School of Education
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This collection contains Honours, Masters and Ph.D by coursework theses from University of Adelaide postgraduate students within the School of Education. The material has been approved as making a significant contribution to knowledge.
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Browsing School of Education by Advisors "Thompson, Murray"
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Item Open Access Flipping the classroom: Can changing delivery of the Australian Middle School Science Curriculum Improve Student Outcomes?(2022) Scherer, Benjamin Luke; Thompson, Murray; School of EducationFlipped Classroom (FC) pedagogy promotes active student learning and facilitates integration of technology within an ‘inverted’ learning environment. As such, this approach has experienced rapid global uptake over the past decade on the back of a rapidly evolving educational landscape. Through reversing conventional classroom and homework routines, a classroom ‘flip’ introduces students to new learning concepts outside of the traditional school setting, via online resources such as instructional videos, vodcasts, or interactive online platforms. Students may work through this novel content at a pace and frequency which suits their individual requirements. Subsequent within-class time is aimed at extending and establishing new knowledge through fostering an active, inquiry-based learning structure. The classroom setting in which inquiry takes place is student-centred, allowing the teacher to act as a guide or facilitator to group inquiry systems, assisting when needed, and whose presence provides a scaffold for student learning opportunities. This scheme is embedded within the framework of social constructivism, encouraging students to share, discuss, and reason within a communal framework to build knowledge. It firmly establishes students, both individually and collectively, at the centre of their personal learning. The FC model is encapsulated within one of six innovative pedagogical clusters recently identified by the OECD as focusing on developing 21st century skills and increasing engagement, motivation, and agency in students. The Australian F-10 science curriculum relies heavily on inquiry-based learning as a core construct, using scientific knowledge acquired through evidence, the development of communication skills and student collaboration to solve problems with real-world applications. When considered against the context of the Australian F-10 science curriculum, the FC presents an opportunity to prepare young learners to meet challenges facing both contemporary and future society. The purpose of the present study was to assess whether flipping the classroom is effective across 3 determinants of student engagement and performance - academic learning outcomes (ALO), students’ perceived learning outcomes (PLO) and student satisfaction outcomes (SSO). Further, with a primary focus on middle school science classes, it sought to resolve whether the FC strategy is suitable for widespread uptake in teaching of the years 7 to 10 Australian science curriculum. A qualitative systematic review of literature relating to the flipped classroom and its applicability towards science education was conducted. Only primary data, sourced from empirical studies published between 2012 and 2022, in peer-reviewed journals, dissertations or theses were considered. A total of 36 studies were included in the final review. Results showed that of the 3 determinants of student outcomes (ALO, PLO, SSO), no studies found a significant decrease in performance through use of flipped learning when compared to control groups. Further, ALOs significantly improved through use of the FC model when compared to control in 21 high school-based studies, with 8 showing no difference. PLOs including engagement, comprehension, autonomy, and completion of pre-learnings were significantly increased in 21 studies, with 3 showing no difference. SSOs, such as enthusiasm, motivation to learn and subject enjoyment, improved significantly in all of 14 studies when FC delivery was compared to control groups. Issues which may act as enablers or barriers to successful implementation of the FC were also identified and are reported on, including teacher proficiency in model delivery and technological competency for both student and teacher. The results of this inquiry align with other recently published systematic reviews and meta-analyses, adding to a burgeoning research repository demonstrating beneficial effects of the FC model. The study concludes that flipping the classroom is a promising, learner-centred pedagogy suitable for developing active learners through delivery of the Australian middle school science curriculum.Item Open Access How to promote EAL students' English capability in high school in Australia(2022) Zhang, Qian; Thompson, Murray; School of EducationWith the growth of the economy and globalization, Australia attracts a large number of international students, most of whom do not speak English as their first language. This language limitation has resulted in many international students not being able to integrate well into the Australian living and learning environment. Effectively helping these students overcome the language barrier is one of the difficulties teachers face in the classroom. In order to help teachers, find effective ways to improve the students' English language ability in the classroom. This study focuses on how teachers can improve the English language skills of EAL students by providing effective assistance to EAL students in the classroom. The study puts the main focus on how to improve students' English speaking skills. It investigates and evaluates whether teachers in EAL classes can effectively help students improve their speaking skills by providing them with Corrective Feedback (CF) in speaking. Specifically, this study combines theory with practice by evaluating the CF approach in the context of multicultural education in Australia, and by taking into account specific student characteristics to assess whether the CF approach is suitable for teachers to use directly in the classroom and can effectively help students improve their English capability.Item Open Access Mindfulness: Is it the missing link in the Australian Student Wellbeing Framework?(2022) Southern, Mikayla; Thompson, Murray; Macleod, Lynda; School of EducationThe Australian Student Wellbeing Framework (ASWF) is a new addition to the standards and protocols teachers are required to meet, designed to create the best foundation for students to reach their aspirations, through supporting their wellbeing. The ASWF provides resources for teaching students about wellbeing, but lacks practical activities to improve wellbeing. Mindfulness is becoming increasingly popular in the literature due to its well-established connection to wellbeing and other positive outcomes of its practice. The objective of this study was to determine if a school-based mindfulness intervention would be beneficial to secondary student wellbeing and support academic performance, as part of the ASWF. The qualitative study took the form of a systematic review, in which 16 papers reporting on school-based mindfulness interventions were analysed. These articles were assessed for quality, prior to inclusion, using the MMAT and CRAAP test. The participants were secondary school-aged students from a variety of different backgrounds: culturally, linguistically, socio-economically, and geographically. Thematic analysis was conducted, and seven overarching themes emerged: academic performance, goal setting and relevance to life, interest in program and engagement, intervention delivery, emotional and behavioural changes, self-improvement and progress, and attention, awareness, and concentration. These themes identified key components of school-based mindfulness interventions. Improvements in student academic performance were found to be related to mindfulness interventions. Interestingly, goal setting was an important component to student engagement and the effectiveness of the intervention, this allowed students to see practical applications for the skills they were learning and how they were relevant to their daily lives. The interest students had in the program was related to their engagement and attendance, which led to reduced problematic behaviour and improved academic performance. The intervention delivery, with multiple sub-themes, provided valuable information; student comments and research findings were used to determine the best method for implementing a mindfulness intervention in secondary schools. The positive emotional and behavioural changes, which occurred as a result of the mindfulness intervention, led to greater student resilience and wellbeing. Moreover, there was less need for behaviour management, with a consequent increase in teaching and learning time, resulting in improvements in the teaching and learning environment. Students experienced improved self-concept, in all areas including academics, leading to more positive attitudes towards their own ability to learn. As a result of the mindfulness intervention, students experienced increases in selective attention and the capacity to divert focus away from distractors, as well as consequent improved academic outcomes. This study concludes with recommendations for mindfulness interventions in secondary schools, including a practical resource for teachers and schools to foster student wellbeing and improved academic performance, as part of the ASWF.Item Open Access What is the Most Effective Method for Teaching Improvisation in the Music Classroom?(2022) Selby, Owen; Thompson, Murray; School of EducationImprovisation is a wonderful aspect of music which offers musicians the opportunity to engage in creative self-expression, while simultaneously providing benefits to brain activity across all areas. A large proportion of music teachers lack confidence in teaching improvisation, often stemming from a lack of experience improvising themselves and research has indicated teachers want support in becoming more capable in this area. From the students’ perspective, improvisation can be a daunting prospect because it often leads to anxiety about making mistakes, and embarrassment in front of their peers. The purpose of this study is to provide music teachers with information about the optimum method to assist students grow as improvisors, and view improvisation as an enjoyable activity rather than something to be nervous about. This study conducted a systematic review of existing literature related to music improvisation education by searching databases for studies conducted since 2010. Data were extracted from the information contained within literature that passed a quality and relevancy test, and each piece of literature was evaluated to determine to what extent it would contribute to the findings of this study. The data were analysed to find commonalities across the literature and to evaluate the strength of contrasting ideas, and the findings were synthesised to produce the answers to the research questions. The data demonstrated that creating a supportive, relaxed environment where students are encouraged to take risks and not be afraid of making mistakes is incredibly important in designing an improvisation class. There were contrasting opinions on how a teacher could do this, with a clear division between advocacy for highly-structured improvisation activities, or emphasising improvisation as a communicative practice. Some of the data indicated that if students were asked to follow a pre-ordained structure when improvising, they would feel comfortable as they have a set of notes to stick to and an understanding of the direction of the music, as opposed to being overwhelmed by choice and lacking an idea of where to start. Other data displayed that in fact, asking students to stick to a structure would lead to worries about playing wrong notes, and it is more beneficial for students to be thinking about self-expression and their role within the ensemble when they are improvising, not getting worked up about individual note choice. A unanimous finding was the role strong aural skills plays in students’ development, as the data strongly displayed that methodologies which include aural activities lead to evident achievement in improvisation. This study definitively demonstrates that students engage most effectively in improvisation when the teacher creates a classroom environment which does not instil fears over making mistakes and encourages risk-taking, as well as accentuates the role of aural development in their teaching methodology. Further studies are needed to resolve what approaches are best at reducing students’ nerves, as this research project could not determine whether structured improvising, or free improvisation, is more agreeable to students.