A Pedagogy for Multiliteracies with Information and Communication Technologies in Early Childhood Education. The goal of this project is to determine the most effective pedagogy for the use of ICT in Australian early childhood education. The research is essential in order to plan for a world-class educational future for young Australians. A collaborative action-research program will be undertaken by three leading academics in association with a network of thirty-six teachers in three states. Thi ....A Pedagogy for Multiliteracies with Information and Communication Technologies in Early Childhood Education. The goal of this project is to determine the most effective pedagogy for the use of ICT in Australian early childhood education. The research is essential in order to plan for a world-class educational future for young Australians. A collaborative action-research program will be undertaken by three leading academics in association with a network of thirty-six teachers in three states. This innovative research approach is based on a multiliteracies framework. The project will investigate how ICT can best be used for enhancing children's learning and identify specific ways in which teachers can develop multiliteracies in early childhood education environments. Read moreRead less
Enhancing the content and experience of Interactive Childrens Television. Interactive television (iTV) as a participatory, on-demand communication provides a unique opportunity to significantly engage, entertain and educate preschool children. Through considerable industry partner collaboration and participation, this project will evaluate three distinct interactive options produced from selected children's television programs with proven success in Australia. Usability studies employing a vari ....Enhancing the content and experience of Interactive Childrens Television. Interactive television (iTV) as a participatory, on-demand communication provides a unique opportunity to significantly engage, entertain and educate preschool children. Through considerable industry partner collaboration and participation, this project will evaluate three distinct interactive options produced from selected children's television programs with proven success in Australia. Usability studies employing a variety of surveillance techniques will evaluate content design and user response. Children's viewing habits will be evaluated within a social context (the home) and a mobile lab setting using qualitative and quantitative assessment. The results will identify effective ways to produce meaningful interactivity and will encourage future industry based research.Read moreRead less
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
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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Developing Early Literacy in Informal Settings: Engaging Disadvantaged Aboriginal and CALD Families Outside Formal Settings. The development of literacy in pre-school age children is a national priority. This research will address a major gap in the provision of support for literacy development in children and families who do not access formal pre-school programs. It will directly address the disadvantage experienced by children and families in informal settings. The outcomes of this research wi ....Developing Early Literacy in Informal Settings: Engaging Disadvantaged Aboriginal and CALD Families Outside Formal Settings. The development of literacy in pre-school age children is a national priority. This research will address a major gap in the provision of support for literacy development in children and families who do not access formal pre-school programs. It will directly address the disadvantage experienced by children and families in informal settings. The outcomes of this research will benefit work in this area at both a theoretical and a practical level. It will provide a strengthened research base around reaching and involving children and families and will inform those literacy methodologies that seek to address linguistic and cultural difference.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
Improving teacher assessment using exemplars and online moderation. This project aims to assess the dependability of teacher judgement using psychometric scaling and online moderation. The project will use an innovative approach to connect achievement standards and judgement-practice for middle-year students in Australian education system. Expected outcomes of the project include the development of scaled work samples exemplifying A-E standards of achievement, refined methods for the consistency ....Improving teacher assessment using exemplars and online moderation. This project aims to assess the dependability of teacher judgement using psychometric scaling and online moderation. The project will use an innovative approach to connect achievement standards and judgement-practice for middle-year students in Australian education system. Expected outcomes of the project include the development of scaled work samples exemplifying A-E standards of achievement, refined methods for the consistency and comparability of assessment decisions, and a new approach to moderating teacher judgements. This project should provide significant benefits in building teachers’ assessment capabilities, shaping policy and teacher preparation.Read moreRead less
Facilitating Capacity Building in the Australian Not-For-Profit Sector through Improved Work Learning. This project aims to investigate how both formal and informal work learning can improve the governance, leadership, and management capacity of not-for-profit organisations (NFPs). The research aims to identify key competencies, and chart the needs, opportunities, preferences, and barriers to develop them on a national scale. Organisational mechanisms under managerial control are further examine ....Facilitating Capacity Building in the Australian Not-For-Profit Sector through Improved Work Learning. This project aims to investigate how both formal and informal work learning can improve the governance, leadership, and management capacity of not-for-profit organisations (NFPs). The research aims to identify key competencies, and chart the needs, opportunities, preferences, and barriers to develop them on a national scale. Organisational mechanisms under managerial control are further examined to understand what facilitates work learning within NFPs. Findings aims to inform theory, practice and policy about professional development and capacity building to enhance NFPs’ ability to make a strong social impact. Outcomes aim to significantly strengthen Australia’s social and economic fabric by building effectiveness within the critical NFP sector.Read moreRead less
Infill Developments: Project HOME (Housing Outcomes Metrics and Evaluation). The project plans to improve housing outcomes by evaluating housing design in the rapidly growing infill multi-residential sector, which often experiences design quality problems. Set across four global cities, the project aims to use a unique combination of design and social science methods to analyse good design and how this is produced and experienced. It is expected that this will deliver greater definition of and e ....Infill Developments: Project HOME (Housing Outcomes Metrics and Evaluation). The project plans to improve housing outcomes by evaluating housing design in the rapidly growing infill multi-residential sector, which often experiences design quality problems. Set across four global cities, the project aims to use a unique combination of design and social science methods to analyse good design and how this is produced and experienced. It is expected that this will deliver greater definition of and evidence for ‘good’ design as experienced through the real lives of Australian households. Outcomes should include robust design evaluation methods and transition strategies for cities, allowing city decision-makers to improve housing design for many people in Australian cities.Read moreRead less
The costs of youth homelessness in Australia. This three-year research project will provide a detailed picture of the cost of youth homelessness in Australia, the use of services by young homeless people and the costs and benefits of providing support services to young homeless people. The study will extend the evidence base on the cost-effectiveness of programs attempting to alleviate youth homelessness, and enable Australian governments, community groups and agencies involved in the provision ....The costs of youth homelessness in Australia. This three-year research project will provide a detailed picture of the cost of youth homelessness in Australia, the use of services by young homeless people and the costs and benefits of providing support services to young homeless people. The study will extend the evidence base on the cost-effectiveness of programs attempting to alleviate youth homelessness, and enable Australian governments, community groups and agencies involved in the provision of support services to homeless youth to understand better the pathways followed by young homeless people and the impact of service provision on the lives of young homeless people.Read moreRead less