Sharon Fraser

University of Tasmania, Faculty of Education, Faculty Member

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Phone: +61 3 6324 3083
Address: Faculty of Education
Launceston campus
Building A, Rm A134
Locked Bag 1307
University of Tasmania
Tasmania 7250
Australia

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Papers by Sharon Fraser

My Picture is About Opening Up Students' Minds Beyond Our School Gate!" School Principals' Perceptions of STEM Learning Environments

Journal of research in stem education, Jun 28, 2020

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A model for principals' STEM leadership capability

British Educational Research Journal

In this paper we develop a model for the capabilities required by principals for effective Scienc... more In this paper we develop a model for the capabilities required by principals for effective Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) leadership. The model underpinned a large national cross‐sectional research and development project across Australian states in both primary and secondary schools. This model is developed via synthesis of research literature across leadership and STEM education. The model consists of five dimensions of principals' STEM capability: (1) STEM discipline‐specific and integrated knowledge and practices; (2) contexts; (3) dispositions; (4) tools; and (5) critical orientation. These dimensions represent distinct, but interrelated, capacities required by principals to establish and maintain positive STEM learning cultures within schools. Elaborations have been provided, in the form of capabilities, for each of these dimensions. The model has the potential for shaping principals' STEM leadership development trajectories and structuring tar...

Boys’ motivation profiles in mathematics: relations with contextual factors, wellbeing and engagement in a boys-only school

ZDM – Mathematics Education

This study examined the extent to which boys fell into clusters comprised of different levels of ... more This study examined the extent to which boys fell into clusters comprised of different levels of motivations and costs. In turn, the antecedents of these clusters and associations with engagement and wellbeing outcomes were considered. Based on survey responses from 168 students across Years 5, 7 and 9 from an all-boys' school in Sydney, Australia, three clusters were identified: Positively Engaged, Disengaged, and Struggling Ambitious. Performance-approach and avoidance achievement goals, mastery classroom goal structure, perceived peer valuing of mathematics and teacher enthusiasm differentially predicted profile membership. Clusters were also found to differ in terms of both wellbeing and engagement, such that students within maladaptive profiles evidenced the most negative outcomes. The study reaffirms prior work, holds implications for addressing student motivation in mathematics, and adds to understanding of the interplay of individual and classroom goal structures in rela...

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Educational leaders’ perceptions of STEM education revealed by their drawings and texts

International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology

Shaping science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum in Australian schools: An ecological systems analysis

Australian Journal of Education

Improving young people’s engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is... more Improving young people’s engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is being promoted worldwide as a means of addressing projected shortfalls in expertise needed to further nations’ economic, social and environmental goals. Responding to this, schools are reforming traditional discipline-based curricula into interdisciplinary approaches based on problem and project-based designs, to make STEM learning more relevant and meaningful for students. This study drew on a dataset of 449 Australian principal and teacher interviews, to identify factors influencing STEM curriculum in their schools. It utilised Ecological Systems Theory to build understanding relating to the influence of activities and outputs originating at macro, exo and meso system levels, on STEM curriculum and practices in classrooms. Results demonstrated how many innovative schools were able to successfully leverage community, business and national resources to enhance their STEM curriculum, whi...

A peer learning circle approach to professional learning: Promoting representational fluency

Australian Mathematics Education Journal, 2020

This article describes the experiences of a peer learning circle as they developed theirunderstan... more

No wonder out-of-field teachers struggle!' - Unpacking the thinking of expert teachers

The Australian mathematics teacher, 2016

According to McKenzie, Weldon, Rowley, Murphy and McMillan (2014, p. 67), in 2013, approximately ... more According to McKenzie, Weldon, Rowley, Murphy and McMillan (2014, p. 67), in 2013, approximately 27% of Australian Year 7—10 mathematics teachers had received no teaching methodology education in mathematics and hence could be considered to be teaching out-of-field. The corresponding figure for science teachers was 20%. Furthermore, the likelihood of students being taught mathematics by an out-of-field teacher is greater in provincial or remote schools compared with metropolitan schools (Office of the Chief Scientist, 2012). Teachers in such rural or remote locations also tend to be less experienced and have limited access to professional learning and the support of expert colleagues compared with their metropolitan colleagues (Lyons, Cooksey, Panizzon, Parnell, & Pegg, 2006). Yet when an expert teacher is available, the task of mentoring out-of-field and less experienced colleagues is often undertaken with little acknowledgement or support. In this paper, we describe the initial st...

Vietnam: Schooling, literacy and fertility census 1979, 1989, 1999

International Journal of Educational Development, 1993

Vietnam&#x27;s population with an annual average growth rate of 2.1% grew from 52.7 million t... more

Building A New Generation: Community Expectations On Raising Aspirations In Rural Tasmania

Australian and International Journal of Rural Education

This paper analyses a community-based educational program involving private and public sector par... more This paper analyses a community-based educational program involving private and public sector partners instituted in a small city in northern Tasmania. The program represents part of a state-wide initiative to challenge the persistence of structural educational disadvantage and what is understood to be an entrenched â€œcultureâ€ that is insufficiently attuned to the necessity of further education. In this paper, we analyse this program from the perspective of key community partners drawing on a series of semi-structured interviews. We offer an analytic framework that suggests an integrated approach to thinking about supporting educational achievement, attainment and retention in regional Australia. It is our view while there is much that regional communities struggling with change can learn from this program, there are conceptual limitations in the way the problem of educational achievement is understood that should be enhanced by a more comprehensive understanding.

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Liquid Modernity, Emplacement And Education For The Anthropocene: Challenges For Rural Education In Tasmania

Australian and International Journal of Rural Education

In spite of being relatively wealthy and resource-rich, a persistent narrative of the island stat... more In spite of being relatively wealthy and resource-rich, a persistent narrative of the island state of Tasmania is the deficit framing of its regional and rural education where, under the placeless and mobile orientation of hypermodernity, the only serious option for success for its young is to leave their communities. This paper presents a counter-narrative that emerges through the lenses of social and ecological theory that draws together a critical examination of Baumanâ€™s notion of liquid modernity and aspiration alongside concepts of locality and emplacement. Â We situate this counter-narrative within the growing literature calling for a transformation of education as humanity grapples with the challenge of the Anthropocene, arguably the great educational challenge of our times. We conclude that regionality and rurality can be reframed as opportunities in response to the Anthropocene that offer the potential to explore fundamentally new models of multidisciplinary research that...

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Communicating ideas : oral, visual and written communication skills for science students

Scientific knowledge grows through communication, discussion, and debate of ideas and understandi... more Scientific knowledge grows through communication, discussion, and debate of ideas and understanding. The ability to communicate is an essential skill for scientists. In this paper we present the results of our program to teach, and support the development of oral, visual, and written communication skills in tertiary science students

Article Transformative Science Teaching in Higher Education

University science teaching remains fairly traditional in its approach, incorporating teacher-cen... more University science teaching remains fairly traditional in its approach, incorporating teacher-centred and lecture-based methodologies and utilizing cook book labora-tory experiences. Innovative science lecturers, however, have transformed their understanding and practice as teachers, placing their students at the heart of their actions and engaging in ongoing critical reflection about what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how their students are learning. Through the consideration of two case studies, this article explores what it is like to be an innovative science lecturer and what initially triggered and now sustains their transformation. It posits that critical reflection and transformative learning are at the heart of innovation in teaching in higher education, but that while intrinsically rewarding, engaging in such practice can put career progression at risk if not undertaken strategically.

The Effect of an e-Health Intervention Designed to Reduce Prolonged Occupational Sitting on Mean Arterial Pressure

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a workplace health intervention de-signed to reduce prolonge... more Objective: To evaluate the effect of a workplace health intervention de-signed to reduce prolonged occupational sitting on the mean arterial pressure (MAP) of desk-based employees.Methods: This randomized controlled trial involved an experimental group who received an e-health intervention and a control groupwho did not. The 13-week intervention passively prompted par-ticipants to stand and engage in short bouts of office-based physical activity by interrupting prolonged occupational sitting time periodically throughout the workday. Mean arterial pressure was measured at pretest and posttest. Results: Between pretest and posttest the experimental group significantly reduced their MAP, whereas MAP in the control group did not.Conclusions: Aworkplace e-health intervention designed to reduce prolonged occupational sitting was effective in decreasing MAP in desk-based employees. P revalent in Australia are a range of workplace health and well-ness interventions designed to reduce or eli...

A workplace intervention designed to interrupt prolonged occupational sitting

International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 2016

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of a workplace interventi... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of a workplace intervention designed to interrupt prolonged occupational sitting time (POST) and its impact on the self-reported health of a cohort of desk-based employees. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 43 participants received an interactive computer-based software intervention for 26 weeks. For the first 13 weeks the intervention passively prompted the participants to interrupt POST and perform brief bouts of non-purposeful movement. The second 13 weeks involved the passivity of the intervention being removed, with the intervention only accessible voluntarily by the participant. This approach was adopted to determine the sustainability of the intervention to change workplace health behaviour. Findings – ANOVA results revealed a significant interaction between group and test occasion, F(2, 42)=2.79, p < 0.05, such that the experimental group increased their total health from pre-test to post-test (...

Doing it differently in science: An evaluation of the process

With the benefit of a CUTSD Grant for 1999, the authors sought to develop an integrated programme... more With the benefit of a CUTSD Grant for 1999, the authors sought to develop an integrated programme supporting the development of key learning competencies in undergraduate science students at the University of Western Sydney (UWS) Nepean. The subject chosen to contextualise this programme, was a second year biological sciences subject, Immunology, which in itself aimed to provide students with an understanding of the development and functioning of the immune system, as well as expertise in a range of clinical assessment and research techniques involving immunological principles. The targeted competencies included:  group leadership and membership;  oral and written communication;  critical analysis;  problem solving;  reflective skills; and  independent learning.

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Building STEM in schools: an Australian cross-case analysis

Educational Technology & Society, 2021

STEM Learning Environments: Perceptions of STEM Education Researchers

In efforts to provide effective support in STEM education in general and to help schoolteachers a... more In efforts to provide effective support in STEM education in general and to help schoolteachers and leaders to consider STEM approaches and carry them out effectively, theperceptions of researchers active in STEM education or initiatives regarding STEM aresignificant. Despite many efforts to disseminate and implement STEM education, littleresearch has focused on the researchers. The present study aimed to explore STEM researcherperceptions of STEM learning environments using the Draw a STEM Learning EnvironmentTest (D-STEM). The drawings portrayed varying levels of STEM integration and in alldepictions, there were indications of student-centred instruction. We conclude this paper witha discussion of the implications for practice and research.

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An Alternative Model for Mathematics and Science Initial Teacher Education

Background While there has been substantial movement towards integrating the study of STEM discip... more Background While there has been substantial movement towards integrating the study of STEM disciplines in the United States (Becker & Park, 2011), the situation in Australia is such that these disciplines are still largely taught separately (Blackley & Howell, 2015). This abstract reports on the development of an innovative four-year undergraduate ITE degree for secondary teachers, the Bachelor of Education (Science and Mathematics) (BEDSM) developed as part of the IMSITE project. Students enrolled in the degree will simultaneously study a science major, mathematics minor and education units that have been designed to allow for teaching and learning with an integrated STEM approach. Aims The aim of the research was to assess the attractiveness of the BEDSM to science and mathematics teachers and career counsellors in secondary schools with a view to determining the potential for the program to attract future students. Design and methods Face-to-face interviews were conducted in Marc...

Creating linkages

STEM and STEAM education as spaces for disruption and rejuvenation in schools: An overview of professional possibilities for ‘disciplinarity’ across three Australian states

This paper presents an overview of how interdisciplinary education agendas are being interpreted ... more This paper presents an overview of how interdisciplinary education agendas are being interpreted and enacted within three Australian states: New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria. It offers new understanding of the impact, interpretation and enactment of interdisciplinary education in STEM and STEAM on teacher professionalism. Consideration is given to the priorities espoused in current State and Federal policy agendas for disruption and rejuvenation. The paper explores how disciplinary acronyms such as STEM and STEAM are being mobilised to maintain, erode or reform particular disciplines, and how this impacts enactment of teacher professionalism in Australian schools. By focusing on the boundaries between these disciplines, the distinctiveness and potential of various interdisciplinary agendas can be reframed and better understood. In turn, ways of recognising, embracing and prioritising different forms of disciplinary knowledge of education professionals can be identified in the ...

My Picture is About Opening Up Students' Minds Beyond Our School Gate!" School Principals' Perceptions of STEM Learning Environments

Journal of research in stem education, Jun 28, 2020

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A model for principals' STEM leadership capability

British Educational Research Journal