Abstract not available

Policies advocating the use of digital technologies in government schools are promoted by all public school education systems in Australia. This is reflected in the release of political media statements, policies, plans, budgets, digital networking rollouts, curriculum developments, and professional development activities. Resources are being directed towards such initiatives from within school education budgets and from departmental and 'whole of government' initiatives, at state, territory and federal levels. While there is considerable activity being supported by governments, outside of these activities academic publications specifically about these school level initiatives are limited. This research sets out to answer the question: 'what does public schooling mean in Australia in the 21st century given its past tradition of free, compulsory and secular schooling, and given the present policies that are urging the ubiquitous use of digital technologies?' The purpose of this research is to interpret, understand and explain the policies of the public schooling systems in Australia advocating the use of digital technologies. In doing so, this thesis aims to contribute to the development of a stock of Australian research specifically in the schooling sector, about the use of digital technologies in schools. Further, this thesis aims to stimulate and add to the conversations concerning these policies. It is argued that the use of digital technologies in schooling has the capacity to redefine what has previously been understood by 'public schooling'. This thesis is the outcome of an interpretative social inquiry where narrative theory and hegemony have provided its theoretical bases. This thesis has not set out to merge these theories nor has it attempted to reconcile the internal differences within them, but rather, to draw from them, and to use approaches that are pertinent to this study. While such an approach may be contentious and bring some inherent difficulties, the intention of the research has been to draw upon the abstract understandings afforded by these theories and apply them to concrete, particular, yet newly emerging educational activities. This is to provide interpretative and explanatory perspectives to the advocated use of digital technologies in Australian schools and systems, and, in Chapter Six, to forward a proposition for future action. There are several different ways in which this thesis could have been approached and finally could have been structured. Likewise, there are many avenues that require research but have been left without investigation due to limitations of size, space and time. This is not to negate their importance, but rather it is to recognise the limits of this project and to highlight the necessity for more research to be undertaken. Throughout the thesis distance education has been considered in conjunction with the policies directly impinging upon 'face to face' schooling. It is argued that with the advocated use of digital technologies as an inherent part of public schooling, there is emerging, a convergence in these two styles of schooling. Further it is argued that experiences from school level distance education practitioners have the potential to offer some insights that may be useful for those in 'face to face' schools using digital technologies. It is intended then, that the implications from this research will have the capacity to influence how we view centrally developed school education policies, curriculum leadership and management as well as what is intended to happen in the classroom. The thesis has been arranged into three parts. The first three chapters comprise Part One. Chapter One identifies the research space for the thesis. This is achieved by describing the fields of research from which this thesis draws, and introduces the theoretical bases used in the research space identified for this thesis. Chapter Two provides the theoretical bases for the thesis in more detail. In doing so, positivist approaches to the research are rejected. Chapter Three describes the research methods used to interpret,understand and explain the public schooling sectors' digital technologies policies. Together, these three chapters provide an outline of the nature of the research undertaking, and the theories and methods used. Part Two also has three chapters. These are structured around the temporal concept important to narrative theory; that of the past, the present and the future. Chapter Four looks to the past and provides an account of the history and three traditions, it is argued, impinge upon this research project. In particular, this chapter discusses what was intended by the phrase 'public education' in Australia during the 19th and 20th centuries. This chapter establishes the context for the interpretations of the policies that follow. Chapter Five seeks to understand and explain the policy narratives of the present, defined as the research period between 1997 and 2001. This period of time is thought of as sitting temporally between the past history and traditions outlined in Chapter Four and the possible scenarios for the future, proposed in Chapter Six. Part Three brings the thesis to its conclusion by reflecting on the central question identified for this thesis: 'what does public schooling mean in Australia in the 21st century, given its past tradition of free, compulsory and secular schooling, and given the present policies that are urging the ubiquitous use of digital technologies?'

I have committed a significant period of time (in my case five years) to the purpose development of learning environments, with the belief that it would improve the self-actualisation and self-motivation of students and teachers alike. I consider it important to record and measure performance as we progressed toward such an outcome. Education researchers and practitioners alike, in the higher (university/tertiary) education systems, are seeking among new challenges to engage students and teachers in learning (James, 2001). However, studies to date show a confusing landscape littered with a multiplicity of interpretations and terms, successes and failures. As the discipline leader of the Information Technology, Systems and Multimedia (ITSM) Discipline, Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale, I found myself struggling with this paradigm. I also found myself being torn between what presents as pragmatic student learning behaviour and the learner-centred teaching ideal reflected in the Swinburne Lilydale mission statement. The research reported in this folio reflects my theory and practice as discipline leader of the ITSM Discipline and the resulting learning environment evolution during the period 1997/8 to 2003. The study adds to the material evidence of extant research through firstly, a meta analysis of the learning environment implemented by the ITSM Discipline as recorded in peer reviewed and published papers; and secondly, a content analysis of student learning approaches, conducted on data reported from a survey of ‘learning skills inventory’ originally conducted by the ITSM Discipline staff in 2002. In 1997 information and communication technologies (ICT) were beginning to provide plausible means for electronic distribution of learning materials on a flexible and repeatable basis, and to provide answers to the imperative of learning materials distribution relating to an ITSM Discipline new course to begin in 1998. A very short time frame of three months was available prior to teaching the course. The ITSM Discipline learning environment development was an evolutionary process I began in 1997/8 initially from the requirement to publish print-based learning guide materials for the new ITSM Discipline subjects. Learning materials and student-to-teacher reciprocal communication would then be delivered and distributed online as virtual learning guides and virtual lectures, over distance as well as maintaining classroom-based instruction design. Virtual here is used to describe the use of ICT and Internet-based approaches. No longer would it be necessary for students to attend classes simply to access lecture content, or fear missing out on vital information. Assumptions I made as discipline leader for the ITSM Discipline included, firstly, that learning should be an active enterprise for the students, teachers and society; secondly, that each student comes to a learning environment with different learning expectations, learning skills and learning styles; and thirdly, that the provision of a holistic learning environment would encourage students to be self-actualising and self-motivated. Considerable reading of research and publications, as outlined in this folio, supported the update of these assumptions relative to teaching and learning. ITSM Discipline staff were required to quickly and naturally change their teaching styles and communication of values to engage with the emergent ITSM Discipline learning environment and pedagogy, and each new teaching situation. From a student perspective such assumptions meant students needed to move from reliance upon teaching and prescriptive transmission of information to a self-motivated and more self-actualising and reflective set of strategies for learning. In constructing this folio, after the introductory chaperts, there are two distinct component parts; • firstly, a Descriptive Meta analysis (Chapter Three) that draws together several of my peer reviewed professional writings and observations that document the progression of the ITSM Discipline learning environment evolution during the period 1997/8 to 2003. As the learning environment designer and discipline leader, my observations and published papers provide insight into the considerations that are required when providing an active, flexible and multi-modal learning environment for students and teachers; and • secondly, a Dissertation (Chapter Four), as a content analysis of a learning skills inventory data collection, collected by the ITSM Discipline in the 2002 Swinburne Lilydale academic year, where students were encouraged to complete reflective journal entries via the ITSM Discipline virtual learning guide subject web-site. That data collection included all students in a majority of subjects supported by the ITSM Discipline for both semesters one and two 2002. The original purpose of the journal entries was to have students reflectively involved in assessing their learning skills and approaches to learning. Such perceptions were tested using a well-known metric, the ‘learning skills inventory’ (Knowles, 1975), augmented with a short reflective learning approach narrative. The journal entries were used by teaching staff originally and then made available to researchers as a desensitised data in 2003 for statistical and content analysis relative to student learning skills and approaches. The findings of my research support a view of the student and teacher enculturation as utilitarian, dependent and pragmatically self-motivated. This, I argue, shows little sign of abatement in the early part of the 21st Century. My observation suggests that this is also independent of the pedagogical and educational philosophy debate or practice as currently presented. As much as the self-actualising, self-motivated learning environment can be justified philosophically, the findings observed from this research, reported in this folio, cannot. Part of the reason for this originates from the debate by educational researchers as to the relative merits of liberal and vocational philosophies for education combined with the recent introduction of information and communication technologies, and commodification of higher education. Challenging students to be participative and active learners, as proposed by educationalists Meyers and Jones (1993), i.e. self-motivated and self-actualising learners, has proved to be problematic. This, I will argue, will require a change to a variable/s (not yet identified) of higher education enculturation on multiple fronts, by students, teachers and society in order to bridge the gap. This research indicates that tertiary educators and educational researchers should stop thinking simplistically of constructivist and/or technology-enabled approaches, students learning choices and teachers teaching choices. Based on my research I argue for a far more holistic set of explanations of student and staff expectations and behaviour, and therefore pedagogy that supports those expectations.

The overarching goal of this dissertation was to evaluate the contextual components of instructional strategies for the acquisition of complex programming concepts. A meta-knowledge processing model is proposed, on the basis of the research findings, thereby facilitating the selection of media treatment for electronic courseware. When implemented, this model extends the work of Smith (1998), as a front-end methodology, for his glass-box interpreter called Bradman, for teaching novice programmers. Technology now provides the means to produce individualized instructional packages with relative ease. Multimedia and Web courseware development accentuate a highly graphical (or visual) approach to instructional formats. Typically, little consideration is given to the effectiveness of screen-based visual stimuli, and curiously, students are expected to be visually literate, despite the complexity of human-computer interaction. Visual literacy is much harder for some people to acquire than for others! (see Chapter Four: Conditions-of-the-Learner) An innovative research programme was devised to investigate the interactive effect of instructional strategies, enhanced with text-plus-textual metaphors or text-plus-graphical metaphors, and cognitive style, on the acquisition of a special category of abstract (process) programming concept. This type of concept was chosen to focus on the role of analogic knowledge involved in computer programming. The results are discussed within the context of the internal/external exchange process, drawing on Ritchey's (1980) concepts of within-item and between-item encoding elaborations. The methodology developed for the doctoral project integrates earlier research knowledge in a novel, interdisciplinary, conceptual framework, including: from instructional science in the USA, for the concept learning models; British cognitive psychology and human memory research, for defining the cognitive style construct; and Australian educational research, to provide the measurement tools for instructional outcomes. The experimental design consisted of a screening test to determine cognitive style, a pretest to determine prior domain knowledge in abstract programming knowledge elements, the instruction period, and a post-test to measure improved performance. This research design provides a three-level discovery process to articulate: 1) the fusion of strategic knowledge required by the novice learner for dealing with contexts within instructional strategies 2) acquisition of knowledge using measurable instructional outcome and learner characteristics 3) knowledge of the innate environmental factors which influence the instructional outcomes This research has successfully identified the interactive effect of instructional strategy, within an individual's cognitive style construct, in their acquisition of complex programming concepts. However, the significance of the three-level discovery process lies in the scope of the methodology to inform the design of a meta-knowledge processing model for instructional science. Firstly, the British cognitive style testing procedure, is a low cost, user friendly, computer application that effectively measures an individual's position on the two cognitive style continua (Riding & Cheema,1991). Secondly, the QUEST Interactive Test Analysis System (Izard,1995), allows for a probabilistic determination of an individual's knowledge level, relative to other participants, and relative to test-item difficulties. Test-items can be related to skill levels, and consequently, can be used by instructional scientists to measure knowledge acquisition. Finally, an Effect Size Analysis (Cohen,1977) allows for a direct comparison between treatment groups, giving a statistical measurement of how large an effect the independent variables have on the dependent outcomes. Combined with QUEST's hierarchical positioning of participants, this tool can assist in identifying preferred learning conditions for the evaluation of treatment groups. By combining these three assessment analysis tools into instructional research, a computerized learning shell, customised for individuals' cognitive constructs can be created (McKay & Garner,1999). While this approach has widespread application, individual researchers/trainers would nonetheless, need to validate with an extensive pilot study programme (McKay,1999a; McKay,1999b), the interactive effects within their specific learning domain. Furthermore, the instructional material does not need to be limited to a textual/graphical comparison, but could be applied to any two or more instructional treatments of any kind. For instance: a structured versus exploratory strategy. The possibilities and combinations are believed to be endless, provided the focus is maintained on linking of the front-end identification of cognitive style with an improved performance outcome. My in-depth analysis provides a better understanding of the interactive effects of the cognitive style construct and instructional format on the acquisition of abstract concepts, involving spatial relations and logical reasoning. In providing the basis for a meta-knowledge processing model, this research is expected to be of interest to educators, cognitive psychologists, communications engineers and computer scientists specialising in computer-human interactions.

This thesis examines issues in Australian undergraduate engineering management studies in the context of flexible learning delivery. It is proposed that, within an Australian context: a) the management skills and competencies required by graduate engineers can be determined and classified on a rational basis, permitting an educational focus on those elements most appropriate for graduates; and b) on-line and other computer-based technologies are a practical and effective method for the support of undergraduate engineering management studies. The doctoral project incorporates: • an examination of the nature of engineering management; • a review of the relevant literature establishing the importance of management studies in undergraduate engineering courses; • a review of historical and recent developments in Australian undergraduate engineering management studies; • an investigation of the management skills and competencies required by graduate engineers - based on original research; • an examination of flexible delivery of engineering education - based on professional practice experience; and • an evaluation of case studies of flexible delivery of engineering management education - based on original research and professional practice experience. A framework of ranked classified management skills is developed. Broadly, the ranking framework is generic professional skills, followed by general management skills and technical discipline specific management skills, followed by other professional discipline skills and theoretical skills. This framework provides a rational basis for design of undergraduate engineering management studies. This is supplemented by consideration of the management skills required for the future of engineering practice. It is concluded that undergraduate engineering management education is well suited to delivery and support by on-line and computer-based technology. Recent developments in improved access to the Internet, software systems for on-line collaboration and changes in copyright legislation to create a broad-based right to communication via on-line media have contributed to the facilitation of on-line delivery of teaching and learning. It is noted that though many on-line infrastructure issues have been satisfactorily resolved, higher level issues will emerge as being crucial, including the academic staff development and reward for operating in an online teaching environment and the financial sustainability of on-line development and delivery of courses.

This portfolio of research aimed to examine the integration of Information and Communication Technology ( ICT ) into computer-based classroom learning environments in Thailand. The study was exploratory, investigating to what extent schools in the Thai ICT schools pilot project had classroom learning environments which were related to two student outcomes ( critical thinking skills and attitudes to ICT ) ; and to what extent the classroom learning environments were associated with certain teacher characteristics. The portfolio is presented in three parts. Part 1 reviewed the research literature related to the importance of ICT in education ; the ICT classroom learning environments ; student attitudes to ICT ; students' critical thinking skills ; and the role of the teacher in the ICT classroom. From this review, a theoretical research model was developed, based on teacher characteristics, student characteristics and student perceptions of ICT classroom learning environments as predictors of the two student outcomes. Four specific research propositions were formulated from the model to guide the investigation. Part 2 of the research portfolio reports the quantitative investigation of the ICT schools pilot project in Thailand. Data were collected by means of questionnaires from 150 students in eight of the ICT pilot project schools in relation to students' background characteristics, their perceptions of actual and preferred classroom learning environments, students' critical thinking skills and attitudes to ICT. In addition, questionnaire data on teachers' background characteristics were collected from 16 teachers involved in the project. The associations among the teacher, student and classroom environment predictor variables in relation to the two student outcomes were analysed using SPSS and HLM software programs. The results, discussed in relation to the four research propositions, generally supported the research model. A complementary qualitative investigation of the Thai ICT schools pilot project is reported in part 3 of the portfolio. This involved an analysis of school based documents, which had been collected officially in the course of the project, in order to identify school level outcomes. In addition, 30 students and five teachers from 10 schools in the ICT pilot project were interviewed to ascertain their views on the advantages, the limitations and the future of the project. The interview transcripts, translated into English, were analysed thematically. The researcher was also able to observe ICT integrated into various subject lessons in 22 classrooms, from each of the schools in the ICT project, and to evaluate them according to Bloom's Taxonomy of learning outcomes. The qualitative results provided important insights into the quantitative study in Part 2. In the conclusion to the portfolio, the results of the quantitative and qualitative studies are synthesised in a discussion of the four research propositions. Importantly, the findings led directly to useful recommendations on how computer-based learning environments can be improved. The findings of this study have major implications for the role of teachers in ICT classrooms and for school management in providing the necessary equipment and support. / Thesis (D.Ed.)--School of Education, 2007.

The experiments described in this thesis tested whether encouraging the use of self-regulatory learning strategies enhances the effectiveness of autonomous study for novices in a learning domain. Previous research and theory have suggested that high-achieving students are proficient at self-regulating their learning, and they do so using a range of learning strategies for planning their study, monitoring the effectiveness of their efforts and elaborating their knowledge. Information processing theories of instructional design suggest that learning is optimal when working memory load is managed effectively. Accordingly, methods have been devised for reducing load associated with unnecessary task requirements, as well as dedicating additional capacity to the construction and automation of knowledge schemas. Less is known, however, about instructional methods for encouraging self-regulatory learning strategies. Experiments 1, 2 and 4 examined the effect of encouraging participants to reflect on their understanding of topics they had been taught previously. Although these participants were able to accurately estimate their level of understanding in some situations, they failed to consistently use this knowledge to guide their study of topics they had previously understood poorly. In light of this finding, Experiments 3 and 5 examined the effect of encouraging participants to plan a free study period, with the direction to prioritise the topics that they had understood the least well. This intervention had a modest positive effect on post-test performance. Experiment 6 examined the effect of encouraging two elaborative strategies, namely explanation generation and summarisation. The former benefited performance, whereas the effectiveness of the latter depended on the comprehensiveness of the summaries produced by the participants. Finally, Experiment 7 examined the effect of providing broad-spectrum instruction in learning strategies, with minimal requirements to engage in specific strategies. This intervention resulted in an overall benefit to performance. Overall, the results of this dissertation suggest that certain instructional aids for self-regulation yield benefits to the autonomous study by domain novices without overburdening working memory.

Although there is research into student learning on the Web and other computer-supported environments, there has been little investigation into the practice and pedagogy of university Web teachers. This qualitative study used a series of interviews of eight higher education faculty to gather data on their Web teaching practices, and an examination of their Web courses to identify their pedagogies. There was a notable difference in the way the four teachers with Web-assisted courses and the four teachers with Web-only courses used the Web in their teaching. Those with Web-assisted courses used the Web primarily as a connection to expanded resources and a supplement to their face-to-face teaching. Those who taught Web-only courses used the Web for resource access, and also used asynchronous dialogue and peer interactions to support student construction of knowledge. Moreover, the Web-only teachers reported a shift in their roles from lecturer and expert in the classroom to facilitator and co-learner as Web teachers. Four aspects of the Web teaching environment appear to be foundational in supporting an effective Web pedagogy: (1) the varied and extensive uses of e-mail, (2) the "think time" made possible by asynchronous dialogue, (3) distributed, hyperlinked learning, and (4) a reported shift from a content focus to process and issues because Web instructors are confident that the material is presented in the Web course as they wish it. The experiences of the Web teachers in the study would indicate that these four elements can be leveraged to improve university Web teaching and deepen student learning, perhaps even beyond results capable of achievement in face-to-face teaching. / Graduation date: 1999

Although the public schools have spent billions of dollars on computer technology, only a few teachers are integrating them into their teaching. The purpose of this study was to determine barriers to the integration of computers into teaching and potential teaching strategies to encourage integration. Teachers (N=122) from 14 elementary schools completed a questionnaire that assessed computer use. Nine experienced teachers representing different levels of computer use were then selected to participated in interviews that focused on barriers to the integration of computer technology into their teaching. Results indicate barriers exist in two broad areas: institutional limitations (i.e., equipment, training, support, and leadership) and legislative mandates (i.e., benchmarks and state tests). Teachers report a significant lack of computers available for students in the classroom and computer labs, a lack of training and knowledge of how to use software, and a lack of support and leadership at the district and building level. Overall, teachers perceive significant barriers to the integration of computer technology exist in the areas of equipment, training, support and leadership. The findings suggest that some school districts may fail to recognize the need to adequately provide teachers with the necessary external factors of equipment, training, support and leadership, and they may fail to consider the internal factors of perceived relevance, and selfcompetence that are essential for the integration of technology. The study may also suggest that school districts fail to account for educational reform measures, and their impact on teacher ability to integrate computers into the teaching and learning process. Results of this study may indicate that the interrelationship of the external and internal factors must be recognized and integrated when developing learning strategies for the training of integrating computer technology into the teaching and learning process. / Graduation date: 2000

Community colleges serve the most diverse student populations in higher education. They consist of non-traditional, part-time, older, intermittent, and mobile students of different races, ethnic backgrounds, language preferences, physical and mental abilities, and learning style preferences. Students who are academically challenged may have diverse learning characteristics that are not compatible with the more traditional approaches to the delivery of instruction. With this need come new ways of solving the dilemma, such as Computer-aided Instruction (CAI). This case study investigated the use of CAI as a laboratory component of college-level biology in a small, rural community college setting. The intent was to begin to fill a void that seems to exist in the literature regarding the role of the faculty in the development and use of CAI. In particular, the investigator was seeking to understand the practice and its effectiveness, especially in helping the under prepared student. The case study approach was chosen to examine a specific phenomenon within a single institution. Ethnographic techniques, such as interviewing, documentary analysis, life's experiences, and participant observations were used to collect data about the phenomena being studied. Results showed that the faculty was primarily self-motivated and self-taught in their use of CAI as a teaching and learning tool. The importance of faculty leadership and collegiality was evident. Findings showed the faculty confident that expectations of helping students who have difficulties with mathematical concepts have been met and that CAI is becoming the most valuable of learning tools. In a traditional college classroom, or practice, time is the constant (semesters) and competence is the variable. In the CAI laboratory time became the variable and competence the constant. The use of CAI also eliminated hazardous chemicals that were routinely used in the more traditional lab. Outcomes showed that annual savings from operations were realized after the initial capital investment for computer hardware and software were made. / Graduation date: 1998