How do qualifications delivered by enterprises contribute to improved skill levels and other benefits for companies, workers and the nation? This project investigates the role of employer-based qualifications training in developing the skills and prospects of the Australian workforce and the competitive capabilities of companies. It focuses on enterprises that are accredited to deliver qualifications to their own workers, providing data to improve and expand this form of training.
Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. This project aims to inform strategies to better attract, prepare, recognise, support and retain a high quality workforce, by investigating the complexity of early childhood educators’ work. Seemingly entrenched workforce shortages threaten the objectives that governments and families seek through investment in early childhood education. Popular imag ....Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. This project aims to inform strategies to better attract, prepare, recognise, support and retain a high quality workforce, by investigating the complexity of early childhood educators’ work. Seemingly entrenched workforce shortages threaten the objectives that governments and families seek through investment in early childhood education. Popular images of work with young children as easy and instinctual, or of teaching as only school based, mislead potential workforce entrants and erode the status of educators, leading to attrition. This project’s audit and description of exemplary educators’ work, across each level of mandated qualification, will inform strategies to sustain a high quality early childhood workforce into the future.Read moreRead less
Innovative measurement approaches to optimise the comparability of large-scale and high-stakes performance assessments. Over 1.2 million Australian school children participate in national and high-stakes state assessments each year. This project aims to produce improved and novel methods for assessing students using open-ended tasks so that educators can more accurately compare students’ achievements and track their progress. In turn, this aims to support decision makers to enable better educati ....Innovative measurement approaches to optimise the comparability of large-scale and high-stakes performance assessments. Over 1.2 million Australian school children participate in national and high-stakes state assessments each year. This project aims to produce improved and novel methods for assessing students using open-ended tasks so that educators can more accurately compare students’ achievements and track their progress. In turn, this aims to support decision makers to enable better educational outcomes. The investigators aim to refine a rubric used in the National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) so that Writing assessments are as accurate and comparable as possible. Methods also aim to be designed to enable more accurate and comparable assessments of Australian children in areas not covered by NAPLAN such as History and The Arts.Read moreRead less
Getting a job: vocationalism, identity formation and schooling in communities at disadvantage. This research will use young people's stories to investigate the barriers and obstacles to getting a job, and from their vantage point, identify the educational, policy and practice contexts that need to be created and more widely sustained in order to assist their career aspirations and life chances.
Digital Divas: Designing approaches to enthuse girls' interest in ICT studies and ICT careers. A strong information and communications technology (ICT) industry, a skilled ICT workforce and excellence in ICT research is vital to Australia's future. However, girls' interest in ICT, and the numbers of women entering the ICT workforce, are at record lows, while Industry skills are critically short. Digital Divas will pioneer a program to build girls' ICT skills and confidence, increasing their mot ....Digital Divas: Designing approaches to enthuse girls' interest in ICT studies and ICT careers. A strong information and communications technology (ICT) industry, a skilled ICT workforce and excellence in ICT research is vital to Australia's future. However, girls' interest in ICT, and the numbers of women entering the ICT workforce, are at record lows, while Industry skills are critically short. Digital Divas will pioneer a program to build girls' ICT skills and confidence, increasing their motivation to study ICT and enter the ICT workforce. The benefits of education will be maximised by addressing the gender digital divide evident in classrooms, universities and professions.Read moreRead less
Young children in digital society: An Online Tool for service provision . This project aims to identify the practices enacted and shared amongst young children, their families and educators in digital society.The project is significant because in digital society families and educators face new demands ensuring technologies are used in the best interests of young children. Knowledge about practices in digital society informs adult decision-making using technologies with, by and for young children ....Young children in digital society: An Online Tool for service provision . This project aims to identify the practices enacted and shared amongst young children, their families and educators in digital society.The project is significant because in digital society families and educators face new demands ensuring technologies are used in the best interests of young children. Knowledge about practices in digital society informs adult decision-making using technologies with, by and for young children in the early years. The outcome is a new Online Tool for the Partner Organisations to share exemplar practices benefiting Australian children, their families and educators with new resources, materials and programs in areas including: digital media production, cyber-safety education, digital play and digital parenting.
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Controlling empirical factors to measure educational achievement in invariant units. Over a million students take part in National and State assessments which are used to compare schools and to determine tertiary entrance. The aim of the project is to study and control the factors that affect the unit in which achievement is measured so that such comparisons and decisions are based on more valid and precise information.
Reducing self-harm and suicidal behaviours in young people in WA. Aims: reduce self-harm and suicidal behaviours in young people by upskilling teachers and providing resources to respond rapidly to students at risk via an innovative intervention with near real-time measures of changes in vulnerability.
Significance: self-harm and suicidal behaviours are increasing at alarming rates in young people. Schools are ideally placed to respond but many struggle to do so. New regular measures and advance ....Reducing self-harm and suicidal behaviours in young people in WA. Aims: reduce self-harm and suicidal behaviours in young people by upskilling teachers and providing resources to respond rapidly to students at risk via an innovative intervention with near real-time measures of changes in vulnerability.
Significance: self-harm and suicidal behaviours are increasing at alarming rates in young people. Schools are ideally placed to respond but many struggle to do so. New regular measures and advanced machine learning algorithms measuring change in risk in real time will enable schools to respond in a timely and effective manner
and save lives.
Expected outcomes: a new intervention to reduce self-harm and suicidal behaviours in young people that measures fluctuations in risk via a Temporal Vulnerability Index.Read moreRead less
Facilitating the Lifelong Learning Needs of the Mature Age Community through Learning Object Technology. By understanding learner preferences, needs and requirements, it could be possible to provide opportunities in an online learning environment that will improve the quality, variety and relevance of learning for all. There could be particular benefits for mature-age learners. Curtin has begun to explore the benefits of reusable learning objects with current online learning management systems. ....Facilitating the Lifelong Learning Needs of the Mature Age Community through Learning Object Technology. By understanding learner preferences, needs and requirements, it could be possible to provide opportunities in an online learning environment that will improve the quality, variety and relevance of learning for all. There could be particular benefits for mature-age learners. Curtin has begun to explore the benefits of reusable learning objects with current online learning management systems. This project aims to define the use and application of learning object technology and applies a meta-model of pedagogical design to online learning environments. Outcomes will allow the applications of new methodologies for the effective implementation of complex, intelligent learning environments.Read moreRead less
Effects of Positive Education during the critical post-school transition. Effects of Positive Education during the critical post-school transition. This project will examine if school-based positive education helps young people during their post-school transition, using a mixed method, longitudinal design. Positive education improves the short term mental health of high school students. Its sustained effects are not known, particularly at the post-school stage when young people negotiate challen ....Effects of Positive Education during the critical post-school transition. Effects of Positive Education during the critical post-school transition. This project will examine if school-based positive education helps young people during their post-school transition, using a mixed method, longitudinal design. Positive education improves the short term mental health of high school students. Its sustained effects are not known, particularly at the post-school stage when young people negotiate challenges in work, learning and relationships. This project will also examine whether a new youth-led Positive Transition Program provides added benefits, using in-the-moment experience sampling and bio-data. This research is anticipated to determine the utility of positive education to improve the transition experience for young people.Read moreRead less