Digital Commons Network^™

Mindful Classrooms: A Synthesis Of Research On Multiple Intelligences Theory In Cross-Cultural Contexts, Wilhelmina J. Vialle

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The scene is a primary school in regional Australia that has a large proportion of students from non-English-speaking backgrounds (NESB). In one of these culturally diverse classrooms, I observed the following exchange at the beginning of a blustery Thursday with the students gathered together on the front mat. The teacher was quizzing her Grade 1 class on the days of the week. She held up flashcards and the children were asked to read the day. When she held up ‘Thursday’, she drew attention to the ‘ur’ sound and asked which other day also included the ‘ur’ sound. After a few …

Inducting Pre-Service Teachers Into Reflective Inquiry And Research Methods: Contested Curriculum And Pedagogical Spaces, Ted Booth

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The location of research methods within the pre-service teacher education curriculum has been a contentious debate within the writer's Faculty of Education for many years. Concurrently the scope and sequence of the major concepts and skills to be taught in inquiry and research methods and the related pedagogy has also been contentious. This paper attempts to chart some of the dimensions and contentions within these spaces, and links this critique to a discussion about changes in the structure and implementation of new four year Bachelor of Primary Education at the University of Wollongong. A self-study methodology is utilised in conjunction …

Qualitative Case Study Research In Africa And Asia: Challenges And Prospects, Bubaker Shareia, Balakrishnan Parasuraman, Bernadine Cantrick-Brooks

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Much of the literature on research design has focussed on research conducted in developed, uni-cultural or primarily English speaking countries. Studies of qualitative case study research, the challenges and prospects, have been embedded in Western/Euro-centric society and social theories. Although there have been some theoretical studies, few empirical studies have been conducted to explore the nature of the challenges of qualitative case study in Africa and Asia. These challenges include cultural and language issues affecting access to companies and respondent issues and data analysis and financial issues. The authors while conducting qualitative case study research in Libya and Malaysia faced …

No Academic Borders?: Transdisciplinarity In University Teaching And Research, Alice W. Russell

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Transdisciplinarity has been a veritable mantra, especially in the humanities and social sciences, for twenty years or more. Yet academic structures and research application requirements still struggle to come to grips with crossboundary research and teaching. Making universities more trans-discipline-friendly is a tricky task, however. As Wendy Russell explains, trans-disciplines require disciplines, and disciplinary boundaries, too.

Parameters Affecting Mine Gas Drainage And Outburst Control Research, Najdat I. Aziz, F. Sereshki, Dieter Bruggemann, Ian Porter

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

Removing gases form mine environment represents the most important challenge that any mine operator is faced with. The ease with which the challenge is met and addressed depends on better understanding of the various parameters. Coal permeability and porosity is one of the key factors affecting the drainability of the coal. Coal matrix structure and coal mineralization provide a key to various issues related to effective drainage. Abnormal geological intrusions such as faults and dykes are likely to adversely affect the drainability of the coal seam. A combination of coal permeability, volumetric matrix change and petrography studies has been found …

A Collaborative Approach To Health Informatics Capacity Building - Learning From Canadian Practice In Fostering Research And Education, Ping Yu, Marilynne Herbert, Francis Lau

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

Objectives: Canada and Australia share two priority areas for HI workforce capacity building: to support research and education. This presentation will discuss a collaborative, nationwide health informatics (HI) PhD/Postdoc training program in Canada, which demonstrates a potential solution to meet these priorities. The status of HI higher education in Australia is briefly reviewed. The potential solution in resolving workforce shortage in Australia through adopting overseas practice is discussed, such as implementing a similar collaborative HI research training program across the country. Background: A Think Tank organized by Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing in 2003 explored the issue of HI …

Relative Values And Complementarity Of Online And Offline Interactions In Consumer Buying Behaviour: A Proposed Research Plan To Study Purchasing Of A Consumer Service Product Bundle, Robert G. Grant

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Current research into online consumer behaviour seems to be limited in two respects, firstly it treats online interaction as a stand-alone phenomenon and secondly it focuses on discrete steps in consumer processes, neglecting links between the steps. This paper proposes a research method to investigate relative values and complementarity between online and offline interactions in a consumer's buying process, examining differences within and between steps. A range of information source types and functional resource options will be researched for both effectiveness and efficiency benefits as well as emotional preferences for both online and offline interactions.

The research will focus on …

Interorganizational Dynamics In Collaboration In University-Industry Research Projects: Context, Politics And Social Construction, Michael Zanko, Richard Badham, Karin H. Garrety

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

University-industry partnerships (UIPs) are widely viewed as essential in leveraging research capability and economic performance in organizations and the nation as a whole. In Australia, as in many other countries, the national government commits significant funds to such ‘strategic’ collaborations. Despite this interest, there is still a relatively poor understanding of the interorganizational dynamics of these industry and university partnerships and their projects. This paper examines such dynamics by focusing on a management-related research project we were involved in negotiating and undertaking with industry partner managers over a four-year period. Of particular relevance was the complex interplay between UIP politics, …

Ranking Australian Economics Departments By Research Productivity, Frank V. Neri, Joan R. Rodgers

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study ranks Australian economics departments according to the average research productivity of their academic staff during 1996-2002. It also ranks departments according to the variability of research productivity among their members, the assumption being that, ceteris paribus, the less variable is productivity within a department, the better. Research productivity is found to be highly skewed within all departments. A few departments have high average research productivity because of just one or two highly productive members. However, in general, research productivity is more evenly distributed within those departments that have relatively high average research productivity than within departments with relatively …

Qualitative Case Study Research: A Research Project On Employee Participation In The Malaysian Private Sector, Balakrishnan Parasuraman

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Employee participation is one of the important fields in industrial relations. Research on employee participation in Malaysia is usually conducted through large-scale surveys and quasi-experiments and only focuses on the public sector. Therefore, this research instead uses a qualitative case study approach in investigating employee participation practices in private sector companies in Malaysia. This paper discusses aspects of the methodology of case study research and qualitative data collection and the theory and arguments affecting the choice of research and data gathering strategy in this research. Concludes that carrying out qualitative case study research, in the author's experience, is first and …

Asthma And Depression: A Pragmatic Review Of The Literature And Recommendations For Future Research, Melissa Opolski, Ian Wilson

Graduate School of Medicine - Papers (Archive)

Background: Although the association between asthma and psychosocial factors has long been recognised, it is only in the last decade that the impact of coexisting asthma and depression has become the focus of considerable research interest. However, the findings so far have been confusing and often contradictory. This paper sets out a methodical review and appraisal of the literature to date, including suggestions for future research. Method: PubMed and PsycINFO databases were used to search for English-language articles relating to asthma and depression research. The resulting articles were then reviewed and summarised, creating a report that was used to develop …

Internationalization Of Higher Education And Research In Manufacturing In Asian Region, Devi P. Saini

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

During the past few decades, a number of Asian economies have expe rienced spectacular growths of twentieth century. The rapid expansion of the manufacturing sector based on mainly low and medium technology has contributed significantly in these economic growths. In order to maintain their competitiveness and enhance their exports, these nations are realising the need of a multi-pronged approach involving development of new high value products, unmanned manufacturing employing sophisticated machinery and better manufacturing management. Unable to meet the vast demand of scientists and engineers expected during implementation of this strategy, many countries of this region are looking for assistance …

Status Of Outburst Research At The University Of Wollongong, Najdat I. Aziz, F. Sereshki, Dieter Bruggemann

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

There has been an ongoing research on coal and gas outburst for the past two decades at the School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong. Research study began with a humble beginning, initially conducting basic laboratory studies on the coal and gas properties, progressing into the determination of gas content of coal by sorption technique and the effect of gas pressures on coal strength. The present laboratory facilities and research interests are extended to include the study of coal permeability and shrinkage properties and their effect of gas drainage characteristics with respect to gas type, and pressures. …

We Know Best : A Critique Of Youth Research Directions, Judith Laverty

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper looks at the problematising of young people in relation to existing literature on health and the portrayal of young people experiencing homelessness. It reviews this literature with the view to understanding interconnections between research agendas and the positioning of young people as a problem group within society, based on adult and institutional definitions.