In this article we describe and evaluate processes utilized to develop an online learning module on mathematical modelling for pre-service teachers. The module development process involved a range of professionals working within the STEM disciplines including mathematics and science educators, mathematicians, scientists, in-service and pre-service…

In Australia, all vocational education and training (VET) qualifications must be based on competency-based training (CBT) and training packages. Yet, since 2005, there has been a major expansion in the number of VET international students in Australia, 85% of whom are from Asia. Given this development, the teaching and learning contexts in which…

Research has shown that teaching assistants (TAs) working in mainstream classrooms with special needs students in Australia are being required to perform quite complex tasks such as curriculum modification and differentiation yet they are not required to have any formal qualifications nor training in these tasks. In the United Kingdom, TAs are not…

Multimedia technologies such as Slowmation can be used to enhance curriculum resources and support innovative teaching methods. This case study research of a rural multi-aged class of primary science students included analyses of classroom captured video and interview data from a term long module on Astronomy. The study explored how students'…

Using a stimulated recall technique, eight apprentices were interviewed to identify the detailed learning strategies they used while constructing knowledge from flexible learning packages designed to develop workplace skills. The research shows that in their use of metacognitive, cognitive and social/affective learning strategies the apprentices…

Reforms to Australia's vocational education and training (VET) sector have had a significant impact on practitioners' work in public and private providers. This study analyses practitioners' perceptions of, and reactions to, the changes. The scope of these changes has been substantial and has required shifts to practitioners' habits, norms, skills…

This paper describes the evaluation of three curriculum models to teach technology. The three modules present technology as a design process involving problem identification and analysis; generation and evaluation of alternative solutions; planning and construction of models; and trialing, modification and evaluation. Participating pupil's…