Digital Commons Network^™

Development And Validation Of The Holistic Cognition Scale, Andrei A. Lux, Steven L. Grover, Stephen T. Teo

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This paper introduces a new scale to measure cognitive cultural differences, drawing on the theory of analytic versus holistic thought. Examining culture from a cognitive perspective is a challenge to traditional values-based approaches. Existing measures based on this framework are methodologically problematic and warrant renewal. This paper presents development and validation studies for a new instrument that measures analytic versus holistic cognitive tendencies at the individual level. The scale assesses four previously established dimensions: attention, causality, contradiction, and change. The present work follows well-established scale development protocols and the results show that the 16-item Holistic Cognition Scale (HCS) is a …

Chinese International Students In The United States: The Interplay Of Students’ Acculturative Stress, Academic Standing, And Quality Of Life, Zhaohui Su, Dean Mcdonnell, Feng Shi, Bin Liang, Xiaoshan Li, Jun Wen, Yuyang Cai, Yu-Tao Xiang, Ling Yang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: Acculturation could cause grave health consequences in international students. However, there is a shortage of research into how acculturative stress might affect international students’ quality of life in light of their academic standing and experience. The lack of research is particularly pronounced among Chinese international students, representing the largest body of international students studying in the United States (U.S.). Thus, to bridge the research gap, this study aims to examine the interplay between international students’ acculturative stress, academic standing, and quality of life among a nationally representative sample of Chinese international students studying in the United States. Methods: An …

Principle-Based Concept Analysis Methodology Using A Phased Approach With Quality Criteria, Stephanie Smith, Evalotte Mörelius

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The study aimed to provide a detailed description of a process to conduct a phased principle-based concept analysis and to introduce quality criteria assessment for a phased principle-based concept analysis. Concept analysis explores how a concept is described, used and measured in the literature. This conceptual understanding is important to guide translational research to direct the development of evidence-based practice. The principle-based concept analysis is one approach of concept analysis used in published work, but the literature is lacking in articles clearly describing how to conduct it in practice. This article provides a methodology utilising a phased approach and by …

Hybrid Mamdani Fuzzy Rules And Convolutional Neural Networks For Analysis And Identification Of Animal Images, Hind R. Mohammed, Zahir M. Hussain

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Accurate, fast, and automatic detection and classification of animal images is challenging, but it is much needed for many real-life applications. This paper presents a hybrid model of Mamdani Type-2 fuzzy rules and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) applied to identify and distinguish various animals using different datasets consisting of about 27,307 images. The proposed system utilizes fuzzy rules to detect the image and then apply the CNN model for the object’s predicate category. The CNN model was trained and tested based on more than 21,846 pictures of animals. The experiments’ results of the proposed method offered high speed and efficiency, …

Educative Power And The Respectful Curricular Inclusion Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Music, Michael Webb, Clint Bracknell

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This chapter argues for the full, respectful curricular inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music in order to promote a more balanced and equitable social and cultural vision of the nation-state in Australian schools. It challenges views that claim Indigenous cultures have been irretrievably lost or are doomed to extinction, as well as the fixation on musical authenticity. We propose that the gradual broadening of Indigenous musical expressions over time and the musical renaissance of the new millennium have created an unprecedented opportunity for current music educators to experience the educative power of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music. …

Statistical Analysis Plan For The Compare Trial: A 3-Arm Randomised Controlled Trial Comparing The Effectiveness Of Constraint-Induced Aphasia Therapy Plus And Multimodality Aphasia Therapy To Usual Care In Chronic Post-Stroke Aphasia (Compare), Miranda L. Rose, Tapan Rai, David Copland, Lyndsey Nickels, Leanne Togher, Marcus Meinzer, Erin Godecke, Joosup Kim, Dominique A. Cadilhac, Melanie Hurley, Cassie Wilcox, Marcella Carragher

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background While high-quality meta-analyses have confirmed the effectiveness of aphasia therapy after stroke, there is limited evidence for the comparative effectiveness of different aphasia interventions. Two commonly used interventions, Constraint-induced Aphasia Therapy Plus (CIAT Plus) and Multi-modality Aphasia Therapy (M-MAT), are hypothesised to rely on diverse underlying neural mechanisms for recovery and may be differentially responsive to aphasia severity. COMPARE is a prospective randomised open-blinded end-point trial designed to determine whether, in people with chronic post-stroke aphasia living in the community, CIAT Plus and M-MAT provide greater therapeutic benefit compared to usual care, are differentially effective according to aphasia severity, …

Breaking The Silence: Insights Into The Lived Experiences Of Wa Aboriginal/Lgbtiq+ People: Community Summary Report 2021, Braden Hill, Bep Uink, Jenny Dodd, Dameyon Bonson, Anne-Marie Eades, Sian Bennett

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The ‘Breaking the Silence’ research project is one of the first to focus on the unique experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ people living in Western Australia. Research focusing on the intersection of Indigeneity and gender/sexual diversity is severely lacking in Australia. This is the first survey to comprehensively capture the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ Western Australians. Previously, major research pertaining to LGBTIQ+ Australians rarely just focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander same sex attracted or gender variant individuals (Bonson, 2017; Dudgeon, et. al., 2017; Growing Up Queer, 2014; Hill, et. al., 2021; …

Breaking The Silence: Insights From Wa Services Working With Aboriginal/ Lgbtiq+ People: Organisations Summary Report 2021, Braden Hill, Bep Uink, Jenny Dodd, Dameyon Bronson, Anne-Marie Eades, Sian Bennett

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The ‘Breaking the Silence’ research project is one of the first to focus on the unique experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ people living in Western Australia. The report presents the first phase of a twopart research project that explores how a range of health, social support and education organisations respond to the needs of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, living in Western Australia and identifying as LGBTIQ+. This report presents the findings of focus groups, interviews and surveys with staff employed within a range of organisations that work closely with Aboriginal and/or LGBTIQ+ individuals. The discussion …

The Outcomes Of Fifth-Grade Emergent Bi/Multilinguals’ Introduction To A Visual Metalanguage When Constructing Scientific Explanations In Hong Kong, Melanie Williams, Kok-Sing Tang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The visual mode provides emergent bi/multilinguals an essential resource to construct scientific explanations. Yet, while a metalanguage is used to describe the written mode of scientific language such as, claim, evidence, reason; there is little research that makes students aware of the metalanguage of a visual mode. We propose an introduction to the visual metalanguage will ensure emergent bi/multilinguals better access to the visual mode. This study employs an instrumental case study to examine the introduction of visual metalanguage to a fifth-grade science class. Two cameras record ten emergent bi/multilinguals as they construct scientific explanations in nine lessons. We use …

The Role Of Background Knowledge In Reading Comprehension: A Critical Review, Reid Smith, Pamela Snow, Tanya Serry, Lorraine Hammond

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. A critical review was conducted to determine the influence background knowledge has on the reading comprehension of primary school-aged children. We identified twenty-three studies that met our criteria and focused on the links between background knowledge and reading comprehension of children in the mid to late primary years. Review findings highlight that higher levels of background knowledge have a range of effects that are influenced by the nature of the text, the quality of the situation model required, and the presence of reader misconceptions about the text. Our findings also indicate that background …

Hospital Staff, Volunteers’ And Patients’ Perceptions Of Barriers And Facilitators To Communication Following Stroke In An Acute And A Rehabilitation Private Hospital Ward: A Qualitative Description Study, Sarah D'Souza, Erin Godecke, Natalie Ciccone, Deborah J. Hersh, Heidi Janssen, Elizabeth Armstrong

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objectives

To explore barriers and facilitators to patient communication in an acute and rehabilitation ward setting from the perspectives of hospital staff, volunteers and patients following stroke.

Design

A qualitative descriptive study as part of a larger study which aimed to develop and test a Communication Enhanced Environment model in an acute and a rehabilitation ward.

Setting

A metropolitan Australian private hospital.

Participants

Focus groups with acute and rehabilitation doctors, nurses, allied health staff and volunteers (n=51), and interviews with patients following stroke (n=7), including three with aphasia, were conducted.

Results

The key themes related to barriers and facilitators to …

Digital Representation For Assessment Of Spoken Efl At University Level: A Case Study In Vietnam, Thi Bich Hiep Vu

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Assessing the speaking performance of students who are studying English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has mainly been conducted with face-to-face speaking tests. While such tests are undoubtedly interactive and authentic, they have been criticised for subjective scoring, as well as lacking an effective test delivery method and recordings for later review.

Technology has increasingly been integrated into speaking tests over the last decade and become known as computer-assisted or computer-based assessment of speaking. Although this method is widely acknowledged to measure certain aspects of language speaking effectively, such as pronunciation and grammar, it has not yet proved to be …

An Exploration Of Virtual Reality To Facilitate Authentic Tasks In Efl Learning In A Vietnamese Tertiary Setting, Thi Ngoc Diem Hoang

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

During the past decade, English language teaching has received more consideration in Vietnam than ever before evidenced by strategic funding by the government. However, the English competence of the Vietnamese population remains low due to the lack of an authentic learning environment inside and outside the classroom despite significant and ongoing national investment. A suggested solution to this issue is the synergy of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) and virtual reality (VR) mobile technology to create an authentic language learning environment. The potential of technology to facilitate language learning is a recognised but underresearched area of language education in higher education …

An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Aphasia Therapy, Depression And Quality Of Life In Post-Stroke Patients After Rehabilitation At 12 And 26 Weeks After Stroke: A Verse Sub-Study, Alia Rashid Khan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background: Depression is a common consequence of stroke, and people with aphasia (PWA) post-stroke have a higher risk of developing depression compared to stroke survivors without aphasia. However, current stroke interventions featuring aphasia therapy tend to neglect the effect of the treatment on mood. There is also a lack of evidence on the impact of stroke education and counselling on PWA in early stroke recovery. Additionally, the research on post-stroke depression often excludes or insufficiently describes PWA in study populations. The influence of direct aphasia therapy on depression in PWA is undetermined. This sub-study investigated: i) the effect of …

Affordance Learning For Visual-Semantic Perception, Chau Nguyen Duc Minh

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Affordance Learning is linked to the study of interactions between robots and objects, including how robots perceive objects by scene understanding. This area has been popular in the Psychology, which has recently come to influence Computer Vision. In this way, Computer Vision has borrowed the concept of affordance from Psychology in order to develop Visual-Semantic recognition systems, and to develop the capabilities of robots to interact with objects, in particular. However, existing systems of Affordance Learning are still limited to detecting and segmenting object affordances, which is called Affordance Segmentation. Further, these systems are not designed to develop specific abilities …

The Adherence To Group B Streptococcus Screening Guidelines Amongst Pregnant Women In Western Australia – A Quantitative Descriptive Analysis, Sabine Pangerl

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Colonisation with Group B Streptococci (GBS) is a major risk factor for neonatal infection acquired via vertical transmission during pregnancy, labour, or birth, potentially resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. Universal screening at 35 – 37 weeks gestation for maternal GBS colonisation and the use of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis has resulted in substantial reductions in the burden of neonatal Early-Onset GBS Disease (EOGBSD). Women in Western Australia (WA) are offered GBS screening in pregnancy and intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis. Anecdotal evidence suggests variations in viewpoints and thus low adherence to relevant clinical guidelines amongst midwives and pregnant women in the midwifery …

Headteachers In Difficult Circumstances: A Study Of School Leaders In Post-Conflict, Post-Disaster Nepal, Rupak Dahal

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

School leadership in developing countries, with a particular focus on post-conflict and post-disaster, is an area of increasing importance to education researchers. However, this research has often been limited to the areas of educational achievement and outcomes, government policies and their impact on school systems, and comparing schools irrespective of their vastly different contexts.

This thesis reports on research into school leadership within Nepali government secondary schools, typically referred to as community schools. As a developing country, The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal (Nepal), faces crucial educational challenges due to its cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity, and associated socio-economic …

The Peripheral Hearing And Central Auditory Processing Skills Of Individuals With Subjective Memory Complaints, Dona M.P. Jayakody, Holly K. Menegola, Jessica M. Yiannos, Jack Goodman-Simpson, Peter L. Friedland, Kevin Taddei, Simon M. Laws, Michael Weinborn, Ralph N. Martins, Hamid R. Sohrabi

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© Copyright © 2020 Jayakody, Menegola, Yiannos, Goodman-Simpson, Friedland, Taddei, Laws, Weinborn, Martins and Sohrabi. Purpose: This study examined the central auditory processing (CAP) assessment results of adults between 45 and 85 years of age with probable pre-clinical Alzheimer’s disease – i.e., individuals with subjective memory complaints (SMCs) as compared to those who were not reporting significant levels of memory complaints (non-SMCs). It was hypothesized that the SMC group would perform significantly poorer on tests of central auditory skills compared to participants with non-SMCs (control group). Methods: A total of 95 participants were recruited from the larger Western Australia Memory …

Open Access Publishing In The European Union: The Example Of Scientific Works, Nikos Koutras

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Access to information resources and publicly-funded research outcomes have been considered in Europe during the last decade. Open access practice became part of the European institutions’ agenda since 2006 within the final report of the European Research Advisory Board. The Lisbon Treaty (2007) explicitly confirmed the European Union’s commitment to free circulation of scientific knowledge (Article 179 TFEU) and the dissemination of research results (Article 183 TFEU). In this regard, the Horizon 2020 program illustrates the importance of open access policy towards further dissemination of scientific information. The European Commission also introduced in July 2012 a scientific information package to …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Their Preparedness For Supporting Struggling Literacy Learners In Secondary English Classrooms, Margaret K. Merga, Sayidi Mat Roni, Shannon Mason

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The initial and ongoing professional education of teachers to prepare them to support students’ literacy development warrants research attention. The importance of meeting the needs of struggling literacy learners in secondary school does not diminish as students move through the years of schooling. This paper reports on data from the 2019 Supporting Struggling Secondary Literacy Learners mixed-methods project, which sought to explore the challenges of meeting the needs of struggling literacy learners in Australian secondary schooling, from the perspectives of teachers of mainstream English classrooms. …

A Fine-Grained Sentiment Analysis Of Online Guest Reviews Of Economy Hotels In China, Jiaqi Luo, Songshan Huang, Renwu Wang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study aims to investigate the experiences of Chinese economy hotel guests by applying deep learning fine-grained sentiment analysis on 363,723 Chinese-text online reviews. Findings reveal that location is the domain that most of the positive sentiments are associated, followed by facilities, service, price, image, and reservation experience. Prominent features with negative sentiments include sound insulation, air conditioning, beddings, windows, toilets, TV sets, WiFi signals, towels, elevators, hair dryers, slippers, toilet bowls, return cash, invoices. Positive and negative sentiments are compared. This research offers an alternative approach and a more comprehensive understanding of the experiences and sentiments of Chinese economy …

Community Work, Love And The Indigenous Worldview Of Buen Vivir In Peru, Naomi Joy Godden

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The Latin American indigenous knowledge paradigm of buen vivir (‘living well’) encapsulates an equilibrium of rights of people and nature, with a ‘solidarity economy’ emphasising equities, equality and freedoms, social justice and ecological justice. In participatory research in Peru, community workers developed a love-based framework of practice that reflects features of buen vivir. Participants suggest love is values-based feeling and action aiming for a world of peace, happiness and prosperity by transforming social conditions for a system of equality through participatory and democratic processes. The findings enhance developmental social work and buen vivir literature with a localised, relationship-oriented practice approach.

Genetic Diversity And Low Stratification Of The Population Of The United Arab Emirates, Guan K. Tay, Andreas Henschel, Gihan Daw Elbait, Habiba S. Al Safar

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© Copyright © 2020 Tay, Henschel, Daw Elbait and Al Safar. With high consanguinity rates on the Arabian Peninsula, it would not have been unexpected if the population of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was shown to be relatively homogenous. However, this study of 1000 UAE nationals provided a contrasting perspective, one of a relatively heterogeneous population. Located at the apex of Europe, Asia, and Africa, the observed diversity could be explained by a plethora of migration patterns since the first Out-of-Africa movement. A strategy to explore the extent of genetic variation of the population of the UAE is presented. …

Behind The Therapy Door: What Is “Usual Care” Aphasia Therapy In Acute Stroke Management?, Emily Brogan, Erin Godecke, Natalie Ciccone

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background:

Usual care is the term used to describe everyday practice in the management of a client within a profession. The knowledge of the tasks used in therapy and key therapeutic processes used within these treatments, provides critical information about if and how the therapy works. The Very Early Rehabilitation in SpEech Randomised Controlled Trial (VERSE RCT) had three arms with therapists within the intensive Usual Care-Plus arm (UC-Plus) providing daily direct aphasia therapy at their discretion for 20 sessions.

Aims:

To describe usual care aphasia treatment provided in the Usual Care-Plus arm of VERSE RCT.

Methods and Procedures:

One …

Using Sentence Dictation To Practise And Assess Taught Spelling And Punctuation Skills: A Year 2 Explicit Instruction Intervention, Sally Robinson-Kooi, Lorraine S. Hammond

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Daily contextualised sentence dictation was used for Year 2 students to practise, and the teacher to assess, taught spelling concepts, capital letters and full stop usage in an Explicit Instruction (EI) intervention. Conducted in a mainstream setting, it supported all students learning to spell, including those with a learning difficulty (LD) and an English Learner (LL). Results showed that students who received EI in spelling and punctuation constructs followed by sentence dictation did significantly better than comparison students who continued with their usual spelling programme. Randomly selected intervention students deemed below average (BA), average (A), and above average (AA) spellers …

Analysis Of Elementary School English Teachers’ Professional Dialogue As Their Professional Development, Chin-Wen Chien

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This qualitative study analyzed the professional dialogue among 67 English teachers at seven elementary schools in New Taipei City in Taiwan. Based on the analysis of the documentation, observation, and interviews, the study has two major findings. First, the knowledge and skills covered in the professional dialogues of English teachers concerned planning, implementing, and managing instruction. Second, English teachers regarded their professional dialogues as effective and goal-oriented. In order to make professional dialogues into job-embedded professional development for English teachers, they must be goal-oriented and carried out in an environment of care and trust. Moreover, professional dialogue can take the …

The Pepe The Frog Meme: An Examination Of Social, Political, And Cultural Implications Through The Tradition Of The Darwinian Absurd, Laura Glitsos, James Hall

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This article offers an examination of the meme known as Pepe the Frog. In 2015, the Pepe the Frog meme was crowned ‘biggest meme of the year’ by Tumblr. However, only one year later, the Pepe character was branded as a hate symbol by the U.S. Anti-Defamation League. Having begun as an innocuous joke, the Pepe meme took on a range of other complex characteristics. One of the most important was its incorporation into alt-right politics. We discuss this incorporation, especially as it relates to Donald Trump’s deployment of the meme. We propose that the Pepe meme became such a …

Aletheia: The Orphic Ouroboros, Glen Mcknight

Theses : Honours

This thesis shows how The Orphic Hymns function as a katábasis, a descent to the underworld, representing a process of becoming and psychological rebirth. I begin with the Greek concept of sparagmόs, a dismemberment or deconstruction, as a necessary precursor in that it emphasises at once both primordial unity and yet also the incipient tensions within the Orphic initiates on this path to katabasis. The argument herein extends beyond literary explication to consider how the Orphics sought to enact this process in Greek society itself.

The thesis then establishes the connections between the Hymns and the thinking of …

What Do We Know About The Nexus Between Culture, Age, Gender And Health Literacy? Implications For Improving The Health And Well-Being Of Young Indigenous Males, Anthony Merlino, James A. Smith, Mick Adams, Jason Bonson, Richard Osborne, Barry Judd, Murray Drummond, David Aanundsen, Jesse Fleay, Benjamin Christie

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Health literacy, although diversely defined, refers to the abilities, relationships and external environments required for people to successfully promote health. Existing research suggests that health literacy is related to health inequities, including individual and community capacity to navigate health. A diverse range of factors shape health literacy abilities and environments, especially culture, gender and age. However, the nexus between these variables and their cumulative impact on health literacy development remains largely unexplored. Commentary that explores these dynamics among young Indigenous males is particularly scant. In turn, strategies to bridge health equity gaps have been obscured. This article brings together disparate …

Prostate Cancer Survivorship Essentials Framework: Guidelines For Practitioners, Jeff Dunn, Anna Green, Nicholas Ralph, Robert U. Newton, Andrew Kneebone, Mark Frydenberg, Suzanne K. Chambers

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 The Authors BJU International © 2020 BJU International Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Objective: To develop contemporary and inclusive prostate cancer survivorship guidelines for the Australian setting. Participants and Methods: A four-round iterative policy Delphi was used, with a 47-member expert panel that included leaders from key Australian and New Zealand clinical and community groups and consumers from diverse backgrounds, including LGBTQIA people and those from regional, rural and urban settings. The first three rounds were undertaken using an online survey (94–96% response) followed by a fourth final face-to-face panel meeting. Descriptors for men’s current prostate …