Showing items 14261 - 14280 of 17118

Tackling school leaving at its Source: A case of reform in the middle years of schooling

  • Authors: Smyth, John , McInerney, Peter , Hattam, Robert
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: British journal of sociology of education Vol. 24, no. 2 (2003), p. 177-193
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  • Description: One of the most pervasive educational issues confronting Australia, and other countries, at the moment is the declining completion rates in high schools. While a period of success was experienced after the Second World War, there is now a pressing need to reform high schools in the ways they connect with young lives. In this paper, we present a 'sociology of the high school' as a way of encapsulating the high school as an institution that: is still largely stuck in a 'continuity of practice' (Elmore, 1987); has an 'attachment to familiar pedagogical routines' (Eisner, 1992); fails to listen to students; is hierarchically structured; treats students in immature ways; is hung up with passing on content; and seems more concerned with insulating itself from, rather connecting with or appropriating, young lives into the curriculum. As an alternative, we examine the notion of middle schooling that requires a version of whole school reform that engages with structures, cultures and changing pedagogy in ways more resonant with, and respectful of, young lives. We examine the tensions and dilemmas experienced at Investigator [1] High School in Australia, and conclude that the centerpiece has to be breaking the mold of the 'scripted' teacher and its replacement by the 'teacher-as-improviser'.

Teacher research and democratic educational reform

  • Authors: Lankshear, Colin , Knobel, Michele
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Mexican Journal of Educational Research Vol. 8, no. 19 (2003), p. 705-731
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  • Description: In Teachers as Researchers (2003: Ch 1), Joe Kincheloe advocates teacher research as a means by which teachers can resist and overcome a trend emanating from the United States toward domination of curriculum and pedagogy by ‘technical standards’ based on ‘expert research’ and imposed in a ‘top-down’ manner by educational administrators and policy makers. This is a trend where curriculum has become highly standardized. Teachers within the same subject areas in the same grades are required to ‘cover the same content, assign the same importance to the content they cover, and evaluate it in the same way’ regardless of the diversity of school communities, school settings, student needs and backgrounds, and so on (Marzano and Kendall 1999; Kincheloe 2003: 4). Teachers are strongly encouraged to teach to the tests that are used to measure student outcomes because schools are compared on the basis of the scores their students achieve. This regime of measuring and reporting outcomes is promoted in the name of ‘accountability,’ and is very difficult for schools to resist. On one hand, if schools do not make an effort to compete they are likely to lose students to other schools whose achievement scores impress parents/caregivers. On the other hand, if schools can show their scores are improving—by teaching more and more rigorously to the content-laden tests and enlisting parents/caregivers in this culture as overseers of student homework and preparation for tests, they can maintain and improve their enrolments.
  • Description: C1
  • Description: 2003000531

Teaching organisational theory in undergraduate management programmes : An exercise in facilitated theory testing for active experimentation

  • Authors: McEachern, Steven , Blunsdon, Betsy , Reed, Ken , McNeil, Nicola
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Further and Higher Education Vol. 27 , no. 1 (2003), p. 3-14
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  • Description: This paper argues that there is an opportunity to improve the way that social science theory is taught by introducing an exercise in facilitated theory testing through active experimentation. This paper describes a learning experience that enables students to discover the dynamic nature of theoretical discoveries. This idea is grounded in the notion that students will gain much from learning about and testing theory experientially using real world data. A data based exercise is outlined and illustrated to reveal a learning experience that provides an opportunity to improve the way social science is taught by linking theory to empirical data. We argue that this provides an opportunity to offer a more holistic learning experience for theory teaching. The paper will be of special interest to those teaching theory in management, commerce, business and organisational studies courses. It will also be of interest to a more general audience because it provides a framework that can be modified whenever forging a connection between theory and ‘the real world’ is a primary learning objective.
  • Description: C1
  • Description: 2003000605

Tertiary Undergraduate Literacy Integration Program (TULIP) : An innovative approach to tertiary teaching and learning

  • Authors: Cartwright, Patricia , Noone, Lynne
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: Paper presented at Seventh Pacific Rim - First Year in Higher Education Conference: Enhancing Transition to Higher Education: Strategies and Policies that Work, Brisbane, Queensland : 9th - 11th July, 2003
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  • Description: Increased access to university by students with different backgrounds and capabilities from those in the past has posed, and continues to pose, dilemmas for lecturers who seek effective ways of addressing the challenge of undergraduate literacy and learning. To this end, we have been engaged on a Committee for University Teaching and Staff Development (CUTSD) funded program that we call TULIP (Tertiary Undergraduate Literacy Integration Program) which focuses on the integration of tertiary literacy within content teaching as a means of enhancing student literacy. The broad aim of the TULIP Project was to build on collaborative and reflective teaching and learning partnerships between lecturers and students, between lecturers across two universities, and between lecturers in disparate disciplines. The project developed, trialed and evaluated a suite of learner-centred literacy strategies that comprise the TULIP Resource Kit which foregrounds the embeddedness of tertiary literacy within content teaching.
  • Description: 2003000500

The adoption of ICT by SMEs in Australia

The adoption of security technologies by SMEs in Australia

The agenda for change among female rural general practitioners

  • Authors: Schwarz, Imogen
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: Paper presented at the 7th National Rural Health Conference, Canberra : 1st - 4th March, 2003
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  • Description: This paper presents the preliminary results of a qualitative study examining the agenda for change being pursued by key influential women in Australia to address male-centred rural general practitioner (GP) workforce policies. Many current recruitment and retention programs do not reflect the needs of female GPs as they are based on the traditional notions of a country GP — that is a full-time, on call doctor with a supporting spouse. As women become the majority in medicine, key women influentials in the rural general practice field are advocating for the restructuring of medicine so that women GPs can be part of the solution to rural health care issues. Previous empirical research and theoretical analyses have suggested that medicine and rural communities are patriarchal. To date data collection for this explorative study consists of 5 in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of key women activists across the spectrum of organised medicine. Preliminary results show how women are pressuring for change but also the sources of resistance they encounter from the dominant medical culture. Key women players use particular collective and individual strategies to advocate for female GP issues. These results reflect some research findings on women leaders and female rural GPs. In conclusion, it is important that women are given equal access to decision-making positions to enable their input into the structure and culture of rural general practice. The recommendation put forward is to build inclusive recruitment and retention rural workforce strategies for female rural GPs.
  • Description: E1
  • Description: 2003000514

The attitudes of Australian heterosexuals to same-sex parenting

  • Authors: Marchesani, Charmaine
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
  • Full Text: false
  • Description: Master of Applied Science

The challenge of digital epistemologies

  • Authors: Lankshear, Colin
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Education, Communication and Information Vol. 3, no. 2 (2003), p. 167-186
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  • Description: This article identifies a range of changes associated with intensified digitization of daily life that require us to rethink what it means for people to know things and what kinds of things it may be most important to know. In short, we need digital epistemologies. The argument focuses on four key dimensions of change that have epistemological significance. These are 'changes in the world to be known', 'changes in conceptions of knowledge and processes of coming to know things', 'changes in the nature of knowers,' and 'changes in the relative significance of different modes of knowing.' Concrete everyday examples are provided for each dimension of change. On the basis of these examples and the arguments constructed around them it is concluded that conventional epistemology faces serious challenges. These challenges in turn have far-reaching implications for contemporary educational practice and educational research.
  • Description: C1
  • Description: 2003000456

The construct validity of DSM-IV AD/HD symptoms in Australian adolescents : a confirmatory factor analysis multitrait-multisource approach

  • Authors: Smith, Felicity
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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  • Description: Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)

The construct validity of DSM-IV attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

  • Authors: Tallent, Ron
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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  • Description: "This study examined the internal (Study 1) and external (Study 2) validity of DSM-IV ADHD using children with primary ADHD diagnosis." -- abstract.
  • Description: Doctor of Philosophy

The development of employability skills in novice workers through employment

  • Authors: Smith, Erica , Comyn, Paul
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Generic skills in vocational education and training: Research readings Chapter p. 95-108
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  • Description: This report focusses on employability skills that young people entering work for the first time, or novice workers, need. It examines the nature of the skills that employers seek when recruiting young people and the processes and techniques which can be used in the workplace to develop these skills. The report synthesises the findings of a comprehensive literature review and 12 case studies.
  • Description: 2003007585

The development of the specialist accounting history literature in the English language : An analysis by gender

  • Authors: Carnegie, Garry , Potter, Brad , McWatters, Cheryl
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal Vol. 16, no. 2 (2003), p. 186-207
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  • Description: This study focusses on the participation of women in the development of the specialist international accounting history literature. Based on an examination of the three specialist, internationally refereed, accounting history journals in the English language from the time of first publication in each case to the year 2000, the study provides evidence of the involvement of women through publication and also through their membership of editorial boards and editorial advisory boards. In doing so, the study builds on the earlier work of Carnegie and Potter in 2000 and aims to augment our understanding of publishing patterns in the specialist international accounting history literature.
  • Description: C1
  • Description: 2003002507

The digital divide : Differences in computer use between home and school in low socio-economic households

  • Authors: Angus, Lawrence , Sutherland-Smith, Wendy , Snyder, Ilana
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Educational Studies in Language and Literature Vol. 3, no. (2003), p. 5-19
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  • Description: This article examines information and communication technologies (ICTs) practices in the home and school settings of four disadvantaged families. It reports the findings of a year-long study that investigated the nexus between computer-mediated literacy practices at home and at school and whether this inter-connectivity could make a difference in school success. The findings indicate that there was disjunction between home and school use. The ``digital divide'' exists for the families of this study, not in terms of access but in the gap between ICT practices at home and school. Schools in this study did not integrate ICT skills learned and demonstrated in the home environment into ICT practices at school. The study concludes that constructing pedagogical connections between home and school ICT practices may begin to bridge the ``digital divide''.
  • Description: C1
  • Description: 2003000427

The discrete gradient evolutionary strategy method for global optimization

  • Authors: Abbas, Hussein , Bagirov, Adil , Zhang, Jiapu
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: Paper presented at the Congress on Evolutionary Computation CEC 2003, Canberra : 8th December, 2003
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  • Description: Global optimization problems continue to be a challenge in computational mathematics. The field is progressing in two streams: deterministic and heuristic approaches. In this paper, we present a hybrid method that uses the discrete gradient method, which is a derivative free local search method, and evolutionary strategies. We show that the hybridization of the two methods is better than each of them in isolation.
  • Description: E1
  • Description: 2003000440

The due process of accounting standard setting in Australia : the case of AAS27 : financial reporting by local governments

  • Authors: Hurst, Gavin
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Thesis , DBA
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  • Description: "This study enquires into the accounting standard system in Australia and questions the appropriateness of its core democratic participatory vehicle, the due process. In doing so it highlights issues associated with self-regulating authorities and their policy making practices. The study is pertinent to the extent it reviews a major paradigm shift within the Australian public sector and more specifically local government financial reporting. Spanning the course of three decades it examines the reasons for such a paradigm shift, the major actors involved, the actual changes made and the effectiveness of those changes."
  • Description: Doctor of Business Administration

The effect of a resistance training programme on the grab, track and swing starts in swimming

  • Authors: Breed, Ray , Young, Warren
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Sports Sciences Vol. 21, no. 3 (2003), p. 213-220
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  • Description: The aim of this study was to establish the effectiveness of a resistance training programme, designed to improve vertical jumping ability, on the grab, swing and rear-weighted track starts in swimming. Twenty-three female non-competitive swimmers participated (age 19.9±2.4 years; mean±s). The diving techniques were practised weekly for 8 weeks. The participants were randomly assigned to a control group (n = 11) or a resistance-training group (n = 12), which trained three times a week for 9 weeks. The tests before and after the training programme involved performing each dive technique and six dry-land tests: two countermovement jumps (with and without arms), two isokinetic squats (bar speeds of 0.44 and 0.70 rad.s-1) and two overhead throws (with and without back extension). A repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance was used to show that resistance training improved performance in the dry-land tests (P < 0.0001). No significant improvements due to training were found for any temporal, kinematic or kinetic variables within the grab or swing starts. Significant improvements (P < 0.05) were found for the track start for take-off velocity, take-off angle and horizontal impulse. The results suggest that the improved skill of vertical jumping was not transferred directly to the start, particularly in the grab technique. Non-significant trends towards improvement were observed within all starts for vertical force components, suggesting the need to practise the dives to retrain the changed neuromuscular properties.
  • Description: C1
  • Description: 2003000554

The effect of yoga on the state anxiety and mood state of athletes

  • Authors: Timmermans, Chad , Spittle, Michael , Plaisted, Vicki
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: Paper presented at XIth European Congress of Sport Psychology, Copenhagen, Denmark : 22nd-27th July 2003
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  • Description: Introduction: This study examined the effect of yoga on the state anxiety and mood states of athletes. Yoga has long been practised by athletes but its influence on the mood state of athletes has not been empirically examined. Method: Participants were 15 female netball players, aged between 18 and 27 years (M = 20.97, SD = 3.09) who completed the Abbreviated Profile of Mood States (APOMS) and the state anxiety inventory (A-State) before and after each of six yoga or strength and conditioning sessions completed one night per week. Participants acted as their own controls with all participants completing both treatments. The main hypothesis was that yoga participants would report significantly greater changes in mood state and state anxiety than strength and conditioning participants. Results: A One-Way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) indicated that yoga sessions had significantly greater pre to post test change on overall mood state and state anxiety compared to strength and conditioning sessions. In addition, on the subscales of the APOMS, yoga produced significantly greater pre to post test decreases on confusion and tension than strength and conditioning. Conclusion: Results support the use of yoga to positively enhance mood state and decrease state anxiety in athlete populations.Implications for coaches and athletes are discussed including the potential use of alternative and holistic training methods for the management of mood and anxiety. Future research directions are also discussed including investigating alternative approaches to the management of mood and anxiety in athletes and further investigation into the components of yoga.
  • Description: 2003003782

The evaluation of orchard adjustment strategies : A linear programming approach to the development of rural policy in the SME sector

  • Authors: Oppenheim, Peter
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: Paper presented at the 16th Annual Conference of SEAANZ, Ballarat, Australia : 28th September- 1st October, 2003
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  • Description: Fruit production typically involves a period of investment and developmental expenditure which continues until the orchard is fully productive. During this period cash flows are negative. Once the orchard bears fruit, positive cash flows can result. In time, as the orchard trees age and yields decline or new varieties replace the existing varieties, negative cash flows reappear. The duration of this cycle can vary and periods of time ranging from ten to fifty or sixty years would not be uncommon. This study focuses on the Moutere Hill apple and pear fruit in the Nelson Province in the South Island of New Zealand during a recent period when the region as a whole experienced a severe decline in orchard incomes as a result of the failure of orchardists to adjust to changing economic and technological conditions which in turn resulted in orchards consisting of a large number of old trees with a high percentage of less preferred varieties.
  • Description: E1
  • Description: 2003000579

The honey eater

  • Authors: Conn, Matthew
  • Date: 2003
  • Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
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  • Description: "This is a creative thesis consisting of two parts; a major creative work in the form of a literary production, accompanied by an exegesis."
  • Description: Master of Arts