Telephone-mediated academic discourse

This study investigates the role of spoken language in tertiary teaching and learning as mediated by the telephone. There is recognition also of the mediating role of the tape-recorder and computer in this research. The discourse analysis has avoided the inherent difficulties of restructuring spoken language as written text as, by the use of CD-ROM, the spoken voice has been retained and it has been possible to connect the utterance and the reader. For a thesis that is concerned with the privileging of the written over the spoken in the academy, and the role of communication technologies, the use of CD-ROM is apposite and timely. The study has been conceptualised as the bringing together of three potentially discrete elements (audioteleconferencing, academic discourse and technological mediation) which are framed by distance education/open learning. Set within an interpretive (hermeneutic) paradigm, the research examines tape-recorded ‘teletutorial’ sessions to move towards an understanding of teacher-learner and learner-learner interaction, and to what extent the mediation of the communication technology has impacted on the pedagogy. It draws on data from two minor and two major case studies, using a range of methods. Conceptually, the discussion develops and elaborates the concept of ‘tele’ (as restricted to the telephone) as it engages with the notion of 'telepedagogy’. It articulates the areas of congruence and distinctiveness between teaching and learning by audioteleconference and teaching and learning by correspondence and face-to-face. It examines the relationship between language and technology, with specific reference to distance education/open learning. Empirically, the data support an in-depth discussion of selected excerpts to inform analysis of perceived advantages and restrictions of audioteleconferencing. The study reveals that there are demonstrable occasions when the perceptions of the participants are seen to be at variance from those of the researcher and from other data. This conclusion has relevance to theorists concerned with the validation of qualitative data and to researchers who accept student and tutor feedback as representing an accurate recollection of what eventuated.

Measuring worker productivity : frameworks and measures

Worker productivity is a combination of time off work (absenteeism) due to an illness and time at work but with reduced levels of productivity while at work (also known as presenteeism). Both can be gathered with a focus on application as a cost indicator and/or as an outcome state for intervention studies. We review the OMERACT worker productivity groups’ progress in evaluating measures of worker productivity for use in arthritis using the OMERACT filter. Attendees at OMERACT 9 strongly endorsed the importance of work as an outcome in arthritis. Consensus was reached (94% endorsement) for fielding a broader array of indicators of absenteeism. Twenty-one measures of at-work productivity loss, ranging from single item indicators to multidimensional scales, were reviewed for measurement properties. No set of at-work productivity measures was endorsed because of variability in the concepts captured, and the need for a better framework for the measurement of worker productivity that also incorporates contextual issues such as job demands and other paid and unpaid life responsibilities. Progress has been made in this area, revealing an ambivalent set of results that directed us back to the need to further define and then contextualize the measurement of worker productivity.

Using progression points for diagnostic (formative) assessment : chance

Find every Chance-related Progression Point, in Level-order, from Prep to Year 10. Translate each Progression Point into a pencil-and-paper task. This makes a developmentally or progressively graded worksheet-like ''diagnostic profile' for assessing knowledge of and skills with Chance. It is diagnostic because it starts with easy, early questions, and progressively gets harder and harder as the concepts and skills in the Chance curriculum develop. Presenting this diagnostic profile to students at the beginning of a unit of work on Chance gives invaluable formative assessment information to guide your teaching. Using the same profile, or a parrallel version at the end of the unit provides before-and-after summative assessment of the students' learning during the unit.

Trends in professional education programs for teachers

Increasingly, politicians, bureaucrats, the business community, members of our communities and even members of the teaching profession, are asking questions about professional preparation for teachers, questions like: What is the value of teacher education? What should beginning teachers know and be able to do? How can we make judgements about what they know and are able to do? How can teacher preparation contribute to the retention of high quality beginning teachers who continue to grow and learn?

In this paper, I examine these issues and examine how effective teacher preparation has attempted to respond to these issues, particularly in graduate teacher education programs. I argue that we need to be cognisant of the following aspects when developing and implementing high quality professional education of teachers:

• Connect teacher education to the first year of teaching;
• Prepare teachers who investigate their professional practice within communities of learners
• Prepare teachers with a strong professional knowledge base that helps them make informed professional judgments
• A cohort model that builds strong relationships and professional networks
• Early, regular and sustained school experiences that systematically build professional knowledge and skill. Closely monitored by suitably qualified university personnel and supervising teachers
• Professional standards for beginning teaching and a capstone teacher performance assessment

Researching teacher education : the research we have to have

Increasingly, politicians, bureaucrats, the business community, members of our communities and even members of the teaching profession, are asking questions about the professional preparation of teachers: What is the value of teacher education? What should beginning teachers know and be able to do? How can judgements be made about what beginning teachers know and are able to do?

Teacher educators are dangerously close to having little or no impact on the policies being driven by various responses to these questions. Research in teacher education, while copious, is under-funded and consequently teacher education researchers focus on their own programs and conduct small-scale, context specific, studies that are not readily generalisable. As a result, policy makers largely ignore it. I argue that if teacher educators are to retain their responsibility for the preparation of new professionals and for the development of new knowledge for the profession, we need to focus our research on key policy issues regarding the preparation of teachers and we need to ensure that our research connects with and extends the body of relevant research and the questions being asked about the value of teacher education.

Reflective positioning : the impact of conversations in the social and cultural environment of midwifery practice settings on professional learning for students

Literature reviews on the topic of reflection and reflective practice encompassed midwifery, nursing, medicine, allied health, education and professional education. This investigation also included socio-psychological theories by leading authors such as Benner (nursing), Schön (professional education) and positioning theory by Harré and others. Positioning is a psycho-sociological ontology in which individuals metaphorically position themselves within three entities: people, institutions, and societies, where conversations are constructed and make an impact upon the social world. The social and cultural structures and interactions developed in Archer’s morphogenesis were examined in terms of the impact of possible encounters and the transformational effects of learning experiences in practice settings. These bodies of work provided the theoretical framework for the author’s research of students’ experiences in midwifery education for postgraduate students from which selected excerpts with three participating students and their supervising midwives are presented. These excerpts are related to reflective practices and the professional conversations conducted between students and midwives. It was found that reflective positioning applied in midwifery education by students can serve as an analytical tool in explaining social and cultural elements of clinical placements to influence and transform their learning. The potency of conversations that occur in everyday moment-to-moment interactions do contribute to students’ induction in professional midwifery practice and their identity formation as a midwife.

Students' expectations of the virtual maternity clinic

The aim for the Virtual Maternity Clinic (VMC) is to engage students in learning about the role of the midwife and care of women during early pregnancy. The VMC, using Deakin Studies Online as a platform, includes LiveSim, videoed characters and Adobe Flash of four pregnant women with diverse issues. From an evaluation distributed to students prior to access of the VMC to identify their expectations, we found that undergraduate students wanted to learn how to interact with women during early pregnancy, whereas postgraduate students wanted strategies to learn about midwifery practice. Further development of the VMC is progressing to include a suite of programs incorporating the care of women during late pregnancy, labour and birth; and the time after birth.

Comparing the physiological cost of step-powered video gaming, sedentary video gaming and self paced ambulatory activity in university students

Objectives: Methods for converting inactive video gaming to active video gaming have gained popularity in recent years. This study compared the physiological cost of a new peripheral device that used steps to power video gaming in an interactive manner against sedentary video gaming and self-paced ambulatory activity of university students (aged 19-29 years).
Methods: Nineteen adults (9 male, 10 female) performed six 10-minute activities, namely self-paced leisurely walking, self-paced brisk walking, self-paced jogging, two forms of sedentary video gaming, and step-powered video gaming. Activities were performed in a random order. Physiological cost during the activities was measured using Actiheart.
Results: Energy expenditure during step-powered video gaming (388.8 kcal.h-1) was comparable to the energy expended during brisk walking (373.8 kcal.h-1), and elicited a higher energy cost than sedentary video gaming (124.1 kcal.h-1) but a lower energy cost than jogging (694.5 kcal.h-1).
Conclusion: Overall, step-powered video gaming could be used as an entertaining and appealing tool to increase physical activity, though it should not be used as a complete substitute for traditional exercise, such as jogging.