Many university lecturers have integrated feature films and television series (FF/TV) into their lessons to improve student engagement. Although film in teaching might seem like a well-established practice, it is reliant on a range of fast-changing technologies to effectively integrate FF/TV into instruction, learning activities and assessments.…

As a key predictor of students' academic achievement parental involvement has been in the centre of attention of both educational researchers and policymakers for quite some time. Immigrant parents represent a growing, but under-researched group with its distinctive experiences and expectations. This study provides a systematic synthesis of 40…

The research reported on in this paper is a qualitative case study of secondary school teachers' interpretations of how they work with a component of the Australian national curriculum, the seven "general capabilities." The case study of four secondary school teachers utilized teacher interviews eliciting via descriptive analysis how…

Three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds have been used for more than a decade in higher education for teaching and learning. Since the 1980s, academics began using virtual worlds as an exciting and innovative new technology to provide their students with new learning experiences that were difficult to provide any other way. But since that time,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate and identify threshold concepts that are the essential conceptual content of finance programmes. Design/Methodology/Approach: Conducted in three stages with finance academics and students, the study uses threshold concepts as both a theoretical framework and a research methodology. Findings: The…

Research involving student and tutor responses to a "pedagogy of the heart" approach in a first year university health science topic revealed anxiety, insecurity and perceptions of unpredictability in relation to an innovative arts-based assignment designed to elicit and assess experiential or imaginal knowledge. Using the lens of…

This article presents an analysis of rich data, gathered from interviews with 46 candidates and 38 supervisors from three Australian universities, about experiences of doctoral supervision in cross-cultural situations. Our analysis shows that many of the issues reported by international candidates are the same as those encountered by domestic…

Current research largely explores the evaluation and perceptions of Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) from the student perspective. The purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate institutional, faculty, and academic staff perceptions, experiences, and expectations of an established PASS program in the Faculty of Business in an Australian…

This article reports on the results of a paper-pen questionnaire study involving certain key aspects of the nature of science. The questionnaire covers, among other things, aspects such as uniqueness of the scientific method, objectivity of scientific data, and immutability of scientific laws. The survey was given out to eighty trainee teachers…

In line with expanded conceptualizations of validity that encompass the interpretations and uses of test scores in particular policy contexts, this report presents results of a comparative analysis of institutional understandings and uses of 3 international English proficiency tests widely used for tertiary selection--the "TOEFL iBT"®…

This paper explores the impact of a Teaching and Learning Audit of all government schools in Queensland, Australia. This audit has a concern with the extent to which schools "differentiate classroom learning". We note that in England, since September 2012, one of the standards that teachers have been expected to demonstrate is an ability…

Climate change and its effects are likely to present challenging problems for future generations of young people. It is important for Australian students to understand the mechanisms and consequences of climate change. If students are to develop a sophisticated understanding, then science teachers need to be well-informed about climate change…

Despite many worldwide physical education (PE) and physical activity policies targeting children in schools, there is considerable variation between policy and implementation. The purpose of this study was to investigate Victorian state secondary PE teachers' knowledge and implementation of the mandated policy of 100 minutes of PE and 100 minutes…

This paper reports the outcomes of a survey to investigate the level of cultural understanding and confidence for teachers working in culturally diverse classrooms. The survey was administered to teachers in primary and secondary schools in an Australian regional city. The aim of analysis was to determine the direction and strength of association…

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…