I am very aware that you will be receiving this first Issue for 1998 late in the year. Where does the year go to? In part the answer is the increased pressures of work on everyone - authors, reviewers and editors and the production team - that make it increasingly difficult to find time to do more than the day-to-day survival things. However, as I indicated in the last Issue, there will be a second number of IER Volume 8, even if Christmas comes before it reaches you. Let me now turn to the papers in this Issue.
Clery presents the views of two thoughtful young persons being homeschooled (if I may use a 'new' verb) about the experience. From interviews with these two girls she identifies the major themes of homeschooling as autonomy, self-awareness, socialisation and family relationships. Given increased prospects for homeschooling offered by computerised knowledge bases and computer- assisted learning, this is an area which could be given a greater research emphasis.
The paper about learning environments in vocational education, specifically concerning regulation of learning (Cordingley et al) is presented by a collaborative research team led by Volet. The other authors were masters degree students. Relationships were investigated between students' preferences for regulation in learning and their use of strategies, their interest and their performance. I would encourage the submission for publication of other high quality manuscripts arising out of combined student/staff group projects carried out as part of higher degree studies.
The paper by Frydenberg and Rowley is concerned with how university students in a number of faculties cope with personal and global social issues. One of the interesting findings concerns the differences found between students across the three disciplines involved, Psychology, Medicine and Education, with psychology students more often using the coping strategies investigated.
Because it is in a different area from the papers we have included over the last couple of years, I am pleased that Issues is able to publish a paper on a move from industry awards to school-based enterprise agreements for teacher salaries in non-government schools. It is not surprising, although perhaps a salutary lesson for some, that Leck and Chadbourne's work indicates that the nature and level of educational activity in schools seemed to be independent of the method used in setting teachers' salaries.
Palmer's paper reports an investigation into reasons for student inconsistencies in utilising scientific concepts when responding to questions. His results suggest that the specific context in which individual questions on the topic forces and motion were embedded was important in the conceptual diagnosis made for almost one-fifth of the students. While Palmer is primarily interested in the identification of what aspects of context are critical, his work again indicates the need, when testing a concept, to use a range of questions set in different contexts.
Finally, may I take this opportunity to thank all those who assist with their voluntary labour in making this journal possible, and to invite other input. Whether you are an experienced or inexperienced researcher, if you have a paper you think might interest our readers please send it in for review. Or if you would be prepared to review manuscripts submitted, but have not been asked, please contact me and let me know what types of papers you could review for us. Those who are regular readers will know that all methodologies and any topics within education are welcomed.
Sid Bourke
Editor
| Associate Professor Brian Devlin Northern Territory University Darwin, NT 0909 Ph: 08 8946 6105 Fax: 08 8946 6151 email: bdevlin@banda.ntu.edu.au |
Dr John Hall Faculty of Education Curtin University of Technology GPO Box U1987, Perth WA 6001 Ph: 08 9266 2177 Fax: 08 9266 2547 email: hallj@educ.curtin.edu.au |
| Dr John McCormick School of Education Studies University of NSW Sydney, NSW 2052 Ph: 02 9385 4917 Fax: 02 9385 6153 email: j.mccormick@unsw.edu.au |
Associate Professor Glenn Rowley Faculty of Education Monash University Clayton, VIC 3168 Ph: 03 9905 2830 Fax: 03 9905 1595 email: glenn.rowley@education.monash.edu.au |
| Mr Robert Slater 3 O'Halloran Terrace Park Holme SA 5043 Ph: 08 8277 3584 Fax: 08 8277 3584 email: rslater@nexus.edu.au | |
|
Book Review Editor Dr Andrew Taggart Faculty of Education Edith Cowan University Mt Lawley WA 6050 Ph: 08 9370 6806 Fax: 08 9370 6664 email: a.taggart@cowan.edu.au |
Business Manager Dr John McCormick School of Education Studies University of NSW Sydney, NSW 2052 Ph: 02 9385 4917 Fax: 02 9385 6153 email: j.mccormick@unsw.edu.au Subscriptions To the Business Manager |
All articles published in this journal have been subjected to a blind peer-review process.
The views and styles expressed in the articles in this publication are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily shared by the editor or members of the editorial advisory board.
Copyright © 1998 The Institutes for Educational Research in NSW, NT, SA, Victoria and WA
Published by the Institutes for Educational Research in NSW, NT, SA, Victoria and WA. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the Institutes. Desktop publishing (1998) by Clare McBeath. Printed (1998) by Printing Services, Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia.
ISSN 0313-7155
| Please cite as: Bourke, S. (1998). Editorial. Issues In Educational Research, 8(1), iii-iv. http://www.iier.org.au/iier8/editorial.html |
© 1998 Issues in Educational Research
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