Education Commons^™

A Cross-Sectional Study Of Student Teachers' Behaviour Management Strategies Throughout Their Training Years, Stuart Woodcock, Andrea Reupert

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Despite the importance of behaviour management, many student teachers report being inadequately trained in this area. The aim of this study was to identify the strategies, confidence and reported levels of success in regard to various behaviour management strategies, across 509 first, second, third and fourth year student teachers training to be primary teachers. The most significant differences were found between first and second year student teachers in regard to their use of, and confidence in, initial and later corrective strategies, and between second and third year student teachers in terms of their use of, and confidence in, differentiating curriculum …

Does Study Of An Inclusive Education Subject Influence Pre-Service Teachers' Concerns And Self-Efficacy About Inclusion?, Stuart Woodcock, Brian Hemmings, Russell Kay

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Survey data were collected from pre-service teachers studying at a large regional Australian university. These data were examined with the purpose of determining whether pre-service teachers' views (and concerns) about inclusion and their confidence to teach in inclusive classrooms had changed as a result of studying an inclusive education subject and undertaking a practicum linked to that subject. The results of an analysis based on mean values indicated that the various concerns, namely, resources, acceptance, workplace, and academic standards, did not change markedly as a consequence of the subject and practicum experiences. This analysis also showed a hierarchy of concerns …

Mediators Of Weight Loss In The 'Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids' Pilot Study For Overweight Fathers, David R. Lubans, Philip J. Morgan, Clare E. Collins, Anthony D. Okely, Tracy Burrows, Robin Callister

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Background: A poor understanding of the specific lifestyle behaviors that result in weight loss has hindered the development of effective interventions. The aim of this paper was to identify potential behavioral mediators of weight loss in the Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids (HDHK) intervention for overweight fathers. Findings: The three-month intervention was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial and conducted in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Baseline, three month (immediate post-intervention) and six month assessments were conducted. Recruitment and follow-up occurred between October 2008 and May 2009. The study sample included 53 overweight/obese men [mean (± SD) age = 40.6(± 97.1) …

An Experimental Study On The Effects Of Exposure To Magazine Advertising On Children's Food Choices, Sandra C. Jones, Lisa K. Kervin

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Objective: The present study sought to determine the feasibility of an experimental research design to investigate the effects of exposure to magazine advertising on children’s food choices. Design: Children were randomized to read either a magazine with food advertisements or a magazine with no food advertisements. They then chose two food items from the intervention ‘store’ to eat after the session. Data were also collected on attitudes to advertising and snack food preferences. Finally, participants’ parents were provided with a self-completion survey on food choices and other variables (n 24). Setting: Three vacation care centres in regional New South Wales, …

Digital Natives: Everyday Life Versus Academic Study, Linda Corrin, Sue Bennett, Lori Lockyer

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Access to and use of technology by ‘digital native’ students studying in our universities has been an area of much speculation, though relatively little empirical research. This has led some pundits to call for a radical rethink of how higher education uses technology to deliver education. Others are more circumspect and think it is necessary to hear directly from these ‘digital natives’ about their actual technology practices before jumping to such conclusions. This paper reports on a study that aimed to do just that; the study comprised a survey of the technology access and practices in both everyday life and …

The Nutrition And Enjoyable Activity For Teen Girls (Neat Girls) Randomized Controlled Trial For Adolescent Girls From Disadvantaged Secondary Schools: Rationale, Study Protocol And Baseline Results, David R. Lubans, Philip J. Morgan, Deborah Dewar, Clare E. Collins, Ronald C. Plotnikoff, Anthony D. Okely, Marijka Batterham, Tara Finn, Robin Callister

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Background: Child and adolescent obesity predisposes individuals to an increased risk of morbidity and mortality from a range of lifestyle diseases. Although there is some evidence to suggest that rates of pediatric obesity have leveled off in recent years, this has not been the case among youth from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The purpose of this paper is to report the rationale, study design and baseline findings of a school-based obesity prevention program for low-active adolescent girls from disadvantaged secondary schools.

Methods/Design: The Nutrition and Enjoyable Activity for Teen Girls (NEAT Girls) intervention will be evaluated using a group randomized controlled …

Implicit Personality Theories On The Modifiability And Stability Of The Action Repertoire As A Meaningful Framework For Individual Motivation: A Cross-Cultural Study, Albert Ziegler, Marina Fidelman, Marold Reutlinger, Wilhelmina J. Vialle, Heidrun Stoeger

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The attainment of exceptional accomplishments requires extremely long periods of time. It has yet to be explained, though, how individuals find the motivation for such protracted learning. Carol Dweck proposed that an incremental theory of an individual’s abilities is an important factor in this process since it would account for the optimism needed to successfully tackle new steps in the learning process and would help an individual to cope with setbacks. This study seeks to refine Dweck’s theory. Drawing on the Actiotope Model of Giftedness, we argue that an incremental theory of an individual’s abilities should be divided into two …

Metacognitive Engagement During Field-Trip Experiences: A Case Study Of Students In An Amusement Park Physics Program, Wendy S. Nielsen, Samson Nashon, David Anderson

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper reports on a study that investigated students' metacognitive engagement of in both out-of-school and classroom settings, as they participated in an amusement park physics program. Students from two schools that participated in the program worked in groups to collectively solve novel physics problems that engaged their individual metacognition. Their conversations and behavioral dispositions during problem solving were digitally audio-recorded on devices that they wore or placed on the tables where groups worked on the assigned physics problems. The students also maintained reflection journals on the strategies they employed to manage their own understanding as well as learning processes. …

Feasibility Of An Activity Protocol For Young Children In A Whole Room Indirect Calorimeter: A Proof-Of-Concept Study, Anouk Oortwijn, Guy Plasqui, John J. Reilly, Anthony D. Okely

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of a structured activity protocol in a room calorimeter among young children. METHODS: Five healthy children (age 5.2 +/- 0.4 y) performed an activity protocol in a room calorimeter, ranging from sedentary to vigorous-intensity activities. Energy expenditure (EE) was calculated from continuous measurements of O2-consumption and CO2-production using Weir's formula. Resting EE was defined as EE during the first 30 min of the study where participants were seated while watching television. The children wore an ActiGraph accelerometer on the right and left hip. RESULTS: The protocol was well …

Constructivist-Based Learning Using Location-Aware Mobile Technology: An Exploratory Study, P. Anand, Anthony J. Herrington, Shirley Agostinho

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Mobile wireless technologies have the potential to exploit its location-awareness capabilities to engage learners in constructivist collaborative learning activities yet there is little research that explores this capability. This paper is a report of work-in-progress on an exploratory study that seeks to identify ways in which the location-awareness feature of mobile wireless devices could be used to create constructivist-based learning activities. A literature review of existing mobile learning applications suggests the potential of using location-awareness feature of mobile wireless devices for learning and teaching applications, however, little research has been done to implement such as system so far. This study …

Using Fmri To Explore Interactivity And Cognition: A Methodological Case Study, Barney Dalgarno, Gregor Kennedy, Susan J. Bennett

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Recent educational models of computer-based interactivity stress the important role of a learner’s cognition. It has been suggested that interactive learning tasks carried out in the context of an authentic, problem-based scenario will result in deeper, elaborative cognitive processing leading to greater conceptual understanding of the material presented. Research methods that have been used to investigate cognition and learning have traditionally included self-report questionnaires, focus groups, interviews and think-aloud protocols and, more recently in computer-based settings, interaction log file or ‘audit trail’ analysis. While all of these techniques help researchers understand students’ learning processes, all are limited in that they …

Nsw High School Students Construction Of Democratic Citizenship Through Language Learning: A Case Study Of Japanese Language Learning Experience, Yuko Ramzan

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This study reports on the perceptions of five high school students in NSW who have been studying Japanese language since their primary schooling. The study examines how the students construct their self and others within their Japanese language classes and how the classes contribute to citizenship education. The discussion, based on data derived from in-depth and semi-structured interviews is focused on perceptions of language learning, interculturality and citizenship education. The results suggest that language learning contributes to the students’ construction of interculturality, which in turn provides a focus for meting the students’ needs for citizenship education.

Employment Aspirations Of Newly Qualified Teachers: A Comparative Study Of Nqts From A Uk And Regional Australian University, Ted Booth, Timson Carol

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Contemporary beginning teachers have a diverse mix of ages and prior experiences and many are seeking teaching work beyond their own state or county in a rapidly changing national and international market. The aim of this descriptive comparative study is to investigate the initial and medium term employment aspirations of two cohorts of newly qualified teachers (NQTs) just prior to their entry into the teaching workforce in 2003. The two case studies are from post graduate diploma in teaching programs from a regional Australian university and a university in the Home Counties in the UK. The paper initially explores the …