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.
International Research Network on Learning Environments of the Future. This project represents a unique opportunity to participate in a productive, multidisciplinary international network that is developing powerful learning environments of the future- where distributed, electronically mediated, collaborative communities will become the norm. Special opportunities will be provided for doctoral students and postdocs to work with renowned researchers at the Knowledge Media Research Centre (Germany ....International Research Network on Learning Environments of the Future. This project represents a unique opportunity to participate in a productive, multidisciplinary international network that is developing powerful learning environments of the future- where distributed, electronically mediated, collaborative communities will become the norm. Special opportunities will be provided for doctoral students and postdocs to work with renowned researchers at the Knowledge Media Research Centre (Germany) and the Learning Sciences Laboratory (Singapore). The development of an undergraduate virtual international learning community will also lay groundwork for future collaborations among the participating countries. The project will chart research directions that will influence future educational settings worldwide.
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Effects of training teachers in communication skills during cooperative learning on classroom discourse, social inclusion, and learning among middle-year students. Helping children work together, communicate effectively, and think constructively are critically important if children are to engage in learning, develop self-efficacy as learners, and respect for the unique contributions of others to their learning experiences. Teachers play a key role in creating leaning environments that are conduc ....Effects of training teachers in communication skills during cooperative learning on classroom discourse, social inclusion, and learning among middle-year students. Helping children work together, communicate effectively, and think constructively are critically important if children are to engage in learning, develop self-efficacy as learners, and respect for the unique contributions of others to their learning experiences. Teachers play a key role in creating leaning environments that are conducive to learning, responsive to children's needs, and supportive of their endeavours. This project will help teachers enhance children's strategic and metacognitive thinking and learning through the promotion of interactions and relationships that are inclusive of all children regardless of their diverse learning needs and social and ethnic identities.Read moreRead less
Comparative effectiveness of two strategic and meta-cognitive questioning approaches on children's explanatory behaviour, problem-solving, and learning during cooperative, inquiry-based learning. Teaching children to ask and answer questions is critically important if they are to engage effectively in reasoned argumentation, a cornerstone of inquiry-based learning. Unfortunately, in many schools, students are not consistently taught to pose and answer questions that challenge others' perspective ....Comparative effectiveness of two strategic and meta-cognitive questioning approaches on children's explanatory behaviour, problem-solving, and learning during cooperative, inquiry-based learning. Teaching children to ask and answer questions is critically important if they are to engage effectively in reasoned argumentation, a cornerstone of inquiry-based learning. Unfortunately, in many schools, students are not consistently taught to pose and answer questions that challenge others' perspectives, understandings, and learning, nor are they taught to simultaneously monitor, regulate, and evaluate their own thinking and learning. This project builds on the benefits widely attributed to promoting higher-level thinking by helping teachers to enhance students' use of strategic and metacognitive questioning and the development of explanatory discourse during inquiry-based learning.
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The effects of teacher and student dialogues during cooperative learning on students' discourse, problem-solving, and learning. Teaching students to dialogue effectively together is critically important if they are to think and reason constructively and develop new understandings and learning. While cooperative learning experiences provide students with opportunities to interact with others, research clearly indicates that discourse can be enhanced when students are taught how to dialogue togeth ....The effects of teacher and student dialogues during cooperative learning on students' discourse, problem-solving, and learning. Teaching students to dialogue effectively together is critically important if they are to think and reason constructively and develop new understandings and learning. While cooperative learning experiences provide students with opportunities to interact with others, research clearly indicates that discourse can be enhanced when students are taught how to dialogue together so they learn to seek and answer thought provoking questions to construct new understandings and learning. This project builds on the benefits widely attributed to cooperative learning by helping teachers to enhance students' strategic and metacognitive thinking and facilitative communication patterns.
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An investigation of meaning negotiation in electronic discourse. This project investigates the use of collaborative electronic exchanges between language students in Indonesian and Queensland schools to enhance language and inter-cultural development. The chief investigators will develop a new model of discourse appropriate to such asynchronous communication (e-mail and forums), as well as investigate developments in technological literacy. Other outcomes will include guidelines for creating pra ....An investigation of meaning negotiation in electronic discourse. This project investigates the use of collaborative electronic exchanges between language students in Indonesian and Queensland schools to enhance language and inter-cultural development. The chief investigators will develop a new model of discourse appropriate to such asynchronous communication (e-mail and forums), as well as investigate developments in technological literacy. Other outcomes will include guidelines for creating practical technology-mediated tasks, and protocols for establishing and maintaining electronic tandem exchanges with a developing country. Results will be reported to the Industry Partner and relevant educational authorities and published in national and international journals such as ARAL, Babel and CALL Journal.Read moreRead less
Enhancing quality in long day care: Investigating professional beliefes and practices of child care workers. The Commonwealth Government's National Agenda for Early Childhood recognises the importance of quality of staff in children's services to ensure overall program quality. This research focuses on the vocational training for child care workers. It advances knowledge about how contextual and personal factors contribute to the development of epistemological beliefs about teaching in early ed ....Enhancing quality in long day care: Investigating professional beliefes and practices of child care workers. The Commonwealth Government's National Agenda for Early Childhood recognises the importance of quality of staff in children's services to ensure overall program quality. This research focuses on the vocational training for child care workers. It advances knowledge about how contextual and personal factors contribute to the development of epistemological beliefs about teaching in early education that enables child care workers to become more critical and reflective practitioners. The research recognises the directions of the National Strategy for Vocational Education and Training, 2004 -2010 which emphasise that vocational education needs to provide skills and knowledge which enhance employability and lifelong learning.Read moreRead less
Connecting and generalising arithmetic into powerful abstract systems: Year 2 to 5 children's cognitive development with respect to algebraic reasoning. Algebra is a fundamental area of mathematical thinking. In spite of the wealth of research at both the national and international level, algebraic thinking still persists as a barrier to secondary and tertiary mathematics. This project will develop new research integrating alegbra and arithmetic at the primary level as a key for access to higher ....Connecting and generalising arithmetic into powerful abstract systems: Year 2 to 5 children's cognitive development with respect to algebraic reasoning. Algebra is a fundamental area of mathematical thinking. In spite of the wealth of research at both the national and international level, algebraic thinking still persists as a barrier to secondary and tertiary mathematics. This project will develop new research integrating alegbra and arithmetic at the primary level as a key for access to higher levels of algebra. The investigators will engage teachers and students from 5 primary schools to construct a model of Year 2 to 5 children's cognitive development with regard to algebraic reasoning and develop instructional strategies and teaching episodes to facilitate this.Read moreRead less
Beyond letters, numbers and screens: new basics, technologies, numeracy and early childhood education. This project will create detailed models of the 'New Basics' approach to teaching and learning numeracy using information technologies (IT). The models will provide springboards for action for Queensland and Australian teachers. The project will document how numeracy can be learned through IT to produce students who are more technologically aware and whose numeracy skills are enhanced. Resul ....Beyond letters, numbers and screens: new basics, technologies, numeracy and early childhood education. This project will create detailed models of the 'New Basics' approach to teaching and learning numeracy using information technologies (IT). The models will provide springboards for action for Queensland and Australian teachers. The project will document how numeracy can be learned through IT to produce students who are more technologically aware and whose numeracy skills are enhanced. Resulting data will inform the research and educational community about the cognitive and social aspects of young children learning numeracy through IT. The findings will be of strategic importance for planning educational opportunities to produce citizens of the 21st century.Read moreRead less
Becoming numerate with information technologies in early childhood education. This project will create a detailed model of teaching and learning in numeracy using information technologies (IT) that will act as springboards for action for Australian teachers. It will investigate and document the ways in which numeracy can be learned through IT to produce students who are more technologically aware. Resulting data will inform the research and educational community about the cognitive and social as ....Becoming numerate with information technologies in early childhood education. This project will create a detailed model of teaching and learning in numeracy using information technologies (IT) that will act as springboards for action for Australian teachers. It will investigate and document the ways in which numeracy can be learned through IT to produce students who are more technologically aware. Resulting data will inform the research and educational community about the cognitive and social aspects of young children learning numeracy using IT. In this way the findings will be of strategic importance for planning education opportunities to produce citizens of the 21st century.Read moreRead less