Faculty of Education - Theses

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    The 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
    Rozimela, Yenni ( 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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    Effective Catholic secondary schools : the findings of two case studies
    Sheehan, Mark Gregory ( 1996)
    This study utilises both qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate school effectiveness in Catholic secondary schools. While some researchers, both in Australia and overseas, tend to rely on quantitative methods when they examine school effectiveness, the current study adopts a case study approach, involving both qualitative and quantitative methods. In adopting this approach, the researcher's aim is to investigate and portray the various factors or processes in schools, which are perceived to make them effective. This process approach differs from that of many researchers, who have adopted an "outcomes" approach in investigating school effectiveness in Western education over the past thirty years, and thus sheds additional light on the various factors within schools which contribute to their overall effectiveness. Also, as this study is focused specifically on Catholic secondary schools it illustrates some of the more specific factors operating within this context. The major finding of the study is that there are several pivotal factors which influence the effectiveness of a Catholic secondary school.
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    Human capital : a case study of the AMEP
    McElgunn, Barry ( 1995)
    This study is an investigation of the Human Capital Approach to education in Australia. It examines whether or not the Commonwealth Government is steering education towards the incorporation of policies that invest greater emphasis and resources into human beings as contributors to economic productivity than it invests in their cultural and aesthetic value. The study incorporates the philosophies of the Human Capitalists and how successive Commonwealth and State Governments apply these philosophies in education policy formulation - particularly the provision of English language to adult migrants through the Adult Migrant Education Program in Victoria. The methodology used is a questionnaire of closed and open-ended questions distributed to AMEP teachers. The researcher duly followed up the questionnaire with interviews of four AMEP teachers in an endeavour to shed more light on the reasons behind the responses given by teachers in the questionnaire. The researcher undertook an analysis of the responses in order to investigate whether or not the Commonwealth Government gives primacy to economic objectives of the migration program over its social, cultural and linguistic objectives. The findings are that the AMEP teachers surveyed believe that the Commonwealth Government does emphasize economic objectives over all other objectives of the migration program. A Human Capital approach to education, reflected in the application of Economic Rationalism, is apparent in Australia's education system according to AMEP teachers surveyed and that such has been the case since the late 1970s. The literary works of Schultz, Smith, Dawkins, Piore, Crittenden, Benovat, Green, Pusey, Kennedy, Marginson and Grubb are included in this study. These works form the literature review of the Human Capital approach. As well, the Reports chaired by Karmel, Williams, Kirby, Fitzgerald and Campbell, and a variety of Commonwealth Reports and Working Party Papers into various aspects of education in Australia are represented in an investigation of the application of the Human Capital approach to education in Australia's main education policies. The findings of this research are that the Human Capital approach to education is influencing the AMEP and that this has wider implications for the national education system in Australia. Almost all AMEP teachers surveyed believe the AMEP no longer follows its own National Plan, in which it spells out its aims and objectives, but pursues the Commonwealth Government's primary objective of pursuing the economic aims and benefits of the migration program.
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    The evaluation of training
    Wigley, Johann M ( 1990)
    The focus of this study is on program evaluation as it applies to training and development initiatives in a large Australian organisation. The purpose of the study was to investigate an evaluation methodology that could be built in to a training program to provide information about the program's effectiveness and its impact on the target population in order to make decisions about program improvement, expansion, or termination. The trends in program evaluation that were applied in this area included contributions from the work of Michael Scriven who proposed a needs based evaluation as opposed to goals based evaluation, Bob Brinkerhoff who proposed a six stage model based on the Action Research process, and Michael Patton who focused attention on the information needs of program stakeholders, amongst others. Development of an evaluation process and methodology based on the Action Research process was achieved through research into three separate training and development programs implemented in the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Ltd over a four year period.
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    Standing strong or standing weak? Equal opportunity, violence against women and the school curriculum : a case study
    Ollis, Debbie ( 1994)
    Despite violence against women becoming a very public issue in recent years, remarkably little material on this subject has so far found its way into the school curriculum. This thesis examines a set of curriculum materials called Standing Strong, which specifically aims to help students make sense of violent and sexually abusive relationships. The thesis outlines and evaluates the materials in light of their ability to achieve one of the major objectives of recent equal opportunity policy, namely, to help achieve "equality between the sexes, and...improv(e) the conditions of life for girls and women...taking account of their cultural, language, and socio-economic diversity...". (Commonwealth Schools Commission, 1987: Recommendation 2, p. 25). The evaluation takes two main forms, one theoretical, the other empirical. The theoretical evaluation draws upon recent post structuralist and constructionist feminist writings. The empirical evaluation is undertaken by drawing upon the research findings derived from in-depth interviews with 24 young women who had used the Standing Strong materials during their secondary school education. The thesis argues that Standing Strong is flawed theoretically, and that this is likely to hamper its usefulness in practice. The research data confirm this pessimistic conclusion. The thesis concludes by reflecting on whether a focus on education might be more of a hindrance than a help to the development of a meaningful and effective solutions to violence against women.
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    Appraising a narrative-based in-house staff training and professional development model for a Tongan school
    'Aloua-Lala, Soana ( 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.