Naming trouble in online internationalized education

This paper offers an analysis of cultural politics that emerged around naming practices in an ethnographic study of the interactions within an online MBA unit, offered by an Australian university to both ‘local’ Australian students and international students enrolled through a Malaysian partner institution. It became evident that names were doing important identity, textual and pedagogical work in these interactions and considerable interactive trouble arose over the social practices surrounding names. The analysis uses sociolinguistic concepts to analyse selected slices of the online texts and participants' interview accounts. The analysis shows how ethnocentric default settings in the courseware served to heighten and exacerbate cultural difference as a pedagogical problem. These events are related to the larger problematic of theorising the context of culture in times of globalisation and increasingly entangled educational routes, with implications for the enterprise of online internationalised education.

Towards globo sapiens : transforming learners in higher education

Global and local studies show that the present growth-based approach to development is unsustainable. If we are serious about surviving the 21st century we will need graduates who are not simply 'globally portable' or even 'globally competent', but also wise global citizens, Globo sapiens. This book contributes to what educators need to know, do and be in order to support transformative learning. The book is based on work with large, socially and culturally diverse, first-year engineering students at an Australian university of technology. It shows that reflective journals, with appropriate planning and support, can be one pillar of a transformative pedagogy which can encourage significant and even transformative attitude change in relation to gender, culture and the environment. It also offers evidence of improved communication skills and other tangible changes to counter common criticisms that such work is "airy-fairy" and irrelevant. The author combines communication theory with critical futures thinking to provide layered understandings of how transformative learning affected students' thinking, learning and behaviour. So the book is both a case-study and a detailed response to the personal and professional challenges that educators all over the world will face as they try to guide students in sustainable directions. It will be useful to teachers in higher education, especially those interested in internationalisation of the curriculum, transformative learning and values change for sustainable futures.

Creativity, design and entrepreneurship : management education and development for innovation

Creativity, design and entrepreneurship, have been recognized as important contributors to a firm’s innovation and to the nation’s economic growth. Creativity and design play important roles in the fuzzy front end of a firm’s innovation process and also in corporate venturing processes, but the relationship between creativity, design and entrepreneurship to a large extent has not explicitly been examined. This exploratory conceptual paper briefly reviews the separate bodies of research on creativity, design and entrepreneurship, identifying similarities and differences in constructs and applications and identifying implications for business and for management education.

Measuring school-related stressors in adolescents

Some 1620 high school students responded to 68 items that measure adolescent stressors. Thirty-five of the items were based on J. P. Kohn and G. H. Frazer's Academic Stress Scale [1(1986) An Academic Stress Scale: Identification and Rated Importance of Academic Stressors, Psychological Reports, Vol. 59, pp. 415–426] developed in the United States, while the remaining 33 items were developed from P. Strutynski's [(1985) A Survey of Queensland Year 10, 11 and 12 Student Attitudes to Schools and Schooling, State Planning Committee, International Youth Year, Brisbane] lists of the most frequently named problems of 2336 Australian high school students. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used to test and develop a measurement model developed from an extensive review of previous scales. The High School Stressors Scale emerged from the analytic process and measures nine school-related stressors. For researchers focusing on school-related problems and stressors among adolescents, the HSSS promises to be a very useful instrument. It has sound construct and predictive validity and adequate reliability, as demonstrated by the goodness-of-fit indices the squared multiple correlations.

Cognitive behaviour therapy vs rational-emotive education : impact on children's self-talk, self-esteem and irrational beliefs

This study investigated the impact of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Rational~Emotive Education (REE) self-enhancement programs on children's self-talk, self-esteem and irrational beliefs. A total of 116 children (50.9% girls) with a mean age of 9.8 years attending Years 4 and 6 at two primary schools participated in the study. eBT resulted in a reduction in negative self-talk while REE seemed to enhance independence beliefs. Both programs were associated with increased positive self-talk and with having increased rationality in Conformity and Discomfort Intolerance beliefs.

Beyond the sound barrier

Freeway barriers used to be just great slabs of concrete that lined the road to tr and protect nearby residents from the constant rumble of the traffic. But in recent years, their visual appeal has become as important as their practical purpose with architects and designers clamouring to show off their ideas to the vast traveling public. Melbourne's Craigieburn Bypass is the latest to be recognised for its dual appeal winning the Urban Design Award at the recent Victorian Architecture Awards.

Innovative ways to assist young anxious children

Although anxiety disorders have been shown to be one of the most common psychological disorders of childhood, aggressive, acting-out children are more often referred for treatment. This continues to be the case even though anxious distress in children affects both social adjustment and academic performance and has a widespread interference in most areas of their lives. This paper explores the incorporation of play therapy techniques into developmentally appropriate, educationally sound programs which recognise and cater for individual differences.

A participative education program to reduce speeding in a group of work-related drivers

A number of intervention approaches have been developed to improve work-related driving safety. However, past interventions have been limited in that they have been data-driven, and have not been developed within a theoretical framework. The aim of this study is to present a theory-driven intervention. Based on the methodology developed by Ludwig and Geller (1991), this study evaluates the effectiveness of a participative education intervention on a group of work-related drivers (n = 28; experimental group n = 19, control n = 9). The results support the effectiveness of the intervention in reducing speeding over a six month period, while a non significant increase was found in the control group. The results of this study have important implications for organisations developing theory-driven interventions designed to improve work-related driving behaviour.

Real world contexts in PISA science : implications for context-based science education

The PISA assessment instruments for students’ scientific literacy in 2000, 2003 and 2006 have each consisted of units made up of a real world context involving Science and Technology, about which students are asked a number of cognitive and affective questions. This paper discusses a number of issues from this use of S&T contexts in PISA and the implications they have for the current renewed interest in context-based science education. Suitably chosen contexts can engage both boys and girls. Secondary analyses of the students’ responses using the contextual sets of items as the unit of analysis provides new information about the levels of performance in PISA 2006 Science. .Embedding affective items in the achievement test did not lead to gender/context interactions of significance, and context interactions were less than competency ones. A number of implications for context-based science teaching and learning are outlined and the PISA 2006 Science test is suggested as a model for its assessment.

The genesis of science education research in Australasia

Although the sciences were being taught in Australian schools well before the Second World War, the only evidence of research studies of this teaching is to be found in the report, published by ACER in 1932 of Roy Stanhope’s survey of the teaching of chemistry in New South Wales and a standardized test he had developed. Roy Stanhope was a science teacher with a research masters degree in chemistry. He had won a scholarship to go to Stanford University for doctoral studies, but returned after one year when his scholarship was not extended. He went on to be a founder in 1943 of the Australian Science Teachers Association (ASTA), which honours this remarkable pioneer through its annual Stanhope Oration. In his retirement Stanhope undertook a comparative study of science

Changing assessment practices : the case for online moderation

Online moderation meetings have the potential to support the collaborative professional development of teachers, and the formation of a common understanding of what denotes quality in student work in a standards based assessment system. In doing so systemic calls for consistency across education systems are also being met. In this paper a case for employing online moderation meetings is developed through recourse to the demands of learning in the twenty-first century and the place of assessment within those discourses. It is argued that empirical data is needed on the efficacy of online moderation meetings to guide future practice as the use of information and communication technologies increases in education systems. Online moderation is one way of gathering teachers across vast distances to share their understandings and develop common meanings of assessment. While it is suggested that online moderation is one possible procedure to meet systemic requirements and support teachers’ professional collaboration, the implementation of such a system also introduces new challenges for schools and teachers. Meeting online to discuss professional understandings is a new way of operating for teachers and involves technology that has not yet been fully utilised within education departments. Issues such as the types of interactions that are afforded within such an environment, as well as technical operating problems that occur when using technology impact on the employment of online meetings. Online moderation meetings while potentially solving the issue of developing common understandings across an entire department also pose new issues to be resolved. There is a need for research into the efficacy of online moderation meetings so that future policy decisions may be based on sound empirical data. It is imperative that as new ways of knowing and acting are incorporated into school curriculum and pedagogy, assessment practices are also aligned. Online moderation meetings can support such practices by enabling teachers to communicate with a wider and more diverse group of teachers to establish common understandings.

The link between policy and practice in science education : the role of research

Policy has been a much neglected area for research in science education. In their neglect of policy studies, researchers have maintained an ongoing naivete about the politics of science education. In doing so, they often overestimate the implications of their research findings about practice and ignore the interplay between the stakeholders beyond and in-school who determine the nature of the curriculum for science education and its enacted character. Policies for education (and science education in particular) always involve authority and values, both of which raise sets of fascinating questions for research. The location of authority for science education differs across educational systems in ways that affect the role teachers are expected to play. Policies very often value some groups in society over others, as the long history of attempts to provide science for all students testifies. As research on teaching/learning science identifies pedagogies that have widespread effectiveness, the policy issue of mandating these becomes important. Illustrations of successful policy to practice suggest that establishing conditions that will facilitate the intended implementation is critically important. The responsibility of researchers for critiquing and establishing policy for improving the practice of science education is discussed, together with the role research associations could play if they are to claim their place as key stakeholders in science education.

The world of science education : handbook of research in Australasia

The focus of this Handbook is on Australasia (a region loosely recognized as that which includes Australia and New Zealand plus nearby Pacific nations such as Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, and the Samoan islands) science education and the scholarship that most closely supports this program. The reviews of the research situate what has been accomplished within a given field in Australasian rather than international context. The purpose therefore is to articulate and exhibit regional networks and trends that produced specific forms of science education. The thrust lies in identifying the roots of research programs and sketching trajectories—focusing the changing façade of problems and solutions within regional contexts. The approach allows readers review what has been done and accomplished, what is missing, and what might be done next.

Introduction : science education research in Australasia : an overview

This chapter overviews the major themes of research reviewed and justifies the selection of topics.

Identity and disciplinarity : Multi-disciplinary student cohorts in Higher Education [Abstract]

This paper will describe a research project that examines the implications of multidisciplinary student cohorts on teaching and learning within undergraduate and postgraduate units in higher education. Whist students generally specialise in one discipline, it is also common that, at some point during their degree, they will choose to undertake subjects that are outside their specialist area. Students may choose a multidisciplinary learning experience either out of interest or because the subject is seen as complementary to their core discipline. When the lens of identity is applied to the multi-disciplinary cohorts in undergraduate and postgraduate units, it assists in identifying learning needs. The nature of disciplinarity, and the impact it has on students’ academic identity, presents challenges to both students and teachers when they engage in teaching and learning, impacting on curriculum design, assessment practices and teaching delivery strategies (Winberg, 2008). This project aims to identify the barriers that exist to effective teaching and learning in units that have multidisciplinary student cohorts. It will identify the particular needs of students in multidisciplinary student cohorts and determine a teaching and learning model that meets the needs of such cohorts. References Becher, T. & Trowler, P.R. (2001). Academic tribes and territories: Intellectual enquiry and the culture of the discipline. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. Light, G. & Cox, R. (2001). Learning and teaching in higher education: A reflective professional. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Neumann, R. (2001). Disciplinary differences and university teaching. Studies in Higher Education, 26 (2), 135-46. Neumann, R., Parry, S. & Becher, T. (2002). Teaching and Learning in their disciplinary contexts: A conceptual analysis. Studies in Higher Education, 27(4), 405-417. Taylor, P.G. (1999) Making Sense of Academic Life: Academics, Universities and Change. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. Winberg, C. (2008). Teaching engineering/engineering teaching: interdisciplinary collaboration and the construction of academic identities. Teaching in Higher Education, 13(3), 353 - 367.