Education Commons^™

Cannabis And Cognitive Function: Relevant To Psychosis, Nadia Solowij

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract from 'Brainwaves'- The Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research Annual Meeting 2006, 6-8 December, Sydney, Australia

From Neoliberalism To Neoliberalisation: Consolations, Confusions, And Necessary Illusions, Noel Castree

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Of late, I have been conducting a review of empirical research that analyses the relationships between neoliberalism and the nonhuman world.When published, the review will, I hope, be a useful way-station in advancing our understanding of these relationships. In a short space of time there has been a proliferation of research into the `nature of neoliberalism and the neoliberalisation of nature' (McCarthy and Prudham, 2004). Until recently neoliberalism had been the topical preserve of critically minded urban, economic, and development geographers. Now, though, a cohort of environmental geographersöalso critically mindedöhave turned their attention to how the non- human world affects …

Effects Of Sure Start Local Programmes On Children And Families: Early Findings From A Quasi-Experimental, Cross Sectional Study, Jay Belsky, Edward Melhuish, Jacqueline Barnes, Alastair H. Leyland, Helena Romaniuk

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective To evaluate the effects of Sure Start local programmes (SSLPs) on children and their families. To assess whether variations in the effectiveness of SSLPs are due to differences in implementation. Design Quasi-experimental cross sectional study using interviews with mothers and cognitive assessment of children aged 36 months who speak English. Setting Socially deprived communities in England: 150 communities with ongoing SSLPs and 50 comparison communities. Participants Mothers of 12 575 children aged 9 months and 3927 children aged 36 months in SSLP areas; mothers of 1509 children aged 9 months and 1101 children aged 36 months in comparison communities. …

The Impact Of Pre-School On Children's Development: Using Research To Inform Policy, Kathy Sylva, Edward Melhuish, Pam Sammons, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Brenda Taggart

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Presentation made at The Final Workshop for Evidence-based Policy Research in Education, 6-7 July 2006, London, United Kingdom

Teachers’ Conceptions Of Teaching At A Gulf University: A Starting Point For Revising A Teacher Development Program, L. Smith

University of Wollongong in Dubai - Papers

As universities are increasingly attracting students from a wider range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, one of the challenges faced by educational developers is preparing academics to teach in a cross-cultural environment. In order to do this, teacher development programs often need to be adapted and up-dated. A widely-recognised starting point in this process is the examination of teachers’ conceptions of teaching. This paper presents a small-scale, qualitative study which looks at the conceptions of teaching held by lecturers from different ethnic and educational backgrounds at a multicultural university in the United Arab Emirates. The university in question is a …

Ethics And Health Technology Assessment: Handmaiden And/Or Critic?, Annette J. Braunack-Mayer

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objectives: This study examines the content and role of ethical analysis in health technology assessment (HTA) and horizon scanning publications. It proposes that ethical analysis in HTA is of at least two different types: an ethics of HTA and an ethics in HTA. Methods: I examine the critical differences between these approaches through the examples of the analysis of genetic screening for breast cancer and home blood glucose testing in diabetes. I then argue that, although both approaches subscribe to similar views concerning HTA and ethics, they use different theoretical and methodological traditions to interpret and explain them. Results and …

The Effective Pre-School Provision In Northern Ireland [Eppni] Project: Summary Report 1998-2004, Edward Melhuish, Louise Quinn, Karen Hanna, Kathy Sylva, Pam Sammons, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Brenda Taggart

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The Effective Pre-school Provision in Northern Ireland (EPPNI) project investigated the effects of pre-school education and care on children's development for children aged 3-8 years old. The EPPNI team collected a wide range of information on over 800 children who were studied longitudinally until the end of Key Stage 1. Data were collected on children's developmental profiles (at ages 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 years), background characteristics related to their parents, the child's home learning environment, and the pre-school settings children attended. Eighty pre-school settings were drawn from a range of providers (nursery schools/classes, playgroups, private day nurseries, …

Evaluating Sure Start, Edward Melhuish, Jay Belsky, Alastair Leyland, Angela Anning, Zarrina Kurtz, Jane Tunstill, Mog Ball, Pamela Meadows, Jacqueline Barnes, Martin Frost, Beverley Botting

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Sure Start local programmes are a cornerstone in the Government's effort to break the inter-generational cycle of disadvantage. Their principal goal is to enhance the functioning of children under four years and their families by improving services provided in over five hundred small communities that are among the 20 per cent most deprived in England.

Exploring The Early Expectations And Ambitions Of First Generation Female Students Within An Australian University, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

A Novel In Vitro Exposure Technique For Toxicity Testing Of Selected Volatile Organic Compounds, Shahnaz Bakand, Chris Winder, Christian Khalil, Amanda Hayes

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Exposure to vapours of volatile chemicals is a major occupational and environmental health concern. Toxicity testing of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has always faced significant technological problems due to their high volatility and/or low solubility. The aim of this study was to develop a practical and reproducible in vitro exposure technique for toxicity testing of VOCs. Standard test atmospheres of xylene and toluene were generated in glass chambers using a static method. Human cells including: A549-lung derived cell lines, HepG2-liver derived cell lines and skin fibroblasts, were grown in porous membranes and exposed to various airborne concentrations of selected VOCs …

In Vitro Cytotoxicity Of Formaldehyde And Glutaraldehyde Mixtures In Human Cells, Shahnaz Bakand, Chris Winder, Christian Khalil, Amanda Hayes

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The cytotoxicity of formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde and their binary mixtures was determined using the MTS (tetrazolium salt; Promega) in vitro assay. Cytotoxicity endpoints were investigated in human cells including; pulmonary type II-like epithelial cell lines (A549), hepatoma cell lines (HepG2) and skin fibroblasts. In order to study the cytotoxic effects of airborne formaldehyde, standard atmospheres at concentrations below 10 ppm (12.3 mg/m³) were generated using a dynamic diffusion method. Formaldehyde was bubbled through serum free culture media and cell viability was investigated after treating cells with formaldehyde air samples. HepG2 cells were found to be more sensitive (IC_{50 …}

Geographical Knowledges, Universities, And Academic Freedom, Noel Castree

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

I want to offer some perspectives on the university as an institution, on the conditions of knowledge production that should prevail in that institution, and on how those conditions affect the kinds of geographical knowledges circulating within and beyond universities. In recent years, there has been a lot of published debate in geography books, journals, e-lists, and newsletters about making the professional knowledges we collectively produce more `relevant'.

Western Environmentalism Today: Paradoxes, Problems And Challenges, Noel Castree

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

It's forty years since the birth of the modern environmental movement in the West and beyond. After a thrilling late 1960s infancy and a rather successful 1970s adolescence, the movement should have enjoyed an early adulthood full of achievement. Yet its development was thoroughly arrested as the 1980s gave way to the 90s. For many environmentalists, the apparent greening of governments, firms and consumers after the first Earth Summit was simply a sham. For instance, veteran American campaigner Tom Athanasiou (1996) regarded Rio and its aftermath as little more than "a long flatulence".1 Fifteen years on, however, there are suddenly …

Underachievement In A Whole City Cohort Of Academically Gifted Children: What Does It Look Like?, Roselyn M. Dixon, Rhonda Craven, Andrew Martin

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Underachievement has long been recognised as a problem for some gifted children. The aim of the research described in this article was to investigate the affective characteristics of achieving and underachieving intellectually gifted children. In particular, the three affective characteristics were academic self-concept, self-expectations for future achievement and academic locus of control for children who were moving from elementary school to a middle school setting. Forty- one participants were chosen who had a Full WISC-R test over 125 from a large sample of middle school-aged children entering Middle School in a New Zealand city. Of these 41 intellectually gifted participants, …

Teaching Games For Understanding - 10 Years In Australia, Philip J. Pearson, Paul I. Webb, Kim Mckeen

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

TGfU was introduced to the Australian sporting community in 1996, through workshops presented by Rod Thorpe who was visiting from Loughborough University, England. Now, 10 years on, with the concept having been the focus of many coaching workshops and professional development sessions for physical education teachers and sports coaches, one would expect that TGfU would be well known and utilised among these groups.

This paper reports on the knowledge, understanding and experience that first year physical and health education students at an Australian university have on TGfU. Seventy students were surveyed by questionnaire and then actively engaged in a variety …

A Model For Professional Development Of Teaching Games For Understanding For Teachers In New South Wales, Australia, Paul I. Webb, Philip J. Pearson, Kim Mckeen

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

With the advent of a new syllabus for secondary schools (years 7-10) and a quality teaching focus in New South Wales schools the Australian Council of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER, New South Wales) determined that there was a need for the professional development of teachers in teaching games for understanding (TGfU) and relating this to the new syllabus. The result was a full day professional development workshop for teachers of which five have been held and which approximately 200 teachers have attended. This paper will address the content of the workshop and respondents comments about the workshop.

The …

Scaffolding Learners In Authentic, Problem-Based E-Learning Environments: The Geography Challenge, Janice A. Herrington, Gwyn J. Brickell

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The affordances of online learning technologies have enabled more widespread development of learning environments that facilitate the exploration and solving of complex and realistic problems. In this paper, we describe the design of a real world geography problem, embedded within a web environment that is facilitated by an onsite excursion for data collection. The learning environment has been designed to deliberately address known problems associated with the problem solving approach, specifically in regard to three issues, and uses scaffolding prompts and supports embedded within the environment to facilitate student learning. The paper describes the theoretical foundations for the approach, the …

Using The Internet For Professional Development: The Experience Of Rural And Remote Professionals, Anthony J. Herrington, Janice A. Herrington

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The retention of professionals employed in rural and remote areas of Australia is a critical factor in community growth and sustainability. Retaining professionals depends to a large extent on the availability of support and professional development that is becoming increasingly accessible through the internet. This paper describes a research study that used survey and interview methods to indicate how a range of ten professional groups employed in rural and remote Australia, are accessing the internet for professional development. The findings indicate that email, the world wide web, discussion, chat and listservs were commonly used, however, the ability of professionals to …

A Partnership For Ipod Pedagogy: Using The Technology Of Millennial Learners Across Educational Contexts, Lisa K. Kervin, Doug Reid, Jeff Vardy, Carroll Hindle

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper explores collaboration between researchers at the tertiary level, with primary school teachers and their students as iPods are integrated into learning experiences. Embarking on this partnership, it is our aim to weave value-added, mutually beneficial and collaborative relationships into our on-going professional interactions as we work towards the development of a pedagogical framework to support classroom teachers in using iPods and podcasting in their educational settings. Such collaborative relationships have been promoted as a way to foster professional relationships, provide learning opportunities for educators, encourage change and develop common understanding across contexts.

Appropriate pedagogy and procedures to assist …

Dive In 2005 - A Cd Rom In 'Student Speak' For First Year Students, Pauline Lysaght, Russell Walton

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper reports on the development of a CD-ROM for undergraduate students beginning their first year of study in 2005 in the Faculty of Education at the University of Wollongong. The CD (entitled Dive In 2005: A Guide for Beginning Education Students) includes information about many aspects of university life ranging from general policies, procedures and resources to facultyspecific items that support the academic and social life of Education students. An innovative feature of Dive In 2005 is the degree of involvement of “experienced” undergraduate students at every level of its production. By drawing on the wisdom of these continuing …

Educated Women's Ways Of Knowing On Gender, Education And Social Transformation: Exploring Actionable Space, Vinathe Sharma-Brymer

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

How do women with higher education view their own experiences of being educated in their everyday life? How do they understand and address gender relations as educated women? What is their analysis of gender and social transformation in the contemporary Indian society? This paper examines these questions in the light of educated women’s experiences. Stories and narratives of five women living in urban Bangalore in Southern India provide the ground to inquire into issues of gender and social transformation. This paper argues that theoretical perspectives supporting transformation through education do not effectively address the everyday experiences of women living in …

Vygotskyan Inner Speech And The Reading Process, John F. Ehrich

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

There is a paucity of Vygotskian influenced inner speech research in relation to the reading process. Those few studies which have examined Vygotskian inner speech from a reading perspective tend to support the notion that inner speech is an important covert function that is crucial to the reading process and to reading acquisition in general. However, Vygotskian notions on inner speech, in particular, syntactic and semantic aspects of inner speech (e.g., predication, word sense and agglutination), have not been investigated in relation to the study of the decoding aspects of silent reading. In this paper, an argument is presented that …