Describes the origin of "The Web of Life," as an Australian adaptation of the BSCS materials. Reviews various aspects of the influence of these materials on Australian secondary school biology since 1964. (CS)

Early childhood educators across Australia are starting to rethink traditional approaches to planning in early childhood education, including respecting children as powerful, competent learners; valuing families as partners; and developing new approaches to observation and record keeping that encourage dynamism and flexibility. This booklet…

This publication contains 24 studies which focus on: the fostering of inquiry in secondary school science laboratories; realistic expectations for traditional laboratory work; a content-based, college-level science course for all students; understanding learning at the classroom level; transitions and student task involvement; a project to…

Accountability, in the sense of educational efficiency, has popular political appeal in Australia. Yet there is urgent need for Australian educators to influence how accountability is to be defined and to determine how it is to be implemented at the school level. One useful definition of accountability, satisfactory to both teachers and the…

The history, scope, content, and strategies for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction in Australia, particularly in adult education, are summarized. The history of ESL instruction is traced from post-war immigration policies, through early provision for migrant education and introduction within postsecondary institutions and adult…

Part of the Australian "Reading Around Series," this document offers a set of guidelines for fostering cooperative learning in a language arts classroom. The problems with competitive and/or individual learning, and the reasoning behind cooperative learning, are presented in the first section of the document. The second section outlines…

This booklet addresses the issue of special occasions and how they are celebrated. It presents three lists of celebrations: those that focus on young children and have meaning for them; those that parents may choose and therefore are likely to acknowledge diversity among families, races, religions, classes and cultures; and those that the early…

This publication describes how writing in mathematics classes in Australia can be beneficial to students and their teachers, including: journal writing, expository writing, and transactional writing. In addition, it reports the results of a study that examined benefits derived by five secondary school mathematics teachers from reading their…

The Victorian ESL (English as a Second Language) Framework is currently undergoing renewal as part of the reaccreditation process. This ESL curriculum framework, developed in Victoria, Australia, is currently used in TAFE Institutes and private and community adult ESL programs. It provides a framework for 10 certificate courses across three…

These two publications provide abstracts and other information on materials accessed by the National Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Clearinghouse, Australia. Materials include research reports/technical reports, evaluation studies, curriculum materials of an innovative nature (syllabus documents, student materials, textbooks, teachers'…

This publication contains studies which focus on students' science concepts and the alternative frameworks they use to interpret natural phenomena. Among the specific areas investigated are: conceptions held by Year 11 chemistry students about stoichiometry; how some 9-year-old students interpret the word "solid" to mean hard,…

Set: Research Information for Teachers, is published twice a year by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research and the Australian Council for Educational Research. This document draws together 16 articles on mathematics from previous issues grouped into three categories: general, primary, and secondary. The titles are: (1) "Contents…

Three challenges that face distance educators at the national, institute, and individual subject level in Australia are discussed in a set of Occasional Papers by the Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education (RMIHE). Australia is undergoing a period of major change. The binary system of universities and colleges of advanced education is…

These two issues include articles under the following headings: themes in education, curriculum and instruction, and theories, practicals, and experiences. The first issue includes: "Parent Participation: The Implications of a Complaint Case" (Ping Man Wong and Antony Yuk Cheung Chan); "Education for New Arrivals and Multicultural…

Twelve articles present excerpts from several national reports of countries participating on the Second International Science Study (SISS) of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. The SISS examined science achievement and its correlates in participating countries and studied trends from 1970 through the…