Digital Commons Network^™

Treatment And Management Of Xiphoidalgia, Nazir Noor, Ariunzaya Amgalan, Neeraj Vij, Kelly Habib, Lekha Anantuni, Daniel An, Hisham Kassem, Antonella Paladini, Giustino Varrassi, Alan D Kaye

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Xiphodynia is a rare but debilitating condition that can be described as a form of pain on the xiphisternal joint or any related structures that are anchored to the xiphoid process. Although xiphodynia is a musculoskeletal pain in nature, the pain located in the anterior chest can commonly mislead physicians into pursuing other diagnoses such as cardiac diseases. This leads to a prolonged duration of pain before receiving treatment. In the attempt to alleviate pain resulting from this condition, physicians have previously utilized a range of treatment options, including conservative management, injections, or in severe cases, xiphoidectomy. In this review, …

Oral Administration Of A Dual Eta/Etb Receptor Antagonist Promotes Neuroprotection In A Rodent Model Of Glaucoma, Bindu Kodati, Nolan R Mcgrady, Hayden B Jefferies, Dorota L Stankowska, Raghu R Krishnamoorthy

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease associated with elevated intraocular pressure and characterized by optic nerve axonal degeneration, cupping of the optic disc, and loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). The endothelin (ET) system of vasoactive peptides (ET-1, ET-2, ET-3) and their G-protein coupled receptors (ET

METHODS: Male and female Brown Norway rats were subjected to the Morrison model of ocular hypertension by injection of hypertonic saline through the episcleral veins. Following IOP elevation, macitentan (5 mg/kg body wt) was administered orally 3 days per week, and rats with IOP elevation were maintained for 4 weeks. RGC function was determined …

Clinical Implementation And Initial Experience With A 15 Tesla Mr-Linac For Mr-Guided Radiation Therapy For Gynecologic Cancer: An R-Ideal Stage 1 And 2a First In Humans Feasibility Study Of New Technology Implementation, David S Lakomy, Jinzhong Yang, Sastry Vedam, Jihong Wang, Belinda Lee, Angela Sobremonte, Pamela Castillo, Neil Hughes, Mustefa Mohammedsaid, Anuja Jhingran, Ann H Klopp, Seungtaek Choi, C David Fuller, Lilie L Lin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Magnetic resonance imaging-guided linear accelerator systems (MR-linacs) can facilitate the daily adaptation of radiation therapy plans. Here, we report our early clinical experience using a MR-linac for adaptive radiation therapy of gynecologic malignancies.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: Treatments were planned with an Elekta Monaco v5.4.01 and delivered by a 1.5 Tesla Elekta Unity MR-linac. The system offers a choice of daily adaptation based on either position (ATP) or shape (ATS) of the tumor and surrounding normal structures. The ATS approach has the option of manually editing the contours of tumors and surrounding normal structures before the plan is adapted. Here, …

The Ecological And Social Effects Of Open Ocean Mussel Farming, Danielle Bridger

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Mussel aquaculture installations located in inshore waters have been shown to have a wide range of impacts on the surrounding environment and marine organisms, while also presenting a problem to other marine users. However, there is some evidence that moving these installations further offshore into the open ocean could mitigate these impacts. This thesis aimed to develop and pilot a robust monitoring programme that could be used to inform future management of aquaculture installations. A further aim was to assess the effects of mussel headlines at an open ocean long-line mussel farm, currently under development in Lyme Bay, southwest UK, …

Andrews University’S Thought Leadership Communication On Linkedin: A Textual Analysis, Nana Ama O. Akoto-Boateng

Master's Theses

Thought leadership is fast becoming a powerful communication tool for most industries and sectors including higher education institutions (HEIs). This study employed textual analysis to determine how Andrews University's thought leadership on LinkedIn compares with four other top-ranking Adventist universities, namely Loma Linda University, Pacific Union College, Southern Adventist University and Walla Walla University. The text elements that were analyzed during the study were image posts and video posts on the respective LinkedIn pages of these institutions, spanning from January 2021 to June 2021. Among other findings, the results of the study revealed that Andrews University compares as the least …

Social Discourses On The Teacher Performance Assessment: Media Tales, Twitter Tweets And Leadership Surveys, Beryl Exley, Donna Pendergast, Frances Hoyte

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper explores the introduction of the new Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA) for graduate teachers in Australia. We investigate how the broader discussion around TPAs has been understood by multiple agents during an eight-month period from January 2019 to August 2019. Data includes legacy media, social media tweets and a survey of school leaders. The analysis draws on Bernsteinian (1975) theory about the way particular social relations produce differing sentiments of social unity. While eschewing a strict binary, legacy media was characterised by a mechanical solidarity which promoted the TPA as akin to a test. Contributions to social media and …

Introduction Of Phonological Concepts In An Initial Teacher Education Literacy Unit, Anne Thwaite, Helen Adam, Yvonne Urquhart, Susan Hill

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Pre-service teachers (PSTs) need sound Knowledge About Language (KAL), both for their own professional communication and for their teaching practice. In the longer term, enhanced KAL will benefit our graduates in their implementation of the Australian Curriculum. This paper reports on work with First Year PSTs at one Australian university. We present an analysis of students’ response to an intervention designed to develop their KAL, focusing on Phonological Awareness (PA) and phonics. While the designed resources were introduced and discussed in class, students mainly accessed them online afterwards. Student achievement was measured by online testing, and attitudes were obtained from …

University English Teachers’ Professional Development Through Academic Visits: Using Identity As A Theoretical Lens, Feng Ding, Rui Eric Yuan, Fiona Curtis

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Academic visitor programs aim to enhance university teachers’ teaching and research capacity and intercultural competence. Its impact, however, has remained under-researched. Using the data collected from two rounds of in-depth interviews with 13 Chinese university English teachers over a year and a half, this study explored their experiences as academic visitors in the UK through the lens of professional identity. Findings revealed that the participants came with various expectations and negotiated and constructed different identities during their academic visits. The participants’ developing identities in turn affected their investment in their professional development in their situated contexts. The study provides important …

Teacher Efficacy In High Performing Teachers: Barriers And Enablers For New Graduates, Dianne M. Toe, Lynette Longaretti

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teachers with a high sense of self-efficacy are more resilient to difficulties, experience greater job satisfaction and have higher expectations of their students. This study investigated teacher self-efficacy in high performing teachers at two points in their development: 1) as preservice teachers, halfway through their undergraduate degree using the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (TSES) (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) 2) as new graduates through a qualitative interview focused on efficacy. These 24 teachers participated in the National Exceptional Teaching for Disadvantaged Schools program (NETDS) at Deakin University during their BEd (Primary) degree. They demonstrated lower self-efficacy than their peers in Efficacy …

An Appraisal Of The Class Instrument As An Observational Measurement Tool For Evaluation Of Student And Teacher Interactions In Western Australian Classrooms, Gillian Kirk, Marianne J. Knaus, Shane Rogers

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The National Quality Framework is used across Australia to drive quality improvement in early childhood settings. Unique to Western Australia, the National Quality Standard is also used in schools to improve quality in classrooms up to Year two (seven to eight years). However, the literature suggests the National Quality Standard is too broad with an emphasis on quantifiable program features (structural quality). As the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS™) instrument was designed to measure classroom interactions (process quality), the purpose of this current study was to examine its efficacy in Pre-primary (five-year-old) classrooms. A mixed-method research approach was employed to …

Generalist Primary School Teachers’ Preferences For Becoming Subject Matter Specialists, James Russo, Ellen Corovic, Jane Hubbard, Janette Bobis, Ann Downton, Sharyn L. Livy, Peter A. Sullivan

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Traditionally Australian primary school teachers have been viewed as generalists responsible for instruction across all content areas. Adopting self-determination theory as a lens, the aim of the study was to explore the extent to which generalist primary school teachers are interested in becoming subject matter specialists. Questionnaire data were collected from 104 early years primary school teachers. Findings suggest that two-thirds of these generalist teachers expressed an interest in specialising in either English, mathematics, and to a far lesser extent, science, such that they would be responsible for exclusively teaching this subject. Preferences for specialisation were based on teachers’ self-perceived …

Teachers’ Perceptions And Experiences During An Annual Performance And Development Cycle, Kerry Elliott, John Hattie, Lorraine Graham

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In this study, the perceptions and experiences of eighteen teachers across three primary schools in Victoria, Australia, were examined as they participated in an annual performance and development cycle, guided by the Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework. The study sought to investigate teachers’ experiences and perceptions of the cycle to understand the aspects perceived as valuable to these teachers. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were held with teachers at the beginning and end of each school’s annual performance and development cycle, and responses were thematically analysed. Findings suggest that school leaders perform a critical role in the …

A Comparative Study Investigating The Enablers And Barriers Facing Teacher Educators In A Regional University: Snapshots From 2013 And 2020., Sharon L. Mcdonough, Robyn Brandenburg

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Although the provision of initial teacher education has been the subject of more than 100 inquiries and multiple reforms, the work of those in teacher education remains under-researched. This comparative research provides two snapshots of teacher educator surveys conducted seven years apart (2013 and 2020) in a regional university in Australia. The primary aim of the research was to examine how teacher educators describe their work and goals and to identify the barriers and enablers that are present in their practice. The data were thematically coded and categorised. The outcomes highlight that personal and professional experiences do shape the goals …

Demonstrating ‘Impact’: Insights From The Work Of Preservice Teachers Completing A Graduate Teacher Performance Assessment, Peter D. Brett, Michelle Parks

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Initial Teacher Education (ITE) reform in Australia has mandated that graduating teachers demonstrate their practice and ‘impact’ through the completion of a Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA) prior to graduation. The requirement to analyse ‘impact’ in teaching, requires a nuanced understanding of what ‘impact’ is and how it manifests in varied contemporary classrooms. This paper reports on how a sample of high-performing pre-service teachers from one Australian ITE institution, within a framework devised by Australia’s largest TPA consortium, appraised the impact of their teaching in the context of the disciplinary area of Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS). How ‘impact’ was articulated …

Exploring The Changing Nature Of Teachers’ Pedagogic Identities During The Delivery Of Online Literacy Teaching, Deb L. Brosseuk, Lynn Downes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper explores the interconnectedness between Australian teachers’ literacy practices and their pedagogic identity during the global pandemic. In doing so, the paper presents pedagogic identity as a dynamic, ever-evolving construct involving teachers and their teaching environment. Findings are reported from a case study of early years and primary teachers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data. From teachers’ self-reported teaching experiences, we identify three orientations to pedagogic identity: The Driver; The Collaborator; and The Apprentice. Drawing on analytic work, the paper finds that the online delivery of literacy teaching brought opportunities for teachers to shift between pedagogic identities, …

Generating Reflections Through Professional Collaborative Storytelling, Anne Keary, Narelle Wood, Karina Barley, Kelly Carabott

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

For teachers, storytelling is a way of making sense of everyday pedagogical practices and connecting with colleagues. In this paper, we explore how storytelling contributed to a collaborative culture indicative of our professional journey as four teacher educators. We examine six online weekly Zoom conversations we participated in as a teaching group to share our pedagogical ideas for enhancing an English education unit of work. During this storytelling, we discussed how we engaged with the teaching of, teaching about and teaching through the teaching and learning curriculum cycle to a first-year cohort of preservice teachers (PSTs). Importantly, we deliberated on …

Challenges And Opportunities In Teaching Writing Online Amidst The Pandemic: Voices From English Language Teachers In Philippine Universities, Veronico N. Tarrayo, Ali G. Anudin, Henelsie B. Mendoza, Erly S. Parungao-Callueng

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

With the sudden transition to online instruction in most educational institutions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be assumed that there is paucity in research as regards the teaching of writing online during this crisis moment. To address this niche, 13 Filipino university English language teachers were asked to participate in both online semi-structured and follow-up email interviews to describe their experiences in teaching writing online during the pandemic, particularly the challenges they faced, their coping strategies to address these challenges, and the opportunities in online teaching they valued. The interview responses revealed three major challenges in teaching writing …

A Review Of Undergraduate Education Student Responses To The Online Component Of Blended Learning: A Cautionary Tale, Ross S. Bernay, Chris Jenkin, Tafili Utumapu-Mcbride, Adrian Schoone, Andrew Gibbons

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Calls for enhancing the digital interface for teaching and learning within tertiary institutions have played out in one School of Education, with variable results. Online learning tasks were added in 2018 to regular classes to provide more flexibility for student engagement. A team of lecturers developed a questionnaire for students to be completed after the first semester pilot. Data and findings indicated that one-third of students identified online learning as an enhancement to their learning. A second survey was conducted one year later to assess changes made and analyse the longer-term impacts. During the COVID-19 lockdown, fully online pedagogy was …

The Design Of Early Childhood Teacher Education Programs: Australian Employer Perspectives With International Program Comparisons, Wendy Boyd, Linda Mahony, Jane Warren, Sandie Wong

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Provision of quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) supports children’s learning with strong agreement that early childhood teachers (ECTs) are central to quality provision. In many countries, it is mandatory that ECEC services employ ECTs. However, Australian ECT employers report that early childhood graduates are not always well-prepared to work in ECEC settings. This may be because what constitutes optimal early childhood initial teacher education programs (EC ITE) is unclear. To investigate the design of EC ITE programs this research reports on (i) design of EC ITE programs across international contexts; and (ii) 19 Australian ECT employers’ perspectives on …

On Country Teacher Education: Developing A Success Program For And With Future Aboriginal Teachers, Graeme Gower, Tatiana Bogachenko, Rhonda Oliver

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

A growing awareness of the value of Aboriginal teachers in Australian schools has motivated the development of the ‘On Country’ Teacher Education (OCTE) program through collaboration between the Western Australian Department of Education and Curtin University. The OCTE builds on previous initiatives to increase the number of Aboriginal teachers in Australian classrooms and has also developed new features. It enables Aboriginal and Islander Education Officers (AIEOs[1]) to obtain a teaching degree while studying ‘on Country’ and working in their (often remote) schools. An evaluation of the first year of this course through the interviews/yarns with the AIEOs, principals, …

Terminology And Provision For Students With Learning Difficulties: An Examination Of Australian State Government Education Department Websites, Nicole Todd, Lorraine Gaunt, Tom Porta

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Students with learning difficulties form the largest group of students with additional needs in Australian mainstream classrooms. However the terminology surrounding these students differs broadly across the country. A consistent and shared understanding of the term learning difficulties is vital, as this impacts the identification and equitable provision of support for students experiencing difficulties with learning. The website of each Australian state/territory government education department was examined to determine to how students with learning difficulties are formally identified and supported. It was found that considerable differences, and even conflicting information, exist both within and across education systems. Implications and the …

Learning To Teach Without Teaching: A Mixed Methods Case Study Of Preservice Teachers’ Efficacy Beliefs And Perceptions Of An Evidence-Based Creative Arts Subject, James Deehan, Rachael C. Hutchesson, Paul Parker

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Recognition of the inherent value of the Creative Arts in society seldom extends beyond rhetoric to meaningful action. The powerful ways the Creative Arts are positioned within curriculum documents, for example, stand in contrast to entrenched problems such as poor teacher attitudes, disengaging teaching practices and low status. Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs and preservice teachers are essential to the long-term improvement of Creative Arts education. Creative Arts in ITE is also an interesting context in which to examine the divide between Subject Matter Knowledge (SMK) and Pedagogical Knowledge (PK) that has influenced both educational research and policy. This paper …

Teachers’ Emotion Regulation: Implications For Classroom Conflict Management, Sabina Valente, Abílio Afonso Lourenço, Sergio Dominguez-Lara, Ali Derakhshan, Zsolt Németh, Leando S. Almeida

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

It has been postulated that emotions play essential roles in conflict situations and that excessive expression of emotions or inappropriate display can reduce the capacity to manage conflict. However, there is a lack of research that relates teachers’ emotion-regulation ability to managing conflict. To bridge this gap, this pilot study aimed to examine the relationships between teachers’ emotion-regulation ability and conflict management strategies used in the classroom. The sample consisted of 878 teachers (61% women) working in Portuguese schools, which completed an application of Mayer and Salovey’s emotional intelligence model and Rahim’s model of conflict management. Using the structural equation …

Conceptualising Early Career Teachers’ Agency And Accounts Of Social Action In Disadvantaged Schools, Margaret Kettle, Bruce Burnett, Jo Lampert, Barbara Comber, Naomi Barnes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article examines the accounts of actions undertaken by Early Career Teachers (ECTs) recently graduated from a social justice-oriented Initial Teacher Education (ITE) program and employed in complex school settings with high levels of student diversity, disadvantage, and poverty. The study drew on theories of teacher agency and agency more broadly to examine the workshadowing observations of the teachers’ practice in classrooms augmented by their reflective accounts in interviews. The study found that the ECTs’ agency, or contextualised social action, can be conceptualised as temporally embedded social engagement directed at addressing their students’ cultural, social and academic needs. The teachers …

What Is Discussed In Mentoring Dialogues? An Analysis Of How Relations Of Control Influence The Content In Mentoring, Monika Merket

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Both international actors, like the OECD, and Norwegian policies for teacher education aim to increase students’ academic competence and the collaboration between university and practice. Mentoring dialogues between students and mentors in practice are in the intersection between university and the profession. Thus, this gives the mentors the responsibility to realize these policy intentions. This actualizes what is discussed in mentoring and how the negotiation of control between mentors and students has impact on what policy intentions are recontextualized in mentoring. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate which intentions are realized in mentoring through the use of criteria and the …

Gender Differences And Motivation For The Teaching Profession: Why Do Men Choose (Not) To Teach?, Ivana Pikić Jugović, Ana Maskalan, Tea Pavin Ivanec

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The aim of this study was to explore gender differences in motivation for choosing teaching as a profession and perceptions of men’s demotivation for the choice of this profession. 279 preservice subject teachers from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, filled in the FIT-Choice Scale (Watt & Richardson, 2007) and the Demotivation of Men for Teaching Career Choice Scale. Results revealed that, regardless of their gender, preservice subject teachers were primarily motivated by the intrinsic and social utility values of teaching, while specific gender differences imply the importance of the role of social factors in men’s choice of this career. Low …

Books That Tell My Story: Transforming The Attitudes Of Australian Preservice Teachers Towards Children’S Diverse And Multicultural Literature., Kym M. Simoncini, Hilary Smith, Lara Cain-Gray, Darlene Sebalj

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Children’s literature is ubiquitous in Australian classrooms with picture books playing a particularly important role in early childhood classrooms. Teachers use children’s literature to teach early literacy concepts including vocabulary and to help children learn about the world and their identity. Historically, the majority of children’s literature has featured White characters and perspectives, excluding many children from seeing themselves and their lives reflected in books. The aim of this study was to explore how an assessment task that asked preservice teachers (PSTs) to select an underrepresented aspect of children’s literature, locate books on that topic, and reflect upon their own …

Teacher Educators: A Bibliometric Mapping Of An Emerging Research Area, Tugba Hangul, Mehmet Fatih Ozmantar, Gulay Agac

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

There has been increasing research attention on teacher educators in recent years; however, the dynamics of this research area have not been examined through bibliometric analysis of the relevant studies. This study aimed to perform a systematic mapping of the trends in research studies on teacher educators through the bibliometric data obtained from the Web of Science database. The bibliometric analysis led to four substantial findings: (1) research on teacher educators is an emerging field of educational studies that have experienced a progressive increase since the 2000s; (2) scientific publications in this field are produced by a small group of …

Gender And Stress Levels Among Pre-Service Teachers, Gretchen Geng, Leigh Disney, Richard Midford, Jenny Buckworth

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study used gender-sensitive research to investigate stress levels and stressors among pre-service teachers. The differences and similarities in stress levels between male and female pre-service teachers were studied. There were five significant findings: 1) both male and female pre-service teachers had high-stress levels; 2) male pre-service teachers had higher stress levels than females; 3) male pre-service teachers' stress has a strong relationship with their ages, while it was not for female pre-service teachers; 4) male pre-service teachers preferred to undertake their placement and commence their teaching career in middle or higher year level sectors, while female students preferred to …

Perceived Value Of Work-Integrated Learning On The Teaching Efficacy And Classroom Management Of Pre-Service Teachers., Casey P. Mainsbridge, Vaughan Cruickshank, Kira Patterson, Arto Gråstén

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The aim of this study was to examine associations of teaching competence, autonomous motivation, and self-efficacy between two groups of pre-service teachers enrolled in a four-year Bachelor of Education degree program. One group participated in a Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) pathway and one who did not participate in a Work-Integrated Learning pathway. Self-reports of basic psychological needs, motivational regulations, and self-efficacy were completed by 116 pre-service teachers. Findings indicated that pre-service teachers who participated in the WIL pathway had higher levels of efficacy in classroom management, and pre-service teachers who participated in the WIL pathway had higher perceptions of identified regulation, …