Overview
This unit requires you to engage with student data affecting teaching and learning in one of your discipline teaching areas (Secondary) or in the English specialisation (Primary and Early Childhood) for the purposes of improving student learning and educational outcomes. You will plan and implement an action research project, which requires the collection and analysis of data from a 'real world' teaching context. You will construct a project report that documents the collection and analysis of these data, identifies implications for teaching practice in English or your teaching area, makes recommendations for improved student learning outcomes, and indicates how you would modify learning goals and teaching practices to enhance learning outcomes for students. You will engage with literature associated with the specific discipline of teaching and learning issue being investigated. You will also explore ethical considerations when collecting, analysing, evaluating and interpreting student data and discuss strategies for working confidentially and professionally within a values-based context and sharing your findings with colleagues, parents and carers and students to support the educative process.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Co-requisite EDFE20037 Professional Praxis 4: Transition to Teaching
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2024
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Student feedback
Provide exemplars of qualitative and quantitative studies.
The unit coordinator will add exemplars.
Feedback from Student feedback
Focus the unit on Qualitative or Quantitative methods opposed to letting student choose.
The unit coordinator will focus on one methodology.
- Justify a focus for research inquiry for the purposes of enhancing professional knowledge and improving student learning and educational outcomes in an area of specialisation
- Plan a research proposal that requires the purposeful and ethical collection of student data
- Identify and evaluate school and classroom data from a range of sources
- Identify and apply relevant legislative, administrative and organisation policy and processes to the ethical collection, analysis, evaluation and interpretation of student data
- Identify implications for teaching practice based on student data
- Make informed recommendations for a range of audiences including colleagues, students and parents and carers on pedagogical practice for improved student learning in an area of teaching specialisation.
Successful completion of this unit provides opportunities for students to demonstrate the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers focus areas of:
1.2 Understand how students learn
2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
3.6 Evaluate and improve teaching programs
3.7 Engage parents/carers in the educative process
6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice
6.4 Apply professional learning and improve student learning
7.1 Meet professional ethics and responsibilities
7.2 Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements
7.3 Engage with the parents/carers
7.4 Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 50% | ||||||
| 2 - Presentation and Written Assessment - 50% | ||||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | ||||||
| 2 - Communication | ||||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | ||||||
| 4 - Research | ||||||
| 5 - Self-management | ||||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | ||||||
| 7 - Leadership | ||||||
| 8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
c.bloomfield@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Teacher as Researcher
Chapter
Readings:
Action Research in Education: A Practical Guide
Chapter 1 & Chapter 2
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Approaches to Action Research & Ethics - Privacy and Confidentiality
Chapter
Readings:
Action Research in Education: A Practical Guide
Chapter 3
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Developing a Plan of Action
Chapter
Readings:
Action Research in Education: A Practical Guide
Chapter 4
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Data Collection Tools
Chapter
Readings:
Action Research in Education: A Practical Guide
Chapter 5
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Using Assessment Data In Action Research
Chapter
Readings:
Action Research in Education: A Practical Guide
Chapter 6
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment Task 1 Due
Written Assessment - Research Proposal Due: Week 5 Thursday (4 Apr 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Data Gathering
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Data Gathering
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Chapter
Readings:
Action Research in Education: A Practical Guide
Chapter 7
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Writing, Sharing, and Implementing the Research Findings
Chapter
Readings:
Action Research in Education: A Practical Guide
Chapter 8
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Poster Presentation Preparation
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment Task 2 Due
PRESENTATION AND WRITTEN ASSESSMENT - POSTER AND WRITTEN SUMMARY Due: Week 10 Thursday (16 May 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
Your task is to identify a focus for enacting a research inquiry based on an educational problem/concern/issue in your area of specialisation. For students in the Master of Teaching (Primary and Early Childhood), the focus must relate to an issue affecting teaching practice and student learning in English. For students in the Master of Teaching (Secondary), the focus of your project should relate to teaching practice and student learning in one of your two assigned teaching areas and may include an issue related to one of the general capabilities and/or discipline area knowledge, understanding and skills. You will design a research proposal that will enable the problem to be explored and explained through the analysis of student data. The problem chosen must enable you to collect both primary and secondary data and your proposal must include:
a) a rationale that establishes the importance of your chosen focus for inquiry
b) a review of current literature related to teaching in English (Primary and Early Childhood) or your chosen teaching area (Secondary);
c) an outline of the methodology; and
d) proposed research methods for data collection and analysis.
Your project proposal will inform the collection and analysis of data in Assessment task 2 for this unit where you will be required to identify implications for teaching practice based on analysis of the student data and make recommendations for improved student learning outcomes that are explicitly linked to, and based on, your analysis and findings. The potential audience for your research could include parents and carers, teaching colleagues, policy makers and students; therefore, you need to select and justify the choice of a topic that will allow data analysis to contribute to, or validate knowledge and understanding about, effective teaching practice in your area of specialisation.
The following structure will assist in your planning:
● What is the concern/problem/issue you are addressing? What has motivated you to explore the issue and why is it important for improving student learning outcomes, engagement or understanding of core concepts and curriculum substance in the learning area?
● What is already known about the issue and how will your research contribute to or confirm this knowledge using empirical data?
● What type/s of data are required to be collected to allow you to explore and explain the concern/problem/issue?
● What are the most appropriate methods of data collection? Why are these sources of data relevant for enhancing the professional learning of teachers, communicating with parents and carers to involve them in the educative process, and improving student outcomes?
● What permissions do you need to access the data?
● How will the data be analysed and presented to your intended audience in order to address the concern/problem/issue?
● What ethical issues are involved in the evaluation and how will they be addressed?
Please use the research proposal template provided on the Moodle site for the presentation of sections to be included in your proposal document.
Word count: 2500 words (maximum).
WORD COUNT for written assignments: The word count is considered from the first word of the introduction to the last word of the conclusion. It excludes the cover page, abstract, contents page, reference page and appendices. It includes in-text references and direct quotations.
Week 5 Thursday (4 Apr 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Assessments will be returned once the moderation process has been completed.
Assessment will be marked against the following criteria:
● Identification of the context and importance of research into the topic or issue within a specific learning area
● Selection and explication of methodology and theoretical framing
● Ability to situate the issue within a review of relevant literature about student learning and teaching practice in the specialised area
● Knowledge of ethical approaches for collecting and handling data and participant information and disseminating research findings to a variety of audiences, including parents and carers
● Selection of research methods for investigating the issue
● Written presentation
- Justify a focus for research inquiry for the purposes of enhancing professional knowledge and improving student learning and educational outcomes in an area of specialisation
- Plan a research proposal that requires the purposeful and ethical collection of student data
2 Presentation and Written Assessment
There are three components to this task that enable you to communicate the findings of your research in the form of a research report.
Component 1
Summarise your research project to create a poster presentation for an intended audience of interested teaching colleagues. Within your poster presentation, you are to (at a minimum):
● Design a poster that clearly communicates the context and purpose of your research project
● Identify your research context (concern/problem/issue)
● Briefly outline your research design including participants
● Briefly outline the data collection process
● Elaborate on the ethical issues associated with your case study
● Document your findings and interpretation of the data
Component 2
Explain the focus of your research using the poster as your visual prompt. Your explanation must demonstrate your understanding of the relevant legislative, administrative and organisational policies and procedures that provide guidance for the ethical collection and use of data for research purposes.
You will create an audio recording of the explanation which should describe the research design, ethical approach and any challenges, findings and resultant interpretations of the data collection and analysis. Reporting of the data interpretation and findings in the audio presentation should demonstrate expert content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge in the learning area and identify implications for effective classroom practice in response to the issue under investigation.
Component 3
Component 3 comprises a summary of your findings, considerations for dissemination of the information and reflection on the importance of adopting the role of teacher as researcher for improved practice. Specific requirements are outlined below.
(a) Create a written summary of the research findings that focuses specifically on the implications for teaching practice and student learning outcomes. The summary must demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how students learn and contribute to pedagogical content knowledge associated with your learning area (i.e. English for Primary and EC students or a selected discipline or teaching area for Secondary students). When discussing the implications for practice, identify how teachers could use or modify specific aspects of teaching practice to enhance the learning outcomes of students including the use of external professionals and community representatives in broadening teachers’ professional knowledge and practice. In other words, explain how your research and the recommendations based on your findings contribute to knowledge and understanding about practices that have a positive impact on student learning. The summary section of component 3 should be 500-600 words in length.
(b) Component 3 must also include a reflective statement of no more than 400 words that explains your understanding of the rationale for adopting the role of teacher as researcher as a method for evaluating practice, enhancing ongoing professional learning and improving student outcomes. In the reflective statement, you must identify ways in which you can report the findings of your research to (a) students to improve metacognition; and (b) parents and carers of students using sensitive, effective and confidential communication strategies to promote their understanding of, and active involvement in, the educative process.
WORD COUNT for written assignments: The word count is considered from the first word of the introduction to the last word of the conclusion. It excludes the cover page, abstract, contents page, reference page and appendices. It includes in-text references and direct quotations.
Week 10 Thursday (16 May 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Assessments will be returned once the moderation process has been completed.
Assessment will be marked against the following criteria:
● Knowledge of topic or problem within the context of the selected learning area
● Ability to conduct a research inquiry using appropriate methods of data collection and analysis
● Explanation of ethical considerations for handling data and participant information
● Documentation and presentation of findings and interpretations
● Summary of the research process and implications for teaching practice
● Critical reflection on the role of teacher as researcher as a method for evaluating teaching practice and the implications for improved teaching and learning
● Strategies for dissemination of findings to colleagues, students and parents and carers
- Justify a focus for research inquiry for the purposes of enhancing professional knowledge and improving student learning and educational outcomes in an area of specialisation
- Identify and evaluate school and classroom data from a range of sources
- Identify and apply relevant legislative, administrative and organisation policy and processes to the ethical collection, analysis, evaluation and interpretation of student data
- Identify implications for teaching practice based on student data
- Make informed recommendations for a range of audiences including colleagues, students and parents and carers on pedagogical practice for improved student learning in an area of teaching specialisation.
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
