Digital Commons Network^™

Student Perceptions Of Humour In Teaching Politics And International Relations: A Focus Group Study, Alexander P. Martin

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

Politics and International Relations (Pol & IR) lecturers can capitalise on the established relationship between comedy and political analysis by using humour techniques to enhance the student learning experience and to develop students’ critical analysis skills. Using collected data from focus groups with 21 British and International undergraduate students from four UK universities, this small-scale empirical study advances a methodology that enables participants to engage in collective meaning-making without being restricted by a closed-ended question survey. This research highlights student perceptions that humour attempts can make concepts memorable, improve student-lecturer rapport, and increase student engagement and motivation when lecturers consistently …

We Were All Learning And Doing Our Best: Investigating How Enabling Educators Promoted Student Belonging In A Time Of Significant Complexity And Unpredictability, Trixie James, Kerry Bond, Brijesh Kumar, Melissa Tomlins, Gabriela Toth

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted education provision worldwide. In Australia, the government took a proactive stance to reduce the impact of the pandemic, temporarily banning higher education students from attending university campuses. With a lockdown in place, educational institutions required a rapid shift in approaches to teaching and learning by both educators and students. Educators throughout Australia were asked to work from home and quickly transition their face-to-face (synchronous) classes into bichronous, fully online offerings. This paper reports on the experiences of 25 educators in an enabling course in a regional Australian university who were required to make this shift. These …

Managing Multiple Students On Clinical Placement Via Peer Learning: The Hull Evaluation-Appraisal-Student-Integrated (Easi) Model, Lucy Aldrich, Jayne Anderson, Angela Green, Amanda Hancock

Journal of Peer Learning

There is a national shortfall of student Allied Health Professional (AHP) clinical placement availability in the United Kingdom. Debate exists regarding ways to improve this situation against the backdrop of National Health Service (NHS) pressures. Historically, clinical educators have adopted a one clinical educator to one student (1:1) model. AHP clinicians perceive various barriers regarding the implementation of peer learning placement models where multiple students (two or more) are assigned to one clinical educator.

A means to address the perceived barriers to adopting a peer learning placement model has been gained from unstructured interviews, conference feedback, questionnaires, and a literature …

Leader Identity Emergence Of Study Group Facilitators, David R. Arendale, Amanda Hane, Brian S. Fredrickson

Journal of Peer Learning

This qualitative study at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, USA, investigated leader identity emergence of study group facilitators. There is a gap in the professional literature regarding study group programs and identity emergence of the student paraprofessionals who facilitate the study sessions. This study built upon previous studies of identity formation by integrating educational theories that help explain the changes that occurred. Peer study group programs are powerful co-curricular experiences. This study provided answers to why and how identity emergence occurs. The Leader Identity Development Model for peer study group facilitators was developed based on the findings from this study …

Reversing And Preventing Academic Underachievement In Gifted Students Viewed Through The Lens Of Lived Experience, Jodi Lamanna

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

The purpose of this research was to investigate the phenomenon of underachievement in gifted students. This research was viewed through the lens of lived experience and underpinned by Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Ecological Systems Theory which recognises the importance of linked systems in society.

The research literature showed that underachievement was a prevalent issue for gifted students (Figg et al., 2012; Siegle, 2013) and that appropriate interventions needed to be in place to mitigate the disadvantage caused by underachievement. Factors that contributed to underachievement included inappropriate curriculum (Olenchak, 2001; Rimm & Lovance, 1992b), poor self-regulation (Baum et al., 1995a), and boredom (Bennett-Rappell …

The Effect Of Problem-Based Learning On Students’ Learning Attitude In Tertiary Level Education: A Case Study Of The College System In Bangladesh, Shamsiah Banu Mohamad Hanefar, Abu Rusho Muhammad Toab Hussain, Adrian Jarvis

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

This study was initiated to explore the effect of problem-based learning on learners’ attitudes among tertiary level students. The decision to concentrate on a sample from Bangladesh was motivated largely by that country’s poor record to date in pedagogical innovation, meaning that the experiment could take place in the closest thing to an uncontaminated laboratory as this type of research permits. That students’ attitudes towards learning were positively influenced by PBL to a statistically significant degree can be taken as a decisive endorsement of the method as a vehicle for teaching and learning. Clearly, the students who made up the …

Improving Students’ Performance With Time Management Skills, Robert Wilson, Keith Joiner, Alireza Abbasi

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

Research at the University of New South Wales with Defence Force Academy students found time-management skills significantly improve the academic results of male students but not female students when controlling for the usual effect of prior academic ability. While much previous research has revealed a positive link between time management and academic results within civilian environments, there is a lack of research on this link in dual-military or employment and academic settings. Our research also extends on many national and international studies’ by researching the efficacy of a direct training intervention in time-management skills. The study is unique in evaluating …

Diy Assessment Feedback: Building Engagement, Trust And Transparency In The Feedback Process, Matthew Smith, Cassie Lowe

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

This study evaluates a novel assessment and feedback process in which students were tasked with actively engaging in the feedback process in a ‘DIY’ – do-it-yourself – assessment feedback workshop. The research team set out to explore how an active participation in the construction of the assessment criteria and utilisation of that co-constructed criteria would affect the students’ engagement with assessing their own work. Through providing the space in which students were encouraged to use criteria to mark their own work, the research team aimed to build the students’ trust and confidence in the transparency of the assessment process. The …

Modelling Student Flows In The Omani Higher Education System, Yasir Salim Al Harthy

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Education has a major role in individuals life and society due to its influence in all aspects of life, whether social or economic. Education has become countries’ gateway to scientific progress and prosperity. Therefore, it has become necessary to plan education in order to ensure that its outcomes are properly directed towards developing societies with the latest scientific knowledge and development. Education can be seen as a sequence of stages, pre-school education, school education and higher education. Each stage of education is important in the ladder of cognitive development, as each stage leads to the next stage. Next comes after …

An Exploratory Study Of Food And Nutrition Instruction In Australian Primary Schools, Emma Gorman

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Many Australian children have unhealthy dietary behaviours. These unhealthy dietary behaviours have been linked to rising rates of childhood obesity. Food and nutrition education plays an important role in shaping children’s dietary behaviours and schools have been identified as ideal location for such education to occur.

Despite recognition of the importance of food and nutrition education evidence suggests adequate time is not being allocated to food and nutrition education in primary schools. To effectively educate, support, and encourage teachers to include food and nutrition education in their programs, it is critical to understand the influences that enable or constrain their …

An Investigation Into Mentoring Relationships Of Higher Education Students In Community Settings, Ridwanah Gurjee

Journal of Peer Learning

This research explores one-to-one, formal mentoring relationships between students in higher education and their partnered mentees from community and secondary school environments. The purpose is to enhance understanding of mentoring praxis, bringing insight into structures and support of relationships. This paper addresses gaps in the literature by focusing more on the interaction that takes place rather than the benefits of mentoring alone.

The research adopts an interpretive methodological approach, incorporating qualitative methods of semi-structured interviews with mentors and mentees. Reflective portfolios, completed by students as an assessment for the university’s Mentoring in the Community module, are another adopted method.

Findings …

‘It Was Fun’: Exploring The Pedagogical Value Of Collaborative Educational Games, Adeline Cooney, Eamon Darcy

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

This qualitative descriptive study explored the value of games as pedagogical tools to teach team working and foster collaborative learning in a higher education classroom. Groups of three or four students (n = 181) were asked to participate in a simple low-tech serious game which required them to solve a puzzle. The puzzle simulated ‘good’ teamwork practices. Subsequently, participants were asked to complete an open-ended qualitative questionnaire about their experiences. The game was found to enhance learners’ understanding of the attributes of effective team working. It was concluded that team-based collaborative games have value in experientially ‘teaching’ team working skills. …

Ceo & Cfo Education And R&D Investment In Indonesia, Iman Harymawan, Mohammad Nasih, Dian Agustia, Melinda Cahyaning Ratri, John Nowland

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

This study examines how the research and development (R&D) investments of listed companies in Indonesia are influenced by the educational characteristics of their CEOs and CFOs. This study uses 368 observations from 150 listed companies on the Indonesian Stock Exchange for the period 2010 to 2015. We find that CEOs with higher educational levels invest more in research and development. This is consistent with more education instilling a longer-term perspective on corporate managers. We also find that CFOs with accounting certifications invest less in R&D, consistent with the risk-adverse nature of the accounting profession. For companies and shareholders, our findings …

Enhancing The Learning Performance Of Passive Learners In A Financial Management Class Using Problem-Based Learning, Bambang Sugeng, Ani Wilujeng Suryani

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

This study aims to implement a problem-based learning method and investigate how this method enhances students’ learning performance, specifically in self-regulated learning and higher-order thinking skills for a Financial Management class, involving highly passive learners. The study adopted mixed methods, quasi-experimentally, by comparing a problem-based learning method with a conventional method, i.e. lecture-based learning. The results indicate that, alongside obtaining positive acceptance from the class, problem-based learning outperforms the conventional method by enhancing both students’ self-regulated learning and their higher-order thinking skills, although it lagged behind in maintaining students’ lower-order thinking skills. Future research into problem-based learning implementation in a …

Antonio Gramsci, Scritti (Writings), 1, 1910-1916, Lelio La Porta

International Gramsci Journal

The first volume of the early writings (largely his journalism – the specific form of his political militancy in this period) has come out after the second one, covering 1917, due to the even greater complexity of assembling and ascertaining authorship to the articles. These often appeared anonymously, sometimes with initials or an abbreviated name, and were sometimes subject to rigid censorship. In the latter case all efforts have been made to trace and reinstate the missing sections. In all, about 400 texts of various kinds are included in the volume, which supersedes previous collections dating back to the last …

Social Value And Its Impact Through Widening Participation: A Review Of Four Programs Working With Primary, Secondary & Higher Education Students, Jioji Ravulo, Shannon Said, Jim Micsko, Gayl Purchase

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In 2017 the Office of Widening Participation conducted a program- wide analysis of the Social Return On Investment (SROI) to evaluate the impact of four Widening Participation programs at Western Sydney University (WSU). The programs evaluated were Fast Forward, Strive Towards Educational Participation and Success (STEPS), First Foot Forward, and Pasifika Achievement To Higher Education (PATHE). The overlapping aim amongst the four programs is to increase higher education participation rates, particularly for students coming from low socio-economic backgrounds. The SROI framework provided a holistic analysis by intertwining qualitative and quantitative data. The analysis showed that each program-albeit with differences-produced a …

Walter Benjamin, Antonio Gramsci And The Problem Of Elitist Traditions, Frank Voigt

International Gramsci Journal

The article sheds light on Walter Benjamin’s and Antonio Gramsci’s treatments of elitist traditions. It provides a historical contextualization and brief comparison of the theoretical and political developments of the two contemporaries under this aspect. In the Origin of the German Trauerspiel (1924/25), Benjamin’s historical-philosophical aesthetics are enriched by a history of concepts which increasingly takes up socio-historical aspects. This approach goes beyond Benjamin’s programmatic formulations at the beginning of the 1920s, in which he regarded the work of art as a privileged medium of historical insight that, in theory and method, had to be isolated from history. As for …

Antonio Gramsci, Scritti 1910-1916, Lelio La Porta

International Gramsci Journal

The first volume of the early writings (largely his journalism – the specific form of his political militancy in this period) has come out after the second one, covering 1917, due to the even greater complexity of assembling and ascertaining authorship to the articles. These often appeared anonymously, sometimes with initials or an abbreviated name, and were sometimes subject to rigid censorship. In the latter case all efforts have been made to trace and reinstate the missing sections. In all, about 400 texts of various kinds are included in the volume, which supersedes previous collections dating bak to the last …

Mental Health Nursing Education In Undergraduate And Postgraduate Programs: Time For Change, Brenda Happell, Kim Foster, Bronwyn Lawman, Lorna Moxham, Mark Powell, Tom Ryan, Scott Trueman, Eimear Muir-Cochrane

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: Part B

Unfortunately, despite nurses encountering people diagnosed with mental illness and experiencing significant mental health challenges, increased awareness is not reflected in the mental health component of undergraduate nursing programs. Since the introduction of comprehensive nursing education, mental health nursing has been severely under-represented in undergraduate programs in most Australian universities. The future of mental health service delivery, quality of care, and patient outcomes depends in no small part on these decisions.

Vaccination Education Subordinated To Campaigning, Brian Martin

Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities - Papers

Proponents of vaccination would like to educate parents with the aim of getting them to agree with the dominant view. This creates a tension with an alternative goal of education, to encourage people to think for themselves. The challenge of learning about vaccination is increased by the public debate in which proponents and critics diverge dramatically and do not engage with each other's arguments.

Effects Of Plyometric-Based Program On Motor Performance Skills In Primary School Children Aged Seven And Eight, Andrew Sortwell

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Over the last decade, the Australian Curriculum has focused on providing a rich and engaging quality Physical Education (PE) experience for students in primary schools. An area of debate within PE has been around the need to balance engagement in physical activity with the development of motor performance skills early in life. Motor performance skill proficiency in young children is a critical determinant of participation in games, sports and physical activity. During childhood, brain development is rapid and neuroplasticity is high, making childhood a crucial time to develop motor performance skills in children. A mode of movement that has been …

Comparison Of Faculty And Student Perceptions Of Videos In The Online Classroom, Elizabeth Valenti, Tennille Feldbush, Jean Mandernach

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

While instructors and students generally value the integration of videos in the online classroom, there are a number of practical considerations that may mediate the utility of videos as a teaching and learning tool. The current survey examines faculty and student perceptions of videos in the online classroom with an emphasis on the practical factors that influence video integration. Results indicate differences in faculty and student acceptance and endorsements of videos for content presentation compared to assignment feedback. Faculty desire more opportunities to interact with their students (i.e., video-based discussions, video-conferencing, and student-generated videos) and highlighted efficiency as a key …

Assessing Written Communication Skills Using A Continua Model Of A Guide To Making Judgments (Gtmj), Peter R. Grainger, Michael Christie, Michael Carey

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

Written communication skills are one of the most assessed criteria in higher education contexts, especially in humanities disciplines, including teacher education. There is a need to research and develop an assessment grading tool (i.e. criteria sheet or rubric) that would assist students in pre-service teacher education programs to better understand and practice written communication and to assist markers when grading academic essays that include this criterion. When rubrics are used the criterion that covers the written communication skills part of the task is often too general to truly assist students to know what they must do in order to obtain …

Building Conceptual Knowledge Of Fraction Operations Among Pre-Service Teachers: Effect Of A Representation-Based Teaching Approach Within A Teacher Education Program, Elise J. Thurtell, Patricia A. Forrester, Mohan Chinnappan

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

A deep understanding of fraction concepts and operations is necessary if pre-service teachers (PSTs) are to present the concepts in multiple forms to learners. Such an understanding needs to be grounded in rich conceptual knowledge. In the present study, we explore the development of this understanding by supporting a cohort of 103 PSTs, who had previously demonstrated poor conceptual understanding of fraction concepts and operations, with a Representational Reasoning in Teaching and Learning (RRTL) approach aimed at strengthening their conceptual knowledge. A comparison of pre- and post-test results indicated that participants showed a significant improvement in shifting the balance of …

The Effectiveness Of A Dementia And Driving Education Module On Practitioner Knowledge, Confidence And Competence: A Pilot Study, H.C. Chang, Victoria Traynor, Nadine S. Veerhuis, Mu-Hsing Ho, Li-Yu Tang, Megan F. Liu, Hui-Wen Chien, Yung-Jen Yang

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: Part B

Abstract presented at the 11th International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics Asia/Oceania Regional Congress, 23-27 October 2019, Taipei, Taiwan

Art And Science Of Designing Patient Education Material For The 21st Century, Kelly Lambert

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: Part B

letter to the editor

A Systematic Review Of The Effectiveness Of Empathy Education For Undergraduate Nursing Students, Tracy Levett-Jones, Robyn Cant, Samuel Lapkin

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: Part B

Objective

The objective of this systematic review was to identify, critically appraise and synthesize evidence for the effectiveness of empathy interventions in undergraduate nursing education.

Design

A systematic review of literature.

Data Sources

A three-stage systematic search of six electronic databases was conducted.

Review Methods

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guided the review. English language articles published between 2000 and 2018 were eligible. Methodological rigour was examined using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument. Changes in empathy were assessed using Cohen's effect size correlation (r) and reported as effective when the variance was …

An Investigation Into The Elements Of Resilience That Children Identify From Reading The Book Game On, Sarah Jane Tilliot

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Mental health is considered one of Australia’s national health priority areas. Some of the factors and attributes that influence mental health and wellbeing have been identified within the resilience literature. This thesis presents an evaluation of the resilience literature and an appraisal of a resilience resource Game ON. Game ON, the first book designed in the ‘Dusty and Friends’ series, targets children aged 4–7 with the aim to educate, facilitate and embed the skills of resilience as part of an early intervention and prevention approach. Using storytelling, Game ON provides examples of behaviours that impede and facilitate the development of …

The Impact On Academic Staff Of The Collaboration Between A Pathway Provider And Its Partner University: An Australian Case Study., Louise Kaktiņš

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

New educational models such as those involving a third party educational provider linked with an official university for purposes of providing a bridge (a pathway program) into a mainstream university degree, particularly for international students, have become part of the higher education landscape capitalising on the international demand for tertiary qualifications from Australia and other English-language-based universities. The perceptions of teachers employed in one such pathway program are the focus of this current paper – a research area that to date has been understudied. Such data are of great value in furnishing an in-depth view of the challenges involved in …

Conceptualising Technology Practice In Education Using Bourdieu's Sociology, Karley A. Beckman, Tiffani L. Apps, Sue Bennett, Lori Lockyer

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Evidence from large-scale studies of primary and secondary students' technology practices at school over the last decade show disparities in student practices and suggest that schools need to do more to cater for all students. Research that explores the influence of social and cultural factors may be useful for understanding such inequality in student practice. Bourdieu's theory of practice [(1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice. London: Cambridge University Press] is proposed as an example of a sociological theory that can be adopted in educational technology research to move towards understanding the wider complexities of technology practice. To encourage discourse …