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The 24th National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference, colloquially known as "No Frills", was held in July 2015.The conference highlighted research across three major themes:(1) youth: engaging, inspiring and supporting students to realise their potential; (2) pathways: transitioning through education and training into the workforce; and (3) skills: working with industry and employers to improve education and training. The presentations provided delegates with diverse insights from government, academic and employer perspectives on the key issues confronting the vocational education and training (VET) sector. A select few speakers at the conference were also offered the opportunity to have their papers peer-reviewed, and these five refereed papers have been compiled to make up this book of conference proceedings. The papers examine: the diversity of VET providers and the needs of students; initiatives designed to improve the capabilities of VET practitioners; how skills contribute to innovation, and the implications of this in terms of return on investment; the impact of VET students transitioning directly into second year university and how these students can best be supported; and the learning preferences of VET students (specifically enrolled nurses), how they differ by comparison with university students and the consequent implications. The hope is that these papers will provide an insight into the array of topics presented at the "No Frills" conferences and generate interest in attending future conferences. Contents include: (1) Profiling the institutional diversity of VET providers in Australia, across four broad dimensions (Peter Bentley, Leo Goedegebuure and Ruth Schubert); (2) Understanding the needs of VET students articulating to second-year university (Mark Symmons, Paul Kremer, and Alvin Rendell); (3) Learning preferences of Enrolled Nursing students: Educational preparation and training for workplace readiness (Kalpana Raghunathan, Sonia Allen, and Elisabeth Jacob); (4) Improving VET teachers' skills and their approach to professional learning (Anne Dening); and (5) Skills needed for innovation: A review (Michael Walsh). [Individual papers contain references. This conference was cohosted by the University of Western Sydney, TAFE: Western Sydney Institute, WSI, and TAFE: South Western Sydney Institute.]

There is widespread agreement that collaboration, teamwork and intercultural competence, among others, are essential 21st century skills. Higher education teaching and learning initiatives tend to have a significant focus on developing these skills through assessments and other in-class activities, and yet often do not take advantage of opportunities to collaborate with other institutions located in different countries to give their students an authentic, globalised learning experience. Previous transnational education projects have tended to encourage cross-institutional collaboration through engagement with host institution subjects/courses that are delivered at off-shore locations. Although these initiatives are valuable, they tend to impose a 'neo-colonialism' approach and therefore may not develop 'transformative' international perspectives. This paper will present an initiative that was developed between two institutions located in Australia and Hong Kong, where their students collaborated on an assessment for learning task that involved developing a real-life solution for not-for-profit organisations, often located in a third country. The ideas discussed in this paper will be useful for anyone who is trying to create a more immersive, authentic learning experience for their students. These initiatives developed in our students a heightened sense of belonging to a truly globalised world we live in and instilled a shared responsibility of care. Ideas discussed in the presentation will also be useful for policy makers about how to go about creating more supportive policy and governance frameworks to encourage greater collaborations with off-shore institutions in a truly respectful arrangement. [For the complete proceedings, see ED601080.]

Mathematics anxiety is a known problem in mathematics education. This paper reports on a study looking at mathematics anxiety in a primary school classroom (year 6). Students were given a mathematics test and a following anxiety questionnaire to assess their levels of anxiety, to try to better understand issues that caused anxiety and to understand ways that teachers might help reduce anxiety. Results indicated that assessing anxiety itself could be pedagogically valuable. Results also offered some suggestions for reducing anxiety.

Research across five countries has identified inability to pay attention to mathematical detail -- the discipline of noticing -- is an issue in senior secondary school mathematics teachers. The test and questionnaire completed by an Australian cohort further identifies a reluctance to employ non-routine questions in assessments, with teachers concerned about damaging the trust relationship they enjoy with their students. As teachers fail to demonstrate strong ability in non-routine written test questions themselves, this paper questions whether there exists a 'conspiracy' between teachers and their students to avoid scrutiny of conceptual understanding.

This study investigates consistent and inconsistent respondents to mixed-worded questionnaire scales in large-scale assessments. Mixed-worded scales contain both positively and negatively worded items and are universally applied in different survey and content areas. Due to the changing wording, these scales require a more careful reading and answering process than scales with only one type of wording (Marsh, 1986; Schmitt & Stults, 1985). Especially poor readers might not notice the changing item wording (Marsh, 1986). Therefore, using mixed-worded scales can have unintended consequences, because not all respondents answer positively and negatively worded items in a consistent way. This study assumes and aims to identify two distinct groups of respondents to mixed-worded scales, consistent and inconsistent respondents. We argue that this population heterogeneity underlies the common phenomenon of wording-related effects in mixed-worded scales (Gnambs & Schroeders, 2017; Marsh, 1986). We investigated five datasets from three large-scale assessments. At first we included n = 4,799 15-year-old students from the USA who were surveyed in PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2015, second n = 5,943 fourth-graders from Australia who participated in both TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) and PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) 2011, and third n = 4,989 fifth- and n = 4,791 ninth-graders from Germany who participated in NEPS (National Educational Panel Study) in 2010/2011 and 2014/2015. The mixed-worded scales measured the reading self-concept in PISA and PIRLS, the mathematics self-concept in TIMSS, and the global self-esteem in NEPS. In order to identify two unobserved groups of respondents to the different mixed-worded scales, we formulated a constrained factor mixture model (e.g., Masyn et al., 2010) that operationalized these two assumed classes of respondents. We modeled the consistent class to show a response pattern that implies changing the side of the response scale (i.e. agree with positively worded items and disagree with negatively worded items or vice versa) and the inconsistent class to show the same response pattern to both item types (i.e. agreeing or disagreeing to all items). The findings of this study have different implications for the use of mixed-worded questionnaire scales in large-scale assessments as well as for future research in the field of interactions between survey instruments and respondents. The study further connects two strands of previously unrelated research, research on the detection of inconsistent/careless respondents and research on the reasons for unexpected item intercorrelation patterns in mixed-worded scales. In all five datasets, the estimated parameter patterns were in line with theoretical expectations and the mixture models consistently outperformed more traditional two-dimensional confirmatory factor analysis models. Between 7% and 20% of respondents were found to belong to the inconsistent classes. To further substantiate and validate the interpretation of the proposed model, class membership was related to a theoretically relevant characteristic of the respondents, the reading achievement. Conform with expectations, the reading achievement scores were lower in the classes of inconsistent respondents than in the classes of consistent respondents in all five datasets.

The increase in the use of educational technologies in Australian high schools has sparked this investigation into how Year 9 (13 to 14 years of age) students experience and negotiate a new technology enhanced learning environment in a bilingual classroom setting. The paper is about examining the students' language practices in German and English while using a Managed Learning Environment (MLE). The study aims to unearth how such translanguaging practices (using both German and English to communicate in bilingual education settings) contribute to and shape self-regulated learning in a scientific open inquiry process. This is corroborated by insights into student reflections on using the MLE in two languages, with data gained from a student survey. The study further analyses the relationship between bilingual language practices and adaptive tool use. The effectiveness of online learning environments depends on the students' adaptive tool-use (Barzilai & Zohar, 2006; Lust, Vandewaetere, Elen, & Clarebout, 2014) and the ability to engage in self-regulatory learning practices (Zimmerman, Bembenutty, & Schunk, 2013). Data were collected via voice recordings, a student-designed questionnaire and focus group interviews with 22 Year 9 students covering 18 Biology lessons during 6 weeks, over two consecutive years. The study revealed that students' self-regulatory practices during open inquiry processes developed in specific ways through the exposure to a bilingual classroom setting, e.g. by being exposed to unknown terms in German which led them to search for translations and then on to further self-initiated and self-regulated research to find explanations online However, when biology content knowledge was pre-prepared (in the second language of German) by the teacher in guided customized simulations on a computer software tool, students seem to favor such guided practices over self-initiated and self-regulated research as shown during the open inquiry task. However, independent of the specifics of bilingual language use in open or guided inquiry, the tool-use also appeared to be reliant on students' prior disposition. Consequently, results of this study might have interesting implications for the future customization of online learning spaces for high school students and educators in bilingual settings as well as other fields. [For full proceedings, see ED571332.]

To succeed in mathematics middle-years' students must move from additive to multiplicative thinking and from arithmetic calculations to generalised algebraic strategies. If we ask the right questions this progression can be monitored and prompted through fraction tasks. Students' solution strategies for fraction tasks vary from a dependence on diagrams, to methods that demonstrate algebraic reasoning. Based on testing and interviews two frameworks have been developed. The first is used to classify strategies students use to find an unknown whole, when given a known fractional part of the whole, and its equivalent quantity. The second framework monitors the extent to which algebraic reasoning is apparent when opportunities for generalised responses are prompted.

There is growing consensus that the process of planning mathematics lessons is as complex as teaching them, yet there is limited research on this. This paper reports on one aspect of a project examining issues in primary teachers' mathematics planning. The results, taken from a questionnaire completed by 62 primary teachers, indicate that when planning their lessons, teachers give priority to a diverse range of aspects related to their mathematical knowledge for teaching, yet there are similarities in the challenges which they experience. Findings also suggest that team planning can support teachers overcome such challenges. Issues requiring further attention are discussed.

In 2015, a new MTeach coursework unit, "Numeracy for Learners and Teachers," was introduced at Monash University. The impetuses for this unit were the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership numeracy standards for graduate teachers, and the inclusion of numeracy as a general capability in the Australian Curriculum. In this paper, we describe the content and organisation of the unit, and its delivery modes. An evaluation was conducted with students using pre- and post-unit questionnaires and interviews. A major finding was that students' confidence to incorporate numeracy into their teaching across the curriculum increased after studying the unit.

This paper presents initial data from a study being undertaken into the potential effects of a mentoring program for teacher education students who have self-identified as suffering from mathematics anxiety. The first phase of the study saw 8 primary teacher education students opt into a program matching them in pairs with 4 mentor teachers who had been selected by their principals after meeting 6 criteria that identified them as highly capable mentors in mathematics education. The mentees worked with the mentors in classrooms for 8 weeks. After the program the students were interviewed. Data from these students is explored here with particular emphasis on an artefact presented by one of the students about her journey through the process.

As teaching is a cultural activity embedded in a unique context, professional development opportunities for teachers may be best placed amid the relevance of everyday classroom practice, and supported by an innovative curriculum. This progress paper reports on data collected as part of doctoral research studying the changes in mathematical knowledge and beliefs of three year 5/6 teachers as they implemented a four-week, innovative curriculum unit. Early analysis of the case of Year 5 teacher Mark pointed to reflection on the pivotal influence of teachers' stated and inferred beliefs about mathematics and mathematics teaching on classroom practice, and the vagaries of didactic contracts in a change environment.

This paper documents the development of an online qualitative questionnaire to be used with teachers of young children experiencing parental separation and divorce. The questionnaire forms the first phase one of a larger project where it will be used to determine teachers' thoughts, opinion, and beliefs regarding their preparedness for working with children experiencing parental separation and divorce. Development and structure of the questionnaire has been informed by a previous study whereby teachers disclosed their professional learning needs for working with children and families experiencing parental separation and divorce. The modules in the questionnaire reflect the modules in the online professional learning tool. The categories of teachers' professional learning needs are--(1) knowledge of the phenomenon, (2) working with children, and (3) working with families. Usefulness of the questionnaire was determined using Brookfield's theory of the critically reflective practitioner. I reflected on my own experiences, sought feedback from colleagues who trialed the questionnaire, and made comparisons with the literature. These data were synthesized to conclude the useful of the questionnaire to determine teachers' perception of their preparedness for working with children experiencing parental separation and divorce.

This research study provides a comparative understanding of instructional design e-practice in an Australian and an American university. This comparative study identifies information relating to the current status of instructional design e-practice that will be of assistance to Australian universities to improve their existing online programs. The study investigated two universities using a quantitative methodological approach. Participants were students, lecturers and admins of one Faculty in an Australian university and one Faculty in an American university engaged with e-learning programs. The instructional design variables, namely clarifying expectations, personalization, learning scenarios, organizing resources and accuracy of materials were investigated for e-practice. The results showed that there were no significant differences in evaluation of the sub factors between Australian and American students and lecturers. American admins evaluated the sub factors of personalization, organizing resources, and accuracy of materials higher than Australians; however, Australian admins evaluated the sub factor of clarifying expectations higher than the Americans. The evaluations of instructional design practice and its sub factors were above average in general in both countries; however, the sub factor of organizing resources was evaluated as poor in the Australian sample and poor and average in the American sample. This indicates that this sub factor needs to improve in both countries. [For the complete proceedings, see ED579335.]

These proceedings contain the papers of the 13th International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA 2016), October 28-30, 2016, which has been organized by the International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS), co-organized by the University of Mannheim, Germany, and endorsed by the Japanese Society for Information and Systems in Education (JSISE). The CELDA conference aims to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There have been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a fast pace and affecting academia and professional practice in many ways. These proceedings contain the following keynote lectures: (1) From Digital to Double Blended Learning (Jeroen J. G. van Merrienboer); and (2) Open Educational Resources: Educational Technology as a Driver for Educational Reform? (Michael Kerres). Full papers in these proceedings include: (1) A Service-Learning Project Using Crowdfunding Strategy: Students' Experience and Reflection (Jessnor Elmy Mat-jizat and Khalizul Khalid); (2) Towards a Theory-Based Design Framework for an Effective E-Learning Computer Programming Course (Ian S. McGowan); (3) An Ontology for Learning Services on the Shop Floor (Carsten Ullrich); (4) The Impact of Technology Integration upon Collegiate Pedagogy from the Lens of Multiple Disciplines (Joan Ann Swanson); (5) A Learning Support System Regarding Motion Trigger for Repetitive Motion Having an Operating Instrument (Hiroshi Toyooka, Kenji Matsuura, and Naka Gotoda); (6) Task-Based Assessment of Students' Computational Thinking Skills Developed through Visual Programming or Tangible Coding Environments (Takam Djambong and Viktor Freiman); (7) Framework for Intelligent Teaching and Training Systems--A Study of the Systems (Nikolaj Troels Graf von Malotky and Alke Martens); (8) Mobile Device Usage in Higher Education (Jan Delcker, Andrea Honal, and Dirk Ifenthaler); (9) Features Students Really Expect from Learning Analytics (Clara Schumacher and Dirk Ifenthaler); (10) Music Technology Competencies for Education: A Proposal for a Pedagogical Architecture for Distance Learning (Fátima Weber Rosas, Leticia Rocha Machado, and Patricia Alejandra Behar); (11) Increasing Students' Science Writing Skills through a PBL Simulation (Scott W. Brown, Kimberly A. Lawless, Christopher Rhoads, Sarah D. Newton, and Lisa Lynn); (12) The Effect of Choosing versus Receiving Feedback on College Students' Performance (Maria Cutumisu and Daniel L. Schwartz); (13) The Impact of Middle-School Students' Feedback Choices and Performance on Their Feedback Memory (Maria Cutumisu and Daniel L. Schwartz); (14) Numerical Acuity Enhancement in Kindergarten: How Much Does Material Presentation Form Mean? (Maria Lidia Mascia, Maria Chiara Fastame, Mirian Agus, Daniela Lucangeli, and Maria Pietronilla Penna); (15) A Video Game for Learning Brain Evolution: A Resource or a Strategy? (Luisa Fernanda Barbosa Gomez, Maria Cristina Bohorquez Sotelo, Naydu Shirley Roja Higuera, and Brigitte Julieth Rodriguez Mendoza); (16) Communication Vulnerability in the Digital Age: A Missed Concern in Constructivism (Fusa Katada); (17) Online Learners' Navigational Patterns Based on Data Mining in Terms of Learning Achievement (Sinan Keskin, Muhittin Sahin, Adem Ozgur, and Halil Yurdugul); (18) Amazed by Making: How Do Teachers Describe Their PBL Experience (Dalit Levy and Olga Dor); (19) Group Work and the Impact, If Any, of the Use of Google Applications for Education (Jannat Maqbool); (20) Fractangi: A Tangible Learning Environment for Learning about Fractions with an Interactive Number Line (Magda Mpiladeri, George Palaigeorgiou, and Charalampos Lemonidis); (21) Evaluation of Learning Unit Design with Use of Page Flip Information Analysis (Izumi Horikoshi, Masato Noguchi, and Yasuhisa Tamura); (22) Einstein's Riddle as a Tool for Profiling Students (Vildan Özeke and Gökhan Akçapinar); (23) Exploring Students' E-Learning Effectiveness through the Use of Line Chat Application (Tassaneenart Limsuthiwanpoom, Penjira Kanthawongs, Penjuree Kanthawongs, and Sasithorn Suwandee); (24) Factors Affecting Perceived Satisfaction with Facebook in Education (Penjuree Kanthawongs, Penjira Kanthawongs, and Chaisak Chitcharoen); (25) Interactive Video, Tablets and Self-Paced Learning in the Classroom: Preservice Teachers' Perceptions (Anthia Papadopoulou and George Palaigeorgiou); (26) Cognitive Design for Learning: Cognition and Emotion in the Design Process (Joachim Hasebrook); (27) Investigating the Potential of the Flipped Classroom Model in K-12 Mathematics Teaching and Learning (Maria Katsa, Stylianos Sergis, and Demetrios G. Sampson; (28) Learning Analytics to Understand Cultural Impacts on Technology Enhanced Learning (Jenna Mittelmeier, Dirk Tempelaar, Bart Rienties, and Quan Nguyen); (29) Widening and Deepening Questions in Web-Based Investigative Learning (Akihiro Kashihara and Naoto Akiyama); (30) Year 9 Student Voices Negotiating Digital Tools and Self-Regulated Learning Strategies in a Bilingual Managed Learning Environment (Ulla Freihofner, Simone Smala, and Chris Campbell); (31) Purposeful Exploratory Learning with Video Using Analysis Categories (Meg Colasante); (32) Building a Learning Experience: What Do Learners' Online Interaction Data Imply (Mehmet Kokoç and Arif Altun); (33) Rules for Adaptive Learning and Assistance on the Shop Floor (Carsten Ullrich); and (34) Participation and Achievement in Enterprise MOOCs for Professional Learning (Florian Schwerer and Marc Egloffstein). Short papers included in these proceedings include: (1) Connectivist Communication Networks (Ingolf Waßmann, Robin Nicolay, and Alke Martens); (2) Learning and Skills Development in a Virtual Class of Educommunications Based on Educational Proposals and Interactions (Maria Cristina Bohorquez Sotelo, Brigitte Julieth Rodriguez Mendoza, Sandra Milena Vega, Naydu Shirley Roja Higuera, and Luisa Fernanda Barbosa Gomez); (3) The Relationship among ICT Skills, Traditional Reading Skills and Online Reading Ability (I-Fang Liu and Hwa-Wei Ko); (4) Towards Concept Understanding Relying on Conceptualisation in Constructivist Learning (Farshad Badie); (5) E-Learning in Chemistry Education: Self-Regulated Learning in a Virtual Classroom (Rachel Rosanne Eidelman and Yael Shwartz); (6) Relationship of Mobile Learning Readiness to Teacher Proficiency in Classroom Technology Integration (Rhonda Christensen and Gerald Knezek); (7) Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Internet Residency: Implications for Both Personal Life and Teaching/Learning (Linda Crearie); (8) A Portfolio for Optimal Collaboration of Human and Cyber Physical Production Systems in Problem-Solving (Fazel Ansari and Ulrich Seidenberg); (9) Innovative Collaborative Learning Strategies for Integrated Interactive E-Learning in the 21st Century (Barbara Son); (10) Educational Criteria for Evaluating Simple Class Diagrams Made by Novices for Conceptual Modeling (Mizue Kayama, Shinpei Ogata, David K. Asano, and Masami Hashimoto); (11) Digital Natives and Digital Divide: Analysing Perspective for Emerging Pedagogy (Uriel U. Onye and Yunfei Du); (12) E-Learning System Using Segmentation-Based MR Technique for Learning Circuit Construction (Atsushi Takemura); (13) Students' Google Drive Intended Usage: A Case Study of Mathematics Courses in Bangkok University (Krisawan Prasertsith, Penjira Kanthawongs, and Tan Limpachote); (14) An Empirical Study on the Impact of Self-Regulation and Compulsivity towards Smartphone Addition of University Students (Penjira Kanthawongs, Felicito Angeles Jabutay, Ruangrit Upalanala, and Penjuree Kanthawongs); (15) Adaptive Game Based Learning Using Brain Measures for Attention--Some Explorations (Jelke van der Pal, Christopher Roos, Ghanshaam Sewnath, and Christian Rosheuvel); (16) Evaluation of the Course of the Flight Simulators from the Perspective of Students and University Teachers (Feyzi Kaysi, Bünyamin Bavli and Aysun Gürol); (17) Development of Critical Thinking with Metacognitive Regulation (Yasushi Gotoh); (18) Enacting STEM Education for Digital Age Learners: The "Maker" Movement Goes to School (Dale S. Niederhauser and Lynne Schrum); (19) New Scenarios for Audience Response Systems in University Lectures (Daniel Schön, Stephan Kopf, Melanie Klinger, and Benjamin Guthier); (20) Academic Retention: Results from a Study in an Italian University College (Maria Lidia Mascia, Mirian Agus, Maria Assunta Zanetti, Eliano Pessa, and Maria Pietronilla Penna); and (21) Learning How to Write an Academic Text: The Effect of Instructional Method and Reflection on Text Quality. Reflection papers in these proceedings include: (1) Teachers' Attitude towards ICT Use in Secondary Schools: A Scale Development Study (Mehmet Kemal Aydin, Ali Semerci, and Mehmet Gürol); and (2) Inventing the Invented for STEM Understanding (Alicia Stansell, Tandra Tyler-Wood, and Christina Stansell). An author index is included. Individual papers contain references.

Researchers have argued that there are strong links between primary school students' competence with fraction concepts and operations and their algebraic readiness. This study involving 162 Years 5/6 students in three primary schools examined the strength of that relationship using a test based on familiar fraction tasks and a test of algebraic thinking utilising number relations and equivalence. A strong relationship was found between the two, and with some fraction tasks embodying high potential to anticipate algebraic thinking.

Pedagogical content knowledge is widely considered an essential and complex facet of mathematics teacher knowledge, but little research has focused on PCK at the senior secondary level. This study explores some of the complexities of PCK in a teacher's lesson for senior secondary students by analysing data from lesson observation, the teacher's own commentary on the lesson, and students' perceptions of the teacher's knowledge and actions. Findings suggest that classroom norms relating to the kinds of problems students are typically required to solve can affect priorities about what is taught, so that what is attended to and valued by students may impact on teachers' PCK demands.

The purpose of this study was to inform the deliberations of a policymakers' working group by investigating what key actors in the materials' marketplace are doing to align digital and print-based materials with the Australian Curriculum and what steps need to be taken to deliver aligned materials to schools. Content analysis method was used to review research literature about the materials' marketplace, the publishing industry, and the procurement, selection and use of materials. Survey method was used to investigate the experiences of a sample of publishers in aligning their products with the Australian Curriculum. Case study method was used to study the backgrounds, current status and environmental interactions of the Australian Curriculum Connect and the Curriculum into the Classroom projects. The results of the study showed that four key attributes characterize the materials' marketplace. The marketplace is dominated by a small number of foreign companies, but small publishing companies play an important role as niche publishers. The adequate supply of materials is dependent on whether individual schools use book-list, book-hire or class-set systems as a basis for procuring new materials. Selection procedures are decentralized, highly differentiated, unsystematic and dependent on demographic characteristics affecting individual schools. Teachers depend in their instructional practice on using teacher-developed resources derived from photocopying print-based materials. Within the interactions of publishers' production and marketing strategies, the Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing, established by the Australian Publishers Association, have enhanced publishers' role in developing high quality materials, and publishers are using a range of techniques to align materials with the Australian Curriculum. The Australian Government has invested funds in developing a repository of digital materials, delivering the materials by means of an online platform and conducting an extensive series of studies to evaluate students' use of learning objects. The Queensland Department of Education, Training and Employment has developed and implemented various digital materials in the Curriculum into the Classroom project as the principal means for implementing the Australian Curriculum in Queensland schools. The delivery chain, however, is impeded by the lack of a comprehensive and effective means of providing evaluative information about the alignment of digital and print-based materials with the Australian Curriculum to help teachers make informed decisions in selecting materials. The conclusion sets out recommendations referring to the roles of key actors in a plan to improve delivery of materials as they proceed through a complex set of interactions between publishers' production and marketing strategies, selectors' decision-making processes, and consumers' patterns of use. The following are appended: (1) Sample of Australian Publishers of Curriculum Materials; and (2) Survey of Publishers of Curriculum Materials.

Exploring why more boys than girls continue to study higher levels of mathematics in senior school when there appear to be no gender differences in achievement in earlier years is worthy of investigation. There are potentially many reasons why this occurs including career aspirations, interest, and attitudes. One factor explored in this study was the gender composition of classes in Years 7 to 9. Data were collected from students in a single-sex boy's school, a single-sex girl's school and a coeducational school. Data revealed differences in attitude to mathematics with girls in the single-sex school having the most positive attitudes and girls in the coeducation setting having the least positive attitudes.

The practices of effective primary school teachers including students with Down syndrome in their mathematics classes are largely unexplored and many teachers feel unprepared to teach students with intellectual disabilities. A study with cohorts in Victoria and the ACT is underway and here we report a subset of findings concerning the support teachers claim to require. There was an identified need for mathematics specific resources and strategies but a strong endorsement of inclusion as an appropriate practice in primary mathematics. [This research was conducted as a partnership between ACER Foundation and Australian Catholic University with generous funding from Gandel Philanthropy.]

The Total Survey Error (TSE) paradigm provides a framework that supports the effective planning of research, guides decision making about data collection and contextualises the interpretation and dissemination of findings. TSE also allows researchers to systematically evaluate and improve the design and execution of ongoing survey programs and future investigations. As one of the key aims of a TSE approach is to find a balance between achieving a survey with minimal error and a survey that is affordable, it is unlikely that a considerable number of enhancements to regular programs of research can be made in a single cycle. From an operational perspective, significant alterations to data collection processes and procedures have the potential to create more problems than they solve, particularly for large-scale, longitudinal or complex projects. Similarly, substantial changes to the research approach can have an undesired effect on time series data where it can become difficult to disentangle actual change from change due to methodological refinements. The University Experience Survey (UES) collects feedback from approximately 100,000 undergraduate students at Australian universities each year. Based on previous reviews of the UES, errors of measurement appeared to make less of a contribution to TSE than the errors of representation that were associated with the survey. As part of the 2013 and 2014 collections, the research design was modified to directly address coverage errors, sampling errors and non-response errors. The conceptual and operational approach to mitigating the errors of representation, the cost effectiveness of the modifications to the research design and the outcomes for reporting will be discussed with practical examples from the UES. A bibliography is included.