Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice 2

Doctor of Education

NAMGYEL, Tshewang

Thesis Title

Exploring Emotional Engagement During Explicit Nature of Science Instruction among Pre-Service Science Teachers

Supervisors

• Associate Professor Alberto Bellocchi  (Principal Supervisor)
• Dr James Patrick Davis  (Associate Supervisor)

Citation

This study explored Australian preservice teachers' emotional engagement during explicit NOS instruction. This study used video recordings and the SUSSI questionnaire togenerate data. This study used ethnomethodology and an interpretive approach to analyse data. The findings of this study revealed that the creation of shared ideas aboutNOS involved preservice science teachers enacting conceptual entrainment in which they supplemented each other's ideas using their prior knowledge during classroominteractions. This study uniquely contributes to science education by exploring the interplay between emotional engagement and NOS as enacted practices during NOSinstruction.

NGUYEN, Tien Dung

Thesis Title

Integration of ICT in Teaching English as a Foreign Language at a Private University in Southeast Vietnam

Supervisors

• Professor Hitendra Kumaran Pillay  (Principal Supervisor)
• Dr Andy Ju-Chih Yeh  (Associate Supervisor)

Citation

This qualitative case study investigated EFL teachers’ perceptions of knowledge and skills concerning integration of technologies into teaching of English at a university inVietnam. It explored how EFL teachers integrate technologies in their daily teaching practices. A Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework wasused to guide research design, data collection and data analysis. Findings show that participants vary significantly in terms of knowledge and skills, and in how they usetechnologies productively in teaching practices. The study suggests that to support meaningful integration, EFL teachers need to develop three key knowledge types: content,pedagogical and technological.

Doctor of Philosophy

ALKHAIRI, Ahmad Hassan E

Thesis Title

Exploring teachers’ and students’ efficacy in the teaching and learning of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Saudi Arabia

Supervisors

• Jillian Blacker  (Principal Supervisor)
• Dr Donna Jean Tangen  (Associate Supervisor)

Citation

This qualitative case study explored teaching and learning practices of English-as-a-Foreign Language (EFL) in the school context in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The study is underpinned by Bandura’s (1977, 1986) triadic reciprocal causation model, derived from his Social Cognitive Theory. In particular, the research focused on the teacher-efficacy of Saudi EFL teachers and the self-efficacy of students learning the English language. The approach of the research explores self-efficacy through a qualitative method.

BAYLEY, Ruth Dale

Thesis Title

Why Did They Do It? Understanding Corruption in Public Sector Procurement

Supervisors

• Associate Professor Craig Walter Furneaux  (Associate Supervisor)
• Professor Hitendra Kumaran Pillay  (Principal Supervisor)

Citation

The study analysed explanations of corruption in public procurement processes, using qualitative thematic content analysis, based on five discipline-based theories about corruption. The analysis revealed considerable complexity, with no single theory able to comprehensively explain the phenomenon of corruption, and all five theories offering valuable insights into how and why corruption arose. These findings are important because an organisation’s approach to corruption prevention and treatment is usually driven by its view about causes of corruption. Public sector organisations could therefore benefit from adopting corruption prevention andtreatment programs based on broader theoretical perspectives.

BENTLEY, Laura Amy Meredith

Thesis Title

Evaluation of the Rhythm and Movement for Self-Regulation Program (RAMSR)

Supervisors

• Associate Professor Sonia Louise Jane White  (Associate Supervisor)
• Adjunct Associate Professor Kate Elizabeth Williams  (Principal Supervisor)

Citation

Self-regulation is a key competency in early childhood and plays an important role in early academic skills and social-emotional development. Rhythm and movement have been established as effective ways to improve early self-regulation. This thesis contributed to the growing body of evidence around the novel Rhythm and Movement for Self-Regulation (RAMSR) program by evaluating intervention effects on child outcomes, six months after receiving the intervention. The implementation experiences for educators were also explored through a two-phase survey and a series of interviews to better understand the facilitators and barriers of implementing the RAMSR program.

BYUN, Yoo

Thesis Title

Fathers in Australia: A Longitudinal Study of Fathers' Parenting and Wellbeing, and Associations with Children's Social-Emotional Development

Supervisors

• Dr Lyra L'Estrange  (Associate Supervisor)
• Adjunct Professor Susan Walker  (External Supervisor)
• Adjunct Associate Professor Kate Elizabeth Williams  (Principal Supervisor)

Citation

This PhD study investigated longitudinal patterns in Australian fathers’ mental health, parenting behaviours, parenting self-efficacy and involvement, and their influence onchildren’s social-emotional outcomes. Research questions were addressed through four analytic studies using secondary data from the Longitudinal Study of AustralianChildren. Findings indicated high levels of fathers’ psychological problems and involvement in the first postnatal year, both of which gradually decreased over time. Poorpaternal mental health and low-level involvement negatively influenced children’s social and emotional outcomes. The study has important implications for supporting fathers'mental health, parenting behaviours, and involvement during early childhood to enhance children’s social-emotional outcomes.

CHI, Do Na

Thesis Title

Conceptualising International Postgraduate Students' Authorial Voice in Academic Writing: A Case Study in Australian Higher Education

Supervisors

• Adjunct Associate Professor Margaret Anne Kettle  (Principal Supervisor)
• Professor Annette Faye Woods  (Associate Supervisor)

Citation

This research focuses on authorial voice in academic writing, with particular interest in the writing processes of international postgraduate students in Australia. The studyinvestigated students’ cultural and rhetorical adaptation as they sought to respond to written assessments requiring authorial voice and argument. Voice is a pervasive conceptin academic writing but is often unclear to students in terms of meaning, articulation, and evaluation. This research develops new theoretical, methodological, and pedagogicalunderstandings of voice in second language writing and the processes that globally-mobile second language student writers undertake to expand their multicompetence in newacademically-situated rhetorical conventions and practices.;;

DOLKAR, Tshering

Thesis Title

Because Happiness Matters: Exploring 8- to 12-year-old Bhutanese Children's Lived Experience of Happiness

Supervisors

• Associate Professor Jenna Kathleen Gillett-Swan  (Principal Supervisor)
• Associate Professor Deborah Jan Henderson  (Mentoring Supervisor)

Citation

Happiness is emphasised in Bhutan through the national development philosophy of Gross National Happiness; however, little is known about how Bhutanese childrenexperience happiness. This thesis contributes Bhutanese children’s perspectives of happiness, based on their lived experience in a geographically, developmentally, andculturally different country. Using an integrated theoretical framework of happiness perspectives representing Western and Eastern values, the thesis offers children’sconceptions of multiple dimensions of happiness within multilayered contexts. The thesis has implications for how happiness related policies concerning children’s lives can bestrengthened through the inclusion of children’s views about happiness.

GAO, Danwei

Thesis Title

Are You What You Speak? A Sociological Analysis of the Family Language Policy of Internal Migrant Rencai in China

Supervisors

• Professor Karen Teresa Dooley  (Principal Supervisor)
• Dr Radha Iyer  (Associate Supervisor)

Citation

This thesis examines the Family Language Policies of internal migrant réncái (educated human resources) in China and the sociological dynamics underlying these, against abackground of rapid urbanisation. The study articulated Spolsky’s language policy model with Bourdieusian concepts. Qualitative field analysis of twenty parental interviewsshowed that FLP habitus was influenced by multiple fields. Rencai internalise multiple external structures, developing reasoned beliefs, which regulate deployment of capital fortheir children’s accumulation of linguistic capital. FLP habituses characterise réncái as a social group: Putonghuà-English bilingual cosmopolitans, without fangyán (regionaldialects), living in urban China but against a broader international background.

GASSON, Susan Catherine

Thesis Title

Early Career Researcher Pathways: A Narrative Enquiry

Supervisors

• Professor Christine Susan Bruce  (External Supervisor)
• Professor Susan Jill Danby  (Associate Supervisor)
• Associate Professor Maryanne Agnes Theobald  (Principal Supervisor)

Citation

The competitive higher education and research sectors leave many early career researchers struggling for job security and career advancement. This study examined the lifeexperiences of doctoral graduates who shared stories of their doctoral studies and progress along career pathways. Narrative inquiry revealed three dominant careertrajectories: teaching and service; research leadership, and portfolio/cross-sectoral pathways. Prioritisation of research activities, community and collegial engagement, and thecapacity to pivot when faced with challenges of changing work contexts shaped their identity development. Findings revealed that diverse engagements enhance researchers’career advancement in a post Covid-19 environment.

JIEW, Fui Fong

Thesis Title

Pre-Service Teachers' Mathematical Pedagogical Content Knowledge of the Order of Operations

Supervisors

• Professor Lyndall Denise English  (Principal Supervisor)
• Dr Timothy Harford Lehmann  (Associate Supervisor)

Citation

This study examined pre-service secondary mathematics teachers’ mathematical pedagogical content knowledge pertaining to the order of operations. The conceptual framework developed in this study has both theoretical and methodological significance and holds potential for further research on mathematical pedagogical content knowledge beyond the order of operations. The findings shed light on the participants' reasons for utilising the order of operations and identify misinterpretations they encountered. Furthermore, the study highlights the challenges faced by pre-service secondary mathematics teachers who lack mathematical pedagogical content knowledge when planning to teach the order of operations.

PAN, Pengfei

Thesis Title

A Sociological Study of Australian and Chinese Universities’ Partnership in Transnational Higher Education in China

Supervisors

• Professor Karen Teresa Dooley  (Associate Supervisor)
• Adjunct Associate Professor Guanglun Michael Mu  (Principal Supervisor)
• Professor Carol Patricia Nicoll  (Associate Supervisor)

Citation

This sociological thesis examines the collaboration between Australian and Chinese universities in transnational higher education partnerships offered in China. The studyutilises a self-created database of information gathered from an extensive Internet search of 1265 Chinese universities and 37 Australian universities to investigate thearrangements of partnerships and patterns of universities’ engagement. The analysis reveals the dynamic interests of Australian and Chinese universities in selecting partnersand forming partnerships with various arrangements. The strategies of universities are explained by the volume and configurations of capitals of universities and theirinstitutional habitus.

REBOLLO DE CAMPOS, Priscila

Thesis Title

Investigating Social Bonding Dynamics in a Brazilian Science Class Through a Multi-Level Analysis

Supervisors

• Associate Professor Alberto Bellocchi  (Principal Supervisor)
• Dr James Patrick Davis  (Associate Supervisor)

Citation

This study investigated teacher–student social bonds in a Brazilian science class through analyses of classroom interactions (micro-level). The role of practices recommendedby the school (meso-level) and guidelines from a national education policy (macro-level) on the dynamics of social bonds was explored. It was found that teacher and studentshared values supported social bonds, especially when aligned with the values of the school and the policy. An innovative combination of microsociology of emotions andcritical discourse analysis was used to produce new knowledge about social bonds and understand how teacher–student bonds can both hinder and support learningexperiences.

STOWASSER, Peter Michael

Thesis Title

Exploring Numeracy with an Epistemic Lens: A Primary School Classroom's Epistemic Climates for Mathematics Topics

Supervisors

• Leila Ferguson  (External Supervisor)
• Adjunct Professor Joanne Margaret Lunn  (Principal Supervisor)
• Dr David John Nutchey  (External Supervisor)
• Adjunct Professor Susan Walker  (Associate Supervisor)

Citation

There is a need to promote numeracy and critical thinking for 21st century citizenship. Cognitions we hold about knowledge and knowing – otherwise known as epistemic cognition – mediate critical thinking which underpins numeracy. This doctoral study used a new conceptual lens to explore epistemic climates across maths topics in an Australian primary mathematics classroom. The findings showed two distinct climates, one of which was more aligned with numeracy and critical thinking. This variation was attributed to the centrality of the teacher’s epistemic aims and reinforced the need for educators to think in epistemically reflexive ways about their practice.

ZANGMO, Zinpai

Thesis Title

The Alignment Between Educating for Gross National Happiness and Inclusive Education in the Bhutanese Education System

Supervisors

• Dr Radha Iyer  (Principal Supervisor)
• Dr Donna Jean Tangen  (Associate Supervisor)

Citation

This thesis is a study of how Inclusive Education (IE) aligns with the educational mandate of Educating for Gross National Happiness (EGNH) within the Bhutanese education system. Using Bourdieu’s three conceptual tools of field, capital and habitus the perspectives of school principals and teachers were gathered. The findings demonstrated an alignment in the policy and practice of the principals and teachers. Differences were in the prescribed values accorded, the approach taken towards applying the policies within the schools and a focus on individual versus national identity in meeting the challenges of IE in Bhutanese education.

Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Awards

XING, Congcong

Thesis Title

Understanding the Resilience Process of Chinese International Higher Degree by Research Students in Australia: A Bourdieusian Sociological Mixed Methods Study

Supervisors

• Associate Professor Deborah Jan Henderson  (Associate Supervisor)
• Adjunct Associate Professor Guanglun Michael Mu  (Principal Supervisor)

Citation

This exploratory mixed-methods study sociologically investigated how Chinese international Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students in Australia engage in the resilienceprocess throughout their candidature. Semi-structured interviews and a subsequent online survey respectively with 18 and 220 participants from this student cohort revealeddiversified and empowering strategies to grapple with multiple and concurrent challenges encountered by the student participants. Instead of pathologising them as vulnerablevictims, this study drew on Bourdieu’s sociology and took a strengths-based approach, highlighting student agency and reflexivity in the face of symbolic violence, which mayproffer insights for key stakeholders in resilience-building.