Using culture to manage the transition into university: Conceptualising the dynamics of withdrawal and engagement

This conceptual paper explored the purposes of using culture in the process of coping with stress by looking how first year undergraduate students used cultural elements and activities to aid their transition into university. Results supported two key conceptualisations of the use of culture. Firstly, results indicated that students used culture either for withdrawal purposes, i.e., for escaping from the stressful situation, or for engagement purposes, i.e., for actively engaging with the stressful situation. Secondly, the results suggested three different forms of using culture to engage with stressful situations: mood management, learning, and personal interaction. While the results of the study resonate with the distinction between avoidance versus approach-oriented coping strategies that are widely explored in the stress and coping literature, they also suggest that the relationship between withdrawal and engagement might be dynamic with those two strategies serving distinct purposes in the process of coping with stress. The paper thus suggests that there is a need to develop process-oriented models of coping that would allow identifying patterns in the way people fluctuate between withdrawal and engagement that support and facilitate their personal growth and development.

Local Commons: A visual approach to collective city making through situated community engagement

Due to the numerous possibilities of voicing concerns and the flood of data we are exposed to, local issues are sometimes at risk of being overlooked. This study explores Local Commons, a design intervention in public space that combines situated digital and tangible media in order to engage communities in contributing and debating different perspectives on a given local issue. The intervention invited the community to submit images of their perspectives on the issue, which were displayed on a public screen. Via tangible buttons in front of the screen, community members then agree or disagree on the displayed perspectives, creating a space for deliberation. In a user study, we were specifically interested in testing three aspects of our intervention, which are discussed in this paper: The difference that situatedness, visual content, and tangible interaction can make to urban community engagement.

Exploring links between pedagogical knowledge practices and student outcomes in STEM education for primary schools

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is an emerging initiative in Australia, particularly in primary schools. This qualitative research aimed to understand Year 4 students' involvement in an integrated STEM education unit that focused on science concepts (e.g., states of matter, testing properties of materials) and mathematics concepts (e.g., 3D shapes and metric measurements) for designing, making and testing a strong and safe medical kit to insulate medicines (ice cubes) at desirable temperatures. Data collection tools included student work samples, photographs, written responses from students and the teacher, and researcher notes. In a post-hoc analysis, a pedagogical knowledge practice framework (i.e., planning, timetabling, preparation, teaching strategies, content knowledge, problem solving, classroom management, questioning, implementation, assessment, and viewpoints) was used to explain links to student outcomes in STEM education. The study showed how pedagogical knowledge practices may be linked to student outcomes (knowledge, understanding, skill development, and values and attitudes) for a STEM education activity.

Continuity and change in family engagement in home learning activities across the early years

This research utilised data from The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children and explored continuity and change in parental engagement in home learning activities with young children. The findings indicated a decrease over time in parental engagement with children, from age to 2-3 years to 6-7 years. Rate of decrease impacted negatively on learning outcomes for language and literacy, and mathematical thinking, in the early years of school, when children were aged 6-7 years. Shared reading with children and interactions around everyday home activities and play, in which children and parents participate together, impact on children's later development.

A blended learning approach to the teaching of professional practice in architecture

This paper reports on a number of blended learning activities conducted in two subjects of a Master of Architecture degree at a major Australian university. The subjects were related to “professional practice” and as such represent a little researched area of architectural curriculum. The research provides some insight into the student perceptions of learning opportunity and engagement associated with on-line delivery modes. Students from these two subjects were surveyed for their perceptions about the opportunity for learning afforded by the on-line components, and also for their perceived level of engagement. Responses to these perceptions of traditional and on-line modes of delivery are compared and analysed for significant differences. While students were generally positive in response to the learning experiences, analysis of the results shows that students found the traditional modes to assist in their learning significantly more than on-line modes. Students were neutral regarding the opportunity for engagement that on-line modes provided. Analysis of the students’ gender, age and hours of paid work was also conducted to ascertain any relationship with attitudes to the flexibility of on-line delivery; no significant relationship was detected. This study has shown that students were generally resistant to on-line engagement opportunities and their ability to support learning.

DoGood : A gamified mobile app to promote civic engagement

The rise of the mobile Internet enables the creation of applications that provide new and easier ways for people to organise themselves, raise issues, take action and interact with their city. However, a lack of motivation or knowledge often prevents many citizens from regularly contributing to the common good. Therefore, this thesis presents DoGood, a smartphone app, that aims at motivating citizens to carry out civic activities. The thesis asks what kinds of activities citizens consider to be civic and to what extent gamification can motivate users in this context. The DoGood app uses gamified elements to encourage citizens to submit and promote their civic activities as well as to join the activities of others. Gamification is sometimes criticized for simply adding a limited number of game elements, such as leaderboards, on top of an existing experience. However, in the case of the DoGood app, the process of game design was an integral part of the development, and the gamified elements target the user’s intrinsic motivations instead of providing them with an external reward. DoGood was implemented as hybrid mobile app and deployed to citizens of Brisbane in a five weeks long user study. The app successfully motivated most of its users to do more civic activities and its gamified elements were well received. Based on the results of the user study, civic activities can be defined as activities that give citizens the opportunity to become involved and improve life in their local community.

Facebook: A basis for forming a peer learning community for nursing students in a bioscience unit

First year nursing students commonly find bioscience to be challenging. A Facebook community site was established to support and engage these students. The site was facilitated by virtual peer mentors and the unit coordinator. The high participation rate and the strong recommendation to future students indicated that the site successfully enabled student interaction and engagement with their learning. The students found it to be a readily accessible network and valued the useful resources and learning strategies provided by their peers. The sharing of both learning challenges and successful learning practices can help students build a sense of belonging and an understanding of academic practices and behaviours that can contribute to their learning success at university.

The peer leader capacity building model: A student learning journey

The benefits of peer leader experiences in building graduate skills and capabilities, is well documented and recognised in the higher education sector (Ender & Kay, 2001; Lindsey, Weiler, Zarich, Haddock, Krafchick, & Zimmerman, 2014; Shook & Keup, J., 2012). While benefits are acknowledged, responsibility for identifying, structuring and recording the learning experiences and learning outcomes is charged to the student. This poster describes a framework ‘The Peer Leader Capacity Building Model’ that purposefully structures the peer-leader’s learning journey providing: timely training, moments of critical reflection and goal setting. The model articulates the fundamental interplay of learning and peer leader service which forms the peer ‘learnership’. The journey begins with the ‘aspiration’ phase where students come to understand their leadership opportunities, progressing through ‘enabling’ and ‘mastering’ phases where students shape their learner-leader experience, and finally, to the ‘contributing graduate’ phase where students emerge as competent graduates able to confidently participate in their communities and workplaces. In shifting from a program centric approach that priorities the needs of the mentees, the Peer Leader Capacity Building Model focuses on the individual as a peer leader encouraging the student to shape their individual ‘learnscape’ through consciously navigating both their curricula and co-curricular learning experiences.

A student-centred approach to support, reward and recognition of student peer ‘learnership’

The benefits for university graduates in growing skills and capabilities through volunteering experiences are gaining increased attention. Building leadership self-efficacy supports students develop their capacity for understanding, articulating and evidencing their learning. Reward and recognition is fundamental in the student’s journey to build self-efficacy. Through this research, concepts of reward and recognition have been explored and articulated through the experiences and perceptions of actively engaged student peer leaders. The research methodology has enabled a collaborative, student-centred approach in shaping an innovative Rewards Framework, which supports, recognises and rewards the learning journey from beginning peer leader to competent and confident graduate.

Practices to enhance peer program implementation integrity to safeguard peer leaders and learners

The powerful influence of peers on fellow students’ learning engagement and their ability to foster self-efficacy is well recognised. A positive learner mindset can be fostered through establishment of guided meaningful relationships formed between peers. Recognising the value of peer connections in shaping the student learning experience, peer programs have been widely adopted by universities as a mechanism to facilitate these connections. While potentially beneficial, a lack of knowledge and inexperience by program implementers can lead to program outcomes being compromised. To mitigate this risk, QUT has established university wide systems and benchmarks for enacting peer programs. These measures aim to promote program implementation integrity by supporting and developing the knowledge and capabilities of peer leaders and program coordinators. This paper describes a range of measures that have been instigated to optimise the quality of programs and ensure outcomes are mutually constructive and beneficial for all stakeholders.

Democratic and participatory citizenship: Youth action for sustainability in Australia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of recent examples of action competence among young people engaged in democratic participatory action in sustainability programs in Australia. It explores examples of priorities identified for citizen action, the forms this action takes and the ways that democratic participation can achieve positive outcomes for future sustainability. It suggests multiple ways for developing action competence that provides further opportunities for authentic and engaging citizen action for youth connected to school- and community-based learning, in new and powerful ways. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper examines international literature on the theory of “action competence,” its significance for education for sustainability (EfS) and the ways it can inform education for young people’s democratic participatory citizenship and civic engagement. It analyses examples of the development of action competency among young people in Australia, including the problems and priorities identified for citizen action, the forms this action takes and how it can achieve positive outcomes for sustainability. Following this analysis, the paper suggests multiple ways for developing action competence in EfS in schools and communities in new and powerful ways. Findings – Developing EfS to increase democratic and participatory action among young citizens is now widely regarded as an urgent education priority. There are growing exemplars of school and community organizations’ involvement in developing EfS learning and teaching to increase participatory citizenship. Young people are being empowered to develop a greater sense of agency through involvement in programs that develop action competence with a focus on sustainability in and out of school. New forms of participation include student action teams and peer collaboration among youth who are marshaling social media and direction action to achieve change. Originality/value – It contributes to the literature on multiple ways for developing action competence in EfS.

Community engagement or community conversation?: Boomtown, a large-scale regional, outdoor community theatrical event

On the 18th of July 2013, three hundred local members of Gladstone, Queensland erupted into song and dance performing the fraught history of their community harbourside through tug boat ballets, taiko drumming, German bell ringing and BMX bike riding. Over 17,500 people attended the four performances of Boomtown, a Queensland Music Festival event. This was the largest regional, outdoor community-engaged musical performance staged in Australia. The narrative moved beyond the dominant, pejorative view of Gladstone as an industrial town to include the community members’ sense of purpose and aspirations. It was a celebratory, contentious and ambitious project that sought to disrupt the traditional conventions of performance-making through working in artistically democratic ways. This article explores the potential for Australian Community Engaged Arts (CEA) projects such as Boomtown to democratically engage community members and co-create culturally meaningful work within a community. Research into CEA projects rarely consider how the often delicate conversations between practitioners and the community work. The complex processes of finding and co-writing the narrative, casting, and rehearsing Boomtown are discussed with reference to artistic director/dramaturge Sean Mee’s innovative approaches. Boomtown began with and concluded with community conversations. Skilful negotiation ensured congruence between the townspeople’s stories and the “community story” presented on stage, abrogating potential problems of narrative ownership. To supplement the research, twenty-one personal interviews were undertaken with Gladstone community members invested in the production before, during and after the project: performers, audience members and local professionals. The stories shared and emphasised in the theatricalised story were based on propitious, meaningful, local stories from lived experiences rather than preconceived, trivial or tokenistic matters, and were underpinned by a consensus formed on what was in the best interests of the majority of community members. Boomtown exposed hidden issues in the community and gave voice to thoughts, feelings and concerns which triggered not just engagement, but honest conversation within the community.

Advance care planning in stroke: Influence of time on engagement in the process

Purpose Individuals who experience stroke have a higher likelihood of subsequent stroke events, making it imperative to plan for future medical care. In the event of a further serious health event, engaging in the process of advanced care planning (ACP) can help family members and health care professionals (HCPs) make medical decisions for individuals who have lost the capacity to do so. Few studies have explored the views and experiences of patients with stroke about discussing their wishes and preferences for future medical events, and the extent to which stroke HCPs engage in conversations around planning for such events. In this study, we sought to understand how the process of ACP unfolded between HCPs and patients post-stroke. Patients and methods Using grounded theory (GT) methodology, we engaged in direct observation of HCP and patient interactions on an acute stroke unit and two stroke rehabilitation units. Using semi-structured interviews, 14 patients and four HCPs were interviewed directly about the ACP process. Results We found that open and continual ACP conversations were not taking place, patients experienced an apparent lack of urgency to engage in ACP, and HCPs were uncomfortable initiating ACP conversations due to the sensitive nature of the topic. Conclusion In this study, we identified lack of engagement in ACP post-stroke, attributable to patient and HCP factors. This encourages us to look further into the process of ACP in order to develop open communication between the patient with stroke, their families, and stroke HCPs.

Students’ well-being and social connections

Description of Workshop/Poster Presentation This presentation will showcase CORE Connections – ‘Creating Opportunities for Resilience and Engagement’ – which is a whole-school approach to mental health promotion. While initially designed to prevent adolescent depression and substance abuse, current thinking suggests that competency enhancement (e.g., autonomy, competence, supportive networks) more widely improves students’ well-being, educational engagement, and learning outcomes. In the presentation, we will provide an overview of the CORE project, describe the CORE intervention, which is conceptualized as a dynamic and penetrating process of social practices, present some preliminary findings from the pilot phase of CORE, and conclude our presentation with an interactive section with the participants. This project will highlight a wellness focus that addresses social engagement within whole school cultures. Purpose of the Presentation Student mental and physical well-being has gained increasing attention. Our presentation will introduce the CORE project, which has a potential to decrease student depression, anxiety, and substance use, and to increase student self-esteem and learning outcomes. In this vein, our presentation will raise the public awareness of the salient role of social connection in student well-being. Specifically, a group of presenters will discuss the impact of social connection on students’ anxiety, mathematics achievement, and perceived racial discrimination. • We will present participants with an alternative way to conceptualize and approach mental health promotion within a school context. In contrast to prescribed programs that are commonly used in today’s schools, CORE is a whole-school approach that is flexibly integrated into all aspects of the classroom and school environment. Our aim is to illustrate the intervention principles of CORE while highlighting examples of mental health outcomes/transformation. • Underutilized in mental health promotion research, social network analysis provides critical information in understanding relationships between social cohesion (e.g., a student’s connectedness to others) and mental health outcomes. This session will showcase how focusing on and strengthening social connections in and out of school can contribute to student well-being, achievement, and mental health. Educational Objectives By the end of the presentation, participants will • obtain a general overview of the CORE program, • understand how psychological health and school performance relate to student well-being, • and understand how social connections in and out of school can contribute to student well-being. Interactive / Participatory Component We will invite audience members to discuss inhibitors and contributors to student well-being and the best ways for schools to help students feel safe, connected, and valued. Presentation Key Points • Overview of the CORE project • Theorization of social connection • Some empirical studies emerging from CORE • Presenter-audience interaction Evidence of Relevance and Utility to Participants Potential participants are adults with significant relationships with students, either as family members, community neighbors, educators, scholars, service providers, or policy makers. Our presentation will inspire these significant adults to construct a welcoming society to help improve student well-being.

From eyes high to Down Under

From eyes high to Michael Mu joined the University of Calgary in 2014 as part of the Eyes High Postdoctoral Scholar Competition. His research focus on inclusive education made him a natural fit at the Werklund School of Education, taking part in the CORE (Creating Opportunities for Resilience and Engagement) project, which aims to promote a whole-school system change so that every student and person in school can feel safe, connected, and valued. He has since moved on to a role as Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia. Mu spoke with the Postdoc Office about his experience as an Eyes High Scholar and the transition to his new role. Down Under