Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Theses
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ItemAn evaluation of computer science in the Victorian Higher Schools Certificate( 1984)This thesis evaluates certain aspects of the Victorian Higher Schools Certificate subject, Computer Science. Firstly, an overview is taken of the subject as it was intended to function in the first three years of its accreditation, 1981 - 83. In the light of this, the draft proposal for changes to the course in 1984 is reviewed. Secondly, a number of specific areas of the course are examined in more detail. A questionnaire to course designers and teachers is the basis of this investigation. The relationship between stated objectives of the course and items of course content is explored. An analysis is conducted on the extent to which the four option components are equitable in terms of time. The relative importance of the three components of assessment is explored, especially in the case of a 'barely passing' student. Actual raw mark components for the 1981 students have been used in connection with the latter investigation.
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ItemAustralian studies and the Geelong College( 1988)The Geelong College pioneered the teaching of Australian Studies as part of the secondary school curriculum. The notion of teaching about Australia through an inter-disciplinary course was seen as revolutionary in its early days of the mid-1970s. Since that time, however, the teaching of Australian Studies has become increasingly widespread in schools, and also in some tertiary institutions. Over the same period, the Australian Studies course at The Geelong College has undergone review and change according to staff interests, student reaction and the contemporary situation. In the early 1980s, the face of Victorian Education was to change through the effects of the "Blackburn Report", an enquiry into post-compulsory schooling, of which a major recommendation was that all students should undertake a study of Australian society at Levels 11 and 12. The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Board has used this recommendation as the basis for introducing a compulsory two-unit course titled "Work and Australian Society" as part of the new Victorian Certificate of Education, which will be fully operational by 1991. The Geelong College, like all other secondary schools in the state, is having to prepare for the introduction of Australian Studies in this form. Although this school has had the advantage of experience with an established Australian Studies course, the present course does not fully satisfy the requirements of the VCAB guidelines; therefore some degree of modification and rewriting is necessary. This thesis will attempt to design, implement and evaluate some units of work for Year 11 Australian Studies students at The Geelong College, units which satisfy both the VCAB requirements and the needs of the student clientele of this particular school. In order to undertake such a project, this thesis initially examines the development in the study of Australian society and culture. It then attempts to identify a methodology which could be used as a model for the planning of curriculum modfications for this course. The nature of the particular institution in question will be examined as a preparatory step to the development of a curriculum. The thesis concludes with a review of the process undertaken and discusses its applicability as a general methodology.
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ItemA comparison of the difficulties of algebra, fractions and decimals for Year 9 students( 1989)Skills tests in arithmetic and algebra were administered to 222 Year 9 students in two schools in Melbourne. Students, who were given one of four test papers, attempted twelve core questions, and three pairs of questions, the second of which was a j ump in difficulty from the first. These jumps in difficulty were expressions of the difference between working with fractions or decimals as opposed to whole numbers, and algebra as opposed to arithmetic. The results for the paired questions were firstly analysed using McNemar's test for changes. It was found that there is a jump in difficulty when moving from settings not involving fractions and decimals to settings where operating with fractions and decimals is necessary. Although the situation involving the addition of algebra is not as clear, it appears as well that the movement of a question from are arithmetic to an algebraic setting poses difficulties for students. Rasch analysis was used to give a measure of difficulty for all items, and the differences in difficulty for each of the paired questions calculated. The Newman-Kuels procedure was used to test if there was a difference in the difficulty jumps for the three areas. It was found that the jump in encountering fractions or decimals as opposed to whole numbers is significantly greater than the jump in coping with algebra as opposed to arithmetic. It is suggested that emphasis on acquiring a thorough conceptual, knowledge of rarional number needs to continue through the junior years of secondary school.
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ItemConceptual development in science practical work( 1987)In an investigation of the effect of practical work upon the conceptual understanding of high school biology students the author employed concept maps as the primary research tool. Practical reports and responses to interview questions were also analysed. Misconceptions were identified in the concept maps, practical reports and interviews. The interviews appeared to reveal the greatest detail of the students' misconceptions. The component scores of the students' concept maps were substantially unaltered by the performance of a practical exercise selected from a year 11 biology course. If concept maps are reflectors of conceptual understanding then it appears that the conceptual frameworks of the students were stable over the duration of the practical exercise. Several component scores of the concept maps were found to be significantly correlated with either the students' exam results or their practical work assessment. Concept maps may have application as predictors of academic performance or be used to supplement or replace traditional measures of achievement.
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ItemA review of recent developments in the conception and administration of year 12 geography courses in Australia( 1981)Although geography has been taught in Australian secondary schools for most of this century, it is only in the past thirty years that all states have provided a course of study for the teaching of geography to Year 12 students. Geography has been a significant component of the school curriculum for many students at this level during this time. The development of secondary education systems in the post-World War II years has been influenced by many factors which have directly or indirectly affected Year 12 geography courses. These factors, varying from state to state, have included reports of commissions, for example, the Wyndham Report, development of curriculum theory, the removal of external examinations at various levels, and others. Specific factors which have influenced Year 12 geography courses have been changes in the nature of geographic thought, the writings of Bruner and Australian geographers Biddle, McCaskill, Shortle, Stringer, Blachford, and the increasing involvement of teachers in curriculum development. Each state has produced a Year 12 geography course unique to that state in many ways. A study of the current (1979) courses illustrates not only their similarities and differences, but also examines factors which have influenced their development. Various statutory bodies responsible for the development of the course in each state provided a degree of central control, and the external examinations continue to play a significant role despite the general movement toward school-based curriculum development and internal assessment at other levels of secondary schooling. The future geography at Year 12 level depends upon the ability of course developers, not only to meet the challenge of change, but also to provide a course of study seen by students to be not only interesting but also as relevant and meaningful preparation for the postsecondary world they are about to enter.
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ItemSome determinants of students' course selection in mathematics( 1984)In this study some determinants of students' course selection in mathematics. were investigated, with particular attention being given to those factors which may result in differential participation rates between boys and girls. The aim of the study was to assess the relative importance for student decisions of various psychological variables related to achievement attitudes. Such knowledge could then be used in the design of appropriate programs and techniques to increase the likelihood of students continuing to take maths. Questionnaires were administered to the 115 students in Year 9 and to the 107 students in Year 7 at a Melbourne inner-suburban .high school. Specific findings apply to those students in that particular school; without investigation of the effect of such variables as socioeconomic status, ethnic background., administrative structure, course-availability and class size they could not be extrapolated to other students in other schools. Students' estimates of their maths abilities and their expectations for maths performance, decreased with age, as did their perception of their parents' and teachers' beliefs about their ability and expectations for their success. Students' beliefs about the importance of success in maths and their declared interest in and liking'for the subject also decreased with age, while their estimates of the difficulty of maths increased with age. Year 9 boys had higher opinions of their maths ability and were more confident of success in future maths courses, than were Year 9 girls. These girls saw the subject as being more difficult and the cost of the effort required to do well to be higher than did their male classmates. At the Year 7 level, however, the only sex differences were in the stereotyping of the utility of maths for females and in the stereotyping of maths as a male domain. Plans to continue with maths were facilitated by high expectations, by firm beliefs in the value of maths and in one's own ability and by low estimates of the difficulty of maths. Sex differences favouring boys were found on these variables. On the basis of these findings, certain areas for intervention were identified. These areas included the encouragement of positive attitudes towards maths, the provision of career awareness programs, and the attempt to modify parents' and teachers' attitudes as to the maths, ability of girls and the importance of maths for them.
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ItemSocial studies in Victorian technical schools, 1938-1974( 1987)This thesis investigates the changes which have occurred in social studies in Victorian Technical Schools from 1938 to 1974. Social studies first appeared in Victoria when it was introduced into Preston Technical School during 1938. By the early 1940s social studies was starting to replace history and geography in most Victorian Technical Schools. Its status was low, and its course of study was usually reserved for those technical students who were labelled as under-achievers who would probably not progress beyond forms 3 or 4. The boys were relegated into the trades, while the girls headed for domestic courses. The teaching of social studies during the 1950s was undertaken by many teachers who had escaped from teaching subjects traditionally associated with an academic discipline, and by teachers who were unqualified. This situation remained virtually unchanged up until 1967. The whole "aura" of social studies and its curriculum went through something of a renaissance, which had its birth in 1967 at Burwood, Victoria, at the U.N.E.S.C.O. Seminar on the "Teaching of the Social Sciences at the Secondary Level". Immediately following the Burwood Seminar, the Victorian Advisory Committee on the Teaching of Social Science in Secondary Schools was established. In 1968 the Technical Schools Division set up a Standing Committee on Technical Schools Social Studies (SCOTSSS), and in the same year curricula autonomy was devolved, and the Director-General of Education in Victoria gave all schools in the state the right to determine their own curriculum. The Victorian Secondary Social Science Project (SSSP) was established in 1971 under the jurisdiction of the Victorian Advisory Committee, while the National Committee on Social Science Teaching (NCSST) held its first meeting in November 1971. In 1972 the Victorian Association of Social Studies Teachers (VASST) created a regular journal, Study of Society. Other key factors which have helped in the development of social studies have been the direct financial assistance from federal sources, overseas influence on social studies/ science teaching, a. rapid upsurge of student teachers completing social studies method courses, and a unique body of curriculum personnel working outside the Education Department. All of the above factors were instrumental in the re-birth of the subject of social studies in Victoria's Technical Schools since 1967.
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ItemProblem solving in physics: an information processing approach to the solution of kinematics problems( 1987)Many high school students experience difficulty in solving problems in physics that require only elementary mathematical skills. This study describes the evaluation of a computer aided instruction (CAI) package developed to instruct students to solve numerical problems in introductory kinematics. This package (Blackburne, 1986) was based on an information processing strategy using five equations of motion which allow the use of one routine to solve any of these problems. The evaluation was carried out in the context of a Year 10 science course. Three methods were investigated. Two of these methods were based on the information processing strategy. One of these was the CAI method, and the other, a classroom adaption of the computer method. The third method was a traditional classroom approach as outlined in most common physics texts that use three equations of motion. Results showed that the method made the difference, not the medium of the computer. Both the information processing methods yielded significantly fewer errors than the traditional method. An analysis of the kinds of errors made revealed that the most significant difference occurred in the selection of the correct rule to solve the problem then, to a lesser extent, the correct interpretation of the question and extraction of the relevant data.
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ItemStudent teacher perception of enquiry in the teaching of senior secondary biology( 1987)Ten student teachers were interviewed to determine the extent of their perception of enquiry in the teaching of senior secondary biology. Previous studies had indicated that both newly-trained and experienced teachers had difficulty in discussing the concept in the context of their teaching. Part of this problem has been due to confusion over the authentic meaning of the term itself. Enquiry was seen both as a classroom strategy, being used synonymously with discovery and as a process of scientific investigation. Biology teachers have given a low priority in their teaching to the understanding of science as a process. Although teaching science as a process of enquiry has been advocated in curriculum materials, often this has not been translated into classroom practice. The findings of this study have confirmed those of earlier ones. Few of the respondents were able to discuss science as enquiry, few were aware of the pre-eminent position of science as enquiry in the Web of Life course and none were conversant with how to use the course materials to present science as enquiry. The majority were able to discuss some aspects of scientific method. It is proposed that if similar problems are to be avoided in this and other areas, far more time must be given to more detailed consideration of the teaching of difficult concepts in teacher education programs. Awareness of and sympathy with the goals of teacher training institutions by supervising teachers in the schools seem essential.
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ItemA study of the effect of a student's home background and personal feelings on achievement in year 7 mathematics( 1982)Year 7 is a time of considerable change for most students, and in particular for those entering a new- secondary school. It has been suggested that factors external to the school situation can have the most effect in times of greatest change. This study involved all the students who undertook year 7 in two Technical Schools in 1980. At the beginning of the school year the students were given a commercial mathematics test, and a questionnaire on their attitude to mathematics and their self-concept. Identical tests were given 12 months later, together with a questionnaire on their home background and on their feelings towards their future schooling and career expectations. Correlation analysis was used to identify simple relationships existing between the variables. This then formed a basis for mathematical models of the relationships to be drawn up and tested using causal path analysis. The findings showed overall that the socio-economic status of the home, the sex of the student, the student's self concept, and the student's expectations for future education and career, all had some effect on the student's mathematics achievement and/or change in mathematics achievement during the 12 months either directly or indirectly. These variables also affected a student's attitude to. mathematics, however the attitude variable had no effect on the two main variables. The main finding of the study was that the students who had the greater gain in mathematics achievement during the study were those who had lower score. in mathematics at primary school level, who had lower self concepts and came from the lower socio-economic status homes. This finding lends good support to those who would suggest that the Victorian Technical Schools give a great deal of encouragement and a good educational environment for this type of student.