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‘The sun is far away, but there must be the sun’ : Chinese students’ experiences of an international teaching practicum in China

  • Authors: Jin, Aijing , Parr, Graham , Hui, Leng
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Educational Research Vol. 62, no. 4 (2020), p. 474-491
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  • Description: Background: Small cohorts of pre-service teachers (PSTs) have been successfully undertaking teaching practicums in a range of international settings for more than 40 years, as part of their initial teacher education studies. Most research into these international teaching practicums (ITPs) has concentrated on the benefits for western PSTs and their western academic mentors, but limited attention has been paid to the experiences, benefits and challenges of non-western practicum partners. The study addresses this gap in the literature by focusing on Chinese students’ perceptions of a three-week international teaching practicum in China. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the experiences of Chinese students who were taught by Australian PSTs as part of an international teaching practicum in China. Method: Using content analysis methods and a border-crossing theoretical framework, this small scale qualitative case study analysed, in depth, the reflective writing of Year 7 (12- to 13-year-old) and Year 11 (16- to 17-year-old) students from three schools across two different cities in China. Findings: The analysis indicated that students enjoyed the practicum experience, with many of the older students showing a nuanced appreciation of the cultural and pedagogical contrasts between the Australian PSTs’ teaching of English and that of their usual Chinese teachers. While some students were concerned that the Australians’ teaching did not adequately prepare them for high-stakes national tests, others reported that their whole attitude to learning English had changed so that English was now one of their favourite subjects as a result of being taught by the Australian pre-service teachers. Conclusions: Through investigating local Chinese students’ experiences of an international teaching practicum, this study contributes to the now substantial body of literature that affirms the value of such intercultural education programmes. The study argues for the value of intercultural ‘crossing over’ experiences for non-western as well as western practicum partners, and urges educational researchers to listen to the voices of local students when researching international teaching practicums. © 2020 NFER.

'You Beauty' Alex Jesaulenko An historical exploration of the migrant who became a legend

  • Authors: Eddy, Daniel
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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  • Description: The Austrian-born Alex Jesaulenko played football in the Victorian Football League (VFL) from 1967 to 1981. His rise to national prominence emerged during a period of great change within both Australian society and Australian rules football. This thesis, through a critical biographical approach, examines for the first time Jesaulenko’s early life, looking at his migrant experience and the role that Australian rules football played in aiding his integration into Australian society. It is not a kick-and-handball analysis of Jesaulenko’s entire football career; that has been extensively covered within copious amounts of primary and secondary sources. Instead, it explores his migrant journey – an important aspect of Jesaulenko’s life which has been largely overlooked – and the key developmental years of sporting education prior to emerging as a VFL champion. It concludes with one of, if not the most, iconic moments in the game’s history: Jesaulenko’s mark in the 1970 VFL grand final, which cemented his name within the Australian sporting consciousness. Australian rules football, and sport more generally, holds a unique place within society. Footballers, it can be argued, are archetypes for our daily dreams and aspirations; exalted figures that we afford status which few will experience in their everyday lives. Therefore, it is through the prism of Jesaulenko’s journey that we can learn more about the role Australian rules football has played for migrants integrating into Australian society.
  • Description: Doctor of Philosophy

A configural model of expert judgement as a preliminary epidemiological study of injury problems: An application to drowning

  • Authors: Morgan, Damian , Ozanne-Smith, Joan
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: PLoS ONE Vol. 14, no. 10 (2019), p.
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  • Description: Robust epidemiological studies identifying determinants of negative health outcomes require significant research effort. Expert judgement is proposed as an efficient alternative or preliminary research design for risk factor identification associated with unintentional injury. This proposition was tested in a multi-factorial balanced experimental design using specialist judges (N = 18), lifeguards and surfers, to assess the risk contribution to drowning for swimming ability, surf bathing experience, and wave height. All factors provided unique contributions to drowning risk (p < .001). An interaction (p = .02) indicated that occasional surf bathers face a proportionally increased risk of drowning at increased wave heights relative to experienced surf bathers. Although findings were limited by strict criteria, and no gold standard comparison data were available, the study provides new evidence on causal risk factors for a drowning scenario. Countermeasures based on these factors are proposed. Further application of the method may assist in developing new interventions to reduce unintentional injury. © 2019 Morgan, Ozanne-Smith. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Advanced practice in nursing and midwifery : the contribution to healthcare in Australia

  • Authors: Lowe, Gainne , Plummer, Virginia
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Advanced Practice in Healthcare: Dynamic Developments in Nursing and Allied Health Professions. Chapter 4 p. 51-63
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  • Description: This chapter presents examples of advanced nursing and midwifery practice, together with their contribution to healthcare in Australia. It begins with an overview of the development of this level of nursing and how it is currently defined and legally protected. The chapter discusses current issues in advanced practice in Australia, with particular reference to the roles and settings in which practitioners work. With the introduction of new nursing roles to improve healthcare efficiency, it is important that the public, other healthcare providers, and indeed nurses themselves have an understanding of the various nursing roles in terms which are meaningful. Positive outcomes resulting from nurse-led clinics in a variety of specialty areas will ensure a significant improvement in patient outcomes, and will have distinctly positive implications in Australia’s more rural and remote geographic locations. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Analysis of a combined circular–toppling slope failure in an open–pit

  • Authors: Al Mandalawi, Maged , You, Greg , Dahlhaus, Peter , Dowling, Kim , Sabry, Mohannad
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: 2nd GeoMEast International Congress and Exhibition on Sustainable Civil Infrastructures, Egypt 2018 - The official international congress of the Soil-Structure Interaction Group in Egypt, SSIGE 2018 p. 10-30
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  • Description: Most studies of rock slope failures on open–pit mines have considered either toppling or circular failure stability analysis. By comparison, complex circular–toppling failure has received much less attention in the published literature. This paper presents a study using a range of methods to investigate a failure that occurred in July 2008 in Handlebar Hill, an open–pit base metal mine, near Mt Isa, Australia. Circular failure is the typical slope failure mechanism in slopes with low–strength rocks, although direct/flexural toppling of jointed columns can also occur. The study reviews circular–toppling failure mechanisms in the context of the local geotechnical and geo–hydrological conditions, which include the interaction between fault contacts and the existing deformed rocks. General limit equilibrium methods are used to evaluate the sensitivity of slope models to rock strength parameters and the trigger mechanisms. Finite element methods are used to assess the failure mechanisms and slope displacement, and a kinematic approach is used to evaluate structurally controlled slope instability mechanisms. The results demonstrate that the most credible failure mechanism was shearing along a circular path through the upper weaker rocks (leached Magazine Shale) that in turn initiated secondary block toppling, and the progressive nature of the slope failure mechanism. The use of conventional and numerical techniques for back–analysis of the combined circular–toppling failure provided key insights into the failure mechanisms and factors controlling slope instability. © 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Australian media and Islamophobia : Representations of asylum seeker children

  • Authors: Patil, Tejaswini , McLaren, Helen
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Religions Vol. 10, no. 9 (2019), p. 1-14
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  • Description: Australian media invests considerable attention in asylum seekers and their children, especially those arriving by boat. In this paper, we provide an analysis of Australian newsprint media published during the term of Australia's Gillard's government (2010-2013). This period is critical as it coincides with rising numbers of boat arrivals to Australian shores, fear towards Muslims, and growing Islamophobia. At the time, there were government promises to move children from offshore immigration detention into community-based detention, that would involve living among mainstream Australian society. A data set of 46 articles from major Australian newspapers articles was subject to a discourse analysis of representations of children in both the written texts and in silences. Manipulative tactics of 'risk framing' and 'dispersed intentionality' were identified as discursive acts aimed to confuse compassion and deviancy with respect to asylum seeker children presumed to be from Islamic backgrounds. We argue that this was achieved through binary characterizations in which Muslim parents and people smugglers were constructed as deviant alongside intentional silences, that may have otherwise elicited compassion for asylum seeker children. We propose that this period of media reporting is foundational to understanding the rise of Islamophobic discourses and the implication of Muslim children in Australia.

Awakening and engaging in your learning

  • Authors: Lyons, Judith
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: The road to nursing Chapter 2 p. 16-28
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  • Description: This chapter discusses what it means to be an awake student and how you can be an engaged student to take the maximum advantage of the learning environment. It will explore the interrelationship of being an awake student and an awake nurse. Nursing requires constantly observing the situation, being aware of the context of practice, the situation or event in which you are taking part, and the patient in your care in order to make professional nursing decisions. To be successful in learning and practice, you will need to develop the graduate attributes of a nurse. These including being a professional and ethical decision-maker, politically astute situational leader and citizen, socially and culturally aware agent of change, critically reflective thinker adept in clinical reasoning, creative problem-solver, skilled therapeutic communicator, capable interdisciplinary healthcare team member and competent, caring, safe and professional nurse (Federation University Australia 2015). This chapter also provides ideas for how to overcome difficulties and engage in your learning together with ways that will help you to spend effective time in your learning endearvour. It discusses how you can transition to university learning in a way that makes you an equal partner in the learning process towards becoming an independent learner.

Collaboration and co-creation in regional and remote education : case studies from initial teacher education programs

  • Authors: Woolcott, Geoff , Whannell, Robert , Wines, Chris , Pfeiffer, Linda , Marshman, Margaret , Galligan, Linda
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australasian Journal of Regional Studies Vol. 25, no. 1 (Apr 2019), p. 54-80
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  • Description: Education policies and practices developed for urban populations are not always effective when implemented in regional and remote locations. Despite government policy initiatives that may provide for collaboration across communities, a singular issue is that a diversity of solutions may be required rather than a 'one size fits all' approach. This article presents a potential solution to this problem through engaging collaboration and co-creation to optimise educational opportunities in initial teacher education in Australia. Qualitative analysis of a collaborative and co-created process of enhancement, lesson development and reflection brings together the every-day problem-solving processes used by pre-service teachers and classroom students with those used by research scientists and community experts. A consequence of such a process that benefits regional and remote communities is the development of collaborative networks founded in co-creation of educational opportunities and based on daily life in local communities.

Conclusion : What now? Where to from here?

  • Authors: Paliadelis, Penny
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: The road to nursing Chapter 18 p. 295-306
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  • Description: The focus of this book has been on exploring the key concepts, knowledge and skills that are relevant to contemporary nursing practice, with a strong emphasis on 'meaning-making' - what things really mean; how this meaning is established; why particular knowledge is necessary or important; and how all this informs your road to nursing, your ongoing learning, practice and professional identity-formation and your conception of what it really means to be and act as a nurse. This final chapter weaves together some of the key focus areas that have made up this 'journey', using stories from practice that may provide you with some further insights to guide you on your path to becoming a skilled and experienced nurse. The second part of this chapter will focus your attention on the fact that once you enter the profession as a beginning-level nurse, this is not the end of your journey; it is only the first stage of your career. There are many options and learning opportunities that can further your career and assist you to develop into an expert nurse across a range of settings. The last part of this chapter will focus on how you can contribute to the further development of the nursing profession by role-modelling and promoting nursing, mentoring and supporting others, and developing and sharing your skills and knowledge with new generations of nurses.

Divergent Barmah forest virus from Papua New Guinea

Employer training in Australia : Current practices and concerns

  • Authors: Smith, Erica , Callan, Victor , Tuck, Jacquiline , Smith, Andy
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: International Journal of Training and Development Vol. 23, no. 2 (2019), p. 169-183
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  • Description: This paper presents and analyses results from a research project on current trends in employer training in Australia. While the formal vocational education and training (VET) system is well-researched, the everyday training that happens in workplaces is relatively under-researched in Australia. Using some of the results of an employer survey undertaken in 2015, the paper describes and analyses employer-based training across a range of industry areas. The survey included groups of questions on a range of matters, including the reasons why employers train, and how these relate to employers' perceptions of their operating environment, and the structures they have in place to manage and organize training. Detailed data are provided about three specific forms of training: in-house training and learning; the use that employers make of external providers of training; and employers' use of nationally recognised training - training from the VET system. Finally the paper reports what managers said about the barriers to providing more training. The paper analyses the findings in relation to the literature and also identified changes over time in training practices in Australian companies. Implications for training policy and practice, as well as for future research, are identified.

Foundations of nursing practice

  • Authors: Cramer, Rhian , Coombs, Nicole , Lyons, Judith , Kim, Jeong-Ah
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: The road to nursing Chapter 11 p. 168-182
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  • Description: Becoming a safe and contemporary nurse is more than just being able to demonstrate clinical skills or understand disease processes. It is about critical thinking - understanding why we do what we do and how to do it in the most efficient and effective way. Achieving the best outcomes for the patients is always paramount. This chapter explores the foundational principles of contemporary nursing practice: evidence-based practice, person-centred care, and communication. It also introduces the growing role of technology in healthcare and looks at how numerous factors come together to influence health outcomes for the individual patient.

Ghosts on the Goldfields : Ballarat as a haunted city

  • Authors: Waldron, David , Waldron, Sharn
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Supernatural cities : Enchantment, anxiety and spectrality Chapter 11 p. 229-248
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  • Description: The history of Ballarat, situated at the heart of the goldfields of central Victoria, Australia, is closely tied to the colonial experience. As the site of the Eureka Stockade rebellion, its history is linked to the foundation myths of Australian democracy. It boasts both the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka (M.A.D.E), situated on one of the suspected sites of the rebels' stockade, and Australia's premier open air museum, the theme park of Sovereign Hill, which re-enacts life on the goldfields of the 1950s and 1860s. In Ballarat itself many of the businesses utilise symbols of the goldfields in their advertising and trademarks, as do many of the street names, festivals and public events. The Victorian architectural heritage is highly prized and showcased to the thousands of visiting tourists on Sturt and Lydiard Streets, and particularly those who come each year for Ballarat's Heritage Weekend festival held in May. Yet there is a dark side to this history. The prosperity of the gold was built on the land of the Wathawurrung Aborigines who were displaced and marginalised, and suffered under the weight of colonial occupation and environmental devastation. Likewise, despite the prominence of stories surrounding those who became wealty on the goldfields of central Victoria, many who came to Ballarat during the Victorian era found themselves displaced and living in extremen poverty, facing disease, hunger and vulnerability to crime, prostitution and dangerous working conditions. It is these stories from the underbelly of Ballarat's heritage that form the fodder of a thriving dark tourist industry, expressed in popular ghost tours and supplemented by a rich heritage of ghost stories in folklore and popular culture. In the tension between these two discordant narratives Ballarat has become, in popular imagination, a haunted city.

Implementing natural capital credit risk assessment in agricultural lending

  • Authors: Ascui, Francisco , Cojoianu, Theodor
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Business Strategy and the Environment Vol. 28, no. 6 (2019), p. 1234-1249
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  • Description: Agriculture has critical impacts and dependencies on natural capital, and agricultural lenders are therefore exposed to natural capital credit risk through their loans to farmers. Currently, however, lenders lack any detailed guidance for assessing natural capital credit risk in agriculture and are challenged by the fact that the relevant material risks vary considerably by agricultural sector and geography. This paper develops a natural capital credit risk assessment framework based on a bottom-up review of the material risks associated with natural capital impacts and dependencies for Australian beef production. It demonstrates that implementing natural capital credit risk assessment is feasible in agricultural lending, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative inputs. Implementation challenges include the complexity and interconnectedness of natural capital processes, data availability and cost, spatial data analytical capacity, and the need for transformational change, both within lending organisations and across the banking sector. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

International connections in actor training in Australia : Tracing Stanislayski's system and Brechtian politics

  • Authors: Tait, Peta , Beddie, Melanie
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Stanislavski Studies Vol. 7, no. 2 (2019), p. 159-175
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  • Description: This article traces the approaches to actor training offered in Australia based on the training backgrounds of influential teachers. The research for this article finds international connections that reveal strong links to approaches originating with Konstantin Stanislayski and Bertolt Brecht. It seeks to understand with whom a teacher studied to explain what was probably learnt and therefore the type of training knowledge that the teacher is likely to pass on to students. The research confirms that international approaches are fundamental to performance training in tertiary conservatorium courses, and the profiles of nine teachers are presented in detail to encapsulate patterns of training and to show the complex nexus of influences and international approaches. The profiles indicate an increasing influence of American approaches in the second half of the twentieth century alongside British ones, but that British influences remain important for European approaches and for political theatre in particular into the twenty-first century. We argue that even where there was a synthesis happening in the teaching of performance in Australia, the influences of major international approaches are identifiable through the training backgrounds of teachers. In this way, it is possible to locate teachers in Australia within actor training internationally.

Isotopic variation within Tasmanian bare-nosed wombat tooth enamel: Implications for archaeological and palaeoecological research

  • Authors: Roberts, Georgia , Towers, Jacqueline , Gagan, Michael , Cosgrove, Richard , Smith, Colin
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology Vol. 523, no. (2019), p. 97-115
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  • Description: Archaeologists and palaeoecologists are increasingly turning to stable isotope analysis (δ 13 C, δ 18 O) of fossil bioapatite to examine interactions of human and animal populations. However, relatively few investigations have focussed on the identification of natural variation in comparable modern populations, particularly within the Australian context. In this paper, we present the first modern isotopic reference dataset for Tasmanian bare-nosed wombat teeth (Vombatus ursinus tasmaniensis). Samples for δ 13 C bioapatite and δ 18 O bioapatite measurements were recovered sequentially at sub-monthly resolution from all tooth types. δ 13 C bioapatite showed little variation within a seasonal sinusoidal pattern within the sample set (n = 24 wombats; 35 teeth) due to the homogeneous C 3 distribution of plants in Tasmania. In contrast, δ 18 O bioapatite profiles varied seasonally, representing time periods of between 0.9 and 2.1 years in 95% of the sample. Significant differences between tooth types were found from intra-individual to inter-regional scales for both dental growth rates and isotopic values. The accuracy of season-of-death assessments differed across the island; those in eastern Tasmania were accurate in all instances whereas those in the west showed substantial inaccuracies. We suggest that this may be due to the elodont form of wombat dentition and the ecologically influenced seasonally varied diet in western Tasmania. As the rate of dental growth is positively correlated with the proportion of coarse vegetation within the diet, this seasonal variation is therefore likely to change how annual isotopic signals are incorporated into the enamel. These results highlight the need to understand the degree of species-specific isotopic variation at a range of scales before applying this technique to archaeological or palaeontological assemblages.

Latrobe Valley circular industrial ecosystem

  • Authors: Ghayur, Adeel
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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  • Description: Climate change, energy security, pollution and increasing unemployment in the face of automation are four critical challenges facing every region in the twenty-first century, including the Latrobe Valley in Victoria, Australia. The Valley – location of the largest brown coal deposits and forest industry in the southern hemisphere – is undergoing unprecedented and rapid changes. Its ageing brown coal power plants are retiring and replacements are not planned, leading to job insecurity. Solutions are needed that ensure continued economic activity in the region whilst allowing for the Valley to contribute its fair share in the fight against the climate change. The aim of this study is to investigate a possible local solution that could help tackle these issues of the Latrobe Valley in addition to plastic pollution and energy insecurity. Transitioning from linear to circular materials flow is one possible solution that favours sustainability and job security. Consequently, a multiproduct succinic acid biorefinery is modelled, acting as an industrial hub in a potential Latrobe Valley circular economy. This allows for employment creation in the value-addition of its platform chemicals into carbon negative and environment-friendly products. Additionally, such a biorefinery concept has the capacity to tackle Post-combustion CO2 Capture (PCC) industry’s wastes. It is anticipated that any future utilisation of brown coal as an energy vector would entail PCC to ensure carbon neutrality. A PCC industry produces CO2 and amine wastes that require adequate disposal. The modelled biorefinery has the capacity to valorise both. The simulation and the techno-economic analysis show the modelled Carbon Negative Biorefinery consumes 656,000 metric tonnes (t) of pulp logs and 42,000 t of CO2 to produce 220,000 t of succinic acid, 115,000 t of acetic acid and 900 t of dimethyl ether, annually. Biorefinery’s CAPEX and OPEX stand at AU$ 635,000,000 and $ 180,000,000 respectively. The calculated Minimum Selling Price for succinic acid is $ 990/t, only 6.4% higher than a typical biorefinery. Subsequently, biorefinery’s capacity as an anchor tenant is also simulated via technical evaluations of four value-added products: • Poly(butylene succinate) as biodegradable polymer replacing petro-plastics – simulation results show 1 t of succinic acid produces 0.19 t of tetrahydrofuran and 0.44 t of poly(butylene succinate); • Carbon fibre for insulation products, sporting goods and foams – 1 t of lignin and 0.8 t of acetic anhydride produce 0.8 t of carbon fibre; • Succinylated lignin adhesive for replacing urea-formaldehyde in the wood industry – simulation results show the biorefinery concept having the capacity to valorise both waste amine and CO2 from a PCC plant; and • Renewable fuels like hydrogen as energy vectors – a small biorefinery can potentially provide dozens of gigawatt hours of stored power for backup and peak demands, annually. In summary, results of this research are: • A biorefinery can valorise PCC plant wastes; • Multiproduct succinic acid biorefinery is economically viable; • Renewable fuels are ideally suited as energy storage vectors for a renewable energy grid both in developing and developed countries; • Bioproducts can reduce CO2 emissions thereby mitigate climate change; • Bioproducts can replace petro-products and reduce pollution; • Bioproducts can replace construction industry materials associated with CO2 emissions; • Biorefineries can help a region transition from a linear to a circular economy; and • Circular economies have the potential to generate secure jobs. In conclusion, this research identifies platform biochemicals as potential key drivers in a linear economy’s transition to a circular economy.
  • Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Livestock grazing effects on riparian bird breeding behaviour in agricultural landscapes

  • Authors: Hansen, Birgita , Fraser, Hannah , Jones, Christopher
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment Vol. 270-271, no. (2019), p. 93-102
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  • Description: Globally, many bird species that rely on native woodland or forest environments are declining due to vegetation clearing for livestock pastures and cereal cropping. In many landscapes, woodland remnants are restricted to waterways and roadsides in narrow, sometimes degraded patches, and not all patches can necessarily provide the resources required to support bird populations. This study investigated the influence of livestock grazing and vegetation characteristics on bird breeding activity in riparian zones in northern Victoria, Australia, where much of the landscape is used for production and has experienced significant loss of woodland. Birds were broadly categorised as ‘woodland’ or ‘non-woodland’ species, based on dependency on woodlands for breeding. The majority of woodland species detected were relatively common, and where riparian zones were heavily grazed, there was significantly lower woodland bird breeding activity compared to non-woodland bird breeding activity (the latter increasing with grazing intensity). Woodland and non-woodland birds had consistently opposite responses to grazing intensity, vegetation and landscape characteristics, suggesting that the factors influencing breeding differ markedly between these two groups. Thus, where riparian zones are intensively grazed, the bird community shifts from predominantly woodland to largely non-woodland species. This has implications for the conservation of both rare and common woodland bird species in southern Australia. Simple changes in land management, for example, livestock exclusion from important breeding habitat, may confer large gains for population persistence of woodland bird species.

Malmsbury bluestone and quarries : Finding holes in history and heritage

  • Authors: Walter, Susan
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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  • Description: Malmsbury bluestone was used widely from 1856 in buildings in Victoria, throughout Australia, and in New Zealand. It features in many structures listed on heritage registers, yet its presence is barely recognised. This largely results from the stone quarries, buildings and the men who laboured with it being absent from modern Australian historiography. The fame previously associated with the stone was lost when stone use for structural purposes, and the associated stone skills, declined; a situation exacerbated by poor recognition of the stone industry’s role in building our nation through heritage citations of structures. Inspired by E. P. Thompson, this thesis uses Critical Inquiry though microhistory and landscape analysis to regain the stone’s fame and rescue stoneworkers from the condescension of history. A detailed analysis of quarries, structures, the bluestone industry, and a rarely-attempted total reconstitution of the lives of 194 vital stoneworkers, reveals a valuable cultural heritage currently undervalued and at risk. Malmsbury stoneworkers came from diverse backgrounds but worked co-operatively to promote and sustain a local industry which supplied a nationally-vital building material, despite the absence of a regulatory framework to protect their lives and rights. Scientific methods document the geological properties of the stone and demonstrate how, in the absence of science, skilled stoneworkers nevertheless identified and worked a valuable resource. Modern science could however be used to test building stones in a non-destructive manner to determine the sources of currently unidentified building stones. This thesis significantly contributes to the limited discourse on the history and heritage of Australian stone use through the perspectives of cultural landscapes, labour history and built and cultural heritage. Malmsbury bluestone truly was the standard of excellence and, along with stoneworkers, warrants more extensive recognition in Australia’s Heritage registers.
  • Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Managed identities : How do Australian university students who stutter negotiate their studies?

  • Authors: Meredith, Grant
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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  • Description: Previous social research focused on people who stutter has problematised and largely ignored the experiences of university students who stutter, relying heavily upon surveys of teachers and peers while almost ignoring the authentic voices of students who stutter. Using a novel bricolage approach incorporating autoethnography, this project posed the question: “How do students who stutter negotiate their university experiences in Australia?” In 2008, a unique, web-based audit of 39 Australian public universities concluded that little publicly accessible information about stuttering support services was available for prospective university students. In many ways, stuttering is absent from disability classifications and service systems in higher education. An online survey of 102 Australian university students who stutter, and follow-up individual interviews with 15 students, revealed how these students manage their social identities from enrolment through to graduation. Only a minority of students reported ever formally disclosing their functional impairment to university support services or academic staff. This meant they rejected and/or avoided the disability label and associated stigma. The students were found to exercise a high degree of individual agency and creativity throughout their university journey. Many employed ‘concessional bargaining’ techniques to effectively navigate the oral assessment requirements during their degrees. Analysis of the interview and survey data is interspersed with critical self-reflection by the author – as a university lecturer who himself stutters. This thesis makes a significant contribution to shaping our understanding of the social identities and trajectories of university students who stutter. These students have been recast as positive, purposeful, resourceful and creative agents whose actions can be largely understood from a social model of disability. A series of recommendations for supporting and teaching these students are made to key stakeholders in higher education.
  • Description: Doctor of Philosophy