List of Titles

DSM-IV AD/HD symptoms: Prevalence, gender and age differences, and construct validity of parent and teacher ratings of Malaysian children

- Hafetz, Nina

Authors: Hafetz, Nina
Date: 2007
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text:
Description: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) is marked by deficits in attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). The current DSM-IV conceptualisation of AD/HD as comprising of separate, but related, Inattention (IA) and Hyperactivity/Impulsivity (H/I) dimensions have been supported in confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) studies. Despite being one of the most extensively studied childhood disorder, there is a lack of research on AD/HD in non-western populations. Research on AD/HD in Asian countries, particularly, is limited. To date, no study has comprehensively investigated the characteristics of AD/HD in a Malaysian sample. The current study had 4 major aims. The first aim of the study was to investigate how the IA and H/I symptoms groups vary by age, gender, and age by gender interaction. The second aim of the study was to obtain prevalence rates of DSM-IV AD/HD and the three subtypes (i.e., Predominantly Inattentive Type, AD/HD-IA; Predominantly Hyperactive/Impulsive Type, AD/HD-H/I; and Combined Type, AD/HD-C) within this population. This was examined for boys and girls separately, and together. The third aim of the study was to investigate the internal validity of DSM-IV AD/HD using single source confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), while the fourth aim of the study was to examine trait, source and error variance of the AD/HD symptoms using the CFA multitrait (IA and H/I) by multisource (parent and teacher) approach (CFA MT-MS). All the CFA and CFA MT-MS analyses were conducted separately for boys and girls and used scores recoded via the binary method, as opposed to the ordinal scoring method. The sample consisted of 934 Malaysian schoolchildren aged 6-12 years (436 boys: mean age 8.86 years; and 498 girls: mean age 9.02 years) [...] There was more source than trait variance for parent rated H/I and teacher rated IA for girls. Unique to the current study is the use of binary as opposed to ordinal data to run the CFA and MTMS analysis. The implications of the findings for the conceptualisation, assessment, treatment, psychometric properties of AD/HD rating scales and the recognition of AD/HD in the Malaysian population are discussed. Suggestions for future research are offered.
Description: Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)

Quick View

Toxicity of opal Australian paper weak black liquors towards actinobacillus succinogenes 130Z

- Halder, Dibyadeep

Authors: Halder, Dibyadeep
Date: 2022
Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
Full Text:
Description: The objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of Opal Australian Paper’s (AP’s) waste streams as a potential substrate for biomanufacturing. Three low-value process streams were included in this study: Continuous Kraft Mill (CKM) weak black liquor (WBL), Neutral Sulphite Semi-Chemical (NSSC) WBL and WBL extracted from NSSC clean-pulp (CP). The primary focus of the study was to determine the chemical composition and extent of toxicity of these WBLs towards Actinobacillus succinogenes 130Z. This genetically engineered bacterium can produce a valuable platform chemical, succinic acid, using various carbohydrate sources. This project sought to increase knowledge of AP’s WBL and its suitability as a biomanufacturing substrate. Literature has been reviewed on various pre-treatment pathways for this waste stream, A. succinogenes 130Z and its effectiveness on producing succinic acid, and the analytical techniques that have been used to answer the project objectives. The effectiveness of pre-treating the NSSC and CP WBLs was measured using the following characteristics: (a) the colour content (specific absorbance) using UV-Vis spectroscopy, (b) indicative yields of several organic constituents through pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy, (c) the atomic H/C and S/C ratios using an elemental analysis and (d) toxicity of the samples using a combination of semi-quantitative (plating trials) and quantitative (determination of minimum bactericidal concentration) techniques. The impact of an additional pre-treatment step of granular activated carbon for NSSC WBL was also researched here. InfraRed spectroscopy and toxicity analysis helped to conclude that CKM WBL is extremely toxic to Actinobacillus succinogenes 130Z and contained negligible amounts of residual sugar units. Characterising the NSSC and CP WBLs at the molecular level revealed the untreated WBLs are rich in lignin-derived methoxyphenols (up to 160 mg/kg) and contained low concentrations of elemental sulphur (up to approx. 1 mg/kg). Infra-red spectroscopy and gas chromatography indicated that the fermentable sugars in the WBLs were very low (< 1.2 mg/kg) even after pre-treatment. Both methoxyphenols and sulphur are known to be toxic to many bacteria and A. succinogenes 130Z could not tolerate more than 0.45 mg/ml (db, dry basis) and 0.78 mg/ml (db) of NSSC and CP WBLs respectively. Employing Amberlite® XAD7HP resins to pre-treat the NSSC and CP WBLs reduced their toxicity 2- to 5-fold, enabling the bacterium to survive in about 2.5 mg/ml (db) and 1 mg/ml (db) of NSSC and CP WBLs respectively. One possible reason for this is the significant reduction in lignin content afforded by this pre-treatment technique. These results conclude that AP’s WBLs are toxic and need to undergo pre-treatment prior to utilisation as a substrate for succinic acid production via fermentation.
Description: Masters by Research

Quick View

Framed by reconciliation : Reading cross-cultural space in early twenty-first century Australian literature

- Hall, Demelza

Authors: Hall, Demelza
Date: 2015
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text:
Description: This thesis analyses literary works by Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian writers, focussing on the production and function of space in scenes of constructive cross-cultural interaction. All of the novels examined can be read as pedagogies of reconciliation due to their engagement with – and subversion of – the goals, processes, issues, and outcomes of the 1990s reconciliation movement. Yet, while these texts are all broadly framed by reconciliation, this thesis argues that it is their commitment to reimagining spaces of home which marks them as particularly productive reconciliatory pedagogies. One of the primary assertions of this thesis is that for reconciliatory discourses to become useful pedagogies – to educate and inspire and connect people, rather than just inform and unsettle – they need to create spaces of hope. Home became a contested site during the reconciliation years, with processes of historical revisioning and reports such as Bringing Them Home forcing a reconsideration of what it might actually mean to be at home. By moving away from traditional domestic spaces and staid conceptions of dwelling, these narratives attempt to heterogeneously reconfigure notions of home and nation. This thesis is organised around specific spaces and spatial metaphors, and the critical paradigms informing them. Chapter 2, for example, examines ways in which the metaphor of ‘the Gap’ structures ideas of intercultural exchange in reconciliatory discourse and postcolonial criticism. Chapter 3 – which analyses Kate Grenville’s The Secret River and Vivienne Cleven’s Her Sister’s Eye – focusses on the space of the colonial homestead and how it is used to frame notions of impasse, or unbelonging. Chapter 4 examines a series of “interspaces” and how “dwelling-in-motion” frames cross-cultural transformation in Alex Miller’s Journey to the Stone Country, Gail Jones’s Sorry and Alexis Wright’s Carpentaria. Moving away from traditional conceptions of home, Chapter 5 analyses how heterotopic spaces are deployed to frame scenes of exile in Alexis Wright’s Carpentaria, Tim Winton’s Dirt Music and Richard Flanagan’s Gould’s Book of Fish. Chapter 6 explores how conceptions of being in country frame notions of belonging and well-being in Alex Miller’s Landscape of Farewell and Kim Scott’s That Deadman Dance. Finally, in conclusion, Chapter 7 suggests that spaces of hope can emerge in reconciliatory discourses when home, like nation, is recognised as a site of entanglement.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Quick View

Patricia Violet Slater : a remarkable leader in the nursing profession in changing times

- Hamilton, Helen

Authors: Hamilton, Helen
Date: 2021
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text:
Description: Patricia Slater opposed the entrenched traditional system of educating nurses in hospital programs and, in the years 1960-1983, she was an advocate and activist for tertiary level ducation for nurses in the general education system. Ms Slater’s educational expertise and unique position in nursing affairs, positioned her to progress nursing education at both undergraduate (basic) and graduate (post basic) levels and to take a leading role in the reform of nursing education. In this biographical account of Ms Slater’s professional life, her contribution as a pioneer and key player in the late twentieth century radical reform of nursing education, is distinguished from the collective activity of the nursing profession. The 1950s-1970s, highlighted many shortcomings in nursing practice drawing attention to the inadequacy of the contemporary preparation of nursing students. The traditional nursing education system, couched as it was in the cultural ethos of nineteenth century and rule driven, is identified as a major contributing factor to the apparent stasis in educational growth and development in Nursing. Social, cultural and political ideologies, to which the nursing profession was subject, worked to constrain and contain the profession, contributing to the apparent powerlessness of the profession to readily adjust and rectify its position. Chief among these influences was firstly, the domination and control of the medical profession over the health system and all health matters. Secondly, paternalism, that kept women in society and in the workforce subordinate to men. Thus nurses, being mostly female, were also professionally subordinated in the workplace being subject to medical control and direction. Thirdly, the Nightingale legacy of discipline and obedience in combination with the apprenticeship model of nurse education and the hierarchical organisation of nursing work, combined to encourage passive and conservative traits in nursing students that persisted over time. Ms Slater returned from nursing studies in America in 1960 with a vision as to how the nursing profession in Australia could advance and prepare nurses able to carry the profession forward, to determine the role and function of the nurse and the education required to develop nursing students at all levels. It would not be until the 1970s that sufficient numbers of nurses were ready to support the radical solution that Slater advocated, the transfer of nursing education into the general education system. Achieving this aim drew support from leading nursing organisations and the profession’s collective effort, sustained for over a decade, ultimately proved successful. Ms Slater’s thinking on nursing education, her vision for the nursing profession’s future, her philosophy and values in respect of Nursing, are drawn from her published work and some unpublished papers. Finding little to give insight into her personal reactions to events in her professional life, I approached individuals who had worked with Ms Slater ranging in time from approximately 2-12 years. Sixteen individuals were interviewed to gain their perspectives on events and their views and perceptions of Ms Slater: all but four were former employees. Interviews were taped verbatim, transcribed and reviewed by participants, all of whom agreed to be identified in the study. The official records of the College of Nursing, Australia and the then Royal Australian Nursing Federation, provided further primary source material together with the many reports of inquiries into nursing education. A diverse range of material was used to place Ms Slater’s life and the Nursing profession as a whole, in the social, cultural and political context of the times. Nursing in Australia was compared with like countries in the same time period. It was established that all were facing similar problems for much the same reasons. Patricia Slater’s leadership and expertise, were essential components in the successful achievement of tertiary level education for nurses. As a result, in the years 1984-1994, the nursing profession moved from a skilled craft towards becoming a knowledge based discipline, the equal of other health professions. The change in nurse education at that time, was as radical as that introduced to Australia by the Nightingale nurses in 1860s, in that the position and status of nurses and Nursing was radically changed on both occasions. The story of one of the most important Australian nurse leaders of the twentieth century is related for the first time in this work.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Quick View

Misogynology and the impossibility of dwelling

- Hammond, Richard

Authors: Hammond, Richard
Date: 2017
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text:
Description: For Martin Heidegger, the essence of technology—Ge-stell—is a framing and ordering of the world that valorises instrumental-calculative thinking at the direct expense of other forms of thought. As being-in-the-world—a notion that the later Heidegger would re-interpret as belonging-to Being as the mortal of the fourfold—human being is given over to the logos of framing and ordering: technology. In the technological age, human being is ordered into an inauthentic relationship with itself, its environment, and with Being itself. Yet the gatheringsaying of the modern logos is more than a framing of the cosmos into standing reserve, it is also a peculiarly gendered framing of human being. In this thesis I claim that while Heidegger was oblivious to the inherently masculinist aspect of the Western tradition, his thought provides an effective theoretical basis to interrogate invisible systemic gender inequality. In order to demonstrate this I develop an account of Heidegger’s critique of technology by tracing the origins of the critique from Heidegger’s early thinking in Being and Time onwards. This genealogical approach demonstrates the centrality of Heidegger’s critique of technology to his broader project, and facilitates an exploration of the fourfold as a heuristic from which an originary sense of Being (as dwelling) can emerge. By employing Heidegger’s critique of technology to highlight the metaphysical assumptions that frame mainstream debates on pornography, I demonstrate that the pornification of popular culture—now largely synonymous with rape culture—can be interpreted as a significant aspect of the logos of Ge-stell. I argue that rather than remain the purview of masculine privilege, the seeming impossibility of dwelling in the modern age reveals the techno-misogynological framing of Ge-stell.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Quick View

A good sheep run. Letters from New South Wales in Scottish newspapers between 1820 and 1850 with potential to influence decisions on emigration

- Hannaford, Graham

Authors: Hannaford, Graham
Date: 2020
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text:
Description: The primary aim of this thesis is to contribute to ongoing historical research into migration to and settlement in Australia by Scots. It achieves this by identifying and examining letters sent from the colonies in New South Wales which were printed in historic Scottish newspapers between 1820 and 1850. In examining the material, this thesis argues that the letters had potential to influence emigration decisions by Scots. The study shows some of the ways in which New South Wales was reported in the Scottish press and compares those reports with conditions in Scotland at the time. The comparisons and analyses of the letters, with consideration of their authors and likely readers as well as the newspapers in which they were printed demonstrate that the letters did have potential to influence emigration decisions. Its particular contribution to knowledge arises from demonstrating how mostly private letters which became publicly available through publication in newspapers had potential to influence emigrants’ decisions about moving to Australia. Rather than claiming direct evidence of the publication of particular letters as having influenced emigration, it shows how reporting of conditions in Australia when set into a context of contemporary events and conditions in Scotland had potential to influence decisions. It is grounded in the body of historical research about colonial Australia and sits within this Australian historiographical context. Given the motivations and attractions of Scots to colonial Australia this thesis also engages with techniques and theoretical approaches associated with Scottish diaspora studies, an area of research that often emphasises other Scottish migration patterns to Canada, New Zealand and the USA. When considered together both of these historiographical approaches lend themselves to primary source material analysis and a methodological approach that this doctoral study uses to examine the motivations of Scots who migrated to colonial Australia.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Quick View

Fraud detection for online banking for scalable and distributed data

- Haq, Ikram

Authors: Haq, Ikram
Date: 2020
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text:
Description: Online fraud causes billions of dollars in losses for banks. Therefore, online banking fraud detection is an important field of study. However, there are many challenges in conducting research in fraud detection. One of the constraints is due to unavailability of bank datasets for research or the required characteristics of the attributes of the data are not available. Numeric data usually provides better performance for machine learning algorithms. Most transaction data however have categorical, or nominal features as well. Moreover, some platforms such as Apache Spark only recognizes numeric data. So, there is a need to use techniques e.g. One-hot encoding (OHE) to transform categorical features to numerical features, however OHE has challenges including the sparseness of transformed data and that the distinct values of an attribute are not always known in advance. Efficient feature engineering can improve the algorithm’s performance but usually requires detailed domain knowledge to identify correct features. Techniques like Ripple Down Rules (RDR) are suitable for fraud detection because of their low maintenance and incremental learning features. However, high classification accuracy on mixed datasets, especially for scalable data is challenging. Evaluation of RDR on distributed platforms is also challenging as it is not available on these platforms. The thesis proposes the following solutions to these challenges: • We developed a technique Highly Correlated Rule Based Uniformly Distribution (HCRUD) to generate highly correlated rule-based uniformly-distributed synthetic data. • We developed a technique One-hot Encoded Extended Compact (OHE-EC) to transform categorical features to numeric features by compacting sparse-data even if all distinct values are unknown. • We developed a technique Feature Engineering and Compact Unified Expressions (FECUE) to improve model efficiency through feature engineering where the domain of the data is not known in advance. • A Unified Expression RDR fraud deduction technique (UE-RDR) for Big data has been proposed and evaluated on the Spark platform. Empirical tests were executed on multi-node Hadoop cluster using well-known classifiers on bank data, synthetic bank datasets and publicly available datasets from UCI repository. These evaluations demonstrated substantial improvements in terms of classification accuracy, ruleset compactness and execution speed.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Quick View

An Australian Rules for radicals? Community activism and genuine empowerment

- Harrison, Tim

Authors: Harrison, Tim
Date: 2015
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text:
Description: This thesis seeks to develop a critical understanding of the impact of a particular Community Renewal project on the residents. The Wendouree West Community Renewal was part of a broader Victorian state government intervention, Neighbourhood Renewal, which worked ‘on’ communities identified as disadvantaged. The study investigated the experiences of key residents, along with those of the author, during the period 2001-2013. The main contention is that Wendouree West Community Renewal project colluded with the welfare sector to impose a hegemonic and alien set of understandings on the community. This study is passionate; it takes a stance that is unashamedly political, ideological and partisan. Its key premise is that government interventions of this kind are damaging to communities like the one investigated. The Wendouree West experience promoted a three-fold residualisation: at the level of a ‘breaking down’ of local economies; an undermining of formal and informal education at a community level; and a manipulation of understandings of place, belonging and community that resulted in the imposition of a fake ’aspirational community’ in Wendouree West. The impact of this three-fold residualisation was a deep stigmatisation of Wendouree West as a ‘non-place’ (Auge, 2008), enabling its ultimate ghettoisation, both within the broader context of the regional city of which Wendouree West forms a small part, and within the understandings of residents themselves. This thesis represents struggle at a number of levels: the struggle of the residents to push back against a hegemonic intervention; the struggle of a scholar to make sense of his own role within the action; and the struggle of how to represent the residents’ stories in ways that are powerful and ‘truthful’ within the context of a PhD thesis. ii The ‘critical hope’ of this work is that the residents are able to push back against this program through acts of resistance and that community organising, in the style of the American radical Saul Alinsky, may represent a possible longer term means for empowerment and self-determination.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Quick View

Tropical cyclone prediction for the Solomon Islands region

- Haruhiru, Alick

Authors: Haruhiru, Alick
Date: 2023
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text:
Description: Tropical cyclones (TCs) are among the costliest natural disasters impacting the Solomon Islands in the southwest Pacific due to its high vulnerability and low adaptive capacity to the hazard. Strong winds coupled with heavy rainfall often have devastating consequences on life and property. Occurrence of TCs in the Solomon Islands region – defined here as 5°–15°S and 155°–170°E – have large year-to-year variability over the period 1970-2019, ranging from TC numbers as low as zero to up to eight in some years. Geographically, the region spans the spatial phase change of the major climatic driver in the South Pacific, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and so the year-to-year variability of TCs here do not have any defined pattern. This creates a ‘predictability barrier’ for seasonal (and even sub-seasonal) prediction of TCs in the region. To circumvent the issue of TC predictability in the Solomon Islands region, I first objectively defined the total observed TCs into three specific clusters. Cluster-specific TCs showed improved patterns of variability with respect to natural modes of climate variability such as ENSO, the Madden Julian Oscillations (MJO) and Interdecadal Pacific Oscillations (IPO). I then developed sophisticated statistical prediction models for TCs in each cluster at seasonal and sub-seasonal timescales using ENSO, the MJO and IPO as main predictors. Overall, the results showed enhanced predictability skills of TCs up to several months in advance compared with methods that are currently being used by the Solomon Islands Meteorological Service. It is anticipated that improved seasonal and sub-seasonal predictions of TCs at various timescales can help disaster management agencies in the Solomon Islands with appropriate plannings and decision-making to lessen risks associated with TC events.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Quick View

Investigating the configuration of a flight training device for visual flight rules navigation

- Harvey, William

Authors: Harvey, William
Date: 2020
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text:
Description: The acquisition of pilot navigational skills utilising visual landmarks is a crucial skill that is required as part of Visual Flight Rules navigation towards obtaining a Private Pilot License. Due to the high cost of pilot training simulators, industry has identified a need for research in efficient utilisation of low-end, low cost personal compute flight simulators to assist in developing pilot skills. Analysis of the effectiveness of the use of such personal computer simulators depend on proper configuration determined by measurable errors to define simulator fidelity. To date, research has shown that the configuration of these simulators appears to have been done in an ad-hoc fashion and not in a scientific fashion. Therefore, the problem that needed to be solved was how to effectively configure such simulators. This thesis research attempted to solve this problem and present the process for effectively configuring a personal computer simulator, or flight training device, capable of successful Visual Flight Rules navigation. The simulator was configurated utilising a process that followed an interpretation of the Design Science research method, and an error correction model to determine the errors in the simulator configuration. This was done by comparing two probability distributions to measure the maximum error variable distance in order to configure a simulator suitable for the acquisition of Visual Flight Rules navigation piloting skills required for obtaining a Private Pilot Licence in Australia. This error identification method was then used to indicate simulator configuration efficiency and fidelity in order to achieve a minimum suitable configuration and setup. Further application of the findings of this research could potentially lead to the configuration of different types of non-aviation simulators, in particular Part-Task-Trainers and other training devices, including Virtual Reality Augmented Reality devices utilising various types of platforms such as Windows, Apple, and Android.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Quick View

Optimality conditions for nonsmooth optimization problems via generalised derivatives

- Hassani, Sara

Authors: Hassani, Sara
Date: 2016
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text:
Description: Aquatic plants are integral components of freshwater ecosystems and provide essential ecosystem services. However, when invasive species establish in new aquatic environments, there are few natural checks and balances to inhibit their growth and spread. Overabundant aquatic vegetation can harm aquatic systems if left unchecked and negatively impact on agricultural productivity, social amenity and biodiversity values. Prevention and early intervention are recognised as the most cost effective means to manage invasive species that pose a biosecurity risk. This thesis contributes to the development of effective management strategies for one of the world’s most invasive aquatic plant species, known as alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb.). It focusses on developing management strategies in an early stage of invasion, in order to achieve extirpation of this species from catchments and waterways. Developing effective detection and surveillance strategies are required for invasive aquatic plants, as a key impediment to achieving extirpation is the ability to detect infestations, so that control strategies can be enacted. This thesis investigates the effectiveness of aerial surveillance for detection of alligator weed at different spatial scales, using high altitude aerial imagery (orthophotos) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology. An examination of the growth rate of alligator weed in Victoria, Australia, over a five year period, demonstrates the effective use of orthophotos to detect and monitor large infestations of aquatic alligator weed. The efficacy of unmanned aerial vehicle technology, including the use of automated algorithms, to detect patches of alligator weed growing in waterways is evaluated against current detection techniques. Effective management of invasive aquatic plants targeted for extirpation requires the coupling of effective detection and control efforts to prevent reproduction. To date, development of control strategies for aquatic alligator weed has been limited to evaluating the efficacy of short-term control at a local scale without regard to the effects of management strategies on dispersal of propagules throughout catchments. This thesis determines that viable alligator weed stem fragments are produced following herbicide application, which comprises extirpation efforts. This thesis has gone further than current practice in that it has evaluated the efficacy of current and novel control techniques, in both laboratory and field trials and has developed methods to manage viable fragment production post-herbicide application, to limit dispersal throughout catchments. In this respect, the application of the herbicides glyphosate, metsulfuron-methyl and imazapyr, and their effectiveness when incorporating surfactant systems and plant growth regulators, have been evaluated in field and laboratory studies to optimise control techniques for aquatic alligator weed. Results have shown that our approaches, when used in an early stage of invasion, are capable of eliminating patches of alligator weed in two to three years. Integral to the research is an experiment to determine the effect of herbicide treatments on the production of alligator weed stem fragments and their subsequent viability. Further investigation to determine the usefulness of commercially available plant growth regulators (PGRs) to reduce the number of viable propagules produced by alligator weed post-herbicide application was found to be ineffective. This thesis also evaluates the impact of herbicides and surfactant systems, on all key alligator weed response metrics in aquatic environments including; above ground biomass, below ground biomass and viable stem fragmentation. No previous studies have looked simultaneously at these three important measures for determining the efficacy of a particular control regime, and we have determined that this is essential for effective management of aquatic alligator weed in an early stage of invasion. The thesis has underscored the notion that development of more effective management strategies, based upon experimental trials, will result in an increased likelihood of eradicating invasive aquatic plants that pose a biosecurity risk, and thus move toward the mitigation of the threat that high-risk species pose to aquatic ecosystems. PLEASE NOTE: Portions of the full text have been removed due to copyright restrictions.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Quick View

Enculturated beliefs: A grounded theory inquiry into club rugby coaching in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand

- Hassanin, Remy

Authors: Hassanin, Remy
Date: 2015
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text:
Description: Due to the enduring positivist assumptions underpinning them, coach education programs typically have overlooked the importance of experience as a powerful influence for developing as a sports coach Despite growing recognition of the links between past experience and current coaching pedagogy, little empirical research has focused precisely on how lived experience influences coaching beliefs or practices. Using a constructivist grounded theory methodology, this study investigated the influence of culture on coaching beliefs and how these manifest in the discourse of coaching in a site-specific context. It further examined how beliefs of coaching develop from the experience of playing and coaching in three different countries. Interviews, completed with coaches in the highest levels of club competition m Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, provided the primary data source. Findings demonstrated that beliefs about coaching are profoundly shaped by participation in the practices of rugby as players, and then coaches, in local cultures. The results identified unique differences across the sites of study. These differences were intimately linked with the cultural context within which each coach learned to play and coach Briefly, the Australian coaches valued decision-making and had strong views of rugby as entertainment; the South African coaches prioritised respect and authority; and the New Zealand coaches cherished humility and sense of belonging. . Despite the unique characteristics of each of the coach's beliefs, the notion of rugby as a vehicle for developing character, and teaching moral lessons rooted in the nineteenth century schools of the rising English middle classes, formed a powerful influence across all sites. The coaches' local ised bel iefs interacted with, and were shaped by, the remarkbly resilient global discourse of the " amateur ideal" and it's associated values. Its influence was, however, distinct at each site. The findings indicate that coaches' beliefs adapted to, and were moulded by, local cultural contexts and a broader national ethos resulting in discrete differences in each context on coaches' development of beliefs about coaching , while highlighting the complex and dynamic ways in which local and global cultures interact. As a result of thes interaction, unique conditions are created , manifesting in indvidua; discourse and beliefs about rugby coaching.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Quick View

Developing chiropractic students clinical practice skills - elements of best practice : a qualitative exploratory descriptive study

- Haworth, Navine

Authors: Haworth, Navine
Date: 2021
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text:
Description: Background Although chiropractic has 125 years as an established profession, scrutiny of the literature proves that few studies have examined the clinical education of chiropractic students with a call for research from academics. This thesis is significant as it develops knowledge that can inform chiropractic bodies and help them improve an essential component of chiropractic education: clinical skill development. Research Purpose and Aims The purpose of this study was to identify elements of best practices in clinical education by critically examining, exploring and describing the aspects of an exemplar chiropractic clinical program that develops students’ clinical practice skills for transition into practice. This study explored the innovative clinical program of a reputable American chiropractic institution providing a scaffolded clinical program across varied clinical settings, patient populations and amongst other health disciplines. Research Design A six-phase exploratory descriptive qualitative design (EDQD) study was conducted to explore and describe the phenomenon being examined (Flick, 2014). This design enabled the collection of information about perceptions and lived experiences of three stakeholder cohorts: clinical faculty members, students and new graduates. Methods Purposive sampling (of students and clinical faculty members) and snowball sampling techniques (of new graduates) were used to derive the sample. Data were collected in three cycles across a two-year period using in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Interviews were conducted with 15 clinical faculty members and eight new graduates, and semi-structured focus groups were conducted with 20 students. All data were audio recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed using an inductive approach. Findings Chiropractic clinical education programs ought to be developed within a framework that incorporates adult learner principles; situated, social and experiential learning theories. Valued was a student-centred learning experience that includes authentic and diverse clinical placements, supervision and mentoring from multiple clinical educators which enhances students’ access to varied perspectives of clinical practices that contributes to developing clinical skills and professional identity. Business knowledge and entrepreneurial skills was an area of deficiency, which is problematic when the objective is to build graduates’ independence in clinical practice and professional prospects are predominantly private practice (NBCE, 2020). Embedding evidence-based practice within curricula and clinical training for educators and students are necessary to ensure this becomes a part of clinical practice. Conclusion This thesis posits best practice in chiropractic clinical education consists of the following: (a) using a scaffolded longitudinal clinical program, (b) varying clinical placements and case mix, (c) supervision and mentoring from multiple clinical educators, (d) educating the clinical educator, (e) curricula designed around industry standards and desired graduate attributes and capabilities, (f) an evidence-based practice approach in the curricula and clinical context, (g) aligning business skills, knowledge and practices with the professional context and (h) interprofessional learning and practice opportunities. Although this study has made a contribution to scholarly discourse, there remain many gaps in our knowledge where further studies are needed.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Showing items 241 - 260 of 773