A comparative study of content settings of mathematics curriculum standards from China, Australia, and Finland

The study investigated the mathematics curricula standards set by the governments in China, Australia(Victoria) and Finland in the aspects of the amount of content statements, the structure of content areas, level of details, level of requirement, the distribution of content, and the changes of content areas. The results show that China's mathematics standard has the biggest amount of and the most detailed content statements; that of Australia is in the second place; and Finnish standard has the least amount of content statements that are very general. The standards in all three countries emphasize numbers and operation and geometry.However,China's standards present a dynamic change, with different focus for different grades; Australian standards have similar proportion of each part of content for different grades and the amount of each part increases with grade; there is no fixed setting and proportion of content in Finnish standard, which is not confined by any mode.

Utilisation of general practitioner services and achievement of guideline targets by people with diabetes who joined a peer-support program in Victoria, Australia

This paper describes the use of general practitioner (GP) services and achievement of guideline targets by 285 adults with type 2 diabetes in urban and regional areas of Victoria, Australia. Anthropometric and biomedical measures and responses to a self-administered questionnaire were collected. Findings indicate that almost all participants had visited a GP and had had their hypoglycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) measured in the past 6 months; less than one-third had visited a practice nurse. Fifty per cent achieved a HbA1c target of ≤7.0%; 40%, a total cholesterol ≤4.00 mmol/L; 39%, BP Systolic ≤130 mmHg; 51%, BP Diastolic ≤80 mmHg; 15%, body mass index ≤25 kg/m2; and 34% reported a moderately intense level of physical activity, that is, ≥30 min, 5 days a week. However, 39% of individuals achieved at least two targets and 18% achieved at least three of these guideline targets. Regional participants were more likely to report having a management plan and having visited a practice nurse, but they were less likely to have visited other health professionals. Therefore, a more sustained effort that also includes collaborative care approaches is required to improve the management of diabetes in Australia.

Crossing borders as Mestizas and Coyotes: recognising older Somali women's shifting subjectivities in Australia

Patterns and perceptions of physical activity and sedentary time in male transport drivers working in regional Australia

 Abstract

Objective: To objectively measure physical activity (PA) patterns and sedentary time, and explore perceptions of workplace PA opportunities in regional male transport workers.

Methods: A multi-method study involving 28 drivers (52.4±9.69years) working at a bus company in South-East Queensland, Australia. PA was measured using accelerometers (n=23) to determine the proportion of time spent in sedentary (<150 cpm), light (151–2,689 cpm) and moderate+ (≥2,690 cpm) intensity categories. Paired sample t-tests were used to evaluate differences between categories on a workday/off-workday (n=16), and during work/non-work time (n=15). Interviews were conducted with 28 drivers and six managers to explore perceptions and ideas relating to workplace PA opportunities.

Results: Sedentary time was significantly higher on off-work (64% of wear time) than work (52%) days (p<0.05), while the opposite was the case for light intensity time (off-workday=33%; workday=44%; p<0.05). On workdays, sedentary time was significantly lower when employees were working (44%) than when not working (60%; p<0.05). No significant differences were found for time spent in moderate+ PA. Driver perceptions indicated that PA opportunities (walking club and corporate gym membership) were being adopted by some drivers. However, at this depot, perceived health issues and organisational barriers (shift work and irregular driving routines), tended to preclude some drivers from engaging with these opportunities.

Conclusions: Findings contest the notion that a sedentary occupation such as driving necessitates an inactive work environment.

Implications: This research informs ongoing intervention efforts to target inactive drivers who are struggling to take advantage of existing workplace-related PA opportunities.

Weeds and wildlife: perceptions and practices of weed managers

Negative impacts of invasive plants or weeds on biodiversity have been well established yet their role in providing key habitats and resources for wildlife has been little understood. Weed removal thus has the potential to adversely affect wildlife but whether this is considered during weed management is poorly known. To determine the extent of this knowledge, we examined the perceptions of weed managers regarding wildlife and weed management in Victoria, Australia. We surveyed 81 weed managers of varying levels of experience from different types of organisations, including state and local government, community groups and private companies. We found 90% of managers had observed wildlife-weed interactions and that most (70%) adjusted management programmes to accommodate wildlife. Despite this, few (19%) had adopted the recommended practice of combining gradual weed removal with re-vegetation. While management programmes included monitoring of native vegetation, consideration of wildlife monitoring in weed management was rare. This highlights the need for management to better understand and respond to wildlife-weed relationships. If the improvement of wildlife habitat is included in the objectives of weed programmes, as it should be, then wildlife should also be incorporated in project monitoring. This would lead to a greater understanding of the role weeds and their management have in each situation and, ultimately, more informed decision making. Copyright: © Carlos et al. 2014.

Retrials of persons acquitted of indictable offences in England and Australia: exceptions to the rule against double jeopardy

Jury directions in relation to the issue of consent in trials of sexual offence cases are mandated in two jurisdictions in Australia (Victoria and the Northern Territory). The Australian Law Reform Commission, in conjunction with the New South Wales Law Reform Commission, has recommended that provisions similar to those in Victoria should be contained in relevant legislation in all States and Territories. However, a recent series of cases in Victoria has revealed significant problems in relation to the mandatory jury directions. These difficulties have generated increasingly elaborate and complex directions. The complexity of these directions not only presents considerable challenges for judges but also may overwhelm, rather than assist, members of the jury. The Court of Appeal of Victoria has called for "urgent and wholesale reform". In the light of these concerns, it is suggested that the Victorian mandatory directions do not provide a model for other jurisdictions. Rather, the Victorian experience can be seen as a cautionary tale of the problems and pitfalls of such directions. Recently, the Victorian government has passed the Jury Directions Act 2013. This Act sets out "guiding principles" that should determine the content, and use, of jury directions. These guiding principles should form the basis for any jury directions with respect to sexual offences.

Education about diverse religions and worldviews, social inclusion and countering extremism: lessons for the Australian curriculum

Since the turn of the twenty-first century, the so-called ‘religion in schools debate’ has generated a significant amount of controversy in Australia and arguably impeded progress in both research and education about diverse religions and non-religious worldviews (ERW). This article focuses on the recently released Review of the Australian Curriculum – Final Report and examines why there has been such strong resistance to learning from international best practices in implementing ERW programmes in Australia. It presents an analysis of the Review’s findings, in light of these advances, notably the recently released Signposts: Policy and Practice for Teaching about Religions and Non-religious Worldviews in Intercultural Education document published by the Council of Europe. Finally, this article argues that for the Australian Curriculum to be genuinely ‘world class’, and for it to promote an appreciation of religious diversity, it needs to include ERW as a separate subject or across the national Curriculum, drawing on Australian and international research and policies in this field to develop curricula and resources that are appropriate for the Australian context.

Are there news gaps in rural/regional Australia? Researching media plurality beyond Finkelstein

Rural/regional news is emerging as a vital area of media policy and research throughout the world as industry bodies, governments and academics grapple with debates concerning the future of news in a complex digital world. However, there has been little examination of media plurality at the rural/regional level, or research into the sustainability of the sector in Australia. Such concerns go to questions of what roles industry and government might play in ensuring its future. The Finkelstein report in 2012 noted that many rural/regional newspapers in Australia had limited resources and consequently low capacity for in-depth coverage of local issues. In the meantime, the funding model of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (which services rural/regional areas as part of its charter) has come under intense scrutiny by the federal Liberal-National Party coalition government. Signs from abroad – especially from the United Kingdom – are troubling. Several independent inquiries have called for policy initiatives to address what British scholars describe as the growing “democratic deficit” created by the closure of hundreds of local UK newspapers since 2004. This paper canvasses current and emerging media policy settings in the UK, the United States and Australia before posing some broader questions on the future of rural/regional news in Australia.

Development, evaluation and use of a student experience survey in undergraduate science laboratories: the advancing science by enhancing learning in the laboratory student laboratory learning experience survey

Student experience surveys have become increasingly popular to probe various aspects of processes and outcomes in higher education, such as measuring student perceptions of the learning environment and identifying aspects that could be improved. This paper reports on a particular survey for evaluating individual experiments that has been developed over some 15 years as part of a large national Australian study pertaining to the area of undergraduate laboratories—Advancing Science by Enhancing Learning in the Laboratory. This paper reports on the development of the survey instrument and the evaluation of the survey using student responses to experiments from different institutions in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. A total of 3153 student responses have been analysed using factor analysis. Three factors, motivation, assessment and resources, have been identified as contributing to improved student attitudes to laboratory activities. A central focus of the survey is to provide feedback to practitioners to iteratively improve experiments. Implications for practitioners and researchers are also discussed.

Social justice intents in policy: an analysis of capability for and through education

Primarily developed as an alternative to narrow measures of well-being such as utility and resources, Amartya Sen’s capability approach places strong emphasis on people’s substantive opportunities. As a broad normative framework, the capability approach has become a valuable tool for understanding and evaluating social arrangements (e.g. education policies and development programmes) in terms of individuals’ effective freedoms to achieve valuable beings and doings. This paper explores the recent emergence of ‘capability’ in Australian education policy, specifically in the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper. We explore capability as a framing device and reveal how its various meanings are at odds with the scholarly literature, specifically Sen’s conception of capability and its implications for social justice in and through education. The analysis shows that the social justice intent of a capability approach appears to be overtaken in the White Paper by an emphasis on outcomes, performance and functionings that seek to serve the nation’s economic interests more than the interests of students, especially the disadvantaged.

Profiling nursing resources in Australian emergency departments

BACKGROUND: Emergency nurses have a key role in managing the large numbers of patients that attend Australian emergency departments (EDs) annually, and require adequate educational preparation to deliver safe and quality patient care. This paper provides a detailed profile of nursing resources in Australian EDs, including ED locations, annual patient attendances, nurse staffing including level of education, and educational resources. METHODS: Data were collected via online surveys of emergency Nurse Unit Managers and Nurse Educators and the MyHospitals website. Data were analysed by hospital peer group and state or territory. Comparisons were made using the Kruskal-Wallis Test and Spearman Rank Order Correlation. RESULTS: In 2011-2012, there were a median of 36,274 patient attendances to each of the 118 EDs sampled (IQR 28,279-46,288). Most of the nurses working in EDs were Registered Nurses (95.2%). Organisations provided educational resources including Clinical Nurse Educators (80.6%), learning packages (86%) and facilitation of postgraduate study (98%), but resources, both human and educational varied substantially between states and territories. One-third of emergency nurses held a relevant postgraduate qualification (30%). CONCLUSION: There are important variations in the emergency nursing resources available between Australian states and territories. The high percentage of RNs in Australian EDs is a positive finding, however strategies to increase the percentage of nurses with relevant postgraduate qualifications are required.