Linking pedagogical knowledge practices and student outcomes in STEM education for primary schools

STEM education is a new frontier in Australia, particularly for primary schools. However, the E in STEM needs to have a stronger focus with science and mathematics concepts aligned to the presiding curricula. In addition, pedagogical knowledge practices such as planning, preparation, teaching strategies, assessment and so forth need to be connected to key concepts for developing a STEM education. One of the aims of this study was to understand how a pedagogical knowledge practice framework could be linked to student outcomes in STEM education. Specifically, this qualitative research investigated Year 4 students’ involvement in an integrated STEM education program that focused on science concepts (e.g., states of matter, testing properties of materials) and mathematics concepts (such as 3D shapes and metric measurements: millilitres, temperature, grams, centimetres) for designing, making and testing a strong and safe medical kit to insulate medicines at desirable temperatures. Eleven pedagogical knowledge practices (e.g., planning, preparation, teaching strategies, classroom management, and assessment) were used as a framework for understanding how teaching may be linked to student outcomes in STEM education. For instance, “planning” involved devising a student booklet as a resource for students to understand the tasks required of them, which also provided space for them to record ideas, results and information. Planning involved linking national and state curriculum documents to the STEM education activities. More studies are required around pedagogical knowledge frameworks to understand what students learn when involved in STEM education, particularly with the inclusion of engineering education.

Strange and stranger ruralities: Social constructions of rural crime in Australia

Rural crime has largely been understood through social disorganization theory. The dominance of this perspective has meant that most research into rural crime has tried to resolve perceived strains in communities, rather than analyze how social problems are constituted in rural places. Using Elias and Scotson's (1994) account of established-outsider relations, the paper examines how the organizational capacity of specific social groups is significant in determining the quality of crime-talk and responses to crime in isolated and rural settings. In particular social 'oldness' and notions of what constitutes 'community' are significant in determining what activities and individuals or groups are marked as features of crime-talk in these settings.

The limits to public service : rural communities, professional families, and work mobility

Australia faces an ongoing challenge recruiting professionals to staff essential human services in rural and remote communities. This paper identifies the private limits to the implicit service contract between professions and such client populations. These become evident in how private solutions to competing priorities within professional families inform their selective mobility and thus create the public problem for such communities. The paper reports on a survey of doctors, nurses, teachers and police with responsibility for school-aged children in Queensland that plumbed the strength of neoliberal values in their educational strategy and their commitment to the public good in career decisions. The quantitative analysis suggested that neoliberal values are not necessarily opposed to a commitment to the public good. However, the qualitative analysis of responses to hypothetical career opportunities in rural and remote communities drew out the multiple intertwined spatial and temporal limits to such public service, highlighting the priority given to educational strategy in these families’ deliberations. This private/public nexus poses a policy problem on multiple institutional fronts.

Methodology to predict the safety performance of rural multilane highways [Final Report for NCHRP Project 17-29]

The objective of this research is to develop a methodology that predicts the safety performance of various elements considered in the planning, design, and operation of nonlimited- access rural multilane highways.

Performing Rural Masculinities : A Case Study of Diggers and Dealers

This chapter examines what Parpart and Zalewski (2008) label 'the man question' in terms of the rural. That is, 'how masculinity comes to be "made" as a continuing process within the social context' of rural places and spaces (Kerfoot and Knights 1993: 662). Our understanding of masculinities as discursively produced, relational, multiple and changing is given empirical force through a case study of the annual resource conference, Diggers and Dealers. The conference, held in the remote mining town of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia since 1992, is today the largest international meeting for the resource sector, attracting over 2000 attendees. Through an analysis of 120 texts related to the conference from 2006 to the present, including media repotis, blogs and conference programs and speeches, we demonstrate how, what is essentially a corporate event, is imported into the rural and constructed through the intersecting discourses of rurality, masculinity and heterosexuality. That is, though the first such meeting may have taken place spontaneously in Kalgoorlie, the delegates, and the 'skimpy' barmaids who serve patrons in their underwear or sometimes topless and are seen as central to the event, are flown into town for the conference. Kalgoorlie, as a working mining community on the edge of the deseti, provides both spectacle and conditions for the enactment of frontier masculinity not possible in the metropole.

An investigation of early career teachers’ perceptions of professional development opportunities and career advancement for teachers in rural and remote Queensland

It is generally accepted that to live and work in the remote regions of Australia requires specific skills and expertise to accommodate the shifting demands of outback life. For professionals assigned to such areas by employing bodies, this is particularly the case, and teachers are no exception. In addition to such personal attributes, professionals such as teachers must maintain currency in their professional practice both to serve their students appropriately and to ensure that they become eligible for future promotions and transfers possibilities. This study investigated whether teachers in rural and remote regions are disadvantaged in ways that could potentially affect their teaching careers in negative ways, in particular in terms of professional development and career advancement opportunities. Such opportunities are crucial if teachers are to provide an education of high relevance to rural and remote children who are already considered to be significantly disadvantaged in terms of educational provision. The data are presented in the form of a single teacher narrative, a composite tale aimed at telling the story of rural and remote teachers, professional development provision and career advancement opportunities. It was apparent that teachers in these contexts face serious challenges in terms of their professional and career development.

From the bush to the burbs : a comparison of driver situation awareness at rural and urban railway level crossings

The problem of collisions between road users and trains at rail level crossings (RLXs) remains resistant to current countermeasures. One factor underpinning these collisions is poor Situation Awareness (SA) on behalf of the road user involved (i.e. not being aware of an approaching train). Although this is a potential threat at any RLX, the factors influencing SA may differ depending on whether the RLX is located in a rural or urban road environment. Despite this, there has been no empirical investigation regarding how road user SA might differ across distinct RLX environments. This knowledge is needed to establish the extent to which a uniform approach to RLX design and safety is acceptable. The aim of this paper is to investigate the differences in driver SA at rural versus urban RLXs. We present analyses of driver SA in both rural and urban RLX environments based on two recent on-road studies undertaken in Victoria, Melbourne. The findings demonstrate that driver SA is markedly different at rural and urban RLXs, and also that poor SA regarding approaching trains may be caused by different factors. The implications for RLX design and safety are discussed.

Investigating the link between carbon dioxide emissions and transport-related social exclusion in rural Northern Ireland

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is considered the most harmful of the greenhouse gases. Despite policy efforts, transport is the only sector experiencing an increase in the level of CO2 emissions and thereby possesses a major threat to sustainable development. In contrast, a reduced level of mobility has been associated with an increasing risk of being socially excluded. However, despite being the two key elements in transport policy, little effort has so far been made to investigate the links between CO2 emissions and social exclusion. This research contributes to this gap by analysing data from 157 weekly activity-travel diaries collected in rural Northern Ireland. CO2 emission levels were calculated using average speed models for different modes of transport. Regression analyses were then conducted to identify the socio-spatial patterns associated with these CO2 emissions, mode choice behaviour, and patterns of participation in activities. This research found that despite emitting a higher level of carbon dioxide, groups in rural areas possess the risk of being socially excluded due to their higher levels of mobility.

Identification of the sources of primary organic aerosols at urban schools : a molecular marker approach

Children are particularly susceptible to air pollution and schools are examples of urban microenvironments that can account for a large portion of children’s exposure to airborne particles. Thus this paper aimed to determine the sources of primary airborne particles that children are exposed to at school by analyzing selected organic molecular markers at 11 urban schools in Brisbane, Australia. Positive matrix factorization analysis identified four sources at the schools: vehicle emissions, biomass burning, meat cooking and plant wax emissions accounting for 45%, 29%, 16% and 7%, of the organic carbon respectively. Biomass burning peaked in winter due to prescribed burning of bushland around Brisbane. Overall, the results indicated that both local (traffic) and regional (biomass burning) sources of primary organic aerosols influence the levels of ambient particles that children are exposed at the schools. These results have implications for potential control strategies for mitigating exposure at schools.

Elemental composition of ambient fine particles in urban schools : sources of children’s exposure

Currently, there is a limited understanding of the sources of ambient fine particles that contribute to the exposure of children at urban schools. Since the size and chemical composition of airborne particle are key parameters for determining the source as well as toxicity, PM1 particles (mass concentration of particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 1 µm) were collected at 24 urban schools in Brisbane, Australia and their elemental composition determined. Based on the elemental composition four main sources were identified; secondary sulphates, biomass burning, vehicle and industrial emissions. The largest contributing source was industrial emissions and this was considered as the main source of trace elements in the PM1 that children were exposed to at school. PM1 concentrations at the schools were compared to the elemental composition of the PM2.5 particles (mass concentration of particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm) from a previous study conducted at a suburban and roadside site in Brisbane. This comparison revealed that the more toxic heavy metals (V, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb), mostly from vehicle and industrial emissions, were predominantly in the PM1 fraction. Thus, the results from this study points to PM1 as a potentially better particle size fraction for investigating the health effects of airborne particles.

Game On: Know Alcohol - Interim findings from the first nine schools

A six module program designed to 1) show students the effects of alcohol, 2) impart knowledge of standard drinks and 3) provide students with strategies to moderate (or abstain) from alcohol drinking, is currently being tested in a cluster randomised control design in Queensland. This paper presents immediate evaluation results for the program that was designed using the eight National Social Marketing Centre (2009) benchmark criteria. Students have participated in baseline and/or immediate follow up evaluation in six intervention and three control schools to date. Early results suggest that Game On:Know Alcohol increases knowledge relating to alcohol and moderates attitudes towards binge drinking while maintaining behavioural intentions to drink alcohol excessively. Limitations of the current study and opportunities for future research are outlined.

Does school type affect cognitive and non-cognitive development in children? Evidence from Australian primary schools

This paper investigates the effects of primary school choices on cognitive and non-cognitive development in children using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). We militate against the measurement problems that are associated with individual unobserved heterogeneity by exploiting the richness of LSAC data and applying contemporary econometric approaches. We find that sending children to Catholic or other independent primary schools has no significant effect on their cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes. The literature now has evidence from three different continents that the returns to attending Catholic primary schools are no different than public schools.

Effectiveness of an emergency nurse practitioner service for adults presenting to rural hospitals with chest pain : Protocol for a multicentre, longitudinal nested cohort study

Introduction Chest pain is common in emergency department (ED) patients and represents a considerable burden for rural health services. Health services reforms to improve access to care need appropriately skilled and supported clinicians in the delivery of safe and effective care, including the use of emergency nurse practitioners (ENPs). Despite increasing use of ENPs, little is known about the safety and quality of the service in the rural ED context. The aims of this study are (1) to examine the safety and quality of the ENP service model in the provision of care in the rural environment and (2) to evaluate the effectiveness of the service in the management of patients presenting with undifferentiated chest pain. Methods and analysis This is the protocol for a prospective longitudinal nested cohort study to compare the effectiveness of ENP service with that of standard care. Adults presenting to three rural EDs in Queensland, Australia with a primary presenting complaint of atraumatic chest pain will be eligible for enrolment. We will measure (1) clinician's use of evidence-based guidelines (2) diagnostic accuracy of ECG interpretation for the management of patients with suspected or confirmed ACS (3) service indicators of waiting times, length-of-stay and did-not-wait rates and (4) clinician's diagnostic accuracy as measured by rates of unplanned representation within 7 days (5) satisfaction with care, (6) quality-of-life and (7) functional status. To assess these outcomes we will use a combination of measures collected from routinely collected data, medical record review and questionnaires (with 30-day follow-up). Ethics and dissemination Queensland Health Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) has approved this protocol. The results will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and presented at one or more scientific conferences.