Despite being long-standing practice among schools across the world, most studies on international school partnerships focus on its benefits and challenges as perceived by teachers and students. Little emphasis has been given to parental perspectives and support, particularly among low-income families. With the increase of community involvement in…

This paper presents research on the effects of a cognitive acceleration intervention in science lessons on low socioeconomic students in a government high school in regional Western Australia. "Thinking Science Australia" is a programme currently being implemented in Australian junior high school classes. The research was conducted for…

An experiment with 67 Australian junior high school students demonstrates that presentation of goal-free 2-move mathematics problems, reducing the use of means-ends analysis, prevents the stage effect (increase in errors at the subgoal stage) from occurring. Implications for enhancing learning are discussed. (SLD)

This study investigated whether composing music with graphic notations would make a significant difference in creativity in composing music as compared to composing music without graphic notations. Participants were 47 male, Australian, seventh grade students attending a private school. Students were divided into two equal groups (an experimental…

This paper examines the classroom-based research carried out by a full-time mathematics teacher who monitored what was happening to his class of 13-year-old students as they were engaged in a collaborative, peer interactive classroom environment and examined how this environment influenced, and was influenced by, the students' attitude toward…

Analyzes results from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) for Australia and discusses variations found across the country. Considers curriculum issues related to TIMSS results and notes that the importance of student attitudes toward mathematics is reinforced by TIMSS findings. (SLD)

Describes an eight-week self-concept enhancement program for 28 seventh-grade students. Suggests specific activities, discussions topics and homework. Evaluation showed the students' self-concepts, measured by the Piers-Harris Children's Self Concept Scale, improved significantly compared to a control group. (JAC)

Studied changes in student self- and task evaluations, subjective valuation, and achievement behavior in English and mathematics over the first year of junior high school for 400 Australian students. When changes in perceptions occurred, they were negative, and gender differences favored boys in mathematics and girls in English. The nature and…

Examined junior high school students' (N=2175) perceptions of actual and preferred classroom environment and teachers' (N=56) perceptions of the actual environment. Results indicated that students preferred a more favorable environment that was perceived as being actually present, and that teachers perceived their classroom environment more…

Investigates the behaviors, interactions, and perceptions of junior high school students as they worked in structured or unstructured cooperative learning groups on problem-solving, curriculum-based tasks in mathematics, science and English. Results show that children in the structured groups were more cooperative and provided more relevant verbal…

Studied patterns of coping behavior and changes in coping for 169 Australian adolescents at grade levels 7, 9, and 11 using the Adolescent Coping Scale (E. Frydenberg and R. Lewis, 1993). Findings highlight differences in development of coping patterns between boys and girls. Discusses implications for the teaching of coping skills. (SLD)

Investigations of (n=782) 7th-grade students' beliefs and perceptions of classroom learning environments found that the pattern of relationships in learning environments where teacher support emerged as irrelevant was not the same for males and females. (29 references) (Author/MKR)

Assessment of general reasoning processes, elementary algebraic understanding, and novel problem solving of (n=147) seventh- and eighth-grade students found that abilities to generalize from patterns and tables of data and understanding variable constructs contributed significantly to application of algebraic concepts and processes. Questions…

A study investigated students' reactions to the addition of nontraditional games (played in and traditional to another country) to the physical education curriculum. Seventh grade students in Australia were introduced to game development, skills, and present status of two sports, 'Midget' Hockey, a modified version of Canadian ice hockey, and…

This paper discusses a study of learning retention among junior high school students involved in a field trip in a geography course. The study was based on a model of memory proposed by Robert Gagne and R.T. White. This model of cognitive processes, postulated on the belief that recall of any element is a function of its degree of interlinking in…