Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemAn administrative review of the Commonwealth English as a Second Language (ESL) Program within the Office of Schools Administration, Ministry of Education, Victoria( 1990)This thesis presents an administrative review of the Commonwealth English as a Second Language (ESL) Program within the Office of Schools Administration, Ministry of Education, Victoria. The approach and framework adopted are similar to those used by Campbell et al. in their review of the Commonwealth ESL Program for the Commonwealth Schools Commission in 1984. There are no prejudgements concerning major issues, but an interest in monitoring events from program establishment at a Commonwealth level to program organisation issues in schools. A number of "Levels of Administrative Reality" are identified through which the following educational agencies are examined - the Department of Employment, Education and Training (DEET), the Office of Schools Adminstration, and schools. The "Levels of Administrative Reality" used are Intentions, Structure, Resource Allocations Mechanisms, and Program Organisation. These are considered broad enough to enable major issues to be raised. Data have been collected over a two year period from a variety of sources including policy documents, questionnaires, memoranda and minutes of meetings. Major issues raised include : (a) the development of a nationwide curriculum framework/syllabus for the teaching of ESL; (b) the location of ESL within the Office of Schools Administration; (c) the location of consultancy support to schools; (d) the level of resourcing; (e) the qualifications of ESL teachers.
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ItemComputer-based learning in an Australian setting : a study of the development and use of a foreign language vocabulary program at the University of Melbourne( 1976)This thesis is the first Australian study of the use of computer-based learning by non-Science students. It begins with a review of research and developments in computer applications in education overseas, and looks in particular at the use of computers in the teaching of foreign languages. It then examines the development, use and evaluation of a foreign language vocabulary practice program for students in first year undergraduate Swedish courses at the University of Melbourne. Since non-Science students might be expected to be more wary of technological innovations, student attitudes to the program and to the computer as a learning medium were of particular interest in this study. As had been reported in overseas studies, a majority of students showed very favourable attitudes to computer-based learning, largely because of their opinion that the program ensured thorough learning of the material presented. A smaller group were found to have strongly negative attitudes to the technique. The proportion of students who made a great deal of use of the program was quite small. This was attributable mainly to the limited aim of the program, acquisition of vocabulary, although inconvenience due to unsuitability of the available computing facilities for educational applications was also a contributing factor.
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ItemInfluences on engineering education in Australia( 1976)This thesis is concerned with the identification and examination of the various types of influences on professional engineering education in Australia. It commences with a study of what a professional person in general, and a professional engineer in particular, should be, and describes the functions and characteristics of such a person. This is followed by an examination of curriculum design, and how the curricula of professional courses are controlled by professional societies. The various influences on engineering curricula are then considered in detail in four broad categories, namely historical influences, formal influences, informal influences, and societal influences within each of these categories, various tapes of influences are identified, and their method of application, and relative effectiveness, discussed. Apart from the chapters on terminology and historical influences, which have been researched from existing publications, the content of the thesis is original, and, as far as can be ascertained, is the first attempt to examine the subject of Australian engineering education in a sociological context.
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ItemThe learning needs of non-English-speaking-background student nurses( 1998)This thesis has investigated the learning needs of non-English-speaking-background (NESB) students in a tertiary nursing course and whether they are being met. It has reviewed literature predominently from Australia, Britain and the USA. Whilst there are similarites it has been recognised that all situations are not the same so the literature has been used appropritely to establish the theoretical framework for the study and in the support of the research findings. Qualitative methodology has been used focusing on observation, survey, and interview methods from two groups studied, ie., NESB students and academics. The findings from the two groups researched, are expressed as results; from students who have analysed that their learning as affected by predominently academic factors, such as reading and writing for assessments and professional documentation, and on a minor level by language and cultural expectations in relation to teaching/learning. Academic findings support students responses but also identify some professional nursing issues such as expectations of students as affecting the learning needs of these students. The recommendations of this thesis are to provide better academic support for NESB students and to effect greater academic and university awareness of the learning needs of NESB students.
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ItemThe characteristics of exchange structure patterns of an adult low-level ESL classroom using a genre-based approach to the teaching of writing : a study of classroom discourse( 1994)This study is concerned with the characteristics of exchange structure patterns of an adult low-level English as a second language (ESL) classroom using a genre-based approach to the teaching of writing in an Australian context. To provide an appropriate system of analysis, Ventola's (1987; 1988h) system for analysing conversational structure in service encounter texts has been expanded to suit the characteristics of the data in the current study. Applying the expanded version of Ventola's system, the whole data have been segmented into exchanges. Two major categories of exchange structure patterns have been identified: non-anomalous, which comprises simple and complex exchanges, and anomalous, which comprises elliptical, defective, and broken exchanges. Using this exchange categorisation as a basis, the characteristics of the interactional patterns, the shifts of roles of information supplier, and the variability of language use in a genre-based approach classroom have been identified and explicated. Exchange structure patterns dominant in certain sub-stages vary in accordance with the variation of other factors. In conjunction with the shifts of roles of the information supplier, for example, in Sub-stage 1, in which the students were cast to serve the function of information supplier, B-event exchanges were dominant, Only a small number of A-event exchanges occur in this sub-stage. In contrast, in Sub-stage 2 and Rehearsal where the teacher served the function of information supplier, A-event exchanges were dominant.
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ItemHuman capital : a case study of the AMEP( 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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ItemAn analysis of education provision to older non-English speaking background youth with minimal or interrupted schooling in the Richmond/Collingwood area( 1987)This study is an analysis of educational provision in the Richmond/Coilingwood area for young people aged 16 to 24 years of age, of migrant or refugee background, who have a history of minimal or interrupted schooling. These students are mostly of Indo-Chinese or Timorese background , and face severe problems relating to their lack of literacy and poor English proficiency. Many of these students are unaccompanied refugees and face economic hardship in Australia. Educational programs running in five postprimary schools, two TAFE colleges and two language centres are examined in light of their relevance to the needs of these students. It emerges from this study that a small number of institutions provide responsive quality programs for this group. There are, however, general problems relating to the low status and marginalization of ESL programs in most of the institutions. These problems are compounded by a lack of funding, unsympathetic administration, ignorance of the issues and difficulties relating to accreditation. In some institutions, no provision at all is made for these students. Needs emerging from these issues may be summarized as follows. A greater awareness of the educational requirements. of this group must be developed. An informed collaborative approach must be adopted to respond to these needs in the form of appropriate ESL programs. Policy and administrative support must be forthcoming to assist in achieving these goals.
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ItemThe selection and role of literary texts in the ESL classroom( 1995)This study investigated five secondary teachers selection of literary texts and perception of the role literature plays in the ESL language classroom. The teachers were chosen from four schools in the Melbourne metropolitan area and were interviewed individually except for one school where two teachers were interviewed for the research. The interviews were tape recorded and transcribed and formed the main body of data As supplementary data interviews were also conducted with ten students (one 'good student and one weak student chosen by each teacher). The case studies revealed that criteria for text selection were related to considerations for students needs features of the text the teachers preferences in reading practical issues related to the availability of text and examination requirements. The research confirmed the perceptions of writers on this area who have maintained that literature is often used as a context for generating language activities and for imparting knowledge about the target culture The data also found that literature was used to affirm the students own cultural identities.
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ItemA cartoon chemistry text : the construction and testing of a novel chemistry text incorporating human values( 1990)This study examines current science texts and the concerns and objectives of Science-Technology-Society based courses. It indicates that they present the public image of the practising scientist (with inherent Mertonian values of Universalism, Communism, Disinterestedness, and organized skepticism) which is used to organize scientific concepts into a meaningful whole. Utilizing the notion that a value is anything important to a student, a hypothesis was proposed that meaning and interest generated from a text is dependent on the extent of overlap between text and student values. The implications of the interaction of different value systems with a Mertonian based text were considered. An attempt was made to develop a chemistry text that was meaningful to all students, by organizing concepts into a story form with non-Mertonian organization. This approach evolved into a cartoon format with specific features. Two cartoon text items were tested at two schools. The trial involved a survey item on 103 students and audio taped interviews with 20 students. The trial attempted to evaluate the cartoon as a student text, attitudes to issues content, and styles of resolving issues based conflicts. The results were interpreted by classifying the respondents into four categories of science likingness ( A, B, C, D) on the basis of Year 11 subject choice, and favorite subject. It was assumed that the accommodation of Mertonian values by a group reflected the science likingness of the group. The cartoon text was well received with most students wishing to see more cartoons, and being able to answer questions from the text. The B, C, and D groups expressed a preference for the cartoon text over their current science text. The proposed differential accommodation of values appeared to account for the greater enthusiasm of the B and C groups for the cartoons than the A and D groups. Perceptions of the amount of current social problems/ issues content in science teaching increased markedly with group science likingness. The amount of issues content desired decreased with increasing group science likingness. A belief that scientific solutions could resolve social problems/ issues, showed a marked decrease with decreasing science likingness. A value model of cognitive style was developed from the basic hypothesis and assumptions regarding the extent of accommodation of Mertonian and Humanist norms as personal values. This model seemed to account for variations in meaning generated for the various groups in response to both the standard and cartoon science text format.
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