What can we learn from the crashes of learner riders?

In some parts of Australia, people wanting to learn to ride a motorcycle are required to complete an off-road training course before they are allowed to practice on the road. In the state of Queensland, they are only required to pass a short multiple-choice road rules knowledge test. This paper describes an analysis of police-reported crashes involving learner riders in Queensland that was undertaken as part of research investigating whether pre-learner training is needed and, if so, the issues that should be addressed in training.. The crashes of learner riders and other riders were compared to identify whether there are particular situations or locations in which learner motorcyclists are over-involved in crashes, which could then be targeted in the pre-learner package. The analyses were undertaken separately for riders aged under 25 (330 crashes) versus those aged 25 and over (237 crashes) to provide some insight into whether age or riding inexperience are the more important factors, and thus to indicate whether there are merits in having different licensing or training approaches for younger and older learner riders. Given that the average age of learner riders was 33 years, under 25 was chosen to provide a sufficiently large sample of younger riders. Learner riders appeared to be involved in more severe crashes and to be more often at fault than fully-licensed riders but this may reflect problems in reporting, rather than real differences. Compared to open licence holders, both younger and older learner riders had relatively more crashes in low speed zones and relatively fewer in high speed zones. Riders aged under 25 had elevated percentages of night-time crashes and fewer single unit (potentially involving rider error only) crashes regardless of the type of licence held. The contributing factors that were more prevalent in crashes of learner riders than holders of open licences were: inexperience (37.2% versus 0.5%), inattention (21.5% versus 15.6%), alcohol or drugs (12.0% versus 5.1%) and drink riding (9.9% versus 3.1%). The pattern of contributing factors was generally similar for younger and older learner riders, although younger learners were (not surprisingly) more likely to have inexperience coded as a contributing factor (49.7% versus 19.8%). Some of the differences in crashes between learner riders and fully-licensed riders appear to reflect relatively more riding in urban areas by learners, rather than increased risks relating to inexperience. The analysis of contributing factors in learner rider crashes suggests that hazard perception and risk management (in terms of speed and alcohol and drugs) should be included in a pre-learner program. Currently, most learner riders in Queensland complete pre-licence training and become licensed within one month of obtaining their learner permit. If the introduction of pre-learner training required that the learner permit was held for a minimum duration, then the immediate effect might be more learners riding (and crashing). Thus, it is important to consider how training and licensing initiatives work together in order to improve the safety of new riders (and how this can be evaluated).

Academia Accommodating Plagiarism? Surely Not!

In April 2010, Senior lecturer A discovered a new article on strategic entrepreneurship that contained her own words and paragraphs, published under the name of two complete strangers. Over the next eight months, in search of a just outcome, A contacted various people and institutions involved: the journal editor and publisher, and more than 20 academics and academic managers at five universities located in four different countries, including vice chancellors, rectors, and university professors. While nobody disputed the plagiarism (which involved at least three documents and more than 50 pages of text, tables, and figures), most were reluctant to act. Disillusioned by institutional responses, A had to decide whether to continue pursuing a just outcome at the risk of damaging professional relationships (and her future career), or whether to accept the status quo. She wondered what it would take to change the system to genuinely reject plagiarism.

The ABCs of teaching alphabet knowledge : affordances and challenges of ‘weaving’ visible and invisible pedagogies

As researchers interested in the pursuit of high quality/high equity literacy learning outcomes, we focus on the learning experiences of five early years French students, with a special regard for those who are already considered as being at-risk of educational failure. We narrow the empirical focus to a single lesson on a mechanical concept of print, that is matching lower and upper case alphabet letters. In doing so, we examine a deeply philosophical question: Which pedagogical practices dis/enable what sorts of early years students as literacy learners? We extend Cazden’s (2006) notion of ‘weaving’ knowledge across dimensions of knowing to describe how the case study teacher ‘weaves’ visible and invisible pedagogies over the four movements of a lesson. The findings reveal different pedagogical framings (Bernstein, 1996) have potentially different cognitive and social effects that constitute different kinds of literacy knowledge and oppressive subject positions for at-risk students (Young, 1990).

Playing with Grammar in the Early Years : Learning about Language in the Australian Curriculum : English

As teacher/researchers interested in the pursuit of socially-just outcomes in early childhood education, the form and function of language occupies a special position in our work. We believe that mastering a range of literacy competences includes not only the technical skills for learning, but also the resources for viewing and constructing the world (Freire and Macdeo, 1987). Rather than seeing knowledge about language as the accumulation of technical skills alone, the viewpoint to which we subscribe treats knowledge about language as a dialectic that evolves from, is situated in, and contributes to a social arena (Halliday, 1978). We do not shy away from this position just because children are in the early years of schooling. In ‘Playing with Grammar’, we focus on the Foundation to Year 2 grouping, in line with the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority’s (hereafter ACARA) advice on the ‘nature of learners’ (ACARA, 2013). With our focus on the early years of schooling comes our acknowledgement of the importance and complexity of play. At a time where accountability in education has moved many teachers to a sense of urgency to prove language and literacy achievement (Genishi and Dyson, 2009), we encourage space to revisit what we know about literature choices and learning experiences and bring these together to facilitate language learning. We can neither ignore, nor overemphasise, the importance of play for the development of language through: the opportunities presented for creative use and practice; social interactions for real purposes; and, identifying and solving problems in the lives of young children (Marsh and Hallet, 2008). We argue that by engaging young children in opportunities to play with language we are ultimately empowering them to be active in their language learning and in the process fostering a love of language and the intricacies it holds. Our goal in this publication is to provide a range of highly practical strategies for scaffolding young children through some of the Content Descriptions from the Australian Curriculum English Version 5.0, hereafter AC:E V5.0 (ACARA, 2013). This recently released curriculum offers a new theoretical approach to building children’s knowledge about language. The AC:E V5.0 uses selected traditional terms through an approach developed in systemic functional linguistics (see Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004) to highlight the dynamic forms and functions of multimodal language in texts. For example, the following statement, taken from the ‘Language: Knowing about the English language’ strand states: English uses standard grammatical terminology within a contextual framework, in which language choices are seen to vary according to the topics at hand, the nature and proximity of the relationships between the language users, and the modalities or channels of communication available (ACARA, 2013). Put simply, traditional grammar terms are used within a functional framework made up of field, tenor, and mode. An understanding of genre is noted with the reference to a ‘contextual framework’. The ‘topics at hand’ concern the field or subject matter of the text. The ‘relationships between the language users’ is a description of tenor. There is reference to ‘modalities’, such as spoken, written or visual text. We posit that this innovative approach is necessary for working with contemporary multimodal and cross-cultural texts (see Exley and Mills, 2012). We believe there is enormous power in using literature to expose children to the richness of language and in turn develop language and literacy skills. Taking time to look at language patterns within actual literature is a pathway to ‘…capture interest, stir the imagination and absorb the [child]’ into the world of language and literacy (Saxby, 1993, p. 55). In the following three sections, we have tried to remain faithful to our interpretation of the AC:E V5.0 Content Descriptions without giving an exhaustive explanation of the grammatical terms. Other excellent tomes, such as Derewianka (2011), Humphrey, Droga and Feez (2012), and Rossbridge and Rushton (2011) provide these more comprehensive explanations as does the AC:E V5.0 Glossary. We’ve reproduced some of the AC:E V5.0 glossary at the end of this publication. Our focus is on the structure and unfolding of the learning experiences. We outline strategies for working with children in Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2 by providing some demonstration learning experiences based on texts we’ve selected, but maintain that the affordances of these strategies will only be realised when teaching and learning is purposively tied to authentic projects in local contexts. We strongly encourage you not to use only the resource texts we’ve selected, but to capitalise upon your skill for identifying the language features in the texts you and the children are studying and adapt some of the strategies we have outlined. Each learning experience is connected to one of the Content Descriptions from the AC:E V5.0 and contains an experience specific purpose, a suggested resource text and a sequence for the experience that always commences with an orientation to text followed by an examination of a particular grammatical resource. We expect that each of these learning experiences will take a couple if not a few teaching episodes to work through, especially if children are meeting a concept for the first time. We hope you use as much, or as little, of each experience as is needed. Our plans allow for focused discussion, shared exploration and opportunities to revisit the same text for the purpose of enhancing meaning making. We do not want the teaching of grammar to slip into a crisis of irrelevance or to be seen as a series of worksheet drills with finite answers. Strategies for effective practice, however, have much portability. We are both very keen to hear from teachers who are adopting and adapting these learning experiences in their classrooms. Please email us on b.exley@qut.edu.au or lkervin@uow.edu.au. We’d love to continue the conversation with you over time.

Experience, recursive awareness and understanding in autism spectrum disorders : insights of parents and teachers in Singapore

Provision of an individually responsive education requires a comprehensive understanding of the inner worlds of learners, such as their feelings and thoughts. However, this is difficult to achieve when learners, such as those with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and cognitive difficulties, have problems with communication. To address this issue, the current exploratory descriptive study sought the views of 133 Singaporean parents and teachers of school-age learners with ASD and cognitive difficulties regarding the inner experience of their children and students. The findings highlight the variety of abilities and difficulties found in how these learners experience their own mental states and understand those of others. These abilities and difficulties are characterized according to type of mental state and analysed in line with three qualia, those of experience, recursive awareness and understanding. The findings indicate that learners show a greater awareness of their own mental states compared to their ability to understand these same mental states in others. Educational implications are discussed.

English in the urban environment : resources for 21st century readers

Where teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) once observed a paucity of authentic language input, public displays of written English are now proliferating. Ideas for capitalising on this abundance can be drawn from two strands of pedagogic thought: a psycholinguistic approach to conventional literacy long established in foreign, second and first language education (e.g., Teng, 2009), and a more recent and critical approach informed by diverse theoretical understandings of the ‘linguistic landscape’ (e.g., Rowland, 2013). In this paper I draw from these two approaches to suggest ways of helping EFL learners use environmental print to develop knowledge and skills required of English readers in the twenty-first century: (1) fluency in breaking the codes of English and other languages of publicly displayed text; (2) facility with making meaning as the English of these texts becomes ever more diverse in cultural, historical and contextual implication; (3) use of environmental English in contexts that range from the local to the transnational; and (4) critique of the presence of English and attendant worldviews in the urban environment (Chern & Dooley, forthcoming). The psychological concept of motivation and the complementary sociological concept of investment are at the heart of my deliberations here: realisation of the pedagogic potential of environmental print to develop literate resources requires consideration of sources of motivation in the classroom learning situation (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011), as well as learner investment in literate practices in English (Norton, 2010).

Theatre-arts pedagogy for social justice : case study of the area youth foundation in Jamaica

In this paper I describe and analyse the socio-educational significance of a theatre arts approach to learning for young adults in Jamaica, implemented by the Area Youth Foundation (AYF). Briefly outlining the genesis and development of the AYF, I provide snapshots of the experiences and destinations of some of its young participants. The paper discusses AYF workshops to show how the pedagogy was shaped by the expressive arts and based on the critical praxis approach systematized by Paulo Freire in adult education and Augusto Boal in theatre. Based on interviews with AYF’s leader and some of the learners, I discuss how the foundation’s motto, “Youth Empowerment Through the Arts,” is played out in workshops and creative productions that are simultaneously learner-driven and teacher-guided, with the powerful impact of inspiring politically thoughtful creativity and skills in youths from less-privileged communities.

Technological tools for science classrooms : choosing and using for productive and sustainable teaching and learning experiences

In this age of rapidly evolving technology, teachers are encouraged to adopt ICTs by government, syllabus, school management, and parents. Indeed, it is an expectation that teachers will incorporate technologies into their classroom teaching practices to enhance the learning experiences and outcomes of their students. In particular, regarding the science classroom, a subject that traditionally incorporates hands-on experiments and practicals, the integration of modern technologies should be a major feature. Although myriad studies report on technologies that enhance students’ learning outcomes in science, there is a dearth of literature on how teachers go about selecting technologies for use in the science classroom. Teachers can feel ill prepared to assess the range of available choices and might feel pressured and somewhat overwhelmed by the avalanche of new developments thrust before them in marketing literature and teaching journals. The consequences of making bad decisions are costly in terms of money, time and teacher confidence. Additionally, no research to date has identified what technologies science teachers use on a regular basis, and whether some purchased technologies have proven to be too problematic, preventing their sustained use and possible wider adoption. The primary aim of this study was to provide research-based guidance to teachers to aid their decision-making in choosing technologies for the science classroom. The study unfolded in several phases. The first phase of the project involved survey and interview data from teachers in relation to the technologies they currently use in their science classrooms and the frequency of their use. These data were coded and analysed using Grounded Theory of Corbin and Strauss, and resulted in the development of a PETTaL model that captured the salient factors of the data. This model incorporated usability theory from the Human Computer Interaction literature, and education theory and models such as Mishra and Koehler’s (2006) TPACK model, where the grounded data indicated these issues. The PETTaL model identifies Power (school management, syllabus etc.), Environment (classroom / learning setting), Teacher (personal characteristics, experience, epistemology), Technology (usability, versatility etc.,) and Learners (academic ability, diversity, behaviour etc.,) as fields that can impact the use of technology in science classrooms. The PETTaL model was used to create a Predictive Evaluation Tool (PET): a tool designed to assist teachers in choosing technologies, particularly for science teaching and learning. The evolution of the PET was cyclical (employing agile development methodology), involving repeated testing with in-service and pre-service teachers at each iteration, and incorporating their comments i ii in subsequent versions. Once no new suggestions were forthcoming, the PET was tested with eight in-service teachers, and the results showed that the PET outcomes obtained by (experienced) teachers concurred with their instinctive evaluations. They felt the PET would be a valuable tool when considering new technology, and it would be particularly useful as a means of communicating perceived value between colleagues and between budget holders and requestors during the acquisition process. It is hoped that the PET could make the tacit knowledge acquired by experienced teachers about technology use in classrooms explicit to novice teachers. Additionally, the PET could be used as a research tool to discover a teachers’ professional development needs. Therefore, the outcomes of this study can aid a teacher in the process of selecting educationally productive and sustainable new technology for their science classrooms. This study has produced an instrument for assisting teachers in the decision-making process associated with the use of new technologies for the science classroom. The instrument is generic in that it can be applied to all subject areas. Further, this study has produced a powerful model that extends the TPACK model, which is currently extensively employed to assess teachers’ use of technology in the classroom. The PETTaL model grounded in data from this study, responds to the calls in the literature for TPACK’s further development. As a theoretical model, PETTaL has the potential to serve as a framework for the development of a teacher’s reflective practice (either self evaluation or critical evaluation of observed teaching practices). Additionally, PETTaL has the potential for aiding the formulation of a teacher’s personal professional development plan. It will be the basis for further studies in this field.

A cognitive processing framework for learning analytics

Incorporating a learner’s level of cognitive processing into Learning Analytics presents opportunities for obtaining rich data on the learning process. We propose a framework called COPA that provides a basis for mapping levels of cognitive operation into a learning analytics system. We utilise Bloom’s taxonomy, a theoretically respected conceptualisation of cognitive processing, and apply it in a flexible structure that can be implemented incrementally and with varying degree of complexity within an educational organisation. We outline how the framework is applied, and its key benefits and limitations. Finally, we apply COPA to a University undergraduate unit, and demonstrate its utility in identifying key missing elements in the structure of the course.

Reimagining school libraries : emerging teacher pedagogic practices

Agile learning spaces have the potential to afford flexible and innovative pedagogic practice. However there is little known about the experiences of teachers and learners in newly designed learning spaces, and whether the potential for reimagined pedagogies is being realised. This paper uses data from a recent study into the experiences of teacher-librarians, teachers, students and leaders of seven Queensland school libraries built with Building the Education Revolution (BER) funding, to explore the question, “how does the physical environment of school libraries influence pedagogic practices?” This paper proposes that teachers explored new pedagogies within the spaces when there was opportunity for flexibility and experimentation and the spaces sufficiently supported their beliefs about student learning. The perspectives of a range of library users were gathered through an innovative research design incorporating student drawings, videoed library tours and reflections, and interviews. The research team collected qualitative data from school libraries throughout 2012. The libraries represented a variety of geographic locations, socioeconomic conditions and both primary and secondary campuses. The use of multiple data sources, and also the perspectives of the multiple researchers who visited the sites and then coded the data, enabled complementary insights and synergies to emerge. Principles of effective teacher learning that can underpin school wide learning about the potential for agile learning spaces to enhance student learning, are identified. The paper concludes that widespread innovative use of the new library spaces was significantly enhanced when the school leadership fostered whole school discussions about the type of learning the spaces might provoke. This research has the potential to inform school designers, teachers and teacher-librarians to make the most of the transformative potential of next generation learning spaces.

Tablets (iPad) for M-Learning in the context of social constructivism to institute an effective learning environment

With the proliferation of mobile devices, educational institutions have experimented with various mobile devices to implement mobile learning (M-Learning). Mobile devices have been used to facilitate, support, and enhance and extend the reach of teaching and learning. Although there are very few empirically evaluated studies on M-Learning projects, these studies reported that mobile devices brought a transformation to the educational process. To be able to view M-Learning as a rich, collaborative and conversational experience, whether in the classroom or outside we need good mobile applications. Studies have revealed that effective learning happens when teachers and learners are actively participating in the knowledge building process. Therefore, there is a need for applications that create effective learning environments which are learner-centred, knowledge-centred, assessment-centred and community-centred.

ESD starts where STEM stops : integrating the social sciences into STEM

The Earth and its peoples are facing great challenges. As a species, humans are over-consuming the Earth’s resources and compromising the capacity of both natural and social systems to function in healthy and sustainable ways. Education at all levels and in all contexts, has a key role in helping societies move to more sustainable ways of living. Two areas in need of catch-up in relation to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) are early childhood education and teacher education. Another area of challenge for ESD is the way it is currently oriented. To date, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on scientific and technological solutions to sustainability issues. This has led to an emphasis on STEM education as education’s main way of addressing sustainability. However, in this paper it is argued that sustainably is primarily a social issue that requires interdisciplinary education approaches. STEM approaches to ESD - emphasising knowledge construction and problem-solving - cannot, on their own, deal effectively with attitudes, values and actions towards more sustainable ways of living. In China and Australia, there are already policies, frameworks, guidelines and initiatives, such as Green Schools and Sustainable Schools that support such forms of ESD. STEM educators need to reach out to social scientists and social educators in order to more fully engage with activist and collaborative educational responses that equip learners with the knowledge, dispositions and capacities to ‘make a difference’.

Designing Assessment for Quality Learning

- Considers broad-scale assessment approaches and how they impact on educational opportunity and outcomes. - Brings together internationally recognised scholars providing new insights into assessment for learning improvement and accountability. - Presents different theoretical and methodological perspectives influential in the field of assessment, learning and social change. - Contributes to the theorising of assessment in contexts characterised by heightened accountability requirements and constant change. This book brings together internationally recognised scholars with an interest in how to use the power of assessment to improve student learning and to engage with accountability priorities at both national and global levels. It includes distinguished writers who have worked together for some two decades to shift the assessment paradigm from a dominant focus on assessment as measurement towards assessment as central to efforts to improve learning. These writers have worked with the teaching profession and, in so doing, have researched and generated key insights into different ways of understanding assessment and its relationship to learning. The volume contributes to the theorising of assessment in contexts characterised by heightened accountability requirements and constant change. The book’s structure and content reflect already significant and growing international interest in assessment as contextualised practice, as well as theories of learning and teaching that underpin and drive particular assessment approaches. Learning theories and practices, assessment literacies, teachers’ responsibilities in assessment, the role of leadership, and assessment futures are the organisers within the book’s structure and content. The contributors to this book have in common the view that quality assessment, and quality learning and teaching are integrally related. Another shared view is that the alignment of assessment with curriculum, teaching and learning is linchpin to efforts to improve both learning opportunities and outcomes for all. Essentially, the book presents new perspectives on the enabling power of assessment. In so doing, the writers recognise that validity and reliability - the traditional canons of assessment – remain foundational and therefore necessary. However, they are not of themselves sufficient for quality education. The book argues that assessment needs to be radically reconsidered in the context of unprecedented societal change. Increasingly, communities are segregating more by wealth, with clear signs of social, political, economic and environmental instability. These changes raise important issues relating to ethics and equity, taken to be core dimensions in enabling the power of assessment to contribute to quality learning for all. This book offers readers new knowledge about how assessment can be used to re/engage learners across all phases of education.

Variations in acculturation and Australian physical education teacher education students' receptiveness to an alternative pedagogical approach to games teaching

Background The development of intelligent, thinking performers as a central theme in Physical Education curriculum documents worldwide has highlighted the need for an evolution of teaching styles from the dominant reproductive approach. This has prompted an Australian university to change the content and delivery of a games unit within their Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) course and adopt a productive student centred approach that is compatible with current curriculum directives. The significance of prospective physical educators’ biographies on their receptiveness to this pedagogical innovation was studied to help recognise and understand potential differences and subsequently guide programme development to help improve the impact of teacher education. Purpose To investigate whether past school and sporting experiences are powerful influences on Australian PETE recruits’ initial perspectives about effective physical education teaching practice and their receptiveness to an alternative pedagogical approach. Participants and Setting 49 first year pre-service PETE students (53% male; 47% female; mean age 18.88 ± 1.57 years) undertaking a compulsory unit on games teaching at an Australian university volunteered to take part in the study and were grouped according to their highest level of representation in games, either school/club (n=13), regional (n=20), or state/national (n=16). Students experienced the constraints-led approach as learners and teachers during an 8-week games unit informed by nonlinear pedagogy and underpinned by motor learning theory. Data collection and Analysis Prior to the commencement of the unit participants completed part A of a two part mixed response questionnaire aimed at gathering data about their physical education and sporting background. The data were summarised using descriptive statistics. Pre and post intervention, participants completed part B responding, via Likert Scale with their opinion of the importance of each sub-component of the traditional reproductive style for an effective games teaching session. This resulted in a traditional reproductive games teaching belief score. For each sub-component, participants were invited to respond in more detail to justify their opinions. A one-way between groups analysis of variance (ANOVA), Tukey’s HSD Post Hoc Test and a two - tailed, paired samples t test were used to analyse the quantitative data. Content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. Findings The traditional, reproductive approach was the most frequently reported teaching approach used by the physical education teachers and sports coaches of participants in all groups. Prior to the commencement of the alternate games unit, participants in each representative level group held very strong custodial traditional reproductive games teaching beliefs. After experiencing the alternative games unit there were statistically significant differences in the traditional reproductive games teaching belief mean scores for each group, This combined with participants’ qualitative responses indicated a receptiveness to the alternative pedagogy. Conclusions The results of this present study show that, contrary to previous research undertaken in North America, in Australia, it is possible for PETE educators to change beliefs in order to overcome the constraint of acculturation and provide PETE students with the knowledge, understanding and belief in an alternate approach to teaching games in physical education compatible with curriculum documents.

Educating for sustainability in virtual worlds : does the virtual have value?

Two key elements of education for sustainability (EfS) are action-competence, and the importance of place and experiencing the natural world. These elements emphasise and depend on the relationship between learners and their real world contexts, and have been incorporated to some extent into the sustainability cross-curricular perspective of the new Australian curriculum. Given the importance of real-world experiential learning in EfS, what is to be made of the use of multi-user virtual worlds in EfS? We went with our preservice secondary science teachers to the very appealing virtual world Quest Atlantis, which we are using in this paper as an example to explore the value of virtual worlds in EfS. In assessing the virtual world of Quest Atlantis against Australia’s Sustainability Curriculum Framework, many areas of coherence are evident relating to world viewing, systems thinking and futures thinking, knowledge of ecological and human systems, and implementing and reflecting on the consequences of actions. The power and appeal of these virtual experiences in developing these knowledges is undeniable. However there is some incoherence between the elements of EfS as expressed in the Sustainability Curriculum Framework and the experience of QA where learners are not acting in their real world, or developing connection with real place. This analysis highlights both the value and some limitations of virtual worlds as a venue for EfS.