Australian Journal of Education最新文献

This investigation comprised two studies that sought to identify the role of COVID-related disruptions in Australian university students' academic motivation and engagement. Study 1 involved a dataset of 500 university students and examined the links between COVID-19 pandemic disruptions (remote and hybrid learning modes, lockdown, isolation) and students' adaptive (e.g., planning and monitoring) and maladaptive (e.g., disengagement) dimensions of the Motivation and Engagement Scale (MES). Study 2 compared the mean motivation and engagement of Study 1 participants with mean levels from four published pre-COVID-19 Australian studies (N = 55, N = 233, N = 420, N = 941 university students) that also used the MES. Study 1 showed that lockdown and isolation (and not remote/hybrid learning) were associated with problematic motivation and engagement-with lockdown and isolation effects particularly noteworthy for maladaptive motivation and engagement. Study 2 showed that relative to the four pre-COVID-19 samples, the COVID-19 pandemic sample experienced difficulties with motivation and engagement, and again particularly so on maladaptive dimensions.

The significant disruption of COVID-19 on schooling has heightened concerns about its impact on educators' wellbeing. The current study examined how educators' worry regarding the COVID-19 pandemic compared to their worry about other extreme events, such as natural disasters and critical incidents (a death or suicide of a child, young person, or colleague). Educators report that they were most worried about COVID-19. Educators working in preschools were more worried about COVID-19 and natural disasters than those in primary and secondary schools. However, worry regarding critical incidents increased with the age of students taught. Worry was influenced by socio-economic advantage (SEIFA), whereby educators working in higher SEIFA communities were less worried about natural disasters and critical incidents but shared similar levels of worry about COVID-19 as educators in lower SEIFA communities. With a better understanding about how different types of worry and levels of worry vary across different educator groups and different contexts, more effective supports can be developed and offered.

This article discusses findings from a recent survey (n = 297) of teachers' views of both their own and their students' experiences during the 2021 enforced emergency remote schooling period occurring in New South Wales Australia, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The quantitative analysis reported here explores teachers' views regarding teaching and learning during this challenging period. It identifies three latent constructs, learning, assessment, and interaction, and then uses structural equation modelling to identify the perceived impact of these constructs on student and teacher wellbeing. The remote schooling period had a significant negative impact for teachers and their students across a range of elements of teaching and learning, as well as wellbeing. Student learning experiences and their peer interactions were found to be strong predictors of students' wellbeing outcomes. Assessment design and teachers' feedback to students were significant in predicting levels of teacher wellbeing. Future research directions are also provided.

Expert secondary Arts teachers are highly trained specialists well versed in face-to-face individual and group teaching pedagogies. Given the highly personalised nature of Arts teaching practice, the shift to online teaching resulting from COVID-19 lockdowns presented many with challenges for which they had little or no formal training. Many teachers felt stressed, isolated and unsure about where to turn for help. As there are demonstrated links between stress and attrition, it is important to reflect upon the experiences of these teachers with the aim of developing future mitigation strategies. The research reported here synthesises the online teaching experiences of 15 expert Arts specialists in Western Australia and revealed that being a digital native was not in itself sufficient to ameliorate online teaching challenges. Rather, the study found that teachers with deep pedagogical practice knowledge and a reflexive/flexible approach fared better than those with high levels of technology familiarity. The importance of collegiality and mentoring in an online setting, along with a reappraisal of teaching priorities emerged as key findings and serve as a timely reminder of the importance of collaboration, especially in testing times.