Australian journalism students’ professional views and news consumption: Results from a representative study

Journalism education’s role in shaping students’ professional views has been a topic of interest among scholars for the past decade in particular. Increasing numbers of studies are concerned with examining students’ backgrounds and views in order to identify what role exposure to the tertiary environment may play in socializing them into the industry. This study reports on the results of the largest survey of Australian journalism students undertaken to date, with a sample size of 1884 students. The study finds that time spent studying journalism appears to be related to changes in role perceptions and news consumption. Final-year students are significantly more likely to support journalism’s watchdog role and to reject consumer-oriented and ‘loyal’ roles. They also consume more news than first-year students. On the other hand, journalism education appears to have little impact on views of controversial practices, with only marginal differences between final- and first-year students.

Engaging at-risk vocational education students with mobile devices

The potential of using mobile devices to increase learner engagement within a small group of at-risk vocational education students was studied through a qualitative case study. It was found that the use of mobile devices could be a strategy educators may use to reduce the barriers these students often encounter within traditional classrooms. Notions of interactivity, ease of use, existing familiarity and fluency were found to be fundamental variables that were central to the group's use of mobile devices. The study provides direction for educators looking for innovative ways to engage students who struggle in a classroom situation.

Using children's picture books and process drama to develop students' critical literacy responses

This workshop introduces a range of process drama activities to develop students' critical literacy responses. Whilst children's picture books and process drama strategies have not traditionally been seen as sophisticated resources and strategies for developing students' critical literacy responses, this workshop shows teaching strategies that can be used in language instruction in primary classrooms with diverse student groups. The teaching activities include ‘attribute lists’, ‘sculptures’ and ‘freeze frames’.

Using children's picture books to develop students' critical literacy responses

This lecture introduces a range of children's picture books from around the world and teaching strategies that develop students' critical literacy responses. Whilst children's picture books have not traditionally been seen as sophisticated resources for developing students' critical literacy responses, this lecture presents research that shows young children as code breakers, text participants, text users and text analysts (Luke & Freebody, 1999) of written, visual, oral and gestural texts. This lecture also outlines the teaching strategies as they have been used in language instruction in primary classrooms with diverse student groups.

Male nursing students in training: A comparative analysis of hidden advantage and discrimination

Aim The aim of this study was to examine the lived experience of men training to be registered nurses within a regional New Zealand context. Design This study draws upon the key principles of descriptive phenomenology. Sample Five male students enrolled from the 1st and 3rd year of the BN programme. Findings - A Career with Prospects - Gender inequality by superiors; - Developing professional boundaries with female colleagues; - Being unique has its advantages.

Analysis of physical activity in emmetropic and myopic university students during semester and holiday periods: A pilot study

Background Previous studies (mostly questionnaire-based in children) suggest that outdoor activity is protective against myopia. There are few studies on young adults investigating both the impact of simply being outdoors versus performing physical activity. The aim was to study the relationship between the refractive error of young adults and their physical activity patterns. Methods Twenty-seven university students, aged 18 to 25 years, wore a pedometer (Omron HJ720ITE) for seven days both during the semester and holiday periods. They simultaneously recorded the type of activity performed, its duration, the number of steps taken (from the pedometer) and their location (indoors/outdoors) in a logbook. Mean spherical refractive error was used to divide participants into three groups (emmetropes: +1.00 to -0.50 D, low myopes: -0.62 to -3.00 D, higher myopes: -3.12 D or greater myopia). Results There were no significant differences between the refractive groups during the semester or holiday periods; the average daily times spent outdoors, the duration of physical activity, the ratio of physical activity performed outdoors to indoors and amount of near work performed were similar. The peak exercise intensity was similar across all groups: approximately 100 steps perminute, a brisk walk. Up to one-third of all physical activity was performed outdoors. There were some significant differences in activities performed during semester and holiday times. For example, lowmyopes spent significantly less time outside (49 ± 47 versus 74 ± 41 minutes, p = 0.005) and performed less physical activity (6,388 ± 1,747 versus 6,779 ± 2,746 steps per day; p = 0.03) during the holidays compared to during semester. Conclusions The fact that all groups had similar low exercise intensity butmany were notmyopic suggests that physical activity levels are not critical. There were differences in the activity patterns of lowmyopes during semester and holiday periods. This study highlights the need for a larger longitudinal-based study with particular emphasis on how discretionary time is spent.

Stalking and violence victimization among Finnish university students

This study examined the nature and lifetime prevalence of two types of victimization among Finnish university students: stalking and violence victimization (i.e. general violence). This study was a cross-sectional study using two different datasets of Finnish university students. The stalking data was collected via an electronic questionnaire and the violence victimization data was collected via a postal questionnaire. There were 615 participants in the stalking study (I-III) and 905 participants in the violence victimization study. The thesis consists of four studies. The aims regarding the stalking substudies (Studies I-III) were to examine the lifetime prevalence of stalking among university students and to analyze how stalking is related to victim and stalker characteristics and certain central variables of stalking (victim-stalker relationship, stalking episodes, stalking duration). Specifically, the aim was to identify factors that are associated with stalking violence and to factors contributing to the stalking duration. Furthermore, the aim was also to investigate how university students cope with stalking and whether coping is related to victim and stalker background characteristics and to certain other core variables (victim-stalker relationship, stalking episodes, stalking duration, prior victimization, and stalking violence). The aims for the violence victimization substudy (Study IV) were to examine the prevalence of violence victimization, i.e. general violence (minor and serious physical violence and threats) and how violence victimization is associated with victim/abuser characteristics, symptomology, and the use of student health care services. The present study shows that both stalking and violence victimization (i.e. general violence) are markedly prevalent among Finnish university students. The lifetime prevalence rate for stalking was 48.5% and 46.5% for violence victimization. When the lifetime prevalence rate was restricted to violent stalking and physical violence only, the prevalence decreased to 22% and 42% respectively. The students reported exposure to multiple forms of stalking and violence victimization, demonstrating the diversity of victimization among university students. Stalking victimization was found to be more prevalent among female students, while violence victimization was found to be more prevalent among male students. Most of the victims of stalking knew their stalkers, while the offender in general violence was typically a stranger. Stalking victimization often included violence and continued for a lengthy period. The victim-stalking relationship and stalking behaviors were found to be associated with stalking violence and stalking duration. Based on three identified stalking dimensions (violence, surveillance, contact seeking), the present study found five distinct victim subgroups (classes). Along with the victim-stalker relationship, the victim subgroups emerged as important factors contributing to the stalking duration. Victims of violent stalking did not differ greatly from victims of non-violent stalking in their use of behavioral coping tactics, while exposure to violent stalking had an effect on the use of coping strategies. The victim-offender relationship was also associated to a set of symptoms regarding violence victimization. Furthermore, violence victimization had a significant main effect on specific symptoms (mental health symptoms, alcohol consumption, symptom index), while gender had a significant main effect on most symptoms, yet no interaction effect was found. The present results also show that victims of violence are overrepresented among frequent health care users. The present findings add to the literature on the prevalence and nature of stalking and violence victimization among Finnish university students. Moreover, the present findings stress the importance of violence prevention and intervention in student health care, and may be used as a guideline for policy makers, as well as health care and law enforcement professionals dealing with youth violence prevention.

Exploring the experiences and conceptions of good teaching in higher education : Development of a questionnaire for assessing students' approaches to learning and experiences of the teaching-learning environment

The aim of this dissertation was to adapt a questionnaire for assessing students’ approaches to learning and their experiences of the teaching-learning environment. The aim was to explore the validity of the modified Experiences of Teaching and Learning Questionnaire (ETLQ) by examining how the instruments measure the underlying dimensions of student experiences and their learning. The focus was on the relation between students’ experiences of their teaching-learning environment and their approaches to learning. Moreover, the relation between students’ experiences and students’ and teachers’ conceptions of good teaching was examined. In Study I the focus was on the use of the ETLQ in two different contexts: Finnish and British. The study aimed to explore the similarities and differences between the factor structures that emerged from both data sets. The results showed that the factor structures concerning students’ experiences of their teaching-learning environment and their approaches to learning were highly similar in the two contexts. Study I also examined how students’ experiences of the teaching-learning environment are related to their approaches to learning in the two contexts. The results showed that students’ positive experiences of their teaching-learning environment were positively related to their deep approach to learning and negatively to the surface approach to learning in both the Finnish and British data sets. This result was replicated in Study II, which examined the relation between approaches to learning and experiences of the teaching-learning environment on a group level. Furthermore, Study II aimed to explore students’ approaches to learning and their experiences of the teaching-learning environment in different disciplines. The results showed that the deep approach to learning was more common in the soft sciences than in the hard sciences. In Study III, students’ conceptions of good teaching were explored by using qualitative methods, more precisely, by open-ended questions. The aim was to examine students’ conceptions, disciplinary differences and their relation to students’ approaches to learning. The focus was on three disciplines, which differed in terms of students’ experiences of their teaching-learning environment. The results showed that students’ conceptions of good teaching were in line with the theory of good teaching and there were disciplinary differences in their conceptions. Study IV examined university teachers’ conceptions of good teaching, which corresponded to the learning-focused approach to teaching. Furthermore, another aim in this doctoral dissertation was to compare the students’ and teachers’ conceptions of good teaching, the results of which showed that these conceptions appear to have similarities. The four studies indicated that the ETLQ appears to be a sufficiently robust measurement instrument in different contexts. Moreover, its strength is its ability to be at the same time a valid research instrument and a practical tool for enhancing the quality of students’ learning. In addition, the four studies emphasise that in order to enhance teaching and learning in higher education, various perspectives have to be taken into account. This study sheds light on the interaction between students’ approaches to learning, their conceptions of good teaching, their experiences of the teaching-learning environment, and finally, the disciplinary culture.

Assessing university students' prior knowledge

The aim of this dissertation was to explore how different types of prior knowledge influence student achievement and how different assessment methods influence the observed effect of prior knowledge. The project started by creating a model of prior knowledge which was tested in various science disciplines. Study I explored the contribution of different components of prior knowledge on student achievement in two different mathematics courses. The results showed that the procedural knowledge components which require higher-order cognitive skills predicted the final grades best and were also highly related to previous study success. The same pattern regarding the influence of prior knowledge was also seen in Study III which was a longitudinal study of the accumulation of prior knowledge in the context of pharmacy. The study analysed how prior knowledge from previous courses was related to student achievement in the target course. The results implied that students who possessed higher-level prior knowledge, that is, procedural knowledge, from previous courses also obtained higher grades in the more advanced target course. Study IV explored the impact of different types of prior knowledge on students’ readiness to drop out from the course, on the pace of completing the course and on the final grade. The study was conducted in the context of chemistry. The results revealed again that students who performed well in the procedural prior-knowledge tasks were also likely to complete the course in pre-scheduled time and get higher final grades. On the other hand, students whose performance was weak in the procedural prior-knowledge tasks were more likely to drop out or take a longer time to complete the course. Study II explored the issue of prior knowledge from another perspective. Study II aimed to analyse the interrelations between academic self-beliefs, prior knowledge and student achievement in the context of mathematics. The results revealed that prior knowledge was more predictive of student achievement than were other variables included in the study. Self-beliefs were also strongly related to student achievement, but the predictive power of prior knowledge overruled the influence of self-beliefs when they were included in the same model. There was also a strong correlation between academic self-beliefs and prior-knowledge performance. The results of all the four studies were consistent with each other indicating that the model of prior knowledge may be used as a potential tool for prior knowledge assessment. It is useful to make a distinction between different types of prior knowledge in assessment since the type of prior knowledge students possess appears to make a difference. The results implied that there indeed is variation between students’ prior knowledge and academic self-beliefs which influences student achievement. This should be taken into account in instruction.

The effect of a self-development coaching program on the psychological health and the academic performance among medical and dental students in Saudi Arabia

Observational studies have shown that medical and dental students have poor psychological health worldwide; however, few interventional studies have been used to test approaches to help students. This thesis used a randomised control trial study design to evaluate the effect of a self-development coaching program on psychological health and the academic performance among medical and dental students in Saudi Arabia. The outcomes indicated that these medical and dental students in Saudi Arabia experienced high levels of depression, anxiety and stress, and that the self-development coaching program was a promising intervention to improve students' psychological health.

Happily ever after: Romance, gender and the building blocks of domestic violence

My sister describes the state of something being a psychological or personal 'issue' - such as a trauma, compulsion, phobia, or obsession - as having 'brain spaghetti'. For example, apparently she has spaghetti about me pinning her down as a child and tickling her until she screamed for mercy. She knows this because when her spouse tried to do the same, the experience she had as a child came flooding back as a complex tangle of fears, feelings, and mental images. Notwithstanding the trauma inflicted on a sibling in my youth, the spaghetti metaphor is a simple but useful tool for explaining how complex our experiences are, and I bring it up here because I believe a lot of people have spaghetti about love. So much so, that often love becomes distorted, sometimes to the point of making one completely blind to manipulation and abuse. Part of the blame for 'love spaghetti' can be allotted to media depictions of romance and gender, which helps entrench and maintain our deeply held beliefs about what relationships should look like.

Reflections on the Research Students' 2015 Art Exhibition and Operetta/morality play "The Trial of Homo Economicus: The dollar hunting animal"

The paper outlines the process of organising research student participants and creating a public musical performance at QUT. The theme of the Operetta/Morality play is the clash between economic values of humans necessitating growth and the basic needs of the other life on planet earth. The one act play is set in a court room presided over by a judge who adjudicates the court proceedings.Homo economicus is in the dock and victims(various animals and birds) raise their grievances.

Vietnamese nursing students' perceptions of their clinical learning environment: A cross-sectional survey

This study investigated Vietnamese nursing students' perceptions of their clinical learning environment. The study was undertaken in two phases: 1) translation and adaptation of research instrument and 2) a cross-sectional survey was followed. Despite validity issues identified, data from two valid sub-scales and structured questions provided insights into the clinical learning environment that is the environment did not operate from an adult learner philosophy or provide a student-centred environment. The results are significant for development of clinical learning environment in Vietnam and that cultural differences between populations should be carefully considered in future research.

Horsing around – Using equine facilitated learning to support the development of social-emotional competence of students at risk of school failure

The social-emotional issues some students experience can place them at risk of school failure. Traditional methods of support can be ineffective or not sustainable and new alternative approaches need to be attempted to support social-emotional competency, school engagement and success for students at risk. This paper discusses preliminary outcomes of an equine facilitated learning (EFL) programme specifically designed to focus on using horses to improve the resilience and social-emotional competency in students perceived as ‘at risk’ of school failure. This qualitative exploratory study used interviews and observations over a six month period to listen to the voices of the students themselves about their experiences of EFL. Initial findings from the pilot study suggest that EFL programmes can be a novel and motivating way to promote resilience training and social-emotional development of students at risk of failure and, in turn, improve their level of engagement and connection with school environments.