Spin it to win it: A comparison of constraints-led versus traditional coaching approaches

This thesis aimed to compare the effects of constraints-led and traditional coaching approaches on young cricket spin bowlers, with a specific research focus on increasing spin rates (i.e., Revolutions per Minute). Participants were 22 spin bowlers from either an Australia state youth squad or an academy in England. Results indicate that adopting a constraints-led approach can benefit younger, inexperienced bowlers, whilst a traditional approach may assist more skilled, older bowlers. The findings are discussed with regards to how they may inform the learning design of training programs by cricket coaches.

Focus on Form : J. J. Tikkanen, Giotto and Art Research in the 19th Century

My doctoral dissertation is on Johan Jakob Tikkanen (1857 1930), the first professor of art history in Finland, and his significance and methods in the context of late 19th and early 20th-century European art history. Tikkanen was one of the pioneering scholars in the field of medieval art research, and, along with Anton Springer, Heinrich Wölfflin, Aloïs Riegl, Adolfo Venturi, Franz Wickhoff, Julius von Schlosser, Aby Warburg, Emile Mâle and others, one of the scholars who defined art history as an independent academic discipline. Tikkanen s scholarly interests and his methods resemble those of many formalistically oriented German and Austrian art historians of his time. He became well known throughout Europe, mainly for his studies on illustrated medieval manuscripts. Tikkanen s dissertation, Der Malerische Styl Giotto s Versuch zu einer Characteristik Desselben, from 1884 was regarded in its day as the best form-analytical study on the painter. It has a central position in the present thesis, as it already included nearly all the methods that Tikkanen used and elaborated upon throughout his career. Giotto also gives a good perspective for comparing Tikkanen s ideas with a long art-historical tradition. Tikkanen was profoundly interested in artistic creativity. In his own words, he wanted to study das künstlerische Können , artistic ability, instead of das künstlerische Wollen or artistic will, which was an important theoretical issue in art history in the late 19th century. This starting point led him to the history of style and iconographical research. Along with the Danish art historian, Julius Lange, he was one of the first scholars who began to study the meaning of gestures and postures in art. In my dissertation I have emphasized the importance of Tikkanen s personal art education. I regard it as having influenced both his scholarly argumentation and his working methods. I have also written a short overview of the situation of art history in Finland and in Northern Countries before Tikkanen s time in order to give an idea of his scientific background. My thesis is a critical and historiographical study on J. J. Tikkanen s role in the development of art history and its methodology.

Literacy teaching and learning in a digital world: Challenges of a new era

Teachers the world over are aware of the range of new challenges that arise from this new era. One challenge is the role of digital technologies in literacy learning. Despite its reputation for being engaging, digital technologies do not always enhance learning outcomes. Whilst the concerns vary across time and place, the core issue of what is a highly sought after literacy learning outcome in this new era warrants consideration. This paper introduces Kalantzis and Cope’s (2005) theorisation of eight knowledge processes for literacy learning. They claim that experiencing the known, conceptualising by naming, analysing functionally and applying appropriately, whilst necessary, are not on their own sufficient for the development of high level literacy practices. It is their contention that students must also be able to experience the new, conceptualise by theorising, analyse creatively and apply critically. This theorisation forms an auditing framework for considering the outcomes of different uptakes of digital technologies in a Social Studies and a Science unit.

Multidisciplinary review of teaching and assessing competency attainment by non-medical prescribers

Background Prescribing is a complex task, requiring specific knowledge and skills, and the execution of effective, context-specific clinical reasoning. Systematic reviews indicate medical prescribing errors have a median rate of 7% [IQR 2%-14%] of medication orders [1-3]. For podiatrists pursuing prescribing rights, a clear need exists to ensure practitioners develop a well-defined set of prescribing skills, which will contribute to competent, safe and appropriate practice. Aim To investigate the methods employed to teach and assess the principles of effective prescribing in the undergraduate podiatry program and compare and contrast these findings with four other non-medical professions who undertake prescribing after training at Queensland University of Technology. Method The NPS National Prescribing Competency Standards were employed as the prescribing standard. A curriculum mapping exercise was undertaken to determine whether the prescribing principles articulated in the competency standards were addressed by each profession. Results A range of methods are currently utilised to teach prescribing across disciplines. Application of prescribing competencies to the context of each profession appears to influence the teaching methods used. Most competencies were taught using a multimodal format, including interactive lectures, self-directed learning, tutorial sessions and clinical placement. In particular clinical training was identified as the most consistent form of educating safe prescribers across all five disciplines. Assessment of prescribing competency utilised multiple techniques including written and oral examinations and research tasks, case studies, objective structured clinical examination exercises and the assessment of clinical practice. Effective and reliable assessment of prescribing undertaken by students in diverse settings remains challenging e.g. that occurring in the clinical practice environment. Conclusion Recommendations were made to refine curricula and to promote efficient cross-discipline teaching by staff from the disciplines of podiatry, pharmacy, nurse practitioner, optometry and paramedic science. Students now experience a sophisticated level of multidisciplinary learning in the clinical setting which integrates the expertise and skills of experience prescribers combined with innovative information technology platforms (CCTV and live patient assessments). Further work is required to establish a practical, effective approach to the assessment of prescribing competence especially between the university and clinical settings.

Designing better on-farm research in Australia using a participatory workshop process

There are renewed calls for end-user participation and the integration of local knowledge in agricultural research. In Australia, the response has included an increased emphasis on participatory on-farm research with farmers and commercial agronomists that tests accepted principals to answer practical local farming questions. However, this pursuit of greater relevance has often led to compromises in research designs, unclear results and frustration amongst farmers, commercial agronomists and Research Development and Extension (RDE) agency researchers. This paper reports on a series of pre-season planning workshops from `Doing successful on-farm research', a workshop-based initiative that provides guidelines and a series of interactive activities to plan better participatory on-farm research. The workshop approach helps people design on-farm research that is appropriate to their own needs and local conditions. It assists them to clearly identify their issues, develop specific research questions and decide the best approach to answer those questions with the appropriate rigour for their own situations. These `Doing successful on-farm research' workshops address four potential deficiencies in on-farm research and farming systems RDE more generally in Australia: (1) variable participation of scientists and farmers in on-farm research; (2) the lack of clear guidelines for effective participatory practice and on-farm research; (3) limited support for on-farm research beyond the intensive investigations conducted by RDE agencies and (4) limited support for industry and farmers to contextualise information and research outcomes for specific individual circumstances and faster adaptation of technology. This may be a valuable contribution to balancing the demands for both relevance and rigour in on-farm research in Australia. In "Ground–breaking Stuff’- Proceedings of the 13th Australian Society of Agronomy Conference, 10-14 September 2006, Perth, Western Australia.

How Jung's concept of the wounded healer can guide learning and teaching in social work and human services

The concept of the “wounded healer” has been used to explain why those with adverse childhood histories often enter helping professions such as social work and human services (SWHS). Psychotherapist Carl Jung (1875–1961) believed wounded healers developed insight and resilience from their own experiences, enabling transformative interventions to occur with clients. Concerns exist that students with adverse childhood histories in SWHS may display unresolved emotional issues. This journal article explores how Jung’s interpretation of the wounded healer can be critically applied to understanding the learning needs of SWHS students with histories of abuse, neglect or other childhood adversity. The relevance of the wounded healer to SWHS education is explored in three key areas: - 1) the increased possibility of the occurrence of countertransference; - 2) the potential for vicarious traumatisation and burnout, and; - 3) personal and professional resilience displayed by SWHS students with a history of childhood adversity. The wounded healer metaphor allows for a more nuanced understanding of SWHS students with these histories. It also provides insight into the pedagogical considerations associated with teaching this student cohort.

Laughing with the lecturer: The use of humour in shaping university teaching

This paper addresses the ways in which humour is used by university academics to shape teaching personas. Based upon the work of Mauss and Foucault, and employing semi-structured, in-depth interviews with a range of university teachers, this research suggests that most tertiary teachers deliberately fashion various kinds of teaching persona, which they then perform in lectures and tutorials. The use of humour is widely seen as an important component within this form of self-shaping, as it fits within dominant frameworks of expectation regarding contemporary models of “edutainment”. This research demonstrates that a wide range of practices of the self—including physical, verbal, and relational elements—are employed by academics as part of shaping various humorous teaching personas. Some boundaries exist limiting the use of these pedagogic characters; for example, arguments about natural ability with humour prefigure who is most likely to deploy humour as a practice of professional self-formation. Also, professional concerns regarding seniority and job security are also factored into decision-making regarding those humorous personas likely to be considered appropriate within particular tertiary teaching contexts.

Parasta ennen : Tasa-arvotyön projektitapaistuminen

This book is a study of equality work, that is, the activities which have involved the promotion of gender equality in Finland. The study focuses on the period when the public sector has become more market-oriented, and business-oriented thinking has penetrated activities that have not traditionally emphasised profit-making. I have asked about the kind of power relations that have led to equality work in Finland. In addition to marketisation, publicly funded projects, especially by the European Union, have permeated the public sector. I have analysed the effects this turn has had on the aims and activities of equality work. Despite marketisation, equality work has remained for decades, and problems related to equality have also been recognised. The question of agency is a central focus of this study. I have analysed the kind of agency that has been offered and possible in equality work. With my previous “equality project career”, I have also participated in the formation of my research subject. This study also represents a description of a researcher taking on the responsibility for being involved in the formation of her own research subject. The study data includes national and EU-level political and governmental documents as well as articles and other publications related to equality issues. The data also includes documents from 99 publicly funded equality projects. Notable research data have been drawn from research interviews with 30 people who have been engaged in equality work in different parts of Finland and who have also worked in publicly funded equality projects. As a research method, I have combined Foucault’s discourse analysis and genealogical analysis as well as deconstructive reading. Political and governmental programmes have called for equality work, such as teaching, training, research and other political influencing in order to promote the political interests of the welfare state. Alliance with the state offers the opportunity to accomplish professionalism and continuity. Although equality work has not achieved similar legitimisation compared to other public sector professions. Equality work has fulfilled the interests of welfare state despite current trends towards marketisation. Publicly and budgetary funded equality work has evolved into business-oriented projects in a situation where the project itself has become a new governing mechanism for society. To analyse this trend, I have developed the concept of projectisation. The concept refers to a form of power that has directed discussions of equality in order to be heard. On the other hand, projectisation has contributed to the visibility of problems related to equality while maintaining heteronormativity and hierarchical order of societal differences, especially of gender, as well as harnessing equality for market use, thereby becoming somewhat useful and productive. Equality has been labelled as women’s work and being something that women do and continuity of the equality work has required a complex form of competence. The persistence of problems concerning equality as well as co-operation between women and the “discourse virtuosity ” of equality work has also opened up opportunities for situational change. Key words: Equality work, project, projectisation, genealogical method, discourse analysis, deconstructive reading, heteronormativity, agency, discourse virtuosity.

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.