Improving children’s language, literacy and mental health: Evaluating the impact of the Classroom Promotion of Oral Language (CPOL) Sharon Goldfeld Oral language and literacy competence are major influences on children’s developmental pathways and life success. The ability to communicate and use language effectively impacts upon children’s capacity to learn, their mental health and behaviour, future educational and employment achievements, and social participation opportunities. Evidence that teacher effectiveness has a powerful impact on students suggests that an investment in improving teaching may be a critical step…
Improving Teaching Skills for Early Childhood Educators (ITSECE) Project Lead: Professor Tricia Eadie Improving Teaching Skills for Early Childhood Educators (ITSECE) is a project carried out in partnership with the Victorian Curriculum & Assessment Authority (VCAA) to validate and test the reliability of a self-reflection tool that focuses on the quality of instructional support provided by teachers of children aged from three to five years. An important part of the evaluation will determine implications in making the tool…
Improving the participation of young people with chronic illness in triadic medical discussions about their health Prof. Johanna Wyn Developments in medical technologies mean that more and more children/adolescents now grow up with serious chronic illnesses requiring lifelong participation in health care. Inclusive and open doctor-parent-child medical communication is crucial, yet current doctor-parent dominated communication often excludes young people. This longitudinal, qualitative project using youth-oriented research methodologies seeks to generate new knowledge about promoting youth participation in triadic medical discussions about their health to…
Independent Review of the Validation of the Foundation Skills Assessment Tool Project Lead: Dr Rebekah Luo The Assessment Research Centre (ARC) acted as a consultant to Education Services Australia to provide technical expertise to independently review the validation of the Foundation Skills Assessment Tool (‘FSAT’) for the Commonwealth Department of Education and Training. FSAT is an Australian government interactive online tool designed to identify and measure an individual’s foundation skill in learning, reading, writing, oral communication and numeracy as well as…
Independent validation of assessment: Developing and piloting and external assessment model Associate Professor Shelley Gillis This project consists of two parts. The first is to explore and gather data on national and international assessment systems/frameworks that involve the use of nationally developed and administered assessment procedures (for example a capstone test) designed to improve the quality and integrity of qualifications issued. The second part of the project is to develop and pilot a capstone test instrument to be…
Innovative methodologies for gender research: colloquium and pilot research workshop Prof. Helen Cahill This seed project brought together theoretical experts in researching gender and the body. The purpose of the three-day workshop was to share and evolve research methods to assist investigators to explore the ways in which media and social norms influence the internalisation of body image standards. In doing this the participants sought to advance the use of participatory research methods to inform and drive social…
Innovative partnerships for youth engagement in education and work Project contact: Prof. John Polesel In most modern OECD nations, secondary schools are required to form partnerships with a large variety of organisations, ranging from other education and training providers to community groups, businesses and associations. These schools typically manage a large number and various types of relationships with external organisations. These may include Work Placement Coordination providers, local businesses offering work placements, external vocational education providers, such as Technical…
International Baccalaureate Programs: Longer term outcomes Project Lead: Dr Katie Wright A qualitative study that explored the influence of International Baccalaureate (IB) programs on the lives of IB graduates.Since its inception in the late 1960s, the International Baccalaureate (IB) has played a major role in the field of international education. A key aim of the original Diploma Program that remains central to the IB mission today is the provision of ‘education for a better world’. At…
Investigating literary knowledge in the making of English teachers Project Coordinator: Dr Lucy Buzacott English education is mandated in schooling for all Australian children and young people. While the value of English is agreed, the subject content, the knowledge English teachers should have, and the pedagogical approaches used are highly contested.This project explores the literary education of Early Career English Teachers (ECETs) in order to understand the role that literary knowledge plays in their teaching.The project aims to understand…
Investigating quality teaching in the Victorian VET sector Associate Professor Shelley Gillis The objective of the research is to conduct primary research that seeks to answer the question of what is quality teaching in the VET sector. The research will produce a developmental learning framework for the VET teaching profession using methods that have been well-tested in other educational settings, and the model will distinguish between levels of VET teacher proficiency from novice to expert…
Keeping Connected: Young people, identity & schooling Project Contact: Julianne Moss A research project investigating the social and educational experiences of young people whose schooling has been disrupted due to an ongoing health condition.School connectedness and retention is an established key to both immediate and long-term health, academic and life outcomes. Young people with health conditions often miss schooling and get caught in a spiral of catching up and disconnection from important peer relationships and from…
Knowledge Building Project Project Contact: Dr Peter Woelert This project examined two important disciplines, history and physics, in the markedly changed environment for schools and universities in the 21st century, and in the context of ongoing debates about knowledge and the purposes of education today.It used interviews with a large number of teachers and academics across different kinds of schools and universities to examine changing practices and pressures across the education trajectory, and…
Latrobe Valley Microcredentialing Project (for the Latrobe Valley Authority) Project Director: Enterprise Professor Sandra Milligan Through discussions with jobseekers, businesses, industry and education providers in Gippsland, the Latrobe Valley Authority (LVA) identified a ‘gap’ between the skills that local jobseekers have and what our local employers are looking for. This project aims to address this ‘gap’ through the use of microcredentials. More specifically, the project involves the development and trialling of a microcredentialing process which can be used to formally…
Leading country-based implementation of the Connect with Respect Gender-based violence prevention program Project lead: Prof. Helen Cahill This project entailed the development and provision of a two-day training for country teams preparing to lead implementation of the Connect with Respect program addressing the prevention of school-related gender-based violence. The literature review, guidance notes and teaching materials were developed by Helen Cahill and colleagues, and published by UNESCO for use in schools in the Asia-Pacific region. The training assisted country focal points to…
Learner Profile Pilot Project Project Director: Enterprise Professor Sandra Milligan Current debates in education regarding the reliability of a single score such as the ATAR have fuelled the desire for schools and the tertiary sector to explore new ways of recognising attainment in learning and considering alternatives for students as they plan for post school pathways.The Assessment Research Centre is working with the Association of Independent Schools in South Australia (AISSA), Catholic Education South Australia…
Learning from COVID-19 crisis in early childhood education: Educator wellbeing and family engagement Project Lead: Professor Tricia Eadie Led by the REEaCh Hub, this project is a partnership with the Centre for Community Child Health (CCCH) at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), and Goodstart Early Learning. The project comprises two main phases. In phase one, online survey and interview methods were used to generate insights about innovative family engagement practices used by Goodstart early childhood education and care (ECEC) services during the COVID-19…
Learning Mathematics with Technology Research Contact: Dr Lynda Ball The teaching of mathematics has been substantially influenced by the advent of mathematically-able software such as dynamic geometry and that on graphics and CAS calculators. In multi-facetted projects, we are investigating the new opportunities to improve the teaching and learning of difficult topics, particularly algebra, through changed curriculum, assessment and teaching.Learning IssuesThe project team takes multiple perspectives on the new opportunities presented by digital technologies.…
Learning to make it work: education, work and wellbeing in young adulthood Professor: Prof. Johanna Wyn The grant enabled the YRC to undertake activities aimed at keeping a high level of retention amongst participants in the Life Patterns longitudinal research program. Retention was enhanced through the production of a series of research reports that were designed specifically to inform research participants about the findings of the project and the value of their ongoing contribution to the project, as well as to…
LEX wellbeing tool for Maroondah plus 10 schools Project Lead: Dr Tan Chyuan Chin The project will measure the wellbeing of students, staff and parents/carers to establish a baseline wellbeing data set in order to identify areas of strength and weakness. The data can then be used to design programs and interventions to raise the wellbeing of specific cohorts. All individual and aggregate reports are to include suggestions for how to improve wellbeing. Twenty seven Government schools will participate…
Literacy Assessment Project Professor Esther Care The project was initiated in 2004 by the Catholic Education Office Melbourne in partnership with the University of Melbourne. Its inception was in response to the needs of primary schools for advice regarding clear reading and writing assessment beyond that established for Years P–2. The goals of the project were to:assist schools to use effective mainstream assessment practices that inform instruction by identifying students' reading…
Literacy Teaching Resource Dr Carmel Sandiford This study aims to document effective teaching strategies in reading, writing speaking and listening in Victorian early childhood centres and primary schools. The research, funded by the Victorian Department of Education and Training (DET), will involve the design of a Literacy Teaching Resource (LTR) which will include a developmental framework of literacy mapping pivotal stages of language and literacy development from Birth to the end…
Literate Practice in Factories of the Future: A Linguistic Ethnography Professor Lesley Farrell This project addresses the common claim that the contemporary workforce does not yet have the literacy competencies required for the highly technologized manufacturing workplaces associated with the fourth Industrial Revolution (Industrie 4.0—the digitization of work). Linguistic research supporting this claim is scarce and patchy. The aim of this project is to develop a linguistic ethnography of a site or sites within a ‘factory of the…
Longitudinal Study of Learning Achievement of Students in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Project contact: Professor Esther Care In October 2012, the Australian government announced a six year aid program, Basic Education Assistance to Mindanao – Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao program (BEAM-ARMM) to support around 40,000 children gain access to a basic education. This program included the implementation of the BRAC Alternative Delivery Model (ADM). The Australian Government funded a three year study, LearnARMM, which was undertaken by the University of Melbourne…
Malaysian Student Tracer Study Project contact: Prof. John Polesel The Centre for Vocational and Educational Policy (CVEP) was commissioned by the Ministry of Education Malaysia to undertake a study on the destinations of Upper Secondary School completers in Johor Bahru and Segamat districts. The study found that the vast majority of young Malaysians who completed Upper Secondary School in Johor Bahru and Segamat in 2014 were engaged in study or work nine months after…
Measuring Individual and Group Performance in Collaborative Problem Solving (ARC Discovery Grant) Research Manager: Dr Zhonghua Zhang There is consensus that collaboration is essential in the 21st century workplace. Being able to assess individuals in a collaborative context, while also ensuring reliable, valid, and fair assessment of their skills as well as that of the group, represents a major advance in educational measurement. This study aims to develop performance measures of individuals and groups completing collaborative problem solving tasks. The study is…
Measuring mental health and wellbeing in the legal profession Project Lead: Associate Professor Aaron Jarden The goal of the project is to understand in more depth (prevalence, enablers, barriers) the levels of mental health and wellbeing amongst the New Zealand legal profession and some Australia Law firms in order to:have scientifically credible information to advocate for positive change in the legal professionmonitor the change in mental health and wellbeing across the legal profession over time - allowing insight into the…