Creative Problem Solving (for North Shore Coaching College) Project contact: Dr Zhonghua Zhang This project is undertaken in collaboration with the North Shore Coaching College. A yearly competition is held to test the creative problem-solving skills of students in years 3 to 8 across Australia. Testing is carried out in late October each year and awards are presented to top students in early November. Online testing as well as paper and pencil testing are carried out. Test items…
Creativity, Risk, and Content & Language Integrated Learning A/PROF Russell Cross Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) focuses on the simultaneous teaching of new content and new language, and is now well established as an effective means to not only develop an additional language, but also for its positive contribution to academic achievement and higher order thinking, mother tongue language and literacy, and the development of intercultural competence. Yet teaching content in “a language that students…
Cultivating wellbeing by empowering families: Establishing evidence for and impact of the Now and Next Program Project Lead: Associate Professor Peggy Kern Current policies and programs for disability care often rely on reactive, treatment-based, expert-provided services. Additional benefit may arise from proactive approaches that place parents at the centre of care.The ‘Now and Next’ project is an evidenced-informed program that fosters empowerment, agency, and wellbeing for the family as a whole. Results to date suggest that parent capacity building can successfully be delivered early in a family’s…
Curriculum Policies project Research Assistant: Kate O’Connor In Australia, much of the analysis of curriculum policy has been concerned with particular reports, or with commonwealth developments, or with particular subject areas or the agendas of a single state. This project aims to build a foundation picture of what has been happening across states over the past thirty years: in changes and continuities within as well as between the different states. It is…
Customised Program for Curriculum Leaders from Singapore (for the Ministry of Education, Singapore) Dr Jane Strickland The Ministry of Education, Singapore contacted the Assessment Research Centre, Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne to provide a customised program, known as ‘Overseas Immersion Program for Curriculum Leaders’ focusing on formative assessment.The objectives of the program are to:strengthen school-based assessment practices by focusing on leadership in formative assessment.deepen participants’ knowledge on formative assessment, particularly in the area of using feedback…
Defining the Status of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Young People Project contact: Prof. Johanna Wyn Young people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds represent 25% of all Australian 12-24 year olds. Their specific needs are not addressed by policy or government, and this severely limits their access to opportunities. In collaboration with nine Australian organisations, this project aims to improve the social cohesion of Australian society and the living standards of a significant group of our young people by:…
Designing Australian Schools Project Contact: Professor Julie Willis Designing Australia’s Schools is an historical, cross disciplinary study of innovations in the design of Australian primary and secondary schools across the twentieth century. The project builds upon and integrates the perspectives of educational, social and architectural history to examine innovative school design in relation to developments in government policy, curriculum reform and community expectations.The overarching aims of the project are as follows:to identify the…
Determining implementation drivers in resilience education Project lead: Prof. Helen Cahill An ARC Linkage project was awarded in 2016, to be led by Helen Cahill. This 3-year study aims to investigate how training and school factors influence the uptake, implementation and impact of the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships program in the state of Victoria. This education program was developed by Helen Cahill and colleagues for use in Victorian Primary and Secondary schools. The project will…
Developing an ethical framework and web-application to study adolescent wellbeing Dr Gavin Slemp Australian adolescents use social media for 2.7 hours daily on average. Computer science offers tools to gain unique insight into the impact of social media on its users, as it brings the possibility of unobtrusively studying psychological functioning using substantial amounts of online data. However, these methods raise numerous ethical concerns about how such research ought to be conducted, and require very sophisticated computer science…
Developing an ethical framework and web-application to study adolescent wellbeing Project Lead: Dr Gavin Slemp Australian adolescents use social media for 2.7 hours daily on average. Computer science offers tools to gain unique insight into the impact of social media on its users, as it brings the possibility of unobtrusively studying psychological functioning using substantial amounts of online data. However, these methods raise numerous ethical concerns about how such research ought to be conducted, and require very sophisticated computer science…
Developing an instrument for measuring student well-being in schools Dr Tan Chyuan Chin In Australia, 1 in 5 adults experience mental illness and over 75% of these individuals will have their first episode before 25 years of age. Schools are ideally placed to identify and address the mental health needs of young people firstly as most young people attend school and secondly because schools can deliver a whole school approach to well-being without the negative connotations typically attached…
Developing individual Wellbeing and Academic Plan Prof. Lindsay Oades The foundations for this program include the use of wellbeing science, strategic linkages (with BUPA, TCFS staff and University of Melbourne) and ongoing involvement of TCFS students’ in the development, design and delivery of the wellbeing program. The essential proposition is that students can enhance their own personal wellbeing and academic success through the acquisition and application of contemporary knowledge about wellbeing. This goal is…
Discussion Paper – Social Emotional Learning Support for Students in Transition Project Lead: Prof. Helen Cahill The Northern Territory Department of Education commissioned a review of the literature and the fashioning of a teacher-friendly report to guide NT schools in their efforts to strengthen positive school transitions. The report reviewed the research from over 100 articles. It featured consideration of methods to ensure that schools use culturally appropriate, trauma-informed and relationship-centric approaches to supporting transitions for students entering primary, secondary and…
E4Kids Project Director: Prof Collette Tayler Effective Early Educational Experiences, or E4Kids, is the most extensive longitudinal study ever conducted into the impact and effectiveness of early childhood education and care in Australia, as well as outcomes for children who do not attend programs.Over five years, we followed almost 2,500 children in Victoria and Queensland, measuring their progress as they participate in childcare, pre-school and family day care programs.Our research examined…
Early Childhood Learning at the Museum Project Lead: Dr Sarah Young ‘Early Childhood Learning at the Museum’ was a collaboration between REEaCh researchers, and the Education Program Coordinator and program presenters at Museum Victoria, supported by the McCoy Seed Funding Scheme. The project explored language and concepts used in museum programs for young children, and how this learning was embedded in the early childhood curriculum after museum visits. Findings from the project illustrate key elements of…
Early Childhood Learning in Museum Experiences Assoc. Prof. Patricia Eadie Museums provide rich learning environments for all children. With the opening of the Children’s Gallery at Melbourne Museum (MV) there is a unique opportunity for University early childhood education researchers to collaborate with Museum educators to research and evaluate early childhood museum programs, available through incursion (Backyard Bugs) and excursion (Grandad’s Shed) experiences. The research will link the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework…
Early Language in Victoria Study (ELVS) Project Lead: Professor Tricia Eadie This project is led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in collaboration with the University of Melbourne, La Trobe University, and Deakin University. ELVS is a longitudinal epidemiological study of the emerging communication, language and literacy skills of approximately 1800 Victorian children born in 2002. ELVS is internationally unique in its coverage of the pre-school period and in its depth of data from multi-source informant…
Early Learning Teaching Trial Project Lead: A/Professor Jane Page The REEaCh Hub, in partnership with the Centre for Program Evaluation, have been engaged by the Australian Government’s Department of Education, Skills and Employment to deliver the Early Learning Teaching Trial (the trial), an initiative under the Commonwealth Closing the Gap Implementation Plan. The trial will involve the design and implementation, informed by consultation, of an Australian-first new early learning and teaching model in two…
Early Years Assessment for Learning Tool Project Director: Professor Tricia Eadie The Assessment Research Centre, in partnership with the Research in Effective Education in Early Childhood Centre (REEaCh), is working with the Victorian Government Department of Education and Training to develop and validate an evidence-based tool designed to support all children in funded 3 and 4-year-old kindergarten programs to have the best start in life. The Early Years Assessment and Learning Tool (the Tool) has been…
EDGE - The Educational and Developmental Gains in Early Childhood Study Prof. Patricia Eadie The Educational and Developmental Gains in Early Childhood (EDGE) study is a partnership with The Front Project and the Victorian Department of Education and Training for a five-year evaluation of the state-wide roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten in Victoria.The University of Melbourne (UoM), in partnership with the Front Project and the Victorian Department of Education and Training, are undertaking a five-year evaluation of the state-wide roll-out…
Educating the Adolescent: An historical study of curriculum, counselling and citizenship in Australia, 1930s-1970s. Researcher: Professor Julie McLeod Educating the Australian Adolescent is an historical study of Australian secondary education in the middle decades of the twentieth century. The project is examining ideas and debates about how best to educate Australian secondary school students and the role of schooling in shaping social values and citizenship, in the past and in the present.This research takes a close look at curriculum programs and reforms and…
Educating the Australian Adolescent Project Lead: Professor Julie McLeod Educating the Australian Adolescent is an historical study of Australian secondary education in the middle decades of the twentieth century. The project is examining ideas and debates about how best to educate Australian secondary school students and the role of schooling in shaping social values and citizenship, in the past and in the present.Image: A. G. Foster, Group of school students and teachers outside their…
Education Benalla Program Evaluation Project contact: A/Prof Helen Stokes The Education Benalla Program (EBP) is a whole-of-community initiative that aims to reduce disadvantage in the Benalla district of Victoria. A two phase intervention, the project seeks to tackle high rates of early school leaving and educational disengagement, focusing on the key areas of school readiness, student well-being and transition to tertiary education. The YRC was contracted to evaluate Phase 1 of the project, develop…
Effects of Positive Education during the critical post-school transition Prof. Dianne Vella-Brodrick Evidence for the benefits of positive education programs in improving well-being among high school students is growing. The sustained effects are, however, not known particularly at the post-school stage when young people are negotiating challenges in work, learning and relationships. Using a mixed method, longitudinal design this study will examine whether participating in school-based positive education assists young people during their post-school transition. The extent…
Enhancing adolescent mental health through positive education Prof. Dianne Vella-Brodrick With 1 in 4 youth experiencing mental illness in Australia, the escalating demand for mental health promotion within schools necessitates an examination of the efficacy and practical utility of an exemplary positive education program (PEP) to improve mental health and stimulate learning.Using comprehensive and innovative methods including psychophysiological indices and mobile technology momentary sampling, this study will identify factors influencing program success in both advantaged…
Enhancing desirability: supporting teacher candidates in their placements to succeed in rural schools Project contact: Dr Hernán Cuervo This research project examines the role that pre-service teacher education placements in rural settings have to become the key to unlock the rural school staffing shortage. It is a qualitative research study with eight pre-service teachers at a metropolitan university who undertook a rural teaching placement. Semi-structured interviews are conducted over 16 months with all participants in this study. Rather than looking at the stage…
Evaluate the impact of positive education on teachers and students in a sample of UAE public schools Prof. Dianne Vella-Brodrick This project will evaluate the effects of the Positive Education and Moral Development programs on student wellbeing and academic outcomes (evaluation of 20 schools by Centre for Positive Psychology). The wellbeing areas to be surveyed will include emotional states, emotional regulation, psychosocial factors, strengths and virtues. Student and staff perspectives on the positive education program and the effects on student wellbeing and learning will also…
Evaluation and Review of Assessment Systems Contact: Hilary Slater The ARC routinely conducts evaluations and reviews of assessment, certification and recognition systems. Recent evaluations have been done for the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, reviewing the efficacy of assessment and moderation methods associated with the implementation of their new senior secondary system; review of the technical qualities of the Foundation Skills Assessment Tool for the Commonwealth Department of Education, conducted in association with the…
Evaluation of Doxa Youth Foundation Doxa Youth Foundation (Doxa) is a not-for profit organisation that seeks to improve the long-term outcomes of disadvantaged children and young people by providing education-related programming for young people. Much of Doxa’s work centres around two streams of work that, together, seek to improve resilience, self-worth and relational health among participants:experiential camps, including outdoor education camps and city camps for students from rural/regional areas, anduniversity-related…