"What's Your Problem?" ANT Reflections on a Research Project Studying Girls Enrolment in Information Technology Subjects in Postcompulsory Education

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonie Rowan ◽  
Chris Bigum
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Australian Research Council ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Key Questions

Despite more than 30 years of gender reform in schools, the percentages of girls enrolled in information technology subjects in the post-compulsory years of education has remained persistently low: often under 25%. This article investigates data collected during an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant project (2005-2007) focused on identifying the reasons for this under-representation, and ways in which the situation could be changed. The article looks beyond the official recommendations of the project to explore how the research experience and the data combine to raise important questions about the limits of research in this area. The authors discuss the difference between the researchers’ perception of the problem under consideration, and the participants’ perception of the same issue. They use the resources of actor-network to highlight the gaps, tensions and contradictions within the data and to ask key questions about the extent to which the enrolment of girls in IT is indeed “a problem”.

Reassembling the Problem of the Under-Representation of Girls in IT Courses

2011 ◽  
pp. 208-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonie Rowan ◽  
Chris Bigum
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Australian Research Council ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Key Questions

The percentages of girls in developing countries undertaking information technology subjects in the post-compulsory years of education has remained persistently low: often under 25%. This is despite the fact that this particular phenomenon has been the subject of sustained international enquiry for at least three decades. This article investigates data collected during an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant project (2005-2007) that aimed to identify some of the contemporary reasons for this under-representation in Australian schools. The original phases of data collection proceeded from the belief that there was a clear and agreed understanding that the low numbers of girls was a problem worthy of analysis. As the project evolved, however, significant differences between the researchers’ perception of the underrepresentation and the participants’ views about the same issue. In this paper we make use of actor-network theory to ask key questions about the extent to which the enrolment of girls in IT is indeed ‘a problem’.

Estimates of Capital Stocks for the States and Territories of Australia, 1985-200411An earlier version of this paper was presented at the ‘Lord of the Regions’ Economic and Regional Development Conference, Manukau City, Auckland, New Zealand, 27–30 September 2005. This study is part of a collaborative research project investigating economic and productivity growth among the states of Australia, undertaken by the Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics, Griffith University, and the Office of Economic and Statistical Research, Queensland Treasury, with financial assistance from the Australian Research Council. Thanks are due to Jimmy Louca, Peter Crossman, Jim Hurley, Mark Upcher and Gudrun Meyer-Boehm for helpful comments. However, the final results do not necessarily reflect the views of any of these individuals, Queensland Treasury, or the Queensland Government. Thanks are also due to Trinh Le who provided us with excellent research assistance, and to two anonymous referees who provided helpful comments.

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
S. Mikhailitchenko ◽  
D.T. Nguyen ◽  
C. Smith
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Regional Development ◽  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Financial Assistance ◽  
Statistical Research ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Australian Research Council ◽  
Excellent Research

scholarly journals Understanding Life Transitions

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Kay Price
Keyword(s):  
Research Council ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Research Unit ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Collaborative Project ◽  
Australian Research Council ◽  
School Of Nursing ◽  
Nursing Services

I wanted to share with readers the outcomes of a research project I have been involved with. It was funded by a three-year nationally competitive discovery grant (2003-2005) from the Australian Research Council (ARC [DP 0346092]). This was a collaborative project between the Research Unit, Royal District Nursing Services, South Australia and University of South Australia, School of Nursing and Midwifery.

STRUCTURING A SUCCESSFUL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROCESS: A CASE STUDY FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF ACTOR NETWORK THEORY

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huda Ibrahim ◽  
Hasmiah Kasimin
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Technology Transfer ◽  
Transfer Process ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Local Market ◽  
Private Company ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Technology Transfer Process

An effi cient and effective information technology transfer from developed countries to Malaysia is an important issue as a prerequisite to support the ICT needs of the country to become not only a ICT user but also a ICT producer. One of the factors that infl uences successful information technology transfer is managing the process of how technology transfer occurs in one environment. It involves managing interaction between all parties concerned which requires an organized strategy and action toward accomplishing technology transfer objective in an integrated and effective mode. Using a conceptual framework based on the Actor Network Theory (ANT), this paper will analyse a successful information technology transfer process at a private company which is also a supplier of information technology (IT) products to the local market. This framework will explain how the company has come up with a successful technology transfer in a local environment. Our study shows that the company had given interest to its relationships with all the parties involved in the transfer process. The technology transfer programme and the strategy formulated take into account the characteristics of technology and all those involved.  

scholarly journals Locating the difference: A comparison of pedagogic strategies in high and low performing schools

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Kaylianne Rialda Aploon-Zokufa
Keyword(s):  
School Performance ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Cognitive Demand ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Lower Income ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Low Performing Schools ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Grade 3 ◽  
Research Studies

A number of research studies have suggested that specific pedagogic strategies can have a positive impact on learning, and in turn, have a positive impact on school performance, in particular for children being schooled in disadvantaged contexts. This analysis describes and measures how four of these pedagogic strategies identified in research – the pacing of a lesson, the sequence and coherence of a lesson, cognitive demand and the nature of feedback within a lesson – are displayed in higher and lower performing schools located in lower-income communities in the Western Cape. The analysis forms part of a broader research project, SPADE (Schools Performing Above Demographic Expectation), and is based on fifteen video-recorded Grade 3 numeracy lessons. The analysis suggests a relationship between specific pedagogic strategies and higher performance for individual learners and for schools. The analysis also identifies further effective pedagogic strategies in higher performing schools in lower-income communities.

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