Digital Commons Network^™

The Classification Of The Finger Frames Method In Violin Playing, Brittany Williams

Theses : Honours

From the first stage of learning new repertoire, string pedagogy aims to present violinists with effective strategies to achieve accurate intonation in performance. The search for new teaching and learning strategies, whilst running the risk of being seen as unconventional compared to more tried and tested methods (i.e. Suzuki), can on the other hand provide the tutor with new tools for enhancing their teaching practice. Western Australian violinist Fleur Challen has developed a method titled Finger Frames; a learning strategy that uses a colour coding system to prepare a violinist for changes in left hand position, reducing the cognitive load …

School Social Work: Supporting Children’S Primary Education In The South West Of Western Australia, Karen Mcdavitt

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In many countries, social workers play a role in the education of children. In Australia, this is evident in the state of Victoria which has a long history of school social work. However, it is not the case in Western Australia where there are very few government-funded social work roles in public schools. With the barriers to education rising for increasing numbers of students, the social work profession could be one component in a multi-disciplinary whole that supports students and the broader community so that each child has the best chance of reaching their full potential.

This thesis poses the …

Survival After Violence: The Post-Separation Journey Of Women Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence, Sarah Jayne Parkin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a complex social issue that remains highly prevalent in communities across the world. The impact of IPV includes short-term and long-term psychological, physical, financial and social consequences for women who experience it as well at their immediate and extended families, networks and communities. As research has continued to evolve there has been a move towards exploring the interaction of systemic factors that influence the occurrence of IPV and consequences of IPV long-term. Although researchers have identified that the long-term outcomes for women after leaving an IPV relationship can vary, it appears more research is required …

Transfer Of Automatic Skills: The Role Of Automaticity In Skill Acquisition And Transfer, Katrina Louise Muller-Townsend

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Skill acquisition theories suggest that automaticity of lower-level processes is required before the acquisition of higher-level skills can be attempted. However, there is a disparity between the theoretical expectations of skill acquisition and the empirical findings in the transfer of training research. Research has found that when a change is made to the contextual conditions in which a skill is acquired, the learned response becomes less skilled. When skill transfer occurs performance is disrupted so that reaction times are slower than observed prior to the context change. This observation has been made with several different tasks, however no research has …

Exploring The Experience Of Separation In Australia: Perspectives From Formerly Married And Cohabiting Parents, Sarah M. Barbas

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The increase in separation and divorce rates during the 20th century brought with it many far-reaching social implications for all involved, sparking a high level of interest among researchers. Most research in this area has been approached from stress frameworks that have conceptualised separation and divorce as a stressful life transition that individuals must adjust to. Yet, attempts to understand separation and divorce to date have been dominated by quantitative methods that have resulted in a relatively static and objective understanding of this experience; particularly in Australia. Furthermore, although international rates of divorce are declining, rates of separation following cohabiting …

The Relationship Between Physical Exercise And Cognition In Children With Typical Development And Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Beron Wei Zhong Tan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research project sought to investigate the relationship between physical exercise and cognition in children with and without a neurodevelopmental condition. To achieve this aim, three approaches were undertaken to explore the exercise and cognition relationship. The first approach sought to understand the efficacy of exercise interventions on cognition in individuals with a neurodevelopmental disorder. The second approach was to understand the effectiveness of an exercise activity when compared to a cognitively-engaging tablet game activity on measures of implicit learning and attention in children with and without a neurodevelopmental condition. The third approach was to investigate if psychophysiological measures could …

Accommodation For Adults With Intellectual Disability: Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Ageing Parent Carers And The Reasons Behind Their Decision To Continue To Care In The Family Home, Wendy Simpson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

As life expectancy increases and mortality rates decrease, Australia is faced with an ageing population. This is particularly true of the population of people living with intellectual disability. Australian research has found that there is an increasing number of ageing parent-carers continuing to provide care for their adult child with an intellectual disability in the family home. Since deinstitutionalisation, many families made the choice to provide care at home, which may become a concern as they age and ask the question “who will care when I am gone?” The purpose of this study was to explore the reasoning behind decisions …

The Lived Experience Of Non-Offending Mothers In Cases Of Intrafamilial Child Sexual Abuse: Towards A Preliminary Model Of Loss, Trauma And Recovery, Amanda Jean Thompson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The non-offending mother in cases of intrafamilial child sexual abuse has received limited empirical attention in comparative to the considerable body of literature examining victims and perpetrators of child sexual abuse. There is growing evidence that demonstrates that nonoffending mothers’ experience significant loss and trauma following the discovery of their children’s sexual victimisation by a family member, particularly where the perpetrators are their partners. An understanding of the non-offending mother’s experience is crucial to guiding statutory agencies and therapeutic interventions when working with these families. However, there is currently not a model or framework that conceptualises mothers’ post-discovery experience, and …

The Connection Between Drug Use And Crime In Western Australia, Kathryn Riordan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Despite decades of research, there is no consensus as to the factors that explain the association between drug use and criminal behaviour. While the evolving sophistication in research methodology has identified factors that are associated with involvement in both drug use and crime, exploration of the idiosyncratic factors that contribute to initiation, maintenance and desistence in drug use and criminal behaviour over time, across culture and social context remains unknown. In this research a grounded theory approach was used to develop an explanatory model based on the reported experiences of 22 non-Aboriginal and 11 Aboriginal adult male offenders, incarcerated in …

Workplace Bullying: An Exploratory Study In Australian Academia, Manish Sharma

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Workplace bullying is a behaviour which adversely affects individuals, organisations and the community at large. While substantial research has been conducted on workplace bullying in different work settings, limited research exists on this behaviour at universities; no comprehensive studies have to date been conducted in the context of Australian academia. This study therefore contributes through breaking new ground by exploring bullying within the increasingly corporatised and competitive Australian higher education sector. New Public Management (NPM) practices, diminished government funding, and limited resources risk transforming this sector into a full-fledged industry focused on corporate objectives to achieve operational profitability. Universities’ primary …

The Human Factors Associated With Responding To Emergency Vehicles, Pauline Grant

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Emergency vehicles undertake emergency driving, using lights and sirens, to move rapidly through traffic in response to situations where life and property are at risk. For the emergency driving to be effective, other motorists need to drive in a manner that facilitates their passage. Despite laws to support this, problematic encounters can result in emergency vehicles being unable to get through. The current research expanded on earlier exploratory research into motorists’ encounters with emergency vehicles (Grant, 2010) to examine psychological factors involved with motorists’ responses to emergency vehicles. A construct validity approach was used to develop a scale …