Intercultural Approaches to Teaching Chinese: A basis for pedagogical innovation. The nation in general will benefit by having a better prepared and more competent population of Chinese teachers, learners and professionals, whose exposure to Chinese language and culture will encompass the multiplicity of identities in a contemporary, multicultural society. This research will establish Australia as a major innovator in Chinese language pedagogy and will equip Australians to better understand our ....Intercultural Approaches to Teaching Chinese: A basis for pedagogical innovation. The nation in general will benefit by having a better prepared and more competent population of Chinese teachers, learners and professionals, whose exposure to Chinese language and culture will encompass the multiplicity of identities in a contemporary, multicultural society. This research will establish Australia as a major innovator in Chinese language pedagogy and will equip Australians to better understand our region and our world. A unique feature of the project is the provision for assessment of cultural awareness derived from study of language, ensuring that students who do not persevere with Chinese language will have a 'surrender value' declaration, recording competency in knowledge of Chinese culture.Read moreRead less
Enhancing Wellbeing and Learning in Middle Years Classrooms. Meaningful engagement in schooling promotes academic learning, social emotional wellbeing and healthy futures for young people. Achieving the positive engagement of all adolescent students in schooling is a significant educational challenge for Australia. This research project recognises that strong, caring and positive teacher-student relationships are critical to student engagement in Middle Years classrooms. The project will inve ....Enhancing Wellbeing and Learning in Middle Years Classrooms. Meaningful engagement in schooling promotes academic learning, social emotional wellbeing and healthy futures for young people. Achieving the positive engagement of all adolescent students in schooling is a significant educational challenge for Australia. This research project recognises that strong, caring and positive teacher-student relationships are critical to student engagement in Middle Years classrooms. The project will investigate the application of an evidence based framework of strategies and a professional learning model to support teachers in the promotion of positive learning relationships. The project will trial measures that could increase teacher capacity to promote learning and wellbeing through positive relationships.Read moreRead less
Improving middle years mathematics and science: The role of subject cultures in school and teacher change. Student disengagement with mathematics and science in the middle years of schooling, and the low retention rates into these areas in upper years, is of national concern. This project investigates the role of mathematics and science knowledge, and school subject cultures, in mediating change processes in the middle years. It builds on a highly successful change model developed for science te ....Improving middle years mathematics and science: The role of subject cultures in school and teacher change. Student disengagement with mathematics and science in the middle years of schooling, and the low retention rates into these areas in upper years, is of national concern. This project investigates the role of mathematics and science knowledge, and school subject cultures, in mediating change processes in the middle years. It builds on a highly successful change model developed for science teaching and learning in Victoria to investigate how generic conceptions of teacher pedagogy
and school change intersect with subject matter knowledge and traditions in the closely related areas of mathematics and science. The findings will inform future school change projects.Read moreRead less
The role of representation in learning science. School science is a core area for the future prosperity and health of Australia. Poor student attitudes to science and low involvement in post compulsory science are of national concern. This project, by taking a fresh perspective on key learning issues in middle years science, when student attitudes and future plans are being forged, has the potential to lay the groundwork for more successful learning, increased retention into post compulsory scie ....The role of representation in learning science. School science is a core area for the future prosperity and health of Australia. Poor student attitudes to science and low involvement in post compulsory science are of national concern. This project, by taking a fresh perspective on key learning issues in middle years science, when student attitudes and future plans are being forged, has the potential to lay the groundwork for more successful learning, increased retention into post compulsory science, and enhanced public science literacy. By focusing on effective and innovative pedagogies and assessment strategies the project has the capacity to enhance science students' capacity for innovation, potentially laying the groundwork for increased productivity in the longer term. Read moreRead less
Values in mathematics and science education: mapping the relationships between pedagogical practices and student outcomes. Mathematics and science in schools both involve the teaching of values. Some value outcomes are intended by the teachers and are explicitly taught, particularly in science, while other values are only implicitly present in classroom practices, as is typically the case with mathematics. What is not yet known is what values students learn from different teachers and from their ....Values in mathematics and science education: mapping the relationships between pedagogical practices and student outcomes. Mathematics and science in schools both involve the teaching of values. Some value outcomes are intended by the teachers and are explicitly taught, particularly in science, while other values are only implicitly present in classroom practices, as is typically the case with mathematics. What is not yet known is what values students learn from different teachers and from their practices, and how these learned values impact on student engagement with these subjects. This project will explore the relationships between the values embedded in the pedagogical practices of primary and secondary teachers of mathematics and science, and student values outcomes.Read moreRead less
Developing portfolio assessment in Mathematics and English: Insider and outsider perspectives on the implementation of professional teaching standards. In previous parallel SPIRT projects the national subject associations in Mathematics and English/Literacy developed professional standards for excellence in teaching. This research project, with the Victorian Institute of Teaching, will study both the preparation of portfolio items by groups of 'outsider' teachers who played no part in the develo ....Developing portfolio assessment in Mathematics and English: Insider and outsider perspectives on the implementation of professional teaching standards. In previous parallel SPIRT projects the national subject associations in Mathematics and English/Literacy developed professional standards for excellence in teaching. This research project, with the Victorian Institute of Teaching, will study both the preparation of portfolio items by groups of 'outsider' teachers who played no part in the development of the Standards, together with the evaluation of their portfolios by groups of 'insider' assessors from the respective subject associations who helped develop the Standards. Data from this project will contribute to validating the Standards, to clarifying the issues of subject-specific/generic professional standards, and to improving quality in teachers' professional development.Read moreRead less
School-University e-Learning research partnerships for scaling up innovation. Despite optimism about new technologies for learning, e-learning innovation has been slow to scale up. This project tests a novel research strategy for engaging schools sustainably with e-learning. Teams of students (school and university), teachers (including beginning teachers), community members, consultants and e-learning researchers are constituted, in schools, to identify, collaboratively, hard-to-learn (technolo ....School-University e-Learning research partnerships for scaling up innovation. Despite optimism about new technologies for learning, e-learning innovation has been slow to scale up. This project tests a novel research strategy for engaging schools sustainably with e-learning. Teams of students (school and university), teachers (including beginning teachers), community members, consultants and e-learning researchers are constituted, in schools, to identify, collaboratively, hard-to-learn (technology-and-science) concepts and effective teaching approaches, develop ways of exploiting new media to teach such concepts and scale up their solutions within and beyond their schools. Re-conceiving the problem so students and teachers gain equity as e-learning researchers yields a model for scholarly, future-oriented educational renewal.Read moreRead less
The influence of evidence-based decisions by collaborative teacher teams on student achievement. National testing and concerns about literacy and numeracy skills as enabling competencies for learning have had a central focus for decades. Recent studies by Griffin and Care have established large gains in student reading comprehension in an uncontrolled study of years 3 to 6 in primary schools. This study seeks to determine if the process can be manipulated, scaled up and applied in a sustainable ....The influence of evidence-based decisions by collaborative teacher teams on student achievement. National testing and concerns about literacy and numeracy skills as enabling competencies for learning have had a central focus for decades. Recent studies by Griffin and Care have established large gains in student reading comprehension in an uncontrolled study of years 3 to 6 in primary schools. This study seeks to determine if the process can be manipulated, scaled up and applied in a sustainable manner across a larger number of year levels, systems of education, and subject areas.Read moreRead less
Vocational studies in school - does it matter if I'm a girl and if I'm poor? The growth of VET in Schools has been associated with government policy to promote an innovation culture and economy, to increase secondary retention, and to strengthen transition from school to tertiary study, training and work. This study seeks to examine the effectiveness of VETiS, from a gender and SES perspective, in strengthening participation, fostering student engagement and facilitating effective transition. It ....Vocational studies in school - does it matter if I'm a girl and if I'm poor? The growth of VET in Schools has been associated with government policy to promote an innovation culture and economy, to increase secondary retention, and to strengthen transition from school to tertiary study, training and work. This study seeks to examine the effectiveness of VETiS, from a gender and SES perspective, in strengthening participation, fostering student engagement and facilitating effective transition. It does so by analysing national VETiS data, followed up by a longitudinal study of students in 12 schools (small, large, single sex, co-educational, metropolitan and non-metropolitan). It uniquely combines a system-wide perspective with a detailed and qualitative school-level view.Read moreRead less
Engaging adolescents in schooling: A longitudinal study of student use of electronic self-assessment tools within advocacy models of student support. This research investigates the effectiveness of a program of student support directed to reducing adolescent disengagement from learning and early school leaving. There are potentially significant economic and social benefits to the broader Australian community, particularly in country areas and low socio-economic urban areas. Completing school pro ....Engaging adolescents in schooling: A longitudinal study of student use of electronic self-assessment tools within advocacy models of student support. This research investigates the effectiveness of a program of student support directed to reducing adolescent disengagement from learning and early school leaving. There are potentially significant economic and social benefits to the broader Australian community, particularly in country areas and low socio-economic urban areas. Completing school provides young people with a broader range of options for their economic future, promotes social inclusion, and provides greater protection against negative consequences of unemployment, such as isolation, depression, and substance abuse. Enjoyment of schooling increases the ability of young people to develop to their full potential, and lead healthy, productive and fulfilling lives. Read moreRead less