Alternative Learning Paths
Photography as a Pedagogical Tool: Connecting the Museum with Children’s World
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nelly Askouni, Aimilia Fakou, Stefania Vouvousira
During the school year 2014-15 an educational program aimed to familiarize children with the museum was implemented in three public kindergartens of Athens, with socioculturally different student populations. The goals of the program were to create a learning context that utilizes children’s experiences and requires their active participation in the learning process, and to contribute to the mitigation of social inequality with respect to cultural goods, given that many of the participating students had never visited a museum before. During the visit children took photographs of exhibits they had chosen. They were asked later to relate these photos to objects, persons and images of their immediate environment and to photograph them as well, creating thus photography diptychs. Our paper focuses on the analysis of these diptychs. We examine what objects children chose to photograph, how these fit into their daily lives and how they relate to their subjective experience. The associative use of photography brings out children’s voices and thus becomes a means for understanding their different social worlds and their active role in the learning process.
Utilising the Student Experience of Learning and Teaching to Respond to Student Learning Needs in Secondary Schools
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Paul Hine
One of the most significant changes in the landscape of education over recent years is the democratisation of the teaching and learning process. Once the preserve of educational administrators in universities and schools, this has filtered down to classrooms where teachers and students participate in shaping the learning environment. Thousands of studies have been conducted in universities across the world associated with the statistical validity and efficacy of student evaluations of teaching and learning via University-Student Evaluation of Teaching (U-SETs), but there has been a paucity of attention and research focussed at the school level. This study developed a new instrument – the Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT), which incorporates five scales relevant for the secondary school setting – Learning, Knowledge, Participation, Management and Assessment. The instrument was administered to a sample cohort of 1,741 students in 156 classes in Years 7, 8 and 10 to provide accurate and immediate feedback to teachers. Factor analysis of the instrument demonstrated support for the a priori 5-factor structure, and Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient was used with each scale reporting good reliability. Thus, the instrument holds statistical validity and coherence. SELT data revealed that there were significant differences in classroom experiences, both within the same subject and across different subjects, and, that discussions between teachers and Heads of Faculty hold the potential to improve learning environments through measured intervention. This study has wide applicability for secondary schools, based upon scales and items that are believed to have relevance in every learning context.
Literacy and Numeracy Competencies of High School Students Participating in an Integrated Learning Pathway to University
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Anne Drabble
Considerable research has been undertaken to identify issues that impact on successful student transitions from high school to university, because these issues are significant to the student experience, student retention and student outcome. However, high achieving students in their final two years of high school also have opportunities to study towards a university degree while continuing to complete their high school studies through accelerated transition programs. This research involved a preliminary study of final year high school students enrolled in an Integrated Learning Pathway (ILP) at a regional university in Queensland. Data on the students’ reasons for enrolling in the ILP, and their self-perceptions of personal literacy and numeracy capabilities was obtained through before and after questionnaires provided to students prior to and at the end of their ILP course work. Results from the study indicated students enrolled in the ILP program because the area of study interested them, and half of the students also felt the program would support their employment opportunities. Students scored themselves highly in the prior to course work literacy and numeracy capabilities questionnaire. However, data from the end of course work questionnaire indicated students’ confidence about their personal capabilities was not as high in a number of areas. Findings of the study suggest ILP students could benefit from academic skills support during the program to maintain and continue important levels of personal confidence, and literacy and numeracy capabilities when they leave high school and transition to university.
