Evaluating the effectiveness of scientific visualisations in physics and chemistry education. Scientific visualisations are believed to have significant potential to improve students' learning of science concepts, potentially improving students' access to and outcomes in university science programs. This project will evaluate that potential to see whether it is realised in students' understanding of scientific concepts. The software, hardware, development and teaching skills required to use scie ....Evaluating the effectiveness of scientific visualisations in physics and chemistry education. Scientific visualisations are believed to have significant potential to improve students' learning of science concepts, potentially improving students' access to and outcomes in university science programs. This project will evaluate that potential to see whether it is realised in students' understanding of scientific concepts. The software, hardware, development and teaching skills required to use scientific visualisations in science teaching represent a significant investment of money and time on the part of the community. The results from this project will help in analysing the educational benefits of visualisations, providing important information for cost-benefit analyses.Read moreRead less
Literacy in the digital world of the twenty-first century: learning from computer games. The creation of a literate and tech-savvy workforce and community is essential to Australia's future prosperity. By helping teachers better understand and teach ICT-enabled forms of text and literacy, drawing on insights from young people's actual engagement with digital culture in their leisure hours, the project will help strengthen young Australians' capacity to critically evaluate and use ICTs for effect ....Literacy in the digital world of the twenty-first century: learning from computer games. The creation of a literate and tech-savvy workforce and community is essential to Australia's future prosperity. By helping teachers better understand and teach ICT-enabled forms of text and literacy, drawing on insights from young people's actual engagement with digital culture in their leisure hours, the project will help strengthen young Australians' capacity to critically evaluate and use ICTs for effective learning and communication. This project will help produce the skills, knowledge and orientations necessary to create smart information use, through developing and strengthening young people's uses and understandings of ICT-based forms of text and literacy.Read moreRead less
Designing technology-enriched pedagogy in secondary mathematics education. The Australian Government's "Agenda for Action" emphasises the need to foster innovation in mathematics teaching and teacher education, and encourages teachers to embrace technologies that enhance student learning. Yet international research shows that successful innovation in teaching with technology has been elusive. This project will develop new theoretical understanding of why technology-related innovation in secondar ....Designing technology-enriched pedagogy in secondary mathematics education. The Australian Government's "Agenda for Action" emphasises the need to foster innovation in mathematics teaching and teacher education, and encourages teachers to embrace technologies that enhance student learning. Yet international research shows that successful innovation in teaching with technology has been elusive. This project will develop new theoretical understanding of why technology-related innovation in secondary school mathematics teaching takes hold in some educational settings but not others. The findings will lead to practical recommendations for design of teacher professional development programs, and shed light on reasons why teachers may embrace or reject educational change.Read moreRead less
Globalisation: New Media, New Literacies and Identities. This APF proposes three related projects that investigate (i) the social effects of new information technologies on literacy and identity, (ii) the impact of globalisation on education, and (iii) new forms of social identity among multiracial families and children. Each project will produce a book and refereed journal articles. This work is significant because it will generate new knowledge about the effects of globalization on: (i) shifts ....Globalisation: New Media, New Literacies and Identities. This APF proposes three related projects that investigate (i) the social effects of new information technologies on literacy and identity, (ii) the impact of globalisation on education, and (iii) new forms of social identity among multiracial families and children. Each project will produce a book and refereed journal articles. This work is significant because it will generate new knowledge about the effects of globalization on: (i) shifts from print to digital literacies and identities among Australian youth, (ii) the role, responsibility, and futures orientation of education systems, and (iii) changing family structures and identities in new socio-demographic contexts.Read moreRead less
Equity and access: analysing the level and pattern of funding of teaching and learning resources in Australian schools. The project will develop indicators and evidence of best practice that will enable educators and schools to make improved and more informed decisions on how to support learners in the provision of teaching and learning resources.
The role of technology-enriched, technology-mediated learning communities in reforming mathematics teacher education. This project examines the impact of a technology-enriched teacher education program on beginning teachers' integration of educational technologies into secondary school mathematics classrooms. It seeks to increase theoretical understanding of how beginning teachers are initiated into a collaborative professional community featuring both web-based and face to face interaction, and ....The role of technology-enriched, technology-mediated learning communities in reforming mathematics teacher education. This project examines the impact of a technology-enriched teacher education program on beginning teachers' integration of educational technologies into secondary school mathematics classrooms. It seeks to increase theoretical understanding of how beginning teachers are initiated into a collaborative professional community featuring both web-based and face to face interaction, and how participation in such a community shapes their pedagogical beliefs and actions. Of central interest is the role of technologically knowledgeable pre-service and beginning teachers as agents ofinnovation and reform in secondary school mathematics. Outcomes will inform the design and implementation of models of pre-service teacher education and professional development.Read moreRead less
Multiliteracies, libraries and cybraries: Comparative case studies of Australia and the United States. Libraries are key sites for literacy learning. Commonwealth and state government policies stress the significance of libraries and ?information literacy?, and have called for the integration of new technologies into libraries. Despite an ongoing multi-million dollar investment in books and online connectivity, there are no large-scale studies of school libraries? transition into cyber libraries ....Multiliteracies, libraries and cybraries: Comparative case studies of Australia and the United States. Libraries are key sites for literacy learning. Commonwealth and state government policies stress the significance of libraries and ?information literacy?, and have called for the integration of new technologies into libraries. Despite an ongoing multi-million dollar investment in books and online connectivity, there are no large-scale studies of school libraries? transition into cyber libraries, or ?cybraries.? This project examines the impact of online information technologies on school libraries in two comparative sites in Australia and the US. It describes new forms of text, knowledge and literacy enabled by networked cybraries, and documents how educational systems enable and impede such developments.Read moreRead less
Implementing Engineering Experiences in the Middle School. Engineering and science are increasingly recognized as enablers for invention, innovation, and economic growth. Advances in these domains that improve society will increasingly depend on our ability to educate school students about the world of engineering prior to entering university. The study's national benefits include: exposing young students to the world of engineering and its rich career opportunities; showcasing engineering for ....Implementing Engineering Experiences in the Middle School. Engineering and science are increasingly recognized as enablers for invention, innovation, and economic growth. Advances in these domains that improve society will increasingly depend on our ability to educate school students about the world of engineering prior to entering university. The study's national benefits include: exposing young students to the world of engineering and its rich career opportunities; showcasing engineering for female students; promoting mathematics and science as key enabling subjects for engineering; addressing national research priorities including an environmentally sustainable Australia; and engaging engineers and educators, including undergraduates, in seminal collaborative research and resource development.Read moreRead less
Using and creating knowledge in the high school years: Performance, production, process and value-adding in electronic curricular literacy. Success in the emerging communicational demands of high-school learning is crucial for cultural cohesion, economic productivity, and employment. It also minimizes inter-generational exclusion and alienation for at-risk socio-economic and cultural groups. No research exists into the products and processes associated with high-school students' engagements in e ....Using and creating knowledge in the high school years: Performance, production, process and value-adding in electronic curricular literacy. Success in the emerging communicational demands of high-school learning is crucial for cultural cohesion, economic productivity, and employment. It also minimizes inter-generational exclusion and alienation for at-risk socio-economic and cultural groups. No research exists into the products and processes associated with high-school students' engagements in electronic curricular literacy practices (ECLs), so 'standards' frameworks for ECL cannot be developed. This project will provide an empirical map of students' expected achievements in ECLs in key curricular areas at various year levels. It aims to inject a practical and a futures orientation into research, debate and policy formation in literacy education.Read moreRead less
Enhancing Distance Learning Programs: Using Information and Communication Technologies for Students in Rural Locations. The review of the Virtual Schooling Service in Queensland (2002) found that the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) follows a content transmission model from producer to user. The 'cultural factors' that promote mediation and negotiation of subject matter are absent. The research partners propose to identify how cultural factors involved in 'information age' ....Enhancing Distance Learning Programs: Using Information and Communication Technologies for Students in Rural Locations. The review of the Virtual Schooling Service in Queensland (2002) found that the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) follows a content transmission model from producer to user. The 'cultural factors' that promote mediation and negotiation of subject matter are absent. The research partners propose to identify how cultural factors involved in 'information age' education can be 'delivered' through ICT for rural secondary students. The research will capture the potential of ICT to provide isolated students access to a wider curriculum consistent with contemporary educational thinking, thereby reducing rural educational disadvantage and minimising the loss of human resources.Read moreRead less