Digital Commons Network^™

The Science, The Technology, The Law, Ken Fowle

Australian Digital Forensics Conference

Forensic science must satisfy two needs; that of the scientific community and that of the legal profession. It is hoped that the legal and scientific outcomes should be based on one and the same thing. Science, Technology and Law depend upon the establishment of a reliable basis of fact. But in the Court it is the law that finally decides what is fact, what is opinion and what the truth should be. This paper looks at the role of the Forensic Practitioner’s requirement for understanding the science, the technology and the law. It endeavours to explain the reasons, using cases, …

Consonance And Dissonance Between Turkish Prospective Teachers’ Values And Practices: Conceptions About Teaching, Learning, And Assessment, Altay Eren

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study aimed to examine the consonance and dissonance between prospective teachers’ values and practices in terms of their conceptions about teaching/learning and conceptions about assessment, as well as to explore the patterns of those consonance and dissonance between prospective teachers’ values and practices. The sample consisted of 304 prospective teachers majoring in teaching science, art, special education, music, Turkish literacy, mathematics, English language, and classroom teaching domains in a large university located in the north-west of the Black Sea region in Turkey. Overall results of the study showed that the prospective teachers valued constructivist teaching/learning, making learning explicit, and …

The Dynamics Of Emergent Self-Organisation: Reconceptualising Child Development In Teacher Education, Minkang Kim, Derek Sankey

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

For more than half a century, child development has endured as one of the main components of teacher education. But if children do develop, as developmentalists claim, what precisely is it that develops and how? Traditionally, within education, answers to these questions have drawn heavily on the theories of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Piaget advocated the progressive development of reasoning through identifiable linear phases or stages. Vygotsky emphasised the role of cultural mediation, whereby the child internalises the habits of mind of his/her social group. More generally within cognitive psychology, development has been attributed to the interaction of two …

Factors Influencing Overweight Children's Commencement Of And Continuation In A Resistance Training Program, Melanie Pescud, Simone Pettigrew, Michael R. Mcguigan, Robert Newton

Research outputs pre 2011

Background: In light of the child overweight and obesity problem in Australia, resistance training programs have been trialled as an innovative way of assisting children increase lean body mass and reduce body fat. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors influencing overweight children's participation in a resistance training trial program.

Method: Parent-child pairs who participated in the trial program were invited to take part in a follow-up individual interview to discuss their program experiences. In total, 22 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 parent-child pairs.

Results: The factors found to be most relevant to program commencement among …

Coping With The Demands Of Mature Age Student Life, Jenny E.M. Cowell

Theses : Honours

In Australia, mature age students are 20 years of age and above in the year that they commence study and comprise approximately 65 per cent of students enrolled in Australian universities (EIM Support, 201 0). There are many reasons why they may choose to commence tertiary education (Hoskins, Newstead, & Dennis, 1997) with their transition into university likely to require them to make changes across many life domains (Gall, Evans, & Bellerose, 2000). There is much evidence to suggest that mature age students are capable of completing their undergraduate degrees, however they have a relatively low retention rate, especially in …

The Decision Making Process Involved When Changing Career: A Qualitative Study Of Registered Nurses Who Have Left The Profession, Katherine S. Gallager

Theses : Honours

Career choice is an important decision an individual has to make during their lifetime. Personal, environmental and organisational factors all assist this decision process as individuals strive for a work-life balance within careers that meet their needs and realise their potential. This research study investigated which factors contributed to the decision process of Registered Nurses (RNs) who have left the profession for a career change. There is currently a global shortage of RNs, which is of major concern to healthcare policy makers in most countries, including Australia. This qualitative study examined the narrative interviews often females over the age of25 …

Measuring Research Impact Using Bibliometrics, Constance Wiebrands

ECU Research Week

Introduces a range of tools for bibliometric analysis.

How Do You Make Information Security User Friendly?, Andrew Jones

Research outputs pre 2011

This article explores the past and the present situation, outlines a new approach, and presents conclusions.

Dysfunctional Audit Behaviour: An Exploratory Study In Malaysia, Halil Paino, Zubaidah Ismail, Malcolm Smith

Research outputs pre 2011

The quality of the opinion provided by audit firms is an important determinant of their long-term survival, but audit quality is difficult to gauge, which makes it particularly sensitive to the behaviour of the individuals who carry on audit work. This paper seeks to identify the incidence of dysfunctional audit behaviours and audit quality reduction behaviours, actions taken by an auditor during engagement that reduce evidence-gathering effectiveness. The paper is based on a survey of 244 auditors working in small/medium and big audit firms in Malaysia. The paper identifies key variables leading to dysfunctional audit behaviour. The paper is subject …

The Role And Relevance Of Domain Knowledge, Perceptions Of Planning Importance, And Risk Tolerance In Predicting Savings Intentions, Peter Croy, Paul Gerrans, Craig Speelman

Research outputs pre 2011

The need for individuals to increase retirement savings has been widely promoted, yet our understanding of the motivations of individuals to save at a higher rate remains sparse. This paper reports the findings of a survey of 2300 retirement savings fund members and their motivations to contribute more to savings and to actively manage their investment strategy. Utilising the theory of planned behavior, the study reveals respondent’s self-reported attitudes, subjective norms and perceptions of behavioral control account for a high proportion of the variance in behavioral intention. Contrary to expectations, the study finds that respondent’s risk tolerance adds little to …

Adult Outcomes Of Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury, Miriam Beauchamp, Julian Dooley, Vicki Anderson

Research outputs pre 2011

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common causes of acquired disability during childhood. While the majority of such injuries are mild, and result in few, if any, functional sequelae, children sustaining more significant insults may experience permanent cognitive and behavioral deficits. Clinical reports indicate residual impairments in a range of skills, particularly information-processing, attention, memory, learning, social function and behavior. These deficits impact on a child's capacity to interact with the environment effectively, resulting in lags in skill acquisition, and increasing gaps between injured children and their age peers, as they move through childhood and into adulthood. …

Evolving Group Strategies For Ipd, Philip Hingston

Research outputs pre 2011

The Iterated Prisoners Dilemma (IPD) is often used to model cooperation between self-interested agents. In an earlier study, we introduced a framework using IPD to study the effects of species-level competition on the evolution of cooperative behaviour. In this paper, we extend the previous work, using co-evolutionary simulations of interactions between species of IPD-playing agents to investigate how group strategies may evolve. We find that the ability to cooperate more with agents of the same species greatly increases the ferocity of competition between species.

An Analysis Of Information Security Awareness Within Home And Work Environments, Shuhaili Talib, Nathan Clarke, Steven Furnell

Research outputs pre 2011

As technology such as the Internet, computers and mobile devices become ubiquitous throughout society, the need to ensure our information remains secure is imperative. Unfortunately, it has long been understood that good security cannot be achieved through technical means alone and a solid understanding of the issues and how to protect yourself is required from users. Whilst many initiatives, programs and strategies have been proposed to improve the level of information security awareness, most have been directed at organizations, with a few national programs focused upon home users. Given people's use of technology is primarily focused upon those two areas: …

Bullying In School And Cyberspace: Associations With Depressive Symptoms In Swiss And Australian Adolescents, Sonja Perren, Julian Dooley, Therese Shaw, Donna Cross

Research outputs pre 2011

Background Cyber-bullying (i.e., bullying via electronic means) has emerged as a new form of bullying that presents unique challenges to those victimised. Recent studies have demonstrated that there is a significant conceptual and practical overlap between both types of bullying such that most young people who are cyber-bullied also tend to be bullied by more traditional methods. Despite the overlap between traditional and cyber forms of bullying, it remains unclear if being a victim of cyber-bullying has the same negative consequences as being a victim of traditional bullying. Method The current study investigated associations between cyber versus traditional bullying and …

Employee Engagement With A Corporate Physical Activity Program: The Global Corporate Challenge, Pascal Scherrer, Lynnaire Sheridan, Ruth Sibson, Maria Ryan, Nadine Henley

Research outputs pre 2011

Employers engage with corporate physical activity programs to foster employee wellbeing with a view to reducing the costs of absence and recruitment. This study reports on employee engagement with a commercial program, the Global Corporate Challenge, in terms of motivation, barriers, team dynamics, social aspects and self-reported physical activity levels. It uses guided introspection to explore how participation affected employee's motivation to sustain regular physical activity within the workplace setting. The program raised awareness of employees' individual physical activity levels and fostered social interaction in the workplace. Findings highlight the importance of employers providing a supportive context, fostering staff-led team …

A Practical Approach To Assess Depression Risk And To Guide Risk Reduction Strategies In Later Life, Osvaldo Almeida, Helman Alfonso, Jane Pirkis, Ngaire Kerse, Moira Sim, Leon Flicker, John Snowdon, Brian Draper, Gerard Byrne, Robert Goldney, Nicola Lautenschlager, Nigel Stocks, Marcia Scazufca, Martijn Huisman, Ricardo Araya, John Pfaff

Research outputs pre 2011

Background: Many factors have been associated with the onset and maintenance of depressive symptoms in later life, although this knowledge is yet to be translated into significant health gains for the population. This study gathered information about common modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors for depression with the aim of developing a practical probabilistic model of depression that can be used to guide risk reduction strategies. Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken of 20,677 community-dwelling Australians aged 60 years or over in contact with their general practitioner during the preceding 12 months. Prevalent depression (minor or major) according to the Patient …

Predicting Memory Decline As A Risk Factor For Alzheimer's Disease In Older Post-Menopausal Women: Quod Erat Demonstrandum?, Mark Rodrigues, Jonathan Foster, Giuseppe Verdile, Karen Joesbury, Richard Prince, Amanda Devine, Pankaj Mehta, John Beilby, Ralph Martins

Research outputs pre 2011

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the major form of age-related dementia worldwide, accounting for more than two-thirds of all dementia cases. The disease is characterized by a progressive loss of cognitive and intellectual functioning (Gilman, 1997). A number of risk factors for AD have been identified. The prevalence of AD increases with age, diabetes, depression, family history of Parkinson's disease and following head injury or exposure to solvents (Jorm et al., 1991; van Duijn et al., 1991; Ott et al., 1995; Yoshitake et al., 1995; Devanand et al., 1996). Published research further suggests that low education levels are associated with increased …

Overseas Students In Australia: An Experiential View, Maria Ryan, Madeleine Ogilvie

Research outputs pre 2011

Overseas students have access to a number of learning opportunities available by virtue of a highly competitive tertiary education market system. Despite the increasing trend for remote, online-based learning programs, many students elect to travel outside their home country to experience the cultural difference of studying abroad. The benefit is symbiotic, with crucial university funding being attracted by increased numbers of overseas students seeking an enriched studying experience. The focus of this paper is the on-campus learning experience received by expatriate students studying in Australia and Singapore. How these students adapt to the different physical, social and emotional environments is …

Testing An Exergame For Effectiveness And Attractiveness, Jeffrey Ronald Sinclair, Philip Hingston, Martin Masek, Kazunori Nosaka

Research outputs pre 2011

In this paper, we report on an experimental study in which we investigated the use of feedback mechanisms in exergames. We based the study around the Dual Flow model for exergame design, using biophysical feedback to control exercise intensity, and player performance feedback to control gameplay challenge. We found good success in controlling exercise intensity to achieve an effective workout, while controlling gameplay challenge to improve enjoyment and attractiveness was problematic. We offer some possible reasons for this, suggesting the need for further investigation.

The Significance Of Learning Style With Respect To Achievement In First Year Programming Students, Vivian Campbell, Michael Johnstone

Research outputs pre 2011

Study investigates the relationship between the Kolb learning style of first-year programming students and their level of achievement. The method of data collection is described and the process of hypothesis testing is explained. The students in this study were predominately converger and accommodator learning styles. Statistical tests indicated no overall difference between the results of students with different learning styles but a difference was found along Kolb's concrete-abstract axis. A number of possible impacts on teaching are discussed and suggestions made for future research.

Aging, The Urban-Rural Gap And Disability Trends: 19 Years Of Experience In China - 1987 To 2006, Xiaoxia Peng, Shige Song, Sheena Sullivan, Jingjun Qiu, Wei Wang

Research outputs pre 2011

As the age of a population increases, so too does the rate of disability. In addition, disability is likely to be more common in rural compared with urban areas. The present study aimed to examine the influence of rapid population changes in terms of age and rural/urban residence on the prevalence of disability. Data from the 1987 and 2006 China Sampling Surveys on Disability were used to estimate the impacts of rapid ageing and the widening urban-rural gap on the prevalence of disability. Stratum specific rates of disability were estimated by 5-year age-group and type of residence. The decomposition of …

Language, Meaning, Context, And Functional Communication, Elizabeth Armstrong, Alison Ferguson

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Caught In The Middle: Improving Writing In The Middle And Upper Primary Years, Valerie Faulkner, Judith Rivalland, Janet Hunter

Research outputs pre 2011

This chapter reports on a project that aims to build teacher capacity in assessing and teaching the linguistic, textual, and contextual levels of writing to students in Years 3-8, who are not meeting the benchmark standard. It has built on a pilot study funded by the Fogarty Learning Centre at Edith Cowan University. An extension of the pilot study throughout 2007 resulted in a collaborative arrangement between theFogarty Learning Centre and the Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia (AISWA). This collaboration illustrates the power of productive partnerships in research with the education sectors and professional associations of Western Australia. …

Three Year Results Of The Friendly Schools Whole-Of-School Intervention On Children's Bullying Behaviour, Donna Cross, Helen Monks, Margaret Hall, Therese Shaw, Yolanda Pintabona, Erin Erceg, Gregory Hamilton, Clare Roberts, Stacey Waters, Leanne Lester

Research outputs pre 2011

A group randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of the Friendly Schools program to reduce student bullying behaviour. This socio-ecological intervention targeted the whole school, classroom, family, and individual students to reduce bullying behaviour. Self-report data were collected in 29 schools over three years from a cohort of 1968 eight to nine-year-olds. Surveys measured frequency of being bullied, bullying others, telling if bullied and observing bullying. Results indicate that intervention students were significantly less likely to observe bullying at 12, 24 and 36 months and be bullied after 12 and 36 months, and significantly more likely to tell if bullied …

Parties' Perceptions Of Apologies In Resolving Equal Opportunity Complaints, Alfred Allan, Dianne Mckillop, Robyn Carroll

Research outputs pre 2011

Apologies are known to play an important role in the resolution of discrimination and harassment complaints brought under equal opportunity legislation. Sometimes parties agree on an apology as a term on the basis of which a complaint is settled. Occasionally, where a complaint is not settled, a respondent will be ordered to apologize. The ability to order an apology is a distinctive feature of equal opportunity law in Australia. The aim of the researchers was to gather information on the role of apologies in the equal opportunity jurisdiction in Western Australia. Twenty-four complainants and respondents took part in semi-structured interviews. …

Acts Of Resistance: Breaking The Silence Of Grief Following Traffic Crash Fatalities, Lauren J. Breen, Moira O'Connor

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Using Nicknames, Pseudonyms And Avatars On Heartnet: A Snapshot Of An Online Health Support Community, Debbie Rodan, Lynsey Kay Uridge, Lelia Green

Research outputs pre 2011

Cardiovascular disease remains one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability for the ageing Australian population. During recovery from a heart event, many people seek an alternative to traditional support groups and look to the Internet and World Wide Web to establish a connection with others who have had a similar experience. HeartNET provides just such an alternative support structure for anyone affected by heart disease. One issue faced by members of any online support community is whether to remain anonymous by using pseudonyms, nicknames or avatars or whether to accept a certain level of risk, usually in …

The Development Of A Video Task Of Remedial Behaviour To Use In Communication Training Of Health Professionals With Specific Reference To Open Disclosure Practice, Dianne Mckillop, Alfred Allan, Julian Dooley

Research outputs pre 2011

The National Open Disclosure Standard requires health professionals (hereafter professionals) to disclose errors in the course of their practice. There is, however, evidence that some professionals are reluctant to do so because they are uncertain about how to engage in open disclosure communications in general and, specifically, how to do it in a legally appropriate manner. One way of addressing this problem is to train professionals in disclosing errors to patients and their families in ways that meet their psychological needs as well as the legal requirements. Although preferable, the comprehensive training of all professionals in appropriate open disclosure practices …

Overview Of Australian Indigenous Health Status 2010, Neil Thomson, Andrea Macrae, Jane Burns, Michelle Catto, Olivier Debuyst, Ineke Krom, Richard Midford, Christine Potter, Kathy Ride, Sasha Stumpers, Belinda Urquhart

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Summary Of Indigenous Women's Health, Jane Burns, Caitlin M. Maling, Neil Thomson

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.