Education Commons^™

Crossing Rivers, Revisiting Trauma, And Contemplating The Geo: Thinking Into The Anthropocenic, Justin Westgate

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The irony of the Anthropocene-an idea grounded in earth sciences-is that it acts to unground some of the foundational ideas about the world. It asks us to reevaluate and rethink the human-nature binary, to inhabit a world less hospitable and malleable than we dared to believe. I explore this notion of groundlessness by returning to a personally traumatic event that literally swept me off my feet-crossing a river. I argue that the experience of such corporeal vulnerability can provide fertile ground for reorienting our own perception. Delving into such experiences may be used to provoke and expand thinking with a …

Who Is At Risk Of Chronic Disease? Associations Between Risk Profiles Of Physical Activity, Sitting And Cardio‐Metabolic Disease In Australian Adults, Lina Engelen, Joanne Gale, Josephine Chau, Louise L. Hardy, Martin Mackey, Nathan A. Johnson, Debra Shirley, Adrian E. Bauman

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: To examine the associations of physical activity (PA) and sitting time (sit) with cardio‐metabolic diseases. Methods: Cross‐sectional data from the Australian National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey 2011-2012 (n=9,435) were used to classify adults into low and high risk groups based on their physical activity and sitting behaviour profiles. Logistic regression models examined associations between low and high risk classifications (high PA‐low sit; high PA‐high sit; low PA‐low sit; low PA‐high sit;) and socio‐demographic factors, and associations between low and high risk classifications and the prevalence of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Results: These results characterise …

Sydney Playground Project: A Cluster‐Randomized Trial To Increase Physical Activity, Play, And Social Skills, Anita C. Bundy, Lina Engelen, Shirley Wyver, Paul Tranter, Jo Ragen, Adrian E. Bauman, Louise A. Baur, Wendy Schiller, Judy Simpson, Anita Niehues, Gabrielle Perry, Glenda Jessup, Geraldine A. Naughton

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

BACKGROUND

We assessed the effectiveness of a simple intervention for increasing children's physical activity, play, perceived competence/social acceptance, and social skills.

METHODS

A cluster‐randomized controlled trial was conducted, in which schools were the clusters. Twelve Sydney (Australia) primary schools were randomly allocated to intervention or control conditions, with 226 children (5‐7 years old) selected randomly to participate. Data were collected at baseline and after 13 weeks. The intervention consisted of introducing recycled materials without an obvious play purpose into school playgrounds and a risk‐reframing workshop for parents and teachers.

RESULTS

Children from the intervention schools increased physical activity and reduced …

Flood, Michael J. Adams

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Flash fiction

Trends In Prevalence Of Leisure Time Physical Activity And Inactivity: Results From Australian National Health Surveys 1989 To 2011, Josephine Chau, Tien Chey, Sarah Burks-Young, Lina Engelen, Adrian E. Bauman

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: To examine trends in leisure time physical activity and inactivity in Australians aged 15 years or older from 1989 to 2011.

Method: We used data from six Australian National Health Surveys conducted from 1989/90 to 2011/12 in which physical activity was assessed using comparable questions. Analyses examined trends in the prevalence of sufficient physical activity (≥150 minutes/week moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity) and of inactivity (<30 minutes/week moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity).

Results: The proportion of sufficiently active adults was 39.2% in 1989 and 40.7% in 2011 with an overall declining trend of 0.2% per year (p=0.012). The prevalence of inactivity was 38.7% in 1989 …

2017 Calibre Essay Prize (Winner): 'Salt Blood', Michael J. Adams

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

It is quiet and cool and dark blue. At this depth the pressure on my body is double what it is at the surface: my heartbeat has slowed, blood has started to withdraw from my extremities and move into the space my compressed lungs have created. I am ten metres underwater on a breath-hold dive, suspended at the point of neutral buoyancy where the weight of the water above cancels my body's natural flotation. I turn head down, straighten my body, kick gently, and begin to fall with the unimpeded gravitational pull to the heart of the Earth.

Exploring Patient And Family Involvement In The Lifecycle Of An Orphan Drug: A Scoping Review, Andrea Young, Devidas Menson, Jacqueline M. Street, Walla Al-Hertani, Tania Stafinski

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Patients and their families have become more active in healthcare systems and research. The value of patient involvement is particularly relevant in the area of rare diseases, where patients face delayed diagnoses and limited access to effective therapies due to the high level of uncertainty in market approval and reimbursement decisions. It has been suggested that patient involvement may help to reduce some of these uncertainties. This review explored existing and proposed roles for patients, families, and patient organizations at each stage of the lifecycle of therapies for rare diseases (i.e., orphan drug lifecycle). Methods: A scoping review was …

Opioid Agonist Treatment For Patients With Dependence On Prescription Opioids, Suzanne Nielsen, Briony K. Larance, Nicholas Lintzeris

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Clinical Question Are different opioid agonist treatments (eg, methadone vs buprenorphine) associated with differences in efficacy for treating prescription opioid dependence, and is long-term maintenance of opioid agonist treatment associated with differences in efficacy compared with opioid taper or psychological treatments alone? Bottom Line For patients who are dependent on prescription opioids, long-term maintenance of opioid agonists is associated with less prescription opioid use and better adherence to medication and psychological therapies for opioid dependence compared with opioid taper or psychological treatments alone. Methadone maintenance was not associated with differences in therapeutic efficacy compared with buprenorphine maintenance treatment. Evidence quality …

Lessons From The Aime Approach To The Teaching Relationship: Valuing Biepistemic Practice, Samantha Mcmahon, Valerie Harwood, Gawaian Bodkin-Andrews, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea, Anthony D. Mcknight, Paul A. Chandler, Amy Priestly

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) is a national, extra-curricular mentoring programme that is closing the educational gap for young Indigenous Australians. So what is AIME doing that is working so well? This article draws on a large-scale classroom ethnography to describe the pedagogies that facilitate the teacher-student relationships in this programme. We use Shawn Wilson's theorisation of Indigenous ways of knowing in order to 'unpack' how these approaches succeeded in creating the egalitarian and trust-filled relationships reportedly experienced in the AIME programme.

Vection And Cybersickness Generated By Head-And-Display Motion In The Oculus Rift, Stephen Palmisano, Rebecca Mursic, Juno Kim

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Cybersickness is often experienced when viewing virtual environments through head-mounted displays (HMDs). This study examined whether vection (i.e., illusory self-motion) and mismatches between perceived and physical head motions contribute to such adverse experiences. Observers made oscillatory yaw head rotations while viewing stereoscopic optic flow through an Oculus Rift HMD. Vection and cybersickness were measured under 3 conditions of visual compensation for physical head movements: "compensated", "uncompensated", and "inversely compensated". When a nearer aperture was simulated by the HMD, vection was found to be strongest in the "compensated" condition and weakest in the "inversely compensated" condition. However, vection was similar for …

An Early Years Toolbox For Assessing Early Executive Function, Language, Self-Regulation, And Social Development: Validity, Reliability, And Preliminary Norms, Steven J. Howard, Edward Melhuish

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Several methods of assessing executive function (EF), self-regulation, language development, and social development in young children have been developed over previous decades. Yet new technologies make available methods of assessment not previously considered. In resolving conceptual and pragmatic limitations of existing tools, the Early Years Toolbox (EYT) offers substantial advantages for early assessment of language, EF, self-regulation, and social development. In the current study, results of our large-scale administration of this toolbox to 1,764 preschool and early primary school students indicated very good reliability, convergent validity with existing measures, and developmental sensitivity. Results were also suggestive of better capture of …

Maintenance And Repair Beyond The Perimeter Of The Plant: Linking Industrial Labour And The Home, Chontel A. Carr

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Dominant political economic accounts of manufacturing labour draw on an intellectual heritage that has tended to over-emphasise production culture within the industrial workplace, at the expense of other work cultures such as maintenance and repair. When the latter are foregrounded, new links emerge between work undertaken within the paid workplace, and that undertaken in the home and community. Work that occurs outside the bounds of an industrial site is co-constituted by materials and skills engendered within, raising timely political and geographical questions around the visibility and mobility of these prosaic restorative cultures. Empirically, the paper brings together two perspectives to …

Inspiring Environmentally Responsible Preschool Children Through The Implementation Of The National Quality Framework: Uncovering What Lies Between Theory And Practice, Krista Pollock, Jane D. Warren, Peter J. Andersen

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION FOR environmental sustainability (ECEfES) has become significant in the early years, as highlighted by the inclusion of ECEfES in Australia's first and current National Quality Framework (NQF) for early childhood education and care (ECEC). This article reports on the major findings from a case study (Pollock, 2014), which aimed to uncover what lies between theory and practice, as ECEC educators attempt to support young children to become environmentally responsible, through the implementation of the NQF. This article discusses some of the findings from an analysis of the documents central to the NQF as well as semi-structured interviews …

Pubertal Stage, Body Mass Index, And Cardiometabolic Risk In Children And Adolescents In Bogota, Colombia: The Cross-Sectional Fuprecol Study, Robinson Ramírez-Velez, Antonio García-Hermoso, Cesar A. Agostinis-Sobrinho, Jorge Mota, Rute Santos, Jorge Enrique Correa-Bautista, Carlos Andres Pena-Guzman, María Andrea Domínguez-Sanchez, Jacqueline Schmidt-Riovalle, Emilio Gonzalez-Jimenez

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This study explored the association between pubertal stage and anthropometric and cardiometabolic risk factors in youth. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2877 Colombian children and adolescents (9¿17.9 years of age). Weight, height, and waist circumference were measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. A biochemical study was performed to determine the cardiometabolic risk index (CMRI). Blood pressure was evaluated and pubertal stage was assessed with the Tanner criteria. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed. The most significant variable (p < 0.05) in the prognosis of cardiometabolic risk was found to be the BMI in both boys and girls. In the case of girls, the pubertal stage was also a CMRI predictive factor. In conclusion, BMI was an important indicator of cardiovascular risk in both sexes. Pubertal stage was associated with cardiovascular risk only in the girls.

Promoting Physical Activity Among Adolescent Girls: The Girls In Sport Group Randomized Trial, Anthony D. Okely, David R. Lubans, Philip J. Morgan, Wayne G. Cotton, Louisa R. Peralta, Judith Miller, Marijka Batterham, Xanne Janssen

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Slowing the decline in participation in physical activity among adolescent girls is a public health priority. This study reports the outcomes from a multi-component school-based intervention (Girls in Sport), focused on promoting physical activity among adolescent girls. Methods: Group randomized controlled trial in 24 secondary schools (12 intervention and 12 control). Assessments were conducted at baseline (2009) and at 18 months post-baseline (2010). The setting was secondary schools in urban, regional and rural areas of New South Wales, Australia. All girls in Grade 8 in 2009 who attended these schools were invited to participate in the study (N=1769). Using …

Student Isolation: The Experience Of Distance On An International Field Placement, Mim Fox

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In an era of global awareness of the impact of social, political and environmental impact, the international field placement has become a feature of many social work programmes throughout Australia. A theoretical framework of international social work principles allows for a guiding platform for teaching and learning; however, the experience of the social work student is often one of cultural isolation and emotional vulnerabilities. Whilst cross-cultural learning is a core practice goal of the placement, the ability to engage with this learning is affected by the impact of distance on the student. In turn, the university responsibility for the student …

Unhealthy Food Marketing To New Zealand Children And Adolescents Through The Internet, Stefanie Vandevijvere, Karuna Sagar, Bridget Kelly, Boyd A. Swinburn

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

AIM: To assess the extent and nature of unhealthy food marketing to New Zealand children and adolescents through the internet.METHODS: Internet traffic data for January 2014 was purchased from AC Nielsen to identify the most popular websites (n=110) among children and adolescents aged 6-17 years. In addition, websites (n=70) of food and beverage brands most frequently marketed to children through television, sports, magazines and Facebook were included. Marketing techniques and features on those websites were analysed.RESULTS: The extent of food marketing on popular non-food websites was low. A wide range of marketing techniques and features was, however, identified …

The International Field Placement: A Reconciliation Of Identity, Mim Fox

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The international field placement is a site of both identity confusion and identity development for the social work student. Aiming to develop their professional identity they are faced with a challenge: the presence of two dominant identities, the tourist identity and the student identity. Whilst the embodiment of the tourist identity has often facilitated the student¿s motivation to undertake the placement experience, the student identity is what both university staff and agency field educators perceive as integral to student engagement in this remote educational setting. Social work educators perceive this identity challenge as an impediment to learning. In contrast, students …

Materials That Linger: An Embodied Geography Of Polyester Clothes, Elyse R. Stanes, Christopher R. Gibson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Narratives of clothing reuse and repurpose have centred on second-hand economies, recycling, upcycling and DIY, fashioning a particular kind of 'wasted' aesthetic where stitching, darning and patching become visible. But what of clothes that don't show signs of wear, because they are made from human-made fabrics that degrade much more slowly than organic materials? Drawing on ethnographic 'fashion journeys' with young adults from Sydney, Australia, this paper follows polyester clothes, geographically and temporally, beyond of spaces of production, to their everyday use, storage, divestment, reuse and recirculation. Clothing is theorised as always in-process - materially, temporally and spatially - and …

A Randomized Controlled Trial To Evaluate The Impact Of A Geo-Specific Poster Compared To A General Poster For Effecting Change In Perceived Threat And Intention To Avoid Drowning 'Hotspots' Among Children Of Migrant Workers: Evidence From Ningbo, China, Yinchao Zhu, Xiaoqi Feng, Hui Li, Yaqin Huang, Jieping Chen, Guozhang Xu

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background

Drowning among children of migrant workers is a major, though neglected public health issue in China.

Methods

A randomised controlled trial was used to examine the potential impact of viewing a preventive health poster with/without geo-located drowning events on perceptions of drowning risk among Chinese migrant children. A total of 752 children from three schools in Jiangbei district were selected by multi-stage sampling and randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 380) or control (n = 372). Multilevel models were used to analyse changes in responses to the following questions after viewing the assigned poster for 10 …

Personality Disorder: A Mental Health Priority Area, Brin F. S Grenyer, Fiona Y. Ng, Michelle L. Townsend, Sathya Rao

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Personality disorders have received limited recognition as a public health priority, despite the publication of treatment guidelines and reviews showing effective treatments are available. Inclusive approaches to understanding and servicing personality disorder are required that integrate different service providers. This viewpoint paper identifies pertinent issues surrounding early intervention, treatment needs, consumer and carer experiences, and the need for accurate and representative data collection in personality disorder as starting points in mental health care reform.

Relationships Between Mental Toughness, Barriers To Exercise, And Exercise Behaviour In Undergraduate Students, Elizabeth Stamp, Lee Crust, Christian F. Swann, John Perry

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The present study explored relationships between mental toughness (MT), barriers to exercise, and self-reported exercise behaviour in university students. Perceived barriers to exercise are important since previous work has identified barriers as strong predictors of exercise behaviour. MT was hypothesised to predict exercise barriers and self-reported exercise behaviour. Participants were 173 undergraduate students (45 men, 128 women) from 10 United Kingdom universities. Questionnaires were used to assess MT, exercise levels, and exercise barriers. Path analysis identified that MT predicted barriers to exercise, with higher MT associated with weaker perceived barriers. Regular exercisers were found to have significantly higher MT than …

The Importance Of Critical Life Moments: An Explorative Study Of Successful Women With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Amanda A. Webster, Susanne Garvis

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Ten women with autism spectrum disorder participated in oral interviews in order to share their experiences since their diagnosis and to discuss the factors that had enabled them to achieve success in different aspects of their life. Participants were encouraged to share their perspectives on their success and to discuss the challenges they encountered in their daily lives and how they overcame these. Interviews were analysed using a narrative-themed approach. Participants indicated that both internal and external factors enabled them to achieve success in different aspects of their lives. These included being an agent of change, a changed identity after …

Time2bhealthy - An Online Childhood Obesity Prevention Program For Preschool-Aged Children: A Randomised Controlled Trial Protocol, Megan Hammersley, Rachel A. Jones, Anthony D. Okely

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background The use of parent-focused internet-based programs for the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity has shown promise but there is an acknowledged gap in parent-focused interventions which target the early childhood stage. Methods The aim of this study is to determine the efficacy of Time2bHealthy - an online healthy lifestyle program for parents of preschool-aged children. The program will be evaluated using a two-arm, parallel, randomised controlled design. The 11-week program is underpinned by Social Cognitive Theory and consists of interactive modules on healthy eating, physical activity, screen-time and sleep. The intervention also involves elements of social media, where …

Children Working It Out Together: A Comparison Of Younger And Older Learners Collaborating In Task Based Interaction, Rhonda Oliver, Jenefer J. Philp, Susan A. Duchesne

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper describes peer interaction among children with English as an Additional Language (EAL) in primary schools. Through linguistic analysis it provides an exploratory examination of the nature of their collaborations, how they work together and the ways they interact as they complete classroom task pair work. 42 children from two junior and two senior classes of intermediate level English from four EAL reception classrooms participated. Data comprised recordings and transcriptions of the interactions of 11 pairs of younger (5–8 years) and 10 pairs of older (9–12 years) children as they completed five tasks over two weeks. An analysis of …

Toward A Sociomaterial Understanding Of Writing Experiences Incorporating Digital Technology In An Early Childhood Classroom, Lisa K. Kervin, Barbara Comber, Annette Woods

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This article examines the resources, tools, and opportunities children enact as they engage with teacher-devised writing experiences within their classroom space. We begin with discussion about classroom writing time from the perspective of both the teacher and children of one Grade 1/2 composite class. We also reveal resources within the classroom space to consider the expertise available during writing times. We then examine a 5-week unit that focused on multimodal text construction. Using optical flow computer vision analysis to examine the movement of children during four video-recorded independent writing instances, we provide commentary about how the classroom writing experiences have …

Serial Reconstruction Of Order And Serial Recall In Verbal Short-Term Memory, Philip Quinlan, Steven J. Roodenrys, Leonie M. Miller

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

We carried out a series of experiments on verbal short-term memory for lists of words. In the first experiment, participants were tested via immediate serial recall, and word frequency and list set size were manipulated. With closed lists, the same set of items was repeatedly sampled, and with open lists, no item was presented more than once. In serial recall, effects of word frequency and set size were found. When a serial reconstruction-of-order task was used, in a second experiment, robust effects of word frequency emerged, but set size failed to show an effect. The effects of word frequency in …

The Role Of Implicit Beliefs And Achievement Goals As Protective Factors In Youth Sport, Lauren Gardner, Stewart A. Vella, Christopher A. Magee

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

2017 © Association for Applied Sport PsychologyThis study explored whether implicit beliefs and 2 × 2 achievement goals were related to enjoyment in youth sport over 1 year and whether perceived changes in the coach¿athlete relationship moderated these relationships. Indirect and conditional indirect effect analyses were conducted in a sample of 247 regular sport participants (Mage = 13.03 years). After adjusting for enjoyment at Time 1, incremental beliefs were indirectly related to Time 2 enjoyment via mastery-approach goals. However, this effect was evident only when the coach¿athlete relationship was perceived to have deteriorated. Results highlight the protective value of adaptive …

Cognitive Remediation Improves Executive Functions, Self-Regulation And Quality Of Life In Residents Of A Substance Use Disorder Therapeutic Community, Ely Marceau, Jamie Berry, Jo Lunn, Peter James Kelly, Nadia Solowij

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background Executive dysfunction is common in substance use disorder (SUD) populations and hinders treatment. We previously found that 50% of residents in SUD therapeutic communities had been hospitalized for head injuries; this was a significant determinant of cognitive impairment. The current study aimed to establish whether cognitive remediation improves executive functions (EFs) and self-regulation in an ecologically valid sample of female residents attending SUD therapeutic community treatment, including those with past head injuries and psychiatric comorbidities. Methods Controlled sequential groups design with residents (N = 33, all female) receiving treatment as usual (TAU). The intervention group (n = 16) completed …

Role Of Orbitofrontal Sulcogyral Pattern On Lifetime Cannabis Use And Depressive Symptoms, Yann Chye, Nadia Solowij, Eleni Ganella, Chao Suo, Murat Yucel, Albert Batalla, Janna Cousijn, Anna Goudriaan, Rocio Martin-Santos, Sarah Whittle, Cali F. Bartholomeusz, Valentina Lorenzetti

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) sulcogyral patterns are stable morphological variations established early in life. They consist of three distinct pattern types, with Type III in particular being associated with poor regulatory control (e.g., high sensation seeking and negative emotionality, low constraint), which may confer risk for earlier onset of cannabis (CB) use and greater use in later life. The OFC sulcogyral pattern may therefore be a stable trait marker in understanding individual differences in substance-use vulnerability and associated affective disturbances in users. In a large multisite cross-sectional study, we compared OFC pattern type distribution between 128 healthy controls (HC) and 146 …