Exploring reasons why Australian senior secondary students do not enrol in higher-level mathematics courses

In this research paper, I present the reasons why senior secondary students elect not to enrol in a higher mathematics course. All Year 11 and Year 12 mathematics students within Western Australian secondary schools were invited to participate in an online survey comprised chiefly of qualitative items. The key reasons espoused by students include an expressed dissatisfaction with mathematics, the opinion that there are other more viable courses of study to pursue, and that the Australian Tertiary Admissions Ranking (ATAR) can be maximised by taking a lower mathematics course. In addition, student testimony suggests that there are few incentives offered for undertaking a higher mathematics course

Proof by mathematical induction: Professional practice for secondary teachers

Mathematical induction is a proof technique that can be applied to establish the veracity of mathematical statements. This professional practice paper offers insight into mathematical induction as it pertains to the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics (ACMSM065, ACMSM066) and implications for how secondary teachers might approach this technique with students. In particular, literature on proof—and specifically, mathematical induction—will be presented, and several worked examples will outline the key steps involved in solving problems. After various teaching and learning caveats have been explored, the paper will conclude with some mathematical induction example problems that can be used in the secondary classroom

Are there any winners in high-stakes mathematics testing? A qualitative case study exploring student, parent and teacher attitudes towards NAPLAN numeracy tests in years 3 and 5

Through the annual implementaion of National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), testing of mathematical standards across Australia invokes questions about the impact that high-stakes testing has for the teaching and learning of mathematics. According to recent studies on high-stakes testing, the role of the teacher is instrumental in children\u27s achievement results. The purpose of this case study is to explore perspectives about NAPLAN from key participants at one Western Australian Primary School, namely: students, teachers, and parents. The paper will report on the extent to which instructional pedagogy at one school has been affected by the implementation of NAPLAN testing and subsequent publication of results. Consistent with a phenomenological perspective, the qualitative data for this investigation were collected through semi-structured interviews and field notes. These data offered particular insights into how key participants viewed the impact of NAPLAN testing has had on the instructional pedagogy in Year 3 and Year 5 classrooms

Investigating declining enrolments in secondary mathematics

This research paper examines the perspective of the Heads of Learning Area: Mathematics (HOLAMs) within all Western Australian secondary schools as to why they felt capable students were not enrolling in the two higher-level mathematics courses of study. All HOLAMs were invited to participate in a single, anonymous online survey comprising predominantly qualitative items. Key findings indicate perceptions of student awareness that two mathematics courses are not needed for university entrance, there are other viable and less rigorous courses of study available, and students can maximise their Australian Tertiary Admissions Ranking (ATAR) score without completing these mathematics courses

Student perspectives of a leadership program: Benefits and shortcomings

Despite the importance of adolescent leadership development, little research has critically examined how to improve school-based leadership programs. The intention of this research was to explore how one Catholic secondary school developed leadership potential in adolescents, and how such efforts could be improved in the future. Perspectives of elected student leaders from Years 10 - 12 were examined using a longitudinal case study. The primary methods for collecting data included qualitative interviewing, field notes, journalling and document analysis. Based upon the collected data, the researcher inductively conceptualised strengths and shortcomings of the leadership program proffered by the student participants. According to the student leaders, key strengths of the program included having many leadership opportunities available, many elected leaders participating in the program, and working with other student leaders. The most commonly reported shortcomings encompassed certain student leaders abrogating responsibilities, an apparent non- involvement of younger leaders, and the perceived influence of a ‘popularity vote’ on leadership elections. The findings in this article are a singular presentation of one specific research question within a completed research project. Where previous published work (Hine, 2013) addressed the lived experiences of student leaders, this article examines what student leaders perceived to be the benefits and shortcomings of a school leadership program

Vertical Integration in Produce Markets: A Colorado Cooperative’s Strategic Response to Change

An evolving produce industry has placed vegetable growers in northern Colorado at a competitive disadvantage. The Colorado producers’ strategic response is to form a value-added, cold storage processing cooperative in the hopes of establishing a better position for marketing their vegetables on a year-round basis. This case study discusses the results of both a market demand and processing feasibility study conducted for these vegetable growers.cooperative, feasibility study, vegetable processing plant, Crop Production/Industries, Marketing,

Media Presence and Inner Presence: The Sense of Presence in Virtual Reality Technologies

Abstract. Presence is widely accepted as the key concept to be considered in any research involving human interaction with Virtual Reality (VR). Since its original description, the concept of presence has developed over the past decade to be considered by many researchers as the essence of any experience in a virtual environment. The VR generating systems comprise two main parts: a technological component and a psychological experience. The different relevance given to them produced two different but coexisting visions of presence: the rationalist and the psychological/ecological points of view. The rationalist point of view considers a VR system as a collection of specific machines with the necessity of the inclusion \ud of the concept of presence. The researchers agreeing with this approach describe the sense of presence as a function of the experience of a given medium (Media Presence). The main result of this approach is the definition of presence as the perceptual illusion of non-mediation produced by means of the disappearance of the medium from the conscious attention of the subject. At the other extreme, there \ud is the psychological or ecological perspective (Inner Presence). Specifically, this perspective considers presence as a neuropsychological phenomenon, evolved from the interplay of our biological and cultural inheritance, whose goal is the control of the human activity. \ud Given its key role and the rate at which new approaches to understanding and examining presence are appearing, this chapter draws together current research on presence to provide an up to date overview of the most widely accepted approaches to its understanding and measurement