Letters and numbers in Excel : fostering student engagement in fundamentals of maths & computing

The television quiz program Letters and Numbers, broadcast on the SBS network, has recently become quite popular in Australia. This paper considers an implementation in Excel 2010 and its potential as a vehicle to showcase a range of mathematical and computing concepts and principles.

Good practice report : clinical teaching

Clinical experience, or experience in the ‘real world’ of practice, is a fundamental component of many health professional courses. It often involves students undertaking practical experience in clinical workplace settings, typically referred to as clinical placements, under the supervision of health professionals. Broadly speaking, the role of clinical supervisors, or teachers, is aimed at assisting students to integrate the theoretical and skills based components of the curriculum within the context of patient/client care (Erstzen et al 2009). Clinical experience also provides students with the opportunity to assimilate the attitudes, values and skills which they require to become appropriately skilled professionals in the environments in which they will eventually practise. However, clinical settings are particularly challenging learning environments for students. Unlike classroom learning, students in the clinical setting frequently find themselves involved in unplanned and often complex activities with patients and other health care providers, being supervised by a variety of clinical staff who have very different methods and styles of teaching, and negotiating bureaucratic or hierarchical structures in busy clinical workplaces where they may only be spending a limited amount of time. Kilminster et al (2007) also draw attention to tensions that may exist between the learning needs of students and the provision of quality care or need to prevent harm to the patient (e.g. Elkind et al 2007). All of these factors complicate the realisation of clinical education goals and underscore the need for effective clinical teaching practices that maximise student learning in clinical environments. This report provides a summary of work that has been achieved in relation to ALTC projects and fellowships associated with clinical teaching, and a review of scholarly publications relevant to this field. The report also makes recommendations based on issues identified and/or where further work is indicated. The projects and fellowships reviewed cover a range of discipline areas including Biology, Paramedic Practice, Clinical Exercise Physiology, Occupational Therapy, Speech Pathology, Physiotherapy, Pharmacy, Nursing and Veterinary Science. The main areas of focus cover issues related to curriculum, particularly in relation to industry expectations of ‘work-ready’ graduates and the implications for theoretical and practical, or clinical preparation; development of competency assessment tools that are nationally applicable across discipline-specific courses; and improvement of clinical learning through strategies targeting the clinical learning environment, building the teaching capacity of clinical supervisors and/or enhancing the clinical learning/teaching process.

Enhancing student learning in the workplace through developing the leadership capabilities of clinical supervisors in the nursing discipline

The purpose of this project was to build the leadership capacity of clinical supervisors in the nursing discipline by developing, implementing and systematically embedding a leadership model into the structure and practice of student supervision. The University worked in partnership with three major metropolitan hospitals in Queensland to develop a framework and professional development program incorporating leadership and clinical supervision. The Leadership and Clinical Education (LaCE) program consisted of two structured workshops complemented by individual personal development projects undertaken by participants. Participants were supported in these activities with a purpose-built website that provides access to a wide variety of information and other learning resources. Quantitative and qualitative evaluations indicated that the approach was highly valued by participants, as it promoted useful peer dialogue, sharing of experiences and personal development in relation to assisting leadership development and student learning in the workplace. The LaCE program provides an ideal springboard for introducing the development of welltrained leaders into the clinical workplace. The resources developed have the potential to provide ongoing support for clinical supervisors to improve the learning of undergraduate nursing student. The challenge will be to achieve continued innovation within clinical education through sustainable leadership programs.

Exploring young student's functional thinking (Exploración del pensamiento funcional de estudiantes jóvenes)

The Early Years Generalizing Project (EYGP) involves Australian years 1 to 4 (age 5 to 9) students and investigates how they grasp and express generalizations. This paper focuses on data collected from 6 Year 1 students in an exploratory study within a clinical interview setting that required students to identify function rules. Preliminary findings suggest that the use of gestures (both by students and interviewers), self-talk (by students), and concrete acting out, assisted students to reach generalizations and to begin to express these generalities. It also appears that as students became aware of the structure, their use of gestures and selftalk tended to decrease.

ORIGO Stepping Stones Grade K Student Journal

A mathematics curriculum for the Common Core Curriculum at the Kindergarten level for the USA

Teacher organizational citizenship behaviours and job efficacy : implications for student quality of school life

The present study investigated the impact of teachers' organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) on student quality of school life (SQSL) via the indirect effect of job efficacy. A measure of teacher OCBs was developed, tapping one dimension of individual-focused OCB (OCBI – student-directed behaviour) and two dimensions of organization-focused OCB (OCBO – civic virtue and professional development). In line with previous research suggesting that OCBs may enhance job efficacy, as well as studies demonstrating the positive effects of teacher efficacy on student outcomes, we expected an indirect relationship between teachers OCBs and SQSL via teachers' job efficacy. Hypotheses were tested in a multi-level design in which 170 teachers and their students (N=3,057) completed questionnaires. A significant proportion of variance in SQSL was attributable to classroom factors. Analyses revealed that the civic virtue and professional development behaviours of teachers were positively related to their job efficacy. The job efficacy of teachers also had a positive impact on all five indicators of SQSL. In regards to professional development, job efficacy acted as an indirect variable in the prediction of four student outcomes (i.e., general satisfaction, student–teacher relations, achievement, and opportunity) and fully mediated the direct negative effect on psychological distress.

Agreement between student-reported and proxy-reported physical activity questionnaires

Parents and 531 students (46% males, 78% white) completed equivalent questionnaires. Agreement between student and parent responses to questions about hypothesized physical activity (PA) correlates was assessed. Relationships between hypothesized correlates and an objective measure of student's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in a subset of 177 students were also investigated. Agreement between student and parent ranged from r = .34 to .64 for PA correlates. Spearman correlations between MVPA and PA correlates ranged from –.04 to .21 for student report and –.14 to .32 for parent report, and there were no statistical differences for 8 out of 9 correlations between parent and student. Parents can provide useful data on PA correlates for students in Grades 7–12.

Student physical activity levels during a season of sport education

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which sport education can provide students with sufficient opportunities for developing moderate- to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Nineteen seventh-grade boys (average age = 12.9 yrs.) participated in a 22-lesson season of floor hockey. For all students (both higher and lower skilled), students averaged a total of 31.6 min of MVPA during the season, or 63.2% of lesson time. Further, there was no significant difference according to skill level (33.4 min [Higher] vs. 30.4 min [Lower]), nor were there any significant differences in MVPA levels across the phases of the season.

Hunting and gathering : new imperatives in mapping and collecting student learning data to assure quality outcomes

Assurance of learning (AOL) is a quality enhancement and quality assurance process used in higher education. It involves a process of determining programme learning outcomes and standards, and systematically gathering evidence to measure students' performance on these. The systematic assessment of whole-of-programme outcomes provides a basis for curriculum development and management, continuous improvement, and accreditation. To better understand how AOL processes operate, a national study of university practices across one discipline area, business and management, was undertaken. To solicit data on AOL practice, interviews were undertaken with a sample of business school representatives (n = 25). Two key processes emerged: (1) mapping of graduate attributes and (2) collection of assurance data. External drivers such as professional accreditation and government legislation were the primary reasons for undertaking AOL outcomes but intrinsic motivators in relation to continuous improvement were also evident. The facilitation of academic commitment was achieved through an embedded approach to AOL by the majority of universities in the study. A sustainable and inclusive process of AOL was seen to support wider stakeholder engagement in the development of higher education learning outcomes.

Degrees of difference? A preliminary study of criminology degrees at Australian universities

While the discipline of ‘criminology’ has existed within Australian universities for more than half a century, the introduction of discrete ‘criminology’ and justice programmes is much more recent. Little is known, however, about the current state of play when it comes to what a degree in ‘criminology’ actually entails. With growing student enrolments in such programmes, reflecting on the status of these programmes is important in the context of student and employer requirements and expectations. Drawing on the findings of a preliminary study, this paper will explore what it means to study for an undergraduate degree in ‘criminology’ in Australia. Specifically, we will focus on the content, availability and range of ‘criminology’ and justice degrees available in Australia, in order to gain a better understanding of the convergences and divergences across degree programmes, and make some recommendations for future research.