Transforming the core business of teaching and learning in classrooms through ICT

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become an integral part of societies across the globe. This study demonstrates how successful technology integration by 10 experienced teachers in an Australian high school was dependent on teacher-driven change and innovation that influenced the core business of teaching and learning. The teachers were subject specialists across a range of disciplines, engaging their Year Eight students (aged 12–14 years) in the Technology Rich Classrooms programme. Two classrooms were renovated to accommodate the newly acquired computer hardware. The first classroom adopted a one-to-one desktop model with all the computers with Internet access arranged in a front-facing pattern. The second classroom had computers arranged in small groups. The students also used Blackboard to access learning materials after school hours. Qualitative data were gathered from teachers mainly through structured and unstructured interviews and a range of other approaches to ascertain their perceptions of the new initiative. This investigation showed that ICT was impacting positively on the core business of teaching and learning. Through the support of the school leadership team, the built environment was enabling teachers to use ICT. This influenced their pedagogical approaches and the types of learning activities they designed and implemented. As a consequence, teachers felt that students were motivated and benefited through this experience.

Teaching persuasive texts : building a language of evaluation through hedging and moderated intensification

We identify two persuasive writing techniques – hedging and intensification – that pose difficulty for students in the middle years. We use examples of student writing from 3000 work samples collected as part of a larger Australian Research Council Linkage Project, URLearning (2009–2013). To realise the effective power of rhetorical persuasion, students need to be explicitly taught a range of hedging techniques to use to their advantage, and an expanded lexicon that does not rely on intensifiers. Practical teaching tips are provided for teachers.

Setting limits to laughter : university teaching and the boundaries of humour

This paper forms one part of a broadly-based study into the use of humour within tertiary teaching. One theme to emerge from semi-structured, in-depth interviews with university academics concerns the setting of boundaries to the appropriate use of humour within lectures and tutorials. Following the ‘benign violations’ theory of humour—wherein, to be funny, a situation/statement must be some kind of a social violation, that violation must be regarded as relatively benign, and the two ideas must be held simultaneously—this paper suggests that the willingness of academics to use particular types of humour in their teaching revolves around the complexities of determining the margins of the benign. These margins are shaped in part by pedagogic limitations, but also by professional delimitations. In terms of limitations, the boundaries of humour are set by the academic environment of the university, by the characteristics of different cohorts of students, and by what those students are prepare to laugh at. In terms of delimitations—where humour choice is moderated, not by the possibility of immediate laughter, but rather by the consequences of that choice—academic seniority and security play a large role in determining what kinds of humour will be used, and where boundaries are to be set. The central conclusion here is that formal maxims of humour use—‘Never tease students’, ‘Don’t joke about potentially sensitive issues’—fail to account for the complexity of teaching relationships, for the differences between student cohorts, and for the talents and standing of particular teachers.

A continent-wide study reveals clear relationships between regional abiotic conditions and post-dispersal seed predation

Aim Large-scale patterns linking energy availability, biological productivity and diversity form a central focus of ecology. Despite evidence that the activity and abundance of animals may be limited by climatic variables associated with regional biological productivity (e.g. mean annual precipitation and annual actual evapotranspiration), it is unclear whether plant–granivore interactions are themselves influenced by these climatic factors across broad spatial extents. We evaluated whether climatic conditions that are known to alter the abundance and activity of granivorous animals also affect rates of seed removal. Location Eleven sites across temperate North America. Methods We used a common protocol to assess the removal of the same seed species (Avena sativa) over a 2-day period. Model selection via the Akaike information criterion was used to determine a set of candidate binomial generalized linear mixed models that evaluated the relationship between local climatic data and post-dispersal seed predation. Results Annual actual evapotranspiration was the single best predictor of the proportion of seeds removed. Annual actual evapotranspiration and mean annual precipitation were both positively related to mean seed removal and were included in four and three of the top five models, respectively. Annual temperature range was also positively related to seed removal and was an explanatory variable in three of the top four models. Main conclusions Our work provides the first evidence that energy and precipitation, which are known to affect consumer abundance and activity, also translate to strong, predictable patterns of seed predation across a continent. More generally, these findings suggest that future changes in temperature and precipitation could have widespread consequences for plant species composition in grasslands, through impacts on plant recruitment.

Teaching and assessment of prescribing medicines : how does pharmacy perform?

BACKGROUND Prescribing is a complex task, requiring specific knowledge and skills combined with effective, context-specific clinical reasoning. Prescribing errors can result in significant morbidity and mortality. For all professions with prescribing rights, a clear need exists to ensure students graduate with a well-defined set of prescribing skills, which will contribute to competent prescribing. AIM To describe the methods employed to teach and assess the principles of effective prescribing across five non-medical professions at Queensland University of Technology. METHOD The NPS National Prescribing Competencies Framework (PCF) was used as the prescribing standard. A curriculum mapping exercise was undertaken to determine how well the PCF was addressed across the disciplines of paramedic science, pharmacy, podiatry, nurse practitioner and optometry. Identified gaps in teaching and/or assessment were noted. RESULTS Prescribing skills and knowledge are taught and assessed using a range of methods across disciplines. A multi-modal approach is employed by all disciplines. The Pharmacy discipline uses more tutorial sessions to teach prescribing principles and relies less on case studies and clinical appraisal to assess prescribing when compared to other disciplines. Within the pharmacy discipline approximately 90% of the PCF competencies are taught and assessed. This compares favourably with the other disciplines. CONCLUSION Further work is required to establish a practical, effective approach to the assessment of prescribing competence especially between the university and clinical settings. Effective and reliable assessment of prescribing undertaken by students in diverse settings remains challenging.

Navigating uncertainty in Australia : fostering informed citizenship through teaching controversial issues with pre-service teachers

Australia is a multicultural immigrant society created by public policy and direct state action over a period of two hundred years. It is now one of the world’s most diverse societies. However, like many nations, Australia faces challenges to managing ‘unauthorized arrivals’ who claim to be refugees. The issue of how to deal with unauthorized arrivals is controversial and highly emotive as it challenges public policy and government capacity to manage the multicultural ‘mix’ of Australia’s population. It also raises questions about border security. Given that it is impossible to discern beforehand who is a ‘proper’ refugee and who is not, claims to refugee status by unauthorised arrivals in Australia need to be tested against international convention criteria devised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). There are no simple solutions to controversial questions such as how and where should unauthorised arrivals, and the children accompanying them, be housed whilst their claims are investigated? Moreover, as this issue continues to prompt division and heated debate in Australian society, teachers new to the profession are often reluctant to explore it in the classroom. However, there are opportunities in national and state curriculum documents for the values dimensions of curriculum inquiries into controversial issues such as this to be addressed. For example, the most recent national statement on the goals for schooling in Australia, the Melbourne Declaration (MCEETYA, 2008), makes clear that Australian students need to be prepared for the challenges of the 21st century and to develop the capacity for innovation and complex problem-solving. The Melbourne Declaration informs the first national curriculum to be implemented in the Australian states and territories, and all other national and state initiatives. Its focus on developing active and informed citizens who can contribute to a socially cohesive society implies a capacity to deal with a range of issues associated with cultural diversity, This chapter explores the ways in which pre-service and early career teachers in one Australian state reflect upon curriculum opportunities to address controversial issues in the social sciences and history classroom. As part of their pre-service education, all the participants in this study completed a final year social science curriculum method unit that embedded a range of controversial issues, including the placement of children in Australian Immigration Detention Centres (IDCs), for investigation. By drawing from interviews and focus groups conducted with different cohorts of pre-service teachers in their final year of university study and beginning years of teaching, this chapter analyses the range of perceptions about how controversial issues can be examined in the secondary classroom as part of fostering informed citizenship. The discussion and analysis of the qualitative data in this study makes no claims for the representativeness of its findings, rather, a range of beginner teacher insights into a complex and important facet of teaching in a period of change and uncertainty is offered.

Developing graduate TPACK capabilities in initial teacher education programs: Insights from the Teaching Teachers for the Future Project

There is increased accountability of initial teacher education (ITE) programs in Australia to develop Graduate teachers who are better prepared. Most ITE programs have been designed using Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Informed by the growing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) research, this journal article suggests that ITE programs need to develop Graduate teachers who have the TPACK capabilities to use technologies to support teaching and student learning. Insights from the research and evaluation of the Teaching Teachers for the Future (TTF) Project, which was guided by the TPACK conceptualisation, are provided. The TTF Project, which involved all Higher Education Institutions providing ITE programs in Australia, drew upon the TPACK conceptualisation. The TTF Project research and evaluation included the development and administration of a TTF TPACK Survey and the implementation of the Most Significant Change Methodology. Key findings resulting from the employment of these methodologies are summarised to provide guidance to inform the improvement of ITE programs to develop Graduate TPACK capabilities.

Teaching reflection for service-learning

In this chapter, we discuss an approach for teaching pre-service teachers how to critically reflect on their experiences in a Service-learning program in an advanced subject about inclusive education. The approach was informed by critical social theory, with the expectation that students would engage in transformational learning. By explicitly teaching the students to engage in critical reflective thinking (Fishbowl discussions) and examine the depth of their critical reflection against a heuristic (the 4Rs reflection framework), the final-year Bachelor of Education students were able to gain a deeper understanding of the subject and experience transformational learning. We provide contextual information about the Service-learning program and discuss critical social theory for transformational learning, as well as how the teaching team taught critical reflection. Based on the evidence gathered from the students, we consider lessons learned by the teaching team and provide recommendations for teaching reflection in Service-learning programs.

Understanding preservice teachers’ development of pedagogical knowledge practices when co-teaching primary science to peers

Preservice teachers articulate the need for more teaching experiences for developing their practices, however, extending beyond existing school arrangements may present difficulties. Thus, it is important to understand preservice teachers’ development of pedagogical knowledge practices when in the university setting. This mixed-method study investigated 48 second-year preservice teachers’ development of pedagogical knowledge practices as a result of co-teaching primary science to peers. Data were collected through a survey, video-recorded lessons, extended written responses and researcher observations. The study showed how these preservice teachers demonstrated 9 of 11 pedagogical knowledge practices within the co-teaching arrangement. However, research is needed to determine the level of development on each pedagogical knowledge practice and how these practices can be transferred into authentic primary classroom settings.

Mentoring for Effective Teaching (MET)

The Mentoring for Effective Teaching (MET) program aims to facilitate understandings and skills for advancing mentoring and teaching practices for preservice teachers. The paper outlines the key findings from the MET program, including findings related to: (1) the mentor-mentee relationship, (2), mentoring pedagogical knowledge practices, and; (3) providing feedback to the mentee. Each part of the paper presents a model synthesised from the research, which can be used as a visual guide for faciltiating effective mentoring practices.

The use of prescribed drugs for common chronic conditions in South Africa in 1998

Purpose To determine the prescribed drug-utilisation pattern for six common chronic conditions in adult South Africans in a cross-sectional survey. Methods 13 826 randomly selected participants, 15 years and older, were surveyed by trained fieldworkers at their homes in 1998. Questionnaires included socio-demographic, chronic-disease and drug-use data. The prescribed drugs were recorded from participants' medication containers. The Anatomical Therapeutic Classification (ATC) code of the drugs for tuberculosis (TB), diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, other atherosclerosis-related conditions, such as heart conditions or cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), and asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), was recorded. The use of logistic regression analyses identified the determinants of those patients who used prescription medication for these six conditions. Results 18.4% of the women and 12.5% of the men used drugs for the six chronic conditions. Men used drugs most frequently for hypertension (50.9%) and asthma or chronic bronchitis (24.3%), while in women it was for hypertension (59.9%) and diabetes (17.5%). The logistic regression analyses showed that women, wealthier and older people, and those with medical insurance used these chronic-disease drugs more frequently compared to men, younger or poor people, or those without medical insurance. The African population group used these drugs less frequently than any other ethnic group. The inappropriate use of methyldopa was found for 14.8% of all antihypertensive drugs, while very few people used aspirin. Conclusions The methodology of this study provides a means of ascertaining the chronic-disease drug-utilisation pattern in national health surveys. The pattern described, suggests an inequitable use of chronic-disease drugs and inadequate use of some effective drugs to control the burden of chronic diseases in South Africa. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Synthesis of imines from amines in aliphatic alcohols on Pd/ZrO2 catalyst under ambient conditions

Synthesis of imines from amines and aliphatic alcohols (C1–C6) in the presence of base on supported palladium nanoparticles has been achieved for the first time. The catalytic system shows high activity and selectivity in open air at room temperature. As an example of the isostructural Ln3Sb3Co2O14 (Ln: La, Pr, Nd, Sm—Ho) series with an ordered pyrochlore structure, the La variant is prepared by a citrate complex method employing stoichiometric amounts of La(NO3)3, Co(NO3)2, and Sb tartrate together with citric acid with a metal/citrate molar ratio of 1:2