Motivations for choosing teaching as a career and development in the profession: A multicohort longitudinal study of beginning teachers. Schooling contributes significantly to the preparation of young people for citizenship so it is essential for the social infrastructure of the country that State Governments, employing authorities, teacher educators, the Federal Government and recruitment bodies better understanding the different motivational profiles of those entering teacher education now and ....Motivations for choosing teaching as a career and development in the profession: A multicohort longitudinal study of beginning teachers. Schooling contributes significantly to the preparation of young people for citizenship so it is essential for the social infrastructure of the country that State Governments, employing authorities, teacher educators, the Federal Government and recruitment bodies better understanding the different motivational profiles of those entering teacher education now and why people are not retained in the profession, suffer burnout or become disgruntled less effective teachers. It is also critical that we better understand the link between motivations, self-efficacies and the support networks and strategies needed to sustain teachers in the profession, particularly in difficult to staff regions, districts and schools. Read moreRead less
Increasing student retention rates in Victorian rural and metropolitan areas through engaging and empowering students with learning difficulties. Learning difficulties (LD), which affect a significant population, have a neurological cause and are a life-long phenomenon. Students with LD are at increased risk of negative outcomes including school dropout, unemployment and emotional difficulties. This project examines the prevalence of LD in students of average to above average ability and its r ....Increasing student retention rates in Victorian rural and metropolitan areas through engaging and empowering students with learning difficulties. Learning difficulties (LD), which affect a significant population, have a neurological cause and are a life-long phenomenon. Students with LD are at increased risk of negative outcomes including school dropout, unemployment and emotional difficulties. This project examines the prevalence of LD in students of average to above average ability and its relationship to at-risk behaviours. It also examines the impact of expanding teacher understanding of LD and use of pedagogy that engages and empowers students through the acquisition of compensatory skills. This project goes beyond traditional literacy and numeracy support by focussing on sense of belonging and personal control as key determinants for improving outcomes for students with LD.Read moreRead less
Developing Coping Skills: Following young people through the transition from primary to secondary schooling. This study provides a unique opportunity to determine developmental changes in coping by tracking a group of young people through the transition from primary to secondary school. The program targets coping efficacy and perceived control over internal states and thus is designed to increase adaptive coping behaviours whilst controlling for the degree to which family is supportive. Using a ....Developing Coping Skills: Following young people through the transition from primary to secondary schooling. This study provides a unique opportunity to determine developmental changes in coping by tracking a group of young people through the transition from primary to secondary school. The program targets coping efficacy and perceived control over internal states and thus is designed to increase adaptive coping behaviours whilst controlling for the degree to which family is supportive. Using a quasi-experimental design it is possible to test theories that suggest that coping efficacy beliefs mediate the relationship between family environment and actual coping behaviours. The study extends successful and innovative work in building resilience in the upper primary school population to the secondary population.
Read moreRead less
Success despite learning difficulties: The effectiveness of a coping program for adolescent students. Despite skilled teaching and average general ability, people with specific learning difficulties (SLD) will never learn to read or write with ease. As approximately 10 percent of the population has SLD, the higher than average risk of negative life outcomes for these people is of significant social and economic cost to the community. Expected outcomes of this study are theory and practice that c ....Success despite learning difficulties: The effectiveness of a coping program for adolescent students. Despite skilled teaching and average general ability, people with specific learning difficulties (SLD) will never learn to read or write with ease. As approximately 10 percent of the population has SLD, the higher than average risk of negative life outcomes for these people is of significant social and economic cost to the community. Expected outcomes of this study are theory and practice that can assist schools to implement programs that help Australian adolescent students with SLD to be empowered and successful in school and adult life. This will be of significant long-term national and community benefit. Read moreRead less
Blended learning in schools, TAFE and universities: experience, principles, patterns and practice. Effective use of technology in education depends upon the teacher's understanding of good ways to support learning. New uses of technology to improve learning are emerging constantly: the challenge is to share good practice. This project focuses on investigating the quality of blended learning experiences and using the outcomes to identify and share good practice using a format called a 'design pa ....Blended learning in schools, TAFE and universities: experience, principles, patterns and practice. Effective use of technology in education depends upon the teacher's understanding of good ways to support learning. New uses of technology to improve learning are emerging constantly: the challenge is to share good practice. This project focuses on investigating the quality of blended learning experiences and using the outcomes to identify and share good practice using a format called a 'design pattern'. Design patterns combine research-based evidence and the knowledge of experienced practitioners in a format which is relatively easy to communicate, learn and apply. They are not yet used in teaching with technology. We will generate and test design patterns for learning through discussion in technology-based and other classroom settings.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0211588
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$120,000.00
Summary
The Classroom Learning Laboratory. A facility is proposed to support the collection, configuration, storage and analysis of data (particularly video data) related to learning and teaching in classrooms. The Co-Applicants currently direct major projects at all levels of institutionalised education from early-years to tertiary, particularly in mathematics and technology education. The facility will provide the infrastructure for several large-scale projects involving many researchers and in the l ....The Classroom Learning Laboratory. A facility is proposed to support the collection, configuration, storage and analysis of data (particularly video data) related to learning and teaching in classrooms. The Co-Applicants currently direct major projects at all levels of institutionalised education from early-years to tertiary, particularly in mathematics and technology education. The facility will provide the infrastructure for several large-scale projects involving many researchers and in the long-term has the potential to catalyse new activity by educational researchers throughout Australia and significant overseas collaborative involvement. The proposed facility addresses a growing need locally, nationally, and internationally, offering both data storage and efficient access for analysis.Read moreRead less
Engagement with schooling: Influences of motivation processes on the development and application of independent thinking skills. Motivation and flexible thinking skills are critical outcomes of schooling if adolescents are to become life-long learners. This collaborative project employs innovative methodology to investigate students? developing capacity to apply thinking skills to novel problems and how motivational processes contribute to these outcomes. Measurement of real-time sequences of re ....Engagement with schooling: Influences of motivation processes on the development and application of independent thinking skills. Motivation and flexible thinking skills are critical outcomes of schooling if adolescents are to become life-long learners. This collaborative project employs innovative methodology to investigate students? developing capacity to apply thinking skills to novel problems and how motivational processes contribute to these outcomes. Measurement of real-time sequences of reactions and decisions provide direct access to on-task processes not available from existing methods. Problem tasks developed in collaboration with teachers will be used with Year 7, 8 and 9 students in a cohort-sequential design. Findings will inform future innovations designed to engage and challenge educational achievement in adolescents.Read moreRead less
Responsibility for knowledge generation in Australian and Korean mathematics classrooms: Beyond the teacher-centred/student-centred dichotomy. We need to reconcile the apparent differences in instructional practice between well-taught 'Asian' and well-taught 'Western' mathematics classrooms. If this can be achieved then best practice in one tradition can inform best practice in the other. An analytical approach based on the distribution of responsibility for knowledge generation is applied to we ....Responsibility for knowledge generation in Australian and Korean mathematics classrooms: Beyond the teacher-centred/student-centred dichotomy. We need to reconcile the apparent differences in instructional practice between well-taught 'Asian' and well-taught 'Western' mathematics classrooms. If this can be achieved then best practice in one tradition can inform best practice in the other. An analytical approach based on the distribution of responsibility for knowledge generation is applied to well-taught classrooms in Australia and Korea in order to accommodate the effective practices of competent teachers in both traditions within the same explanatory framework. Only then will teachers in one tradition have access to effective practice in the other tradition in a form likely to sustain culturally-appropriate adaptation. The benefits to Australian schools will be considerable.Read moreRead less
Does Emotional Intelligence predict final year academic results and student retention in secondary schools? Over the past 30 years the completion of the final year of secondary school education has become increasingly important, with a shift towards the requirement of higher levels of education throughout the Australian labour market. As a consequence, early school leavers are three times more likely to be unemployed than those students that complete Year 12 or post-secondary education. The pro ....Does Emotional Intelligence predict final year academic results and student retention in secondary schools? Over the past 30 years the completion of the final year of secondary school education has become increasingly important, with a shift towards the requirement of higher levels of education throughout the Australian labour market. As a consequence, early school leavers are three times more likely to be unemployed than those students that complete Year 12 or post-secondary education. The proposed study will examine the role of emotional intelligence (EI) in academic performance at Year 12 and school retention in secondary schools. The results of the study will help schools develop evidence-based strategies to best retain students and help students maximise their academic potential.Read moreRead less
An investigation of causal relations between complex classroom practices and science learning using high capacity new research technologies and multiple theory-testing. The strategic importance of science and the need for high-quality science teaching is being highlighted at national and state levels. A variety of science education initiatives have been funded by government to address this priority. Policy makers and curriculum developers rightly demand that the advocacy of educational innovatio ....An investigation of causal relations between complex classroom practices and science learning using high capacity new research technologies and multiple theory-testing. The strategic importance of science and the need for high-quality science teaching is being highlighted at national and state levels. A variety of science education initiatives have been funded by government to address this priority. Policy makers and curriculum developers rightly demand that the advocacy of educational innovations be supported by empirical evidence, which, to now, has been limited by available research methods. This study exploits recent advances in the sophistication of educational theories, research designs and available technology to generate much more compelling evidence of the effectiveness of specific classroom practices for improving student knowledge and understanding of science.Read moreRead less