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Survey sets out to ‘right a wrong’ in education

June 06, 2005

SurveyThumb.jpgResponses in the largest survey of its kind ever undertaken in Australia are beginning to arrive at The University of New England by mail and over the Internet.

The leader of the survey team, Professor John Pegg, said the survey on science, ICT and mathematics education in Australian country schools was designed “to right what I see as a wrong in our society”.

Professor Pegg, the Director of the National Centre of Science, ICT and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia (SiMERR Australia), which is based at UNE, was speaking during the official launch of the survey last week. The “wrong” he was referring to is the disadvantage of country school students in science, mathematics and ICT subjects as reflected in results that are generally poorer than those of their city counterparts.

"It is critical that we have accurate information about the issues facing teachers, students and communities in these subject areas if we are to address the disadvantage of students in rural and regional Australia in a coordinated way," Professor Pegg said. "This National Survey is a vital first step. The data will identify key issues facing rural teachers and important obstacles to students’ learning, and provide feedback on successful practices, teachers’ professional development needs, and the use of ICT in rural schools. It will also answer questions about how student diversity is addressed in these schools. The information obained will inform policy decisions about how to attract teachers to rural and regional schools, and how to support their efforts to help students achieve results in mathematics and science comparable to those of their city counterparts."

The last of the letters inviting schools and their communities throughout Australia to participate in the survey was mailed from UNE towards the end of May. The letters went to 5,669 primary and secondary schools and seek responses from about 50,000 teachers and community members. The National Survey is funded through the Australian Government, and is being carried out in collaboration with researchers from hubs of SiMERR Australia in all States and Territories.

In launching the survey, UNE’s Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development), Professor Peter Flood, called it “a truly major undertaking”. He pointed out that it was “not a sample, but a census”, as it was targeting every school in regional Australia (as well as a sample of schools in the larger metropolitan areas for comparison).

Professor Pegg took advantage of the occasion to thank the many groups and individuals within UNE who had helped with the massive task of organising, printing and distributing the survey and placing it on the SiMERR Web site. “It really pushed everyone to the limit,” he said. He thanked, in particular, SiMERR Australia’s project manager for the National Survey, Dr Terry Lyons of UNE. “He has held the whole enterprise together in a way that has kept the project focused, and everybody happy,” Professor Pegg said.

For more information about the National Survey, please contact Professor Pegg or Dr Lyons at SiMERR Australia, The University of New England, on (02) 6773 5067, or by e-mail at simerr@une.edu.au.


Media contact: Professor John Pegg, Director, SiMERR Australia, UNE (02) 6773 5070 or Dr Terry Lyons on (02) 6773 2983

The photograph displayed here shows (from right) Professor John Pegg, Dr Terry Lyons, and Anne Parnell (Project Officer for the National Survey) with some of the returned survey forms.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at June 6, 2005 10:24 AM