Surveys of Australian college faculty, conducted in 1977 and 1993, provide data for tracing trends in workload. While time devoted to teaching and research have remained stable, changes at the margins of academic workload are considerable. These tasks are largely generated by demands of institutional competition, accountability, and quality…

Analyzed survey responses of 226 mathematics teachers from 57 Australian high schools concerning the use of writing in mathematics classrooms. Findings suggested that writing is rarely used as a strategy for teaching mathematics and when it is used, its effectiveness is limited. Includes the Writing in Mathematics questionnaire. (44 references)…

A survey of 1,249 Queensland University of Technology (Australia) students concerning their learning environment found that they feel effective teaching is relevant, experiential, and interactive, while ineffective teaching lacks structure, is inappropriately paced, lacks variety, and occurs in a classroom with inadequate discipline. Implications…

This paper examines Australian students' knowledge of Asia, and reports on a national survey of Year 5 and 8 students. Knowledge was measured by using a combined set of subtests tailored to each state and territory curriculum and reported in terms of a standards referenced framework. The survey collected data from more than 7000 students in over…

Gender differences were examined in performance on the California Verbal Learning Test (immediate and delayed recall), Digit Span Backwards, Symbol-Digit Modalities Test, Spot-the-Word, and simple and choice reaction time. The data came from a community survey involving 2404 people aged 20-24 years, 2530 aged 40-44 years, and 2551 aged 60-64…

As the World Wide Web becomes an integral part of higher education, universities must determine the viability of using the Internet for their student evaluation systems. This chapter highlights important online-student-rating issues raised in this volume and in other research through a case study of Murdoch University's (Perth, Australia) online…

This paper reports the results of a study of the implementation of multicultural education policy initiatives in Australia. An outline of the study's methods follows brief discussions of the emergence of multicultural education as a policy issue and the context of multicultural education in Australia. To assess the impact of multicultural…

An estimated 80%-90% of all Aboriginal students enrolled in the primary and secondary schools of Victoria, Australia, were tested and surveyed to determine their numbers, distribution, attendance, achievement, attitudes, and school leaving patterns. Most of the 1244 Aboriginals surveyed attended state schools and 75% were schooled in rural areas.…

Focus groups examined issues of school retention and achievement among male high school students in South Australia. The study was undertaken in light of declining high school graduation rates among boys, particularly in rural areas. Focus groups were conducted with 1,800 boys in years 9, 11, and 12; 60 school representatives were interviewed; and…

This study illustrates the convergence of two teaching and learning media, face-to-face and online, as reflective lecturers seek to address the limitations of a single medium. Innovative university lecturers at a large Western Australia university were interviewed about their use of online environments with face-to-face students. The interview…

An exploratory study was conducted to evaluate the utility of a method to demonstrate that Australian enterprises that invest in the training of their employees gain a return from that investment through an increase in employee productivity. The method, which compares enterprise expenditure on training of personnel with labor productivity across a…

This report details a study of how inclusive practices for students with disabilities are being developed and implemented in eight countries: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The study aimed to describe national, regional, and local policies on inclusion and school-based practices and…

A survey of 1,720 students in 71 university science laboratory classes in the United States, Canada, England, Australia, Israel, and Nigeria investigated student and teacher perceptions of dimensions of classroom environment (student cohesiveness, open-endedness, integration, rule clarity, material environment). Results and the utility of the…

Surveys of 100 Australian college and university faculty in 1987 and again in 1992, after implementation of new higher education policies, found decreased levels of faculty satisfaction with their work (substance and conditions), their students, and their administrations. Unsatisfactory levels of stress and tension at work were also found. (MSE)

Recent immigrants to Australia from non-English-speaking countries have experienced difficulties in mathematics methods courses. Reports survey results on how these students perceive their problems and how they think courses could be adapted to meet their needs. (MDH)