Peter Dunn and Margaret Marshman present the second of their data files articles in which they discuss the statistical investigation cycle which describes the whole process of conducting a statistical research study. [For "The Data Files: A Series of Articles to Support Mathematics Teachers to Teach Statistics," see EJ1259108.]

The collection of data by government authorities has a complex history. In Australia, this began with the establishment of British government settlements as a way to account for fiscal viability and social prospects. As the colonies became self-governing entities, the collection of social and economic data increased in importance, and included…

Efforts to develop common higher education data standards are expanding both within and across countries. The institutional research (IR) community plays a critical role in assuring that these efforts capture the diverse manifestations of the postsecondary and tertiary education systems and promote responsible comparisons. This chapter provides…

There is on-going international interest in the relationships between assessment instruments, students' understanding of science concepts and context-based curriculum approaches. This study extends earlier research showing that students can develop connections between contexts and concepts--called "fluid transitions"--when studying…

The research reported here was motivated by curiosity about ways of suggesting tasks and activities to teachers that assist them in their planning and which allow them to see the purpose of the suggested tasks. A group of junior secondary teachers involved in a larger project worked through a set of tasks that sought to address the content they…

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are used extensively as instructors in higher education, yet their status and authority as teachers may be unclear to undergraduates, to administrators, and even to the GTAs themselves. This study explored undergraduate perception of classroom instruction by GTAs and professors to identify factors unique to each…

This study involves an Australian Western Victorian District High School year nine mixed ability mathematics class learning mathematics using social justice pedagogy. The learning intent of the unit required students to compare their own lifestyles against different families from around the world and use mathematics as a tool to investigate…

In 2003 Australia was one of the first countries to develop an integrated national policy, called the National Safe Schools Framework (NSSF), for the prevention and management of violence, bullying, and other aggressive behaviors. The effectiveness of this framework has not yet been formally evaluated. Cross-sectional data collected in 2007 from…

Microcomputer based laboratory activities have been suggested to have a number of benefits in science education. However, their implementation produces mixed results, and student perception data have in the past yielded responses that are negative regarding the technology. This work presents a case study of three first year undergraduate chemistry…

The purpose of this report is to provide national data on the technical and further education (TAFE) workforce in 2008 and, where possible, compare this with 2002 data collected for the report "Profiling the national vocational education and training workforce" (NCVER 2004). Currently, there is no regular consistent national collection…

This article presents the findings of a survey, conducted on league tables and rankings systems worldwide, including seventeen standard ones and one non-standard league table. Despite the capacity of existing league tables and rankings to meet the interest of the public of transparency and information on higher education institutions, ranking…

In 1999, Ministers responsible for school education agreed to the new set of "National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century," with the aim of providing high quality schooling in Australia which would secure for students the necessary knowledge, understanding, skills and values for a productive and rewarding life. As a…

Australian efforts to assess the usefulness of performance indicators (PI) for evaluating higher education are chronicled. It is suggested that key issues must be resolved before PI can be fully embraced. These include aspects of data gathering and analysis, purpose for using PI, quality of data, and adequacy of indicators. (MSE)

In 1999, Ministers responsible for school education agreed to the new set of "National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century," with the aim of providing high quality schooling in Australia which would secure for students the necessary knowledge, understanding, skills and values for a productive and rewarding life. As a…

The Second International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM2009) was held at the University of Cordoba, Spain, on July 1-3, 2009. EDM brings together researchers from computer science, education, psychology, psychometrics, and statistics to analyze large data sets to answer educational research questions. The increase in instrumented…