MERC Conference 07: Education Research and Practice: Futures and Possibilities
4th July 2007 – Maton Rooms, Menzies Building, Monash University, Clayton campus.
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Time / Events8.30-9.00 / Registration
9.00-9.05 / Welcome from MERC – Calvin Taylor (MERC Conference Convenor)
9.10-9.55 / SG01 - Annual Invitational Lecture
Susan Edwards - Education research and practice: futures and possibilities
10.00-11.30 / Paper Session 1
SG01 - Professional Learning
1. Basikin
Teachers’ Efficacy beliefs among English teachers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
2. Hafiz Rahman
Professional learning of junior secondary science teachers in Bangladesh.
3. Jo Rechner
Teaching and learning in a different culture. / SG02 - Childhood Studies
4. Ana Cristina Mantilla
Foreign languages in early childhood: Designing a comparative education study using Rogoff’s sociocultural perspective.
5. Hilary Monk
Funds of knowledge: a theoretical framework for intergenerational research.
6. Corine M. Patricia Rivalland
A door to cultural understanding: a socio-cultural/poststructual study. / SG03 - Culture, Lang & Diversity
7. Ying (Barbara) Zhang
Oral fluency in the eyes of NES and NNES raters.
8. Ying Wen
The metacognitive awareness ESP reading comprehension questionnaire: an exploratory study.
9. Calvin Taylor
Movement and meaning-making: considerations for researching literacy and mobile technologies. / SG04 - Culture, Lang & Diversity
10. Anita Dewi
Investigating shifts in professional identity: case studies of Indonesian EFL educators.
11. . Isti Siti Saleha Gandana
Exploring the third space: negotiating identities and cultural differences.
12. Victoria Fritze
Classics at the crossroads…again: Recent history, present perceptions and future possibilities of senior secondary classics in Victoria.
11.30-12.00 / Morning Tea
12.00-1.00 / Paper Session 2
SG01 - Science, Maths & Technology
13. Anne Suryani
How is the internet in Indonesia?
14. Ernest Kofi Davis
Ghanaian basic school teacher trainees’ conception of addition of two unlike fractions / SG02 - Childhood Studies
15. Chris Peers & Geraldine Burke
Documenting early childhood ‘immersions’ in visual art education.
16. Gloria Quiñones & Corine M.P. Rivalland
Who am I and who do you want us to be?: E.C. professional’s awareness of their “self-concept” in the context of childcare. / SG03 - Culture, Lang & Diversity
17. Miyuki Miyachika
The implication of Japanese English in ELT.
18. Siautu Alefaio
Growing the heart of the learner – A South Pacific worldview. / SG04 - Work, Learning & Leadership
19. Jane Hudson
Traversing the borders between transformative learning and competency based training within industry based VET: a case study.
20. John Haycock
Rage against the machine: researching the role of protest music in adult learning for social change.
1.00-2.00 / Lunch
2.00-3.15 / Discussion Panel: Creating and sustaining research cultures. Room?
A varied panel drawn from across the Faculty’s current Research Strengths will examine how research cultures are best created and sustained, and what might be done with them when they do exist.
Focus Questions
· What are the essential factors in creating and sustaining cultures of research?
· How effective are current frameworks within the Faculty at building the kinds of cultures and relationships that promote and support quality research? What challenges currently exist and how might these be addressed?
· What alternative models exist and how might they work in practice? What would it take to make the necessary changes?
· How should the relationship between academic staff and graduate students feature in such models?
· Panel members are strongly encouraged to draw on their personal experiences of different research cultures in order to critique the current approach in the Faculty.
Chair:
Prof. Jane Kenway, Associate Dean, Research – What is Research Culture? Why is it important?
Panel members
Professor Marilyn Fleer
Dr Mary Lou Rasmussen
Dr Ian Mitchell
Professor Terri Seddon
3.15-3.30 / Afternoon Tea
3.30-4.30 / Paper Session 3
SG01 - Professional Learning
21. Galuh Nur Rohmah
My experience in learning and teaching writing: as a reflection of an ongoing process of writing.
22. Lexie Brans
Paradoxes and the Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia: implications for teaching nurses ethics. / SG02 - Childhood Studies
23. Avis Ridgway
“Santa’s buckle” Using a cultural-historical framework to show societal, personal and institutional influences on learning in an Australian early childhood community.
Culture Lang & Diversity
24. Diana Hasan
Foreign language anxiety experienced by Indonesian students learning English in Australia. / SG04 - Sport, Health & Outdoor Recreation Studies
Associate Professor Phillip Payne
Discussant.
25. Ian Grinter
An ecological paradigm and new understanding of “interdisciplinarity”.
26. Monica Green
Food gardens: cultivating a pedagogy of place.
4.30-5.00 / Plenary and summary Room?
Susan Edwards
5.00 / Drinks – Foyer
MERC CONFERENCE 2007
Education Research and Practice: Futures and Possibilities
July 4, 2007
This conference will be held in the Manton Rooms, on the ground floor of the Menzies Building, primarily rooms SG01, SG02, SG03 and SG04, as well as the Manton Rooms Foyer area.
- General Information -
Registration
Registration begins at 8.30am on the day of the conference in the ground floor foyer of the Manton Rooms, in the Menzies Building (Building 11, Clayton Campus). Throughout the day, last minute sessions, time and/or venue changes, as well as other relevant announcements, will be posted on a message board by the registration desk in the foyer.
Always display you name label please.
All participants will receive blank labels to write their names on. Everyone is strongly encouraged to wear their label throughout the day to facilitate interaction amongst participants.
Parking
Parking will be free of charge for all conference participants in the campus blue areas for the entire day. No permits need to be displayed. The nearest blue carparks are situated to the east of the education building (Building 6).
Conference Lunch
A mouth-watering conference lunch has been arranged for participants. Food is also available on the campus at various outlets and at one licensed bistro within the Campus Centre, as well as another licensed bar/bistro below the Matheson Library.
Participant Feedback
Successive MERC conference organising sub-committees have benefited over past years from participant feedback. Likewise, your comments and feedback this year are equally valued and appreciated. A form appropriate for this will be made available in the conference packages or at registration desk. Please take some time at the end of the conference to fill it in before returning it at the end of the final session in the box provided by the registration desk.
If the fire alarm goes off…
Should the fire alarm go off, please evacuate the building using the nearest emergency exit or escape staircase. Do NOT use any lifts or adjacent staircases. Assemble in designated between the School of Law (12), the University Museum of Art (55) and the Menzies Building (11).
If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to ask anyone at the reception desk – we are more than willing to assist.
MERC ANNUAL INVITATIONAL LECTURE
Education research and practice: futures and possibilities
Susan Edwards
Abstract
Engaging in educational research holds the potential to raise any number of questions, from the methodological, theoretical to practice. This presentation examines the research trajectory of an early career researcher and canvasses how initial explorations informing a PhD thesis have evolved into the more detailed and theoretically contextualised investigations characterising the researcher’s current work. How issues associated with the methodologies employed, and the relationship between the theoretical and practical have been negotiated are examined in relation to this trajectory. The process involved in developing an educational research agenda over time and how such an agenda is related to the work conducted within a particular educational community of practice is also explored.
Biodata
Dr Susan Edwards is a Lecturer in early childhood education in the Centre for Childhood Studies at the Faculty of Education, Monash University. Susan graduated with her PhD in 2004 and has since engaged in a number of funded research projects and published her work in key national and international journals and within two edited book collections. Dr Edwards is also the recipient of a prestigious Carrick Citation from the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Australia. This was awarded in 2006 for the design and implementation of innovative and reflective teaching practices in undergraduate teacher education that motivate, inspire and support student learning.
Creating and Sustaining Research Cultures
Invitation to attend a Special Faculty Panel Discussion
Sponsored by MERC
MERC invites all staff and students in the Faculty to attend a special discussion panel exploring the issues around creating and sustaining effective research cultures. This open invitation session will be held as part of the MERC Annual Conference on July 4 in the Manton Rooms of the Menzies Building (room SG01).
A mixed panel drawn from across the Faculty’s current Research Strengths will examine how research cultures are best created and sustained, and what might be done with them when they do exist. Panel members will draw on their wide experience with different research cultures to reflect on current faculty structures and to offer possible ways forward.
Focus Questions:
· What are the essential factors in creating and sustaining worthwhile research cultures?
· How effective are current structures within the Faculty at building the kinds of cultures and relationships that promote and support quality research? What challenges currently exist and how might these be addressed?
· What alternative models exist and how might they work in practice?
· What role do regular academic staff and graduate students play in such challenges? How can early career researchers and graduate students be involved in meaningful ways?
Panel members:
Prof Marilyn Fleer
Prof Jane Kenway (chair)
Dr Ian Mitchell
Dr Mary Lou Rasmussen
Prof Terri Seddon
When: 2.00-3.15pm, Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Where: Rm SG01, Manton Rooms, Ground Floor, Menzies Building, Clayton Campus, Monash University.
Look forward to seeing you there,
MERC Conference Organising Committee.
MERC CONFERENCE PAPER ABSTRACTS
July 4, 2007
Each paper presented will be of 20 minutes duration, with 10 minutes question time.
Paper Session 1
SG01- Professional Leadership
10:00am
1. Teachers’ Efficacy Beliefs among English Teachers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Basikin
Research suggests that teachers’ efficacy beliefs have effects on teachers’ behaviour in the classroom, attitude about teaching, the way teachers refer to students, the way to cope with problems, and teachers’ burnout. They are also believed to be indicators of students’ behaviour, achievement, motivation, and students’ sense of efficacy. Efficacy construct, however, remains elusive due to adverse contexts significantly responsible to the great variations of teacher efficacy beliefs (Milner & Hoy, 2002). This paper focuses on a part of data on self-efficacy beliefs among 152 secondary school English teachers in Yogyakarta collected using the TSE scale (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001) and two additional subscales addressing the contextual issues on the Indonesia education system. Reliability in the Indonesian context was high (alpha=.97 overall; alphas= .91, .92, .93, .91, and .94 respectively, for the personal efficacy, efficacy for instructional strategy, classroom management, student engagement, and efficacy for curriculum implementation sub-scales). Results suggest that teachers’ efficacy beliefs are generally high (overall M=4.68 on the 7-point scale; Ms=4.25, 4.76, 5.03, 4.71, and 4.51 respectively for the subscales). Findings are interesting in the context of critics on low student English achievement in this region and implications are suggested in relation to teachers’ continuing professional development.
Biodata
Mr. Basikin is a Masters by research student in Education Faculty working on teachers’ efficacy beliefs among Secondary school English teachers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The research project is currently at the stage of data analysis and report writing.
10:30 am
2. Professional Learning of Junior Secondary Science Teachers in Bangladesh.
Hafiz Rahman
Professional learning plays a fundamental role in improving the quality of the science teacher. The quality of the science teacher is a factor to consider when attempting to improve students’ academic achievement in science. There has not been much improvement in science education in Bangladesh in the last three decades after Independence. Fewer than half (48.7%) of the teachers have had any in-service training. In the classroom setting, teaching is theoretical, teacher dominated and textbook oriented. Teachers have limited skills in helping students to see the links between theoretical discussions and real life science situations. In most cases, teachers lack the pedagogical knowledge and skills required to facilitate meaningful learning. In this situation a learner-centred and enquiry based teaching learning approach is essential. At this early stage of my research work I wish to identify the present status and quality of professional learning of junior secondary science teachers in Bangladesh. Then I would like to suggest some interventions that may be workable in our context so that teachers can find their way to develop more effective teaching-learning approaches.
Biodata
Hafiz is Assistant Professor of science education at the Institute of Education and Research (IER), University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Recently he commenced his PhD on science education in the faculty of Education, Monash University. His PhD research is on Professional Learning of secondary science teachers in Bangladesh. He is also interested is assessment in Education. He involved in a study sponsored by UNESCO for improving learning assessment practices to ensure quality of primary education in Bangladesh. Recently, his work on open investigation in practical work and science teachers’ belief has been accepted for publication.
11.00 am
3. Teaching and Learning in a Different Culture
Jo Rechner
My research project is based on my experiences as a new graduate teacher. In my first year of teaching I taught in a school in Hungary for two and a half months and I found the experience to be a rich and profound part of my professional learning. This study will investigate my personal and professional reflections and insights of that experience from drawing on journal entries, photographs, stories, restorying (generation of original stories), collected curriculum artefacts and my own memory. Douglas Barne’s (1976) notion of curriculum as ‘communication’ is an important frame for this study. Using this frame my project is exploring my developing understanding of the nature of curriculum (as in this international experience), students learning (how students learn in different curriculum’s in different countries), and professional learning (how teachers construct different notions of curriculum and why).