Using diagnostic tests in science as formative assessment to enhance teaching and learning. The success and continuation of science programs in upper secondary school and university is dependent on foundational improvements in science education in lower secondary schools. This proposal is designed to address this national concern by fostering talent in science and encouraging more students to study and enjoy science in a meaningful way. Through planned formative assessment, teachers will enable ....Using diagnostic tests in science as formative assessment to enhance teaching and learning. The success and continuation of science programs in upper secondary school and university is dependent on foundational improvements in science education in lower secondary schools. This proposal is designed to address this national concern by fostering talent in science and encouraging more students to study and enjoy science in a meaningful way. Through planned formative assessment, teachers will enable students in Years 8-10 to think about the science concepts and consider alternative explanations rather than memorise basic facts for a test or examination which are then forgotten. Practical benefits are a large range of valid and reliable tests and a range of teaching approaches for diagnosing student learning difficulties.Read moreRead less
On feeling good and succeeding: Identifying the antecedents of emotional well-being and school success amongst adolescents. We propose a multi-wave longitudinal study of all high school students in the Wollongong Catholic Diocese, identifying the psychological predictors of academic and emotional problems. We will track students and monitor the influence over time of a comprehensive set of predictors, examining their unique effects on the trajectories of educational and emotional outcomes. The s ....On feeling good and succeeding: Identifying the antecedents of emotional well-being and school success amongst adolescents. We propose a multi-wave longitudinal study of all high school students in the Wollongong Catholic Diocese, identifying the psychological predictors of academic and emotional problems. We will track students and monitor the influence over time of a comprehensive set of predictors, examining their unique effects on the trajectories of educational and emotional outcomes. The study will inform us about the developmental processes through which youth pass, leading to a new model of the psychological processes involved in academic and emotional outcomes. This model will enhance future intervention programmes with youth at risk of academic and emotional problems.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
Constructing a new conceptual framework for using digital technologies in achieving better arts assessment. The project aims to identify the qualities of artistic knowing across arts disciplines, identify gaps in the present approaches and discover ways that digital technologies might be used to overcome these inadequacies. This is significant because meaningful aspects of art are often lost using existing assessment. The expected outcomes will be a theoretical framework for an assessment manage ....Constructing a new conceptual framework for using digital technologies in achieving better arts assessment. The project aims to identify the qualities of artistic knowing across arts disciplines, identify gaps in the present approaches and discover ways that digital technologies might be used to overcome these inadequacies. This is significant because meaningful aspects of art are often lost using existing assessment. The expected outcomes will be a theoretical framework for an assessment management system, and a model for the use of digital media in arts assessment that can be applied to the later development of new arts assessment software and hardware tools with industry partners.Read moreRead less
New Dimensions of Group Literacy Tests for Schools: Multimodal reading comprehension in conventional and computer-based formats. Today's texts require readers to comprehend information from an extensive range of images integrated with print material. No assessment currently exists to test what new reading strategies students require to interpret the meanings made jointly through images and print in contemporary texts. To address this problem, this research will develop a model of image/text rel ....New Dimensions of Group Literacy Tests for Schools: Multimodal reading comprehension in conventional and computer-based formats. Today's texts require readers to comprehend information from an extensive range of images integrated with print material. No assessment currently exists to test what new reading strategies students require to interpret the meanings made jointly through images and print in contemporary texts. To address this problem, this research will develop a model of image/text relations. Such a model is foundational to the development of effective assessment tools, particularly group tests. For the first time, such tests will incorporate the comprehension strategies that students require to understand conventional and computer-based texts with their increased integration of images and print.Read moreRead less
Using explanatory frameworks to enhance students' metacognitive capabilities in science. The success and continuation of science programs in secondary schools and universities is dependent on foundational improvements in teaching and learning. This proposal is designed to address this national concern by fostering potential science talent by encouraging more students to study and enjoy science in a meaningful way. Through the development of carefully analysed explanatory frameworks, science teac ....Using explanatory frameworks to enhance students' metacognitive capabilities in science. The success and continuation of science programs in secondary schools and universities is dependent on foundational improvements in teaching and learning. This proposal is designed to address this national concern by fostering potential science talent by encouraging more students to study and enjoy science in a meaningful way. Through the development of carefully analysed explanatory frameworks, science teachers and university lecturers will enable students to develop their metacognitive capabilities so that they are able to think logically about science concepts rather than memorise basic facts which are easily forgotten. Expected practical benefits are students who are better able to learn and communicate, especially in science.Read moreRead less
Outcomes-focused Learning Environments, Affective Outcomes and Achievement Standards in Senior School Classes in Western Australia. Given the controversy in the media about outcomes-focused education and the acute lack of research into its implementation and effectiveness, this research is timely and useful. It could have far-reaching implications for educational systems about how to effectively create outcomes-focused learning environments and whether educational standards are being maintained. ....Outcomes-focused Learning Environments, Affective Outcomes and Achievement Standards in Senior School Classes in Western Australia. Given the controversy in the media about outcomes-focused education and the acute lack of research into its implementation and effectiveness, this research is timely and useful. It could have far-reaching implications for educational systems about how to effectively create outcomes-focused learning environments and whether educational standards are being maintained. It will provide information about how teachers can use action research, involving feedback from students, to guide the improvement of learning environments. Training opportunities will be provided for one Master's and two doctoral students.Read moreRead less
Assessment practices: Empowering mathematics and science teachers in rural areas to improve student learning and curriculum implementation. The philosophy behind this research is that assessment needs to be informative and useful for both teacher and learner. For this to happen, there has to be a ?constructive alignment? of curriculum content, pedagogy, and assessment. This research employs empirically-based qualitative assessment techniques, which complement traditional assessment practices, ....Assessment practices: Empowering mathematics and science teachers in rural areas to improve student learning and curriculum implementation. The philosophy behind this research is that assessment needs to be informative and useful for both teacher and learner. For this to happen, there has to be a ?constructive alignment? of curriculum content, pedagogy, and assessment. This research employs empirically-based qualitative assessment techniques, which complement traditional assessment practices, as the foundation for teachers to make this synthesis in mathematics and science in rural schools in NSW. The significance of the research is in the insights it offers to how teachers can improve the learning environment for their students by addressing more appropriately student needs and higher learning outcomes.Read moreRead less
Emotionally Provoking Events in Classrooms and During Transitions: Developing Self-Regulatory Programs for Children Diagnosed With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Deficiencies in inhibitory control seen in those with ADHD cause problems in self-regulation of emotion. Consequently, children with ADHD are more impulsively emotional and less able to regulate their emotional responses to emotionally provoking events. Few studies, however, have systematically examined the emotional response ....Emotionally Provoking Events in Classrooms and During Transitions: Developing Self-Regulatory Programs for Children Diagnosed With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Deficiencies in inhibitory control seen in those with ADHD cause problems in self-regulation of emotion. Consequently, children with ADHD are more impulsively emotional and less able to regulate their emotional responses to emotionally provoking events. Few studies, however, have systematically examined the emotional responses of this population in the classroom and during transitions. Through a series of studies the proposed research will identify events which are emotionally provoking for primary and secondary school-aged ADHD children, and then develop and evaluate emotion self-regulation programs (in combination with/without medication) which assist ADHD children to manage emotionally provoking events.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