SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
The following is a profile of research activities and interests within the School of Education at James Cook University:
Curriculum research:
Analysis of curriculum materials; human relationships education; English and literature education; constructivism in science, mathematics and teacher education; social and environmental education; ethnomusicology and education; drawing and discourse in art education; physical education curriculum; viability of scientific knowledge; learning environments; education for citizenship; laboratory learning; metacognition in mathematics problem solving; mathematics curriculum and pedagogy; ethnomathematics; statistical thinking among children; curriculum research, language, literacies and education.
Disability, special needs and education:
Special education; integration; inclusion of students with special needs in regular school settings; intellectual disability; learning difficulties; behavioural and emotional problems; gifted and talented; vision impairment; hearing impairment; communication disorders; physical disability, multiple disability; parents of children with disabilities; use of technology in education of students with special needs; multisensory environments; Autistic spectrum disorders; Downs syndrome especially with respect to mathematics teaching and learning numeracy particularly for ‘at-risk’ students; early intervention; parent collaboration; inclusive education; engaging ‘at-risk’ students.
Education and society:
Popular culture and education; equity and access; critical analysis of schooling and educational policy; sociology of the curriculum; discourse analysis and sociolinguistics; feminist theory; poststructuralist theory; cultural studies; concepts of childhood; rural education; community and professional development in rural areas; education history; education for citizenship; school effectiveness; multi-ethnic education; family, school and work; school community and State in 19th century Australia.
Education, thinking and cognitive development:
Students’ (primary through tertiary) and teachers’ thinking whilst studying with the World Wide Web, computer databases, interactive multimedia and text; concepts and models of the child and childhood in Western culture; the iconography of childhood in public news reporting; cognitive development; thinking and development in young children; affective development in schools; Piagetian theory; students’ in-class thinking; cognitive foundations of artistic development; changing conceptions of children and childhood; affective learning in preschools; children’s fears; emotion education in early childhood; tertiary teaching beyond the classroom; the role of the arts in affective and cognitive education; cognition and thinking in science and mathematics teaching; student thinking whilst studying from text; measuring development and learning; metacognition; assessing higher order thinking; teaching mathematically gifted students.
Gender and education:
The discursive construction of gender; gender, language and literacy; gender and technology; feminist theory and education; gender and early childhood; masculinity and schooling; boys and literacy; sex-based harassment at school; boys’ engagement with schooling; girls and information technology.
Indigenous education
WWW in Indigenous education; promoting academic literacy for Indigenous students; Indigenous education (including Torres Strait Islander education); exemplary teachers for Indigenous students; School-Community relationships; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education; culturally relevant pedagogy in Torres Strait Islander education; responsive pedagogy in Torres Strait Islander educational contexts.
Information technologies, media and education:
Appropriate cultural content in multimedia design; under-represented groups in tertiary information technology courses and information technology careers; preparation of teachers for service in rural and remote areas; Virtual Reality in primary schools; supporting teachers using Virtual Reality; Virtual Reality in high schools; students’ thinking while studying from CD ROM, the World Wide Web and text; networked communications as a pedagogic device for stimulating higher order thinking among preservice teachers; computer anxiety and its variations with age and gender; effects of the use of information technology and computer-mediated communications for learning; PowerPoint; Web conferencing; online conferences; mental models and information literacy; cultural context and information communication technologies; microcomputers in teaching and learning; young children’s use of microcomputers; gifted children; interactive multimedia and distance education; applications of multimedia technologies in TESOL; video and computer games.
Language, literacies and education
Teaching of writing; children’s literature; gender, language and literacy; the politics of literacy; critical literacy; discourse analysis; second language teaching and learning; instructional strategies for reading and writing; the teaching of literature; cloze procedures; adult and workplace literacies; emotional, social and visual literacies’ education; secondary English education; English for academic purposes; analysing classroom texts and talk; culture and language learning; media texts and popular culture; technology and literacies; scientific discourse communities.
Research methodologies
Interview methodology; Rasch measurement; survey research; measuring educational outcomes, ethnographic research; qualitative research methodology.
Rural education:
Economics of small-school closures; equitable funding; rural schools and community development; hearing health and learning issues among rural and Indigenous children; curriculum contextualisation, ie place-based education; destination of ‘rural’ teacher education graduates; roles of rural professionals; attracting rural youth to health careers; attracting and retaining rural teachers and other professionals.
School renewal, pedagogy and teacher development
Curriculum theory; teachers’ professional development; critical reflective practice; lifting the level of student thinking in tertiary education; qualitative research methodology; teacher development; Webconferencing and higher order thinking in preservice education; teaching across cultures; action research and improving pedagogy for learner outcomes.