Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Theses
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ItemEgan's stage theory : an exploratory study of its use in the analysis of science textbooks( 1985)Kieran Egan (1979) has challenged educationists to consider the need for a Theory of Development which is specifically Educational. Such a need is discussed and examined in the context of science teaching. Egan's Theory was applied to the selection of science text material for a group of eleven and twelve year old students. The students' responses to the materials were compared with Egan's descriptions of certain developmental stages, particularly of his Romantic Stage. The author concluded that Egan's theoretical proposition assisted in interpeting certain student behaviour and preferences. Possible classroom uses of Egan's theory are discussed, implications for text usage and design are outlined, and some areas of research are suggested.
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ItemWord processing training in Perth, Western Australia: a comparative study( 1985)This thesis, entitled "Word Processing Training in Perth, Western Australia: A Comparative Study", aims to identify and analyse the range of training options available in Perth for secretarial personnel who wish to pursue careers in the word processing field.
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ItemComputer education curricula for secondary schools( 1983)Educationally the nineteen eighties may well be remembered as the decade in which computers were introduced, in a planned and co-ordinated fashion, into the primary and secondary schools of Victoria. Throughout this thesis it is argued that while the planning and co-ordination have begun, they are a long way from being educationally satisfactory or effective. In particular, the need for the development of a broad curriculum to cater for the teaching and learning of Computer Education throughout the years of secondary schooling is examined, and a course proposal outlined. The concept of "curriculum" is discussed. A number of definitions are cited, and several traditional and current curriculum models are examined in the light of what might best suit Computer Education. Because Computer Education is a new subject, its introduction into the education system must be considered on a school-wide basis, rather than simply as a separate entity at one level such as year twelve. The arguments being put forward by the protagonists of course development within individual schools, as opposed to centralised development and dissemination, are examined and ultimately rejected for the introduction of Computer Education. One important aspect of curriculum development concerns the relationship that exists between the subject matter to be learned and the pedagogical methods to be used. It is now generally accepted that content, sequences and methods will vary according to the stage of development or educational maturity, of the learner. However many teachers are unaware of the differences that may exist between the logical development of a subject and the development that is most appropriate for the secondary school student. This is evidenced by the many text books and curricula that plunge, almost from the very beginning, into teaching the novice student how to write a computer program. Other problems, both existing and potential, that Computer Education curriculum developers must apply themselves to include the un-necessary duplication of content between Computer Education and other subjects, the advisability of integrating Computer Education into existing subjects for at least the first three years of secondary schooling, and the difficulty of obtaining suitable hardware and software at a realistic cost to schools. The curriculum proposal contained in this thesis considers the years from upper primary to the completion of secondary schooling, and assumes that some authority, for example VISE, would have ultimate control over the content at year twelve level. In the early years of secondary schooling the emphasis would be on students using prepared programs for tutoring, simulation, exploration and recreation. During this period every student would learn to use a computer in a variety of modes and in several subject areas. Programming would be taught when and if the need arose, unless students elected to take a Computer Science subject at year eleven level or later. Finally, the problems relating to the training of teachers are investigated. To prepare every teacher for the introduction of computers into secondary schools, considerable changes must be made immediately to existing preservice courses for both primary and secondary teachers. As well, the method and content and duration of inservice activities would need to be rethought, redesigned and given a much higher priority than at present.
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ItemSocial ideologies in two sets of multicultural curricular materials( 1980)The large increase in the non-British proportion of Australia's population since 1945 has created a demand for greater recognition in schools of cultural difference and a re-affirmation of the goal of equality of educational opportunity. Marxist theories of ideology, hegemony and the State are employed to examine whether 'multicultural' curricular materials which are ostensibly advocating a critical appraisal of the society and subscription to these pluralist goals, are not soliciting support for dominant ideologies. The thesis questions whether they are not acting to reproduce the social order to the detriment of the ethnic minorities they are purporting to serve. The first of the two sets of curricular materials examined, Ethnic Australia, develops a Eurocentric view of exploration and inter-ethnic relations favourable to the needs of .capitalist economic growth. Its criticism of prejudice is unrelenting, but it does not extend it to an adequate analysis of the social conditions which might have generated discrimination and conflict. In its presentation of Italian and Greek cultures, it highlights and reinforces those attitudes and behaviours which are most conducive to an acceptance of competitive individualism under capitalism. The materials entitled Australia : A Multicultural Society, show the benefit of widespread consultation with educators and ethnic groups. They offer a view of culture and a picture of the material circumstances of Greeks and other migrants in Australia which accords with the most recent and carefully conducted research. In delivering a sustained attack on the inadequate provision for migrants in this country, they expose children' to a variety of ideological perspectives gleaned from the media, ethnic communities and the peer culture. Reservations are expressed about the capacity of materials with a liberal reformist ideology to develop in school students a critical awareness of the more intractable social structural barriers to the achievement of social equality and acceptance of cultural difference. Finally, there is brief discussion of the problems of construction and dissemination of critical curricular materials in a publicly funded educational system.
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ItemPoetry with teacher and without: an aspect of group work in English( 1980)Recent research suggests that students are, without being directed by a teacher, capable of understanding and appreciating poems through small-group discussion. This study compares junior secondary student response to poems in two types of small-group discussion, teacher-directed and undirected. It investigates (l) differences between group types in students' verbal response, (C2) the relative success of group types in engendering positive attitudes towards poetry, (3) factors contributing to the success or otherwise of the discussions and (4) the adequacy of the research instruments employed. Analysis is made of transcripts of three discussions by each of eight groups. Data provided by these transcripts is used to examine the concept of literary perception, resulting in an extension of a current thesis to include two further perceptions. The study would suggest that teacher intervention may be an impediment to students' appreciation and enjoyment of poetry, that group structures may affect response and that it is possible to discern a model of literary perception.
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ItemThe public examination of English in Victoria : a study of one external influence on the secondary school English curriculum( 1980)The secondary school English curriculum was determined by groups outside schools during the period 1944-1974. External domination of teaching content and methodology was ensured by a system of Public and Matriculation Examinations which empowered agents of the universities to prescribe courses and to assess students' performance in those courses. The University of Melbourne exercised these functions through its Professorial Board and the Schools Board before relinquishing its powers to the Victorian Universities and Schools Examination Board in 1965. Statute and tradition allowed these bodies to establish themselves as a centre apart from schools, and to legitimise their authority through the institutionalised processes of prescription, examination and review of performance. The effect of these processes was to subordinate schools, teachers and pupils. There was immense inertia in the Victorian system of external prescription and examination. Courses and examination papers remained essentially unmodified for long periods. Significant development in the conception and content of English courses occurred, effectively, only at Year 12 in response to social and educational pressures which had previously led to the withdrawal of Public Intermediate and Leaving Examinations. Broadening the goals of H.S.C. English did not, however, signal diminished control over curriculum from the centre. The fact of competitive examinations at the end of secondary schooling continued to shape content and methodology in the earlier years. Competitive examinations engendered in schools, teachers and pupils a narrow conformity, the results of which can most clearly be seen in the failure of the Class A system to produce school-based curriculum initiatives of any substance. The effect of external prescription and examination of English courses was profound. Relationships between teachers and pupils were strongly mediated by the system, reducing the autonomy of both by subjugating their intentions to the instrumental demands of evaluation. So much of a student's 'life chance' depended upon examination success that teachers and taught were continually constrained to focus their attention on the tasks expected in examinations. Fragmentation, in line with the different sections of examination papers, rather than integration became, therefore, the organising principle for teaching aimed at developing those techniques believed to be essential for success in the examination game. External examinations dictated that the English classroom was a place where pupils met to prepare for their encounters with examinations rather than to explore the nature and richness of experience through literature and their own use of language for real ends. The system of Public and Matriculation Examinations established in 1944 was a potent influence on the secondary school English curriculum. The system rested upon a powerful, conservative centre whose legitimacy was so thoroughly entrenched that it was able to admit reform only on its own terms. Thus, it was possible after twenty-five years of relative stasis to negotiate evolution in the details of the school English curriculum without alteration to the essential power relationships. After thirty years, English teachers were still without autonomy. Year 12 English courses continued to exert the pressures and to exact the dependence which had constrained mother tongue studies throughout secondary schools since 1944.
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ItemTransition from primary to secondary school maths retention( 1985)In the last decade, a great deal of educational interest has centred on the transition of secondary pupils into post-secondary education or the workforce. This research project undertook an examination of the transition of primary pupils from their current school to be relocated in a nearby secondary school. The basic question addressed by the study was : Does a primary student transferring to a nearby secondary school suffer significant reduction in his mathematical skills within the first two weeks in the new school ? The testing was completed by using a twenty item mathematics test and administered to pupils in year 5 and year 6 in the primary schools in December. The same test was again given the same pupils, now in year 6 and year 7, in the February of the following year. It was because of the potential bias of items being relatively more difficult for the younger group, that the Rasch latent trait model was used to calibrate sample free item difficulties for the two groups of students. Items in the test were then given an estimate of their difficulties and each pupil was given an ability estimate depending on the total number of successful items on the test. It was with these ability estimates that the major questions of this study were examined. The study used a three way analysis of covariance to determine if a significant set back in mathematics skills had occurred during the transition. The major factors were the different year groups, sex differences and schools. Consideration was also taken for the ethnic population in the study. The results suggest a reduction in mathematical skills in the first two weeks in high school, and that this applies equally for male and female students. However an interactive influence can occur due to school differences.
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ItemUses made of students' writing: implications in terms of language and learning( 1980)Students in our schools do a great deal of writing - writing has always been regarded highly in our educational system. We, as teachers, are responsible for giving our students most of the writing that they do and, because of this, we need to answer some pertinent questions: e.g. Do we know why we give our students the writing? Are we aware of where writing fits in the overall learning process of our students? Is what we are actually doing in the classroom with respect to our students' writing the same as what we think we are doing? This study is concerned with questions such as these in order to determine what is current practice, and to critically discuss such practice in terms of its impact on the learning success of students. The relationship between thought and language is intricate, but there is evidence that these have different genetic roots and develop differently; at certain stages, their curves of development meet. Word meanings may be. viewed as the overlap of thought and speech, and it is through word meanings that there is transition from thought to words. Written language requires a higher level of abstraction than spoken language. There is a reliance on formal meanings of words, and more words are needed than with speech, due to the absence of a communicating partner whose knowledge of the current subject can be pre-supposed. The communication is meant for a person who is not present or who may even be imaginary; motives for written language differ from those for spoken language. Different types of language can be discerned. James Britton categorized language as being transactional, expressive or poetic, where the purpose of the language differs in each case. Language closest to the students' everyday speech is expressive, yet there is evidence the predominant language demanded of secondary school students is transactional, and this demand increases as the student moves up the school. If language plays, a central role in students' learning, what are the consequences of this? There is also evidence that, as the student moves through the secondary school, the teacher is seen increasingly as almost the sole audience for the writing. What impact does this have? What then, are the uses made of students' writing? Why do teachers set it? How do they mark it? What uses are made of it by teachers after they have marked it and handed it back? Two research reports are considered in detail which focus on such issues in order to determine what is happening across the curriculum at about middle secondary school level. The first, by Douglas Barnes and Denis Shemilt, made use of an open questionnaire. Factor analysis was employed to establish patterns. Replies were seen as falling on a dimension which was called the Transmission-Interpretation dimension. The researchers further hypothesized by extrapolating from teachers' attitudes to writing in order to reconstruct their attitudes to knowledge and learning. The second research report resulted from a survey conducted by the present writer. A closed questionnaire was circulated to teachers of middle secondary level in twelve schools and the replies were factor analyzed. Two factors were discussed in detail; for both factors, there was evidence that patterns in responses closely matched the pattern obtained by the Barnes-Shemilt study. Having obtained some knowledge of language types expected or demanded, audiences provided for students' writing and the uses made of the written work, the implications in terms of language and learning are discussed.
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ItemA strategy for the development of internal audit education in Australia( 1985)My interest in internal audit education first developed when I was given the responsibility for developing and conducting the Graduate Diploma in Internal Auditing which commenced at RMIT in 1981. Since then, I have had many opportunities to meet internal audit practitioners, to seek their views and to reflect on the needs of, and developments in, internal audit in Australia. My observations gave me the impetus to undertake, with a colleague, a major research survey of internal audit in Australia. This survey, recently published under the title, "A Profile of Internal Audit in Australia", has been a major influence in developing my thoughts on this thesis topic. In attempting to devise a strategy for internal audit education in Australia, it is necessary to review the whole field of internal audit in terms of its nature, professionalism, past experience, the various influences affecting internal audit education and a possible educational framework. In this respect, this thesis aims to be a comprehensive document. However where possible, supportive detail has been incorporated into Appendices rather than the main body of the thesis. I am hopeful this thesis will provide a framework for those organisations and individuals who can provide the leadership and resources to implement effective internal audit education in Australia.
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ItemGeography in Victorian government schools, 1900-1950( 1983)Geography has a long tradition as a component of the teaching programs of both the elementary and secondary schools of Britain and her former colonies. Research has shown this to be the case in nineteenth century Victoria, where Geography was seen as an important subject. The subject was taught in the Victorian secondary schools which developed in the twentieth century. This has been substantiated by French who claims that by the end of the nineteenth century 'no group of secondary schools gave an education markedly different from that given in the generality of schools, and this included Geography very traditionally.' The thesis traces the history of the teaching of Geography in government elementary and secondary schools in the period 1900-1950. 1950 was chosen as the end of the study period because an established tradition, which existed during the previous fifty years, was drawing to its end. Major changes in teaching programs occurred in elementary schools in 1954 and in secondary schools in 1956. These changes altered what had existed until the 1950s, and for this reason the period under discussion constitutes a reasonably unified whole. Initial research indicated that a wealth of material on Geography in Australian schools was available and this resulted in the decision to discuss only the government schools of Victoria. Within these government schools, the years from Preparatory through to grade ten have been considered. Certain areas have been excluded from the research in order to keep the thesis within the stated limits. One of the notable exclusions is discussion of the assessment of students. Teacher education is another area which has been largely excluded. Much material exists on both of these areas. (From Introduction)