This paper reports and discusses the principal findings of an Australian study exploring the decisions of high achieving Year 10 students about taking physics and chemistry courses (Lyons, 2003). The study used a "multiple worlds" framework to explore the diverse background characteristics that previous quantitative research had shown…

One of the central concerns of English as a Second Language (ESL) education within many English-speaking countries has been the relationship between content and language teaching. In Victoria, a state of Australia, the educational policy of mainstreaming ESL is presented as a means of catering to the language learning needs of ESL students within…

Attitudes of rural parents toward postcompulsory education were examined through in-depth structured interviews with 140 parents of students in 4 rural Tasmanian high schools. The students were all in Year 10, which is the last year of compulsory education in Australia. Most parents had lived in the same community for over 10 years. The proportion…

This article reports an investigation into the factors that facilitate language learning. The first strand examines whether motivation is a predictor of as is widely accepted. In order to confirm this, Grade 10 students' motivation level was measured using two questions. Language gains were also measured and compared with the motivation level. The…

The hypothesis that higher levels of job knowledge and/or more extensive career exploration would be indicated in higher correlations between self-estimates and measured interests was investigated in two separate studies. Job knowledge was assessed using the Job Knowledge Survey (JKS), and career exploration was assessed using the questionnaire,…

This study examined why Australian high school students decided to continue or discontinue their schooling, using a comprehensive theoretical model to examine the issue. Three surveys of 817 tenth-grade students over a 13-month period indicated that the theoretical model adequately and appropriately explained and predicted students' persistence…

A study found first-year physics students at the University of Namibia (UNAM), considered to be a select group of students, to be as prepared for laboratory work as Australian tenth-graders. Comparison with students of Potchefstroom University (South Africa) found UNAM students deficient in both cognitive and affective aspects of laboratory work.…

Over the past decades, genetics has remained a difficult topic in school science. This paper presents an interactive multimedia program, "BioLogica", used to teach Grade 10 (14- and 15-year-olds) Australian students about genetics. Over six weeks, the teacher used different representations in the teaching and engaged students in computer…

The free writing responses of 120 gifted/average Australian high school students (grades 8, 10, and 12) to a short story and a poem were coded according to Alan Purves' categories--engagement, perception, interpretation, evaluation, or miscellaneous--to detect any patterns of differences. The students also provided data about their preferences for…

Grade level and sex differences in attitudes to English, mathematics, social studies and art were explored among a sample of students in grades 7 through 10. Student attitudes generally were most favorable toward English, then toward mathematics, social studies, and (least favorable) art. (Author/MLW)

Found grades in science achieved by tenth-grade general science students correlated with their scores on Propositional Logic Test. The students' ability level was consistently related to the pattern of errors they committed on that measure. Mean scores were lowest on a subtest of ability to use the bicondition and implication, higher on the…

The learning of decision-making (DM) skills and appropriate attitudes is an important objective of career education. This study provides an empirical test of theoretical links between aspects of DM styles and vocational maturity (VM) in adolescence. Approximately 260 Australian students in grades ten and twelve answered questionnaires measuring…

The paper presents data about applying the Piers-Harris Children's Self Concept Scale (CSCS) to an Australian population. Data were obtained from 402 randomly selected male and female, primary and secondary school students, representing all school systems (195 from Grades 3 and 4, 207 from Grades 10 and 11). Anaylsis conducted on the two age…

One of the clear findings of recent research on the learning of science has been that students who have completed science courses commonly use conceptions held before instruction to interpret natural phenomena. This paper reports on a study of conceptual change in mechanics with particular concern with the nature of student awareness of any…

WebQuests are a powerful teaching and learning device that have developed rapidly in recent years, especially in the Humanities. In Australia, the use of WebQuests in Science has become popular. The multimedia product of students' investigations can be shared with a variety of audiences. In this article, I will explain what I understand to be a…