Entrepreneurship : theory, process, practice

Covering foundations of entrepreneurship and new venture creation for the Asia-Pacific entrepreneur, this book combines a solid theoretical foundation with a practical step-by-step approach to the process of entrepreneurship.

Teaching building services to architecture and building students

Building environmental services can often be categorised as ‘one of the least desirable courses’ in the curriculum of architecture and building. Nevertheless, it is also one of the most important and confronting subjects in the procurement of real building projects. The principal message to designers is that of spatial requirements while to the builders it may become one of capital cost, installation specifications and maintenance of equipment. Getting these concepts across in a creative, yet project oriented, manner can be challenging to the students and to the lecturer. This paper presents the developments of ten years of teaching the subject, as well as the methods of delivery which have proven to be successful.

Teaching about the Holocaust : essays by college and university teachers

This collection of fourteen essays by renowned scholars in the field of Holocaust studies seeks to reflect on the experience of teaching and researching this complicated and emotional topic. Contained within are the pioneering stories of those presently engaged in the work of Holocaust education. Separately, they represent a variety of disciplines and orientations. Collectively, they give evidence of the strong commitment to continue this important work, and the moral and ethical demands such teaching, writing, and research place upon all who engage in it. Different perspectives from historical, philosophical, and religious frameworks come together to create a unique contribution to the literature on the Holocaust. Educators discuss what they teach, their methodologies and theoretical orientations and reflect on their own journeys that brought them to this field. The unique nature of these stories bring needed background to the field of Holocaust studies and also serve to inspire others to enlarge their thinking and understanding of previous work on this topic. The stories of these committed Holocaust educators will serve to inspire a new generation of thinkers, writers, and activists to engage in such work. In reading their stories, their collective commitment to make a difference today and tomorrow shines through. This volume will be a valuable resource for courses in the Holocaust, contemporary post-Holocaust realities, as well as courses in genocide. Scholars and anyone with an interest in enriching their understanding of the Holocaust will find much within to inspire them and provoke new ideas.

Learning approaches and student perceptions of teaching quality

This research investigated the links between students' personal characteristics, their approaches to learning and their perceptions of teaching quality in a first-year accounting unit. Significant learning differences were found between Australian and Chinese students, and strong inter-relationships between contextual factors, such as teaching quality, and learning approaches were identified.

Dancing between diversity and consistency: refining assessment in postgraduate degrees in dance

Guidelines for best practice in Australian Doctoral and Masters by Research Examination, encompassing the two primary modes of investigation, written and multi-modal theses, their distinctiveness and their potential interplay.

Curriculum for entrepreneurial creativity and resourcefulness in New Zealand

This thesis asks: ‘How can tertiary education nurture entrepreneurial creativity?’ Entrepreneurship is considered to be a vital determinant of economic growth and the entrepreneur is understood as someone who innovates and commercialises their own innovation. The setting is New Zealand which is struggling to make the shift from relying on primary production to becoming a ‘creative economy.’ The creative individual has been identified as a new mainstream but it is argued that in New Zealand, education provision is inadequate for supporting the development of the practice of entrepreneurship. The problem is not unique. Various writers are critical of business education generally, and of the mismatch between the passion and chaos in entrepreneurs’ lives and the way education programs are typically organised as a linear sequence of discipline-based courses with prescribed content, activities and outcomes. Rich data were gathered from in-depth interviews with twelve nascent, new or experienced entrepreneurs and two associates (one a marketer, the other a scientist). Each participant was drawn from a different area of economic endeavour. They were asked to share their stories and views about creativity, the connections between creativity and entrepreneurship, business success, formal and informal education, and ways to improve tertiary education programs. The research found that a suitable environment for nurturing creativity will most likely have structure but will also enable chaos. It will present opportunities for experiencing diversity, and will stimulate unconscious and conscious mental processes. It will provide scope for hard work that is fun and involves authentic risk-taking, and will enable both individual and purposeful teamwork. The study also found that business success is not based on knowledge but is rather about being resourceful. The becoming of the creative entrepreneur thus includes developing capability to network with peers and mentors and communicate with customers and staff, and developing passion for and resilience in the pursuit of a dream. The findings suggest that in an age of uncertainty, nurturing entrepreneurial creativity and resourcefulness requires learning to be viewed as a practice-based community process where knowing and doing are interwoven with being. It is argued that this needs to align with Ronald Barnett and Kelly Coate’s (2005) notion of ‘a curriculum for engagement.’ It is suggested that an entire program might simply invite students to work collaboratively to identify and exploit an entrepreneurial opportunity by producing and commercialising an appropriate product/service innovation; to undertake this work as two separate projects – one within an existing organisation, and the other as a new venture; and to theorise their work. It is proposed that a suitable framework lies in William Doll’s (2002) advocacy for a curriculum based on a matrix of five Cs: ‘currere,’ complexity, cosmology, conversation, and community. To these, creativity is added as a sixth C.

Variables influencing the mathematics performance of first-year tertiary students : a case study

The need to understand which factors most strongly affect performance in first-year mathematics programs at Khon Kaen University (KKU), in North Eastern Thailand, provided the main focus of the study which is described. First-year mathematics students in the 1990-1991 academic year, from four KKU faculty groups (Medicine and Nursing, Agriculture, Science and Education, and Engineering) were involved in this study. Research literatures addressing variables which were likely to influence performance in early tertiary mathematical study, and variables associated with difficulties in learning mathematics at the transition from upper secondary school to tertiary studies, were reviewed. The first major aim of the study was to identify the variables which were good predictors of first-year mathematics performance at KKU. Results from stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated that the following predictor variables were statistically significant and entered the regression equations for most Faculty groups: School Mathematics Achievement, Self-Esteem, Study Habits in Mathematics, and Faculty of Study. Other predictor variables that sometimes entered regression equations (depending on the Faculty group) were Socio-Economic-Status, Mathematics Language Competence, Mathematics Confidence, Attitude Towards Mathematics, and Gender. Depending on Faculty group, the statistically significant variables accounted for between 11% and 74% of scores on fist-year KKU mathematics examinations. The predictor variables contributed much more to the variance of scores on first-semester mathematics examinations than to the variance of scores on second-semester mathematics examinations. It was also found that scores on the Direct Entry Examination Mathematics test (administered by KKU) and the School Mathematics Achievement test (developed and administered by the author) had stronger correlations with first-year KKU mathematics performance than did scores on the National Entry Examination Mathematics tests (administered by the Thai Ministry of University Affairs). Scores on the three pre-university mathematics achievement test instruments were better predictors of first-semester mathematics performance than of second-semester mathematics performance. It was found that the mean Mathematics Confidence of male students was statistically significantly higher than that of female students, but there were no statistically significant gender differences in Mathematics Misplaced Confidence. Only about 30% of the main sample ( 30% of the male and 30% of the female sample groups) had appropriate confidence in mathematics, that is, they thought their answers were correct when they were, in fact, correct, and they thought they were wrong when they were, in fact, incorrect. So far as Faculty performance differences were concerned, Engineering students had the highest Mathematics Confidence scores, followed by the Medicine and Nursing group of students and the Science and Education group students. Agriculture students had the lowest mean Mathematics Confidence score. No statistically significant differences occurred in Mathematics Misplaced Confidence between different Faculty groups. The second main aim of the study was to investigate why many first-year students experienced difficulties in coping with their mathematics units. A small group of senior secondary mathematics teachers, university mathematics lecturers, and first-year mathematics students were interviewed during the first semester of the 1990-1991 academic year. Interviews were conducted by the author according to a questionnaire format, and were aimed at identifying factors causing difficulty in the transition from senior secondary to university mathematical study. The analysis of the quantitative data together with the interview data indicated that the major sources of difficulty were associated with: (a) students' mathematical abilities; (b) curriculum content; (c) course organisation; (d) students' study habits; (e) instructional styles; and (f) assessment procedures. The results of the investigation are discussed in the light of the relevant literature and related research. The study concludes with recommendations which are addressed to mathematics teachers and education administrators in senior secondary schools in Thailand, to the Thai Ministry of Education, and to the KKU Department of Mathematics.

Comparison of the work of psychologists in rural and urban settings : implications for professional training

To compare the work practices and training needs of rural and urban psychologists, 774 surveys were sent to psychologists throughout Australia. The psychologists were selected from the Australian Psychological Society (APS) Directory of Psychologists, 1992- 1993. A total of 86 rural psychologists and 282 urban psychologists responded to the survey. The survey comprised of four sections with questions asking respondents their demographic and employment background, past and current training activities, work experience, and relations with community. Results showed that the decision to practice and remain in a rural area was influenced by psychologists’ childhood experience and professional training in a rural setting, A substantial proportion of rural psychologists (28%) had been working in rural practice for five years or less. These rural psychologists were identified as a group that had a demographic and training profile more similar to urban psychologists than their rural colleagues. The employment conditions and training background of rural and urban psychologists were similar, though rural psychologists were more likely to be working in private practice and have undertaken their studies in a rural setting. Rural and urban psychologists rated their undergraduate and postgraduate training in psychology as only somewhat adequate. Training in rural health and community issues received the lowest ratings from both groups of psychologists. The work practices of rural and urban psychologists were also similar. There were some differences in the demographic profile of the client groups seen by the two groups. Rural psychologists reported the type of relations with their communities that are conducive to rural practice. The main evidence of this was that rural psychologists were collaborating with the natural helpers of their communities, and expressed willingness to formally train natural helpers to assist in the provision of psychological services. There were several conclusions drawn from this study. The first conclusion was that rural psychologists with urban demographic and training backgrounds are a group that is likely to migrate from rural practice to urban practice, Secondly, training needs to be specialised for rural practice if there is to be an improvement in the number of psychologists practicing in rural settings. Thirdly, rural psychologists were conducting the type of relations with their communities that are important to the requirements of rural practice.