Forum

Interventions for Learning

Graduate School of
Education

FORUM, 2014



Welcome to the 2014 Interventions for Learning Forum. This forum is a celebration
of the achievements of all final year Master of Teaching pre-service teachers
achievements in EDUC5509, Interventions for Learning. In this unit they plan,
implement and report on an intervention project intended to assist children and older
students with their learning and have the opportunity to give to children, teachers
and schools in the form of intensive interventions to support or extend childrens
learning. Although the intervention period is short, children benefit greatly from the
experience and pre-service teachers learn a great deal about students and how they
learn.
The unit also provides pre-service teachers with the opportunity to carry out a small
research project. Several pre-service teachers have kindly volunteered or have been
invited to share their interventions today. Their willingness to present at this busy
time in the semester is greatly appreciated.
Thanks are due to Associate Professor Christine Howitt and Professor Peter
Merrotsy for their valuable input into this unit. Thanks also to Associate Professor Val
Faulkner and Assistant Professor Kathy Fenwick for tirelessly helping the
EDUC5509 pre-service teachers in Albany and for organising a separate forum for
them.


Grace Oakley (EDUC5509 unit coordinator)
23/9/2014







Amelia Baker
The effectiveness of targeted, explicit teaching in improving Year 4
students' spelling abilities

Amelia Baker is a final year Master of Teaching pre-service teacher, specialising in
Primary Education. She has a special interest in creative arts, and how the arts can
be used to support learning across the curriculum. Before entering teaching, Amelia
completed a Bachelor of Media at the University of Adelaide and worked in the arts
industry in South Australia in marketing, public relations and youth arts roles.

Aithne Dell
Repeated reading of poetry as a method of improving reading fluency in
a Year 7 child
Aithne Dell is a final year Master of Teaching pre-service teacher, specialising in
Primary Education. She has a special interest in science and developing students'
awareness of the world around them through science. Before entering teaching,
Aithne completed a Bachelor of Science at the University of Western Australia.

Ellie Dwyer
A systematic phonics program based on Jolly Phonics to extend the
letter-sound knowledge in two Kindergarten students

Ellie Dwyer is a final year Master of Teaching pre-service teacher, specialising in
Early Childhood Education. She has a special interest in music and languages, in
particular the Indonesian language, and hopes to incorporate both of these fields in
her future teaching. Before entering teaching, Ellie completed a Bachelor of Arts at
the University of Western Australia, with a double major in Indonesian (Asian Studies)
and Linguistics. She has also completed a Teaching English as a Foreign Language
(TEFL) certificate, and in 2007 she completed two years at the West Australian
Academy of Performing Arts on classical saxophone.


Brittany Edgar
Developing self-regulation in Year 11 students through explicit
instruction of metacognition and targeted study skills
Brittany Edgar is a final year Master of Teaching (Secondary) pre-service teacher
with a curriculum major in Society and Environment, specialising in Geography and
History. Before beginning teaching, she completed a Bachelor of Arts at the
University of Western Australia and spent many years working with children and
adolescents in various roles including swimming instruction, sports coaching and
tutoring. Brittany has a particular interest in encouraging self-concept in upper school
students and hopes to impassion all students about their own potential as active
citizens and world changers.

Bhawna Marwaha
The effectiveness of a Quick Smart intervention program in improving
fluency in basic number facts in a Year 8 student

Bhawna Marwaha is a final year Master of Teaching pre-service teacher, specialising
in Secondary Education. She has a special interest in mathematics and is very
enthusiastic when it comes to teaching maths. Before, joining this course, she
completed a Masters in Mathematics from G. N. D. U .University, India, and taught
mathematics in her own maths academy.


Ali Paterson
The effectiveness of creating multimodal responses to texts for
improving reader motivation and comprehension in Year 6 students
Ali Paterson is a final year Master of Teaching pre-service teacher, specialising in
Primary Education. She has travelled the world with her family for the last 20 years,
finally settling in Australia six years ago, enabling her to start fulfilling her dream of
becoming a teacher. Ali is "secret" geek, running robotics workshops in rural schools
around the South West. Ali competed in the sport of rowing at the Barcelona
Olympics and has coached a winning crew at the Head of the River here in Perth
every year for the last six years, a coaching record she is very proud of!