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Evidence based decision making is essential for enabling improved student learning. Teacher motivations and beliefs about the types and use of data are critical determinants of decision making. Our research explored the types of data teachers use and consider valuable when measuring improvement in student learning. Findings from 294 teachers from 44 schools in the Catholic (non-government) sector in New South Wales (NSW) Australia, found that data are used to inform the sequence of learning and to identify and address student needs. Both quantitative and qualitative data sources are applied to make claims of improvement. Factors such as ability, gender, school role, and school sector (primary or secondary) impact the selection and use of data. Our recommendations include the need to focus on professional learning to develop practising and preservice teachers' data literacy skills, ranging from statistical literacy to the identification and selection of appropriate data to substantiate claims of improvement.

This qualitative study looked at the instructional, curricular and organizational factors impacting on the adoption of mobile learning in a higher education institution. Academics expressed their views on a variety of educational issues likely to enhance or hinder the effectiveness of the innovation. Teachers requested more professional development in a number of key areas including the integration of the technology into teaching and learning. Likewise, resolving vital issues such as workload, equity to access and effective policy making were seen as key to successful adoption. Technical issues such as having good wireless connectivity, need for efficient technical support, access to mobile devices and an understanding of their operational limitations with respect to desk/laptops were also highlighted. The study revealed a number of alternative perceptions and misconceptions, about articulating effective mobile learning pedagogies. For instance, staff expressed concerns about the risk of exposing students to superficial learning when mobile learning experiences were not well designed, the prospect that the devices might distract students from learning, as well as a possible deterioration of the quality of interaction between academics and students. Recommendations to reconcile those alternative conceptions with best practice principles are outlined.

Teaching mathematics through themes has been praised for relating mathematics to real-life situations. However, research shows that the implementation of teaching mathematics thematically has not been widely adopted. In the present study, instructional, curricula and organisational factors that teachers perceive as obstacles to the implementation of a thematic approach to teaching mathematics were explored. Findings from interviews with 10 secondary mathematics teachers who were implementing a curriculum requiring a thematic instructional approach are reported. The findings of the study extend the literature concerning teachers' beliefs and practices in the teaching of mathematics, and broaden understandings of the issues surrounding the implementation of a thematically taught mathematics curriculum. Sample Items of the Questionaire and Sample Questions from the Interview are Appended.

The difficulty of staffing rural and remote schools has become a global phenomenon. Educational agencies in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries have addressed this issue by developing and implementing creative recruitment models. While many studies have documented reasons why teachers decide to work in rural and remote schools very little has been written about how the relationship between teacher personal demographics and why teachers move to rural regions and the intrinsic factors leading to their decision. One hundred and ninety-one secondary teachers from 27 rural and remote schools in the State of New South Wales, Australia, participated in this survey study. The findings reveal a number of factors making possible their attraction to rural and remote communities not only by the opportunity to secure a permanent position, but also because of the attraction of a rural ambiance, a stronger sense of collegiality and gaining experience/exposure in rural education. Constraints factors in teaching in a rural or remote school included a number of logistics and instructional reasons. In addition, the study found that respondents were more likely to move to rural and remote schools because they (a) grew up in a rural area with family connections in rural areas, (b) were female with family connections in rural areas, and (c) were in the 18-30 year age range and wanted to have rural teaching experience. The study theorises that the choice to work in a rural and remote school is influenced by a set of interacting possibilities and constraints creating a zone of decision-making free movement. Implications for teachers' recruitment and retention are discussed.

A consistent body of research shows that large classes have been perceived by teachers as an obstacle to deliver quality teaching. This large-scale study sought to investigate further those differential effects by asking 1,119 teachers from 321 K-12 schools in New South Wales (Australia) their perceptions of ideal class size for a variety of student cohorts. In general, there was unanimous support for smaller class sizes particularly for the earlier years of schooling. Teachers also recommend small classes for diverse cohorts such as students from low socio-economic, low and high academic performance, non-English speaking, gender, Indigenous, rural background and a range of learning exceptionalities. This study suggests that a more multidimensional view of "optimal" class sizes as a factor to improve student learning, one that requires to embed student diversity into research methodologies. It also recommends that class size reduction programs should be implemented under the provision of new instructional strategies, pedagogically productive to smaller settings, are to be enacted.

This study validated the semantic items of three related scales aimed at characterising the perceived worth of mathematics-education-related mobile applications (apps). The technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) model was used as the conceptual framework for the analysis. Three hundred and seventy-three preservice students studying primary school education from two public and one private Australian universities participated in the study. The respondents examined three different apps using a purposively designed instrument in regard to either their explorative, productive or instructive instructional role. While construct validity could not be established due to a broad range of variability in responses implying a high degree of subjectivity in respondents' judgments, the qualitative analysis was effective in establishing content validity.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to investigate the influences of calendar year, year level, gender and language background other than English (LBOTE) on student achievement in literacy and numeracy relative to class size. Design/methodology/approach: Data for this study were collected over five years (2008-2012) as test results from the Australian National Assessment Plan in Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) in Years 3 and 5 from over 100 Sydney primary schools. Findings: It was found that the most important factors influencing academic performance in literacy and numeracy were, in descending order: gender, LBOTE, the calendar year in which the test was conducted, followed by class size. All variables were significantly associated with NAPLAN performance, but effect size estimates for class size were close to zero. Originality/value: The results of this study support other studies suggesting that factors other than class size are more important in influencing academic performance.

This paper explores mathematics teachers' perceptions about class size and the impact class size has on teaching and learning in secondary mathematics classrooms. It seeks to understand teachers' views about optimal class sizes and their thoughts about the education variables that influence these views. The paper draws on questionnaire responses from 83 secondary mathematics teachers as well as interviews with 12 of these teachers. Although this current study focuses on mathematics teachers, it is nested in a much larger study across all subject areas. This present study found that class size directly impacts the attention teachers pay to individual students, the amount of investigative work undertaken and classroom management practices particularly for low achievers. However, other variables such as student ability, grade level and teacher quality make it almost impossible to determine what could be regarded as an 'optimal' class size. Views were also expressed about the advantages and disadvantages of smaller class sizes in terms of classroom management, class cognitive and social interaction, and teacher professional development. Implications of class size for specific student characteristics such as gender, Aboriginality, gifted and talented, socio-economic and language background issues are also intertwined in the discussion.

Gradually Internet-based educational resources are making their way into the school mathematics curriculum. Online resources are potentially useful compared to normal courseware because of their abundance, availability at no cost, platform-free accessibility, and wide reaching accessibility. On the other hand, a major limitation of online resources is their lack of appropriate pedagogy, coupled with poor instructional design and layout. This article discusses the development of evaluation criteria for online resources and provides practical information about some key websites. The article deals with issues associated with the interface design, navigation, and user's control of an online resource. It indicates how evaluation forms and checklists can be practical tools for teachers to identify positive and negative design features of an online resource. (Contains 14 figures and 1 note.)

The integration of technology, pedagogy, and content in the teaching of secondary mathematics was explored among 280 secondary mathematics teachers in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The study adopted the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) model through the administration of a 30-item instrument called TPCK-M. The instrument consisted of three major theoretically based constructs: technological content knowledge (TCK), technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK). Results indicated that PowerPoint and Excel constitute the two TCK modal technological capabilities while TPK scores revealed teachers' lower capacity to deal with the general information and communications technologies goals across the curriculum, such as creating digital assessment formats. TPCK-M scores seem to suggest a healthy standard in teachers' technological skills across a variety of mathematics education goals. However, the magnitude of such influence in practice needs to be further ascertained, given that the study identified a number of instructional, curricular, and organizational factors seriously inhibiting the integration of technology into teaching and learning. In general, to take advantage of more novel learning technologies, teachers need to be trained in working with online tools (webquests, wikis), mobile learning, and interactive whiteboards and in authoring digital learning resources. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.)

The need for appraising the effective integration of technologies into teaching and learning within a disciplinary context is crucial for upholding quality teaching standards in schools and formulating professional development programs. This paper describes the development and validation of an instrument aimed at characterising the integration of technological knowledge in secondary school mathematics teachers. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework is used to underpin the development and validation of the questionnaire. The questionnaire consisting of three 10-item scales was administered to a sample of 280 teachers across the state of New South Wales, Australia. The factor analysis undertaken confirms the structurally soundness of the instrument in terms of validity and reliability. (Contains 3 figures and 7 tables.)

This paper reports on a case study which examined factors leading to the adoption of graphics calculators (GCs) by secondary mathematics teachers in the state of New South Wales, Australia. In total, 587 teachers of the General Mathematics Course (Years 11 and 12) participated in the study. The median teachers' stage of adoption of GCs was found to be at the "Understanding and application of the process" level, the third lowest on a six point scale. The results also indicate that competence is the most important factor in explaining stages of adoption, training the second most important, followed by personal interest in GCs as well as faculty support. Teachers' gender, teaching experience, educational qualifications and the number of GCs in schools were not found to be statistically significant. Qualitative analysis of teachers' open ended comments also shed light on the nature of the explanatory variables. The findings are relevant to curriculum development policy and the design of professional development programs, and has implications for the introduction of other technologies. (Contains 1 figure and 6 tables.)

Numeracy achievement of Australian school children is a national priority according to the Australian Curriculum. There is increasingly compelling evidence that numeracy needs to be a focus in all curriculum areas, not solely in mathematics (HCWG, 2008). At the same time, there is an ever-increasing scope for the use of mobile technologies to enhance learning and teaching. This article examines how numeracy and mobile learning work together as teachers in the middle years are mentored to use iPad applications (apps) effectively in their own curriculum area to enhance the learning of numeracy for children in their classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a new technology study-mate used in Australian universities to support the transition process of 'first time' university students enrolled in a second year accounting courses. The program uses university's learning management system-blackboard, Google calendar and text messaging. The response of students to the program was positive in increasing their awareness of university's study skill services and improving their study skills.