The influence of school science teachers : the differential importance attributed by males and females to encouragement from science teachers

Research on the achievement and retention of female students in science and mathematics is located within a context of falling levels of participation in physical science and mathematics courses in Australian schools, and underrepresentation of females in some science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses. The Interests and Recruitment in Science (IRIS) project is an international project that aims to contribute to understanding and improving recruitment, retention and gender equity in STEM higher education. Nearly 3500 first year students in 30 Australian universities responded to the IRIS survey of 5-point Likert items and open responses. This paper explores gender differences in first year university students’ responses to three questions about important influences on their course choice. The IRIS study found good teachers were rated highly by both males and females as influential in choosing STEM courses, and significantly higher numbers of females rated personal encouragement from senior high school science teacher as very important. In suggestions for addressing sex disparities in male-dominated STEM courses, more females indicated the importance of good teaching/encouragement and more females said (unspecified) encouragement. This study relates to the influence of school science teachers and results are discussed in relation to implications for science education.

Looking back : students' perceptions of the relative enjoyment of primary and secondary school science

This paper reports and discusses a contentious result from an Australia-wide study of the influences on students' decisions about taking senior science subjects. As part of the Choosing Science study (Lyons and Quinn 2010) 3759 Year 10 students were asked to indicate which stage of their schooling (lower primary, upper primary, lower secondary, middle secondary) they had most enjoyed learning science. Crosstabulations of responses revealed that around 78% of students indicated that they had enjoyed learning science more in secondary than in primary school, and 55% enjoyed it the most during Years 9 and 10. The perception that school science was more enjoyable in high school was also found among students who did not intend taking science in Year 11, though to a lesser extent. These findings are unexpected and significant, challenging the prevailing view that enjoyment of school science steadily declines after primary school. The paper elaborates on the findings and suggests that the different conclusions arrived at by studies in this field may be due to the different methodologies employed.

Gender differences in Australian students' relationships with school science

This paper explores issues of gender in Year 10 Australian students‘ experiences of science at school, their self-reported ability in science and their perceptions of science as a subject choice for senior secondary school. A sample of 3759 Year 10 students from across Australia responded to Likert-style questions related to these issues, with findings showing gender differences in perceptions of science, self-rated ability, and reasons for choosing not to study further science. Moreover, interesting contrasts were revealed in patterns of difference of self-rated ability for boys and girls across single-sex and co-educational schools.

A school by any other name...is still a rock band?

How is your academic institution structured? If you work within a university, then no doubt you are familiar with the use of faculties or perhaps colleges. What about departments or schools? Whatever names or structures are employed, how would you describe the working relationship between academics and professional staff members? As a research scientist and academic over the last twenty years, my appointments have almost always been made through academic departments or schools. In each case, the academic unit has been led by a senior academic manager, such as a chair or head, supported by a dedicated team of professional staff. More recently, however, I have had the opportunity of leading an academic discipline and the experience has led me to reflect more broadly about leadership styles and academic structures within the Australian higher education sector. The written record of this reflection was published last year in the Australian Universities Review (Harkin and Healy, 2013), but I’m pleased to be able to provide a brief synopsis here for the readership of Insights.

Anglican boarding school a hotbed of sexual punishment

THE little Anglican boarding school of St Barnabas, in the misty mountain town of Ravenshoe, north Queensland, was allegedly a hotbed of physical and sexual abuse in the 1960s. North Queensland Bishop Bill Ray has confirmed the diocese has few files about the school -- which was closed mid-term in 1990 -- with suspicions they were dumped "down a well or an old mine shaft" in the district A history of brutal physical punishment and sexual abuse at the school dating from the 1960s is now emerging. Headmaster Robert Waddington, who arrived at the school from England to be headmaster in 1961, dished out daily canings to many of his young students and then allegedly raped some behind closed doors in his room or the sick bay, which were next to each other. Former St Barnabas student Bim Atkinson, now 58, and two other former students have levelled allegations against the man they called "the Wadd".

The tertiary debate : a case study analysis of factors considered when applying for university entry by traditional age school leavers in Brisbane

Many interacting factors contribute to a student's choice of a university. This study takes a systems perspective of the choice and develops a Bayesian Network to represent and quantify these factors and their interactions. The systems model is illustrated through a small study of traditional school leavers in Australia, and highlights similarities and differences between universities' perceptions of student choices, students' perceptions of factors that they should consider and how students really make choices. The study shows the range of information that can be gained from this approach, including identification of important factors and scenario assessment.

Choosing science : understanding the declines in senior high school science enrolments

'Choosing Science' reports on the most thorough study yet undertaken in Australia to investigate Year 10 students' decisions about whether to take science subjects. The study was well supported by ASTA members, with around 590 teachers and 3800 students participating. It examined teachers' views on the persistent declines in science enrolments, and students' perceptions of school science and aspirations towards further study and careers. The report discusses students' attitudes to science, their enrolment deliberations, sources of advice and recommendations for change. The report identifies the most likely and unlikely contributors to enrolment declines, and makes 10 recommendations.

Management [5th Asia-Pacific Edition]

The fifth edition of this text has been thoroughly updated, continuing its strong emphasis on the importance of the Asian region to contemporary Australian and New Zealand organisations. Many Asian case examples are featured to illustrate key management concepts, and these provide a useful basis for comparison with management practices in Australia and New Zealand. Numerous practical examples throughout the text highlight contemporary management issues, such as: •workplace diversity •sustainability •ethics/corporate social responsibility •the impact of technology •innovation in the workplace •globalisation •employee engagement •flexible working arrangements •work-life balance •generational issues in the workplace •skills shortages in various industries •the importance of effective employee recruitment and training •organisational culture •workforce flexibility and casualisation •the ‘24/7’ nature of contemporary communication technology, including social media •outsourcing Management, 5th Asia Pacific edition, has also retained the features that have made previous editions so popular with students and lecturers, including the Career Readiness Workbook activities at the end of the book, and the accompanying Interactive Study Guide with its vast array of multimedia resources.

Management : Foundations and Applications (2nd Asia-Pacific Edition)

The second edition of this text has been thoroughly updated, continuing its strong emphasis on the importance of the Asian region to contemporary Australian and New Zealand organisations. Many Asian case examples are featured to illustrate key management concepts, and these provide a useful basis for comparison with management practices in Australia and New Zealand. Numerous practical examples throughout the text highlight contemporary management issues, such as: •workplace diversity •sustainability •ethics/corporate social responsibility •the impact of technology •innovation in the workplace •globalisation •employee engagement •flexible working arrangements •work-life balance •generational issues in the workplace •skills shortages in various industries •the importance of effective employee recruitment and training •organisational culture •workforce flexibility and casualisation •the ‘24/7’ nature of contemporary communication technology, including social media •outsourcing Management, Foundation and Applications, 2nd Asia-Pacific edition, has also retained the features that made its previous edition so popular with students and lecturers, including the Career Readiness Workbook activities at the end of the book, and the accompanying Interactive Study Guide with its vast array of multimedia resources.

School-based youth health nurses and adolescent decision-making concerning reproductive and sexual health advice : how can the law guide healthcare practitioners in this context?

This paper outlines some of the issues faced by School-Based Youth Health Nurses working in Queensland, in relation to the legal principles surrounding the provision of reproductive and sexual health advice. The paper outlines a number of specific issues faced by nurses working within this setting and considers the legal principles underpinning the issues concerning consent and confidentiality. The discussion in this paper demonstrates how the legal principles – which are often viewed as complex and uncertain by nurses working within this field – may be used as a guide to underpin good practice and compliance with the law. Although this paper is considered in the context of nurses working within Queensland, the principles and factors outlined are relevant to healthcare practitioners working within all Australian jurisdictions.

Establishing research in a palliative care clinical setting : perceived barriers and implemented strategies

There are many challenges in developing research projects in research-naïve clinical settings, especially palliative care where resistance to participate in research has been identified. These challenges to the implementation of research are common in nursing practice and are associated with attitudes towards research participation, and some lack of understanding of research as a process to improve clinical practice. This is despite the professional nursing requirement to conduct research into issues that influence palliative care practice. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of implementing a clinical research project in collaboration with the clinicians of a palliative care community team and to reflect on the strategies implemented to overcome the challenges involved. The challenges presented here demonstrate the importance of proactively implementing engagement strategies from the inception of a research project in a clinical setting.

Accused cleric built reputation at small school in Australia

The little Anglican boarding school of St Barnabas, in the mountain town of Ravenshoe, north Queensland, was where Robert Waddington built his reputation as an educationalist. He was headmaster there from 1961-70, but a growing number of former pupils are now coming forward to say they were subjected to sexual and physical abuse by him. Bim Atkinson, 58, said that his ordeal began after he was sent to the school and joined the choir. “I was absolutely petrified of the man,” Mr Atkinson recalls. “After I joined the choir, the abuse started. He would tell me to go to the sickbay, which had a connecting door to his bedroom and then I would end up in his room.”

Accused cleric link to top music school probe

THE senior Anglican clergyman at the centre of an international child sex scandal was also a governor of a prestigious English music college that is under investigation for the alleged abuse of scores of its students across decades. Robert Waddington, who is alleged to have sexually assaulted students and choirboys in Britain and Australia, was a governor of the scandal-hit Chetham's School of Music for nine years. Waddington recruited students from the school for his choir at Manchester Cathedral, and allegedly abused at least three of the boys until he retired in 1993. The police investigation into the school, which began after the conviction in February of Michael Brewer, a former Chetham's music director, for the sexual abuse of female students, has not previously looked at Waddington. A victim has told The Weekend Australian that he was aware Waddington abused several boys from Chetham's who, like him, had been in the choir. The Cambridge University-educated business analyst, who has offered to give evidence under oath to police and the Church of England's inquiry into Waddington, said the clergyman had kept a collection of pictures in his house of boys he had abused.