An interventional cohort comparison study with pretesting and post-testing in semesters 1 and 2 was undertaken of 159 medical students in year 3 of the MMBS course at the University of Adelaide in 2010. The intervention comprised the provision of a number of additional online resources in semester 2. Students' views on online anatomy were also sought by a questionnaire delivered at the end of semesters 1 and 2 and via a small focus group at the end of the study. Anatomy assessment results after the introduction of online anatomy were compared with a total of three control semesters in 2009 and 2010. There was >90% broad agreement before the intervention that wet specimens, tutors and discussions with other students helped students learn anatomy. After the intervention, these views remained, but there was additionally >90% broad agreement that text books helped them learn anatomy, that they had good access to anatomical specimens, and there was less agreement that lectures helped. The intervention left students' views on online anatomy largely unchanged and made no significant difference to summative assessment scores. Focus group discussions revealed that students want anatomy tutors to help direct them to reputable and relevant sites. The provision of more online resources in anatomy did not affect student views or learning outcomes. While students may need help from tutors in selecting appropriate online resources, wet specimens, textbooks, and discussions with tutors and other students remain the preferred means of learning anatomy.

This article argues that teachers need to be involved in research on teaching and, through the examination of some specific settings for Australian TESOL research and professional development, proposes an evaluation framework to facilitate cross-case and cross-context analysis of research on teaching. It recommends that TESOL researchers focus first on characterizing TESOL professional development activity and second on considering its relation to other educational and mainstream research traditions.

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This paper features language teachers researching their classrooms as a means of personal professional renewal. It is based on the evaluation of a four-year program in South Australia, which involved training teachers as action researchers within the supportive framework of a research community. Teachers found the program challenging but ultimately satisfying, largely due to the support structure of training and network groups. Although this kind of program has not been funded again on the same scale, some of its features have endured in South Australian language-teacher education since. One response after this program ended in 1991 was to include teachers as researchers in a large-scale, research project on classroom talk. The paper concludes that incorporation of professional renewal processes in formal classroom research projects is a way of maintaining teacher involvement in research outcomes.

This article describes the methodology underlying the National Curriculum Project. This project, established in response to recommendations of the Committee of Review of the Adult Migrant Education Program (AMEP), is expected to generate curriculum guidelines and teacher support resources for AMEP teachers in Australia by mid-1988. The participation of all levels of the AMEP workforce – professional, administrative and support – is advocated for a project involving research and resources provision for teachers who are responsible for all aspects of the learner-centred, needs-based curriculum process of the AMEP.