The profile of gifted education is being raised in Queensland (Australia) schools in recognition of the potential benefits to students of engaging in such programs. Little is known, however, about what types of programs are being delivered, especially in the early years. Since many programs are created by individuals, it is important to understand…

In this study, the Science Student Skills Inventory was used to gain understanding of student perceptions about their quantitative skills and compare perceptions of cohorts graduating before and after the implementation of a new science curriculum intent on developing quantitative skills. The study involved 600 responses from final-year…

Parents can significantly affect children's peer relationships, including their involvement in bullying. The authors developed and evaluated ways to enhance parents' knowledge, self-efficacy, attitudes, and skills related to parent-child communication about bullying. The 3-year Friendly Schools Friendly Families whole-school intervention included…

Previous studies have investigated the association between the frequency of student learning management system (LMS) use (logins, discussion board use, resources used, etc.) and academic achievement. These studies indicate that low LMS use by students is likely to result in less academic success. However, these models fail to take into account…

Background and context: Schools in Australia and internationally are increasingly adopting a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) approach to teaching and learning. The review: While discussion of a BYOD approach has taken place, there is a dearth of consideration of the potential impact of BYOD policy on student health. Implementation of a BYOD policy…

An online Maths Skills Site was developed as an integrated support programme for first year Chemistry students, the content of which, was based on an analysis of their high-school mathematical backgrounds. This study examined the students' perceptions of Maths, their patterns of usage of the Maths Skills Site and whether there was a relationship…

The increase in the use of educational technologies in Australian high schools has sparked this investigation into how Year 9 (13 to 14 years of age) students experience and negotiate a new technology enhanced learning environment in a bilingual classroom setting. The paper is about examining the students' language practices in German and English…

The findings of this paper are based on a 3-year study of students registered with disability services at an Australian, regional university between 2008 and 2010. The concept of self-management, in its various dimensions, was a key theme emerging from the study. We argue that participants in our study employ "layers of self-management"…

Universities in many countries are struggling to adapt to the competing forces of globalisation, new managerialism, entrepreneurialism and new technologies and quality agenda demands. Diminishing resources caused by restricted funding and an aging and diminishing academic workforce pose barriers. One solution to staffing shortages is the…

Researchers in science education have for some time recognised the need for teachers to develop an awareness of students' common alternative conceptions--a key element of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)--and use this knowledge to develop student understanding (Morrison & Lederman, 2003). Less attention, however, has been devoted to the…

Developing a professional teacher identity can be complex as pre-service teachers engage with a process informed by their previous experiences of teachers and teaching, by learning in their pre-service course, by field placements, and by societal expectations. Using drawing as the method for gathering data, pre-service teachers in an Australian…

Indigenous students remain vastly under-represented within higher education in Australia. While aspirations have been a key focus of the widening participation agenda, the aspirations of Indigenous students have largely been overlooked. Drawing on survey data collected as part of a mixed methods longitudinal study conducted with students in Years…

The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) are a series of nationally representative surveys of young people, which follow their transitions from compulsory schooling to postschool education and into employment. The survey program is administered by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) on behalf of the Australian…

Given recent concerns around boys' literacy, this study examined multidimensional writing motivation and engagement among boys. We explored internal and external validity of 11 adaptive (e.g. self-efficacy for writing) and maladaptive (e.g. disengagement from writing) factors of writing motivation and engagement. The sample comprised 781 male…

Rates of music participation are low in developed nations. This may be attributed in part to the failure of school music to engage children sufficiently to motivate them to continue learning and participating in music. We tested the "Harmonix" program of classroom music education, which is currently being designed to maximize engagement…