Developing a culturally-specific peace curriculum for Vietnamese primary schools : a case study of participatory action research in cross-cultural design

In 2003 the International Conflict Resolution Centre at the University of Melbourne, Australia, produced a primary school teaching manual for UNESCO Vietnam in consultation with ASP schoolteachers and principals. The finished manual included lessons plans and materials for a five year, 50 lesson peace education course. The Manual is one of the first examples of a systematic core national curriculum in peace education worldwide.

Development of the Teaching Manual posed a number of challenges including differences in language, culture, government and education system. To meet these challenges, a Participatory Action Research approach was central in the project’s development and curriculum design. This case study is offered as a model for effective cross-cultural curriculum development of peace education materials. In particular, the creation of a systematic core course in peace education and the use of UNESCO’s peace keys are outlined as innovative aspects of the project.

Sexual niche segregation and gender-specific individual specialisation in a highly dimorphic marine mammal

While sexual segregation is expected in highly dimorphic species, the local environment is a major factor driving the degree of resource partitioning within a population. Sexual and individual niche segregation was investigated in the Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus), which is a benthic foraging species restricted to the shallow continental shelf region of south-eastern Australia. Tracking data and the isotopic values of plasma, red blood cells and whiskers were combined to document spatial and dietary niche segregation throughout the year. Tracking data indicated that, in winter, males and females overlapped in their foraging habitat. All individuals stayed within central Bass Strait, relatively close (< 220 km) to the breeding colony. Accordingly, both genders exhibited similar plasma and red cell δ13C values. However, males exhibited greater δ13C intra-individual variation along the length of their whisker than females. This suggests that males exploited a greater diversity of foraging habitats throughout the year than their female counterparts, which are restricted in their foraging grounds by the need to regularly return to the breeding colony to suckle their pup. The degree of dietary sexual segregation was also surprisingly low, both sexes exhibiting a great overlap in their δ15N values. Yet, males displayed higher δ15N values than females, suggesting they fed upon a higher proportion of higher trophic level prey. Given that males and females exploit different resources (mainly foraging habitats), the degree of individual specialisation might differ between the sexes. Higher degrees of individual specialisation would be expected in males which exploit a greater range of resources. However, comparable levels of inter-individual variation in δ15N whisker values were found in the sampled males and females, and, surprisingly, all males exhibited similar seasonal and inter-annual variation in their δ13C whisker values, suggesting they all followed the same general dispersion pattern throughout the year.

Associations between intrapersonal and neighborhood environmental characteristics and cycling for transport and recreation in adults : baseline results from the RESIDE study

Background: This study investigated the relationship between individual and neighborhood environmental factors and cycling for transport and for recreation among adults living in Perth, Western Australia.
Methods: Baseline cross-sectional data from 1813 participants (40.5% male; age range 18 to 78 years) in the Residential Environment (RESIDE) project were analyzed. The questionnaire included information on cycling behavior and on cycling-specific individual, social environmental, and neighborhood environmental attributes. Cycling for transport and recreation were dichotomized as whether or not individuals cycled in a usual week.
Results: Among the individual factors, positive attitudes toward cycling and perceived behavioral control increased the odds of cycling for transport and for recreation. Among the neighborhood environmental attributes, leafy and attractive neighborhoods, access to bicycle/walking paths, the presence of traffic slowing devices and having many 4-way street intersections were positively associated with cycling for transport. Many alternative routes in the local area increased the odds of cycling for recreation.
Conclusions: Effective strategies for increasing cycling (particularly cycling for transport) may include incorporating supportive environments such as creating leafy and attractive neighborhood surroundings, low traffic speed, and increased street connectivity, in addition to campaigns aimed at strengthening positive attitudes and confidence to cycle.

Vertex re-identification attack using neighbourhood-pair properties

There has been a growing interest in sharing and mining social network data for a wide variety of applications. In this paper, we address the problem of privacy disclosure risks that arise from publishing social network data. Specifically, we look at the vertex re-identification attack that aims to link specific vertex in social network data to specific individual in the real world. We show that even when identifiable attributes such as names are removed from released social network data, re-identification attack is still possible by manipulating abstract information. We present a new type of vertex re-identification attack model called neighbourhood-pair attack. This attack utilizes the information about the local communities of two connected vertices to identify the target individual. We show both theoretically and empirically that the proposed attack provides higher re-identification rate compared with the existing re-identification attacks that also manipulate network structure properties. The experiments conducted also show that the proposed attack is still possible even on anonymised social network data.

Species-specific characteristics and individual variation of the bark call produced by male Australian fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus)

Australian fur seals Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus are colonial breeding animals forming dense social groups during the breeding season. During this time, males establish and defend territories through physical conflicts, stereotyped posturing and vocalisations. While vocalisations are suggested to play an important role in male recognition systems, it has received little attention. Recordings of nine adult male Australian fur seals were made during the 2000 and 2001 breeding seasons at Kanowna Island (39° 10’S, 146° 18' E), Bass Strait, Australia. The in-air bark vocalisations of territory-holding males were used to characterise the Bark Call and to determine whether males produce individually distinct calls, which could be used as a basis for vocal recognition. Seventeen frequency and temporal variables were measured from a total of 162 barks from nine individual males. The Bark Series was more reliably classified (83%) to the correct caller compared to the Bark Unit. This was assigned with less certainty (68%), although the classification was still relatively high. Findings from this study indicate that there is sufficient stereotypy within individual calls, and sufficient variation between them, to enable vocal recognition in male Australian fur seals.

Individual and sex-specific differences in intrinsic growth rate covary with consistent individual differences in behaviour

1.The evolutionary causes of consistent individual differences in behavior are currently a source of debate. A recent hypothesis suggests that consistent individual differences in life-history productivity (growth and/or fecundity) may covary with behavioral traits that contribute to growth-mortality trade-offs, such as risk-proneness (boldness) and foraging activity (voraciousness). It remains unclear, however, to what extent individual behavioral and life-history profiles are set early in life, or are a more flexible result of specific environmental or developmental contexts that allow bold and active individuals to acquire more resources. 2.Longitudinal studies of individually housed animals under controlled conditions can shed light on this question. Since growth and behaviour can both vary within individuals (they are labile), studying between-individual correlations in behaviour and growth rate requires repeated scoring for both variables over an extended period of time. However, such a study has not yet been done. 3.Here, we repeatedly measured individual mass 7-times each, boldness 40-times each, and voracity 8-times each during the first four months of life on 90 individually-housed crayfish (Cherax destructor). Animals were fed ad-libitum, generating a context where individuals can express their intrinsic growth rate (i.e. growth capacity), but in which bold and voracious behaviour is not necessary for high resource acquisition (crayfish can and do hoard food back to their burrow). 4.We show that individuals that were consistently bold over time during the day were also bolder at night, were more voracious, and maintained higher growth rates over time than shy individuals. Independent of individual differences, we also observed that males were faster growing, bolder, and more voracious than females. 5.Our findings imply that associations between bold behaviour and fast growth can occur in unlimited food contexts where there is no necessary link between bold behaviour and resource acquisition - offering support for the 'personality- productivity' hypothesis. We suggest future research should study links between consistent individual differences in behaviour and life-history under a wider range of contexts, in order to shed light on the role of biotic and abiotic conditions in the strength, direction and stability of their covariance. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Using the four resources model across the curriculum

This chapter is aimed at student teachers and practising middle-years teachers in the primary school who are interested in developing their students' subject-specific literacies in preparation for their transition to secondary school. A number of texts and activities from a popular secondary textbook are analysed and mapped against the four resources model. Given that learning tasks that develop students as code breakers, text participants, text users and
text analysts are suggested, it is important to recognise that focus does not infer separation. The activity foci rely on the take-up of each of the other resources.

Using national input-output data for embodied energy analysis of individual residential buildings

Embodied energy (EE) analysis has become an important area of energy research, in attempting to trace the direct and indirect energy requirements of products and services throughout their supply chain. Typically, input-output (I-O) models have been used to calculate EE because they are considered to be comprehensive in their analysis. However, a major deficiency of using I-O models is that they have inherent errors and therefore cannot be reliably applied to individual cases. Thus, there is a need for the ability to disaggregate an I-O model into its most important 'energy paths', for the purpose of integrating case-specific data. This paper presents a new hybrid method for conducting EE analyses for individual buildings, which retains the completeness of the I-O model. This new method is demonstrated by application to an Australian residential building. Only 52% of the energy paths derived from the I-O model were substituted using case-specific data. This indicates that previous system boundaries for EE studies of individual residential buildings are less than optimal. It is envisaged that the proposed method will provide construction professionals with more accurate and reliable data for conducting life cycle energy analysis of buildings. Furthermore, by analysing the unmodified energy paths, further data collection can be prioritized effectively.

Futures for Australian curriculum studies: metaphors, genres and complicated conversations

My specific brief for the conference presentation on which this essay is based was to speak from the standpoint of a 'curriculum theorist'. However, I rarely use the terms 'curriculum theory' or 'curriculum theorising' other than in the company of US and Canadian colleagues. I prefer to speak of 'curriculum inquiry' or 'curriculum work' and I think of my work as a university teacher and researcher as being directed towards understanding curriculum. From this standpoint I interpret the theme of this Point and Counterpoint, 'Futures for Australian Curriculum', as a focus for speculation on the possible and desirable ways in which the arts of curriculum inquiry can be developed, tested and renewed. In other words, how can we sustain rigorous, vigorous and generative forms of curriculum work?
I will respond to this question by referring to three artefacts of Australian curriculum studies, the first two of which come from the Australian
Curriculum Studies Association's (ACSA) own material history; the third is (arguably) the major synoptic text of North American 'curriculum theory' published during the past decade. I will use these artefacts to illustrate three key issues concerning futures in curriculum inquiry, namely:
• the significance of metaphor;
• questions about genre and a renewed role for
the arts in our work;
• the idea of 'complicated conversation'.

Implementing an inclusive social work curriculum

This paper discusses the implementation of an inclusive curriculum in social work education, in response to an Inclusive Curriculum project at the University of South Australia which aimed to develop principles and policies of inclusivity in curriculum within national priorities. The concept of 'inclusivity' is located within theories of identity, and international developments on inclusive education. We discuss the articulation of ideas on inclusivity in social work education through the 'personal story' of an individual social work educator's practices within organizational policies and structures. We show how an educator's 'personal story' is positioned within particular perspectives of knowledge and pedagogy, and influenced by other personal stories that produced a particular response to implementing an inclusive curriculum in social work.

Individual, social and home environment determinants of change in children's television viewing: the Switch-Play intervention

Understanding potential determinants of change in television (TV) viewing among children may enhance the effectiveness of programs targeting this behaviour. This study aimed to investigate the contribution of individual, social and home environment factors among 10-year-old Australian children to change in TV viewing over a 21-month period. A total of 164 children (49% boys) completed a 19-lesson (9-month) intervention program to reduce TV viewing time. Children completed self-administered surveys four times over 21 months (pre- and post-intervention, 6- and 12-month follow-up). Baseline factors associated with change in TV viewing during the intervention and follow-up periods were: ‘asking parents ≥once/week to switch off the TV and play with them’ (21.6 min/day more than those reporting <once/week, p = 0.007); being able to ‘watch just 1 h of TV per day’ (26.1 min/day less than those who could not, p = 0.010); ‘watching TV no matter what was on’ (36.6 min/day more than those who did not, p < 0.001); and ‘continuing to watch TV after their program was over’ (33.0 min/day more than those who did not, p = 0.006). With every unit increase in baseline frequency of TV viewing with family and friends, children spent on average 4.0 min/day more watching TV over the 21-month period (p = 0.047). Baseline number and placement of TVs at home did not predict change in children's TV viewing over the 21 months. Greater understanding of the family dynamics and circumstances, as well as the individual and social determinants of TV viewing, will be required if we are to develop effective strategies for reducing TV viewing in children.

Educating for professional capability in the field of information technology: integrating industry-based learning with the academic curriculum

In response to the forces of globalisation, societies and organisations have had to adapt and even proactively transform themselves. Universities, as knowledge-based organisations, have recognised that there are now many other important sites of knowledge construction and use. The apparent monopoly over valued forms of knowledge making and knowledge certification is disappearing. Universities have had to recognise the value of practical working knowledge developed in workplace settings beyond university domains, and promote the value of academic forms of knowledge making to the practical concerns of everyday learning. It is within this broader systems view that professional curriculum development undertaken by universities needs to be examined.

University educational planning responds to these external forces in ways that are drawing together formal academic capability/competence and practice-based capability/competence. Both forms of academic and practice-based knowledge and knowing are being equally valued and related one to the other. University planning in turn gives impetus to the development of new forms of professional education curricula. This paper presents a contemporary case of a designed professional curriculum in the field of information technology that situates workplace learning as a central element in the education of Information Technology (IT)/Information Systems (IS) professionals.

The key dimensions of the learning environment of Deakin University’s BIT (Hons) program are considered with a view to identifying areas of strong integration between the worlds of academic and workplace learning from the perspectives of major stakeholders. The dynamic interplay between forms of theorising and practising is seen as critical in educating students for professional capability in their chosen field. From this analysis, an applied research agenda, relating to desired forms of professional learning in higher education, is outlined, with specific reference to the information and communication technology professions.

Writing, digital culture and English curriculum

In their out-of-school lives, young people are immersed in rich and complex digital worlds, characterised by image and multimodality. Computer games in particular present young people with specific narrative genres and textual forms: contexts in which meaning is constructed interactively and drawing explicitly on a wide range of design elements including sound, image, gesture, symbol, colour and so on. As English curriculum seeks to address the changing nature of literacy, challenges are raised, particularly with respect to the ways in which multimodal texts might be incorporated alongside print based forms of literacy. Questions focus both on the ways in which such texts might be created, studied and assessed, and on the implications of the introduction of such texts for print based literacies. This paper explores intersections between writing and computer games within the English classroom, from a number of junior secondary examples. In particular it considers tensions that arise when young people use writing to recreate or respond to multimodal forms. It explores ways in which writing is stretched and challenged by enterprises such as these, ways in which students utilise and adapt print based modes to represent multimodal forms of narrative, and how teachers and curriculum might respond. Consideration is given to the challenges posed to teaching and assessment by bringing writing to bear as the medium of analysis of, and response to, multimodal texts.

Is there a need for cyberethics in the middle school curriculum

This research in progress is a qualitative and quantitative case study that is exploring the need for the integration of cyberethics into the curriculum for the middle school years 6 through 8. The broader research question in the study investigates: ‘Is there a problem with how school students in the middle years use the Internet in and out of school?’ The study has been exploring the level of understanding the group of students have of ethical behaviour on the Internet. This research helps identify areas where an understanding of cyberethics will increase students’ current and future understanding in the use of the Internet and their interaction with other aspects of the Internet and its environment. If a student encounters unsafe behaviour on the Internet, the student will be able to behave and act appropriately. The research is also investigating teachers and parents perceptions of the evidence of problems associated with their students/children’s access to the Internet.

This area was chosen for research because of the significant impact computers have had in education in the last decade. Since the advent of personal computers and networking the Education Departments in many developed nations have taken the opportunity to promote the technology’s educational benefits. There have been several studies on the educational value of computers in schools and the research thus far describes some of the ethical changes that have emerged as a result of the technology as well as the benefits and shortcomings of the use of this technology within the Australian environment as compared to its usage in other Western nations, namely the U.S. and U.K.

Identifying the problems in the use of the Internet by middle school students is a part of this investigation and it will make recommendations with regard to the integration of cyberethics into the middle school curriculum. This approach will help prompt students, teachers and parents to re-examine their decision framework with regard to Internet usage and hence move them to reflect and consider the use of the technology ethically. Further the research is examining students’, parents’ and teachers’ need for the introduction of cyberethics into the curriculum. The case study is drawing data from individual surveys of parents, teachers and students. The questionnaires consist of relevant scenarios so that it may identify the general understanding and use of the Internet by students, teachers and parents.

During the study, any modification to the curriculum for the integration of cyberethics is to be identified and these findings should be of interest to the wider educational community in Australia and New Zealand. The questions raised in this research may affect teacher education and help demonstrate the importance of the parents’ role in their children’s Internet usage. The research will cover current issues of cyberethics and its effects on middle school students.

A multiplication curriculum : a short outline

Teachers not only know how to multiply, they also know how to teach children multiplication. But at any one time, most teachers are only concerned with a small section of the whole large process of teaching multiplication. It is easy to lose sight of the wood, because of the close attention being given to individual trees. What is the larger picture? How do children learn to multiply, asks the author? The author discusses the progressive stages of ideas and processes that are involved in learning to multiply. He also provides questions to assist teachers with identifying how far students have progressed in their understanding of multiplication.