Moderation and consistency of teacher judgement: Teachers’ views

Major curriculum and assessment reforms in Australia have generated research interest in issues related to standards, teacher judgement and moderation. This article is based on one related inquiry of a large‐scale Australian Research Council Linkage project conducted in Queensland. This qualitative study analysed interview data to identify teachers’ views on standards and moderation as a means to achieving consistency of teacher judgement. A complementary aspect of the research involved a blind review that was conducted to determine the degree of teacher consistency without the experience of moderation. Empirical evidence was gained that most teachers, of the total interviewed, articulated a positive attitude towards the use of standards in moderation and perceived that this process produces consistency in teachers’ judgements. Context was identified as an important influential factor in teachers’ judgements and it was concluded that teachers’ assessment beliefs, attitudes and practices impact on their perceptions of the value of moderation practice and the extent to which consistency can be achieved.     

Mixed-methods analysis of the applicability of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale for isiXhosa-speaking South African township adolescents

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - In the present research study, key career adaptability constructs and the extent to which these constructs are relevant in a...     

Collaborative learning and teaching: Reflections on a facilitated journey

Abstract

This report summarises the first year of an innovative and multilayered teaching and learning collaborative experience within the context of an undergraduate unit in early childhood. The facilitative influence is two‐fold: (a) generic information skills training (GIST) project which is a joint initiative between the Institute of Early Childhood (IEC), the Library and the Centre for Flexible Learning to teach information literacy skills which are contextualised within the unit presentation mode, its requirements and assessment tasks, and (b) redesign of the unit from a former third‐year level to a first‐year level to incorporate the notion of problem‐based, collaborative teaching and learning. Many challenges were faced by those involved in the unit in its first year, mainly class size and heterogeneity of student levels, incorporation of technology into learning and teaching, and flow of information for smooth operations for students, the teaching team and Library staff. Multilevel collaborations were central to this experience, and examples of student‐student, student‐teacher, and teacher‐staff collaborations are provided. The first of the 2‐year cycle of the GIST project has generated substantive data, as has the implementation of the unit in an innovative format. The complexity and challenges presented in the unit seemed to account for student withdrawal of about 25% in the first month; final evaluations are obtained from 292 students. Survey results presented here are both from the withdrawn students, as well as those who completed the unit. Modifications to the delivery of the unit in its second year and ways of strengthening the communities of learners and teachers towards a common goal are briefly reviewed.     

How front-end loading contributes to creating and sustaining the theory-practice gap in higher education programs

In this paper, I show how Mead’s theory of emergence can prove explanatory in how the theory-practice gap is co-created and sustained in front-end loading university programs. Taking teacher education as an exemplar, I argue that trainee teachers encounter different and oft-times conflicting environmental, social and cultural conditions in the two ‘fields of interaction’ of their training program, namely, the on-campus pre-service program and the in-school experience. The argument draws on interview and focus group data collected via a study of first-year graduate teachers of an Australian pre-service teacher education program. My conclusions are two-fold. First, I argue that role taking and self-regulated behaviour within the two environmental fields of interaction in front-end loading programs inhibit the trainee professional from exercising the power of agency to implement theory learned at university in practice in the workplace. Second, I conclude that Mead’s theory of emergence proves effective in predicting the obduracy of the gap between theory and practice in front-end programs.     

Stakeholders’ perspectives of the nature and role of assessment during practicum

This paper focuses on the assessment of student teachers during practicum. The study is contextualised in an Australian pre-service teacher education program in which practicum has been reconceptualised to help bridge the theory-practice gap commonly associated with “front-end loading” programs. Survey and interview data collected from student teachers and supervising teachers point to what participants perceive as disparate understandings between university and school staff about the nature and role of assessment and suggest that this lack of common understanding adversely affects students’ experiences of assessment.     

The participation of Australian Indigenous students in higher education: a scoping review of empirical research, 2000–2016

While access to higher education has increased for Indigenous Australians, participation and completion rates remain lower than those of non-Indigenous Australians. A sound evidence base is needed to ground equity initiatives if they are to address the specific needs of Indigenous students. This paper presents the results of a scoping review of empirical research focusing on the participation of Indigenous students in higher education. The purpose of the scoping review was to synthesise empirical research on aspirations for, and barriers and enablers to, higher education that were published between 2000 and 2016 (n = 57), and identify areas where further research is needed. Despite a recent increase in research on this topic, relatively little attention has been paid to Indigenous students’ aspirations while they are at school. We argue that future research should take account of school students’ aspirations for higher education, including primary school students; the similitude of barriers and enablers across the student life cycle; differences within Indigenous community and among Indigenous students; and, the insights emerging from Indigenous methodologies and scholarship.