Investigating standards-driven reform in assessment in the middle years of schooling. This project addresses the Australian Government's call for standards-referenced reporting of student achievement. Its focus on standards, teacher judgement, and inclusion ensures that the project is responsive to the diversity of student cohorts, including those in rural and remote areas. Reliable teacher judgement and clear reporting are vital in ensuring timely interventions for students at educational risk ....Investigating standards-driven reform in assessment in the middle years of schooling. This project addresses the Australian Government's call for standards-referenced reporting of student achievement. Its focus on standards, teacher judgement, and inclusion ensures that the project is responsive to the diversity of student cohorts, including those in rural and remote areas. Reliable teacher judgement and clear reporting are vital in ensuring timely interventions for students at educational risk and for accelerated provision for high performing students. This project is significant as it will provide a large-scale evidential base of how teachers judge and moderate quality. Australia's social well being and economic international competitiveness hinge on maximising outcomes for all students.
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Using and creating knowledge in the high school years: Performance, production, process and value-adding in electronic curricular literacy. Success in the emerging communicational demands of high-school learning is crucial for cultural cohesion, economic productivity, and employment. It also minimizes inter-generational exclusion and alienation for at-risk socio-economic and cultural groups. No research exists into the products and processes associated with high-school students' engagements in e ....Using and creating knowledge in the high school years: Performance, production, process and value-adding in electronic curricular literacy. Success in the emerging communicational demands of high-school learning is crucial for cultural cohesion, economic productivity, and employment. It also minimizes inter-generational exclusion and alienation for at-risk socio-economic and cultural groups. No research exists into the products and processes associated with high-school students' engagements in electronic curricular literacy practices (ECLs), so 'standards' frameworks for ECL cannot be developed. This project will provide an empirical map of students' expected achievements in ECLs in key curricular areas at various year levels. It aims to inject a practical and a futures orientation into research, debate and policy formation in literacy education.Read moreRead less
The linguistic use of space in Auslan (Australian Sign Language): semantic roles and grammatical relations in three dimensions. Research into the structure of Auslan provides information for the production of assessment and teaching tools for practitioners to use in adult education settings (for second language learners of Auslan and Auslan interpreters) and in special education for signing deaf children. It will also serve as a basis for further research into the acquisition of grammatical use ....The linguistic use of space in Auslan (Australian Sign Language): semantic roles and grammatical relations in three dimensions. Research into the structure of Auslan provides information for the production of assessment and teaching tools for practitioners to use in adult education settings (for second language learners of Auslan and Auslan interpreters) and in special education for signing deaf children. It will also serve as a basis for further research into the acquisition of grammatical use of space by native signing deaf children. These outcomes will further benefit the deaf community, improving deaf people's access to education, health, government services and the employment sector.Read moreRead less
Sociolinguistic variation in Australian Sign Language (Auslan): Theoretical and applied dimensions. The sign language of the Australian deaf community, Auslan, exhibits significant sociolinguistic variation in its vocabulary and grammar. This project aims to collect linguistic data from a range of deaf signers controlled for gender, age, region, class and social networks, using a recently developed draft sign language assessment instrument. The results will contribute to our theoretical understa ....Sociolinguistic variation in Australian Sign Language (Auslan): Theoretical and applied dimensions. The sign language of the Australian deaf community, Auslan, exhibits significant sociolinguistic variation in its vocabulary and grammar. This project aims to collect linguistic data from a range of deaf signers controlled for gender, age, region, class and social networks, using a recently developed draft sign language assessment instrument. The results will contribute to our theoretical understanding of sociolinguistic variation in the language and will also meet the pressing need for the development of valid and reliable tools for the assessment of grammatical skills in Auslan.Read moreRead less
Cognitive Cue Analysis: Seeing the Unseen in Human Performance. The aim of this project is to examine a radically new approach to the assessment of pilots. We have created a new theoretical model that links the way in which cues are accessed to the application of various skills including decision-making. In validating this model, our objective is to develop a tool that will assist the evaluation of particular skills in a wide range of environments, including aviation. This significance of this p ....Cognitive Cue Analysis: Seeing the Unseen in Human Performance. The aim of this project is to examine a radically new approach to the assessment of pilots. We have created a new theoretical model that links the way in which cues are accessed to the application of various skills including decision-making. In validating this model, our objective is to develop a tool that will assist the evaluation of particular skills in a wide range of environments, including aviation. This significance of this project lies in the development of an innovative model of the relationship between between cues and the application of skills. We expect that the outcomes of this project will lead to much more efficient and accurate assessments of performance, and the opportunity to target particular skills. This will lead to savings for training organisations and increased safety in transportation industries.Read moreRead less
Enhancing basic academic skills of low-achieving students: the role of automaticity in numeracy, reading and comprehension. The project is designed to improve the basic reading and numeracy skills of low-achieving school students. The aim of the research is to investigate the effects of improved automaticity of basic skills on higher-order processes such as comprehension and problem solving. The underlying rationale for the program is that improving automaticity in component skills, such as dec ....Enhancing basic academic skills of low-achieving students: the role of automaticity in numeracy, reading and comprehension. The project is designed to improve the basic reading and numeracy skills of low-achieving school students. The aim of the research is to investigate the effects of improved automaticity of basic skills on higher-order processes such as comprehension and problem solving. The underlying rationale for the program is that improving automaticity in component skills, such as decoding or calculating, frees up working memory resources. This freeing up of resources allows students to focus on inherently attention demanding higher-order cognitive activities, of the sort increasingly required of students in the middle school years.Read moreRead less
Assessing the effectiveness of early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs in Australian communities. The focus of this study is optimising early learning and social experiences and establishing positive life trajectories for Australia's children. This addresses the National Research Priority, A healthy start to life, and aligns with the National Productivity Agenda. The study provides evidence about the effectiveness of ECEC programs in diverse Australian communities and examines the con ....Assessing the effectiveness of early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs in Australian communities. The focus of this study is optimising early learning and social experiences and establishing positive life trajectories for Australia's children. This addresses the National Research Priority, A healthy start to life, and aligns with the National Productivity Agenda. The study provides evidence about the effectiveness of ECEC programs in diverse Australian communities and examines the contribution of different ECEC provision to children's attainments at school entry through to the first national testing at age 8. Measured outcomes address the COAG productivity agenda to include health, social inclusion and education. Findings will inform theory internationally and policy, investment and ECEC practices in AustraliaRead moreRead less
PhD ASSESSMENT: AN INVESTIGATION OF EXAMINATION PROCESS, EXAMINER CONSISTENCY AND FACTORS THAT IDENTIFY THESIS QUALITY ACROSS DISCIPLINES. Doctoral research is a significant component of research activity in Australian higher education and effective research student supervision and high quality research are key goals. The main control over quality is the thesis examination, but there is no systematic study of examiner consistency or application of standards within and across disciplines. Drawing ....PhD ASSESSMENT: AN INVESTIGATION OF EXAMINATION PROCESS, EXAMINER CONSISTENCY AND FACTORS THAT IDENTIFY THESIS QUALITY ACROSS DISCIPLINES. Doctoral research is a significant component of research activity in Australian higher education and effective research student supervision and high quality research are key goals. The main control over quality is the thesis examination, but there is no systematic study of examiner consistency or application of standards within and across disciplines. Drawing on candidature history, examiner reports and ratings, this cross-institutional study responds to the need for foundational research into the area. The study will ascertain assessment processes, assessment criteria and factors that identify highly rated theses. The ultimate aim is to improve the quality of doctoral education practices.Read moreRead less
Modelling and validating an approach to maximise consistency in research thesis examination. Australia seeks to be a world leader in research activity including research education and training. This is evident in the establishment of National Research Priorities, the Research Quality Framework and $577m currently invested annually in research training. Thesis quality is a critical indicator of success, but universities globally have been grappling with ways to discriminate fairly and effectively ....Modelling and validating an approach to maximise consistency in research thesis examination. Australia seeks to be a world leader in research activity including research education and training. This is evident in the establishment of National Research Priorities, the Research Quality Framework and $577m currently invested annually in research training. Thesis quality is a critical indicator of success, but universities globally have been grappling with ways to discriminate fairly and effectively between different levels and types of research theses. This study rises to the challenge and will lead in building, refining and testing a framework for reporting thesis quality that will enhance our own system of research training and model best practice internationally.Read moreRead less
Impact of Developmentally-based Qualitative Assessment Practices in English, Mathematics, and Science on School Policies, Classroom Instruction, and Teacher Knowledge. This project aims to investigate and analyse issues concerning qualitative assessment techniques that measure students? understandings in English, Mathematics and Science, Years 7 to 10, in Government Schools in NSW. The significance lies in the advice that will be provided to school systems, subject departments and teachers on h ....Impact of Developmentally-based Qualitative Assessment Practices in English, Mathematics, and Science on School Policies, Classroom Instruction, and Teacher Knowledge. This project aims to investigate and analyse issues concerning qualitative assessment techniques that measure students? understandings in English, Mathematics and Science, Years 7 to 10, in Government Schools in NSW. The significance lies in the advice that will be provided to school systems, subject departments and teachers on how assessment information can improve the learning environment for students. Expected outcomes include details on how to utilise qualitative and quantitative assessment practices; detailed longitudinal analyses of teacher growth and perceptions as a result of using theoretically-based assessment practices within the social context of NSW classrooms.Read moreRead less