This study examined the types of mathematical connections established by four secondary school students while constructing concept maps on transformations of the parabola. The use of concepts maps revealed students' understandings--including some misconceptions--of transformations of the parabola and confirmed the usefulness of a model for…

This research captured the views of secondary school students in relation to their use of digital technologies for learning, both now and in the future. Four groups of students participated in the production of hand-drawn concept maps, followed by focus group discussions. The ways in which students considered the use of computers for the purposes…

The amount of substance and its unit the mole is a basic concept in chemistry. However, previous research has shown that teaching and learning the concept are challenging tasks for both teachers and students. The purpose of this study was to pinpoint the problems which emerge in the teaching and learning process, and provide integrated suggestions…

Digital media are beneficial for research of complex refugee issues, as they allow refugees to express their personal experiences of complex issues in ways that are not restricted by language barriers or limited in authenticity, while also offering researchers a way to systematically compare refugees' varied experiences. We used a computerised…

Educational attainment is widely recognised as a 'wicked' problem in Australia for which a range of interventions have been developed. The North West of Tasmania is a rural and regional community, which has been a focus for such interventions due to its relatively low rates of retention to Year 12 and low tertiary participation rates. This paper…

Positively addressing and resolving staff grievances within a school is imperative for effective schooling and leadership. Often overlooked in grievance procedures are the role/s of stakeholders especially those in authority (e.g., Principals or School Leaders). Content and Leximancer analysis are two useful methodological tools used in tandem…

In this study, we investigated the value of a concept map marking guide as an alternative formative assessment tool for science teachers to adopt for the topic of energy. Eight high school science teachers marked students' concept maps using an itemized holistic marking guide. Their marking was compared with the researchers' marking and the scores…

Mathematics is a subject which is often taught using abstract methods and processes. These methods by their very nature may for students alienate the relationship between Mathematics and real life situations. Further, these abstract methods and processes may disenfranchise students from becoming self-directed learners of Mathematics. A solution to…

Within the "Australian Curriculum: Mathematics" the Understanding proficiency strand states, "Students build understanding when they connect related ideas, when they represent concepts in different ways, when they identify commonalities and differences between aspects of content, when they describe their thinking mathematically and…

Curriculum mapping is an increasingly common concept within the field of education. A joint project between La Trobe University and the Public Health Agency of Canada attempted to map public health competencies with learning objectives from online learning modules developed by the two organisations. As part of this project a literature review was…

This article reports the investigation of change in preservice teachers' conceptions of effective history teaching across a secondary history methods course in a postgraduate diploma of education program. Using concept mapping to plot shifts in their expressed reflections, data were obtained that indicate personal constructs of effective history…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore relationships between students' self-reported mental health and their perspectives about life at school in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. Design/methodology/approach: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and a purpose designed Living and Learning at School Questionnaire (LLSQ)…

This study involves an Australian Western Victorian District High School year nine mixed ability mathematics class learning mathematics using social justice pedagogy. The learning intent of the unit required students to compare their own lifestyles against different families from around the world and use mathematics as a tool to investigate…

Recent educational research from a socio-cognitive perspective has validated students' collaborative engagement with new technologies and heightened understanding of influential factors shaping the effectiveness of peer interactions, learning contexts and computer interfaces for enhancing learning. This paper focuses on an analysis of the…

These proceedings contain the papers of the International Conference e-Learning 2013, which was organised by the International Association for Development of the Information Society and is part of the Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems (Prague, Czech Republic, July 23-26, 2013). The e-Learning 2013 conference aims to…