Orals ain't orals : how instruction and assessment practices affect delivery choices with prepared student oral presentations.

Despite an ostensibly technology-driven society, the ability to communicate orally is still seen as an essential ability for students at school and university, as it is for graduates in the workplace. The need to develop effective oral communication skills is often tied to future work-related tasks. One tangible way that educators have assessed proficiency in this area is through prepared oral presentations. While some use the terms oral communication and oral presentation interchangeably, other writers question the role more formal presentations play in the overall development of oral communication skills. Adding to the discussion, this paper is part of a larger study examining the knowledge and skills students bring into the academy from previous educational experiences. The study examines some of the teaching and assessment methods used in secondary schools to develop oral communication skills through the use of formal oral presentations. Specifically, it will look at assessment models and how these are used as a form of instruction as well as how they contribute to an accurate evaluation of student abilities. The purpose of this paper is to explore key terms and identify tensions between expectations and practice. Placing the emphasis on the ‘oral’ aspect of this form of communication this paper will particularly look at the ‘delivery’ element of the process.

Career development and personal functioning differences between work-bound and non-work bound students

We surveyed 506 Australian high school students on career development (exploration, planning, job-knowledge, decision-making, indecision), personal functioning (well-being, self-esteem, life satisfaction, school satisfaction) and control variables (parents’ education, school achievement), and tested differences among work-bound, college-bound and university-bound students. The work-bound students had the poorest career development and personal functioning, the university-bound students the highest, with the college-bound students falling in-between the other two groups. Work-bound students did poorest, even after controlling for parental education and school achievement. The results suggest a relationship between career development and personal functioning in high school students.

An examination of the relationship between workload and fatigue within and across consecutive days of work: Is the relationshiop static or dynamic?

Cognitive-energetical theories of information processing were used to generate predictions regarding the relationship between workload and fatigue within and across consecutive days of work. Repeated measures were taken on board a naval vessel during a non-routine and a routine patrol. Data were analyzed using growth curve modeling. Fatigue demonstrated a non-monotonic relationship within days in both patrols – fatigue was high at midnight, started decreasing until noontime and then increased again. Fatigue increased across days towards the end of the non-routine patrol, but remained stable across days in the routine patrol. The relationship between workload and fatigue changed over consecutive days in the non-routine patrol. At the beginning of the patrol, low workload was associated with fatigue. At the end of the patrol, high workload was associated with fatigue. This relationship could not be tested in the routine patrol, however it demonstrated a non-monotonic relationship between workload and fatigue – low and high workloads were associated with the highest fatigue. These results suggest that the optimal level of workload can change over time and thus have implications for the management of fatigue.

A review of prostate-specific antigen screening prevalence and risk perceptions for first-degree relatives of men with prostate cancer

First-degree relatives of men with prostate cancer have a higher risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer than men without a family history. The present review examines the prevalence and predictors of testing in first-degree relatives, perceptions of risk, prostate cancer knowledge and psychological consequences of screening. Medline, PsycInfo and Cinahl databases were searched for articles examining risk perceptions or screening practices of first-degree relatives of men with prostate cancer for the period of 1990 to August 2007. Eighteen studies were eligible for inclusion. First-degree relatives participated in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing more and perceived their risk of prostate cancer to be higher than men without a family history. Family history factors (e.g. being an unaffected son rather than an unaffected brother) were consistent predictors of PSA testing. Studies were characterized by sampling biases and a lack of longitudinal assessments. Prospective, longitudinal assessments with well-validated and comprehensive measures are needed to identify factors that cue the uptake of screening and from this develop an evidence base for decision support. Men with a family history may benefit from targeted communication about the risks and benefits of prostate cancer testing that responds to the implications of their heightened risk.

Cutting edge web

The artwork describes web as a network environment and a space where people are connected and as a result, it can reshape you as an interactive participant who is able to regenerate an object as a new form through a truly collaborative and cooperative interactions with others. The artwork has been created based on the research findings of characteristic of web: 1) Participatory (Slater 2002, p.536), 2) Communicational (Rheingold 1993), 3) Connected (Jordan 1999, 80), and 4) Stylising (Jordan 1999, 69). The artwork has conceptualised and visualised those characteristics of web based on principles of graphic design and visual communication.

Perceptions of acculturation and social identity construction among three Taiwanese/Chinese migrants in Australia

In recent years, increasing numbers of Chinese migrants have come to Australia to study or to live. In doing so, they have entered a new cultural space. They are faced with many challenges, not only to do with study experience, workplace experience and life-style practices, but also to do with language, communication, culture and identity. Such new challenges can feel dangerous, unstable and uncomfortable as they require moves out of the safety zone of primary cultural experience. This qualitative research study investigates the perceptions and narratives of three Taiwanese-Australian migrants in terms of their experience of this process of acculturation and social identity construction as migrant tertiary students in the new Australian context and of their subsequent experience professionally. Their accounts of where they see themselves to have 'landed' in terms of their acculturation process and identity construction might provide relevant insights to the experience of hybridity which is intercultural Australia.