Education Commons^™

Developing On-Line Tools To Support Learners In Problem-Solving Activities, Gwyn Brickell, B. Harper, Brian Ferry

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

In recent years, research has focused on understanding how learners can benefit from tools that can assist in the development of informal reasoning skills when constructing arguments in collaborative learning with web-based learning environments. A common approach taken by each of these systems is to use support mechanisms (scaffolding) to facilitate student learning through the development of improved reasoning and argumentation skills. The authors of this paper have been developing computer-based learning environments for the past ten years, and have developed several award winning CD-ROM packages that feature a range of cognitive tools designed to assist learning. The development of …

Implementing Generic Learning Designs Based Upon Quality Ict Exemplars, J. Hedberg, R. Oliver, Barry Harper, Sandra Wills, S. Agostinho

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Within the context of an AUTC funded Project: Information and Communication Technologies and Their Role in Flexible Learning, this paper presents an analysis of learning designs using ICTs and how this grounded approach might be a more useful structure to design effective learning environments. The project has developed generic or reusable frameworks for technology-enhanced high quality learning experiences in higher education and this paper will present several examples, of the original design and how the key elements were selected and developed for use by others. As this project is currently developing these generic exemplars of learning designs, the final presentation …

Using On-Line Discussion To Develop Preservice Teacher Understanding Of Classroom Management, Brian Ferry, J. Kiggins, G. Hoban

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper describes how a knowledge building community (KBC) of preservice teachers used an on-line discussion forum to develop knowledge about the role of the teacher in modern schools. It traces their initial use of the technology and follows the evolution of its use over a three-year period describing the role of the students and university lecturers in facilitating discussion. The paper then focuses on how members of the KBC used an on-line discussion forum to reflect on and share learning experiences as they developed classroom management strategies.

Physical Activity In The Lives Of Young Women And Men: Embodied Identies, Jan Wright, Gabrielle O'Flynn, David C. Macdonald

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The purpose of this paper is to explore the complex and diverse positions particular young women and men take up in relation to the moral imperatives of the healthism discourse. We do this through a discussion of the ways in which they talk about their own and others’ bodies, in the context of a number of in-depth interviews conducted with them over the course of a year. These interviews were conducted as the major component of a longitudinal qualitative study, funded by the Australian Research Council, which investigates the place and meaning of physical activity and physical culture in young …

Modelling Of Multiplicative Structures In A B10b Program, Mohan Chinnappan

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Multiplication is a key operation in arithmetic. Teachers utilize a range of resources to help children make sense of the conceptual basis of this operation. Despite this, many children experience difficulty in solving multiplicative problems. In recent times, teachers and teacher educators have tumed to ICT-based resources in order to provide a more effective learning environment in which to explore multiplication. While this change in teaching strategy has received considerable support, it is based on the assumption that teachers who are already in practice and those who are being trained to become teachers draw on a well-developed knowledge of the …

Developing A Peer Learning Community Through The Use Of Cmc, Brian Ferry, Alison S.W. Yeung

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This study investigated computer-mediated communication (CMC) to facilitate the construction of learning community. The formation of learning community, which involves students working together to solve ill-structured problems and putting applying knowledge and experience to heuristic teaching. "Peer Learning" broadly includes cooperative and collaborative learning, and which involves learners working together for achieving specific learning goals. We report on the building of a peer learning approach through the use of CMC enhances flexible learning and fosters initiative and interactivity of the learners towards their learning. The findings showed that the contemporary computer-mediated communication (CMC) technology not only supports learning activities, it …

Year 3 Children's Understanding Of Fractions: Are We Making Progress?, Mohan Chinnappan, Mike Lawson

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The aim of the study reported here was to examine the quality of understandings developed by young children in the area of fractions and decimals. Analysis of data showed that the existence of great disparity in Year 3 children's knowledge base of fractions. We discuss these results in light of levels of competence that are expected in K-6 curriculum documents and with reference to past research on students' knowledge of fractions. The results of this small study raise doubts about the progress being made in the teaching of fractions.

Formalising The Descriptions Of Learning Designs, Ron Oliver, Barry Harper, John Hedberg, Sandra Wills, Shirley Agostinho

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper describes an activity being undertaken by researchers involved in the AUTC funded Project: Information and Communication Technologies and Their Role in Flexible Learning. The project is seeking to investigate and develop generic and reusable frameworks for the provision of technology-enhanced high quality learning experiences in higher education. To achieve this, the researchers have been exploring ways to formalise generic descriptions of some learning designs that foster knowledge construction and problem solving. This paper provides a summary of the work that has been undertaken and describes the generic descriptions that have been developed in this process.

Creating New Learning Environments Off Campus In The Faculty Of Arts: What Impact On Teaching And Learning On Campus?, Geraldine Lefoe, Rebecca M. Albury

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

For a university in regional Australia, a new degree program on offer to a remote campus and access centres, provided a supportive environment for faculty to trial new teaching and learning methods, specifically making use of learning management system (WebCT) for aspects of communication and content. This paper examines the impact this had on the faculty, in particular at the increased usage of ICT in subjects on offer on campus and also examines other issues which were identified as problematic by faculty as they embraced innovative methods of teaching and learning.

Ensuring High Quality Thinking And Scaffolding Learning In An Online World, John Hedberg

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper will review some qualities of effective technology-based learning resources and how they can support conceptual professional development and scaffold thinking through the use ofcognitive tools. It will also explore factors that are important to professional development, as teachers participate in online learning networks and communities. It will demonstrate examples ofeffective design that must be present to ensure that participants learn in meaningful and motivating ways.

The Ethics Of Participating In Research, Annette J. Braunack-Mayer

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Simple statements of risks and benefits may not reveal the complexity of human responses to research participation

Undergraduate Public Health Education: A Workforce Perspective, Susan Houghton, Annette J. Braunack-Mayer, Janet E. Hiller

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: To describe the career paths of students who majored in public health at the undergraduate level and to assess the skills and knowledge these g raduates believed were most useful to them in the public health workforce. Method: A telephone survey was conducted of all graduates from Adelaide University's Bachelor of Health Sciences degree from 1992-99 who had majored in public health (124 graduates). Results: The response rate to the graduate survey was 71 %. Using the definition of public health functions from the National Delphi Study on Public Health Functions to delineate the public health workforce, 59% …

Characteristics Of Pre-School Environments In Northern Ireland: An Analysis Of Observational Data, Edward Melhuish, Louise Quinn, Kathleen Mcsherry, Kathy Sylva, Pam Sammons, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Brenda Taggart, Sofia Guimares

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This longitudinal study assesses the attainment and development of children followed between the ages of 3 and 7 years. Over 700 children were recruited to the study during 1998 and 1999 from 80 pre-school centres. Both qualitative and quantitative methods (including multilevel modelling) are used to explore the effects of pre-school experience on children's cognitive attainment and social/behavioural development at entry to school and any continuing effects on such outcomes up to 7 years of age. In addition to the effects of preschool experience, the study investigates the contribution to children's development of individual and family characteristics such as gender, …

Pre-School Experience And Cognitive Development At The Start Of Primary School, Edward Melhuish, Louise Quinn, Kathy Sylva, Pam Sammons, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Brenda Taggart, Christopher Shields

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This longitudinal study assesses the attainment and development of children followed between the ages of 3 and 7 years. Over 700 children were recruited to the study during 1998 and 1999 from 80 pre-school centres. Both qualitative and quantitative methods (including multilevel modelling) are used to explore the effects of pre-school experience on children's cognitive attainment and social/behavioural development at entry to school and any continuing effects on such outcomes up to 7 years of age. In addition to the effects of preschool experience, the study investigates the contribution to children's development of individual and family characteristics such as gender, …

Selling Solutions: Emerging Patterns Of Product-Service Linkage In The Australian Economy, Jane Marceau, Nicole T. Cook, Bronwen Dalton, Brian Wixted

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The focus of the study reported here is the different forms of service provision strategies appearing across the Australian economy. Specifically, the study looks at the various ways in which firms link products and services, whether in single packages or other forms. What we found led us to question the common notion that 'manufacturing matters, but services succeed'. The data gathered show how many firms in both manufacturing and service industries are putting together products and services into 'packages', suggesting the need for a broader review of how a service-rich economy may work at firm level.

Relative Risk Of Hiv Infection Among Young Men And Women In A South African Township, Catherine L. Mac Phail, Brian G. Williams, Catherine Campbell

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The prevalence of HIV infection in Africa is substantially higher among young women than it is among young men. Biological explanations of this difference have been presented but there has been little exploration of social factors. In this paper we use data from Carletonville, South Africa to explore various social explanations for greater female infection rates. This paper reports on data from a random sample of 507 people between 13 and 24 years old. Subjects were tested for HIV, as well as other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and answered a behavioural questionnaire. The age-prevalence of HIV infection differs between men …

Health Claims Policy, Heather Yeatman

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at The 2nd Omega Workshop, 30 September 2002, Adelaide, Australia.

Effect Of Global Perspective Jitter On Visually Induced Postural Sway, Stephen Palmisano, G Pinniger, Julie R. Steele

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the 25th European Conference on Visual Perception, 25-29 August 2002, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Pressure Points: School Executive And Educational Change, Stephen Dinham, Catherine Scott

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Recent international research has demonstrated a relationship between physical health and occupational status/level of appointment: people who hold higher level positions enjoy better physical health on average than those in lower positions. Researchers have speculated that this may be in part due to the lower levels of control exercised over pace and timetabling of work by those occupying lower positions. Poorer physical health is thus mediated by lower levels of mental wellbeing.

Worldwide, many working in school education have experienced ‘control’ being taken away from them by rapid and constant educational change imposed from ‘the outside’. The pace and extent …

A Game Of Distinction: Football, The World Cup, And The Australian Urbane, Jason Wilson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The title of Johnny Warren's Shielas, Wogs and Poofters (Warren, Harper et al. 2002) encapsulates an Australian attitude towards soccer, its players and its constituency that while certainly problematic, may also be outdated. But for a brief period in the 1970s, when a team led by Warren contested the World Cup finals, Rugby League and Australian Football ruled the ball-sports roost (Rugby Union trailed a-ways behind): the sport that most of the rest of the world knows simply as football was, in all senses, marginal. More recently, and especially in the midst of a FIFA World Cup finals held in …

Performance, Anxiety: The Video Games Arcade And Urban Space, Jason Wilson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In a recent gaming anthology, Henry Jenkins cannot help contrasting his son's cramped, urban, media-saturated existence with his own idyllic, semi-rural childhood. After describing his own Huck Finn meanderings over "the spaces of my boyhood" including the imaginary kingdoms of Jungleoca and Freedonia, Jenkins relates his version of his son's experiences:

My son, Henry, now 16 has never had a backyard He has grown up in various apartment complexes, surrounded by asphalt parking lots with, perhaps, a small grass buffer from the street… Once or twice, when I became exasperated by my son's constant presence around the house I would …

The Intake Of Carotenoids In An Older Australian Population: The Blue Mountains Eye Study, Fiona Manzi, Victoria Flood, Karen Webb, Paul Mitchell

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: To describe the distribution of carotenoid intakes and important food sources of carotenoids in the diet of a representative population of older Australians.

Design: Population-based cohort study.

Setting: Two post-code areas in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, Australia.

Subjects: We studied 2012 (86%) of the 2334 participants aged 55 + years attending the 5-year follow-up of the cross-sectional Blue Mountains Eye Study (BMES), who completed a detailed semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire. The intakes for five carotenoids were studied: α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein and zeaxanthin combined, and lycopene.

Results: The mean intake per day for each carotenoid was: α-carotene, 2675 …

Migration, Music And Social Relations On The Nsw Far North Coast, Christopher Gibson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This article explores urban-rural migration on the NSW Far North Coast (the ‘Northern Rivers’ region) and the emergence of popular music as a niche cultural industry. The various images of the NSW Far North Coast as a ‘lifestyle’ region, ‘alternative’ region and coastal retreat have attracted a diverse mix of exurban professionals, unemployed persons, youth subcultures and retirees, yet despite population growth, the region continues to suffer unemployment rates among the highest in Australia. Against this backdrop, popular music has emerged as a niche industry with linkages to cultural production in Sydney, Melbourne and overseas, and also an area of …

Can The Q Link Ally R, A Form Of Sympathetic Resonance Technology (Srttm), Attenuate Acute Mobile Phone-Related Changes To Neural Function?, Rodney J. Croft, Jody Chandler, Adrian P. Burgess, Robert Barry, John D. Williams, Adam Clarke

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objectives: Exposure to active mobile phones (MP) has been shown to affect human neural function as shown by the electroencephalogram (EEG). Although it has not been determined whether such effects are harmful, a number of devices have been developed that attempt to minimize these MP-related effects. One such device, the Q Link Ally^® (QL; Clarus Products, International, L.L.C., San Rafael, CA), is argued to affect the human organism in such a way as to attenuate the effect of MPs. The present pilot study was designed to determine whether there is any indication that QL does alter MP-related effects on …

Medical Tests: Women's Reported And Preferred Decision-Making Roles And Preferences For Information On Benefits, Side-Effects And False Results, Heather M. Davey, Alexandra Barratt, Elizabeth Davey, Phyllis N. Butow, Sally Redman, Nehmat Houssami, Glenn P. Salkeld

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective  To determine women's preferences for and reported experience with medical test decision-making. Design  Computer-assisted telephone survey. Setting and participants  Six hundred and fifty-two women resident in households randomly selected from the New South Wales electronic white pages. Main outcome measures  Reported and preferred test and treatment (for comparison) decision-making, satisfaction with and anxiety about information on false results and side-effects; and effect of anxiety on desire for such information. Results  Overall most women preferred to share test (94.6%) and treatment (91.2%) decision-making equally with their doctor, or to take a more active role, with only 5.4-8.9% reporting they wanted …

Maternity Care Needs Of Refugee And Asylum-Seeking Women: A Summary Of Research By Patricia Kennedy And Jo Murphy- Lawless, Patricia Kennedy, Jo Murphy-Lawless

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This extended study, with both quantitative and qualitative elements, was designed and carried out in 1999-2000 to collect baseline data on refugee women's experiences, expressed needs and perspectives of the existing care services in order to inform the development of relevant maternity care policies for this vulnerable group and to plan models of best practice for the future.

Environmental Factors Associated With Adults' Participation In Physical Activity: A Review, Nancy Humpel, Neville Owen, Eva Leslie

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Promoting physical activity is a public health priority, and changes in the environmental contexts of adults’ activity choices are believed to be crucial. However, of the factors associated with physical activity, environmental influences are among the least understood. Method: Using journal scans and computerized literature database searches, we identified 19 quantitative studies that assessed the relationships with physical activity behavior of perceived and objectively determined physical environment attributes. Findings were categorized into those examining five categories: accessibility of facilities, opportunities for activity, weather, safety, and aesthetic attributes. Results: Accessibility, opportunities, and aesthetic attributes had significant associations with physical activity. …

Knowledge About Typical Source Output Influences Perceived Auditory Distance, John W. Philbeck, Donald H. Mershon

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Vocal effort is known to influence the judged distance of speechsound sources. The present research examined whether this influence is due to long-term experience gained prior to the experiment versus short-term experience gained from exposure to speech stimuli earlier in the same experiment. Speech recordings were presented to 192 blindfolded listeners at three levels of vocal output. Even upon the first presentation, shouting voices were reported as appearing farthest, whispered voices closest. This suggests that auditory distance perception can be affected by past experience in a way that does not require explicit comparisons between individual stimuli.

"Measure Your Belly": New Zealand Children's Constructions Of Health And Fitness, L. Burrows, Jan Wright, J. Jungersen-Smith

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The expansion of health as a concept, repeated expressions of nation-wide concerns about young people’s health and the accompanying information explosion about health and fitness have worked together to support versions of physical education that explicitly address health issues. The conflation of health with physical education is not however unproblematic. In this paper we explore some of the consequences of the relationship between health, fitness and physical activity through an examination of the students’ responses to questions relating to health and fitness in the New Zealand National Education Monitoring Project. We demonstrate that the children responding to the NEMP tasks …

A Problem-Based Schema Analysis In Algebra, Mohan Chinnappan

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The development of students' algebraic understanding is generally accepted to be one of the major goals of K-12 mathematics teaching. In this paper I attempt to examine this understanding by characterising a group of high school students' algebraic knowledge and patterns of use of that knowledge during the solution of selected problems. Results show that these students tended to show acceptable levels of proficiency with problems that involve substitution of values for variables, and simplification of equations. However, students experienced difficulties with the solution of equations and the interpretation of variables both in symbolic and graphical modes. These results are …