Digital Commons Network^™

Pragmatic Truths: When Ritual Meets The Reality Of Community Engagement, Joyce Hendricks, Vicki Cope, Maureen Harris

EDU-COM International Conference

Community engagement is the touchstone of all universities and is critical to the credibility and overall standing of academic institutions. The cardinal features of engagement include ‗Capability, Commitment, Contribution, Continuity, Collaboration and Conscience‘. However these abstract concepts are often idealized and simplistic. On the other hand, when community engagement is managed well, participatory planning can produce better substantive ideas, useful relationships and stronger agreements across stakeholder groups. However, if engagement is more ritual than reality, it can lead to technically deficient ideas, frustrated expectations, power grabs in which parochial interests dominate conflicts and mistrust. This case study describes the realignment …

Expanding The Ecological Consciousness Of Social Work Students: Education For Sustainable Practice, Peter Jones

EDU-COM International Conference

Social work has a long tradition of being explicitly concerned with the ‗person-in-environment‘, recognising the need to take account of context when working to address disadvantage and maximise wellbeing. This concern with environment, and indeed with the concept of sustainability has, however, been focused primarily on the social rather than the ecological (Coates 2003; Besthorne & McMillen 2002). At a time when increasing attention is being paid to the importance of promoting education about, and for, sustainability in higher education (Sipos, Battisti & Grimm 2008; Wright 2002; Thomas 2004), the social work profession also needs to begin engaging in a …

Exploring The Pap Smear Experiences Of Women Aged 18 To 25 : Moving From Intention To Action, Gemma Malatesta

Theses : Honours

The aim of this research was to explore the Pap smear experiences of young women aged 18 to 25. The effectiveness of Pap smear screening and the barriers to obtaining one have been well researched. However, there is limited information in the literature on young women's experiences of Pap smear screening and the context in which they move from intending to be screened to actually undertaking the screening. This qualitative study, underpinned by a constructivist paradigm informed by a feminist epistemology, consisted of eight semi structured interviews with young women who had participated in Pap smear screening. Data analysis using …

Mathematical Skill Acquisition: Transfer Effects Of A Computer Game Based On The Components Theory Of Skill Acquisition, Jenny Kessell

Theses : Honours

Research within the field of mathematical learning has often focused on the extent to which knowledge of particular mathematical skills can facilitate the learning of new and unpracticed mathematical skills. Additionally, it has examined the influence of context on learning and the amount of practice necessary for complex skill acquisition to result. This paper provides a review of the research examining mathematical learning, skill acquisition and transfer of skills in a mathematical context. Pertinent theories in the field of cognitive skill acquisition are examined for their ability to explain transfer of skill. The review focuses on factors that influence the …

The Role Of Sex, Gender Role, And Extraversion-Introversion In Explaining The Experience, Expression And Control Of Anger, James Oliver

Theses : Honours

Anger is a frequently experienced emotion that has been shown to influence perceptions, beliefs, ideas, reasoning, and ultimately choices and actions. It has the potential to become a serious problem if it reaches dysfunctional levels. This study examines the role of biological sex, gender role, and extraversion-introversion in the expression, experience and control of anger. A sample of 110 persons drawn from the Australian community were administered the Staxi-2, EPQ-R and the BSRI. Results showed that extraversion-introversion accounted for most variance associated with anger expression, while gender role accounted for most variance associated with anger control. Biological sex was not …

Self-Efficacy, Sense Of Belonging And Social Support As Predictors Of Resilience In Adolescents, Anna Nowicki

Theses : Honours

Adolescence has been described as a period of many physical, cognitive and psychosocial changes. During such a tumultuous time some adolescents cope better than others with life stressors, and these individuals can be considered resilient. The degree to which a person is resilient can be influenced and determined by protective factors, including social support, sense of belonging and self-efficacy. Positive social support has been identified as a buffer that protects individuals from the negative effects of stressful life situations. A strong sense of belonging has positively reflected adolescents' motivation, participation and ability to relate to their environment. Self-efficacy has also …

An Exploration Of Social Engagement To Promote Quality Of Life For People With A Spinal Cord Injury: Exploring The Need For A Virtual Community, Leah Bulloch

Theses : Honours

A spinal cord injury (SCI) can significantly alter a person's lifestyle and choices in both the short and long term. An essential area of a person's quality of life (QOL) is that of social engagement, which according to Bath and Gardiner (2005) is made up of social support, social participation and social networks. Studies have shown that although the Internet and virtual communities have the ability to provide social engagement there is little literature covering the area of how they can be used to aid the development of social engagement amongst people living with an SCI post rehabilitation. The aim …

New Indeterminate Music: The Influence Of The Cagean Trajectory In The Importance Of Being Earmarked, Brett Philip Murray

Theses : Honours

This paper explores the influence of John Cage (1912-1992) on contemporary experimental music focusing on the indeterminate work The Importance of Being Earmarked (2008). Firstly through an investigation of selected works from Cage (written between the 1930s- 1960's) and the concepts that form a Cagean trajectory, and secondly by showing how a contemporary composer has adopted this trajectory in the composition of a new work that combines sound-installation, theatre, and Max/MSP programming.

Experiences Of Mature Age Female Students Studying Psychology: A Phenomenological Account [Thesis], Ruth Ayres

Theses : Honours

The trend towards increasing diversity in university student populations has not come without its problems and one area of concern has been the high attrition rate amongst mature age female students aged between 40 and 49 years. This literature review seeks to summarise and integrate findings on the adjustment of mature age female students into university; on the relationship between expectations and experience of university and how these might impact on attrition for this group. The review indicates a complex relationship around expectations driven by motivations and perceived benefits from return to study, expectations of academic support, ability to cope …

A Phenomenological Study Of Foster Carers' Experiences Of Formal And Informal Support, Tara Cavazzi

Theses : Honours

Foster children are showing a higher prevalence of maladaptive physical and psychosocial issues than ever before. The presence of these issues is predictive of foster placement instability, which is compounded by the inability to recruit and retain foster carers. As placement disruption can have numerous consequences, the factors that influence placement stability have been reviewed. Carer strain is a widespread destabilizing factor, which is augmented by many factors including the perceived level of practical and emotional support from both formal and informal networks. Formal support is linked to placement stability, although carers generally feel undervalued and unappreciated by formal networks. …

Experiences Of Mature Age Female Students Studying Psychology: A Phenomenological Account, Ruth Ayres, Andrew Guilfoyle

EDU-COM International Conference

Australian Government policies have increased accessibility of under-represented groups into Universities, and one significant group in this shift is mature aged women (Department of Education, Science and Training 2004). University policy related to provision of support for nontraditional groups of students, through improved academic and support services is beneficial in improving student retention rates among non-traditional student groups (Krause et al. 2005). The present paper reports a phenomenological approach (Moustakas 1994; Smith & Osborn 2003) to understanding how expectations of higher education impacts on adjustment to study within lived experiences of 12 women aged between 40-49 years studying Psychology. Each …

Virtual-Based Training And Creative Thinking In Higher-Level Education, Kalayanee Jitgarun, Anuvat Tongsakul, Sopon Meejaleurn

EDU-COM International Conference

The purpose of the study reported on in this paper was to determine if Virtual-Based Training (VBT) could be used to develop students‘ abilities in creative thinking (CT). The sample was 26 second year undergraduate students from four different faculties at King Mongkut‘s University of Technology, Thonburi, Thailand selected by simple random sampling technique. Participants were divided into two groups: an experimental group consisting of 13 students (11 engineering students, and 2 architect students); a control group composed of 13 students (5 engineering students, 1 science student, and 7 industrial education and technology students). Both groups had similar background knowledge …

Gender And Apologies: Exploring Offended Females' Perceptions Of Apologies From Males And Females, Stacey Bennet

Theses : Honours

The construct of apology has recently received more attention by researchers (Allan, 2007) and several factors that may influence apologetic responses have been identified. The gender of an offender is one such factor. A review was undertaken to examine the literature pertaining to the influence of the gender of an offender on apologies. As a result of the review, several themes were identified. These included gender differences and similarities in the frequency of apologies, the quantity and complexity of components, and the actual content of those components. Furthermore, contextual factors that may play a role in the influence of gender …

Web-Based Courses To Support Efl Learning For Pre-Service Teachers: A Thai Pilot Study, Vijittra Vonganusith, Pagram Jeremy

EDU-COM International Conference

In a modern, information rich, economically driven society, Western universities as well as Thai Universities are turning towards the Web to disseminate and retrieve information. Integration of computers to support the learning environment in teaching language is still in its infancy in Thailand. Its implementation changes both the instructional strategy and also the teaching and learning environment. English has been taught as a foreign language for over a century, and plays an important role at all levels of the Thai education system. At higher education levels, English skills are essential components of every pre-service teacher‘s professional education. In order to …

Learning How To Conduct Educational Research In Teacher Education : A Turkish Perspective, Ismail H. Demircioglu

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper examines the attitudes of student teachers in social studies towards an educational research assignment, undertaken in an educational research methods course given at the Fatih Faculty of Education at Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey. A questionnaire containing open-ended questions and an interview were used in the data-collection process of this research. 74 student teachers answered the questionnaire; 20 of these teachers were selected for interview through a random sampling method, and they then participated in a semi-structured interview. In the light of the data, it can be said that the majority of student teachers gained basic educational research skills …

Competence Development Of Synchronously Coached Trainee Teachers In Collaborative Learning., Ralph W. Hooreman, Piet A. Kommers, Wim M. Jochems

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The need to make trainee teachers more prepared to coach collaborative learning effectively is increasing, as collaborative learning is becoming more important. One complication in this training process is that it is hard for the teacher trainer to hear and understand the students’ utterances and those of the coaching trainee teacher. Besides, it is essential that the teacher trainer does not intervene with the students directly. This constraint is a strong plea for facilitating the direct whispered suggestions by an earpiece to the trainee teacher. In this study, first of all an instrument for measuring the quality of the teacher …

Exploring The Sources Of Turkish Pre-Service Chemistry Teachers’ Chemistry Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Esen Uzuntiryaki

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study aimed to examine the underlying sources in developing chemistry self-efficacy beliefs of Turkish pre-service chemistry teachers. For this purpose, the College Chemistry Self-efficacy Scale (CCSS) was administered to 20 pre-service chemistry teachers. Then, phenomenological approach was employed and semi-structured interviews were conducted with five pre-service teachers selected based on their scores on the CCSS to identify the underlying sources. The emerging meanings and self-reported sources of participants’ chemistry self-efficacy beliefs were analysed according to Bandura’s sources of self-efficacy. Results indicated that mastery experiences were the major source of self-efficacy beliefs, supporting the tenets of social cognitive theory. Physiological …

Child As Researcher: Within And Beyond The Classroom, Shelley Kinash, Maddison Hoffman

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article was authored by a university educator and a twelve year-old child. The first author was a visiting teacher to a small, rural, state primary school in Queensland Australia. She spent one day per week for nineteen weeks fostering an inquiry-based stance to teaching and learning. The second author is a student within the researched school. Because research generated and co-authored by a child is a largely unprecedented approach to articles published in scholarly journals, the topics of this inquiry are both the within-school research and the complexity of researching and writing about it. The research uses the methodology …

Promoting Healthy Weight In The Preschool Years: A Portfolio And Planning Guide To Address Barriers In Primary Care, Margaret Miller, Renee Campbell-Pope, Lydia Hearn

Research outputs pre 2011

The rapidly rising incidence of overweight and obesity in Australia, particularly among young children has led to an urgent need for effective prevention. Recent figures indicate that 15% of preschool children in Australia are overweight, and a further 6% are obese1,2, with rates rising steadily especially among children from lower socioeconomic groups.

Family, childcare, primary health care, early childhood education and the community are influential environments for young children3-7 with the potential to engage in an integrated approach to promote healthy weight and development of healthy eating and active lifestyle habits during the pre-school years5,8,9.

In 2006, the Child Health …

Professional Development As A Critical Componenet Of Continuing Teacher Quality, Paulina Phillips

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Professional Development is critical for improving and maintaining teacher quality and the effect flows on into the classroom. Factors influencing the success of Professional Development activities include potential for workplace change, the diverse effect and understanding of adult learning principles, subject specificity, effective mentoring and the relevance of the presented material. Relevant Professional Development plays a major role in school reform and mentoring programs including new teacher induction and can enhance the benefits of sharing expertise between generations

Characteristics Of Preservice Teachers In Multi-Campus Settings: Using Demographics And Epistemological Beliefs To Unpack Stereotypes, Beryl Exley, Sue Walker, Joanne Brownlee

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The last two decades have seen the massification of preservice teacher education and critiques of its quality in Australia and elsewhere. Part of the strategy of massification has been the establishment of satellite campuses in growth corridors. This paper enters the debate on the quality of preservice candidates. The purpose of this research is two-fold: to note comparisons and parallels in demographics across main and satellite campuses, and to advance research on the epistemological beliefs of first year preservice teachers according to campus location. In doing so, we offer an alternative metric for characterising these two groups of students. The …

Will They Know Enough?: Pre-Service Primary Teachers’ Knowledge Base For Teaching Integrated Social Sciences, Mallihai Tambyah

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

A significant issue in primary teacher education is developing a knowledge base which prepares teachers to teach in a range of subject areas. In Australia, the problem in primary social science education is compounded by the integrated nature of the key learning area of Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE). Recent debates on teaching integrated social sciences omit discussions on the knowledge base for teaching. In this paper, a case study approach is used to investigate primary pre-service teachers’ approaches to developing a knowledge base in designing a SOSE curriculum unit. Data from five teacher-educators who taught primary SOSE curriculum …

Engaging Academically At Risk Primary School Students In An Ict Mediated After-School Program, Lee Yong Tay, Cher Ping Lim

Research outputs pre 2011

This case study documents how a group of 14 academically at risk Primary 5 students (11 year olds) were engaged in academic related tasks in an after school program mediated by a 3-D Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE). Although there was no significant difference in the students' academic performance, they were found to be more engaged in the learning tasks and had acquired a range of information and communication technology (ICT) skills. At the start of the program students attended irregularly, but this improved gradually over the weeks, and other Primary 5 students were attracted to enrol in the program. …

The Relationships Between Cyber And Non-Cyber Bullying And Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents In Western Australia, Mitch J. Read

Theses : Honours

Much research has explored the nature, prevalence and impact that bullying behaviours have on children and adolescents. Correlations have been found between bullying behaviours and depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, loneliness, psychosomatic symptoms and conduct disorders. With a rapid increase in the availability and use of information and communication technologies young people are now able to bully others in a relatively anonymous, removed fashion, often referred to as cyber bullying. This paper provides a review of the research that has investigated the nature, prevalence and impact of cyber and non-cyber bullying. The bullying literature highlights the negative consequences this behaviour often …

Case Analysis Of Information Security Risk Perceptions, Alexis Guillot

Theses : Honours

The scientific rationality used by experts towards risk evaluation is expressed as the product of its likelihood of occurrence with its consequences or impacts (ENISA, 2006a). This directly opposes the subjective nature of risk perception, often appearing as inconsistent if not completely irrational (Byrne, 2003). Risk perception theories are a pathway to explain the subjective nature of risk and a deeper insight into the human's cognitive system. Those theories may help to explain why people see, act and plan for risks in the way that they do, the weaknesses that exist in the human decision mechanisms and their impact on …

A Study Of Compliance In Aged Care Facilities With Regards To Australian Standards 1851:2006 Maintenance Of Fire Protection Systems And Equipment Section 17, Robert Doleman

Theses : Honours

The management of risk within a nursing home environment is widely viewed as an undertaking perfom1ed by the owners or managers of nursing homes. The residents of these homes are reliant upon the owners and managers to keep them safe, due in part to a traditional belief that they are the experts and have a greater understanding of risk. To establish risk it is first a requirement to have an understanding of levels of risk and risk management techniques. Risk appreciation is often influenced by heuristic representativeness, as well as social and cultural influences. The higher level of risk within …

Exploration Of The Authentic Apology Theory: An Examination Of The Reasons Why People Reject An Apology, Stephenie Bruce

Theses : Honours

The aim of the present literature review was to explore the reasons why people reject an apology. A search of the literature revealed virtually no research focusing specifically on apology rejection, therefore, it was proposed that this lack of research may be due to the general reluctance of apology recipients to respond with rejection (Bennett & Dewberry, 1994; Bennett & Earwaker, 1994; Risen & Gilovich, 2007). Given the dearth of literature on apology rejection, it was imperative that the review also examined the literature on apology in general, in addition to literature on apology and forgiveness, in order to discover …

Cognitive Theories Of Autism Spectrum Disorders: How Do They Impact Children's Ability To Learn In Education Settings? ; Coming Home: Exploring The Experiences Of Mothers Home Educating Their Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Theresa Kidd

Theses : Honours

Despite the increasing number of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) attending mainstream school, the process of facilitating their learning and participation remains a complex and poorly understood area of education (Simpson, de Boer, & Smith-Myles, 2003). Three key cognitive theories (theory of mind, theory of weak central coherence and theory of executive function) have been posited to provide the most complete understanding of the disorder (Baron-Cohen, 1989). Presently however, the developmental effects of these cognitive theories have been largely overlooked (Happe, 1994). Through examining how these models may affect cognitive processing in children with ASD, the learning and educational …

A Parental Perspective: The Role Of Companion Animals For Children During Separation And Divorce, Jessica Michel

Theses : Honours

Children grow up in interdependent family systems, where transitions affect all members. A prevalent transition in Australian families is divorce. When divorce occurs children are exposed to significant risk factors that have the potential of affecting many developmental outcomes. However, certain protective factors may reduce the impact of life stressors and a pivotal protective factor is social support. Companion animals have been recognised as beneficial to adults and children alike for many years, however, recent research has highlighted the fact that pets may also serve as sources of social support. The current paper will review relevant literature to determine the …

Understanding Seychelles Students' Social, Academic And Cultural Experiences During Transition To University, Sophia A. Harryba

Theses : Honours

University transition is a form of change from the familiar to unfamiliar (Hellsten, 2002). According to a literature review, international students (IS) go through both positive and negative experiences due to cross- cultural learning (Grey, 2002). Findings from previous research can be broadly categorised into academic and/or socio-cultural difficulties. Academic issues included getting used to a different learning and teaching environment, a heavier study load coupled with language barriers and academic procedures (Mcinnis, 2001). Socio-cultural issues included culture shock (Townsend & Wan, 2007), language difficulties (Cannon, 2002), discrimination (Poyrazli & Lopez, 2007) and financial issues (Forbes- Mewett et al., 2007). …