Digital Commons Network^™

Primary School Students' Perceptions And Developed Artefacts And Language From Learning Coding And Computational Thinking Using The 3c Model, David A. Martin, Peter Curtis, Petrea Redmond

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: A resurgence in teaching coding in primary school classrooms has led to a pedagogical swing towards using physical computing and coding to develop students' use of algorithms, computational thinking, and problem-solving skills. Two obstacles impede the optimal development of these objectives: the availability of a suitable pedagogy and an instructional sequencing model for primary school teachers to effectively present coding and computational thinking concepts and skills to students in alignment with their developmental stage. Objective: This study aims to address both obstacles by introducing the 3C Model, a newly developed instructional sequence grounded in established pedagogies and designed to …

Development Of A Midwifery Student Peer Debriefing Tool: An Interpretive Descriptive Study, Kate Buchanan, Carolyn Ross, Dianne Bloxsome, Jen Hocking, Sara Bayes

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Psychosocial traumatisation associated with giving birth, can occur in those present with the woman giving birth, a phenomenon known as vicarious trauma. It has been identified that there are currently no interventions available for midwifery students who have experienced vicarious trauma following difficult birth experiences. Objective: To explore whether the counselling intervention developed by Gamble et al. (2005), can be adapted for midwifery students to be appropriately and feasibly used as a counselling intervention with peers who have experienced midwifery practice-related vicarious trauma. Design: Interpretive descriptive methodology. Setting: This study was set at two Australian universities from which pre-registration …

The Contributions Of Executive Functioning To Handwritten And Keyboarded Compositions In Year 2 Children, Debora S. Valcan, Anabela Malpique, Deborah Pino-Pasternak, Mustafa Asil, Timothy Teo

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Writing is a multifaceted skill, recruiting varied cognitive processes that involve working memory, attention shifting and inhibition, also known as executive functioning (EF). Despite emerging research examining associations between EF and handwritten composition, the mediating role of transcription skills on the relation between EF and text composition remains underexplored. Even less is understood about the nature of these potential mediation mechanisms in keyboard-based text composing, a writing modality that is becoming pervasive during the first years of schooling. This study investigated whether the automaticity of inscription skills (handwriting and keyboarding) and spelling mediate the relation between children's EF and text …

The Effects Of Automaticity In Paper And Keyboard-Based Text Composing: An Exploratory Study, Anabela Malpique, Deborah Pino-Pasternak, Susan Ledger, Debora Valcan, Mustafa Asil

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The predictive relationship between handwriting automaticity and children's writing performance is well documented. However, less is known about the relationship between keyboarding automaticity and children's keyboard-based writing performance. In this exploratory study, we examined the unique contributions of automaticity in both writing modalities in predicting Grade 2 students (N = 49) paper-based and keyboard-based writing performance (i.e., compositional quality and fluency) after controlling for students’ literacy skills (i.e., spelling, word reading, and reading comprehension), attitudes toward writing, gender, and nesting due to classroom. Multilevel modelling results showed that automaticity predicted students’ paper-based compositional quality and keyboard-based compositional quality and fluency. …

Just In Time, Just For You: Growing A Peer Learning Program, Miriam Sullivan, Genevieve Franulovich, Sharon Matthews, Andrew Kelly

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Peer learning programs are well established as an effective approach to improving students’ learning and wellbeing. However, they can be difficult to implement and grow in practice. This paper describes the introduction of a “just-in-time, just-for-me” Peer Skills Advisers program and how it has evolved over the last five years. The peer staff found that the role improved their sense of belonging and employability but observed that it is challenging to set boundaries with students. The program grew steadily over time as students and staff became more aware of the service, although there is still room for growth in online …

The Impact Of Final-Year Clinical Placements On Nursing Students' Career Planning For The Graduate Year And Beyond, Edah Anyango, Esther Adama, Janie Brown, Irene Ngune

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Aims: This study had three objectives: 1) to determine final-year nursing students' career preferences and long-term career plans; 2) to investigate factors influencing nursing students' specialty choices following their final-year clinical placement(s); and 3) to understand how final-year clinical placements can be used to develop the career interests of nursing students to different nursing specialties. Background: Clinical placement provides an insightful experience that may influence students to feel inclined to work in certain specialties. Therefore, each clinical placement should promote students' learning and enhance positive experiences that could develop their career interests and encourage them to seek employment in the …

Communities Of Practice To Facilitate Change In Health Professions Education: A Realist Synthesis, Gemma Jenkins, Claire Palermo, Alexander M. Clark, Leesa Costello

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Communities of practice could contribute to transformations in health professions education to meet complex and emerging challenges. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms of communities of practice in this setting, and how context influences outcomes. Objective: To understand when, why and how communities of practice with health professions education faculty work to facilitate higher education change. Design: A realist synthesis according to the RAMESES standards and steps described by Pawson and colleagues. Review methods: Early scoping of the literature informed the development of an initial program theory to describe underlying assumptions about how communities of practice in …

Challenging The Nuances Of Pain Assessment With Co-Designed Audio-Visual Simulations In Nursing Education: A Descriptive Study, Michelle A. Kelly, Susan Slatyer, Naomi Tutticci, Joanne Ramsbotham, Sandra Johnston, Irene Ngune, Karen A. Theobald

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Appropriate management of pain remains a challenging issue. Surfacing nurses’ inherent assumptions about pain may lead to better pain management. This study developed and evaluated new audio-visual (AV) simulations for nursing students showcasing patient characteristics that may influence pain assessment. Methods: Descriptive pre/post intervention study informed by the STROBE framework. Participants were drawn from two Australian universities. Three AV simulations were codesigned by clinicians, educators, and health consumers. Data included: demographics, previous experiences of pain assessment; compassion scale, feasibility, and relevance of AV simulations. Quantile regression and content analyses were applied. Results: Full data sets of 491 participants (314 …

De+D61:D80signing Bespoke Visual Mediation Tools Using 'Viscourse' For Intergenerational Research Visiblising Pedagogies, Amelia Ruscoe, Penny Baker

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Visual methods are an innovative design space for study methodologies with young children. The accessibility of visual media, and flexibility of their design and use, has spurred methodological innovations that stretch the boundaries of intergenerational research. This article explores the visual dialogic nexus in research methods tailored to investigate discourse. The research sought to uncover the perspectives of young children and their teachers about their discursive affordances in the first year of school. Employing an iterative design process, bespoke visual mediation tools were collaboratively created with a visual artist to capture the intergenerational viewpoints of the participants. This article reconceptualises …

Host Organizations' Perceptions To Providing Safe And Inclusive Work-Integrated Learning Programs For Students With Disability, Tanya Lawlis, Tamieka Mawer, Thomas Bevitt, Tom Arthur, Lesley Andrew, Ruth Wallace, Ros Sambell, Amanda Devine

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Inclusive work-integrated learning (WIL) requires collaboration between universities, host organizations and students, particularly, when designing and delivering WIL for students with disabilities. Host organizations, however, are not often included in the collaborations. This study explored host organization knowledge, capacity and challenges to providing WIL experiences for students with disability. A case study multi-method approach comprising an online survey and focus groups was undertaken. Host organizations, represented by supervisors, providing WIL to students enrolled in health courses at two Australian higher education institutions participated. The perceived need for student disclosure, office building limitations, and host organization limited knowledge of WIL expectations, …

Parent Self-Efficacy And Its Relationship With Children's Screen Viewing: A Scoping Review, Stephanie C. Milford, Lynette Vernon, Joseph J. Scott, Nicola F. Johnson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This scoping review examines the relationship between parent self-efficacy and children's screen viewing, to provide context, identify gaps and limitations of the current body of literature, and provide recommendations for future research. We identified 111 studies from a search of four academic databases, of which sixteen were within scope and met inclusion criteria. This review found that parents who identified as more self-efficacious in task-specific areas related to screen time had children with less screen viewing time. This finding suggests that parents who identify as more self-efficacious in these areas may implement more mediation strategies, in line with current public …

Teaching Stare Decisis To First-Year Law Students In Higher Education: A Pedagogical Blind Alley?, Kenneth Yin, Carmela De Maio

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The doctrine of stare decisis is often explained in first-year law studies as synonymous with the doctrine of precedent and dichotomised into ratio decidendi and obiter dicta. This explanation of stare decisis is frequently supplemented by an exercise where the novice law student is provided with a case and directed to identify the ratio decidendi of the case, and to appreciate the distinction between ratio and obiter dicta in it, the latter being persuasive only. It is argued that this pedagogy is limited and unrealistic because stare decisis is a dynamic process whereby, applying the precepts of formal legal logic, …

Creation And Use Of Sbs’S The Boat; Principles For The Co-Creation Of Online Interactive Learning Environments For Innovative Digital Pedagogy, Prue Miles, Kylie Boltin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Teachers and students rely more on online-learning environments than ever before, including open, trusted and high-quality online learning resources produced by public broadcasters. For educators, this represents both an inspiration and challenge in the wake of new techologies and online learning environments. This article is a case study of one such online learning environment created by Australia’s multicultural broadcaster, the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), an adaptation of Nam Le’s award-winning short story, “The Boat” (2008). SBS’s The Boat (2015) is an immersive online experience that explores a refugee perspective and is accompanied by SBSLearn online learning materials. The Boat (2015) …

An Innovative And Meaningful Scaffolded Curriculum Approach To Environmental Health Education In Western Australia, Jacques Oosthuizen, Edmore Masaka, Sally Anne Doherty, Kerry Staples, Gary Dine, Gerard Vance, Ruth Wallace

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

There has been a critical shortage of qualified Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) both globally and in Australia that has plagued the profession for decades. At Edith Cowan University (ECU), Perth, Western Australia, an undergraduate degree in Environmental Health (EH) was developed in 2006, however, viability was problematic, and the course was under threat of closure. In 2016 both the EH and occupational safety and health (OSH) majors were due for re-accreditation and since there was significant overlap between the two courses both majors were revised and combined into one (Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety). This new qualification has subsequently …

Health Education In Swedish Schools–What’S On Offer?, V. Varea, A. Caldeborg, D. Barker, M. Quennerstedt

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The aim of this paper is to identify the dominant discourses of health and wellbeing that are offered in health education in Swedish schools. Issues of health and wellbeing are covered mainly in four school subjects in Sweden: physical education and health, home and consumer studies, biology, and social studies, and therefore, we interviewed teachers from those subjects to generate data. Six interrelated health discourses were identified from the data. All discourses were, however, also embedded within a health discourse with a comprehensive description of health as physical, psychological and social wellbeing. Results suggest that schools offer a Western and …

Vulnerable Reading Practices For Ecosocial Justice In Environmental Education, Karen Nociti, Mindy Blaise

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Environmental education has the potential to extend its transformative potential by reframing social and ecological justice as always interconnected. This paper introduces vulnerable reading as a method for unsettling anthropocentric and colonial influences on how educators conceptualise and respond to environmental precarity through a socio-ecological lens. It has emerged from a six-month walking project during which the authors developed vulnerable reading practices as they walked with young children, educators, and a weedy landscape in Boorloo (Perth), Western Australia. With a focus on reimagining pedagogies to be inclusive of multiple weedy ideas, bodies and voices, the paper uses empirical examples of …

Engaging Stakeholders To Inform Policy Developments In Early Childhood Education And Outside School Hours Care, Fay Hadley, Linda J. Harrison, Leanne Lavina, Lennie Barblett, Susan Irvine, Francis Bobongie-Harris, Jennifer Cartmel

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The application of engagement strategies to ensure democracy of decisions is increasingly valued and adopted by governments to ensure trust in the process and ownership of the outcome. This paper describes the approach and methods used to engage early childhood education and care (ECEC) and outside school hours care (OSHC) stakeholders in the contemporizing and updating of Australia’s national Approved Learning Frameworks (ALFs): Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) and My Time Our Place: Framework for School Age Care (MTOP). Theoretical underpinnings of a robust stakeholder engagement strategy ensured a range of methods were …

Masculinism, Institutional Violence And #Metoo: Understanding Australian University Responses To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Emily Gray, Jacqueline Ullman, Mindy Blaise, Jo Pollitt

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This article offers an analysis of data from the project Sexism, Higher Education, and Covid-19: The Australian Perspective. The authors argue that the gendered impact of the pandemic in Higher Education Institutions constitutes a form of institutionally perpetrated sexist harassment, and that raising awareness of the ways in which institutions themselves enable and perpetrate such harassment is consistent with the aims of the #MeToo movement. This article is intended to act as testament to the ways in which Australian universities function as masculinist institutions that, during this time of crisis, deployed tactics that were experienced by women and minority-identifying research …

Assessing Primary School Preservice Teachers’ Confidence To Apply Their Tpack In Specific Categories Of Technologies Using A Self-Audit Survey, David A. Martin, Michael D. Carey, Natalie Mcmaster, Madeleine Clarkin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Internationally, university teacher educators have acted on the requirement that practising teachers need to be operational users of technologies. In response, coursework has been restructured to develop preservice teachers’ (PSTs) use and application of educational technologies for teaching and learning purposes. This paper presents the development and use of a self-audit survey designed to guide primary school PSTs’ self-directed learning and assessments in 10 specific categories of technologies, and to improve their confidence to apply their knowledge. The survey was administered to 296 PSTs in a pre- and post-course design and validated post hoc with Rasch analysis. Pre- and post-course …

Navigating The Intersection Between Academic And Research Integrity For Investigations Involving Research Students. Practitioner Experiences At An Australian University, Marc Fellman

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

There is limited research on the intersection between research and academic integrity in scenarios concerning research students. In this commentary the experiences of a practitioner working in research governance, navigating the interstices between research integrity (RI) and academic integrity (AI) investigations, will be examined. With a view to promoting discussion on this aspect of research governance.

The Development And Validation Of A Self-Audit Survey Instrument That Evaluates Preservice Teachers’ Confidence To Use Technologies To Support Student Learning, Michael D. Carey, David A. Martin, Natalie Mcmaster

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Internationally, university teacher educators are responding to the requirement that preservice teachers (PSTs) need to be confident, operational users of a broad range of technologies, and that they can apply their technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK). TPACK is a framework representing the complex interactions of teachers’ technological content knowledge and technological pedagogical knowledge with their pedagogical content knowledge; the interaction of the three domains is believed to produce effective teaching with technology. The challenge is designing an instrument that can validly and reliably evaluate whether PSTs have this wide range of knowledge, and if not, what their learning needs …

Preservice Eal/D Teachers’ Relational Agency During Online Paired Practicum, Hongzhi Yang, Andrew Ross

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

There is scant research on preservice English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) teachers’ paired practicums in an online context. Underpinned by Cultural Historical Activity Theory, this paper explores how preservice EAL/D teachers exercise their relational agency during online paired practicums. Data were collected from five preservice EAL/D teachers’ weekly journals written during their paired practicums and interviews after they completed their paired practicums. Following the key components of relational agency, the thematic analysis highlights the dialectical relationship between preservice teachers’ relational agency and different types of collaboration, evidenced by the formation of mutual objects, tool mediation, and shared …

The Benefits, Barriers And Facilitators Of Mentoring Programs For First-Year Doctors: A Systematic Review, Joelle Winderbaum, Linda L. L. Coventry

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction: The transition from medical student to first-year doctor is notoriously difficult, yielding a high rate of transition failure, burn-out and mental health deterioration. Doctors in this cohort experience unique challenges during this time, which manifest through performance gaps, issues of professional identity, new occupational pressures, and cultural expectations. Mentoring programs are commonly utilised in the medical profession to foster personal and professional development and improve psychosocial well-being and career satisfaction. However, there exist no systematic reviews examining the use of mentorship specifically for the first-year doctor cohort, given the unique transition challenges faced by this vulnerable group. Purpose: Due …

Students' Preferences For Setting And/Or Mixed-Ability Grouping In Secondary School Physical Education In England, Shaun D. Wilkinson, Dawn Penney

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

There is an extensive international literature on different forms of ability grouping in schools, much of which describes their impact on students' academic achievement, motivation, self-concept and/or attitudes towards learning. Comparatively little research has focused on students' perspectives of these practices, while the research that has been conducted has primarily focused on mathematics, English and science. There is a conspicuous and arguably significant absence of research that explores students' perspectives on different forms of ability grouping in other areas of the school curriculum, including physical education (PE). In contrast to the relative privacy of classroom-based subjects, students' bodies, physical competencies …

An Ecosystem Of Knowledge: Relationality As A Framework For Teachers To Infuse Indigenous Perspectives In Curriculum, Maryanne Macdonald, Sarah Booth, Libby Jackson-Barrett

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

New data is presented from two studies involving thirteen practising secondary teachers and twelve pre-service early childhood, primary and secondary teachers in Australia. The first study explored how non-Indigenous practising teacher identities, shaped by external and policy discourse, create obstacles to teachers’ willingness and confidence in infusing Indigenous perspectives in curriculum. With this knowledge in hand, the researchers utilised a Design-Based Research methodology to conduct a second study with pre-service (ITE) teachers, exploring the power of relationality as a framework to re-shape non-Indigenous pre-service teachers’ conceptualisation of racial and place-based identity. By enabling non-Indigenous pre-service teachers to construct an authentic …

From Perspectival Myopia To Professional Transformation: An Autoethnographic Retrospection Of A High School Principal From Nepal, Shankar Dhakal, Geoffrey W. Lummis, Andrew Jones

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper presents a re-storied account of my (lead author) decade-long (2007–2017) professional journey as a high school principal in diverse educational settings in Nepal. Using an autoethnographic approach, I have theorized my leadership transformation approaches through professional storytelling, employing critical reflexivity to trace intimate leadership experiences where authoritarian approaches to leadership, disparities, and inequalities in schools run rampant. My perspectival myopia, professional vulnerabilities, and the discrepancies between my leadership ideals and behaviors resulted in issues such as perceptions of disengagement, underperformance, and dissatisfaction on the receiving end, prompting me to contemplate professional transformation. While outlining several significant steps and …

Teacher Wellbeing And Teaching Excellence In Higher Education: Exploring The Interplay Through The Lens Of The Perma Framework, Anna Golab, Tom Barratt, Jaime Yong, Tanzim Afroz

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Recognising the pivotal role of teacher wellbeing in fostering teaching excellence, this paper explores the intricate relationships in the context of higher education. Employing an abductive, qualitative methodology and expanding the use of the PERMA framework to in the realm of higher education, this paper investigates the associations between teachers' perceptions of excellence to five elements of wellbeing: positive emotions (P), engagement (E), relationships (R), meaning (M) and accomplishment (A). Drawing insights from a case study of an Australian business school, the findings of this paper reveal dynamic interactions among these elements. Contextual variations give rise to virtuous or vicious …

University Evaluation Toolkit: Navigating Evaluative Practices Across All Levels With Rufdatae, Elizabeth J. Cook, Kena Cabral Morales

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

University stakeholders have mixed feelings about evaluation, and mixed understandings, skills and knowledge about how to effectively evaluate. How much do you know about evaluation? Could you plan an evaluation if asked? This poster provides a toolkit of strategies for enhancing evaluation in universities, based on Cook’s (2021) “Evaluation of work-integrated learning: A realist synthesis and toolkit to enhance university evaluative practices”. RUFDATAE is a modified version of Saunders’ (2000) approach.

The poster: defines evaluation; clarifies the difference between evaluation and research; summarises the four domains of evaluation in higher education; and outlines RUFDATAE, an evaluation planning framework, for prompting …

A Systematic Review Of K-12 Cybersecurity Education Around The World, Ahmed Ibrahim, Marnie Mckee, Leslie F. Sikos, Nicola F. Johnson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper presents a systematic review of K-12 cybersecurity education literature from around the world. 24 academic papers dated from 2013-2023 were eligible for inclusion in the literature established within the research protocol. An additional 19 gray literature sources comprised the total. A range of recurring common topics deemed as aspects of cybersecurity behavior or practice were identified. A variety of cybersecurity competencies and skills are needed for K-12 students to apply their knowledge. As may be expected to be the case with interdisciplinary fields, studies are inherently unclear in the use of their terminology, and this is compounded in …

Perceived Skill Outcomes Among Coursework And Research Graduates And Evolution Over Time, Denise Jackson, Ian Li

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study explores perceived skill outcomes among graduates of 39 Australian higher education institutions in the short- to medium-term after course completion. While acknowledging important dimensions of graduate employability beyond the skills-based approach, we investigated graduate perspectives on their industry-relevant skill outcomes from university, in preparation for employment. Using national data, we build on earlier research by examining the viewpoints of 24,044 research and coursework graduates, at all levels, at six months and three years post-graduation. We found that as graduates progressed in their careers, perceived skill outcomes from university became less favourable, particularly among coursework graduates. Further, we observed …