Interview with Jamhari

Jamhari is an Indonesian who studied at the Australian National University (ANU) in 1993-1999. He studied on an Australian Development Scholarship (ADS) and completed a Masters and PhD, both in Anthropology. The interview was conducted in English on 14 January 2015 by Dr. Ahmad Suaedy of the Abdurrahman Wahid Centre for Inter-faith Dialogue and Peace at Universitas Indonesia. This set comprises: an interview recording, a timed summary, and a photograph.

Interview with Joseph Kata

Joseph Kata is a Papua New Guinean who studied at the University of Wollongong in 1992-1993. He studied on an Australian government scholarship and completed an MBA. He has since contributed to the development of the University of Goroka and worked for several NGOs. The interview was conducted in English on 22 January 2015 by Dr. Jonathan Ritchie of Deakin University and Dr. Musawe Sinebare of the Pacific Adventist University. This set comprises: an interview recording, a timed summary, and a photograph.

Interview with Paulus William Kei

Paulus William Kei is a Papua New Guinean who studied at the Southbank Institute of Technology in 2006-2007. He studied on an Australian Development Scholarship (ADS) and completed a Diploma in Biotechnology. The interview was conducted in English on 17 December 2014 by Dr. Jemma Purdey of Deakin University. This set comprises: an interview recording, and a timed summary.

A virtuous circle: the positive evaluation phenomenon in arts audience research

Arts impact evaluation is the subject of widespread criticism, ranging from a detailed critique of methodology to a wholesale rejection of the very purpose of the endeavour. In particular, it is often identified that audience evaluations are almost always positive. Yet whatever the critique, arts impact evaluation is becoming more and not less prevalent as a condition of public and philanthropic funding. This article explores both the methodologicaland conceptual problems that contribute to the perceived positive characterof social impact research, in two parts: (1) an investigation of the critical literature on audience evaluation, particularly in relation to the argument that evaluation is inevitably positive and as such leads to a confusion between the goals of evaluation and arts advocacy; (2) a reflection on our practices as audience researchers in the performing arts and the practical factors that contribute to the dominance of the positive in audience evaluation.

From chemical warfare to peace

Following the horrors of chemical warfare in two World Wars and the Vietnam War (see box), the international community worked to develop an encompassing treaty to prevent the use of chemical weapons. After extensive work, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction came into force in 1997. Commonly known as the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), it requires member states to declare and destroy chemical weapons and provides for inspection of facilities and investigation into alleged use. The CWC has been ratified by 190 countries and is administered by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Warfare (OPCW). In 2013, the OPCW won the Nobel Peace prize "for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons". Notable in the official announcement is the reminder that neither the US nor Russia met the 2012 deadline for destruction of their stockpiles of chemical weapons, although both have made significant progress. In July 2005, an invitational joint International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)/OPCW Conference concluded that for the work of OPCW to succeed and be sustainable, engagement in formal educational contexts and public outreach was needed. To this end, the Multiple Uses of Chemicals website

Interview with Lutfi Assyaukani

The interview with conducted in Indonesian by the Wahid Institute in Jakarta on 22 June 2015. This set comprises: an interview recording, a photograph, and a transcript of the interview.

'Turning around' to the affordances of digital games: English curriculum and students' lifeworlds

The need for English and literacy curriculum to connect with young people's lifeworlds to build bridges and frames of reference that connect traditional English curriculum with digital texts and literacies, are increasing priorities in curriculum frameworks in Australia and elsewhere. This paper reports on a project in which the authors worked with teachers and students in five secondary schools to research the ways in which digital games might be incorporated into the English curriculum. Central to this endeavour was 'turning around' to the affordances of digital games and their paratexts to understand how they can be understood as text and action. Drawing on classroom observations and literature in Games Studies and English curriculum we present a timely model and innovative heuristic that we argue facilitates teachers incorporating digital games into their English classrooms. We illustrate how each assists teachers in 'turning around' to digital games to make their English classrooms more relevant to students' lifeworlds.

The zombies of sleepy hollow: reimagining Geelong

Place branding is traditionally concerned with drawing on the positive and unique elements of a community to generate investment and build community pride. In 2014 a promotional video was released portraying Geelong as a zombie town, with flamboyant Mayor Darryn Lyons riding in on horseback to save the city and its people. The imagery was more at home in cult zombie cinema than a tourism promotion. Critics berated the video as an ill-conceived stunt that carried a message derisive to the local community. Supporters focused on the bold, creative nature of the endeavour, claiming its potential to ‘go viral’ would enhance Geelong’s media presence, improve the city’s perception and draw visitors to the area. Geelong was first badged ‘Sleepy Hollow’ in the 1860s when the new gold towns of Ballarat and Bendigo boomed, challenging its supremacy as a commercial centre. Geelong prospered in the 1920s through industrialisation, but the moniker has remained. Today, Geelong faces a period of economic uncertainty and transition as it adjusts to major job losses in manufacturing. While this presents significant challenges, it also creates opportunities for the city to re-imagine itself by capitalising on the physical and cultural assets that set Geelong apart. While the zombie video has sparked debate, its success in influencing views of the city is constrained by its references to past stigma and its imposition of a new sense of dystopia in the present. This paper explores the Sleepy Hollow predicament and considers how the branding of Geelong might move beyond parody to better reflect its position as Victoria’s largest regional centre through an approach based on imageability, narrative, assets and investment.

Community development today:engaging challenges through cosmopolitanism?

This article begins by outlining some of the challenges and opportunities for community development theory and practice today. Some of these have been present from the 1960s and 70s, some have been evident for several decades, others are new and some demand urgent attention. The second part of the paper notes three types of responses to the challenges. It argues the case for embracing one specific response, namely a deepening of a cosmopolitan outlook in both the theory and practice of community development. While acknowledging that community development is in someways already a cosmopolitan endeavour, the paper concludes with a call for exploration of the ways in which embracing a broader and deeper cosmopolitanism might enhance community development as it responds to contemporary challenges.

Antioxidative peptides derived from food proteins

The search for natural antioxidants is an ongoing endeavour as an aid to combat the harmful effects of free radicals. Research advances in the past few decades have shown that, by controlled enzymatic hydrolysis, natural antioxidants can be produced from food proteins. In this chapter, the role of certain antioxidative peptides derived from food proteins is discussed in relation to their prospect in the prevention of oxidative stress. The molecular diversity of these food peptides is described together with their pharmacological effects and mechanisms of action in relation to antioxidation. The production of these peptides and the elucidation of their antioxidative peptides are also presented. Owing to their therapeutic potential, antioxidative peptides derived from food proteins can be incorporated as ingredients in functional foods, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals, where their biological activities may inhibit product oxidation or assist in the control and prevention of diseases induced by free radicals. However, further insightful research is needed to overcome certain scientific challenges and thereby increase and promote consumer acceptance of these natural antioxidants.

Developing career aspirations of information technology students at Deakin University

It is important for students to develop informed and realistic career aspirations to gain the most value from their university studies towards achieving their initial career goals. However developing students’ career aspirations, goals, and expectations is a complex and discipline-specific process. In Information Technology (IT) no clear career development framework is evident in the literature. Recent research in Australia argues that electronic portfolios are a useful way for students to develop, articulate and document career objectives to enhance their employability. IT students at Deakin engage in formal training and assessment with respect to developing their professional skills and career understandings. Currently electronic portfolios feature as a useful method for evidencing professional competencies for employability. Through a combined quantitative and qualitative analysis of 306 students’ articulated current career aspirations, qualitative analysis of 7 staff opinions of desired student career competencies, and a quantitative analysis of 28 students’ current work personality traits assessments (Work Personality Index), this work presents an analysis of the current state of IT students’ career development. The results indicate that while students reported short-term career aspirations, navigating to their long-term career goals is going to require addressing difficult barriers such as confidence (self-perception) and motivation. This research will influence a larger program-wide endeavour to build student career competencies for employability in IT at Deakin University.

Teacher beliefs in ‘testing’ times: a lesson from Singapore

International benchmarking and national testing of students at all levels of schooling have provoked teachers to critically reflect on their place in this endeavour. Many of the curriculum and pedagogical approaches associated with this type of assessment and accountability conflict with long-held beliefs about the role of teachers and the work of schooling. Singapore is recognised for significant achievement in the international schooling arena and also has a long history of national testing. This study draws specifically on positioning theory to investigate teacher beliefs and positioning in these times. A large qualitative research project located in Singapore sought the ways experienced teachers positioned themselves and their work as they negotiated multiple and sometimes conflicting discourses of teaching. A rigorous process was used to elicit teacher beliefs and resultant teacher positions.

The science of the COAG coordinated care trials

Objectives: To explicate the organisational change agenda of the COAG coordinated care trials within the Australian health system and to illuminate the role of science in this process. Methods and Results: This article briefly outlines the COAG coordinated care trial aims and the effect of the trial as a change initiative in rural South Australia. It is proposed that although the formal trial outcomes are still not clear, the trial had significant impact upon health service delivery in some sites. The trial involved standard research methods with control and intervention groups and with key hypotheses being tested to compare the costs and service utilization profile of intervention and control groups. Formal results indicate that costs were not significantly different between intervention and control groups across all sites, but that the trial, nonetheless, had a powerful impact on the attitude and behaviours of service providers in the rural trial on Eyre Peninsula in particular. Some of the key structural changes now in place are outlined. Conclusions: The COAG trial has had many and varied impacts upon those organisations and individual providers involved with it. It is argued here that since successive initiatives had been implemented before final evaluation results were published, other agendas were served by the trial apart from those of standard scientific research and hypothesis testing. That is, the main impact of the coordinated care trial in Eyre Region at least has been change by stealth, and not through scientific research and demonstration. Implications: The COAG trials have set in train a series of structural and procedural changes in the methods of delivery and management of primary health care systems; changes that are embodied in the Enhanced Primary Care packages (EPC) and other initiatives recently introduced by the Commonwealth Government. These changes have occurred and are occurring across the system without formal evidence as to their efficacy, suggesting that other financial motives are driving these new approaches apart from the goal of improving health outcomes for consumers. Also, if science is to be used in this way to drive policy and procedural change ahead of actual outcome evidence, it is important that we examine the more subtle agendas of such research projects in future if the integrity of the scientific method is to be maintained. The occurrence of such phenomena questions the very foundation of scientific endeavour and weakens the application of scientific principles in the arena of social and political science.

Putting grammar in its place: interactions and identity in a Master of TESOL course

This chapter reports on the development of language awareness and second language identities of a cohort of Chinese TESOL teachers that arose as a result of incidental classroom interactions during a TESOL Masters course in Australia. The experiences of such interactions appeared to help the Chinese teachers make stronger connections between form and meaning, and, while they also reflected deeply on the pedagogies of grammar, they gained a wider view of language teaching and learning that included pragmatic and sociolinguistic awareness. The impact of cultural and educational exchanges and the resulting formations of second language identities is an emerging focus of research (Benson, Barkhuizen, Bodycott and Brown, 2013). In the field of TESOL, such movements and exchanges are creating opportunities to develop a richer discourse, by drawing on diverse traditions of professionalism in different communities and contexts, and calls are increasingly being made for a plural professional knowledge and more inclusive relationships (Canagarajah, 2005; Holliday, 2005; Widdowson, 2004). The People’s Republic of China has been one of the major contributors to student and teacher mobility in recent years; English language is now a priority subject in China, and all students entering university must take the English college test whether they intend to major in English or not, and therefore there has been much interest in upskilling cohorts of Chinese teachers of English to meet this demand. An increasingly typical initiative is to award scholarships to gain professional qualifications in English-speaking countries. A cohort of English teachers from Jiangsu province, China, is the focus of the present study. During their Masters in TESOL course in Queensland, Australia, they experienced interactions with native speakers inside and outside of the classroom. As their course lecturer for several TESOL units, I was interested in the nature of the incidental language awareness arising from course activities with their native-speaking peers. I was also interested in whether they felt that these experiences had implications for their sense of identity in a second language. The following sections therefore discuss the key themes: interaction in higher education contexts, language awareness, and second language identities.

National dance forum 2015

There are ongoing tensions between academics who employ artistic practice as part of their skills set versus artists who enter the academy through a higher degree or taking up a university job opportunity. This panel will address both the pitfalls and opportunities when academic research interacts with creative practice. How one area supports and engages the other is a multifaceted and complex endeavour.