Education Commons^™

Change In Maternity Provision In Ireland: "Elephants On The Move", Patricia Kennedy

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In an attempt to understand how change can occur in health services this article focuses on two recent developments in Ireland which came about as a result of an unexpected event and a consequent shift in policy which as Hinrichs (2001) and Castles (2010) suggest can be slow to move. Drawing on path dependency theory this article argues that maternity policies in Ireland were "locked in" between 1951 and 2001 in the wake of the Mother and Child controversy, an infamous milestone which led policy to develop along a very specific path and institutionalised the medical model of childbirth which …

Can Money Prevent The Spread Of Hiv? A Review Of Cash Payments For Hiv Prevention, Audrey Pettifor, Catherine L. Mac Phail, Nadia Nguyen, Molly Rosenberg

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Cash payments to improve health outcomes have been used for many years; however, their use for HIV prevention is new and the impact not yet well understood. We provide a brief background on the rationale behind using cash to improve health outcomes, review current studies completed or underway using cash for prevention of sexual transmission of HIV, and outline some key considerations on the use of cash payments to prevent HIV infections. We searched the literature for studies that implemented cash transfer programs and measured HIV or HIV-related outcomes. We identified 16 studies meeting our criteria; 10 are completed. The …

What Checkers Actually Check: An Eye Tracking Study Of Inhibitory Control And Working Memory, Ben Harkin, Sebastien R. Miellet, Klaus Kessler

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Not only is compulsive checking the most common symptom in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) with an estimated prevalence of 50-80% in patients, but approximately ~15% of the general population reveal subclinical checking tendencies that impact negatively on their performance in daily activities. Therefore, it is critical to understand how checking affects attention and memory in clinical as well as subclinical checkers. Eye fixations are commonly used as indicators for the distribution of attention but research in OCD has revealed mixed results at best. Methodology/Principal Finding: Here we report atypical eye movement patterns in subclinical checkers during an ecologically valid …

When East Meets West: Gaze-Contingent Blindspots Abolish Cultural Diversity In Eye Movements For Faces, Sebastien R. Miellet, Lingnan He, Xinyue Zhou, Junpeng Lao, Roberto Caldara

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Culture impacts on how people sample visual information for face processing. Westerners deploy fixations towards the eyes and the mouth to achieve face recognition. In contrast, Easterners reach equal performance by deploying more central fixations, suggesting an effective extrafoveal information use. However, this hypothesis has not been yet directly investigated, i.e. by providing only extrafoveal information to both groups of observers. We used a parametric gaze-contingent technique dynamically masking central vision - the Blindspot - with Western and Eastern observers during face recognition. Westerners shifted progressively towards the typical Eastern central fixation pattern with larger Blindspots, whereas Easterners were insensitive …

Participant Experiences From Chronic Administration Of A Multivitamin Versus Placebo On Subjective Health And Wellbeing: A Double-Blind Qualitative Analysis Of A Randomised Controlled Trial, Jerome Sarris, Katherine H M Cox, David A. Camfield, Andrew Scholey, Con Stough, Erin Fogg, Marni Kras, David J. White, Avni Sali, Andrew Pipingas

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background While many randomised controlled trials have been conducted on multivitamins, to our knowledge no qualitative research exploring the subjective experience of taking a multivitamin during a clinical trial has been reported. Methods Semi-structured and open-ended written questions were incorporated into a 16-week double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, parallel groups trial of once-daily multivitamin administration. At the final study visit (week 16), three open-ended questions were posed to elucidate any positive, negative or unusual experiences from taking either the multivitamin or matched placebo. Qualitative thematic analysis was undertaken by researchers who were blind as to treatment condition of participants, and triangulation (independent …

The Acute Impact Of High Anthocyanin Cherry Juice On Cognition And Blood Pressure In Young People, Older People And Dementia Patients, K Caldwell, K E. Charlton, S Roodenrys

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Nutrition Society of Australia, 27-30 November 2012, Wollongong, Australia

What's On The Menu For The 75+ Health Assessment?: An Opportunity For Nutrition Screening Of Older Patients In General Practice, A H. Hamirudin, K E. Charlton, K L. Walton, A Bonney, J. Potter, Marianna Milosavljevic, G Albert, A Hodgkins, A Dalley

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Nutrition Society of Australia, 27-30 November 2012, Wollongong, Australia

Assessing Depression In Older Adults In The Emergency Department: Reliability Of The 5-Item Geriatric Depression Scale, M Bissett, A Cusick

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the IFA 11th Global Conference on Ageing, 28 May-1 June 2012, Prague, Czech Republic

Does Targetted Assessment Of Function Influence Emergency Department Re-Poresentation In Older Adults: An Australian Insight, M Bissett, A Cusick

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the IFA 11th Global Conference on Ageing, 28 May-1 June 2012, Prague, Czech Republic

Advertising, Branding, And Pediatric Nutrition, Bridget Kelly

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The factors contributing to overweight and obesity are multifaceted and include a combination of genetic, sociological, and environmental influences. Children's exposure to food marketing is recognized as one such factor contributing to the obesity-promoting environment.

Progressing Physical Geography, Noel Castree

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Now and then certain commentators - usually established ones - venture opinion on the current health and prospects for physical geography (either in its own right, in relation to human geography, or relative to some other field of research). In this editorial I want to consider the way that normative arguments about the future of the field are phrased, seen within wider discussions about geography as a whole (its present challenges and future goals). The education of students, I suggest, has been marginalized in published debate despite providing perhaps the most viable of several possible means by which physical geography …

The Return Of Nature?, Noel Castree

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Published under the auspices of the journal Theory, Culture & Society, Inhuman Nature is one of the most interesting monographs I have encountered in many years. The questions it raises and the answers it provides are not only relevant to all of human geography's sub-fields (including cultural geography) but to physical geography's component branches as well. This said, Nigel Clark's academic training lies outside geography, and his book's back-cover endorsements come from two sociologists (Myra Hird and Adrian Franklin). But it's not too hard to make direct connections between his plenary analysis of Anglophone social science, the humanities and the …

Editors' Introduction: Human Geography, Derek Gregory, Noel Castree

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

When we were invited by Sage to identify published work in human geography that represents what is best and most distinctive about the field it seemed an impossible task (it still does) because there is such a rich volume of material to draw from. We decided to focus on Englishlanguage and to a lesser extent other European contributions, although we are acutely aware of the irony, even the imperialism, of limiting a field like human geography to knowledges rooted in only a fraction of the world. We discuss below the dangers of delimiting Geography as a European or Euro-American science, …

Early Start: Grand Designs For Learning, Ian Brown, Pauline Lysaght

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Paper presented at the London International Conference on Education, 19-22 November 2012, London, UK

Well-designed environments that stimulate intellectual curiosity, encourage social interaction and promote a sense of community, support effective learning across the education spectrum. This paper presents a case study of a multi-functional facility situated at the University of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia that meets this design brief. 'Early Start' will transform teaching, research and community engagement in the higher education sector whilst offering unique learning opportunities to children, young people and their families. Importantly, it also has the potential for addressing social, educational and economic …

Strange Ecology, Noel Castree

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Book review: STRANGE ECOLOGY Timothy Morton, The Ecological Thought, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 2010; 160pp, £29.95 hardcover.

Now and again a book is written that messes with your head. Timothy Morton, Professor of Literature and Environment at the University of California (Davis), has fast made a name for himself as an out-of-the-box thinker.1 His Ecology without nature (2007) challenged readers to forget 'nature' - not, you understand, in the name of a brave new biotechnologised world in which capital entirely swallows-up the natural, but for another cause. The book attracted attention well beyond Morton's disciplinary home-base. In this 'prequel', …

A Framework For Policy Advocacy, Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The practice of policy advocacy has outpaced its theoretical development. Yet the importance of a theoretical grounding for advocacy has increased as advocacy organizations demand measures of efficacy, and theories of policy development need to account for advocates' contributions to the process. This article begins to address these issues by developing a conceptual framework of policy advocacy inputs, activities, and outcomes. Logic models of practitioners' advocacy programs were first synthesized into a general model. Then academic theories from social sciences and especially policy studies were reviewed and applied to hypothesize links between advocacy inputs and activities, and between activities and …

We Can’T Compete On Cheap And Nasty; Let’S Be A Country That Makes High-Quality, Lasting Things, Christopher Gibson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

WHAT IS AUSTRALIA FOR? Australia is no longer small, remote or isolated. It’s time to ask What Is Australia For?, and to acknowledge the wealth of resources we have beyond mining. Over the next two weeks The Conversation, in conjunction with Griffith REVIEW, is publishing a series of provocations. Our authors are asking the big questions to encourage a robust national discussion about a new Australian identity that reflects our national, regional and global roles.

Does The Shape Of Countries Shape Their Destiny?, Christopher Gibson, Natascha Klocker

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Might the destiny of nations be controlled by the underlying shape of their geography? This is the subject of a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The authors – political scientists David Laitin, Joachim Moortgat and Amanda Robinson – calculated the area, size and longitude-to-latitude ratio of every country on Earth.

The Elephant In The Chat Room: Will International Students Stay At Home?, Thomas Birtchnell

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION: We continue our series on the rise of online and blended learning and how free online courses are set to transform the higher education sector. Today, Wollongong University’s Thomas Birtchnell looks at what online education will mean for the international student market.

All Hail Jugaad? Understanding The Latest Management Fad From India, Thomas Birtchnell

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

What do India’s huge blackouts this month have to do with the latest fad for CEOs? Forget guanxi, the Chinese art of networking; forget the Japanese-inspired disciplinary regime, the Six Sigma way. The latest fad to hit the CEO conference circuit is the Indian notion of jugaad. Its supporters include, amongst others, Saatchi and Saatchi’s CEO Worldwide Kevin Roberts. Borrowing a term for the cobbled-together cars the rural poor drive, this new “Indian way” means throwing out all of the complex and costly organisational burdens that clog up smooth and seamless business: occupational health and safety and risk management just …

Four Visions, Three Dimensions: The Future Of 3d Printing, Thomas Birtchnell, John Urry

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Chances are you’ve heard about 3D printing – or additive manufacturing as it’s otherwise known: a process that turns computer-aided designs into three-dimensional, real-world objects with a range of uses, from a range of materials and on a range of scales. But you’ve probably heard little in terms of the social impact that 3D printing and its associated technologies will likely have. Those possible impacts are exactly what we’re investigating at Lancaster University and the University of Wollongong. We’ve identified four potential scenarios that could eventuate in a world that embraces 3D printing and, crucially, how those scenarios could affect …

Evaluation Of Gesture Based Interfaces For Medical Volume Visualization Tasks, Cam Kirmizibayrak, Nadezhda Radeva, Mike Wakid, John W. Philbeck, John Sibert, James Hahn

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Interactive systems are increasingly used in medical applications with the widespread availability of various imaging modalities. Gesture-based interfaces can be beneficial to interact with these kinds of systems in a variety of settings, as they can be easier to learn and can eliminate several shortcomings of traditional tactile systems, especially for surgical applications. We conducted two user studies that explore different gesture-based interfaces for interaction with volume visualizations. The first experiment focused on rotation tasks, where the performance of the gesture-based interface (using Microsoft Kinect) was compared to using the mouse. The second experiment studied localization of internal structures, comparing …

Correlates Of Children's Time-Specific Physical Activity: A Review Of The Literature, Rebecca M. Stanley, Kate Ridley, James Dollman

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Assessment of correlates of physical activity occurring at different times of the day, locations and contexts, is imperative to understanding children's physical activity behaviour. The purpose of this review was to identify the correlates of children's physical activity (aged 8-14 years) occurring during the school break time and after-school periods. A review was conducted of the peer-reviewed literature, published between 1990 and January 2011. A total of 22 studies (12 school break time studies, 10 after-school studies) were included in the review. Across the 22 studies, 17 studies were cross-sectional and five studies were interventions. In the school break time …

The Health And Development Of Children Born To Older Mothers In The United Kingdom: Observational Study Using Longitudinal Cohort Data, Alastair G. Sutcliffe, Jacqueline Barnes, Jay Belsky, Julian Gardiner, Edward Melhuish

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective To assess relations between children's health and development and maternal age. Design Observational study of longitudinal cohorts. Setting Millennium Cohort Study (a random sample of UK children) and the National Evaluation of Sure Start study (a random sample of children in deprived areas in England), 2001 to 2007. Participants 31 257 children at age 9 months, 24 781 children at age 3 years, and 22 504 at age 5 years. Main outcome measures Childhood unintentional injuries and hospital admissions (aged 9 months, 3 years, and 5 years), immunisations (aged 9 months and 3 years), body mass index, language development, …

Preschool Programs For The General Population, Edward Melhuish, Jacqueline Barnes

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

There are several small-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies in the United States documenting the benefits of curriculum-led experimental preschool programs and "pre-kindergarten" education for long-term educational, occupational and social outcomes for disadvantaged children. In addition a larger-scale quasi-experimental study in Chicago found similar benefits up to age 28 of sustained, publicly-funded early education to subsequent education, socio-economic status, health and crime for a disadvantaged population. Such programs are cost-effective with disadvantaged groups, at risk for poor outcomes, in that the savings outweigh any costs. Besides benefits for disadvantaged groups, there is strong evidence that preschool education, whether or not …

Developing Successful Diversionary Schemes For Youth From Remote Aboriginal Communities, Kate Senior, William Ivory, Richard D. Chenhall, Teresa Cunningham, Tricia Nagel, Robbie Lloyd, Rachel Mcmahon

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This report explores the experiences and aspirations of youth in Wadeye, a remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory which has become synonymous with the deviant behaviours of its young people. The research was undertaken over a three year period, and builds upon a previous ten year period of community based research. As such it forms a unique longitudinal study of young people during a period of extreme change in their lives. The research applied a mixed methods approach, utilising ethnography, interviews and the application of a community wide survey. Although young community based people were the primary focus of …

Clinical Speech To Text: Evaluation Setting, Hanna Suominen, Jim Basilakis, Maree Johnson, Linda Dawson, Lief Hanlen, Barbara Kelly, Anthony Yeo, Paula Sanchez

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Failures in information flow from clinical handover are the leading cause of sentinel events in the USA and associated with nearly half of all ad-verse events and over a tenth of preventable adverse events in Australia. Verbal clinical handover provides a good picture of the background clinical history and current state of clinical management of a group of patients cared for by a nurs-ing team. However, all this valuable verbal information is lost after three con-secutive shifts if no notes are taken during handover. When traditional note-taking by hand occurs, less than a third of data is transferred correctly after …

Web 2.0 Adoption And User Characteristics, Jennifer Allyson Dooley, Sandra C. Jones, Donald C. Iverson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

A literature review and online search were conducted to document the rate of Web 2.0 adoption and to profile user characteristics. Substantial increases over time in reach and growth of the Internet and Web 2.0 by geography, technology, and age were found. Usage of the Internet, blogging, wikis, video sharing, and social networking demonstrates initially high rates among teens and young adults; recent shifts suggest older age categories are now also using Web 2.0. Internet users engage in Web 2.0 for various reasons, such as to seek or create news, entertainment, and even health information. Findings illustrate the potential for …

Creative Unit And Lesson Planning Through A Thematic/Integrated Approach To Teaching Games For Understanding (Tgfu), Paul I. Webb, Philip J. Pearson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) approach developed by Bunker and Thorpe (1982) involves a different approach to the traditional/technical model of teaching of games. The focus of the model is placing the student or athlete in a game situation where tactics, decision-making and problem solving is critical. The purpose of this paper is to explore a model for unit and lesson planning used for pre-service Physical and Health Education students at an Australian University as part of the movement studies subjects. These subjects included invasion, striking/ fielding, target and net/court games. This paper extends Webb and Pearson's (2008) previous …

Physical Activity During School Recess: A Systematic Review, Nicola D. Ridgers, Jo Salmon, Anne-Maree Parrish, Rebecca M. Stanley, Anthony D. Okely

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Context: Interest has increased in examining the physical activity levels of young people during school recess. Identifying correlates of their recess physical activity behaviors is timely, and would inform school-based physical activity programming and intervention development. The review examined the correlates of children's and adolescent's physical activity during school recess periods. Evidence acquisition: Asystematicsearchofsixelectronicdatabases,referencelists,andpersonal archives identified 53 studies (47 focused on children) published between January 1990 and April 2011 that met the inclusion criteria. Data were analyzed in 2011. Correlates were categorized using the social-ecological framework. Evidence synthesis: Forty-four variables were identified across the four levels of the social- ecological …