Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354538
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$30,000.00
Summary
Enabling Sciences Education (EnSE) Research Network. The Network aims to ensure the long-term ability of Australians to excel in scientific and technological innovation at all levels of community activity. This will be achieved by establishing significant and ambitious research agendas for improving the teaching and learning of Mathematics, Science and Technology in primary, secondary and tertiary education sectors. Of significance will be the productive synergies flowing from uniting, across ....Enabling Sciences Education (EnSE) Research Network. The Network aims to ensure the long-term ability of Australians to excel in scientific and technological innovation at all levels of community activity. This will be achieved by establishing significant and ambitious research agendas for improving the teaching and learning of Mathematics, Science and Technology in primary, secondary and tertiary education sectors. Of significance will be the productive synergies flowing from uniting, across the three disciplines, Australia's most outstanding, experienced and dedicated researchers with new and mid-career colleagues. Expected outcomes include a diverse but cohesive and collaborative research community that provides international leadership in helping students achieve their full potential. Read moreRead less
From high school to higher education: Gendered pathways in information, communication and computer technology education. Serious gender-based disparities exist in participation in the Information, Communication, and Computing Technologies (ICCT) field, in both higher education and industry, with a 2004 review of Australian university participation rates identifying women as an equity target group in this field. A multi-method, multi-stage project has been design to identify the processes that le ....From high school to higher education: Gendered pathways in information, communication and computer technology education. Serious gender-based disparities exist in participation in the Information, Communication, and Computing Technologies (ICCT) field, in both higher education and industry, with a 2004 review of Australian university participation rates identifying women as an equity target group in this field. A multi-method, multi-stage project has been design to identify the processes that lead to this gender gap. Specifically, the project will focus on students' experiences and decisions at secondary school in three states to ascertain why so few girls choose to enter university-level ICCT courses, and what strategies could be implemented in schools to remedy this problem. Read moreRead less
Western Australian rural and remote schooling: The influence of learning environments on student participation and retention. By 2010 all Australian States and Territories will have raised the school leaving age from 15 to 17 years of age. As one of the first States to have undertaken this essential step toward re-engaging disaffected youth in education, training and/or employment options, it is important that a rigorous examination of the Western Australian experience is conducted. The proposed ....Western Australian rural and remote schooling: The influence of learning environments on student participation and retention. By 2010 all Australian States and Territories will have raised the school leaving age from 15 to 17 years of age. As one of the first States to have undertaken this essential step toward re-engaging disaffected youth in education, training and/or employment options, it is important that a rigorous examination of the Western Australian experience is conducted. The proposed research focuses on what is likely to be the most problematic area of the initiative for school communities - how and why the programs offered to students in rural and remote school and classroom learning environments impact upon student engagement and retention.Read moreRead less
Young people, physical activity and physical culture: a longitudinal study. The relationship between physical activity and the health of young people is currently a matter of national and international concern. This project will investigate the place and meaning of health, physical activity and physical culture in young people's lives from a longitudinal and qualitative perspective. It will build on the findings of a three year study of young people's engagement with physical activity. Specifica ....Young people, physical activity and physical culture: a longitudinal study. The relationship between physical activity and the health of young people is currently a matter of national and international concern. This project will investigate the place and meaning of health, physical activity and physical culture in young people's lives from a longitudinal and qualitative perspective. It will build on the findings of a three year study of young people's engagement with physical activity. Specifically it will follow cohorts of students from different social, cultural and geographical locations as they move beyond school and make choices associated with health and physical activity in relation to the changing conditions of their lives.Read moreRead less
Transforming the technologies and modalities of learning: The case of the New Life Sciences in secondary schooling. This project aims to provide theoretical and analytic frameworks for understanding changing intellectual, technological and communicational parameters of contemporary education, but it also aims to make these frameworks accessible enough to become part of the conceptual repertoire of professional practitioners and flexible enough to allow practitioners to maintain currency in evolv ....Transforming the technologies and modalities of learning: The case of the New Life Sciences in secondary schooling. This project aims to provide theoretical and analytic frameworks for understanding changing intellectual, technological and communicational parameters of contemporary education, but it also aims to make these frameworks accessible enough to become part of the conceptual repertoire of professional practitioners and flexible enough to allow practitioners to maintain currency in evolving fields of knowledge in the NLS. As the NLS, and education in this field are both expanding export industries, this study will offer Australian practitioners and authorities evidence and ideas for the growth of the NLS in schools, thereby supporting the maintenance of Australia's prominence in the region as a high-quality, current education provider.Read moreRead less
Cross-cultural analysis of constructions of health and fitness in lives of young people. This project aims to extend our understanding of how young people in Canada and Australia construct notions of health and fitness and the implications of these constructions for the ways they see themselves and the choices they make about how they live their lives. The data collected at six sites in Australia and Canada covers a range of quantitative and qualitative methods, from questionnaires to interviews ....Cross-cultural analysis of constructions of health and fitness in lives of young people. This project aims to extend our understanding of how young people in Canada and Australia construct notions of health and fitness and the implications of these constructions for the ways they see themselves and the choices they make about how they live their lives. The data collected at six sites in Australia and Canada covers a range of quantitative and qualitative methods, from questionnaires to interviews, activity observations, and visual media such as photographs. The cross-cultural comparison will serve to highlight aspects of Anglophone, Francophone, Canadian, Australian and global culture that examining in isolation may not appear 'important' to those immersed within a given culture. By bringing the existing Australian project together with a newly established Canadian project, the different expertise of the Australian and Canadian Investigators can be drawn on for the analysis and interpretation of the data.Read moreRead less
Challenging Pedagogies: Engaging ESL students in intellectual quality. This project will investigate the potential and meaning of intellectual challenge in the enacted curriculum of middle year classes with signficant numbers of English as a second language (ESL) students. It will build on outcomes of our previous research on scaffolding and on productive pedagogies to articulate the nature of linguistic and conceptual support necessary for ESL students to engage successfully with high challeng ....Challenging Pedagogies: Engaging ESL students in intellectual quality. This project will investigate the potential and meaning of intellectual challenge in the enacted curriculum of middle year classes with signficant numbers of English as a second language (ESL) students. It will build on outcomes of our previous research on scaffolding and on productive pedagogies to articulate the nature of linguistic and conceptual support necessary for ESL students to engage successfully with high challenge tasks. In doing so, it will address the priority area of quality teaching in public schools from a classroom prespective and from the perspective of ESL students. The project has implications for teacher education and professional development.Read moreRead less
Active citizenship of young people through electoral enrolment. Some 300,000 eighteen to twenty-four year old Australians are not enrolled to vote in federal elections, despite compulsory voting. Consequently they do not exercise their rights, and their responsibilities, as citizens in this way. The Australian Ele ctoral C ommission and the researchers will determine why these young Australians are not enrolled and do not vote. We will identify the characteristics of non-participants particularl ....Active citizenship of young people through electoral enrolment. Some 300,000 eighteen to twenty-four year old Australians are not enrolled to vote in federal elections, despite compulsory voting. Consequently they do not exercise their rights, and their responsibilities, as citizens in this way. The Australian Ele ctoral C ommission and the researchers will determine why these young Australians are not enrolled and do not vote. We will identify the characteristics of non-participants particularly those from rural and regional areas. Outcomes include identification of non-enrolled youth and appropriate interventions to engage young Australians to become active, democratic citizens....Read moreRead less
Multi-user virtual environments and research into the learning and transfer of scientific knowledge and inquiry skills. The aim of this project is to understand how innovative multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) can be designed and used in Australian schools to enhance the learning of important scientific knowledge and inquiry skills. Working closely with teachers in secondary science classes, researchers will investigate ways in which the features of intelligent agents in educational MUVEs ....Multi-user virtual environments and research into the learning and transfer of scientific knowledge and inquiry skills. The aim of this project is to understand how innovative multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) can be designed and used in Australian schools to enhance the learning of important scientific knowledge and inquiry skills. Working closely with teachers in secondary science classes, researchers will investigate ways in which the features of intelligent agents in educational MUVEs enable innovative pedagogical approaches that have the potential to enhance learning in secondary science classes. In addition, this project will develop science inquiry-based curriculum modules employing MUVEs that run on computers being distributed as part of the national Digital Education Revolution initiative.Read moreRead less
Building the future for Indigenous students. The relationship of future vision, learning, and motivational profiles to school success. Indigenous students are the most severely disadvantaged group in Australia. Education as currently provided is failing them in the NT. Future Directions for Secondary Education in the NT states that 20% of secondary-aged Indigenous students are not enrolled in school, with only 6% completing the NTCE in 2002. Education is the corner stone of social justice becaus ....Building the future for Indigenous students. The relationship of future vision, learning, and motivational profiles to school success. Indigenous students are the most severely disadvantaged group in Australia. Education as currently provided is failing them in the NT. Future Directions for Secondary Education in the NT states that 20% of secondary-aged Indigenous students are not enrolled in school, with only 6% completing the NTCE in 2002. Education is the corner stone of social justice because it is the basis of opportunity (Burney 03). This research will provide critical hard data on the relationship of Indigenous students' future vision and aspirations, motivation, self-concept and self-regulation, language and culture to school achievement in order to design and provide culturally relevant education to maximise Indigenous opportunities and futures.Read moreRead less