Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Theses
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ItemStudent views of talk interactions in learning: a case study of year 8 girls( 2013)The aim of this study is to identify student attitudes to classroom talk interactions, specifically class discussion, to ascertain whether students view these contexts as opportunities for learning. The study also sought to isolate the ways students recognise talk as helping them to learn. Further, it is aimed to inform the pedagogical practice of teachers to assist them to co-construct, with students, class discussions that are more productive. Data was collected for the study from two cohorts of Year 8 girls over consecutive years, interview data from students and also interviews with four Year 8 learning area teachers. In the embedded sequential mixed-method design employed in this research, each data set gave rise to the next which sought to explicate and expand the themes emerging from the previous data set. Relationships of significance were found between enjoyment, learning, participation, teacher style (questioning and timing) and classroom culture and a conceptual model was developed which attempted to diagrammatically represent those relationships. The results also indicate the essential role of responsibility as key to class discussion. Responsibility for the success of a class discussion, one in which learning takes place, was found to be shared jointly by students and teachers. The findings for the study recommend a whole school approach to articulating and consistently and consciously applying mechanisms identified to generate more effective class discussions.
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ItemIntroducing instrumental students to improvisation( 2012)Improvisation has been an integral component of music practice throughout a variety of world musics, such as the Indonesian Gamelan, Japanese Kabuki Theatre, African drumming, Australian Indigenous music, Klezmer music, the Indian Raga, Jazz and Popular music. Instrumental tuition, within the present system of Western Education, on the other hand, tends to emphasise an early and ongoing commitment to the reading of notated music. Some of the literature in the area suggests that the emphasis for instrumental tuition should be concerned with improvisation thus producing opportunities to achieve a more personalised and independent result with music expression. By including improvisation within regular tuition the student instrumentalist could feel more at one with his or her own voice and imagination, rather than attempting to take on the role of reproducing the character and style of another person's notation. This thesis focussed on the development and provision of improvised music activities with high school students from Years 10 and 11. Consideration was given to how these improvised music activities might have impacted not only their improvisational skills but also broader attitudes to music. The study included a specifically designed curriculum emphasising improvisational techniques. It was constructed and implemented over a ten-week period with accompanying interviews, questionnaire and video. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of the implementation of this curriculum and how it could assist the learning and teaching of improvisation. The study's performance-ensemble consisted of rhythm and lead instrumentalists where all participants had the opportunity to engage with specific instrumental techniques that assisted the expression of improvisation. Simultaneously, all participants had the liberty of managing the lesson-content with original extemporised melody and composition. The results showed the participants experienced increased confidence with improvisation. The conclusion suggests that improvisation be viewed as an integral component within the teaching and learning of instrumental music.
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ItemTeacher perceptions of using immersive virtual environment (IVE) in a second language class( 2011)This study examines a teacher’s perception on the use of Immersive Virtual Environment (IVE) in a second language class. It is proposed that understanding teacher perception has a significant role in the adoption of any technology. Very little research has been conducted in this area that is specifically aimed at IVE adoption. This paper reveals that even if positive pedagogical outcomes and student experience are realised and acknowledged by the teachers in the use of IVE, the practical and technical difficulties perceived and experienced prior to and during its use eludes its continued adoption in teaching contexts. This study revealed that when using IVE for second language teaching, the affordance of communicating in the language being learnt is vital for second language learning and should be incorporated in the design of an educational IVE tool. Additionally this study revealed that the instant gratification offered by recent technologies like text messaging and social media overcasts the user experience offered by an IVE due to the inherent lack of spontaneity offered in the IVE medium. This is an important consideration during the evaluation of IVE tools. The findings make the case of recognition for time for experimentation and professional development for the teachers if they are to embrace new technologies including IVE. The importance of technical support and building technical confidence in teachers is highlighted in this study. Finally the lack of a comprehensive framework for the integration of IVE is revealed as an impediment for uptake of IVE in formal teaching contexts. As an outcome of this study it is recommended that the already existing Four dimensions framework (de Freitas, 2008) for evaluating IVE be modified to include practical considerations as the Fifth dimension for the selection process and new framework be developed as a guide for teachers with emphasis on the practical considerations to be addressed while using IVE in teaching contexts.