Engaging science students' hearts and minds: Researching science teachers' professional learning in the development of contemporary understandings of scientific literacy. This project will develop, support and value the work of science teachers in developing students' scientific literacy and share the subsequent knowledge gains in the educational community to positively advance quality teaching and learning in school science. Improving science teaching and learning hinges on offering new ways of ....Engaging science students' hearts and minds: Researching science teachers' professional learning in the development of contemporary understandings of scientific literacy. This project will develop, support and value the work of science teachers in developing students' scientific literacy and share the subsequent knowledge gains in the educational community to positively advance quality teaching and learning in school science. Improving science teaching and learning hinges on offering new ways of responding to the problems inherent in teaching science in the 21st century. By supporting and encouraging the creative and innovative ideas, concepts and approaches to quality science teaching and learning embedded in teachers' professional learning the development of the critical knowledge for challenging the status-quo will be advanced.Read moreRead less
Scholarship in Science Teaching: an examination of the relationships between science content, teaching and learning. Excellent science teachers have profound impact on the students they teach. A central core of their excellence is the intertwined understandings they have of the content they teach and pedagogies for teaching this (termed pedagogical content knowledge). This knowledge is largely implicit, and hence not available to others. This research will develop enhanced methodologies to doc ....Scholarship in Science Teaching: an examination of the relationships between science content, teaching and learning. Excellent science teachers have profound impact on the students they teach. A central core of their excellence is the intertwined understandings they have of the content they teach and pedagogies for teaching this (termed pedagogical content knowledge). This knowledge is largely implicit, and hence not available to others. This research will develop enhanced methodologies to document and disseminate the knowledge of practice that underpins claims of professional excellence. Such research is crucial to the national and international moves to recognise, articulate, document, justify/validate, and share professional teaching excellence.Read moreRead less
Conceptual complexity and student engagement with science in secondary school. Research demonstrates that negative student attitudes to school science are associated with the subject's difficulty and its lack of relevance to real-world experience. However, teachers who link learning to students' experience may exacerbate the difficulty of science, because real-world applications of concepts are complex. This study will initially investigate teachers' perceptions of this dilemma, and then focus ....Conceptual complexity and student engagement with science in secondary school. Research demonstrates that negative student attitudes to school science are associated with the subject's difficulty and its lack of relevance to real-world experience. However, teachers who link learning to students' experience may exacerbate the difficulty of science, because real-world applications of concepts are complex. This study will initially investigate teachers' perceptions of this dilemma, and then focus on two classrooms where teachers acknowledge the complexity involved. Using a novel conceptual framework and an innovative data collection technique the study will explore how the students? experiences of complexity shape their attitudes to science. The findings will help improve student engagement with science.Read moreRead less
Influences on students' learning goals and their capacity for self-regulation. There is an obvious connection between maximizing learning of young people and the nation's future. Currently many young people are missing opportunities for learning at school, and this not only reduces their own opportunities, thereby increasing their risk of long term dependence on government services, but also reduces overall social capital. The project will evaluate teaching strategies that have potential to enha ....Influences on students' learning goals and their capacity for self-regulation. There is an obvious connection between maximizing learning of young people and the nation's future. Currently many young people are missing opportunities for learning at school, and this not only reduces their own opportunities, thereby increasing their risk of long term dependence on government services, but also reduces overall social capital. The project will evaluate teaching strategies that have potential to enhance the participation of students in learning in the middle years.
The project will be of direct benefit to regional and rural communities since it is conducted in regional and rural schools with their particular challenges, including community pessimism, reduced vocational aspirations, and limited role models.
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Knowledge to enhance Science Teaching and Learning: Pursuing scholarship through explicitly enacting expert science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge. This research will enhance understandings of science teaching and learning allowing science teachers to share their knowledge in meaningful ways. In teacher preparation this will be particularly valuable by 'fast-tracking' learning about teaching science and minimize the process of the next generation of teachers feeling as though they are r ....Knowledge to enhance Science Teaching and Learning: Pursuing scholarship through explicitly enacting expert science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge. This research will enhance understandings of science teaching and learning allowing science teachers to share their knowledge in meaningful ways. In teacher preparation this will be particularly valuable by 'fast-tracking' learning about teaching science and minimize the process of the next generation of teachers feeling as though they are rediscovering that which is already known by experienced teachers of science. In articulating science teachers' knowledge, enhanced valuing their knowledge and skills of practice will occur. Such outcomes will place understanding of science teaching and learning at the forefront of teacher professionalism and positively impact work on professional standards in teaching.Read moreRead less
Adolescent mental health and supportive classroom environments: investigating organizational supports as mediators to a sustainable reduction in aggressive classroom management. Making classrooms safe and supportive for all students enables young Australians to lead healthier and more productive lives through social inclusion and economic participation. Finding effective ways to reduce teachers' use of non-productive, aggressive strategies in interactions with challenging students offers importa ....Adolescent mental health and supportive classroom environments: investigating organizational supports as mediators to a sustainable reduction in aggressive classroom management. Making classrooms safe and supportive for all students enables young Australians to lead healthier and more productive lives through social inclusion and economic participation. Finding effective ways to reduce teachers' use of non-productive, aggressive strategies in interactions with challenging students offers important social and economic benefits to Australia. These include reductions in adolescent anxiety and depression, greater engagement in schooling, a reduction in student withdrawals and exclusions, increasing parent, community and international confidence in Australia's schools, and a reduction in the number of young teachers leaving the profession.Read moreRead less
ENHANCING SCIENCE LEARNING THROUGH A FOCUS ON MULTIPLE AND MULTI-MODAL REPRESENTATIONS OF CONCEPTS. This project draws on recent theoretical accounts of multiple and multi-modal representations of science understandings to devise, trial and evaluate new approaches to teaching and learning science concepts. These approaches, catering for diverse learning pathways, focus on student understanding that representations of scientific knowledge are multi-modal and interconnected. The project is signifi ....ENHANCING SCIENCE LEARNING THROUGH A FOCUS ON MULTIPLE AND MULTI-MODAL REPRESENTATIONS OF CONCEPTS. This project draws on recent theoretical accounts of multiple and multi-modal representations of science understandings to devise, trial and evaluate new approaches to teaching and learning science concepts. These approaches, catering for diverse learning pathways, focus on student understanding that representations of scientific knowledge are multi-modal and interconnected. The project is significant in providing an innovative way to engage upper primary and junior secondary students in regional and rural Australian contexts in learning science, and is expected to promote more effective learning and more positive student attitudes to the subject.Read moreRead less
Examining the relationship between the documented curriculum, classroom tasks, and the learning of mathematics. There is an obvious connection between maximizing mathematics learning of young people and the nation's future. Currently many young people are missing opportunities for learning mathematics at school, and this not only reduces their own opportunities, but also increases their risk of long term dependence on government services. At the same time, mathematics is increasingly necessary f ....Examining the relationship between the documented curriculum, classroom tasks, and the learning of mathematics. There is an obvious connection between maximizing mathematics learning of young people and the nation's future. Currently many young people are missing opportunities for learning mathematics at school, and this not only reduces their own opportunities, but also increases their risk of long term dependence on government services. At the same time, mathematics is increasingly necessary for tertiary study in a range of fields, and the number of students choosing the highest level of mathematics is declining. The project will evaluate the types of tasks that teachers can use to engage all students in learning mathematics effectively, while preserving options for those students who may choose to specialise in tertiary mathematics study.Read moreRead less
International students in secondary schools. This longitudinal project aims to analyse the forms and effects of international secondary students’ transnational connectedness with different people and places in physical and online environments. It plans to examine how and why students’ relationships change across Years 10–12 of school, and the implications for students’ experience of school, Australia, and post-school pathways. The findings may provide the empirical knowledge and theoretical insi ....International students in secondary schools. This longitudinal project aims to analyse the forms and effects of international secondary students’ transnational connectedness with different people and places in physical and online environments. It plans to examine how and why students’ relationships change across Years 10–12 of school, and the implications for students’ experience of school, Australia, and post-school pathways. The findings may provide the empirical knowledge and theoretical insights to support the development of policies and practices to support international school students, protect their social, emotional and physical wellbeing, and improve the economic competitiveness of Australia’s international education sector.Read moreRead less
Enhancing School Retention: School and Community Linkages in Regional/Rural Western Australia. One of the most intractable issues confronting schools, communities and education systems in Australia, is how to create and sustain the conditions to retain young people for twelve years of schooling, particularly in regional/rural areas. This project will ethnographically map, investigate and describe a small number of schools and communities that have improved their levels of school retention. A Pr ....Enhancing School Retention: School and Community Linkages in Regional/Rural Western Australia. One of the most intractable issues confronting schools, communities and education systems in Australia, is how to create and sustain the conditions to retain young people for twelve years of schooling, particularly in regional/rural areas. This project will ethnographically map, investigate and describe a small number of schools and communities that have improved their levels of school retention. A Profile of Conditions Supporting Improved Retention will be developed and validated using an action research process. Finally, a set of materials focussing on the conditions promoting school retention, will be developed for wider use by schools and communities.Read moreRead less