaches to Comparative Education need to be studied in their contexts to be understood, although both approaches have intellectual appeal and use outside this context. The historical development helps us understand the present state of the discipline. An analysis of the comparative method, as a part of the process of cognition, shows some of its possibilities and allows some criticism of the method as used in Comparative Education. Comparison is necessary in cognition, and its study increases our understanding of the manner in which comparison is used to divide perceived experience into categories. Since the categories made are dependent upon the culture of those who make them, comparative study of other cultures may make more conscious the manner in which this is done; comparative study may also show that apparently similar categories are, in different cultures or sub-cultures, not as they appear. Science is often regarded as a reliable means of obtaining objective knowledge. Closer examination shows that science cannot be seen as a method, for any of its methodologies are linked to concepts, meaning and assumptions. Further, science does not produce objective knowledge, but does produce agreed knowledge. It is necessary therefore to study the manner in which this agreement is reached, which means the study of science as a particular cultural formation. Often this is not understood by those who call upon the name of science to give legitimacy to their particular approach; one of the major uses of science is as ideology. Following the historical study of Comparative Education, the examination of some possible and actual uses of the method of comparison, and a study of the meaning of science, some attempt at, a methodology of Comparative Education is made. The work of a number of writers is examined, as are also a number of categorizations of methodology. A widely held position is that a search for functional relationships between tightly specified variables is the important characteristic of a scientific comparative method. The argument which arises from the study of comparison and of science however is that the important problems are those of the formation of categories, the means by which these categories are filled out or varied, and the nature of the relationship between the category maker, those whose education he studies, and those who read and act upon his work. Finally an analysis is made of the chief writings of the comparativists Edmund King and Harold Noah. These are taken as main representatives of the traditional cultural and scientific approaches to Comparative Education. Both writers are criticized, but King's work comes closer to the methodological position developed in this thesis.
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    The investigation into the application of chaos theory and fractal geometry as a cross-curricular enrichment theme for highly able students
    Kelly, Lynne S. (Lynne Sandra) (University of Melbourne, 1994)
    Chaos theory and fractal geometry is investigated as an interdisciplinary enrichment theme for gifted students. A literature search revealed the recommendation that this topic be introduced into secondary schools, but no references could be found to a suitable course. Hence an action research group of highly able secondary school students aged from twelve to seventeen was established to help develop just such a course. It was found to be necessary to divide the emergent curriculum into seven streams to satisfy the individual needs of the students. The streams were mathematics, science, programming, software, history and philosophy, communications and art. The mathematics stream formed the basis introducing concepts such as iteration, deterministic systems, iterated function systems, complex numbers, the Cantor, Mandelbrot and Julia Sets, The Koch curve, fractal dimensions, period doubling and phase space. Some students programmed the mathematical procedures in both Quick Basic and Turbo Pascal. The applications in science, including weather forecasting, dissecting lungs, chemical reactions, astronomy, population dynamics and magnetic pendulums were investigated using practical methods wherever possible. Software packages were explored as were the historical, philosophical, sociological and artistic questions which arose during the action research phase. Modern communications were used to gain programs and information over Internet. Links with people of similar interests around the world were established. Through these activities, a final course of eighty work sheets and supporting reference sheets was developed. This course is presented in Volume Two. Students and the candidate maintained journals and these, along with a questionnaire and other documentary data, were analysed using a grounded theory methodology. As a result, chaos theory and fractal geometry was shown to be a suitable and stimulating theme for cross-curricular enrichment of highly able students.
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    Supporting English as an Additional Language student wellbeing in secondary schools: Teacher perspectives and a group psychoeducational program
    Lyu, Mengyu Andy ( 2022)
    Objectives: There is increasing recognition that English as an Additional Language (EAL) students need additional support to thrive in an English-speaking country, particularly when adapting to a new country and developing English language skills. Yet, the understanding of their acculturative needs is limited. Further, no targeted interventions for their psychological adaptation or wellbeing are available in secondary school contexts. The present study aimed to address this gap in knowledge and practice. Methods: Mixed methods were used. In Phase 1, semi-structured interviews were conducted with three EAL teachers. In Phase 2, the adapted Coping with Study Abroad (CSA) program was piloted with 25 EAL students in an Australian secondary school. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated using a repeated-measures design (n = 20) and a qualitative feedback survey (n = 6). Results: EAL students experienced pervasive stresses in various aspects of school life, including learning (e.g., language barriers to participating in class activities) and wellbeing (e.g., negative emotions due to difficulty communicating in English). While the adapted CSA program provided an opportunity for EAL students to connect with each other, no significant changes were found between the pre- and post-intervention scores in proactive coping behaviours, psychological wellbeing, and negative stereotype about help-seeker. Conclusions: There are strengths and limitations in the current school practice and the adapted program for EAL students. To effectively support EAL students in secondary school, wellbeing support and English language skills development should work in synergy, with each enhancing the other.