Digital Commons Network^™

Mapping Assessment Tasks And Lecturer Considerations: A Case Study Of A Nz Primary Teacher Education Programme, Wendy Carss, Bronwen Cowie, Sheralyn Cook

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Initial teacher education programme and paper assessments need to encompass university degree requirements and attest to student mastery of teacher professional competencies. This article reports one aspect of an investigation of the nature and principles employed in the design of assessments for a three-year Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) programme. The assessment tasks included in the 2022 academic papers were mapped and paper leaders interviewed; practicum and placement papers were not included because these were being redeveloped at the time. Findings are consistent with assessment design principles associated with authenticity and equity of access to the demonstration of understanding through tasks …

Iraqi Kurdish Pre-Service Teachers And Teacher Educators’ Perceptions On Technological Pedagogical Knowledge And Professional Identity Development, Ebrahim Mohammadkarimi

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study intended to investigate pre-service teachers' and teacher educators' perceptions of technological pedagogical knowledge and professional identity development. The research was conducted with 152 English Language Teaching (ELT) pre-service teachers and 73 teacher educators from various universities in Iraqi Kurdistan. Using a mixed-method, the data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews as well as a Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge survey questionnaire. Thematic analysis and SPSS 24 were employed for analyzing the interview responses and survey data, respectively. From this data, both pre-service teachers and teacher educators perceived a high rate of proficiency in their pedagogical content …

Towards Pre-Service Teachers’ Theory-Praxis Nexus In Early Years English And Literacy Education: A Pilot Study, Maryanne Pale, Sarah Ohi, Lyn Kee

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

International literature highlights that a perennial challenge for initial teacher educators is to guide Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) to develop a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between theory and practice. Whilst there is a growing body of research that examines the relationship and/or the gap between theory and practice in teacher education, there remains a paucity of research that examines this phenomenon in the teaching of English and literacy units in higher education. This pilot study examined how PSTs from two Australian universities made connections and/or links (nexus) between their academic knowledge (theory) and professional experience (praxis) for the teaching of …

Six Modes Of Giving Pedagogy For Engagement And Wellbeing – For Teachers And Students, Thomas W. Nielsen, Jennifer S. Ma

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The present study took place across two outdoor education trips to the Great Barrier Reef with two groups of college students (N = 36; 16-19 years), five staff, and one of the authors (TWN). The aim was to explore how an explicit understanding and implementation of the wellbeing research around cultivating generous behaviour for meaningful happiness could be ‘experienced’ by staff and students and articulated as an educational framework, or ‘pedagogy’. Hermeneutic phenomenology was used to record and interpret pedagogical transactions of giving. Six repeated themes were identified: (1) exploration, (2) modelling, (3) explicit instruction, (4) incidental learning, (5) crisis …

'Half Of It's Out The Window': Exploring Tensions, Hierarchies And Positionalities Amidst The Changing Knowledge Base Of Early Childhood Teacher Education Discourses, Lauren Armstrong

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Early childhood education is foregrounded in change. In Australia, this has encompassed the introduction, review and updates of national quality and curriculum frameworks from 2009, and changes to qualification requirements. Within the state of Victoria, further impacts have occurred due to the simultaneous introduction of a parallel curriculum framework. This paper draws on a qualitative study to examine how diverse teacher education discourses available to Victorian long day care educators have shaped their subject positions, discursive practices and reform engagement. Utilising Foucault’s concepts of discourse, knowledge and power, and Foucauldian Discourse Analysis [FDA], findings offer insight into how diverse teacher …

A Q-Methodology Of Preservice Teachers’ Cognition Of Digital Literacy: A Philippine Case Study In Resource-Rich And Resource-Limited Settings, Camilla Vizconde, Rowena Sto. Tomas

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study aims to determine the existing digital literacy notions of Filipino preservice in two universities: one is a resource-rich context while the other is a resource-limited context. Contexts were determined based on the observed availability of digital tools. Twenty (20) preservice teachers each from two universities were invited for interviews after which they were again requested to arrange statements culled from the interviews. Utilizing the Q-sort methodology, a method that determines the standpoints of participants by their ranking of statements, three dimensions were identified: the portrait of balance, portrait of responsibility and portrait of support. The portraits represent the …

‘We Were All Green And Brand New’: Mentoring In Theories Of Child Development For Australian Early Career Preschool Teachers, Emma Ellis, Andrea Reupert, Marie Hammer

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Three Australian Government commissioned reports from 2011-2017 convey a longstanding child development theory-practice gap in early childhood education. This study explores what informs mentors’ discussions of theories of child development with early career preschool teachers. Grounded in Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, themes relate to the wide role of the early childhood teacher, variation in initial teacher education, developing teacher identity, emotional connections, and consolidation and extension of university learning of child development theories. Critical discussion of themes from a Freirean perspective illustrates how mentors conveyed experiences of oppression, marginalisation, and liberation. We offer that though the child development theory-practice gap is …

Integrating Tpack In Pre-Service Teachers’ Efl Course: Impacts On Perception, Knowledge, And Practices, Amira Ali, Hanan Waer

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Most research that has explored integrating the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework into teacher education programs primarily utilized context-unspecific self-report instruments. This mixed-methods study explored the efficacy of integrating four domains of the TPACK framework in an EFL course on the perception and knowledge of (30) pre-service teachers in an Egyptian university. The study also investigated the effect of the TPACK-based course on participants’ lesson plans and teaching practices. Data collection instruments included a test, a questionnaire, observation checklists, lesson plans, and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative analysis showed that pre-service teachers’ knowledge and perception of PCK, TCK, TPK, and TPCK …

How Is Trauma-Informed Education Implemented Within Classrooms? A Synthesis Of Trauma-Informed Education Programs, Jacolyn Norrish, Tom Brunzell

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The purpose of this study was to synthesise the content of trauma-informed education programs with a focus on classroom strategies. Programs (N = 20) were identified that focused on primary and secondary schools and were suitable for application in the classroom by teachers. Program materials available in the public domain were collated and the qualitative research method of reflexive thematic analysis was used to explore commonalities and themes in classroom strategies across different approaches. Classroom strategies were aimed at meeting students’ somatic (i.e., ‘bottom-up’) capacities of safety needs, self-regulatory needs, sensory needs, and relational and attachment needs. Classroom strategies also …

Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions About Out-Of-Field Teaching: Implications For Students, Teachers And Schools, Elizabeth Wheeley, Helen Klieve, Eunjae Park, Anna Du Plessis

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Out-of-field teaching occurs in schools and education systems worldwide. Early career teachers are more likely to be required to teach out-of-field and also to experience adverse effects from this experience, potentially contributing to workforce issues and teacher attrition. This mixed data Australian study reports on the perceptions of preservice teachers—emerging professionals—regarding issues associated with out-of-field teaching. Survey data were collected from 133 preservice teachers. Data were analysed with an initial layer of sentiment analysis followed by a thematic analysis of their perceptions of consequences for teachers, students, and schools/communities. Findings reveal that preservice teachers are very aware of the mostly …

Mentoring Pre-Service Teachers: The Thiink4 Reflective Cycle, Maya Gunawardena

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Establishing a reciprocal relationship between mentors and pre-service teachers is critical in pre-service teacher mentoring. Highlighting self-regulation as a means for managing emotions in the pursuit of meeting long-term goals, this study examined the constructive features that help develop a reciprocal relationship between pre-service teachers and mentors. The study has captured a range of qualitative data from the dyadic process of mentoring (two-way interaction between a mentor teacher and a pre-service teacher): within the pre- and post-lesson conferences between mentors and pre-service teachers and post mentoring interviews with mentors and pre-service teachers. The study highlighted the strengths of mentor facilitated …

Australian Churches During Coronatide: Lessons & Opportunities, Pieter-Jan Bezemer, Sten Langmann

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Christian churches have played a pivotal role in the social and economic fabric of many Western countries over centuries. However, in many of these countries national censuses have revealed significant declines in the number of people that associate themselves with Christianity. For example, the latest census of the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that in 2021 less than half of the population was still affiliated with Christianity. This gradual but steady decline has had a significant impact on churches, as it has become more challenging to maintain church communities and church buildings, and serve the wider community. Early in 2020, …

Is Conservative Opposition To Climate Change Threat-Based? Articulating An Integrated Threat Model Of Climate Change Attitudes, Samantha K. Stanley, Kirsti M. Jylhä, Zoe Leviston, Iain Walker

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Throughout the literature, there are assertions that those endorsing conservative ideologies reject the science and solutions of climate change due to perceived threat. That is, they fear that accepting climate change means accepting problems with a favoured socioeconomic system and supporting action on climate change threatens to disrupt these systems. We draw together lines of research and reasoning on this topic to outline three key predictions this perspective makes about the drivers of conservative denial of climate change and opposition to climate policy. The first is that an asymmetry exists in climate-related threat perceptions, whereby greater endorsement of conservative ideology …

Reporting And Mapping Research Evidence On Perceptions Of Clinical Hypnosis Among The General Population And Patients Receiving Health Care Including Cancer Care: A Scoping Review, Malwina Szmaglinska, Deborah Kirk, Lesley Andrew

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Despite empirical evidence supporting clinical hypnosis for numerous conditions, its utilization in healthcare is limited due to skepticism and misconceptions. This review identifies and maps research on clinical hypnosis perceptions among the general population, healthcare patients, and more specifically patients with cancer. A systematic search following JBI PRISMA ScR guidelines was conducted in EBSCOhost, ProQuest, PubMed, and PMC, resulting in 18 peer-reviewed, English language articles (2000–2023). Most studies employed quantitative methods, which were complemented by some qualitative and one mixed-methods approach. The results found attitudes toward hypnotherapy, especially when administered by licensed professionals, are consistently positive; however, awareness of hypnosis …

Surviving Child Sexual Abuse In Women's Artistic Gymnastics: ‘It's Beautiful, Because Had I Stayed In The Past, I Wouldn’T Have Evolved As A Person’, Natalie Barker-Ruchti, Valeria Varea

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal raised global awareness about child sexual abuse (CSA) in women's artistic gymnastics. The ensuing media coverage also centre-staged victims’ survivorship stories, a process that for many moved from dissociating, recognising and disclosing CSA to feeling comfort when connecting with survivors and accepting CSA as part of their life history. However, scholarship on what survivorship from CSA in sport entails, and importantly, what it means to athletes, is limited. In this article, we frame the survival of CSA using Arthur Frank’s socio-narratological conceptualisation of people being able to process the devastating consequences of a life-threatening …

Therapeutic Frameworks In Integration Sessions In Substance-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Systematised Review, Sascha B. Thal, Paris Baker, Jonathon Marinis, Michelle Wieberneit, Jason M. Sharbanee, Raimundo Bruno, Petra M. Skeffington, Stephen J. Bright

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Serotonergic psychedelics and related substances have been explored as potential adjuncts in substance-assisted psychotherapy (SAPT) for treating various disorders. SAPT can be divided into three phases: preparation, administration and integration. Integration is commonly defined as the comprehension and effective application of insights from psychedelic experiences into everyday life. However, there is limited research regarding the most appropriate therapeutic approach during SAPT. In this article, we discuss the current evidence for different therapeutic frameworks for integration sessions when serotonergic psychedelics and entactogens are used as adjuncts to psychotherapy. We conducted a systematised review of the literature following PRISMA guidelines and searched …

Kids, Courts And Canines: An Evaluation Of The Justice Facility Dog Pilot Program In Perth's Children's Court, Suzanne Rock, Natalie Gately

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The Justice Facility Dog Pilot Program (JFDPP) was introduced to Perth Children's Court, Western Australia in September 2021 to improve the wellbeing of victims, witnesses and other Court users attending the Court for criminal or child protection matters.

As requested by the Office for the Commissioner of Victims of Crime, the program was evaluated by independent researchers from Edith Cowan University. The project was funded by ECU and Partial funding was sought and granted by the Western Australian Office of Crime Statistics and Research Criminal Justice Grant scheme to facilitate the evaluation (See Appendix J).

Short surveys were conducted at …

Autonomy Versus Support: Self-Reliance And Help-Seeking For Mental Health Problems In Young People, Amelia Ishikawa, Debra Rickwood, Emily Bariola, Navjot Bhullar

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose:

Many young people with mental ill-health do not seek support, and developmental growth in self-reliance may be a barrier to help-seeking. Increasing autonomy is a positive developmental task for youth and a key aspect of resilience. This study examined the influence of perceived social support and resilience on the previously unexamined relationship between self-reliance and intentions to seek help from informal, professional, and self-help sources for mental health problems.

Methods:

An online survey was completed by a representative Australian community sample of 5,203 young people aged 12–25 years (half female), in May–June 2020.

Results:

Path analysis showed the hypothesised …

Communety: Deep Learning-Based Face Recognition System For The Prediction Of Cohesive Communities, Syed Afaq Ali Shah, Weifeng Deng, Muhammad Aamir Cheema, Abdul Bais

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Effective mining of social media, which consists of a large number of users is a challenging task. Traditional approaches rely on the analysis of text data related to users to accomplish this task. However, text data lacks significant information about the social users and their associated groups. In this paper, we propose CommuNety, a deep learning system for the prediction of cohesive networks using face images from photo albums. The proposed deep learning model consists of hierarchical CNN architecture to learn descriptive features related to each cohesive network. The paper also proposes a novel Face Co-occurrence Frequency algorithm to quantify …

Perceptions And Experiences Of Career Success Among Aspiring And Early Career Accountants And The Role Of Organisational Support, Denise Jackson, Julia Richardson, Grant Michelson, Rahat Munir

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Positive perceptions of career success are critical among accounting professionals, given their connection with performance, turnover and organisational commitment. Drawing on career stage theory, this study explores the perceptions and experiences of career success among 475 aspiring (Accounting/Finance students), 305 early career accountants (ECAs) and 165 managers/recruiters in Australia. Findings reflected both objective and subjective dimensions of career success alongside notable differences between aspiring accountants and ECAs, highlighting shifting views across the career stages of exploration and establishment. While ECAs were largely positive about their access to career success, managers/recruiters identified ways to create further opportunities for ECAs' career success.

Green Human Resource Management And Employee Innovative Behaviour: Does Inclusive Leadership Play A Role?, Azadeh Shafaei, Mehran Nejati

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: This study examines the relationship between green human resource management (green HRM) and employee innovative behaviour. It also investigates the mediating role of job satisfaction to explore the mechanism through which green HRM is related to employee innovative behaviour. Additionally, it examines the moderating role of inclusive leadership to determine the boundary condition of the relationship between green HRM and employee innovative behaviour. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a quantitative research approach using survey and collected 508 responses from full-time employees in Australia. Findings: The authors have found support for all the hypothesised relationships in the study. Specifically, green HRM …

Authentic Leadership And Psychological Well-Being Of Nurses: A Mediated Moderation Model, Stephen Teo, Andrei Lux, David Pick

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Aims. This study investigates how authentic leadership influences the psychological well-being of Australian nurses. We examined whether authentic leadership could reduce the prevalence of workplace incivility and tested whether shared values and person-organization (P-O) fit could moderate the relationship between workplace incivility and psychological well-being (PWB). A mediated moderation model underpinned by social learning theory was developed to test the influence of authentic leadership on PWB.

Design. We adopted a descriptive correlational research design to test the hypothesized model with a cross-sectional sample of Australian nurses using an online survey. Data were collected across two-waves separated by a …

Educational Leaders’ Perceptions Of Stem Education Revealed By Their Drawings And Texts, Vesife Hatisaru, Garry Falloon, Andrew Seen, Sharon Fraser, Markus Powling, Kim Beswick

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study explored school principals' and teacher educators' perceptions of STEM education based on how they described STEM as a discipline, their understanding of the nature of teaching and learning of STEM, and the capabilities of a STEM-educated person. Data were generated through the Draw a STEM Learning Environment (D-STEM) instrument comprising drawn and written descriptions where participants drew a picture of a STEM learning environment and completed five prompt statements about what STEM is and how an individual develops personal STEM capability. The Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) specialization codes were used for data analysis (198 individual response items in …

Exploring The Use Of Photovoice In Understanding The Lived Experience Of Neurological Conditions: A Scoping Review And Reflexive Thematic Analysis, James Smith, Andre Nels, Laura Emery, Mandy Stanley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

People living with neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and dementia may experience physical impairment, social disengagement, cognitive issues, and emotional disturbances. While qualitative research utilising in-depth interviews can access lived experience perspectives, the use of photovoice has the potential to obtain rich insights that include images and raise community awareness. The purpose of this scoping review was to document salient themes relating to the lived experience of neurological conditions as reported in photovoice studies. Following established scoping review methods of the Joanna Briggs Institute, a comprehensive search of five electronic databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, PSYCHINFO, CINAHL, and …

Plasma Aβ42/40 Ratio, P-Tau181, Gfap, And Nfl Across The Alzheimer's Disease Continuum: A Cross-Sectional And Longitudinal Study In The Aibl Cohort, Pratishtha Chatterjee, Steve Pedrini, James D. Doecke, Rohith Thota, Victor L. Villemagne, Vincent Doré, Abhay K. Singh, Penghao Wang, Stephanie Rainey-Smith, Christopher Fowler, Kevin Taddei, Hamid R. Sohrabi, Mark P. Molloy, David Ames, Paul Maruff, Christopher C. Rowe, Colin L. Masters, Ralph N. Martins, Aibl Research Group

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction:

Plasma amyloid beta (Aβ)1-42/Aβ1-40 ratio, phosphorylated-tau181 (p-tau181), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and neurofilament light (NfL) are putative blood biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, head-to-head cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons of the aforementioned biomarkers across the AD continuum are lacking.

Methods:

Plasma Aβ1-42, Aβ1-40, p-tau181, GFAP, and NfL were measured utilizing the Single Molecule Array (Simoa) platform and compared cross-sectionally across the AD continuum, wherein Aβ-PET (positron emission tomography)–negative cognitively unimpaired (CU Aβ−, n = 81) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI Aβ−, n = 26) participants were compared with Aβ-PET–positive participants across the AD continuum (CU Aβ+, n = …

The Long-Term Impact Of Covid-19 On Nursing: An E-Panel Discussion From The International Network For Child And Family Centred Care, Mandie Jane Foster, Julie Blamires, Sarah Neill, Imelda Coyne, Guðrún Kristjánsdóttir, Veronica D. Feeg, Ann Marie Paraszczuk, Mohammad Al-Motlaq

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Aim: To explore the International Network for Child and Family Centred Care (INCFCC) members' experiences and views on the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the nursing workforce. Background: On the 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. While some countries adopted a herd immunity approach, others imposed stricter measures to reduce the transmission of the virus. Hospitals in some countries faced an avalanche of extremely sick admissions, whereas others experienced an early surge in cases or were able to control the spread. Design: Discursive paper. Methods: A web-based survey was e-mailed to 63 INCFCC members …

The Negative Relationships Between Employee Resilience And Ambiguity, Complexity, And Inter-Agency Collaboration, Geoff Plimmer, Joana Kuntz, Evan Berman, Sanna Malinen, Katharina Näswall, Esme Franken

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Employee resilience (ER) is often needed to face demands inherent in public sector work. Some types of demands, however, may hinder its development, rather than provide the type of challenging adversity from which resilience can develop. Public sector job demands have been a long-standing issue for public workplaces and employees but are also growing in salience as organisations face an increasingly variable, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment. Drawing on the Job Demands–Resources model and the challenge/hindrance stress literature, this multi-level study of Aotearoa New Zealand civil servants (n = 11,533) in 65 public sector organisations shows that ER is negatively …

Theory-Based Behaviour Change Intervention To Promote Mental Health Help-Seeking Among Older Adults In Australia: Initial Dissemination And Acceptability, Claire Adams, Eyal Gringart, Natalie Strobel

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Objective: Rates of help-seeking for mental health problems among older adults are low and initiatives to increase help-seeking in older populations are limited. To our knowledge, no interventions have aimed to promote help-seeking among older adults by tapping internal motivations to seek help. In this paper, we describe the development of a theory-based intervention designed to promote mental health help-seeking among older adults in Australia, using an internal motivation paradigm. Methods: The intervention was co-designed through a consultative process with nine key stakeholders who represented five main groups: primary health-care providers, mental health professionals, health-care executives, community organisations and consumers. …

Why Do Employees Respond Differently To Corporate Social Responsibility? A Study Of Substantive And Symbolic Corporate Social Responsibility, Mehran Nejati, Azadeh Shafaei Darastani

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) plays an increasingly significant role in business and can impact organizational performance and sustainability. However, the degree to which stakeholders see the organization as legitimate may depend on the perceived authenticity of CSR processes and practices. As internal stakeholders, employees have a strong influence on organizational outcomes. CSR, in turn, has been found to positively influence several employee outcomes. To examine the mechanisms of this relationship, this study questioned when and how CSR enhances employees' perceptions and results in affective commitment. Drawing on a time-lagged sample of 317 full-time employees in Australia, we found that substantive …

Feasibility And Acceptability Of A Remotely Delivered Transdiagnostic Cbt Treatment For Postnatal Anxiety And Related Disorders: A Pilot Case Series, Peta N. Maguire, Navjot Bhullar, Suzanne M. Cosh, Bethany M. Wootton

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Women in the postnatal period are at a high risk of developing clinically significant symptoms of anxiety. Cognitive behavioural therapy is effective in the treatment of postnatal anxiety; however, there are many barriers to accessing this treatment. This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy delivered remotely via Internet videoconferencing. Three women (Mage = 28.33 years; SD = 4.04) with a postnatal anxiety-related disorder were treated using the videoconference-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy. The treatment was delivered once per week over a 5-week period. All participants met criteria for clinically significant change in anxiety symptoms at post-treatment, …