'They don't associate it with feminism' : in-service educators' conceptions of gender-inclusive curriculu

This article seeks to address significant gaps in educational policy discourses. Namely, to respond to professional development discourses that lack significant engagement with feminist perspectives, as well as to feminist discourses that fail to consider the significance of in-service education. The data reported here are drawn from a broader case study of Australian primary practitioners from 1975 who were interviewed about their enactment of gender-inclusive reform in the state of Victoria. This discussion takes as its focus the standpoint of 17 in-service educators in terms of their conceptualisation of gender inclusiveness. Three distinctive conceptions emerged in data analysis, which may be represented as three amalgams on a continuum according to a feminist perspective. Implications of this plurality of meaning for professional development are concluded.[2]

Teachers' pre-conceptions of young children's conceptions of number

This paper uses data from several sources to argue that while teachers of young children are reasonably accurate in their predictions of when the majority of children will achieve mastery of specific objectives in mathematics, they are much less likely 10 be aware of the conceptions of high achieving children, and that, as a result, their classroom activities constrain these students' learning.

Shortest equals fastest : upper primary children`s pre-conceptions of speed

An understanding of speed as distance travelled per unit time is fundamental to the development of the more complex conception of acceleration. This paper examines the opportunities provided for upper primary children to reveal and modify their pre-conceptions of speed through a walking activity developed as part of the Practical Mechanics in Primary Mathematics project.

Challenging accepted wisdom about conceptions of teaching in academic development

In recent years, conceptions of teaching held by academic staff have achieved an increased focus in the scholarly and practical work of teaching developers. Views on the impact of conceptions of teaching on improving university teaching, as well as their significance in doing so, vary from those that advocate changing conceptions as a necessary first step in the process of improvement to more recent views that characterize conceptions of teaching as merely artifacts of reflection on teaching. This paper explores this range of views, raises a number of questions about the current accepted views on the importance of conceptions of teaching development work, and challenges the current accepted wisdom in this important area.

Taking responsibility for learning isn't everything : a case for developing tertiary students' conceptions of learning

This study examines first year university student perceptions of responsibility for their learning, within the context of their conceptions of learning, with a view to meeting two of the objectives of higher education in Australia: teaching students to think and to learn. A questionnaire was distributed to 100 students undertaking at least one first year subject at the University of Western Sydney (UWS) in 1998. Their written responses provided information about their conceptions of learning, as well as both direct and indirect indications of their perceptions of responsibility. Results indicated that students held perceptions of personal responsibility for their learning, but that their conceptions of learning were essentially quantitative in nature and were at the lower levels of complexity. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of university teaching and learning, and of meeting the ultimate objectives of higher education.

Conceptions of teaching with integrity online in higher education: a case in the field of engineering

The viewpoints of academic teaching staff take centre stage in the analysis of the changing conceptions of what it means to act with integrity when teaching online. To teach with integrity in contemporary online-supported environments in higher education is not necessarily to teach the same as if one would in teaching regularly face-to-face in the classroom. The paper argues that to teach with integrity online is to teach differently. With integrity both enhanced and in some respects diminished in teaching online, the apparent contradiction can only be resolved through developing conceptions of what teaching with integrity means in the contemporary world of higher education. Implications are drawn in the context of teaching extended and wholly online units in the field of engineering.

Examining the significance of different conceptions of learning

Since the 1990s the system-wide introduction of vocational learning programs into schools has now created the need for students to blend their learning experiences gained from previously discretely organised institutions such as schools, TAFEs, and workplaces. This paper explores the significance of differing institutional conceptions of learning for the students who undertake these pathways. It examines potentially conflicting messages about learning that students must overcome if they are to be successful.

Broadening conceptions of curriculum for young people : reports from three student - teachers on exchange

Research reports prepared by three Australian preservice teachers Paula Shaw, Chris Sharp and Scott McDonald undertaking their teacher education practicum in Canada, form the basis of this paper. The reports provide critical insights into three aspects of education for young people in both Canada and Australia. They also provide critical insight into the ways in which a practicum research project, along with the opportunities afforded through an international experience, enabled the preservice teachers to broaden their understanding of the curriculum for young people, of issues relevant to the diverse needs of young people, and of themselves and their priorities as teachers. The preservice teachers investigated three topics: attempts to reduce homophobia in schools; the presence or absence of Aboriginal content in the school curricula in British Columbia and Queensland; and “schools-within-schools” as a means to meet the needs of diverse student populations. Linda Farr Darling from the University of British Columbia provides a response to the three reports.

The influence of learning environment on student conceptions of learning

Responding to the increasing numbers of students who now study across more than one of the traditional sectors of education and training, this research explored quantitative differences in conceptions of learning between students who had entered university study on the basis of a VET qualification, and those who had entered on a basis of previous university studies. Using the Conceptions of Learning Inventory the research also used gender as an independent variable. While some differences were shown between the previously-VET and previously-university students and some differences between genders these differences were characterised by low to moderate effect sizes only. The authors conclude that the quantitative differences are not particularly important, but that qualitative research may indicate differences in kind between the conceptions of learning of the two groups.

Revealing conceptions of rate of change

Rate of change is an important mathematical concept. Research referring to students’ difficulties with this concept spans more than twenty years. Research suggests that problems experienced by some calculus students are likely a result of pre-existing limited or incorrect conceptions of rate of change. This study investigated 23 Victorian Year 10 students’ understanding of rate as revealed by phenomenographic analysis of interviews. Eight conceptions of rate of change emerged. Four important aspects of the concept were identified and gaps in students’ thinking defined. In addition, the employment of phenomenography, to reveal conceptions of rate, is described in detail.

Impact of context and representation on year 10 students' expression of conceptions of rate

Rate is an important, but difficult mathematical concept. More than twenty years of research, especially with calculus students, report difficulties with this concept. This paper reports on an alternative analysis, from the perspective of multiple representations and context, of interviews probing twenty Victorian Year 10 students’ conceptions of rate. This analysis shows that multiple representations of functions provide different rate-related
information for different students. Understandings of rate in one representation or context are not necessarily transferred to another representation or context.

Clinical teachers' conceptions of nursing

Lack of knowledge exists about clinical teachers’ understanding of nursing. A likely relationship between teachers’ conceptions of nursing and what they focus on when teaching nursing students in the clinical setting means that the identification of different conceptions of nursing is important. This study investigated clinical teachers’ experiences of nursing and clinical teaching of undergraduate nursing students. This article reports on clinical teachers’ conceptions of nursing. Semistructured interviews of 20 nurses employed as clinical teachers in Australian universities were conducted. Data were analyzed using a phenomenographic approach. The findings suggest that nursing is conceived as performing tasks; providing appropriate care; providing individualized patient care aimed at achieving patient outcomes; or collaborating with health care team members to provide appropriate, individualized patient care aimed at achieving patient outcomes. Insights will assist with future preparation and support of clinical teachers, the education of nursing students, and improved curriculum design.

Sacred rules, secular revelations : the conceptions of rights in pre-modern Europe

This paper is an attempt to reflect on the methodological approaches that I bring to ‘reading law’ in my current project on understandings of individual rights in the legal and theological texts of the twelfth- and early thirteenth-century Middle Ages, entitled ‘Sacred Rules, Secular Revelations: The Conceptions of Rights in Pre-Modern Europe’