Non-destructive DNA extraction from Chironomidae, including of fragile pupal exuviae, extends analysable collections and enhances vouchering

It is well established that the traditional taxonomy and nomenclature of Chironomidae relies on adult males whose usually characteristic genitalia provide evidence of species distinction. In the early days some names were based on female adults of variable distinctiveness – but females are difficult to identify (Ekrem et al. 2010) and many of these names remain dubious. In Russia especially, a system based on larval morphology grew in parallel to the conventional adult-based system. The systems became reconciled with the studies that underlay the production of the Holarctic generic keys to Chironomidae, commencing notably with the larval volume (Wiederholm, 1983). Ever since Thienemann’s pioneering studies, it has been evident that the pupa, notably the cast skins (exuviae) provide a wealth of features that can aid in identification (e.g. Wiederholm, 1986). Furthermore, the pupae can be readily associated with name-bearing adults when a pharate (‘cloaked’) adult stage is visible within the pupa. Association of larvae with the name-bearing later stages has been much more difficult, time-consuming and fraught with risk of failure. Yet it is identification of the larval stage that is needed by most applied researchers due to the value of the immature stages of the family in aquatic monitoring for water quality, although the pupal stage also has advocates (reviewed by Sinclair & Gresens, 2008). Few use the adult stage for such purposes as their provenance and association with the water body can be verified only by emergence trapping, and sampling of adults lies outside regular aquatic monitoring protocols.

Improving retention and graduation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in initial teacher education programs

In 2012, the Australian Council of Deans of Education (ACDE), through the Queensland University of Technology, led a MATSITI project focusing on issues related to the retention, support and graduation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers in initial Teacher Education programs across Australia. While some of the barriers that impact on the graduation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers are well, known, this was the first large-scale Australian study to look at the issues nationally and in depth. Thirty-four Teacher Education programs across the country were audited, meetings were held in each state, both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Faculty were consulted and approximately 70 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pre-service teachers interviewed. This paper reports on the outcomes of that project, including the evidence that while recruitment into Teacher Education has, in some sites, reached parity, retention rates are well-below expected across the nation. The paper focuses both on the quantitative data and, even more significantly, on the voices of the pre-service teachers themselves, offering insights into the ways forward. As a result of this study, Deans and Heads of School of Teacher Education programs across the country have developed Action Plans alongside their university's Indigenous Higher Education Centres to improve support and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers.

Not just what they want, but why they want it: Traditional market research to deep customer insights

Purpose This paper explores advantages and disadvantages of both traditional market research and deep customer insight methods in order to lay the platform for revealing how a relationship between these two domains could be optimised during firm-based innovation. Design/methodology/approach The paper reports on an empirical research study conducted with thirteen Australian based firms engaged in a design-led approach to innovation. Firms were facilitated through a design-led approach where the process of gathering deep customer insights was isolated and investigated further in comparison to traditional market research methods. Findings Results show that deep customer insight methods are able to provide fresh, non-obvious ways of understanding customer needs, problems and behaviours that can become the foundation of new business opportunities. Findings concluded that deep customer insights methods provide the critical layer to understand why customers do and don’t engage with businesses. Revealing why was not accessible in traditional market research methods. Research limitations/implications The theoretical outcome of this study is a complementary methods matrix, providing guidance on appropriate implementation of research methods in accordance with a project’s timeline to optimise the complementation of traditional market research methods with design-led customer engagement methods. Practical implications Deep customer insight methods provide fresh, non-obvious ways of understanding customer needs, problems and behaviours that can become the foundation of new business opportunities. It is hoped that those in a position of data collection are encouraged to experiment and use deep customer insight methods to connect with their customers on a meaningful level and translate these insights into value. Originality/value This paper provides original value to a new understanding how design techniques can be applied to compliment and strengthen existing market research strategies. This is crucial in an era where business competition hinges on a subtle and often intimate understanding of customer needs and behaviours.

Students’ perceptions of their own victimization: A youth voice perspective

This article investigates the perceptions of 156 students who were victims of both traditional and cyberbullying (117 female, 45 male), ages 10 to 17 years, as to which form of bullying was more hurtful. Overall, students perceived traditional victimization to be more hurtful than cyber victimization. Reasons identified in the data to explain the different perceptions of victims were categorized and found to relate to: the bully, the bystanders, the bullying incidents, the emotional impact on the victim, and the victim’s ability to respond. The perceptions of these students challenge a number of suppositions presented in the literature that attempt to explain why cyberbullying is associated with more negative outcomes than traditional bullying. The implications for antibullying programs to address these issues are discussed.

Help disruptive students, don’t just suspend them

Reports that Australia scored poorly compared to the OECD average on classroom noise and disorder prompted calls for a return to “traditional” styles of teaching and increased power to allow principals to suspend “repeat offenders”. Such approaches, however, stand in direct conflict with the research evidence.

School based experiences as contributors to career decision-making: Findings from a cross-sectional survey of high-school students

This paper is based on a study examining the impact of young people’s backgrounds and educational experiences on career choice capability with the aim of informing education policy. A total of 706 students from secondary schools (Years 9-12) in New South Wales, Australia took part in an online survey. This paper focuses on the differences found between groups on the basis of their educational experiences. Participants who were uncertain of their future career plans were more likely to attend non-selective, non-metropolitan schools and were more likely to hold negative attitudes towards school. Career ‘uncertain’ students were also less likely to be satisfied with the elective subjects offered at their school and reported less access to career education sessions. It is concluded that timely career information and guidance should be provided to students and their families in order to allow them to more meaningfully make use of the resources and opportunities available to them with a view toward converting these into real world benefits.

Is there a difference between supervising international and domestic graduate students in Engineering and IT?

This paper explores a key issue identified in two studies of factors influencing the success of international and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) higher degree research graduate students. The studies include “A model for research supervision of international students in engineering and information technology disciplines” (MRS), which focused on identifying factors that influence successful supervision of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) and international higher degree research (HDR or graduate) students in Engineering and IT disciplines in three Australian universities, and “Culture, language and the whole graduate experience: Exploring best practices in international graduate supervision” (BPS), which focussed on exploring perceptions regarding best practices in graduate supervision by diverse stakeholders across Australia. Findings suggest most supervisors do not differentiate between international (or CALD) graduate students and non-CALD(domestic) students in terms of factors influence success in graduate studies.

Academic stress, parental pressure, anxiety and mental health among Indian high school students

This work investigates the academic stress and mental health of Indian high school students and the associations between various psychosocial factors and academic stress. A total of190 students from grades 11 and 12 (mean age: 16.72 years) from three government-aided and three private schools in Kolkata India were surveyed in the study. Data collection involved using a specially designed structured questionnaire as well as the General Health Questionnaire. Nearly two-thirds (63.5%) of the students reported stress due to academic pressure – with no significant differences across gender, age, grade, and several other personal factors. About two-thirds (66%) of the students reported feeling pressure from their parents for better academic performance. The degree of parental pressure experienced differed significantly across the educational levels of the parents, mother’s occupation, number of private tutors, and academic performance. In particular, children of fathers possessing a lower education level (non-graduates) were found to be more likely to perceive pressure for better academic performance. About one-thirds (32.6%) of the students were symptomatic of psychiatric caseness and 81.6% reported examination-related anxiety. Academic stress was positively correlated with parental pressure and psychiatric problems, while examination-related anxiety also was positively related to psychiatric problems. Academic stress is a serious issue which affects nearly two thirds of senior high school students in Kolkata. Potential methods for combating the challenges of academic pressure are suggested.

The impact of nonlinear pedagogy on physical education teacher education students’ intrinsic motivation

Background: Providing motivationally supportive physical education experiences for learners is crucial since empirical evidence in sport and physical education research has associated intrinsic motivation with positive educational outcomes. Self-determination theory (SDT) provides a valuable framework for examining motivationally supportive physical education experiences through satisfaction of three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence and relatedness. However, the capacity of the prescriptive teaching philosophy of the dominant traditional physical education teaching approach to effectively satisfy the psychological needs of students to engage in physical education has been questioned. The constraints-led approach (CLA) has been proposed as a viable alternative teaching approach that can effectively support students’ self-motivated engagement in physical education. Purpose: We sought to investigate whether adopting the learning design and delivery of the CLA, guided by key pedagogical principles of nonlinear pedagogy (NLP), would address basic psychological needs of learners, resulting in higher self-reported levels of intrinsic motivation. The claim was investigated using action research. The teacher/researcher delivered two lessons aimed at developing hurdling skills: one taught using the CLA and the other using the traditional approach. Participants and Setting: The main participant for this study was the primary researcher and lead author who is a PETE educator, with extensive physical education teaching experience. A sample of 54 pre-service PETE students undertaking a compulsory second year practical unit at an Australian university was recruited for the study, consisting of an equal number of volunteers from each of two practical classes. A repeated measures experimental design was adopted, with both practical class groups experiencing both teaching approaches in a counterbalanced order. Data collection and analysis: Immediately after participation in each lesson, participants completed a questionnaire consisting of 22 items chosen from validated motivation measures of basic psychological needs and indices of intrinsic motivation, enjoyment and effort. All questionnaire responses were indicated on a 7-point Likert scale. A two-tailed, paired-samples t-test was used to compare the groups’ motivation subscale mean scores for each teaching approach. The size of the effect for each group was calculated using Cohen’s d. To determine whether any significant differences between the subscale mean scores of the two groups was due to an order effect, a two-tailed, independent samples t test was used. Findings: Participants’ reported substantially higher levels of self-determination and intrinsic motivation during the CLA hurdles lesson compared to during the traditional hurdles lesson. Both groups reported significantly higher motivation subscale mean scores for competence, relatedness, autonomy, enjoyment and effort after experiencing the CLA than mean scores reported after experiencing the traditional approach. This significant difference was evident regardless of the order that each teaching approach was experienced. Conclusion: The theoretically based pedagogical principles of NLP that inform learning design and delivery of the CLA may provide teachers and coaches with tools to develop more functional pedagogical climates, which result in students exhibiting more intrinsically motivated behaviours during learning.

Using collaboration and technology to enhance Vietnamese students' English language writing skills

This action research study investigated face-to-face and wiki technology collaboration to enhance students' English writing skills in a second language (L2) class in Vietnam. The thesis is underpinned by socio-cultural theory and argues that collaborative learning using wikis led to an enhancement in L2 writing skills. The findings show that collaborating via wikis challenged traditional L2 writing pedagogy in the following ways: increased student autonomy; understanding formative feedback; and awareness of process writing, genre and audiences. This study contributes practical knowledge about affordances and constraints of collaborative writing using wikis in Vietnam and other countries where traditional pedagogies are prevalent.

Perspectives on Australian, Indian and Malaysian approaches to STEM education

STEM education faces an interesting conundrum. Western countries have implemented constructivist inspired student centred practices which are argued to be more engaging and relevant to student learning than the traditional, didactic approaches. However, student interest in pursuing careers in STEM have fallen or stagnated. In contrast, students in many developing countries in which teaching is still somewhat didactic and teacher centred are more disposed to STEM related careers than their western counterparts. Clearly, factors are at work which impact the way students value science and mathematics. This review draws on three components that act as determinants of science education in three different countries – Australia, India and Malaysia. We explore how national priorities and educational philosophy impacts educational practices as well as teacher beliefs and the need for suitable professional development. Socio-economic conditions for science education that are fundamental for developing countries in adopting constructivist educational models are analysed. It is identified that in order to reduce structural dissimilarities among countries that cause fragmentation of scientific knowledge, for Malaysia constructivist science education through English medium without losing the spirit of Malaysian culture and Malay language is essential while India need to adopt constructivist quality indicators in education. While adopting international English education, and reducing dominance of impact evaluation, India and Malaysia need to prevent losing their cultural and social capital vigour. Furthermore the paper argues that Australia might need to question the efficacy of current models that fail to engage students’ long term interest in STEM related careers. Australian and Malaysian science teachers must be capable of changing the personal biographies of learners for developing scientific conceptual information. In addition both Malaysia and Australia need to provide opportunities for access to different curricular programmes of knowledge based constructivist learning for different levels of learner competencies.

Engaging elementary students in learning science: An analysis of classroom dialogue

Research over a long period of time has continued to demonstrate problems in the teaching of science in school. In addition, declining levels of participation and interest in science and related fields have been reported from many particularly western countries. Among the strategies suggested is the recruitment of professional scientists and technologists either at the graduate level or advanced career level to change career and teach. In this study, we analysed how one beginning middle primary teacher engaged with students to support their science learning by establishing rich classroom discussions. We followed his evolving teaching expertise over three years focussing on his communicative practices informed by socio-cultural theory. His practices exemplified a non-interactive dialogical communicative approach where ideas were readily discussed but were concentrated on the class acquiring acceptable scientific understandings. His focus on the language of science was a significant aspect of his practice and one that emerged from his professional background. The study affirms the theoretical frameworks proposed by Mortimer and Scott (2003) highlighting how dialogue contributes to heightened student interest in science.

Benefits of blended learning for the first year medical imaging students in preparation for clinical placement

Although there is a plethora of definitions of blended learning, the underlying distinguishing feature is the combination of traditional content delivery and the utilisation of technology. Within Medical Imaging undergraduate education there is evidence of advantages and increased student engagement when utilising a blended learning approach. Although the embedding of technology has been proven to be a useful teaching tool, “Educators should tailor their teaching media to learner’s needs rather than assume that web based learning is intrinsically superior”. This study aims to determine which clinical learning tools are perceived to be the most useful to the student in preparing them for placements.

The modern day bystander: Online and face-to-face bystander actions of adolescents in traditional bullying and cyberbullying

This study investigated whether bystanders of traditional bullying and cyberbullying used face-to-face methods, online methods or both methods when reporting, discouraging and providing support to the victims of traditional bullying and cyberbullying. A questionnaire was completed by 348 high school students (Years 7 – 12) from seven independent schools in Australia. Overall, students predominantly utilized face-to-face methods when reporting to others for both types of bullying. Older students were more likely to use online methods to discourage the traditional bully (i.e., asking the bully to stop). Males and older students were more likely to use online methods to support victims of traditional bullying. Females were more likely to use face-to-face methods to support victims of cyberbullying. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

The functional liminality of the not-dead-yet students, or, how public schooling became compulsory: A glancing history

This paper redefines the focus for narrating histories of education in the USA through a ‘glancing history’. It highlights the important role played by ‘not-dead-yet students’ who occupied a liminal place on the scale of life in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century. Traditional histories of education have been more singularly focused on the advent and dynamics of public schooling, ignoring the functionality of such child subjects to public schooling’s existence. This paper argues that public schools as historical objects cannot be understood outside of a broader trinary system of prior institutions that were established for ‘delinquent’ and ‘special’ children. These prior institutions facilitated the formation of ‘the public’ in public schooling less in opposition to ‘the private’ and more in consonance with ‘the human’. The existence of prior institutions enabled the enforcement of compulsory attendance legislation. Compulsory attendance legislation, in place across all existing states by 1918, was concerned more with the conditions for exclusion and exemption than with compelling attendance. Thus, at the most immediate level, this paper historicizes some of the discursive and hence institutional events that linked an array of tutelary complexes by the early 1900s, and which enabled such legislation. This part of the argument extends the notion of institution to consider broader places of confinement and systematicity. It examines the prior practice of reservation and slavery systems, and the efficacy they lent to further institutionalized segregation in the USA. At a second level, the narrative reflects on how such a narration has become possible. It considers how histories of education can currently be rethought and rewritten around the notion of dis/ability, historicizing the formation of dis/ability as identity categories made noticeable in part (and circularly) through the crystallization of a segregated but linked common schooling system. The paper thus provides a counter-memory against dominant economic foundationalist and psychomedical accounts of schooling’s past. It documents both ‘external’ conditions of possibility for public schooling’s emergence and ‘internal’ effects that emerged through the experiences of confinement