Laptop computers as a mediating tool between teacher beliefs and pedagogy

This study focused on teachers of senior secondary classes and the impact on pedagogy of the use of laptop computers. It was found that in schools operating a mature laptop program, pedagogy was influenced by teacher beliefs, prevailing school culture, and the assessment requirements of students in their final year.

A model for engaging and evaluating innovative cross-sectoral education reform : case studies from Queensland, Australia

This paper will explore how a general education can contribute successfully to vocational outcomes using both Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Program Theory methodology. The paper will focus on the development aspects of ‘marrying’ vocational and general education including engagement processes, student, teacher, institute and employer preparation and the pathway possibilities that emerge. Successful cases presented include the: Healthy Futures program (pathways into the Health and Allied industries); Accounting Pathways program (simultaneously studying a general Accounting subject and a Certificate III vocational qualification); and Sustainable Sciences initiative (development of a vocational qualification that focuses on the emerging renewable energy industry and is linked to school science programs). The case studies have been selected because they are unique in character and application and can be used as a basis for future program development in other settings or curriculum areas.

An exploratory investigation of the practice of assessment for learning in Vietnamese higher education: Three case studies of lecturers' practice

In response to limited research conducted on the practice of assessment for learning (AfL) in higher education and in Asian educational settings, this qualitative study, using sociocultural theories of learning and a multiple case study approach, investigates how AfL was implemented by three lecturers in one Vietnamese university. Findings revealed that the lecturers engaged with AfL principles and practices to some extent. However, despite the lecturers' significant efforts, Vietnamese sociocultural factors such as respect for harmony, hierarchy, and examination-oriented learning, impacted on their practice of AfL. This study therefore argues that AfL requires adaptation for it to be effective in the Vietnamese tertiary context.

Training and education programs in automatic data processing (ADP).

Mode of access: Internet.

Ethiopian-Australian students experience of secondary schooling in the Australian education system in the state of Victoria

This paper is aimed at investigating the secondary school experiences of Ethiopian (Ethio)-Australian students living in Melbourne. A qualitative methodology was employed using interviews and observations as data collection instruments. Secondary school students, their teachers and parents acted as participants of the study. The findings of the study included a deeper understanding of the exclusionary forces that contributed to the students' attendance and learning in the secondary schools when they relocated between schools and countries. Based on the data collected and the analysis made, appropriate recommendations were forwarded to teachers, parents, schools and policy makers.

Incorporating translation in qualitative studies : two case studies in education

Cross-language qualitative research in education continues to increase. However, there has been inadequate discussion in the literature concerning the translation process that ensures research trustworthiness applicable for bilingual researchers. Informed by the literature on evaluation criteria for qualitative data translation, this paper compares two different procedures for incorporating translation in education qualitative research to provide a clear depiction of the complexities involved in translating qualitative data and the strengths and weaknesses of each procedure. To maintain the trustworthiness of the qualitative research, it is necessary to minimise translation errors, provide detailed accounts of the translation process, involve more than one translator and remain open to scrutiny from those seeking to access the translation process. Taking into account the resource constraints often faced by novice qualitative researchers, this paper provides some strategies that can be employed in similar contexts.

Fostering deep and elaborative learning and generic(soft) skill development: the strategic use of case studies in accounting education

It is vital that accounting educators take responsibility for the development of students' generic (soft) skills in conjunction with, discipline-specific skills. Research indicates that the typical learning styles of accounting students are not suited to the acquisition of generic skills. In this paper learning theory is used to provide a framework to support the use of case studies as a tool to promote appropriate learning styles and thereby enhance generic skill development. The paper details a number of strategies that may be implemented with case studies to achieve these goals. The implications for accounting educators, which are significant, are discussed.

Flexible delivery and student attrition in the vocational education and training sector: case studies of students who dropped out

Government policy in Australia is increasingly encouraging training organisations in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector to adopt flexible delivery approaches. This policy shift is supported by key VET stakeholders including Industry Training Advisory Boards. A recurring theme in VET policy documents is an apparent confidence that flexible delivery can meet the diverse needs of individual learners while at the same time providing cost savings. Yet evidence is emerging that Australian VET learners are not typically ready for flexible delivery, and this lack of readiness is reflected in high attrition rates and low pass rates in many flexibly delivered courses. One research project found that over 70% of learners in the Australian VET sector do not have the learning capabilities required to be ready for flexible delivery. A recent review of the module outcomes achieved by VET students nationally found that students studying by external/correspondence and self-paced unscheduled modes had lower module completion rates than students studying by other delivery strategies.

Research on student progress in flexible delivery within the Australian VET sector has largely been quantitative. That research provides useful statistical data on completion and attrition rates for various modes of delivery, but does not explore the reasons underlying the high attrition rates found in flexible delivery. The qualitative research that is available tends to focus on students who successfully complete their courses, not on those who withdraw. As a result, the Australian literature on flexible delivery in the VET sector is lacking in-depth qualitative information about students who enrol in courses but do not complete. In comparison, the broader literature on distance education and flexible delivery in other educational sectors offers some useful insights into student attrition, and can be can be used to inform research into attrition within the Australian VET sector.

This paper reports on aspects of a research project that followed up six adult learners who enrolled in VET courses but who either failed assessment or withdrew. The research project presented the students’ stories in the form of narrative case studies, focussing on the detailed examination of the barriers that each student experienced, and analysing these barriers in relation to issues raised in the literature. This paper reports on two particular themes that emerged from that research project. The literature on distance education and flexible delivery argues that:


· student dropout is often not determined by a single factor, but by the interaction of a number of factors that build up over time;

· students who experience difficulties when studying by flexible delivery can often be reluctant to access the support that is available to them.

This paper uses these themes as a point of reference in presenting the stories of some of the students who participated in the research project.
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Leadership of portuguese community schools in the East Coast of the United States and the public policies of education: a multiple case studies

The Portuguese community schools of the United States located in the areas of larger Portuguese population concentration are social organizations that come materializing throughout decades the designs of the educative policies of the Portuguese government in relation to the expansion and preservation of the language, the culture and the history of Portugal. These designs of the educative policies are enrolled in the Constitution of the Republic (1976), in the Basic Law of Educative System (1986) and, over all, in the successive legislative norms (Decree-laws and ordinances) of the successive governments. Portuguese community schools in the United States are structuralized in analogous way to schools of the Portuguese geographic space. For this qualitative study (multiple case), four directors of Portuguese schools of the East Coast of the United States were interviewed; two schools are in the state of Rhode Island and the other two are in the state of Massachusetts. Also, it was administered the questionnaire on practices of leadership “Leadership Practices Inventory” (LPI) of Kouzes and Posner (2002) to collect additional data about practices of leadership on the directors of the schools. The LPI evaluates practices of leadership classifying them in five domains: (a) Model the way; (b) Inspire a shared vision; (c) Challenge the process; (d) Enable others to act; and, (e) Encourage the heart. Results of this qualitative research indicate that the Portuguese Government has not had an educative policy stimulant, coherent and consistent of support, incentive, maintenance and diffusion of the Portuguese language and culture and the directors of the studied schools they have a proactive and serving leadership style in conducting the management of Portuguese community schools. The five practices of leadership are highly practiced by the directors of the studied schools above all the practices “Enable others to act” and “Encourage the heart”.

External school evaluation : teachers’ perspectives : two case studies from Northern Portugal

The external evaluation of non-higher education schools in Portugal has been developed by the General Inspectorate of Education since 2006. A first cycle of evaluation was completed, covering all educational units in continental Portugal up to 2011. The model of evaluation has since been subject to alterations, and a second cycle of evaluation is now coming to an end. The current model of evaluation is based on documental analysis, analysis of students’ results, and panel interviews with a variety of representatives of the school community, and addresses three domains: results, provision of educational service and management. This paper is part of an ongoing research project, developed by 6 universities and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (PTDC/CPE-CED/116674/2010) which intends to analyse the impacts and effects this process of external evaluation has had on Portuguese schools. This project includes a variety of perspectives and methodologies. In particular, we will focus on two case studies undertaken in two schools from the northern region of Portugal, and more specifically on the perspectives expressed by the teachers of those schools. These particular schools were chosen because they have been evaluated twice and represent different educational levels (basic and secondary), contexts and results. These case studies included the analysis of documental data, interviews to key informants and a questionnaire directed to teachers (n = 141) – the latter will be the main focus of this paper. Teachers are essential elements of the school community when considering the impacts of external evaluation, as any changes directed at teaching practices, student evaluation, among others are only possible through their direct action and implication. Therefore, their perceptions on the process and its impacts are crucial to the understanding of what does and does not change in schools as a consequence of external evaluation. Although teachers’ opinions are not homogenous and each school reveals a number of differences when it comes to teachers’ perceptions of School Evaluation, it was possible to stress some areas as the most and as the least consensual. Teachers in both schools agree External School Evaluation (ESE) is useful for the identification of the schools’ strengths and weaknesses, values students’ external evaluation results, imposes a model for schools internal evaluation (and in fact contributes to the very existence of internal evaluation practices), and contributes to schools improvement. However teachers in both schools do not believe ESE contributes to teachers’ autonomy produces changes in how curriculum is managed, or leads to innovative teaching practices. These results point to a greater emphasis on change at the levels of school management, self-evaluation and particularly internal evaluation, but little impact on the teaching practices. We believe the classroom is at the core of school practices and teaching processes are essential to any measure of school quality and to their impacts on student learning.