Education Commons^™

Uni-Start: A Peer-Led Orientation Activity Designed For The Early And Timely Engagement Of Commencing University Students, Sarah E. O' Shea Dr, Michelle Vincent

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Universities have both social and cultural contexts, and new students need to participate effectively in both in order to succeed in this environment. With ever increasing numbers of students and the diversity of the contemporary university population, institutions have to consider innovative ways to effectively engage individuals. In terms of supporting students, there is a need to be more proactive, initiating structures of support that reach out to students rather than an often implicit expectation that the learners themselves will take the initiative and seek out support individually. This article reflects on one approach to supporting diverse student populations that …

Understanding The Design Context For Australian University Teachers: Implications For The Future Of Learning Design, Susan Bennett, Lisa Thomas, Shirley Agostinho, Lori Lockyer, Jennifer Jones, Barry Harper

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Based on the premise that providing support for university teachers in designing for their teaching will ultimately improve the quality of student learning outcomes, recent interest in the development of support tools and strategies has gained momentum. This article reports on a study that examined the context in which Australian university teachers design in order to understand what role design support tools and strategies could play. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 academics across 16 Australian universities. The findings suggest that most Australian university teachers have a high degree of flexibility in their design decisions suggesting that opportunities exist for …

A Cross Sectional Study Of Pre-Service Teacher Efficacy Throughout The Training Years, Stuart Woodcock

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Teachers’ judgments in their ability to motivate students and promote learning can play a vital role in determining a student’s performance in the classroom and once a belief has been held for a long time, it can become difficult to change. Utilising a sample of 467 beginner and final year pre-service teachers training to become primary (elementary) and secondary teachers, the aim of this study was to examine to what extent pre-service teachers’ level of teacher efficacy changed during their teacher training years. Results showed that the training courses for primary school teachers appeared to have no influence on teacher …

Turning The Switch On! The Teachers’ Ability To Influence Student Motivation In Physical Education, Dana Perlman, Philip J. Pearson, Kim Mckeen, Gregory J. Forrest

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Student motivation is an area of importance in physical education due to the association with enhanced levels of effort, participation and aspects of learning (Tjeerdsma-Blankenship, 2008; Chen, 2001). Physical education specialists are routinely challenged by students who demonstrate behaviours indicative of low levels of motivation, such as high rates of absenteeism and severely low levels of active participation within the class setting (Ntoumanis, Peensgaard, Martin & Pipe, 2004). Bryan and Solmon (2007) indicate that the teacher is a primary driver for the development and implementation of experiences that support and/or thwart student motivation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was …

Online Practice & Offline Roles: A Cultural View Of Teachers’ Low Engagement In Online Communities, Sarah Howard, Jonathan Mckeown

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

An online community of practice (CoP) can extend teachers’ professional interaction beyond their school, but these practices are often underutilized. Using cultural theory, this paper proposes that teachers’ low engagement in online CoPs is that this “practice” is not part of their role as a teacher, individually or in their school culture. These ideas are examined through teachers’ low engagement in an online CoP as part of a research project. Findings suggest that teachers saw the online community as part of their role in the project, not as part of their “offline” role as a classroom teacher. The discussion conjectures …

Canadian And Australian Pre-Service Teachers' Use, Confidence And Success In Various Behaviour Management Strategies, Andrea Reupert, Stuart Woodcock

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The purpose of this study was twofold; first, to identify Australian and Canadian pre-service teachers’ use, confidence and success in various behaviour management strategies, and second, to identify significant differences between the two cohorts. Pooled data indicated that pre-service teachers most frequently employ low level corrective strategies, such as nonverbal body language, rather than strategies that serve to prevent student misbehaviour. The strategies pre-service teachers report most frequently employing were also those they felt most confident in. Australian pre-service teachers employ rewards significantly more, whilst Canadian pre-service teachers utilise preventative and differentiation strategies significantly more. Differences might be accounted for …

New Technologies To Support Language Learning, Lisa K. Kervin, Beverly M. Derewianka

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Language classrooms have always used technologies of various kinds, from the blackboard through to the language laboratory. In recent decades, however, there has been an explosion in the resources available to teachers, to the point where many feel overwhelmed. This chapter therefore, does not attempt to provide a comprehensive review of 'state of the art' technologies - primarily because the ground is shifting so rapidly that any such endeavour would soon be out of date. Rather, we have kept in mind an audience who are not necessarily interested in the finer points of technological innovations but who are seeking some …

Split-Attention And Redundancy Effects On Mobile Learning In Physical Environments, T C. Liu, Y C. Lin, M J. Tsai, Fred Paas

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This study investigated split-attention and redundancy effects in a mobile learningenvironment on leaf morphology of plants as a function of different combinations ofmedia. Eighty-one fifth-grade students were randomly assigned to the following threeconditions: texts with pictures embedded in the mobile device (TP condition); textsembedded in the mobile device and real objects that are outside of the mobile device(TO condition); and texts with pictures embedded in the mobile device and realobjects that are outside of the mobile device (TPO condition). Differences inperformance on comprehension tests and learning efficiency were examined acrossconditions. The TP condition was expected to perform better than the …

Using Slowmation For Animated Storytelling To Represent Non-Aboriginal Preservice Teachers' Awareness Of "Relatedness To Country", Anthony D. Mcknight, Garry Hoban, Wendy Nielsen

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

In this study, a group (N=15) of final year non-Aboriginal pre ervice teachers participated in an elective subject that aimed to raise their awarene s ab ut Aboriginal ways of knowing. A vital aspect of the course was developing the preservice teachers' awareness of "relatedness to country" which is a key belief for Aboriginal people. The non-Aboriginal pre service teachers s lected their own special place and then experienced Aboriginal ways of knowing throughout the course and vi ited local Aboriginal sites to hear and listen to stories shared by an Aboriginal Elder. At the end of the subject, the …

Understanding The Complexity Of Technology Acceptance By Higher Education Students, Sue Bennett, Karl A. Maton, Lisa Carrington

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

It is often claimed that all young people are highly adept with the digital technologies that infuse their lives, and that the way they think and behave has created a new gap between them and their teachers. It is suggested that to bridge this gap and ensure that young people are fully engaged, educators must incorporate digital technology more effectively into teaching and learning. This is problematic, however, because technology has had limited impact on education and has failed to be widely adopted as a learning support across many aspects of school and university education. More needs to be known …

Nutritional Policies And Standards For Snacks Served In After-School Programmes: A Review, Michael W. Beets, Falon Tilley, Youngwon Kim, Collin Webster

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Objective: To review and synthesize existing national and state organizations’ policies related to the nutritional quality of snacks served in after-school programmes (ASP; 15.00–18.00 hours) in the USA. Design: Systematic review of websites and corresponding documentation describing national and state-level ASP organizations’ policies, standards, guidelines and/or recommendations for the nutritional quality of snacks served within the ASP setting. Setting: ASP can play a critical role in a child’s daily dietary intake. State and national organizations have developed policies to assist ASP in selecting nutritionally appropriate snacks, yet no widely accepted standards exist. By reviewing the extent of existing policies, recommendations …

The Interactive Whiteboard: Tool And/Or Agent Of Semiotic Mediation, Pauline T. Jones, Lisa Kervin, Sophie Mcintosh

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Technologies such as interactive whiteboards, laptops, wireless connectivity and personal communications devices mark the educational zeitgeist. Their proliferation in schools is an emergent theme in educational research, yet, the impact on pedagogic discourse is less understood. This paper reports on a case study of one teacher’s work to integrate an interactive whiteboard (IWB) into a new purposebuilt teaching space. The case study is part of a larger project-in-progress which seeks to record and understand how primary school teachers use new technologies in their daily literacy sessions. Treating the literacy session as an instance of a curriculum genre (Christie, 2002), the …

The Influence Of An Autonomy-Supportive Intervention On Preservice Teacher Instruction: A Self-Determined Perspective, Dana Perlman

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of an autonomy-oriented intervention on preservice teacher’s instructional behaviors and perceptions. A total of 28 preservice physical education teachers enrolled in a secondary physical education methods course were randomly assigned to either the treatment (N=14) or control group (N=14). Data were collected using a pretest/posttest design measuring perceptions and observation of autonomy-support, as well as student motivation. Data analysis utilized repeated measures ANOVAs to examine differences. Results indicated significant changes in autonomy-support for both teachers and students exposed to the intervention.

Applying A Learning Design To The Design Of A University Unit: A Single Case Study, Jennifer Jones, S. Bennett, Lori Lockyer

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Learning designs have been proposed as a possible support to lecturers’ unit design processes. The collection of exemplary learning designs, development of tools and design languages have been the focus of the majority of activity to date. Research has only begun to explore how documented learning designs can be reused to support lecturers’ design thinking and processes. Using a case study approach to gain understandings of these processes, the study reported in this paper followed the design, implementation and reflection phases of a unit designed with the support of a learning design. Findings indicate that the process of applying a …

The ‘Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids’ Community Effectiveness Trial: Study Protocol Of A Community-Based Healthy Lifestyle Program For Fathers And Their Children, Philip J. Morgan, David R. Lubans, Ronald C. Plotnikoff, Robin Callister, Tracy Burrows, Richard Fletcher, Anthony D. Okely, Myles D. Young, Andrew Miller, Victoria Clay, Adam Lloyd, Clare E. Collins

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Background: The 'Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids' program was designed to help overweight fathers lose weight and positively influence the health behaviors of their children. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the previously established program in a community setting, in a large effectiveness trial. Methods/Design: The Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids community trial consists of three stages: (i) Stage 1 - program refinement and resource development (ii) Stage 2 - community randomized controlled trial (iii) Stage 3 - community effectiveness trial. The program will be evaluated in five Local Government Areas in the Hunter Valley Region of NSW, …

Different Methods For Ethical Analysis In Health Technology Assessment: An Empirical Study, Samuli Saarni, Annette J. Braunack-Mayer, Bjorn Hofmann, Gert-Jan Van Der Wilt

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objectives: Ethical analysis can highlight important ethical issues related to implementing a technology, values inherent in the technology itself, and value-decisions underlying the health technology assessment (HTA) process. Ethical analysis is a well-acknowledged part of HTA, yet seldom included in practice. One reason for this is lack of knowledge about the properties and differences between the methods available. This study compares different methods for ethical analysis within HTA.

Methods: Ethical issues related to bariatric (obesity) surgery were independently evaluated using axiological, casuist, principlist, and EUnetHTA models for ethical analysis within HTA. The methods and results are presented and compared.

Results: …

Promoting Health And Nutrition Through Sport: Attitudes Of The Junior Sporting Community, Bridget Kelly, Louise A. Baur, Adrian E. Bauman, Lesley King, Kathy Chapman, Ben J. Smith

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This study aimed to provide information on parents', children's and sporting officials' attitudes to sponsorship arrangements, and their support of potential policy interventions to reorient sponsorship to be more health promoting. Methods: Sports clubs (n=20) known to have food and beverage sponsors in Sydney, Illawarra and Canberra/Queanbeyan were selected. Parents and children at sports clubs were recruited through convenience sampling by approaching those attending the sports club at the time of the survey and those children who had a signed consent form. Sports clubs were visited between May and November 2010. At each club, one sports club official, ten parents …

Decision Making In A Crowded Room: The Relational Significance Of Social Roles In Decisions To Proceed With Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation, Rowena Forsyth, Camilla Scanlan, Stacy M. Carter, Christopher F. Jordens, Ian Kerridge

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Researchers studying health care decision making generally focus on the interaction that unfolds between patients and health professionals. Using the example of allogeneic bone marrow transplant, in this article we identify decision making to be a relational process concurrently underpinned by patients' engagement with health professionals, their families, and broader social networks. We argue that the person undergoing a transplant simultaneously reconciles numerous social roles throughout treatment decision making, each of which encompasses a system of mutuality, reciprocity, and obligation. As individuals enter through the doorway of the consultation room and become "patients," they do not leave their roles as …

A Randomised Controlled Trial To Compare Opt-In And Opt-Out Parental Consent For Childhood Vaccine Safety Surveillance Using Data Linkage: Study Protocol, Jesia G. Berry, Philip Ryan, Annette J. Braunack-Mayer, Katherine M. Duszynski, V Xafis, M S. Gold

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background

The Vaccine Assessment using Linked Data (VALiD) trial compared opt-in and opt-out parental consent for a population-based childhood vaccine safety surveillance program using data linkage. A subsequent telephone interview of all households enrolled in the trial elicited parental intent regarding the return or non-return of reply forms for opt-in and opt-out consent. This paper describes the rationale for the trial and provides an overview of the design and methods.

Methods/Design

Single-centre, single-blind, randomised controlled trial (RCT) stratified by firstborn status. Mothers who gave birth at one tertiary South Australian hospital were randomised at six weeks post-partum to receive an …

Portrayals Of Canine Obesity In English-Language Newspapers And In Leading Veterinary Journals, 2000-2009: Implications For Animal Welfare Organizations And Veterinarians As Public Educators, Christopher J. Degeling, Melanie Rock, Lorraine Teows

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In industrialized societies, more than 1 in 3 dogs and people currently qualify as overweight or obese. Experts in public health expect both these figures to rise. Although clinical treatment remains important, so are public perceptions and social norms. This article presents a thematic analysis of English-language mass media coverage on canine obesity from 2000 through 2009 and compares these results with a thematic analysis of articles on canine obesity in leading veterinary journals during the same time period. Drawing on Giddens's theory of structuration, this study identified articles that emphasized individual agency, environmental structure, or both as contributors to …

Relevance Of The International Prognostic Index In The Rituximab Era, Kevin Tay, David Tai, Miriam Tao, Richard Quek, Tam C. Ha, Soon Thye Lim

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Letter to the editor

The Alpha Health-Related Physical Fitness Test Battery For Children And Adolescents, Rute Santos, Jorge Mota

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In this issue of Nutricion Hospitalaria, Ruiz and colleagues present the new health-related fitness test battery for youth based upon the work developed by the ALPHA (Assessing Levels of Physical Activity) study. The ALPHA was a study funded by the European Union aimed "to provide a set of instruments for assessing levels of physical activity, its underlying factors (e.g. build environment, transport, and workplace), as well as, fitness in a comparable way within the European Union". The work presented in this issue by Ruiz and colleagues relates to the working package 6 of the ALPHA project -Assessing Healthrelated Physical Fitness- …

Metabolic Risk Factors, Physical Activity And Physical Fitness In Azorean Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study, Carla Moreira, Rute Santos, Jose Cazuza De Farias Junior, Susana Vale, Paula Clara Santos, Luisa Soares-Miranda, Ana I. Marques, Jorge Mota

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome has increased over the last few decades in adolescents and has become an important health challenge worldwide. This study analyzed the relationships between metabolic risk factors (MRF) and physical activity (PA) and physical fitness (PF) in a sample of Azorean adolescents.

Methods

A cross-sectional school-based study was conducted on 417 adolescents (243 girls) aged 15-18 from the Azorean Islands, Portugal. Height, weight, waist circumference, fasting glucose, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure were measured. A sum of MRF was computed, and adolescents were classified into three groups: no MRF, one MRF and two or more …

Evaluation Of Physical Activity Programmes For Elderly People - A Descriptive Study Using The Efqm' Criteria, Ana I. Marques, Maria J. Rosa, Pedro Soares, Rute Santos, Jorge Mota, Joana Carvalho

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: In the past years, there has been a growing concern in designing physical activity (PA) programmes for elderly people, because evidence suggests that such health promotion interventions may reduce the deleterious effects of the ageing process. Quality is an important issue when designing a PA programme for older people. Some studies support the Excellence Model of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) as an operational framework for evaluating the quality of an organization. Within this context, the aim of this study was to characterize the quality management models of the PA programmes developed by Portuguese Local Administration to …

Ability Of Different Measures Of Adiposity To Identify High Metabolic Risk In Adolescents, Carla Moreira, Rute Santos, Susana Vale, Paula Clara Santos, Sandra Abreu, Ana I. Marques, Luisa Soares-Miranda, Jorge Mota

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Introduction. This study aimed to evaluate the screening performance of different measures of adiposity: body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) for high metabolic risk in a sample of adolescents. Methods. A cross-sectional school-based study was conducted on 517 adolescents aged 15-18, from the Azorean Islands, Portugal. We measured fasting glucose, insulin, total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, and systolic blood pressure. HOMA and TC/HDL-C ratio were calculated. For each of these variables, a Z-score was computed by age and sex. A metabolic risk score (MRS) was constructed by summing the Z-scores of all individual risk factors. …

Comparing Two Measures Of Mental Toughness, Lee Crust, Christian F. Swann

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper tested relations between two measures of mental toughness. A sample of 110 male athletes (M age = 20.81. years, SD = 2.76), derived from University sports teams and local sports clubs, gave informed consent before completing two questionnaires to assess mental toughness. It was hypothesized that scales and subscales from the two different instruments, which purported to measure the same or substantially overlapping scales, would be strongly correlated. Predictions concerning the expected relations were made a priori. Pearson correlations revealed a significant and positive relationship between higher order mental toughness scores (r= .75; p< .001). Correlations between similar mental toughness subscales were found to be positive and significant but somewhat lower than expected (r= .49-62). Results suggest instrument subscales with similar labels are not measuring the same components of mental toughness. 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

Walking The Walk: A Phenomenological Study Of Long Distance Walking, Lee Crust, Richard J. Keegan, David Piggott, Christian F. Swann

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Evidence suggests that regular walking can elicit significant psychological benefits, although little evidence exists concerning long distance walking. The purpose of this study was to provide detailed accounts of the experiences of long distance walkers. Phenomenological interviews were conducted with six long distance walkers. Data were transcribed verbatim before researchers independently analyzed the transcripts. Participants reported a cumulative effect with positive feelings increasing throughout the duration of the walk. Long distance walking elicited positive emotions, reduced the effects of life-stress, and promoted an increased sense of well-being and personal growth. Results are aligned to theories and concepts from positive psychology. …

The Effect Of Language Cues On Infants' Representational Flexibility In A Deferred Imitation Task, Jane S. Herbert

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Twelve- and 15-month-old infants who received simple verbal cues at encoding and retrieval exhibited superior representational flexibility on an imitation task compared to infants who did not receive those cues. Verbal cues can help early-verbal infants overcome perceptual dissimilarity and express knowledge in novel situations.

Perceptual Training Prevents The Emergence Of The Other Race Effect During Infancy, Michelle Heron-Delaney, Gizelle Anzures, Jane S. Herbert, Paul Quinn, Alan Slater, James Tanaka, Kang Lee, Olivier Pascalis

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Experience plays a crucial role in the development of the face processing system. At 6 months of age infants can discriminate individual faces from their own and other races. By 9 months of age this ability to process other-race faces is typically lost, due to minimal experience with other-race faces, and vast exposure to own-race faces, for which infants come to manifest expertise [1]. This is known as the Other Race Effect. In the current study, we demonstrate that exposing Caucasian infants to Chinese faces through perceptual training via picture books for a total of one hour between 6 and …

Visual Recognition Memory Across Contexts, Emily Jones, Olivier Pascalis, Madeline Eacott, Jane S. Herbert

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In two experiments, we investigated the development of representational flexibility in visual recognition memory during infancy using the Visual Paired Comparison (VPC) task. In Experiment 1, 6- and 9-month-old infants exhibited recognition when familiarization and test occurred in the same room, but showed no evidence of recognition when familiarization and test occurred in different rooms. In contrast, 12- and 18-month-old infants exhibited recognition irrespective of testing room. Thus, flexibility across a change of room was observed at a younger age than flexibility across a change of background that has previously been seen with the VPC procedure (Robinson & Pascalis, 2004). …