Travel journalists’ attitudes toward public relations : findings from a representative survey

The impact of public relations on emerging fields such as travel journalism has not gained much attention, despite the broader growth of lifestyle journalism, and its particular dependence on PR. This study reports the findings of a representative survey of Australian travel journalists, focusing on their views of PR. Results show that travel journalists are wary of PR, although they believe they can be relatively immune from its influence and see some PR activities as quite useful. Cluster analysis identifies three distinct groups based on their views of PR, which range from a positive attitude to strong criticism. Their backgrounds and differences are explored, pointing to gender, job status, and background in mainstream journalism as main determinants for differences.

Journalists in times of change : Evidence from a new survey of Australia’s journalistic workforce

Studies of journalists’ professional views have a long history in many countries around the globe. This has been no less the case in Australia, where a number of surveys of journalists have been conducted, particularly in recent years. Yet, the only study so far able to lay claim to having studied a representative sample with a small error margin remains Henningham’s account of Australian journalists in the early 1990s. Clearly, Australian journalism has experienced a vast array of changes since that time, and it is crucial to provide a more up-to-date image of the profession. This study, based on telephone surveys with 605 Australian journalists, demonstrates some significant changes in the workforce. Journalists are now older, better educated, more experienced and arguably more left-leaning than 20 years ago. For the first time, women are in a majority, but are still disadvantaged. Journalists’ job satisfaction and ethical views are also discussed.

Australian journalism students' motivations and job expectations : evidence from a survey across six universities

The value of tertiary journalism education is an often hotly-debated topic among journalism educators and in the industry. Yet, the voices of students are often not heard in these debates. For example, we know relatively little about why young people actually decide to study journalism, what area of journalism they want to work in and what they are looking for in a job. To shed more light on the student perspective, this paper reports on a survey of 320 undergraduate journalism students at six Australian universities. The results show that only a minority actually want to work in news journalism, while most prefer entertainment-focussed areas. Students are motivated mainly by a love for writing and because they like journalism as a profession. In terms of job characteristics, they are particularly interested in their own career progression, but also in the extent to which they can provide a public service.

An Asian perspective of occupational stress coping model : a case study of Sri Lankan employees

Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of natural disasters and violent conflicts in the world. Yet there is a lack of research on its unique socio-cultural characteristics that determine an individual's cognitive and behavioural responses to distressing encounters. This study extends Goh, Sawang and Oei's (2010) revised transactional model to examine the cognitive and behavioural processes of occupational stress experience in the collectivistic society of Sri Lanka. A time series survey was used to measure the participant's stress-coping process. Using the revised transactional model and path analysis, a unique Sri Lankan model is identified that provides theoretical insights on the revised transactional model, and sheds light on socio-cultural dimensions of occupational stress and coping, thus equipping practitioners with a sound theoretical basis for the development of stress management programs in the workplace.

Mapping Australian journalism culture : results from a survey of journalists’ role perceptions

Research on journalists’ characteristics, values, attitudes and role perceptions has expanded manifold since the first large-scale survey in the United States in the 1970s. Scholars around the world have investigated the work practices of a large variety of journalists, to the extent that we now have a sizeable body of evidence in this regard. Comparative research across cultures, however, has only recently begun to gain ground, with scholars interested in concepts of journalism culture in an age of globalisation. As part of a wider, cross-cultural effort, this study reports the results of a survey of 100 Australian journalists in order to paint a picture of the way journalists see their role in society. Such a study is important due to the relative absence of large-scale surveys of Australian journalists since Henningham’s (1993) seminal work. This paper reports some important trends in the Australian news media since the early 1990s, with improvements in gender balance and journalists now being older, better educated, and holding more leftist political views. In locating Australian journalism culture within the study’s framework, some long-held assumptions are reinforced, with journalists following traditional values of objectivity, passive reporting and the ideal of the fourth estate.

Knowledge transfer through dual degree programs : perspectives from Indonesian universities

The thesis provides an Indonesian perspective into the rationales and outcomes of cooperation between Indonesian and Australian universities. It demonstrates that Indonesian universities participating in this study have actively pursued their institutional agenda to bring benefits from the cooperation with the international partners and engaged in knowledge transfer with these partners to develop their capacity. It particularly investigates the knowledge transfer processes between Indonesian and Australian universities through dual degree program partnerships.

Security metrics for Java bytecode programs

Although there are many approaches for developing secure programs, they are not necessarily helpful for evaluating the security of a pre-existing program. Software metrics promise an easy way of comparing the relative security of two programs or assessing the security impact of modifications to an existing one. Most studies in this area focus on high level source code but this approach fails to take compiler-specific code generation into account. In this work we describe a set of object-oriented Java bytecode security metrics which are capable of assessing the security of a compiled program from the point of view of potential information flow. These metrics can be used to compare the security of programs or assess the effect of program modifications on security using a tool which we have developed to automatically measure the security of a given Java bytecode program in terms of the accessibility of distinguished ‘classified’ attributes.

The importance of understanding student learning styles in accounting degree programs

Accounting education is critical and any improvements in tertiary education of accounting students should result in better prepared graduates entering the profession. This study evaluates accounting students’ learning styles and the interaction of learning styles and teaching methodologies during degree programmes. Nine classes of accounting students (648 students) spread across four years and two degree programmes were evaluated. Students self-evaluated their learning style, pre-instruction. They were then subject to two separate teaching techniques (one active and one passive) in each course. Learning styles were then re-assessed and teaching techniques evaluated. Accounting students displayed a preference for passive learning, even those far advanced in their degrees. Furthermore, when learning styles matched teaching methods used, usefulness was assessed as high but when learning styles and teaching methods differed, usefulness deteriorated. Overall, the teaching methods were deemed more effective by active rather than passive learners. The implications are significant. To maximise educational benefit for the accounting profession, student learning styles should be assessed before designing appropriate teaching methodologies. This has resource implications which would have to be considered.

Who struggles most in making a career choice and why?Findings from a cross-sectional survey of highschool students

This paper reports findings from an empirical study examining the influence of student background and educational experiences on the development of career choice capability. Secondary school students attending years 9-12 (N = 706) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, were invited to participate in an online survey that sought to examine factors influencing their career choices. The survey included questions relating to student demographics, parental occupation, attitudes to school and to learning, student aspirations, and students’ knowledge of the further education or skills required to achieve their desired goal. We found no significant differences in the proportions of students who were “uncertain” of their future career aspirations with respect to their socio-educational background. There were, however, significantly more students struggling with career decision making from an English-speaking background in comparison to households where children spoke a language other than English. Those students were proportionally present in government and non-government schools and had some behavioural and attitudinal characteristics in common.

Teaching Teachers for the Future (TTF) Project TPACK Survey : summary of the key findings

This paper presents a summary of the key findings of the TTF TPACK Survey developed and administered for the Teaching the Teachers for the Future (TTF) Project implemented in 2011. The TTF Project, funded by an Australian Government ICT Innovation Fund grant, involved all 39 Australian Higher Education Institutions which provide initial teacher education. TTF data collections were undertaken at the end of Semester 1 (T1) and at the end of Semester 2 (T2) in 2011. A total of 12881 participants completed the first survey (T1) and 5809 participants completed the second survey (T2). Groups of like-named items from the T1 survey were subject to a battery of complementary data analysis techniques. The psychometric properties of the four scales: Confidence - teacher items; Usefulness - teacher items; Confidence - student items; Usefulness- student items, were confirmed both at T1 and T2. Among the key findings summarised, at the national level, the scale: Confidence to use ICT as a teacher showed measurable growth across the whole scale from T1 to T2, and the scale: Confidence to facilitate student use of ICT also showed measurable growth across the whole scale from T1 to T2. Additional key TTF TPACK Survey findings are summarised.

A survey of control allocation methods for underwater vehicles

A control allocation system implements a function that maps the desired control forces generated by the vehicle motion controller into the commands of the different actuators. In this article, a survey of control allocation methods for over-actuated underwater vehicles is presented. The methods are applicable for both surface vessels and underwater vehicles. The paper presents a survey of control allocation methods with focus on mathematical representation and solvability of thruster allocation problems. The paper is useful for university students and engineers who want to get an overview of state-of-the art control allocation methods as well as advance methods to solve more complex problems.

The effectiveness of an intervention in reducing risk of dioxin exposure in Da Nang : changes in community knowledge, attitudes and prevention practices after 2.5 years

Introduction Environmental and biological samples taken around Da Nang Air Base have shown elevated levels of dioxin over many years [1-3]. A pre-intervention knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) survey (2009), a risk reduction program (2010) and a post intervention KAP survey (2011) were undertaken in four wards surrounding Danang Airbase. A follow-up evaluation was undertaken in 2013. Methods A KAP survey was implemented among 400 randomly selected food handlers. Eleven indepth interviews and four focus group discussions were also undertaken. Results The knowledge of respondents remained positive and/or improved at 2.5 years follow-up. There were no significant differences in attitudes toward preventing dioxin exposure across surveys; most respondents were positive in all three surveys. An increase in households (69.5%) undertaking measures to prevent exposure was observed, which was higher than in the pre-intervention survey (39.6%) and post- intervention survey (60.4%) (χ2 = 95.6; p < 0.001). The proportion of respondents practicing appropriate preventive measures was also significantly improved. Conclusions Despite most of the intervention program’s activities ceasing in 2010, the risk reduction program has resulted in positive outcomes over the longer-term, with many knowledge and attitude measures remaining stable or imporving. Some KAP indicators decreased, but these KAP indicators were still significantly higher than the pre-intervention levels.

Learning and teaching epidemiology with audience response technology

Background The learning and teaching of epidemiology is core to many public health programs. Many students find the content of epidemiology, and specifically risk of bias assessment, challenging to learn. Howbeit, learning is enhanced when knowledge is able to be acquired from an active-learning, hands-on experience. Methods The innovative use of wireless audience response technology “clickers” was incorporated into the lectures of the university’s post-graduate epidemiology units and the tailored epidemiological modules delivered for professional disciplines (e.g. optometry). Clickers were used to apply several pedagogical approaches of active learning including peer-instruction and real-world simulation. Students were also assessed for their gain in knowledge within the lecture (pre-post) and their perceptions of how the use of clickers helped them learn. The routine university-wide end of semester Insight Survey provided further information of the student’s satisfaction with the approach. Results The technology was useful in identifying deficits of knowledge of key concepts either before or after instruction. Where key concepts were re-tested post-lecture, as expected, knowledge increased significantly and provided immediate feed-back to students. Across the lecture series, typically 85% of students identified the technology helped them learn, increased their opportunity to interact with the lecturer, and recommend their use for future classes. The Insight Survey report identified 93% of respondents identified the unit in which clickers were consistently used provided good learning opportunities. Numerous student comments supported the teaching method. Conclusions Epidemiological subject matter lends itself to incorporation of audience response technology. The use of the technology to facilitate interactive voting provides an instant response and participation of everyone to enhance the classroom experience. The pedagogical approach increases students’ knowledge and increases their satisfaction with the unit.

Critical care nurses' perceptions of their educational needs

A survey of nurses working in critical care units in 89 Queensland hospitals was conducted to investigate their perceptions of critical care nurses' educational needs. Two thirds of the 62 respondents were from rural units and one third were from metropolitan units. Most respondents, irrespective of geographic location, wanted critical care education to be located in hospitals and to be accredited as a graduate diploma course. Rural and metropolitan nurses had similar educational needs and many worked for hospitals that were not offering adequate orientation or inservice critical care education. The findings that nursing staff turnover was a problem in metropolitan units and that the rural workforce was more stable have implications for the development of educational programs.

State of Energy Efficiency Education in Australian Technical & Further Education (TAFE) : A Report to the Australian Government Skills for the Carbon Challenge Initiative, The Natural Edge Project (TNEP), Queensland University of Technology

The Australian Government’s Skills for the Carbon Challenge (SCC) initiative aims to accelerate industry and the education sectors response to climate change. As part of the SCC initiative, the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIICCSRTE) provided funding to investigate the state of energy efficiency education in engineering-related Australian Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Programs. The following document reports on the outcomes of a multi-stage consultation project that engaged with participants from over 80% of TAFE institutions across Australia with the aim of supporting and enhancing future critical skills development in this area. Specifically, this report presents the findings of a national survey, based on a series of TAFE educator focus groups, conducted in May 2013 aimed at understanding the experiences and insights of Australian TAFE educators teaching engineering-related courses. Responses were received from 224 TAFE Educators across 50 of the 61 TAFE institutions in Australia (82% response rate).