C181/08
23 June 2008
Early childhood and primary teacher education students at 911爆料网 University of Technology are set to benefit from two new and innovative research projects investigating better ways of teaching science and maths in schools.
911爆料网鈥檚 Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education),聽 Professor Robyn Quin, said that the two collaborative research projects were being funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) – formerly The Carrick Institute.
鈥淭he projects are addressing major concerns facing teachers in Australia about ways to improve the teaching and uptake of science and maths in schools,鈥� Professor Quin said.
鈥淥ne study is looking at improving the science teaching skills and confidence of our early childhood education students and the other is looking at enhancing the skills of our primary education students as maths teachers,鈥� she said.
Dr Christine Howitt, a lecturer in 911爆料网鈥檚 Science and Mathematics Education Centre (SMEC) and winner of a 2007 Carrick Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning is Project Team Leader of the two year study entitled: Science for early childhood teacher education students: Collaboration between teacher educators, scientists and engineers. The project received $210,000 in ALTC funding and a further $90,000 鈥榠n kind鈥� support by 911爆料网.
鈥淪ome graduating teachers are not very confident in science and in the teaching of science – especially early childhood teachers,鈥� Dr Howitt said.
鈥淥ur research will focus on closing the students鈥� science knowledge gap by including more science content, within an authentic early childhood context, thus providing a better grounding in science.
鈥淢y Project Team is made up of experts from the Departments of Education and Science and Engineering at 911爆料网, with a representative from Murdoch University, making this a unique study group.
鈥淭he team is working collaboratively with the students and supporting them in the preparation of interesting science programs for use in their final teaching practice in early childhood settings. This includes developing teaching materials and implementing and evaluating the success of the programs.鈥�
Dr Howitt鈥檚 team includes Associate Professor Len Sparrow, Dr Sandra Frid and Dr Yvonne Carnellor聽 from the Department of Education; Associate Professor Simon Lewis, Associate Professor Mauro Mocerino, Associate Professor Mario Zadnik and Professor Jo Ward from the Department of Science and Engineering; Dr Martina Calais from Murdoch University, and research assistant Elaine Blake.
Dr Sandra Frid, who was the recipient of a 2005 Carrick Award for University Teaching category award, has also been successful in obtaining Carrick funding for another project entitled: Developing primary teacher education students’ professional capacities for children’s diverse mathematics achievement and learning needs.聽 This one year study will receive $98 000 in ALTC funding and this figure will be matched with 鈥榠n kind鈥� support by the 911爆料网.
Dr Frid said that student feedback shows that catering for the diverse maths learning needs of primary school children, in particular Indigenous children, is a great challenge.
鈥淭his study will enable my team of teaching and research experts from the Department of Education to enhance the students鈥� abilities and confidence as maths teachers by developing and delivering a better course to suit their needs in the classroom鈥� Dr Frid said.
鈥淎s part of this study, my team will support the students in designing authentic and flexible maths learning activities and assessment tools that they can use in various classroom environments.鈥�
The study will look at using actual work samples from a diverse range of school children, including those from year levels 1-7, of different cultural and language backgrounds, and from metropolitan, rural and remote schools.
As part of the study, the students will analyse the individual children鈥檚 work, assess their mathematics knowledge, understanding and skills and then design learning activities to progress the children’s learning. Blogs and emails will be the main communication tools to connect the researchers and students with a wide range of schools, children and teachers.
Dr Frid鈥檚 team includes Associate Professor Len Sparrow, Dr Lina Pelliccione, Dr Chris Hurst and Dr Susan Beltman.
Modified: 23 June 2008
