International students using online information resources to learn : complex experience and learning needs

This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study which investigated 25 international students’ use of online information resources for study purposes at two Australian universities. Using an expanded critical incident approach, the study viewed international students through an information literacy lens, as information-using learners. The findings are presented in two complementary parts: as a word picture that describes their whole experience of using online information resources to learn; and as a tabulated set of critical findings that summarises their associated information literacy learning needs. The word picture shows international students’ resource use as a complex interplay of eight inter-related elements: students; information-learning environment; interactions (with online resources); strengths-challenges; learning-help; affective responses; reflective responses; cultural-linguistic dimensions. In using online resources, the international students experience an array of strengths and challenges, and an apparent information literacy imbalance between their more developed information skills and less developed critical information use. The critical findings about information literacy needs provide a framework for developing an inclusive informed learning approach that responds to international students’ complex information using experiences and needs. While the study is situated in Australia, the findings are of potential interest to educators, information professionals and researchers worldwide who seek to support learning in culturally diverse higher education contexts.

International tax cooperation in the Post-GFC era

Over the last five years we have observed the fallout from the global financial crisis (GFC). International cooperation and jointly adopted policies have dominated many of the solutions to the problems which have arisen. Initially, many nations in response to the GFC, implemented a two pronged short term solution by undertaking fiscal intervention and delivering rescue packages aimed at first, bailing out financial institutions and second, preventing or minimising the impact of a recession. Both programs involved large amounts of domestic spending. It was difficult in early 2007 to foresee the reduction that nations were about the face in domestic revenue collected. Five years on, not only have the first line effects of the GFC reduced the revenue raised by governments around the world, but the consequential costs associated with the rescue packages have also depleted domestic revenue bases. The response by stakeholders has been to attempt to secure domestic revenue bases through fiscally sustainable measures. Domestic sovereignty allows the levying of taxes as a nation chooses. However, rather than raise domestic taxes, revenue may also be increased by stemming the flow of income and capital to low and no-tax jurisdictions. The intervening five-year period since the GFC allows a unique insight into the response by nations and international organisations to tax evasion, tax avoidance and aggressive tax competition through the cross border flows of capital and the resulting affect that the GFC has had on international tax cooperation. By investigating the change in the international tax landscape over the last five years, which reveals the work done by stakeholders in developing fiscally responsible responses to the problems that have arisen, it may be possible to predict the trajectory of the international tax landscape over the next five years.

The preferences of private equity investors in selecting target acquisitions : an international investigation

This study investigates the characteristics and attributes that private equity investors prefer when selecting target acquisitions. These characteristics are examined against a matched sample of firms subject to corporate acquisitions via tender/merger offer during 2000-2009, across seven countries: Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the USA, France, Germany and Sweden. We show that firm-specific characteristics are more influential in target selection than external or institutional variables. In particular, private equity targets exhibit lower stock volatility and long-term growth prospects, are larger, and have greater abnormal operating income relative to tender/merger offer target firms. Further, private equity bidders exhibit 'home bias', implying that familiarity motivates target selection. Institutional factors remain largely insignificant across all tests.

Vitamin D intake, sun exposure and 25-hydroxy vitamin D status in Peritoneal dialysis (PD) and Haemodialysis (HD) patients

Inadequate vitamin D levels have been linked to bone disease but more recently have been associated with wider health implications. Limited studies suggest a high prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency in dialysis patients, although evidence is lacking on whether this is due to dietary restrictions, limited mobility and time outdoors or a combination of these. The aim of this study was to assess the contributions of diet, supplements and sunlight exposure to serum Vitamin D (25(OH)D) levels in dialysis patients. Cross-sectional data were obtained from 30 PD (Mean±SD age 56.9±16.2 y; n=13 male) and 22 HD (Mean±SD age 65.4±14.0 y; n=18 male) patients between 2009 and 2010. Serum 25(OH)D was measured and oral vitamin D intake estimated through a food-frequency-questionnaire and quantifying inactive supplementation. Sunlight exposure was assessed using a validated questionnaire. Prevalence of inadequate/insufficient vitamin D differed between dialysis modality (31% and 43% insufficient (<50nmol/L); 4% and 34% deficient (<25nmol/L) in HD and PD patients respectively (p=0.002)). In HD patients, there was a significant correlation between diet plus supplemental vitamin D intake and 25(OH)D (ρ=0.84, p<0.001). Results suggest a higher frequency of 25(OH)D inadequacy/deficiency in PD compared to HD patients. No other relationships between intake, sun exposure and 25(OH)D were seen. This could reflect limitations of the study design or the importance of other factors such as age, ethnicity and sun protection as interactions in the analysis. Understanding these factors is important given Vitamin D’s emerging status as a biomarker of systemic ill health.

Fish out of water : refugee and international students in mainstream Australian schools

In this paper, the authors combine Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of hysteresis (the ‘fish out of water’ experience) with the discourse historical approach to critical discourse analysis (CDA) as a theoretical and analytical framework through which they examine specific moments in the schooling experiences of one refugee student and one international student, both enrolled in post-compulsory education in Australian mainstream secondary schools. We examine specific moments – as narrated by these students during interviews – in which these students can be described as ‘fish out of water’. As such, this paper takes up the concerns of researchers who call for an examination of the lived geographies and the everyday lives of individual students in mainstream schools. We find that our students’ habitus, conditioned by their previous schooling experiences in their home countries, did not match their new Australian schools, resulting in frustration with, and alienation from, their mainstream schools. However, we also note that schools, too, need to adapt and adjust their habitus to the new multicultural world, in which there are international and refugee students among their usual cohort of mainstream students.

Content analysis of international research in geographical and environmental education : eighteen years of academic publishing

This paper examines the history of the IRGEE Journal in terms of its sustainable future. The development of geographical and environmental education is evaluated, as reflected from the articles published in the Journal “International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education” (IRGEE). A content analysis of all papers and forum sections which have appeared in the journal since Volume 1 Number 1 was published in 1992 has been conducted, examining the content of as many as 526 articles. The method was a content analysis, and revealed themes which have experienced an increasing or declining interest over the 18 years of publication of IRGEE (1992-2009), while other themes have remained current during this period. The main findings of this analysis are: a) the total number of articles has increased more than threefold, b) articles related to geographical education (sensu stricto) outweighed those related to environmental education, c) the themes “syllabi, textbooks, curricula” and “values, attitudes” attract the attention of researchers with increasing strength and d) emerging subjects, such as GIS and sustainability have appeared dynamically in the last years.

Statistical and scientometric analysis of international research in geographical and environmental education

Certain statistic and scientometric features of articles published in the journal “International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education” are examined in this paper, for the period 1992-2009, by applying nonparametric statistics and Shannon’s entropy (diversity) formula. The main findings of this analysis are: a) after 2004 the research priorities of researchers in geographical and environmental education seem to have changed, b) “teacher education” has been the most recurrent theme throughout these 18 years, followed by “values & attitudes” and “inquiry & problem solving” c) the themes “GIS” and “Sustainability” were the most “stable” throughout the 18 years, meaning that they maintained their ranks as publication priorities more than other themes, d) citations of IRGEE increase annually, e) the average thematic diversity of articles published during the period 1992-2009 is 82.7% of the maximum thematic diversity (very high), meaning that the Journal has the capacity to attract a wide readership for the 10 themes it has successfully covered throughout the 18 years of its publication.

Benchmarking knowledge-based urban development performance : Results from the international comparison of Helsinki

In the era of a global knowledge economy, urban regions that seek to increase their competitive edge, become destinations for talent and investment and provide prosperity and high quality of life to their inhabitants have little chance of achieving these goals without forming effective knowledge-based urban development strategies. The research reported in this paper aims to address the questions of how a knowledge-based urban development performance measurement can be undertaken and the value contribution of such measurement. The paper focuses on the city of Helsinki. This empirical study analytically investigates Helsinki’s performance from the lens of knowledge-based urban development by comparing this urban region with eight international competitors, Boston, San Francisco, Birmingham, Manchester, Melbourne, Sydney, Toronto, and Vancouver. The results of the study not only reveal a clearer understanding of Helsinki’s benchmarked performance and competitive edge considering the regional policy context along with strategic directions in strengthening its international standing and competitiveness but also provide useful insights for other urban regions that aspire to such development.

International conventions and model laws : their impact on domestic commercial law

Panellist commentary on delivered conference papers on the topic of ‘International Conventions and Model Laws - Their Impact on Domestic Commercial Law’.

Building Information Modelling : an international survey

Building Information Modelling (BIM) appears to be the next evolutionary link in project delivery within the AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) Industry. There have been several surveys of implementation at the local level but to date little is known of the international context. This paper is a preliminary report of a large scale electronic survey of the implementation of BIM and the impact on AEC project delivery and project stakeholders in Australia and internationally. National and regional patterns of BIM usage will be identified. These patterns will include disciplinary users, project lifecycle stages, technology integration–including software compatibility—and organisational issues such as human resources and interoperability. Also considered is the current status of the inclusion of BIM within tertiary level curricula and potential for the creation of a new discipline.

Preparing the next generation of HRM professionals : an international comparison of tertiary HRM programs

The future of the HRM profession depends to at least some extent on the quality of preparation of the next generation of HR professionals. This paper examines bachelor degree programs in HRM and the role of professional associations as influencers of curricula. Some 39% of the 599 AACSB and EQUIS-accredited institutions sampled offer undergraduate degrees in HRM. The programs vary in emphasis on HRM competencies. Unsurprisingly, all include foundation work (perhaps a third of the content) in business management. Grouping degree content by regions globally allows benchmarking of degrees against international trends, along with consideration of the increasingly significant influence on curricula by professional bodies, in preparing the next generation of HRM practitioners to manage in organisations that will require strategic thinking, specialist technical skills, and interpersonal competence.

Satisfiers and dissatisfiers for international students of higher education : an exploratory study in Australia

This paper explores the main satisfiers and dissatisfiers for international students in Australia’s higher educational sector. Using a critical incident technique, this study is conducted with international students of higher education in Australia. Four categories of satisfiers and dissatisfiers emerge from the data which are related to individual performance, quality of the educational service, socialisation, and living conditions.

Crime, Justice and Social Democracy : International Perspectives

Crime, Justice and Social Democracy is a provocative and thoughtful collection of timely reflections on the state of social democracy and its inextricable links to crime and justice. Authored by some of the world's leading thinkers from the UK, US, Canada and Australia, with a preface from Professor David Garland of New York University, this volume provides a powerful social democratic critique of neoliberal regimes of governance and crime control on an international scale. Social democratic values raise broad questions about government, ethics, and the exercise of power in criminal justice institutions; each chapter here engages with how this might occur and with what consequences. The contributions to this volume, while critical and hard hitting, also boldly envision a more socially just criminal justice politic. This collection is essential reading for activists, scholars, legislators, politicians and policy makers who are concerned with promoting, imagining and understanding socially sustaining societies.