Current

Low-achieving middle-school students’ maintenance of performance gains following participation in an intervention program designed to enhance basic academic skills.

Project team: Dr Lorraine Graham, Jenny Thomas, Noelene Raymond

Engaging Indigenous Students: Embedding ICT in Learning (EiSEiL)

Project team: Dr Chris Reading, Mr Graeme Ross

Maths: Why Not? Unpacking reasons for students’ decisions concerning higher-level mathematics in the senior years.

Project team: Professor John Pegg, Mr Will Morony

Equipping teachers with understanding and skills to improve the long-term learning outcomes of low-achieving students.

Project Team: Professor John Pegg, Dr Lorraine Graham, Jenny Thomas

Engaging the Science Profession with ICT: SiMERR Workshops 2006

Project Team: Australian Science Teachers’ Association, Science Teachers’ Association of NSW, South Australian Science Teachers’ Association, Science Teachers’ Association of Queensland, and SiMERR National Centre

Team Members: Paul Carnemolla, Niels Hider, Peter Turnbull, Mike Roach, Mark Divito, Rosemary Hafner, Anna Davis, Mary Rowland, Nick Johnstone, Debra Panizzon

Developing Curriculum Leadership Skills of Established Teachers in Rural Regions who have Leadership Responsibilities or Aspirations

Project Team: The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers - Will Morony and executive members of the state bodies affiliated to AAMT.

Computing Studies Teachers Network Rural and Regional Focus

Project Team: Ralph Leonard, Sue Hollands, executive members of the state bodies affiliated to ACCE.

Issues in Teaching and Learning Science, ICT, and Mathematics in Rural and Regional Australia: A National Survey

The SiMERR National Centre has conducted one of the largest surveys of teachers ever undertaken in Australia. Every primary and secondary teacher involved in science, ICT and mathematics education in non-metropolitan schools was invited to have their say on a range of issues, from the benefits of teaching in country schools, to coping with professional isolation. In order to provide data for comparison, a large number of city schools in each state and territory were also invited to participate. Reports are now available

Assessment Practices: Empowering mathematics and science teachers in rural areas to improve learning and curriculum implementation

This research project concerns an investigation of mathematics and science teachers in rural schools and their application of qualitative assessment practices to classroom situations.

The impact of developmentally-based qualitative assessment practices

This project aims to investigate and analyse issues concerning qualitative assessment techniquesthat measure students’ understandings in English, Mathematics and Science, Years 7 to 10, in Government Schools in NSW.

e-girls connect

This is a collaborative research partnership established between Zonta and the SiMERR National Centre to undertake an evaluation of the e-girls day, held 16 June, and long-term tracking of participants to monitor ICT-related study and career choices. The aim is to determine how the girls’ future study and career choices are influenced by participation in relevant ICT experiences. The significance of this research is to provide relevant evaluation for those planning future e-girls days and to provide information for those teachers and careers advisors assisting girls, interested in ICT-related careers, to make study and career choices.

Embedding ICT in Learning (EiL): Collaborative Partnerships in Rural Schools

This project is designed to develop a learning partnership between Schools and the University to support teachers and pre-service teachers as they embed ICT in learning at the school level. The learning partnership will involve a closer working relationship between teachers and lecturers in the form of professional development and will also involve pre-service teachers being supported in their contact with isolated rural and regional schools. An important component of this partnership would be developing a working relationship between the pre-service teachers and the in-school teachers to support the pre-service teachers considering undertaking professional experience in rural or regional schools.

Improving Learning Outcomes Using a Professional Journey Model

This project attempts to address issues related to professional isolation experienced by science, mathematics and information and communication technology teachers in rural and regional areas. The focus is to create a network of teachers in the three subject areas in the north-west region of NSW supported by a three-way partnership among participating DET schools, curriculum advisors from the Department of Education and Training (NW Region), and academics from the newly established National Centre of Science, Information and Communication Technology, and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia (SiMERR).

Concept Mapping and Vee Diagrams

To introduce hierarchical concept maps and vee diagrams (maps/diagrams) to teachers and students as metacognitive tools to foster critical inquiry and develop competence in analysing mathematics/science content and problems/activities. To ensure sustainability of innovation, teachers are trained first with appropriate support over a term before students begin constructing their own maps/diagrams. Outcomes include increased competence of teachers/students to use maps/diagrams as metacognitive/learning tools to scaffold their thinking, reasoning and communication in mathematics/science. Teachers become competent in using maps/diagrams as planning, instructional and assessment tools whilst students become proficient in using them as learning, presentation and communication tools.

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Collaborative innovations in Rural and Regional Secondary Schools: Enhancing student learning in Science, Mathematics and ICT.

Data suggest that students in Years 10 and 12 attending regional and rural schools in NSW do not achieve, on average, as highly as their peers in metropolitan areas in mathematics and science subjects. This project responds to this concern by creating networks of teachers in the three subjects within schools and in school clusters in the New England Region of NSW.

Teachers are helped to work within their own school groups to address an issue they have identified as impeding student learning. They will be supported in addressing that issue to enhance students’ learning outcomes in their subject.

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Ongoing

QuickSmart: Improving students' reading fluency and number sense through increased automacity of basic academic skills

QuickSmart: Improving basic academic skills for middle school students. QuickSmart is a program of ongoing intervention research that began in 2001. The program aims to improve students' automatic recall of basic literacy and numeracy skills in order to free up working memory and facilitate higher-order thinking and problem solving.

Year 8 Mathematics Day

The Year 8 Mathematics Day is held annually at UNE and is devoted to mathematical problem solving. Between 200 and 300 high achieving students attend this day and it is jointly run by the School of Education and the New England Mathematical Association (NEMA). The Mathematics Day is the largest competition of its type in Australia.

Mission Possible

Each year approximately 200 Year 6 students from local schools are involved in the day. In recent years Mission Possible has involved schools from as far away as Gunnedah, Tenterfield, and Coffs Harbour. The day represents a collaborative effort between The Armidale School (Gordon McLennan and teachers) the SiMERR National Centre (Debra Panizzon and Terry Lyons) and most importantly, our UNE students.

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Completed

An exceptional schooling outcomes project (ÆSOP)

This project will identify and analyse those junior secondary schooling processes that generate outstanding student learning outcomes in metropolitan, rural, and isolated NSW public schools, including central schools (which are most common in rural and regional NSW).

Investigating Years 5 and 6 gifted and talented students' knowledge, skills and understanding in English, Mathematics, Science and Information Technology

The aim of this exploratory project is to investigate the character of giftedness and talent for upper-primary students in English, Mathematics, Science and Information Technology. This research considers students in OC classes and employs empirically-based qualitative assessment techniques to help describe student understandings both within and across key learning areas.

A validation study of a framework of draft professional standards for NSW teachers

This project aims to validate the draft professional standards for NSW teachers, developed by the Interim Committee for a NSW Institute of Teachers.

Identifying a developmental pathway in the implementation of lesson components in the classroom of secondary science and mathematics teachers

The aim of this research is to investigate the ways in which secondary science and mathematics teachers implement lesson components in their first five years of teaching to enhance student learning in the classroom.

Developmentally-based assessment practices in analysing the strengths of technologically-based curricula

The focus of collaboration is about melding the development and application of innovative state-of-the-art technologically-based curricula with an assessment model which is able to categorise the underlying structure of students’ understanding in terms of a cognitive developmental framework.

Professional Learning Using Mathematics Standards (PLUMS)

Professional standards for all teachers are being developed nationally and within states. In NSW, standards are being implemented through the Institute of Teachers, and it is expected that all teachers will have to demonstrate achievement of these standards at some level. In this study, a set of standards developed by the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT) will be used as a basis for professional learning in a school setting. The intention is to examine the use of this process to provide important information to AAMT and the National Institute for Quality Teaching and School Leadership about the utility of a set of standards in supporting and structuring professional learning plans that contribute to school and teacher development in mathematics.

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