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SDG 4

References to e-texts in academic publications
12 April 2011
University of Sydney

Sukovic, Suzana

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore roles of electronic texts (e-texts) in research enquiry in literary and historical studies, and to deepen the understanding of the nature of scholars’ engagement with e-texts as primary materials. The study includes an investigation of references to e-texts and discussions about researchers’ citation practices in interviews. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative methodology was used to explore scholars’ interactions with e-texts in 30 research projects. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to examine citations and any other acknowledgments of e-texts in participants' prepublications and published works. In-depth semi-structured interviews provided data for findings about researchers’ citation practices. Findings – Formal acknowledgments of e-texts do not represent the depth and breadth of researchers’ interactions with e-texts. Assessments of the relevance and trustworthiness of e-texts, as well as considerations of disciplinary cultures, had some impact on researchers’ citation practices. Research limitations/implications – The study was based on in-depth data-gathering from a small group of participants. It does not have any statistical significance and the findings cannot be generalized, but comparisons with other scholars in literary and historical studies are possible. The study indicated a need for further investigation of changing academic practices in general and citation practices in particular. Practical implications – The findings have implications for the development of standards and institutional support for research in the humanities. Originality/value – The study provides new insights into the phenomenon of a very small number of citations of electronic sources in publications in the humanities, and considers issues related to citations from the perspective of changing academic cultures. Keywords - User studies, Information studies, Researchers, Humanities, Research Paper type - Research paper
The acquisition of conditioned responding
26 September 2011
University of Sydney

Harris, Justin A

This report analyzes the acquisition of conditioned responses in rats trained in a magazine approach paradigm. Following the suggestion by Gallistel, Fairhurst and Balsam (2004), Weibull functions were fitted to the trial-by-trial response rates of individual rats. These showed that the emergence of responding was often delayed, after which the response rate would increase relatively gradually across trials. The fit of the Weibull function to the behavioral data of each rat was equaled by that of a cumulative exponential function incorporating a response threshold. Thus the growth in conditioning strength on each trial can be modeled by the derivative of the exponential – a difference term of the form used in many models of associative learning (e.g., Rescorla & Wagner, 1972). Further analyses, comparing the acquisition of responding to a continuously reinforced stimulus (CRf) and a partially reinforced stimulus (PRf), provided further evidence in support of the difference term. In conclusion, the results are consistent with conventional models that describe learning as the growth of associative strength, incremented on each trial by an error-correction process.
Precious, pure, uncivilised, vulnerable: infant embodiment in the popular media
05 April 2012
University of Sydney

Lupton, Deborah

Despite recent interest in researching and theorising the sociocultural dimensions of human embodiment, the cultural representation of young children’s bodies, and particularly infants’ bodies, has received little academic attention. This article analyses some exemplary popular media texts and identifies four main discourses on infant embodiment: precious, pure, uncivilised and vulnerable. The discussion looks at intersections between these discourses, and in particular how concepts of ‘nature’ (both ‘good nature’ and ‘bad nature’), civility and Self and Otherness underpin them. The implications for how adults think about and treat infants, including the spaces and places which are deemed appropriate for infants to inhabit, are discussed. While, on the one hand, infants are positioned as the most valuable, important, pure and affectively appealing of humans, on the other hand they are represented as animalistic, uncontrolled, uncivil and overly demanding: indeed, as less than human. Infant bodies are viewed as appropriately inhabiting certain defined spaces: specifically the domestic sphere of the home. They represented as barely tolerated or even as excluded in the public sphere, positioned as it is as the space of ‘civilised’ adults.
Predicting adolescent breakfast consumption in the UK and Australia using an extended theory of planned behaviour
28 November 2012
University of Sydney

Mullan, Barbara A;Wong, Cara;Kothe, Emily Jane

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) with the addition of risk awareness could predict breakfast consumption in a sample of adolescents from the UK and Australia. It was hypothesised that the TPB variables of attitudes, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control (PBC) would significantly predict intentions, and that inclusion of risk perception would increase the proportion of variance explained. Secondly it was hypothesised that intention and PBC would predict behaviour. Participants were recruited from secondary schools in Australia and the UK. A total of 613 participants completed the study (448 females, 165 males; mean = 14 years ±1.1). The TPB predicted 42.2% of the variance in intentions to eat breakfast. All variables significantly predicted intention with PBC as the strongest component. The addition of risk made a small but significant contribution to the prediction of intention. Together intention and PBC predicted 57.8% of the variance in breakfast consumption.
The benefits of peer observation of teaching for tutor development
07 June 2013
University of Sydney

Bell, Amani;Mladenovic, Rosina

Peer observation partnerships can help teachers improve their teaching practice, transform their educational perspectives and develop collegiality (Bell 2005). This paper describes the peer observation model used in the tutor development program in the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Sydney, and reports on the effectiveness of this exercise using quantitative and qualitative data from five sources. Results from 32 peer observations reveal both the common strengths and the areas in which tutors need to develop their teaching practice. Ninety four percent of participants found the exercise valuable and 88% said that they would change their teaching as a result of the exercise. This model can be applied in academic development programs in any discipline and suggestions for augmentation and improvement are provided.
Issues affecting therapist workforce and service delivery in the disability sector in rural and remote New South Wales, Australia: perspectives of policymakers, managers and senior therapists
13 June 2013
University of Sydney

Veitch, Craig;Dew, Angela;Bulkeley, Kim;Lincoln, Michelle;Bundy, Anita;Gallego, Gisselle;Griffiths, Scott

Introduction: The disability sector encompasses a broad range of conditions and needs, including children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, people with acquired disabilities, and irreversible physical injuries. Allied health professionals (therapists), in the disability sector, work within government and funded or charitable non-government agencies, schools, communities, and private practice. This article reports the findings of a qualitative study of therapist workforce and service delivery in the disability sector in rural and remote New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The aim was to investigate issues of importance to policy-makers, managers and therapists providing services to people with disabilities in rural and remote areas. Methods: The project gathered information via semi-structured interviews with individuals and small groups. Head office and regional office policy-makers, along with managers and senior therapists in western NSW were invited to participate. Participants included 12 policy-makers, 28 managers and 10 senior therapists from NSW government agencies and non-government organisations (NGOs) involved in providing services and support to people with disabilities in the region. Information was synthesised prior to using constant comparative analysis within and across data sets to identify issues.Results: Five broad themes resonated across participants’ roles, locations and service settings: (1) challenges to implementing policy in rural and remote NSW; (2) the impact of geographic distribution of workforce and clients; (3) workforce issues - recruitment, support, workloads, retention; (4) equity and access issues for rural clients; and (5) the important role of the NGO sector in rural service delivery and support. Conclusions: Although commitment to providing best practice services was universal, policy-related information transfer between organisations and employees was inconsistent. Participants raised some workforce and service delivery issues that are similar to those reported in the rural health literature but rarely in the context of allied health and disability services. Relatively recent innovations such as therapy assistants, information technology, and trans-disciplinary approaches, were raised as important service delivery considerations within the region. These and other innovations were expected to extend the coverage provided by therapists. Nongovernment organisations played a significant role in service delivery and support in the region. Participants recognised the need for therapists working for different organisations, in rural areas, to collaborate both in terms of peer support and service delivery to clients.
Exploring tutors’ conceptions of excellent tutoring
10 July 2013
University of Sydney

Bell, Amani

With high numbers of new casual tutors in the Faculty of Economics and Business each semester, a program that addresses tutors’ preparation for teaching is essential. The tutor development program described here is underpinned by a ‘communities of practice’ model (Wenger 2000), where tutors engage in activities in order to share and develop their experiences of teaching. This paper discusses one such activity that was used in the early stages of the program to support the development of a shared repertoire about excellent tutoring. Tutors individually identified the characteristics of excellent tutoring and these were then grouped and discussed. The categories of comments addressed many of the recognised principles of excellent teaching, with student-centred aspects at the fore. The exploratory exercise highlights the importance of informal knowledge, and the role of reflective exercises in bringing forth that knowledge.
Referencing as evidence of student scholarliness and academic readiness
10 July 2013
University of Sydney

Ellis, Robert;Freeman, Mark;Bell, Amani

This exploratory study investigates the student experience of referencing a law essay in a first-year undergraduate business degree. Over two hundred students took part in the study which identifies qualitatively different ways of thinking about, and approaching, referencing in essay. Variations in the student experience of referencing are logically and positively related to academic achievement. The study provides a rich description of the variations which have implications for teachers who seek to improve how teachers teach, and how students understand, the importance of referencing as evidence of the scholarly nature of student learning.
Building Community In Academic Settings: The Importance Of Flexibility In A Structured Mentoring Program
10 July 2013
University of Sydney

Ewing, Robyn;Freeman, Mark;Barrie, Simon;Bell, Amani;O'Connor, D;Waugh, F;Sykes, Chris

Academic mentoring is increasingly being used by many universities as a tool to enhance the quality of research-led teaching, promote cross-faculty collaboration and encourage a mentoring culture and community. This article reports on a pilot project established to investigate the benefits of building flexibility into a structured academic mentoring program at the University of Sydney. Twenty-six academics from the Faculty of Business and Economics and the Faculty of Education and Social Work participated in the program. The mentors ranged in position from Lecturer to Professor and the mentees from Associate Lecturer to Senior Lecturer. Flexible arrangements were shown to be important in a variety of ways, from the pairing of mentor with mentee, to focussing on issues of work survival and life balance, research outcomes and career advancement. The project highlighted the lower number of male academics involved in formal mentoring, which merits further exploration. All participants reported positive outcomes, although refinement of the pairing process was recommended. A variety of unanticipated outcomes was reported by mentees.
Supporting the reflective practice of tutors: what do tutors reflect on?
10 July 2013
University of Sydney

Bell, Amani;Mladenovic, Rosina;Segara, R

Effective self-reflection is a key component of excellent teaching. We describe the types of self-reflection identified in tutors’ reflective statements following a peer observation of teaching exercise. We used an adapted version of the categories developed by Grushka et al. (2005) to code text from 20 written statements as technical (26% of comments), practical (36% of comments) and critical (33% of comments). Tutors also wrote about the affective aspects of the exercise and the majority of such comments were positive. Most tutors reflected in a holistic way about their teaching, noting the importance of getting the technical aspects right while also being concerned about pedagogical matters and issues beyond the classroom. The exercise was an effective way to prompt tutors to reflect on their teaching and helped tutors articulate and formalise their learning from the peer observation activity. Suggestions for further exploration of the reflective practice of tutors are provided.
The coaching ripple effect: The effects of developmental coaching on wellbeing across organisational networks
18 September 2013
University of Sydney

O'Connor, Sean;Cavanagh, Michael

Background It has been argued that the quality of daily interactions within organisations effects the wellbeing of both individuals and the broader organisation. Coaching for leadership development is one intervention often used to create organisation-wide changes in culture and wellbeing. Leadership style has been associated with employee stress and wellbeing. Coaching has also been shown to improve individual level measures of wellbeing. However, almost all the research into the effectiveness of coaching interventions assumes a linear model of change, and expects that any flow-on effects are also linear. In other words, much of the research assumed that any change in the leader has relatively uniform effects on the wellbeing of others, and that these effects can be adequately accessed via standard linear statistical analyses. We argue that linear approaches do not take the complexity of organisations seriously, and that Complex Adaptive Systems theory (CAS) provides a useful non-linear approach to thinking about organisational change and the wellbeing of individuals embedded in these systems. The relatively new methodology of Social Network Analysis (SNA) provides researchers with analytic tools designed to access the relational components of complex systems. This paper reports on changes observed in the relational networks of an organisation following a leadership coaching intervention. Methods An AB design coaching intervention study was conducted across an organisation (N = 225). Wellbeing measures were taken for all employees and a social network analysis was conducted on the degree and quality of all organisational interactions. Twenty leaders (n = 20) received 8 coaching sessions. Individual self report measures of goal attainment as well as 360 feedbacks on transformational leadership were assessed in the control, pre and post intervention periods. Results A significant increase in the goal attainment, transformational leadership and psychological wellbeing measures were observed for those who received coaching. Average change in the perceived quality of interaction improved for those who received coaching. However there was a decline in the perceived quality of the interaction others believed they were having with those who were coached. It was also found that the closer any member of the network was identified as being connected to those who received coaching, the more likely they were to experience positive increases in wellbeing. Conclusions This research highlights the influence of leadership coaching beyond the individual leader, and has important implications for organisational wellbeing initiatives and how we measure the impact of interventions aimed at organisational change. Our findings suggest a more nuanced approach is needed in designing interventions in complex adaptive systems.
Increasing diversity at the cost of decreasing equity? Issues raised by the establishment of Australia's first religiously affiliated medical school,
29 July 2014
University of Sydney

Kerridge, I;Ankeny, R;Jordens, C;Lipworth, W

Medical education in Australia is about to undergo major changes, with the founding of six new medical schools, including the first private medical school and the first religiously affiliated medical school in Australia. The establishment of medical schools at Bond University on the Gold Coast, Queensland, and the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle, Western Australia, are particularly noteworthy developments. A recent article in the Journal claimed the new medical schools will foster diversity and are commited to fill “particular workforce needs”. 1 We argue that increasing the range of options for medical education is not an unquestionable good, as it may threaten academic freedom and equity in medical education as well as just provision of health care. This article aims to stimulate awareness, conversation and debate on these issues, not only within the medical community but in the wider Australian community.
THE DUAL NATURE OF ENCULTURATION IN POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL TRAINING AND PRACTICE
18 August 2014
University of Sydney

Gordon, J;Markham, P;Lipworth, W;Kerridge, I;Little, M

Context: Enculturation is a normal and continuing part of human development. This study examined how medical graduates perceive the process of enculturation after graduation. Study: In a qualitative study of the values of medical graduates associated with the Sydney Medical School, we identified two processes that contributed to the ongoing process of enculturation. Participants were aware of having passively absorbed the explicit and implicit culture of medicine, and of having actively sought to assimilate (or avoid assimilating) the medical culture. The processes of enculturation were particularly evident in relation to three major concerns: competence, patient-centredness and self-care. Conclusion: The participants in our study demonstrated the capacity to reflect on and differentiate between two types of enculturation, absorption and assimilation. They were aware of the impact of enculturation with respect to three main sets of values - epistemic, interpersonal and personal. Faculty development programs could benefit from paying explicit attention to the process of enculturation and its influence on learning and practice. Keywords: Enculturation; medical education; hidden curriculum; mentors
The validity of a behavioural multiple-mini-interview within an assessment centre for selection into specialty training
19 August 2014
University of Sydney

Roberts, Chris;Clark, Tyler;Burgess, Annette;Frommer, Michael;Grant, Marcia;Mossman, Karyn

Background Entry into specialty training was determined by a National Assessment Centre (NAC) approach using a combination of a behavioural Multiple-Mini-Interview (MMI) and a written Situational Judgement Test (SJT). We wanted to know if interviewers could make reliable and valid decisions about the non-cognitive characteristics of candidates with the purpose of selecting them into general practice specialty training using the MMI. Second, we explored the concurrent validity of the MMI with the SJT. Methods A variance components analysis estimated the reliability and sources of measurement error. Further modelling estimated the optimal configurations for future MMI iterations. We calculated the relationship of the MMI with the SJT. Results Data were available from 1382 candidates, 254 interviewers, six MMI questions, five alternate forms of a 50-item SJT, and 11 assessment centres. For a single MMI question and one assessor, 28% of the variance between scores was due to candidate-to-candidate variation. Interviewer subjectivity, in particular the varying views that interviewer had for particular candidates accounted for 40% of the variance in scores. The generalisability co-efficient for a six question MMI was 0.7; to achieve 0.8 would require ten questions. A disattenuated correlation with the SJT (r = 0.35), and in particular a raw score correlation with the subdomain related to clinical knowledge (r = 0.25) demonstrated evidence for construct and concurrent validity. Less than two per cent of candidates would have failed the MMI. Conclusion The MMI is a moderately reliable method of assessment in the context of a National Assessment Centre approach. The largest source of error relates to aspects of interviewer subjectivity, suggesting enhanced interviewer training would be beneficial. MMIs need to be sufficiently long for precise comparison for ranking purposes. In order to justify long term sustainable use of the MMI in a postgraduate assessment centre approach, more theoretical work is required to understand how written and performance based test of non-cognitive attributes can be combined, in a way that achieves acceptable generalizability, and has validity.
Sampling Social Experiences in School: Feasibility of Experience Sampling Methodology on an iPlatform
20 August 2014
University of Sydney

Jessup, Glenda M;Bundy, Anita C;Broom, Alex;Hancock, Nicola

This paper reports on a pilot study testing the feasibility of an app as a survey tool for exploring the social experiences of high school students who are vision impaired. The Participation in Everyday Life Survey app was designed for use with the Experience Sampling Method. This method uses in-the-moment surveys to understand individuals’ experiences of everyday activities and situations. Pilot testing shows the app to be usable and accessible for people with vision impairments and high school students who are sighted but who have other disabilities. This pilot study has also shown that the Experience Sampling Method has the potential to provide useful insights into the social experiences of high school students who are vision impaired.
The fallacy of the bolted horse: changing our thinking about mature-age Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students
06 February 2015
University of Sydney

Plater, S;Mooney-Somers, Julie;Lander, J

The aim of this paper is to critically review and analyse the public representations of mature-age university students in developed and some developing nations and how they compare to the public representations of mature-age Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students in Australia (‘students’ also refers to graduates unless the context requires specificity). Relevant texts were identified by reviewing education-related academic and policy literature, media opinion and reportage pieces, conference proceedings, and private sector and higher education reviews, reports and submissions. What this review reveals is striking: very few commentators are publicly and unambiguously encouraging, supporting and celebrating mature-age Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students. This strongly contrasts with the discussions around mature-age university students in general, where continuous or lifelong learning is acclaimed and endorsed, particularly as our populations grow older and remain healthier and there are relatively lower numbers of working-age people. While scholars, social commentators, bureaucrats and politicians enthusiastically highlight the intrinsic and extrinsic value of the mature-age student’s social and economic contributions, the overarching narrative of the mature-age Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student is one of ‘the horse has bolted’, meaning that it is too late for this cohort and therefore society to benefit from their university education. In this paper we examine these conflicting positions, investigate why this dichotomy exists, present an alternative view for consideration and make recommendations for further research into this area.
‘For the Life of Me, I Can't See Why Those Students were Let Go on So Long’: Educating the Educators, Aboriginal and Torres Strait IslanderStyle. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education
09 February 2015
University of Sydney

Plater, S

In 2008, almost 40% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students enrolled in the Graduate Diploma in Indigenous Health Promotion at The University of Sydney failed to complete the course. Although this was not considered unusual when compared to previous years, the decision was made to investigate why so many students struggled to meet the expectations of a course that was pedagologically progressive, culturally affirming, taught by highly regarded academics and strongly supported by the University and its stakeholders. A qualitative study using in-depth semi-structured interviews was conducted and many complex and interrelated issues were explored. One issue that was raised both unexpectedly and emphatically by almost half the study participants who completed the course was the unintentional stifling of individual student effort and achievement through the development of co-dependent relationships between academic staff and students. This paper presents the data relevant to this particular issue, reflects on the findings, and outlines some of the strategies implemented since this study commenced that have contributed to a healthy completion rate of 98% over the past three years.
Parents with Intellectual Disability in a Population Context
09 July 2015
University of Sydney

Llewellyn, Gwynnyth;Hindmarsh, Gabrielle

Parenting by people with intellectual disability continues to confront societal sensibilities. On the one hand, parents with intellectual disability engage in the valued social role of raising children; on the other, their parenting attracts (typically negative) attention based on an expectation of their limited capacities to parent. The literature primarily addresses the question of whether or not parents with intellectual disability can be adequate parents or reports on methods for improving their parenting skills. An emerging trend in the literature over the last decade takes a different perspective. Rather than concentrating exclusively on parents with intellectual disability, this perspective focuses on their parenting situation compared to that of other parents more generally. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge about parents and parenting with intellectual disability in this broader population context. The focus of the paper is on the use of larger scale datasets to understand the situation of parents with intellectual disability compared with other parents and to examine the contextual variables that influence their parenting.
Electronic portfolios and learner identity: an ePortfolio case study in music and writing
14 August 2015
University of Sydney

Bennett, Dawn;Rowley, Jennifer;Dunbar-Hall, Peter;Hitchcock, Matthew;Blom, Diana

Although the employability of graduates is of concern across further and higher education it is particularly problematic in the arts disciplines, from which few students transition to a traditional, full-time position. Arts graduates shape their work to meet personal and professional needs, and the successful negotiation of this type of career requires a strong sense of identity and an awareness of diverse opportunities. The challenge for educators is how we might develop these capacities whilst being mindful of students’ dreams, which are often focused on artistic excellence and recognition. This paper reports findings from a collaborative study undertaken at four Australian universities. With a focus on developing an electronic portfolio (eP), the study involved students in classical and contemporary music, music education, music technology, creative writing and professional writing. The combination of music and writing provided points of comparison to identify issues specific to music, and those that might apply more generally. This paper reports findings related to learner identity, drawing evidence from survey and interview data. The study, which was driven by the learning process rather than the technological tool, revealed that students’ use of eP transitions from archive to self-portrait. Moreover, the eP emerged as a vehicle through which identity is negotiated and constructed. Indeed, the process of developing of an eP prompted students to adopt future-oriented thinking as they began to redefine their learning in relation to their future lives and careers. These findings were common to all students, regardless of discipline or technological platform.
The e-portfolio continuum: Discovering variables for e-portfolio adoption within music education
28 June 2016
University of Sydney

Taylor, John;Dunbar-Hall, Peter;Rowley, Jennifer

This article presents the results of audit data compiled from a case study introducing e-portfolios into a Music Education degree program, and highlights the key challenges faced from the initial stages of student use to curricular embedding and student adoption. This article discusses the technological, social and educational impacts inherent in a student’s adoption of e-portfolios within a degree program, and critically, shows how training for e-portfolio use must manage these complex,interrelated imbalances on an individual student basis.
Improving professional learning and teaching through the development of a quality process
28 June 2016
University of Sydney

Rowley, Jennifer;Scanlon, Lesley;Laing, Lesley;Smith, Lorraine;Treleaven, Lesley

Investigation of graduate attributes (GAs) and professional standards (PSs) within faculty curriculum development are rare, despite university importance. Examining learning objectives and assessment with PSs and accreditation, this project sought learning and teaching improvements through developing a cross discipline quality assurance process, aligning learning and assessment with PSs and GAs. This paper describes the results of interviews with those responsible for teaching and learning in four faculties at an Australian University. The results indicate that curriculum developers are often unable to align the GAs and PSs that creates challenges for an assurance of students’ learning.
Music and visual arts service learning in Sydney schools: school and university partnerships to widen participation in higher education
28 June 2016
University of Sydney

Rowley, Jennifer

This paper presents findings on university students’ perceptions of an undergraduate service learning unit of study designed to engage university and school students in collaborative music and drawing workshops in six primary and high schools in Sydney, Australia. It is based on a two-year project in an Australian university in 2012 and 2013 that offered first year university music and visual arts students the opportunity to partner with identified low socio economic schools (LSES) in Sydney. As each of the schools involved in this project has different types of music and visual arts programs, and different policies and uses for service learning work, ways that engaging in the partnership differs between them. To explain this, the perceptions of the university music and art students working with each of the schools are reported and are derived from survey and focus group interviews (n=35). In addition, school and university staff members’ comments (n=9) on their perceptions of the university students’ response to the workshops conducted in the schools is reported. No school students were interviewed or surveyed in this project’s investigation. The results of this mixed-method exploratory study indicate benefit to university students’ understanding of widening participation and the justification of service learning programs in university undergraduate degree programs as part of their learning.
Enjoyment of eLearning Among Teacher Education Students in Australia
28 June 2016
University of Sydney

Rowley, Jennifer;O'Dea, Jennifer

The major research question for this study was –“How do students perceive the enhancement of their own learning through use of eLearning?” The study investigated student teacher’s enjoyment and perceptions of eLearning and how it is enhanced by their use of various eLearning activities – particularly the discussion board. Participants were undergraduate teacher education students who were undertaking a course at the University of Sydney, Australia. Methods included a qualitative examination using focus groups, open-ended written answers and a thematic content analysis of focus group transcripts to investigate how students perceived their learning to be enhanced. Twelve major themes identified how eLearning enhanced perceived student learning. The results revealed that eLearning was found to: facilitate broader and deeper learning; provide a resource management and organisation system; allow 24 hour access and flexibility; facilitate interaction and communication with peers; enable students to work and learn at their own pace; provide a place for students to find advice, tips and assistance; and provide a site for anonymous study-related and social interaction. Positive comments related to the stimulation of thought, discussion, debate and interaction via online discussion boards. Students identified learning from other students’ differing opinions, being enabled to more deeply contextualize and further analyse helped them to develop an understanding of the content material being covered.
Ethnicity or cultural group identity of pregnant women in Sydney, Australia: is country of birth a reliable proxy measure?
28 July 2016
University of Sydney

Porter, Maree;Todd, Angela L.;Zhang, Lillian Y.

Background: Australia has one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse maternal populations in the world. Routinely few variables are recorded in clinical data or health research to capture this diversity. This paper explores and how pregnant women, Australian-born and overseas-born, respond to survey questions on ethnicity or a cultural group identity, and whether country of birth is a reliable proxy measure. Methods: Frequency tabulations and inductive qualitative analysis of data from two questions on country of birth, and identification with an ethnicity or cultural group from a larger survey of pregnant women attending public antenatal clinics across four hospitals in Sydney, Australia. Results: Responses varied widely among the 762 with 75 individual cultural groups or ethnicities and 68 countries of birth reported. For Australian-born women (n=293), 23% identified with a cultural group or ethnicity, and 77% did not. For overseas-born women (n=469), 44% identified with a cultural group or ethnicity and 56% did not. Responses were coded under five emerging themes. Conclusions: Ethnicity and cultural group identity are complex concepts; women across and within countries of birth identified differently. Over three quarters of Australian-born, and over half of over-seas born women, reported no ethnicity or cultural group identity, indicating country of birth is not a reliable measure for identifying diversity. Researchers should scrutinise research questions and data usage, policy makers consider the complexity of ethnicity or cultural group identity, and the limitations of a single variable measure to identify ethnically and culturally diverse pregnant women and deliver woman-centred care.
Observations on a Case Study of Song Transmission and Preservation in Two Aboriginal Communities: Dilemmas of a 'Neo-colonialist' in the Field
07 November 2016
University of Sydney

Marsh, Kathryn

Within a western tradition of music education research there is an expectation that a research project will have focussed aims, regardless of the research paradigm from which it emanates. This paper discusses the dilemma of a researcher when confronted with a disparity between her carefully formulated research aims and the needs of the communities within which her research project was implemented. These issues are discussed in relation to the initial stages of a research project which is investigating the music, movement and language characteristics, cross-cultural transmission and effects of the media on the musical play of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in two small towns in central Australia.
Multiple stakeholder perspectives on teletherapy delivery of speech pathology services in rural schools: a preliminary qualitative investigation
08 February 2017
University of Sydney

Lincoln, Michelle;Hines, Monique;Fairweather, Craig;Ramsden, Robyn;Martinovich, Julia

The objective of this study was to investigate stakeholders’ views on the feasibility and acceptability of a pilot speech pathology teletherapy program for children attending schools in rural New South Wales, Australia. Nine children received speech pathology sessions delivered via Adobe Connect® web-conferencing software. During semi-structured interviews, school principals (n = 3), therapy facilitators (n = 7), and parents (n = 6) described factors that promoted or threatened the program’s feasibility and acceptability. Themes were categorized according to whether they related to (a) the use of technology; (b) the school-based nature of the program; or (c) the combination of using technology with a school-based program. Despite frequent reports of difficulties with technology, teletherapy delivery of speech pathology services in schools was highly acceptable to stakeholders. However, the use of technology within a school environment increased the complexities of service delivery. Service providers should pay careful attention to planning processes and lines of communication in order to promote efficiency and acceptability of teletherapy programs.
Boosting the recruitment and retention of new graduate speech-language pathologists for the disability workforce
06 March 2017
University of Sydney

Hines, Monique;Lincoln, Michelle

New graduate speech-language pathologists (SLPs) will play an integral role in meeting the anticipated growth in demand for a highly skilled disability workforce under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Despite the promise of the NDIS for making a real difference to the lives of people living with disability in Australia, implementation will have major implications for factors known to support new graduate recruitment and retention in the disability sector. In this article, we consider how the NDIS is likely to affect (a) clinical placements in disability while at university, and (b) access to clinical supervision and continuing professional development (CPD) in the workplace, and propose strategies to address these challenges.
Assessing the public acceptability of proposed policy interventions to reduce the misuse of antibiotics in Australia: A report on two community juries
05 July 2017
University of Sydney

Degeling, C;Johnson, J;Iredell, J;Nguyen, KA;Norris, J;Turnidge, J;Dawson, A;Carter, SM;Gilbert, GL

Objective To elicit the views of well-informed community members on the acceptability of proposed policy interventions designed to improve community use of antibiotics in Australia. Design Two community juries held in 2016. Setting and participants Western Sydney and Dubbo communities in NSW, Australia. Twenty-nine participants of diverse social and cultural backgrounds, mixed genders and ages recruited via public advertising: one jury was drawn from a large metropolitan setting; the other from a regional/rural setting. Main outcome measure Jury verdict and rationale in response to a prioritization task and structured questions. Results Both juries concluded that potential policy interventions to curb antibiotic misuse in the community should be directed towards: (i) ensuring that the public and prescribers were better educated about the dangers of antibiotic resistance; (ii) making community-based human and animal health-care practitioners accountable for their prescribing decisions. Patient-centred approaches such as delayed prescribing were seen as less acceptable than prescriber-centred approaches; both juries completely rejected any proposal to decrease consumer demand by increasing antibiotic prices. Conclusion These informed citizens acknowledged the importance of raising public awareness of the risks, impacts and costs of antibiotic resistance and placed a high priority on increasing social and professional accountability through restrictive measures. Their overarching aim was that policy interventions should be directed towards creating collective actions and broad social support for changing antibiotic use through establishing and explaining the need for mechanisms to control and support better prescribing by practitioners, while not transferring the burdens, costs and risks of interventions to consumers.
Postnatal care utilization by Vietnamese women
20 July 2017
University of Sydney

Trinh, Anh T.;Nippita, Tanya A.;Dien, Trang N.;Roberts, Christine L.

Only 70% of Vietnamese attend any postnatal health care and this is primarily for infant immunization.
Travel Cost and Dropout from Secondary Schools in Nepal
30 May 2018
University of Sydney

Sharma, Sabal;Levinson, David

The study relates the association between travel time to the lower secondary and secondary public schools of Nepal and the dropout grade before leaving secondary school using an ordered logit model. It is shown that as the travel time to the school increases, students are more likely to dropout from the school system in earlier grades. The results from this study will be useful to policymakers, especially from developing countries, as it places transport in the context of education.
Is semantic preview benefit due to relatedness or plausibility?
14 February 2019
University of Sydney

Veldre, Aaron;Andrews, Sally

There is increasing evidence that skilled readers of English benefit from processing a parafoveal preview of a semantically related word. However, in previous investigations of semantic preview benefit using the gaze-contingent boundary paradigm the semantic relatedness between the preview and target has been confounded with the plausibility of the preview word in the sentence. In the present study, preview relatedness and plausibility were independently manipulated in neutral sentences read by a large sample of skilled adult readers. Participants were assessed on measures of reading and spelling ability to identify possible sources of individual differences in preview effects. The results showed that readers benefited from a preview of a plausible word, regardless of the semantic relatedness of the preview and the target. However, there was limited evidence of a semantic relatedness benefit when the plausibility of the preview was controlled. The plausibility preview benefit was strongest for low proficiency readers, suggesting that poorer readers were more likely to program a forward saccade based on information extracted from the preview. High proficiency readers showed equivalent disruption from all non-identical previews suggesting that they were more likely to suffer interference from the orthographic mismatch between preview and target.
Spelling ability selectively predicts the magnitude of disruption in unspaced text reading
14 February 2019
University of Sydney

Veldre, Aaron;Drieghe, Denis;Andrews, Sally

We examined the effect of individual differences in written language proficiency on unspaced text reading in a large sample of skilled adult readers who were assessed on reading comprehension and spelling ability. Participants’ eye movements were recorded as they read sentences containing a low or high frequency target word, presented with standard interword spacing, or in one of three unsegmented text conditions that either preserved or eliminated word boundary information. The average data replicated previous studies: unspaced text reading was associated with increased fixation durations, a higher number of fixations, more regressions, reduced saccade length, and an inflation of the word frequency effect. The individual differences results provided insight into the mechanisms contributing to these effects. Higher reading ability was associated with greater overall reading speed and fluency in all conditions. In contrast, spelling ability selectively modulated the effect of interword spacing with poorer spelling ability predicting greater difficulty across the majority of sentence- and word-level measures. These results suggest that high quality lexical representations allowed better spellers to extract lexical units from unfamiliar text forms, inoculating them against the disruptive effects of being deprived of spacing information.
Semantic preview benefit in English: Individual differences in the extraction and use of parafoveal semantic information
14 February 2019
University of Sydney

Veldre, Aaron;Andrews, Sally

While there is robust evidence that skilled readers of English extract and use orthographic and phonological information from the parafovea to facilitate word identification, semantic preview benefits are more elusive. We sought to establish whether individual differences in the extraction and/or use of parafoveal semantic information could account for this discrepancy. Ninety-nine adult readers were assessed on measures of reading and spelling ability and read sentences while their eye movements were recorded. The gaze-contingent boundary paradigm was used to manipulate the availability of relevant semantic and orthographic information in the parafovea. On average, readers showed a benefit from previews high in semantic feature overlap with the target. However reading and spelling ability yielded opposite effects on semantic preview benefit. High reading ability was associated with a semantic preview benefit that was equivalent to an identical preview on first-pass reading. High spelling ability was associated with a reduced semantic preview benefit despite an overall higher rate of skipping. These results suggest that differences in the magnitude of semantic preview benefits in English reflect constraints on extracting semantic information from the parafovea and competition between the orthographic features of the preview and target.
Individual differences in automatic semantic priming
14 February 2019
University of Sydney

Andrews, Sally;Lo, Steson;Xia, Violet

This research investigated whether automatic semantic priming is modulated by individual differences in lexical proficiency. A sample of 89 skilled readers, assessed on reading comprehension, vocabulary and spelling ability, were tested in a semantic categorisation task that required classification of words as animals or non-animals. Target words were preceded by brief (50 ms) masked semantic primes that were either congruent or incongruent with the category of the target. Congruent primes were also selected to be either high (e.g., hawk EAGLE, pistol RIFLE) or low (e.g., mole EAGLE, boots RIFLE) in feature overlap with the target. ‘Overall proficiency’, indexed by high performance on both a ‘semantic composite’ measure of reading comprehension and vocabulary and a ‘spelling composite’, predicted stronger congruence priming from both high and low feature overlap primes for animal exemplars, but only predicted priming from low overlap primes for non-exemplars. Classification of high frequency non-exemplars was also significantly modulated by an independent ‘spelling-meaning’ factor, indexed by differences between the semantic and spelling composites, which appeared to tap sensitivity to semantic relative to orthographic feature overlap between the prime and target. These findings show that higher lexical proficiency predicts stronger automatic semantic priming and suggest that individual differences in lexical quality modulate the division of labor between orthographic and semantic processing in early lexical retrieval.
Australian children with cleft palate achieve age-appropriate speech by 5 years of age
16 April 2019
University of Sydney

Chacon, Antonia;Parkin, Melissa;Broome, Kate;Purcell, Alison

Introduction: Children with cleft palate demonstrate atypical speech sound development, which can influence their intelligibility, literacy and learning. There is limited documentation regarding how speech sound errors change over time in cleft palate speech and the effect that these errors have upon mono versus polysyllabic word production. The objective of this study was to examine the phonetic and phonological speech skills of children with cleft palate at ages 3 and 5. Methods: A cross-sectional observational design was used. Eligible participants were aged 3 or 5 years with a repaired cleft palate. The Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP) Articulation subtest and a non-standardised list of mono and polysyllabic words were administered once for each child. The Profile of Phonology (PROPH) was used to analyse each child's speech. Results: N=51 children with cleft palate participated in the study. Three-year-old children with cleft palate produced significantly more speech errors than their typically-developing peers, but no difference was apparent at 5 years. The 5-year-olds demonstrated greater phonetic and phonological accuracy than the 3-year-old children. Polysyllabic words were more affected by errors than monosyllables in the 3-year-old group only. Conclusions: Children with cleft palate are prone to phonetic and phonological speech errors in their preschool years. Most of these speech errors approximate typically-developing children by 5 years. At 3 years, word shape has an influence upon phonological speech accuracy. Speech pathology intervention is indicated to support the intelligibility of these children from their earliest stages of development.
JERAA@40: Towards a history of the professional association of Australian journalism academics
17 April 2019
University of Sydney

O'Donnell, Penny;Margaret, Van Heekeren

The professional association representing Australian journalism educators was established in 1975. This article, on the occasion of the association's 40th anniversary, traces the history and evaluates the role of the Australian Association for Tertiary Education in Journalism (AATEJ) and its successors, the Journalism Education Association (JEA) and the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA). It finds collegiality and a desire to improve standards of journalism teaching have endured as key features of the group's ethos. More recently, the association has taken a leadership role in the contested area of research development and, less consistently, adhered to a founding objective to champion free expression. The authors conclude that this repositioning of the association beyond its capacity as a support group for journalism educators raises the question of whether the time has come to renew the traditional mission statement and rejuvenate JERAA's public profile to account for its newfound disciplinary leadership.
Neurocognitive mechanisms of theory of mind impairment in neurodegeneration: a transdiagnostic approach
06 September 2019
University of Sydney

Strikwerda-Brown, Cherie;Ramanan, Siddharth;Irish, Muireann

Much of human interaction is predicated upon our innate capacity to infer the thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and perspectives of others, in short, to possess a “theory of mind” (ToM). While the term has evolved considerably since its inception, ToM encompasses our unique ability to apprehend the mental states of others, enabling us to anticipate and predict subsequent behavior. From a developmental perspective, ToM has been a topic of keen research interest, with numerous studies seeking to explicate the origins of this fundamental capacity and its disruption in developmental disorders such as autism. The study of ToM at the opposite end of the lifespan, however, is paradoxically new born, emerging as a topic of interest in its own right comparatively recently. Here, we consider the unique insights afforded by studying ToM capacity in neurodegenerative disorders. Arguing from a novel, transdiagnostic perspective, we consider how ToM vulnerability reflects the progressive degradation of neural circuits special- ized for an array of higher-order cognitive processes. This mechanistic approach enables us to consider the common and unique neurocognitive mechanisms that underpin ToM dysfunction across neurodegenerative disorders and for the first time examine its relation to behavioral disturbances across social, intimate, legal, and criminal settings. As such, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview of ToM research in neurodegeneration, the resultant challenges for family members, clinicians, and the legal profession, and future directions worthy of exploration.
‘Finally an academic approach that prepares you for the real world’: simulations for human rights skills development in higher education
09 September 2019
University of Sydney

McGaughey, Fiona;Hartley, Lisa;Banki, Susan;Duffill, Paul;Stubbs, Matthew;Orchard, Phil;Rice, Simon;Berg, Laurie;Peggy Kerdo, Paghona

Effectively addressing violations of human rights requires dealing with complex, multi-spatial problems involving actors at local, national and international levels. It also calls for a diverse range of inter-disciplinary skills. How can tertiary educators prepare students for such work? This study evaluates the coordinated implementation of human rights simulations at seven Australian universities. Based on quantitative and qualitative survey data from 252 students, we find they report that human rights simulation exercises develop their skills. In particular, students report that they feel better able to analyse and productively respond to human rights violations, and that they have a greater awareness of the inter-disciplinary skills required to do so. Overall, this study finds that simulations are a valid, scalable, classroom-based work integrated learning experience that can be adapted for students at undergraduate and postgraduate level, across a range of disciplines and in both face-to-face and online classes.
Age-related changes in the temporal focus and self-referential content of spontaneous cognition during periods of low cognitive demand
19 September 2019
University of Sydney

Irish, Muireann;Goldberg, Zoe-Lee;Alaeddin, Sara;O’Callaghan, Claire;Andrews-Hanna, Jessica R.

An intriguing aspect of human cognition is the unique capacity to mentally retreat from our immediate surroundings to consider perspectives distinct from the here and now. Despite increasing interest in this phenomenon, relatively little is known regarding age-related changes in off-task, self-generated thought (often referred to as “mind-wandering”), particularly under conditions of low cognitive demand. While a number of studies have investigated the temporal orientation of mind-wandering with increasing age, findings have been largely inconsistent. Here, we explored the frequency, temporal focus, and self-referential/social content of spontaneous task-unrelated, perceptually-decoupled thought in 30 young and 33 healthy older adults using the Shape Expectations task, a validated experimental paradigm in which discrete facets of inner mentation are quantified along a conceptual continuum using open-ended report. Participants also completed the daydreaming subscale of the Imaginal Process Inventory (IPI) as a trait measure of mind-wandering propensity. Significant group differences emerged on the Shape Expectations task, with reduced instances of mind-wandering in the context of elevated task-related thoughts in older relative to younger adults. In terms of temporal focus, a preponderance of present/atemporal off-task thoughts was evident irrespective of group; however, significantly higher levels of future-oriented thoughts were provided by younger adults, contrasting with significantly higher instances of retrospection in the older group. In addition, older adults displayed significantly fewer incidences of self-referential cognition relative to their younger counterparts. Our findings indicate a distinct attenuation of off-task, self-generated thought processes with increasing age, with evidence for a shift in temporal focus and self-referential quality, during periods of low cognitive demand.
Modelling associations between neurocognition and functional course in young people with emerging mental disorders: a longitudinal cohort study
17 February 2020
University of Sydney

Crouse, Jacob;Chitty, Kate;Iorfino, Frank;Carpenter, Joanne;White, Django;Nichles, Alissa;Zmicerevska, Natalia;Guastella, Adam;Scott, Elizabeth;Lee, Rico;Naismith, Sharon;Scott, Jan;Hermens, Daniel;Hickie, Ian

Neurocognitive impairment is commonly associated with functional disability in established depressive, bipolar and psychotic disorders. However, little is known about the longer-term functional implications of these impairments in early phase transdiagnostic cohorts. We aimed to examine associations between neurocognition and functioning at baseline and over time. We used mixed effects models to investigate associations between neurocognitive test scores and longitudinal social and occupational functioning (“Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale”) at 1–7 timepoints over five-years in 767 individuals accessing youth mental health services. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, premorbid IQ, and symptom severity. Lower baseline functioning was associated with male sex (coefficient −3.78, 95% CI −5.22 to −2.34 p < 0.001), poorer verbal memory (coefficient 0.90, 95% CI 0.42 to 1.38, p < 0.001), more severe depressive (coefficient −0.28, 95% CI −0.41 to −0.15, p < 0.001), negative (coefficient −0.49, 95% CI −0.74 to −0.25, p < 0.001), and positive symptoms (coefficient −0.25, 95% CI −0.41 to −0.09, p = 0.002) and lower premorbid IQ (coefficient 0.13, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.19, p < 0.001). The rate of change in functioning over time varied among patients depending on their sex (male; coefficient 0.73, 95% CI 0.49 to 0.98, p < 0.001) and baseline level of cognitive flexibility (coefficient 0.14, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.22, p < 0.001), such that patients with the lowest scores had the least improvement in functioning. Impaired cognitive flexibility is common and may represent a meaningful and transdiagnostic target for cognitive remediation in youth mental health settings. Future studies should pilot cognitive remediation targeting cognitive flexibility while monitoring changes in functioning.
How does the stigma of problem gambling influence help-seeking, treatment and recovery? a view from the counselling sector
14 April 2020
University of Sydney

Hing, Nerilee;Nuske, Elaine;Gainsbury, Sally M.;Russell, Alex M. T.;Breen, Helen

Problem gambling attracts considerable public stigma and can cause significant self-stigma. However, little research has investigated the role of stigma during treatment-assisted recovery from problem gambling. This study aimed to examine gambling counsellors’ perspectives on whether and how the stigma associated with problem gambling influences problem acknowledgement, help-seeking, treatment and recovery. In-depth interviews with nine gambling counsellors from Victoria, Australia, were analysed to extract shared meanings of experiences using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Counsellors indicated that the burden of problem gambling is typically increased by the addition of stigma and its impacts. This stigma is created and maintained by a lack of public understanding about problem gambling and its causes, and internalization of self-stigmatizing beliefs, leading to delayed help-seeking, anxiety about attending treatment, concerns about counsellor attitudes, and fear of relapse. Counsellors maintained that, before effective gambling treatment could occur, they needed to help clients overcome their self-stigmatizing beliefs to establish confidence and trust in the counsellor, restore self-esteem, enhance stigma coping skills and foster a belief that recovery is possible. Harnessing support from significant others and preparing clients for relapse were also important inclusions to lower stigma. Addressing stigma early in treatment can help to improve treatment adherence and recovery.
Readability of Written Materials for CKD Patients: A Systematic Review
26 May 2020
University of Sydney

Morony, Suzanne;Flynn, Michaela;McCaffery, Kirsten J;Jansen, Jesse;Webster, Angela C

Background: The "average" patient has a literacy level of US grade 8 (age 13-14 years), but this may be lower for people with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Current guidelines suggest that patient education materials should be pitched at a literacy level of around 5th grade (age 10-11 years). This study aims to evaluate the readability of written materials targeted at patients with CKD. Study design: Systematic review. Setting & population: Patient information materials aimed at adults with CKD and written in English. Search strategy & sources: Patient education materials designed to be printed and read, sourced from practices in Australia and online at all known websites run by relevant international CKD organizations during March 2014. Analytical approach: Quantitative analysis of readability using Lexile Analyzer and Flesch-Kincaid tools. Results: We analyzed 80 materials. Both Lexile Analyzer and Flesch-Kincaid analyses suggested that most materials required a minimum of grade 9 (age 14-15 years) schooling to read them. Only 5% of materials were pitched at the recommended level (grade 5). Limitations: Readability formulas have inherent limitations and do not account for visual information. We did not consider other media through which patients with CKD may access information. Although the study covered materials from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, all non-Internet materials were sourced locally, and it is possible that some international paper-based materials were missed. Generalizability may be limited due to exclusion of non-English materials. Conclusions: These findings suggest that patient information materials aimed at patients with CKD are pitched above the average patient's literacy level. This issue is compounded by cognitive decline in patients with CKD, who may have lower literacy than the average patient. It suggests that information providers need to consider their audience more carefully when preparing patient information materials, including user testing with a low-literacy patient population.
Gender Equity in Transplantation: A Report From the Women in Transplantation Workshop of The Transplantation Society of Australia and New Zealand
26 May 2020
University of Sydney

Dwyer, Karen M;Clark, Carolyn J;MacDonald, Kelli;Paraskeva, Miranda A;Rogers, Natasha;Ryan, Jessica;Webster, Angela C;Wong, Germaine

The exponential growth of young talented women choosing science and medicine as their professional career over the past decade is substantial. Currently, more than half of the Australian medical doctoral graduates and early career researchers are comprised of women, but less than 20% of all academic professorial staff are women. The loss of female talent in the hierarchical ladder of Australian academia is a considerable waste of government investment, productivity, and scientific innovation. Gender disparity in the professional workforce composition is even more striking within the field of transplantation. Women are grossly underrepresented in leadership roles, with currently no female heads of unit in any of the Australian and New Zealand transplanting centers. At the same time, there is also gender segregation with a greater concentration of women in lower-status academic position compared with their male counterparts. Given the extent and magnitude of the disparity, the Women in Transplantation Committee, a subcommittee of The Transplantation Society of Australia and New Zealand established a workshop comprising 8 female clinicians/scientists in transplantation. The key objectives were to (i) identify potential gender equity issues within the transplantation workforce; (ii) devise and implement potential strategies and interventions to address some of these challenges at a societal level; (iii) set realistic and achievable goals to enhance and facility gender equality, equity, and diversity in transplantation.
A Practice-based Study of Chinese Students’ Learning - Putting Things Together
27 May 2020
University of Sydney

Xu, Jinqi

This paper investigates Chinese students’ learning experience in the business Faculty of an Australianuniversity. Chinese students are often characterized as “rote learners” or stereotyped as “reduced Other”. Areasof concern are limited to addressing the differences in learning styles, language, and sociocultural barriers.However, learning occurs in many forms. There is an absence of discussion about what practices Chinesestudents use in order to learn. Based on practice-based theory, a longitudinal ethnographic study of thejourneys of five students was traced and investigates what practices Chinese students use in the learning andhow these students “put things together” in the journey. This paper reports on two of the five students fromthe larger study. In particular, this article brings attention to the students’ everyday life and insights into theirdoings, sayings, and relatings between people, other beings and material artefacts. Chinese students’ learninginvolves foreground entanglements, co-construction, and relationality of practices from both educational andsociocultural perspectives. This paper provides new insights about Chinese students’ learning and encouragesacademics and institutions to be aware of the impact of their practices and to deepen their understanding ofthe complexities of Chinese students’ learning
Challenges in maintaining treatment services for people who use drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic
27 May 2020
University of Sydney

Dunlop, Adrian;Lokuge, Buddhima;Masters, Debbie;Sequeira, Marcia;Saul, Peter;Dunlop, Grace;Ryan, John;Hall, Michelle;Ezard, Nadine;Haber, Paul;Lintzeris, Nicholas;Maher, Lisa

The impact of COVID-19 across health services, including treatment services for people who use drugs, is emerging but likely to have a high impact. Treatment services for people who use drugs provide essential treatment services including opiate agonist treatment and needle syringe programmes alongside other important treatment programmes across all substance types including withdrawal and counselling services. Drug and alcohol hospital consultation-liaison clinicians support emergency departments and other services provided in hospital settings in efficiently managing patients who use drugs and present with other health problems. COVID-19 will impact on staff availability for work due to illness. Patients may require home isolation and quarantine periods. Ensuring ongoing supply of opiate treatment during these periods will require significant changes to how treatment is provided. The use of monthly depot buprenorphine as well as moving from a framework of supervised dosing will be required for patients on sublingual buprenorphine and methadone. Ensuring ready access to take-home naloxone for patients is crucial to reduce overdose risks. Delivery of methadone and buprenorphine to the homes of people with confirmed COVID-19 infections is likely to need to occur to support home isolation. People who use drugs are likely to be more vulnerable during the COVID-19 epidemic, due to poorer health literacy and stigma and discrimination towards this group. People who use drugs may prioritise drug use above other health concerns. Adequate supply of clean injecting equipment is important to prevent outbreaks of blood-borne viruses. Opiate users may misinterpret SARS-CoV2 symptoms as opiate withdrawal and manage this by using opioids. Ensuring people who use drugs have access to drug treatment as well as access to screening and testing for SARS-CoV2 where this is indicated is important.
EDITORIAL: Special collection on mobile mixed reality 2019 update
18 June 2020
University of Sydney

Cochrane, Thomas;Narayan, Vickel;Birt, James

This special collection of Research in Learning Technology explores the development of the state of the art of Mobile Mixed Reality (MMR) in education. The special collection was established in 2018 to provide research-informed exploration of this emergent and rapidly developing arena of educational technology through the lens of Scholarship Of Technology Enhanced Learning (SOTEL). The special collection update for 2019 includes four articles that cover self-efficacy and motivation of MMR users, analysis of student experiences of MMR, and a selection of case studies on designing and implementing MMR in educational contexts. The range of articles illustrates the further development of MMR as a platform for designing authentic learning environments in both formal and informal learning situations. The articles also highlight attempts to address the issue identified in the 2018 collection of a general lack of engagement with new learning theories and models in the use of MMR to design transformative learning experiences.
Youth Mental Health Tracker: protocol to establish a longitudinal cohort and research database for young people attending Australian mental health services
24 June 2020
University of Sydney

Rohleder, Cathrin;Song, Yun Ju Christine;Crouse, Jacob;Davenport, Tracey;Iorfino, Frank;Hamilton, Blake;Zmicerevska, Natalia;Nichles, Alissa;Carpenter, Joanne;Tickell, Ashleigh;Wilson, Chloe;Cross, Shane;Guastella, Adam;Koethe, Dagmar;Leweke, F Markus;Scott, Elizabeth;Hickie, Ian

Introduction Mental disorders are a leading cause of long-term disability worldwide. Much of the burden of mental ill-health is mediated by early onset, comorbidities with physical health conditions and chronicity of the illnesses. This study aims to track the early period of mental disorders among young people presenting to Australian mental health services to facilitate more streamlined transdiagnostic processes, highly personalised and measurement-based care, secondary prevention and enhanced long-term outcomes. Methods and analysis Recruitment to this large-scale, multisite, prospective, transdiagnostic, longitudinal clinical cohort study (‘Youth Mental Health Tracker’) will be offered to all young people between the ages of 12 and 30 years presenting to participating services with proficiency in English and no history of intellectual disability. Young people will be tracked over 3 years with standardised assessments at baseline and 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months. Assessments will include self-report and clinician-administered measures, covering five key domains including: (1) social and occupational function; (2) self-harm, suicidal thoughts and behaviour; (3) alcohol or other substance misuse; (4) physical health; and (5) illness type, clinical stage and trajectory. Data collection will be facilitated by the use of health information technology. The data will be used to: (1) determine prospectively the course of multidimensional functional outcomes, based on the differential impact of demographics, medication, psychological interventions and other key potentially modifiable moderator variables and (2) map pathophysiological mechanisms and clinical illness trajectories to determine transition rates of young people to more severe illness forms.
Visible pedagogic work: Parenting, private tutoring and educational advantage in Australia.
30 June 2020
University of Sydney

Sriprakash, Arathi;Helen, Proctor;Hu, Betty

This article explores parents’ use of private tutoring services for their primary school children in Sydney, Australia’s largest city. Using Bernstein’s theories of invisible and visible pedagogies, we look, through the eyes of a small group of middle-class Chinese-background interviewees, at the tensions between certain pedagogic forms associated with private tutoring and schooling in contemporary contexts of educational competition. We show how some parents are openly seeking more explicit, visible forms of instruction through using private tutoring, to compensate for the perceived ‘invisible’, pedagogically progressive approach of Australian primary schooling. We argue that these parents’ enlistment of supplementary tutoring is a considered approach to their identification of a mismatch between (apparently) relaxed, child-centred classroom practices, and the demands of the more traditional examinations that regulate entry points to desired educational sites such as academically selective high schools and prestigious universities. Our findings show how paid tutoring is a contemporary pedagogic strategy for securing educational advantage, not just a ‘cultural’ practice prevalent among certain migrant communities, as it is often characterised. We suggest that an analytic focus on pedagogy can help connect issues of class, culture and competition in research on home–school relationships, offering a productive way for the field to respond to the tensions these issues engender.
Dietitians Australia position statement on telehealth
09 July 2020
University of Sydney

Kelly, Jaimon T.;Allman-Farinelli, Margaret;Chen, Juliana;Partridge, Stephanie R.;Collins, Clare;Rollo, Megan;Haslam, Rebecca;Diversi, Tara;Campbell, Katrina L.

It is the position of Dietitians Australia that clients can receive high‐quality and effective dietetic services such as Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) delivered via telehealth. Outcomes of telehealth‐delivered dietetic consultations are comparable to those delivered in‐person, without requiring higher levels of additional training nor compromising quality of service provision. Dietitians Australia recommends that policy makers and healthcare funders broaden the recognition for telehealth‐delivered dietetic consultations as a responsive and cost‐effective alternative or complement to traditional in‐person delivery of dietetic services. The successful implementation of telehealth can help to address health and service inequalities, improve access to effective nutrition services, and support people with chronic disease to optimise their diet‐related health and well‐being, regardless of their location, income or literacy level, thereby addressing current inequities.
Threats and opportunities in remote learning of mathematics: implication for the return to the classroom
09 July 2020
University of Sydney

Sullivan, Peter;Bobis, Janette;Downton, Ann;Feng, Maggie;Hughes, Sally;Livy, Sharyn;McCormick, Melody;Russo, James

Australian schools, like schools elsewhere, have been through a period of closure. The closure creates both threats and opportunities for teachers and students. In the context of a project exploring approaches to teaching in early years, we outline some considerations and offer advice to teachers and educators on strategies for welcoming students back to school.
Consequences of physical distancing emanating from the COVID-19 pandemic: An australian perspective
09 July 2020
University of Sydney

Fitzgerald, Dominic A.;Nunn, Kenneth;Isaacs, David

The sobering reality of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it has brought people together at home at a time when we want them apart in the community. This will bring both benefits and challenges. It will affect people differently based upon their age, health status, resilience, family support structures, and socio-economic background. This article will assess the impact in high income countries like Australia, where the initial wave of infection placed the elderly at the greatest risk of death whilst the protective measures of physical distancing, self-isolation, increased awareness of hygiene practices, and school closures with distance learning has had considerable impact on children and families acutely and may have ramifications for years to come.
Are onshore pathway students prepared for effective university participation? A case study of an international postgraduate cohort
16 July 2020
University of Sydney

Dyson, Bronwen Patricia

As English language (EL) proficiency becomes a key issue for Australian universities, EL entry levels and the pathways preparing international students for university are also rising in importance. Crucially, according to recent Australian government policy, universities are responsible for ensuring that students entering university have sufficient EL competence to participate effectively in their courses. This policy has its origins in concerns as to whether the large number of entrants from onshore (Australian) pathways have possessed adequate English skills. Despite these concerns, there has been little examination of this issue. The present study aimed to examine whether one cohort of onshore international postgraduate students was prepared for effective university participation. Three measures of participation were employed: student perceptions of preparation, English written proficiency and university grades. The study comprised two phases. In the first phase, the students (N = 173) completed a questionnaire on pathway preparation and wrote an essay. The results for the essay were further divided into those who entered and did not enter university. In the second phase, focus interviews were conducted (N = 8) and academic grades were collected from those who completed first semester subjects (N = 106) and their peers. The study revealed that the students perceived their academic skills as better than their language skills, did not receive significantly different grades to their peers but exhibited high levels of “at risk” writing, especially in their use of source material and grammar. The paper concludes that increased university monitoring of pathways on a range of key, language-related measures, particularly writing, is vital.
Understanding trajectories of academic literacy: How could this improve diagnostic assessment?
16 July 2020
University of Sydney

Dyson, Bronwen Patricia

Given the rising interest in the English language development of international students in Australian universities, this paper considers the value of a developmental approach to the assessment of academic literacy. It outlines one of the criteria, Criterion D “Grammatical Correctness”, of the University of Sydney’s MASUS (Measuring the Academic Skills of University Students) Procedure (Bonanno & Jones, 2007) and discusses the need to underscore the validity of its assessment with developmental evidence. It then sketches a framework which has been used to measure language development, Processability Theory (Pienemann, 1998, 2005), and explores the applicability of this theory to the assessment of university students’ written English. By mapping the relationship between Criterion D and the oral development of two adolescent Chinese speaking students learning English as an Additional Language, the study reinforces the validity of scores on the criterion and its sub-criteria, the use of A (Appropriate) or NA (Not Appropriate) as measurement categories, and the overall score for grammatical performance. However, the findings suggest that the criterion’s “washback” to teaching could be fine-tuned by making the MASUS Procedure more “learner-sensitive”. The paper then discusses the study’s implications and limitations, focusing on the value and shortcomings of a developmental approach to academic literacy, particularly one concerned with grammatical development. The paper concludes that, despite the different foci of the empirical evidence and the MASUS Procedure, the findings suggest that an understanding of learner development could bolster two key features of language tests, namely validity and washback.
EAP or genre-based? A comparison of two curricular approaches to the preparation of international students for university
16 July 2020
University of Sydney

Dyson, Bronwen Patricia

In research on onshore English Language (EL) Centres, there is ongoing debate regarding the academic and linguistic (including written) outcomes of international students for whom English is an Additional Language (EAL). There is little research, however, on the outcomes of EL Centres’ pedagogical approaches, despite its potential to improve outcomes. The present study aimed to compare two courses at a university-based EL Centre: an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course and a genre-based (GB) course, ‘Reading to Learn’ (Rose & Martin, 2012). The article describes a collaborative study between an EL Centre, the university’s Learning Centre and a university faculty. The primarily postgraduate students (N = 171) wrote an essay and answered a questionnaire about their perceptions of university preparation. The essays were assessed in terms of the MASUS (Measuring the Academic Skills of University Students) Procedure (Bonanno & Jones, 2007) and the resulting scores and questionnaire responses for the two strands were analysed in terms of descriptive and correlational statistics. The results for writing show that, in the total cohort, the genre-based students significantly outperformed the EAP students overall and in grammatical correctness but differences were not found either on Address for correspondence: Bronwen Dyson, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Senior Lecturer and Postgraduate Academic Writing Adviser, Room S352, John Woolley, University of Sydney, NSW, 2006; Email: bronwen.dyson@sydney.edu.au University of Sydney Papers in TESOL, 11, 31-66. ©2016 ISSN 1834-3198 (Print); ISSN: 1834-4712 (Online) Page 32 University of Sydney Papers in TESOL some measures of ‘at risk’ writing or in the cohort recommended for university. The results for the questionnaire show that the genrebased students perceived aspects of their academic and language preparation in a significantly more positive light than the EAP students. A close look at four students’ writing and the comments of all students on the questionnaire reveals individual strengths and weaknesses in both groups. In considering the implications of the findings for the English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) industry, the article concludes that, to improve written outcomes, EL Centres should introduce a genre-based approach, with fine-tuning to meet the needs of all EAL students.
Professor Cristobal G dos Remedios mentorship
27 July 2020
University of Sydney

Bao, Shisan (Bob)

As a non-English-speaking PhD student without previous scientific skills, I have been so lucky to be supervised and mentored by Professor Cristobal dos Remedios. In this commentary, I have commented my experience in dos Remedios laboratory. Finally, I would like to express my greatest appreciation to Professor dos Remedios for his kindness and mentorship over the last 31 years. His continuous support, which continues to the present, has been instrumental for the achievement of my current position.
Primary care initiatives focused on the secondary prevention and management of chronic pain: a scoping review of the Australian literature
27 July 2020
University of Sydney

Walker, Pippy;De Morgan, Simone;Sanders, Duncan;Nicholas, Michael;Blyth, Fiona M.

The aim of this scoping review was to identify initiatives focused on the secondary prevention and management of chronic pain in Australian primary care to understand options available to Primary Health Networks and to identify evidence gaps. The Medline, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature and Cochrane databases, as well as relevant websites, were searched for eligible records published from 2007 to 2018. Initiative characteristics and outcomes evaluated were extracted and synthesised. In all, 84 initiatives from 167 published and grey literature records were identified, including: (1) consumer initiatives that aimed to improve access to multidisciplinary care, health literacy and care navigation (n?=?56); (2) health professional capacity building initiatives that aimed to ensure health professionals are skilled and provide best-practice evidence-based care (n?=?21); and (3) quality improvement and health system support initiatives (n?=?7). Evidence gaps were found relating to initiatives addressing the secondary prevention of chronic pain, those targeting vulnerable and regional populations, health professional capacity building initiatives for all primary health care providers and quality improvement and system support initiatives. Addressing evidence gaps related to effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and implementation should be the focus for future chronic pain initiatives in primary care settings.
A criterion-based approach to oral feedback on thesis writing An analysis of supervisor and academic literacy advisor feedback
30 July 2020
University of Sydney

Dyson, Bronwen Patricia

Is oral feedback on thesis writing from supervisors and academic literacy advisors (ALA) based on writing criteria, such as the MASUS (Measuring the Academic Skills of University Students) criteria (Bonanno & Jones, 2007)? The study aimed to investigate the distribution of supervisory and ALA oral feedback in terms of the five MASUS Areas. These Areas of writing were used to analyze fortnightly meetings between two L2 English doctoral candidates and their supervisors (eight meetings) and an ALA (eight meetings). The findings showed that the feedback moves were distributed across the Areas and most moves were produced in multi-Area episodes. However, compared to the ALA, the supervisors covered the Areas less comprehensively, used fewer single-Area episodes, and combined sources with structure. The article concludes that oral feedback on thesis writing is criterion-based, and supervisors can inform their feedback and develop their students’ skills by employing tools such as MASUS.
Measuring lexical quality: The role of spelling ability
03 August 2020
University of Sydney

Andrews, Sally;Veldre, Aaron;Clarke, Indako E.

The construct of ‘lexical quality’ (Perfetti, 2007) is widely invoked in literature on word recognition and reading to refer to a systematic dimension of individual differences that predicts performance in a range of word identification and reading tasks in both developing readers and skilled adult populations. Many different approaches have been used to assess lexical quality, but few have captured the orthographic precision that is central to the construct. This paper describes, evaluates and disseminates spelling dictation and spelling recognition tests that were developed to provide sensitive measures of the precision component of lexical quality in skilled college student readers – the population that has provided most of the benchmark data for models of word recognition and reading. Analyses are reported for 785 students who completed the spelling tests in conjunction with standardized measures of reading comprehension, vocabulary and reading speed, of whom 107 also completed author recognition and phonemic decoding tests. Internal consistency analyses showed that both spelling tests were relatively unidimensional and displayed good internal consistency, although the recognition test contained too many easy items. Item-level analyses are included to provide the basis for further refinement of these instruments. The spelling tests were moderately correlated with the other measures of written language proficiency but factor analyses revealed that they consistently defined a separate component, demonstrating that they tap a dimension of variability that is partially independent of variance in reading comprehension, speed and vocabulary. These components appear to align with the precision and coherence dimensions of lexical quality.
Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Australian educational settings: a prospective cohort study
14 August 2020
University of Sydney

Macartney, Kristine;Quinn, Helen E;Pillsbury, Alexis J;Koirala, Archana;Deng, Lucy;Winkler, Noni;Katelaris, Anthea L;O'Sullivan, Matthew V N;Dalton, Craig;Wood, Nicholas;Team, NSW COVID-19 Schools Study;Brogan, D;Glover, C;Dinsmore, N;Dunn, A;Jadhav, A;Joyce, R;Kandasamy, R;Meredith, K;Pelayo, L;Rost, L;Saravanos, G;Bag, S;Corbett, S;Staff, M;Alexander, K;Conaty, S;Leadbeater, K;Forssman, B;Kakar, S;Dwyer, D;Kok, J;Chant, K

School closures have occurred globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, empiric data on transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among children and in educational settings are scarce. In Australia, most schools have remained open during the first epidemic wave, albeit with reduced student physical attendance at the epidemic peak. We examined SARS-CoV-2 transmission among children and staff in schools and early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW).
Supporting black lives ‘mattering’ with flexible health care
14 September 2020
University of Sydney

Preisz, Paul;Preisz, Anne

Black lives ‘mattering’ should mean intrinsically supporting feasible healthcare options for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This requires reimagining outmoded, ‘neo‐colonial’ type models of care with implicit prejudice in hospital emergency departments (EDs). Equitably serving the needs of vulnerable cohorts like First Nations people that currently suffer most from lack of access to suitable healthcare is incumbent on government and society. To ‘close the gap’ for Aboriginal people, flexible treatment options should be designed with and for indigenous communities; developing models of care that will improve Aboriginal patient's attendance and completion of treatment in emergency departments. Flexiclinic, jointly developed by the Aboriginal Liaison Service and St Vincent's Hospital ED has developed such an innovative model. Since its recent inception, it has already shown enormous benefits, both in promoting equitable access and improving the health and welfare of Aboriginal patients who are receiving ongoing and quality care.
A unified call to action from Australian Nursing and Midwifery leaders: ensuring that Black Lives Matter
14 September 2020
University of Sydney

Geia, L.;Baird, K.;Bail, K.;Barclay, L.;Bennett, J.;Best, O.;Birks, M.;Blackley, L.;Blackman, R.;Bonner, A.;AO, R. Bryant;Buzzacott, C.;Campbell, S.;Catling, C.;Chamberlain, C.;Cox, L.;Cross, W.;Cruickshank, M.;Cummins, A.;Dahlen, H.;Daly, J.;Darbyshire, P.;Davidson, P.;Denny-Wilson, E.;De Souza, R.;Doyle, K.;Drummond, A.;Duff, J.;Duffield, C.;Dunning, T.;East, L.;Elliott, D.;Elmir, R.;Fergie, D.;Ferguson, C.;Fernandez, R.;Flower, D.;Foureur, M.;Fowler, C.;Fry, M.;Gorman, E.;Grant, J.;Gray, J.;Halcomb, E.;Hart, B.;Hartz, D.;Hazelton, M.;Heaton, L.;Hickman, L.;Homer, C.;Hungerford, C.;Hutton, A.;AO, D. Jackson;Johnson, A.;Kelly, M.;Kitson, A.;Knight, S.;Levett-Jones, T.;Lindsay, D.;Lovett, R.;Luck, L.;Malloy, L.;Manias, E.;Mannix, J.;Marriott, R.;Martin, M.;Massey, D.;McCloughen, A.;McGough, S.;McGrath, L.;Mills, J.;Mitchell, B.;Mohamed, J.;Montayre, J.;Moroney, T.;Moyle, W.;Moxham, L.;Northam, H.;Nowlan, S.;O'Brien, T.;Ogunsiji, O.;Patterson, C.;Pennington, K.;Peters, K.;Phillips, J.;Power, T.;Procter, N.;Ramjan, L.;Ramsay, N.;Rasmussen, B.;Rihari-Thomas, J.;Rind, B.;Robinson, M.;Roche, M.;Sainsbury, K.;Salamonson, Y.;Sherwood, J.;Shields, L.;Sim, J.;Skinner, I.;Smallwood, G.;Smallwood, R.;Stewart, L.;Taylor, S.;Usher, K.;Virdun, C.;Wannell, J.;Ward, R.;West, C.;West, R.;Wilkes, L.;Williams, R.;Wilson, R.;Wynaden, D.;Wynn, R.

Nurses and midwives of Australia now is the time for change! As powerfully placed, Indigenous and non-Indigenous nursing and midwifery professionals, together we can ensure an effective and robust Indigenous curriculum in our nursing and midwifery schools of education. Today, Australia finds itself in a shifting tide of social change, where the voices for better and safer health care ring out loud. Voices for justice, equity and equality reverberate across our cities, our streets, homes, and institutions of learning. It is a call for new songlines of reform. The need to embed meaningful Indigenous health curricula is stronger now than it ever was for Australian nursing and midwifery. It is essential that nursing and midwifery leadership continue to build an authentic collaborative environment for Indigenous curriculum development. Bipartisan alliance is imperative for all academic staff to be confident in their teaching and learning experiences with Indigenous health syllabus. This paper is a call out. Now is the time for Indigenous and non-Indigenous nurses and midwives to make a stand together, for justice and equity in our teaching, learning, and practice. Together we will dismantle systems, policy, and practices in health that oppress. The Black Lives Matter movement provides us with a 'now window' of accepted dialogue to build a better, culturally safe Australian nursing and midwifery workforce, ensuring that Black Lives Matter in all aspects of health care.
A team-teaching approach for blended learning: an experiment
24 September 2020
University of Sydney

McKenzie, Sophie;Hains-Wesson, Rachael;Bangay, Shaun;Bowtell, Greg

Blended learning is often viewed as a teaching mode that integrates a combination of online interactive activities with face-to-face learnings. This includes a mixture of different types of teaching and learning techniques, and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) tools. In this study, we undertook an experiment to ascertain what constituted a practitioner-based approach to team-teaching for blended learning. The experiment occurred during one teaching period (11 weeks) at an Australian University where the classroom teaching experience was accessed by students and teachers across different geographical locations, using ICT. During the experiment, we completed individual and collaborative reflections, utilised an online survey to elicit students’ perceptions about our team-teaching practice and critiqued the literature on blended learning. Qualitative analysis was conducted for each data source, revealing several key themes, which were: (1) skills, (2) student, team-teaching and teacher roles and (3) the role of ICT. This study explored these themes in detail, showing that when using ICT, specific communication processes build student and teachers’ confidence as well as facilitating trust between those involved in providing a blended classroom experience. This in turn, contributes to the flexible use of ICT tools, offering opportunities for teacher and students to participate in variety of class roles, interacting via online, face-to-face or blended methods. Overall we found that to assist with setting-up and facilitating teach-teaching for blended learning, it was important to provide role clarity, an agreed-to approach for classroom communications and purposeful integration of ICT for the teaching team and students when failure occurred.
Library-Faculty referencing and plagiarism pilot using technology mediated feedback for change
07 October 2020
University of Sydney

O’Donnell, Rosemary;Maloney, Kayla;Masters, Kate;Liu, Danny

The University of Sydney Library piloted an initiative in 2017 that used feedback and learning analytics to address referencing errors in undergraduate student assignments. We collaborated with teaching staff to deliver standardised feedback and learning materials to students, combining several educational technologies in use at the University. We discuss our pilot through three lenses: technology, collaboration and evaluating impact. Key findings include that technology affords opportunities for student support however integration issues can complicate the streamlining of workflows. Moreover, it is not possible for non-embedded library staff to align technologies with pedagogy and learning outcomes. Collaborations between library and teaching staff include a shared understanding of the value of referencing as an ethical practice. Teaching staff, however, may be unable to deliver referencing feedback in a way that is consistent with an externally designed initiative. When evaluating the impact of our pilot we found that students often display a lack of understanding about the role of feedback in their learning. Recommendations include that teaching staff should drive the use of technologies within their units of study, and that instructionally designed feedback planning is key in delivering consistent feedback, developing student feedback literacy and in supporting referencing as ethical practice.
Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a progressive, individualised walking and education programme for prevention of low back pain recurrence in adults: study protocol for the WalkBack randomised controlled trial
15 October 2020
University of Sydney

Pocovi, Natasha Celeste;Lin, Chung-Wei C;Latimer, Jane;Merom, Dafna;Tiedemann, Anne;Maher, Christopher;van Tulder, Maurits W;Macaskill, Petra;Clavisi, Ornella;Tong, Shuk Yin Kate;Hancock, Mark J

INTRODUCTION: Low back pain (LBP) is recognised globally as a prevalent, costly and disabling condition. Recurrences are common and contribute to much of the burden of LBP. Current evidence favours exercise and education for prevention of LBP recurrence, but an optimal intervention has not yet been established. Walking is a simple, widely accessible, low-cost intervention that has yet to be evaluated. This randomised controlled trial (RCT) aims to establish the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a progressive and individualised walking and education programme (intervention) for the prevention of LBP recurrences in adults compared with no treatment (control). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A pragmatic, two-armed RCT comparing walking and education (n=349) with a no treatment control group (n=349). Inclusion criteria are adults recovered from an episode of non-specific LBP within the last 6 months. Those allocated to the intervention group will receive six sessions (three face to face and three telephone delivered) with a trained physiotherapist to facilitate a progressive walking programme and education over a 6-month period. The primary outcome will be days to first recurrence of an episode of activity-limiting LBP. The secondary outcomes include days to recurrence of an episode of LBP, days to recurrence of an episode of LBP leading to care seeking, disability and quality of life measured at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months and costs associated with LBP recurrence. All participants will be followed up monthly for a minimum of 12 months. The primary intention-to-treat analysis will assess difference in survival curves (days to recurrence) using the log-rank statistic. The cost-effectiveness analysis will be conducted from the societal perspective. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Approved by Macquarie University Human Research Ethics Committee (Reference: 5201949218164, May 2019). Findings will be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12619001134112.
Predicting the Impact of COVID-19 on Australian Universities
15 October 2020
University of Sydney

Thatcher, Arran;Zhang, Mona;Todoroski, Hayden;Chau, Anthony;Wang, Joanna;Liang, Gang

This article explores the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) upon Australia’s education industry with a particular focus on universities. With the high dependence that the revenue structures of Australian universities have on international student tuition fees, they are particularly prone to the economic challenges presented by COVID-19. As such, this study considers the impact to total Australian university revenue and employment caused by the significant decline in the number of international students continuing their studies in Australia during the current pandemic. We use a linear regression model calculated from data published by the Australian Government’s Department of Education, Skills, and Employment (DESE) to predict the impact of COVID-19 on total Australian university revenue, the number of international student enrolments in Australian universities, and the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions at Australian universities. Our results have implications for both policy makers and university decision makers, who should consider the need for revenue diversification in order to reduce the risk exposure of Australian universities.
Reading proficiency predicts the extent of the right, but not left, perceptual span in older readers
11 November 2020
University of Sydney

Veldre, Aaron;Wong, Roslyn;Andrews, Sally

The gaze-contingent moving-window paradigm was used to assess the size and symmetry of the perceptual span in older readers. The eye movements of 49 cognitively intact older adults (60-88 years) were recorded as they read sentences varying in difficulty, and the availability of letter information to the right and left of fixation was manipulated. In order to reconcile discrepancies in previous estimates of the perceptual span in older readers, individual differences in written language proficiency were assessed with tests of vocabulary, reading comprehension, reading speed, spelling ability, and print exposure. The results revealed that higher proficiency older adults extracted information up to 15 letter spaces to the right of fixation, while lower proficiency readers did not show additional benefit beyond 9 letters to the right. However, all readers showed improvements to reading with the availability of up to 9 letters to the left—confirming previous evidence of reduced perceptual span asymmetry in older readers. The findings raise questions about whether the source of age-related changes in parafoveal processing lies in the adoption of a risky reading strategy involving an increased propensity to both guess upcoming words and make corrective regressions.
Pathways of Disadvantage: Unpacking the Intergenerational Correlation in Welfare
21 December 2020
University of Sydney

Bubonya, Melisa;Cobb-Clark, Deborah A.

Our goal is to investigate the pathways that link welfare receipt across generations. We undertake a mediation analysis in which we not only calculate the intergenerational correlation in welfare, but also quantify the portion of that correlation that operates through key mechanisms. Our data come from administrative welfare records for young people (aged 23–26) and their parents over nearly two decades which have been linked to survey responses from young people at age 18. The mediators we consider jointly explain nearly a third (32.2 percent) of the intergenerational correlation in welfare receipt. The primary mechanism linking welfare receipt across generations is the failure to complete high school. Adolescents in welfare-reliant families experience more disruptions in their schooling (e.g., school changes and residential mobility, expulsions and suspensions) and receive less financial support from their families both of which impact on their chances of completing high school and avoiding the welfare roll. Young people’s risk-taking behavior (smoking, illicit drug use, delinquency and pregnancy) is also a key mechanism underpinning intergenerational welfare reliance. Physical and mental health, work-welfare attitudes and academic achievement, in contrast, have a more modest role in transmitting welfare receipt across generations.
Toward a framework for assessing the ‘global’ and ‘citizen’ in global citizenship education in Australia and beyond
21 December 2020
University of Sydney

Thomas, Matthew A. M.;Banki, Susan

In addition to its influences across economic, geopolitical, and social spheres, globalization has given rise to the notion of a ‘global citizen’ who is able to understand a shifting and more internationalized world while moving fluidly through it. Education has been trumpeted as the means to achieve this globally-aware citizenry, leading to an entire field of global citizenship education (GCE). Here teachers are the linchpin, yet understandings of globally-focused coursework in teacher education remain underdeveloped. This paper explores the ‘global’ within core courses in initial teacher education in Australia and interrogates the kinds of ‘citizens’ to be cultivated. We begin in our pilot study by canvassing university courses across Australian Group of Eight universities, and locating more global aspects of the courses, where available. Based on initial findings, we offer a dual-axis conceptual framework for guiding an ‘alternative future’ for GCE within teacher education. We then use the framework in a focused coding of one teacher education syllabus as an exemplar of its potential utility for examining the ways in which future teachers are encouraged, or not, to engage with broader geopolitical, sociocultural, and economic forces of globalization in the PreK-12 schools in which they will eventually teach.
Something needs to be said – Some thoughts on the possibilities and limitations of ‘voice’
21 December 2020
University of Sydney

de Leeuw, Renske R.;Little, Cathy;Rix, Jonathan

This paper is an introduction to the (virtual) special issue “Students’ voice in inclusive education” in which several international studies are collected to present research on students’ thoughts, needs, ideas and perspectives on inclusion in education. In addition to the papers of the special issue, the current paper will provide the reasoning and a theoretical background for the special issue. The impetus of the special issue will be closed with a critical reflection and recommendation for researchers and practitioners in the field of inclusive education.
A Tale of Two Countries: An International Perspective on Non-Traditional Special Education
09 February 2021
University of Sydney

Tekin-Iftar, Elif;Jimenez, Bree A.;Deniz Degirmenci, Hatice

A global perspective of education, special education, rural communities, and non-traditional instruction is provided for two countries. Both Turkey and Australia have responded to the COVID-19 global pandemic in similar yet, different ways. Through the ta
Understanding Technology Preferences and Requirements for Health Information Technologies Designed to Improve and Maintain the Mental Health and Well-Being of Older Adults: Participatory Design Study
09 February 2021
University of Sydney

LaMonica, Haley M;Davenport, Tracey A;Roberts, Anna E;Hickie, Ian B

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, the population is aging rapidly; therefore, there is a growing interest in strategies to support and maintain health and well-being in later life. Although familiarity with technology and digital literacy are increasing among this g
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on international higher education and student mobility: Student perspectives from mainland China and Hong Kong
09 February 2021
University of Sydney

Mok, Ka Ho;Xiong, Weiyan;Ke, Guoguo;Cheung, Joyce Oi Wun

The study critically examines how students in Mainland China and Hong Kong conceive overseas studies plans against the COVID-19 crisis. Amongst the 2739 respondents, 84 % showed no interest to study abroad after the pandemic. For those respondents who wil
Repackaging the Future: Artificial Intelligence, automated governance and education trade shows
22 February 2021
University of Sydney

Gulson, Kalervo;Witzenberger, Kevin

Artificial Intelligence is increasingly posited as a key aspect of new education governance, built into everything from business intelligence platforms to real-time online testing. In this paper we are interested in the work an education trade show does to legitimate and support the use of AI in education governance, or more precisely, automated education governance. Automated education governance covers policy practices that are exercised by automated decision-making machines, and instances in which software has a governing role within education, mainly through the application of narrow forms of Artificial Intelligence. We aim to investigate the education technology trade show not only as a set of relations, and to see what work a trade show does it do in incorporating, legitimating, and propping up AI use in education. We propose that an education technology show helps to constitute an automated education governance assemblage, and creates and legitimises certain forms of educational governing practices around data generation, analysis and use that includes AI. We outline this argument using examples of off the shelf solutions, partnerships between Australian education technology companies providing student information system products and major global companies, and as part of start-up pitches for venture capital support. We conclude the paper by examining the limits of automated governance and identifying how AI is part of power and desire in education governance.
The association between socioeconomic status and cognitive development in children is partly mediated by a chaotic home atmosphere.
24 March 2021
University of Sydney

Seidler, Anna Lene;Ritchie, Stuart J.

There are socioeconomic-status (SES) differences in cognitive development. Various factors have been proposed that might explain this association, and one of these factors is the home environment. The present study examined a chaotic home atmosphere as a potential mediator of the association between parental SES and cognitive development. A nationally representative sample of children in the United Kingdom was studied when children were 3 years (n = 15,590), 5 years (n = 13,802), and 7 years old (n = 12,661). At each wave, the children completed multiple cognitive tests, and parents provided information on their SES (income, education, and occupation) and the home atmosphere. Mediation effects were tested with longitudinal structural equation modeling. Direct relations between parental SES and cognitive ability were partly mediated by the home atmosphere. The proportion of mediation was 16% for the change in cognitive ability predicted by parental SES. This study suggests that a chaotic home atmosphere might partly explain the association between parental SES and cognitive development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)
Cyberchondria in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic
06 April 2021
University of Sydney

Starcevic, V.;Schimmenti, A.;Billieux, J.;Berle, D.

Cyberchondria is an excessive or repeated online health information seeking that is associated with increasing levels of health anxiety or distress. This article presents a model of cyberchondria during public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The factors that contribute to cyberchondria at this time include (a) a heightened perception of threat and fear of a newly identified and poorly understood disease; (b) difficulty in coping with uncertainty associated with the pandemic; (c) lack of authoritative and trustworthy sources of relevant health information; (d) difficulty in coping with abundance of information that is often confusing, conflicting, unverified and constantly updated, along with a decreased ability to filter out unnecessary information; and (e) inability of excessive online health information seeking to provide the necessary information and deliver reassurance. These factors amplify fear and distress, which increases the perception of threat and uncertainty and perpetuates further online health searches. Cyberchondria has significant public health implications because of the associated distress or functional impairment and effects on health behaviors. Cyberchondria should be addressed by targeting a heightened perception of threat, improving management of uncertainty and online health information and promoting an ability to critically appraise the results of online health searches. This should contribute to a better online health information literacy. The model of cyberchondria during the COVID-19 pandemic explains the hypothesized rise in cyberchondria during public health emergencies and helps to formulate a framework for prevention of cyberchondria and its effective management.
Primary teacher attitudes towards productive struggle in mathematics in remote learning versus classroom-based settings
06 April 2021
University of Sydney

Russo, J.;Bobis, J.;Downton, A.;Livy, S.;Sullivan, P.

Given what is known about the importance of productive struggle for supporting student learning of mathematics at all levels, the current study sought to examine teacher attitudes towards student struggle when students learn mathematics in remote learning settings compared with classroom settings. Eighty-two Australian early years primary teachers involved in a professional learning initiative focused on teaching mathematics through sequences of challenging tasks completed a questionnaire inviting them to compare the two settings. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach, we found that teachers were more positive about the value of student struggle in classroom-based settings compared with remote learning settings. Qualitative analysis of open-ended responses revealed four themes capturing why teachers viewed efforts to support productive struggle in a remote learning setting as potentially problematic: absence of a teacher-facilitated, synchronous, learning environment; parents' negative attitudes towards struggle when learning mathematics; lack of social connection and peer-to-peer collaboration; and difficulties accessing learning materials. Suggestions for mitigating some of these challenges in the future are put forward.
"Learning alone-a with Corona": two challenges and four principles of tertiary teaching
06 April 2021
University of Sydney

Banki, Susan Rachel

Purpose The author offers two challenges and four principles to teaching in the tertiary sector during this pandemic. While others may focus on the challenge of technical delivery, the author notes the challenges of systemic student disengagement. The author attempts to correct for this in four ways. She argues that the challenges she identifies and the principles that can be deployed in response are applicable across a range of teaching contexts and can be adapted for a post-COVID-19 era. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on the author's phenomenological experience teaching in the context of COVID-19 and draws as well on the sociological literature of higher education teaching. Findings Four principles emerged from a year of successful teaching during COVID-19. First, the author embraces a pedagogy of care, which reflects a genuine concern for student well-being. Second, the author utilizes a variety of technological approaches to keep students engaged. Third, she retains a flexible approach to teaching. Fourth, she considers carefully the extent to which COVID-19 is included, and excluded, from topical discussions. On this point she argues that COVID-19 should neither be the center point of any material, nor should it be ignored completely. Originality/value Shocks to the tertiary education system will continue to recur, as will instances of systemic student disengagement. Effective correctives to such disengagement, drawn from both education theory and empirical experience, will continue to be of value.
A stepped wedge cluster randomised trial of nurse-delivered Teach-Back in a consumer telehealth service.
16 April 2021
University of Sydney

Morony, Suzanne;Weir, Kristie R;Bell, Katy J.L.;Biggs, Janice;Duncan, Gregory;Nutbeam, Don;McCaffery, Kirsten

Objective: To evaluate the impact of Teach-Back on communication quality in a national telephone-based telehealth service, for callers varying in health literacy. Setting: An Australian national pregnancy and parenting telephone helpline. Design: Cross-sectional stepped wedge cluster randomised trial with continuous recruitment, short (fixed) exposure and blinded outcome assessors. Nurses were stratified by hours worked and randomised into training groups using a computer generated sequence.
Adaption of Distance Learning to Continue the Academic Year Amid COVID-19 Lockdown
02 June 2021
University of Sydney

Qazi, Atika;Qazi, Javaria;Naseer, Khulla;Zeeshan, Muhammad;Qazi, Shiza;Abayomi-Alli, Olusola;Ahmad, Ibrahim Said;Darwich, Mohammad;Talpur, Bandeh Ali;Hardaker, Glenn;Naseem, Usman;Yang, Shuiqing;Haruna, Khalid

This work investigates the use of distance learning in saving students' academic year amid COVID-19 lockdown. It assesses the adoption of distance learning using various online application tools that have gained widespread attention during the coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Distance learning thrives as a legitimate alternative to classroom instructions, as major cities around the globe are locked down amid the COVID-19 pandemic. To save the academic year, educational institutions have reacted to the situation impulsively and adopted distance learning platforms using online resources. This study surveyed random undergraduate students to identify the impact of trust in formal and informal information sources, awareness and the readiness to adopt distance learning. In this study, we have hypothesized that adopting distance learning is an outcome of situational awareness and readiness, which is achieved by the trust in the information sources related to distance learning. The findings indicate that trust in information sources such as institute and media information or interpersonal communication related to distance learning programs is correlated with awareness (β=0.423, t=12.296, p=0.000) and contribute to readiness (β=0.593, t=28.762, p=0.001). The structural model path coefficient indicates that readiness strongly influences the adoption of distance learning (β=0.660, t=12.798, p=0.000) amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Our proposed model recorded a predictive relevance (Q2) of 0.377 for awareness, 0.559 for readiness, and 0.309 for the adoption of distance learning, which explains how well the model and its parameter estimates reconstruct the values. This study concludes with implications for further research in this area.
Psychological Wellbeing and Academic Experience of University Students in Australia during COVID-19
02 June 2021
University of Sydney

Dodd, Rachael H.;Dadaczynski, Kevin;Okan, Orkan;McCaffery, Kirsten J.;Pickles, Kristen

COVID-19 has created significant challenges for higher education institutions and major disruptions in teaching and learning. To explore the psychological wellbeing of domestic and international university students during the COVID-19 pandemic, an online cross-sectional survey recruited 787 university students (18+ years) currently studying at an Australian university. In total, 86.8% reported that COVID-19 had significantly impacted their studies. Overall, 34.7% of students reported a sufficient level of wellbeing, while 33.8% showed low wellbeing and 31.5% very low wellbeing. Wellbeing was significantly higher in postgraduate students compared with undergraduate students. Future anxiety was significantly greater among undergraduate than postgraduate students. Multivariable regression models showed female gender, low subjective social status, negative overall learning experience or reporting COVID-19 having a huge impact on study, were associated with lower wellbeing in the first few months (May-July) of the pandemic. Supporting the health, wellbeing, and learning experiences of all students should be of high priority now and post-pandemic. Strategies specifically targeting female students, and those with low self-reported social status are urgently needed to avoid exacerbating existing disparities.
The sophisticated literacy practitioner and the global pandemic.
10 June 2021
University of Sydney

Downes, Lynn;Brosseuk, Deb

Negative portrayals in the Australian media situate teachers as a problem and teaching as a deficit practice. Society is positioning teachers, especially teachers of literacy, as the reason for poor student performance. In addition, negative media discourse around deficit initial teacher education, especially with regard to the teaching of reading and writing, is adding to the overall assumption that teachers of literacy are failing. This article highlights instances of teacher practice by literacy teachers during the global pandemic of COVID-19 which oppose the 'problem teacher' discourse. Snowball sampling was used to garner seven early years and primary school teachers for interviews, focussing on teacher perceptions of multimodal texts. A Foucaultian lens of governmentality and power and Fairclough's approach to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) were used as lens and method of analysis. The findings of this study indicate that these participant teachers have been sophisticated practitioners in their planning and practice during the pandemic, despite the institutional barriers and extreme disruptions experienced. On reflection, therefore, the constructed societal discourse around 'problem teachers' needs to be reviewed and adjusted.
The reactivated bike: Self-reported cycling activity during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
25 June 2021
University of Sydney

Fuller, G.;McGuinness, K.;Waitt, G.;Buchanan, I.;Lea, T.

Highlights • 63% of respondents say they increased cycling during COVID-19 restrictions. • Recreational cycling has increased significantly, while there has been a significant decrease in commuter riding. • Women were more likely to rate improved cycling skills and confidence as important factors to post-COVID cycling. • Public transport restrictions and new bicycle lanes were not considered important factors in increased cycling activity.
Retention of the aboriginal health, ageing, and disability workforce: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study
25 June 2021
University of Sydney

Gilroy, J.;Bulkeley, K.;Talbot, F.;Gwynn, J.;Gwynne, K.;Henningham, M.;Alcorso, C.;Rambaldini, B.;Lincoln, M.

Background: Despite a plethora of research into Aboriginal employment and recruitment, the extent and nature of the retention of frontline Aboriginal people in health, ageing, and disability workforces are currently unknown. In this application, frontline service delivery is defined as Aboriginal people who are paid employees in the health, ageing, and disability service sectors in roles that involve direct client, participant, or patient contact. There is a need to identify the factors that inhibit (push) and promote (pull) staff retention or departure of this workforce from the sectors. This study will provide additional insight about this topic. Objective: The objective of this project is to uncover the factors that influence the retention of frontline Aboriginal workers in the health, ageing, and disability workforces in New South Wales (NSW) who do not have university qualifications. The aim of the proposed project aims to discover the push and pull factors for the retention of the frontline Aboriginal workforce in the health, ageing, and disability sectors in NSW in relation to their role, employment, and community and design evidence-based strategies for retaining the Aboriginal frontline workforce in the health, ageing, and disability sectors in NSW. Methods: The proposed research will use a mixed methods approach, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data via surveys and interviews to capture and represent the voices and perspectives of Aboriginal people in a way that the participants chose. Results: Indigenous research methodologies are a growing field in Aboriginal health research in Australia. A key strength of this study is that it is led by Aboriginal scholars and Aboriginal controlled organizations that apply an Indigenous methodological framework throughout the research process. Conclusions: This study uses a mixed methods design. The survey and interview questions and model were developed in partnership with Aboriginal health, ageing, and disability service workers rather than relying only on research publications on the workforce, government policies, and human resources strategies. This design places a strong emphasis on generalizable findings together with an inductive approach that explores employers and workers’ lived experience of the Aboriginal health workforce in NSW. Excluding workers who have graduated from university places a strong focus on the workforce who have obtained either school or Technical and Further Education or registered training organizations qualifications. Data collection was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and results will include the unique experiences of Aboriginal workers and employers delivering services in an extremely challenging organizational, community, and personal context.
Kidney transplant recipient perspectives on telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
25 June 2021
University of Sydney

Huuskes, Brooke M;Scholes-Robertson, Nicole;Guha, Chandana;Baumgart, Amanda;Wong, Germaine;Kanellis, John;Chadban, Steve;Barraclough, Katherine A;Viecelli, Andrea K;Hawley, Carmel M;Kerr, Peter G;Coates, P Toby;Amir, Noa;Tong, Allison

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the delivery of health services. Telehealth allows delivery of care without in-person contacts and minimizes the risk of vial transmission. We aimed to describe the perspectives of kidney transplant recipients on the benefits, challenges and risks of telehealth. Methods We conducted five online focus groups with 34 kidney transplant recipients who had experienced a telehealth appointment. Transcripts were thematically analyzed. Results We identified five themes: minimizing burden (convenient and easy, efficiency of appointments, reducing exposure to risk, limiting work disruptions, alleviating financial burden); attuning to individual context (depending on stability of health, respect patient choice of care, ensuring a conducive environment); protecting personal connection and trust (requires established rapport with clinicians, hampering honest conversations, diminished attentiveness without incidental interactions, reassurance of follow up, missed opportunity to share lived experience); empowerment and readiness (increased responsibility for self-management, confidence in physical assessment, mental preparedness, forced independence); navigating technical challenges (interrupted communication, new and daunting technologies, cognisant of patient digital literacy). Conclusions Telehealth is convenient and minimizes time, financial and overall treatment burden. Telehealth should ideally be available after the pandemic, be provided by a trusted nephrologist and supported with resources to help patients prepare for appointments
Grace Under Pressure: a drama-based approach to tackling mistreatment of medical students
05 July 2021
University of Sydney

Scott, Karen M.;Berlec, Špela;Nash, Louise;Hooker, Claire;Dwyer, Paul;Macneill, Paul;River, Jo;Ivory, Kimberley

A positive and respectful learning environment is fundamental to the development of professional identities in healthcare. Yet medical students report poor behaviour from healthcare professionals that contradict professionalism teaching. An interdisciplinary group designed and implemented a drama-based workshop series, based on applied theatre techniques, to help students develop positive professional qualities and interpersonal skills to deal with challenges in the healthcare setting. We piloted the workshops at the University of Sydney in 2015. Attendees completed evaluation questionnaires and participated in a focus group or interview. Of 30 workshop attendances, there were 29 completed questionnaires and three participants attended a focus group or interview. Workshop activities were rated as ‘very good’ or ‘good’ by 21/22; (95.5%). Thematic analysis of qualitative data highlighted the rationale for participation (to deal with bullying, prevent becoming a bully, learn social skills), workshop benefits (express emotions, learn about status dynamics and deconstructing personalities, empathy, fun), challenges (meeting participants’ expectations, participants’ need for further practice), and implications for medical education (need to develop awareness of others’ perspectives). Our research has shown that there is momentum to challenge mistreatment in medical education. While a multipronged approach is needed to generate systemic change, this pilot offers a positive and creative innovation. It helps students improve their interpersonal skills and sense of self to deal with challenges in the healthcare setting, including mistreatment.
Lessons learnt during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Why Australian schools should be prioritised to stay open
06 July 2021
University of Sydney

Koirala, Archana;Goldfeld, Sharon;Bowen, Asha C;Choong, Catherine;Ryan, Kathleen;Wood, Nicholas;Winkler, Noni;Danchin, Margie;Macartney, Kristine;Russell, Fiona M

In 2020, school and early childhood educational centre (ECEC) closures affected over 1.5 billion school-aged children globally as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Attendance at school and access to ECEC is critical to a child's learning, well-being and health. School closures increase inequities by disproportionately affecting vulnerable children. Here, we summarise the role of children and adolescents in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission and that of schools and ECECs in community transmission and describe the Australian experience. In Australia, most SARS-CoV-2 cases in schools were solitary (77% in NSW and 67% in Victoria); of those that did progress to an outbreak, >90% involved fewer than 10 cases. Australian and global experience has demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 is predominantly introduced into schools and ECECs during periods of heightened community transmission. Implementation of public health mitigation strategies, including effective testing, tracing and isolation of contacts, means schools and ECECs can be safe, not drivers of transmission. Schools and ECEC are essential services and so they should be prioritised to stay open for face-to-face learning. This is particularly critical as we continue to manage the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What we have learnt about trauma, loss and grief for children in response to COVID-19
06 July 2021
University of Sydney

Fitzgerald, Dominic A.;Nunn, Kenneth;Isaacs, David

The disruption of daily life resulting from COVID-19 and its precautions has taken an enormous emotional toll on children and families. The consequences of disrupted schooling, changed social interactions and altered family dynamics has had some unanticipated positives such as improved on-line educational upskilling and personal resilience. However, the potential longer term implications for educational outcomes, economic impacts of job loss and prolonged financial insecurity, physical wellbeing and mental health remain unclear. The potential for post-traumatic stress disorders from what is experienced by children with imposed isolation from friends and extended family, domestic violence and death of relatives remains concerning. Confronting images and stories relayed through social media and the popular press will challenge children’s views of safety, security, trust and potentially rob them of much of the innocence of youth. In an overwhelming global response to the “adult” problems of the COVID-19 pandemic, this article reflects on the consequences of trauma, loss and grief through the perspective of children and how they may alter their view of the world.
The Bilingual Gap in Children’s Language, Emotional and Pro-social Development
11 August 2021
University of Sydney

Cobb-Clark, Deborah A.;Harmon, Colm;Staneva, Anita

In this paper we examine whether – conditional on other family inputs – bilingual children achieve different outcomes in language and emotional development. Our data come from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) which allows us to analyze children's language and emotional development in depth. We relax the usual assumption that the production function underpinning child development is not itself a function of the age of the child and estimate the bilingual gap in children's language and emotional development as a cumulative process that depends on current and past endowments of cognitive and non-cognitive capacity. We find that the language development of bilingual children is not significantly different to that of their monolingual peers; however, there is evidence of a positive effect of bilingualism on emotional development.
Do personality traits affect productivity? Evidence from the lab
14 September 2021
University of Sydney

Cubel, Maria;Nuevo‐Chiquero, Ana;Sanchez-Pages, Santiago;Vidal-Fernandez, Marian

While survey data supports a strong relationship between personality and labour market outcomes, the exact mechanisms behind this association remain unexplored. We take advantage of a controlled laboratory set‐up to explore whether this relationship operates through productivity. Using a real‐effort task, we analyse the impact of the Big Five personality traits on performance. We find that more neurotic subjects perform worse, and that more conscientious individuals perform better. These findings suggest that at least part of the effect of personality on labour market outcomes operates through productivity. In addition, we find evidence that gender and university major affect this relationship.
Balancing Technology, Pedagogy and the New Normal: Post-pandemic Challenges for Higher Education
16 September 2021
University of Sydney

Rapanta, Chrysi;Botturi, Luca;Goodyear, Peter;Guàrdia Lourdes;Koole, Marguerite

The Covid-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity for rethinking assumptions about education in general and higher education in particular. In the light of the general crisis the pandemic caused, especially when it comes to the so-called emergency remote teaching (ERT), educators from all grades and contexts experienced the necessity of rethinking their roles, the ways of supporting the students’ learning tasks and the image of students as self-organising learners, active citizens and autonomous social agents. In our first Postdigital Science and Education paper, we sought to distil and share some expert advice for campus-based university teachers to adapt to online teaching and learning. In this sequel paper, we ask ourselves: Now that campus-based university teachers have experienced the unplanned and forced version of Online Learning and Teaching (OLT), how can this experience help bridge the gap between online and in-person teaching in the following years? The four experts, also co-authors of this paper, interviewed aligning towards an emphasis on pedagogisation rather than digitalisation of higher education, with strategic decision-making being in the heart of post-pandemic practices. Our literature review of papers published in the last year and analysis of the expert answers reveal that the ‘forced’ experience of teaching with digital technologies as part of ERT can gradually give place to a harmonious integration of physical and digital tools and methods for the sake of more active, flexible and meaningful learning.
Childhood homelessness and adult employment: the role of education, incarceration, and welfare receipt
22 September 2021
University of Sydney

Cobb-Clark, Deborah;Zhu, Anna

This paper examines the long-run employment consequences of experiencing homelessness in childhood rather than later in life. We use novel panel data that link survey and administrative data for a sample of disadvantaged adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Our estimation approach pays particular attention to the potential pathways linking childhood homelessness to adult employment. We find that those experiencing homelessness for the first time as children are less likely to be employed. For women, this relationship is largely explained by the lower educational attainment and higher welfare receipt (both in general and in the form of mental illness-related disability payments) of those experiencing childhood homelessness. Higher rates of high school incompletion and incarceration explain some of the link between childhood homelessness and men’s employment; however, childhood homelessness continues to have a substantial direct effect on male employment rates.
Parenting Style as an Investment in Human Development
24 September 2021
University of Sydney

Cobb-Clark, Deborah;Salamanca, Nicolas;Zhu, Anna

We propose a household production function approach to human development that explicitly considers the role of parenting style in child rearing. Specifically, parenting style is modelled as an investment that depends not only on inputs of time and market goods, but also on attention. Our model relates socioeconomic disadvantage to parenting style and human development through the constraints that disadvantage places on cognitive capacity. We find empirical support for key features of our model. Parenting style is a construct that is distinctive to standard parental investments and is important for young-adult outcomes. Effective parenting styles are negatively correlated with disadvantage.
The Effect of Quarantining Welfare on School Attendance in Indigenous Communities
06 October 2021
University of Sydney

Cobb-Clark, Deborah;Kettlewell, Nathan;Schurer, Stefanie;Silburn, Sven

We identify the causal impact of quarantining welfare payments on Aboriginal children’s school attendance by exploiting exogenous variation in its rollout across communities. We find that income quarantining reduced attendance by 4.7 percent on average in the first five months. Attendance eventually returned to its initial level, but never improved. The attendance penalty does not operate through changes in student enrollments, geographic mobility, or other policy initiatives. Instead, we demonstrate that financial disruption may be responsible for the temporary reduction in school attendance. Supplemental analysis suggests that the policy rollout may have increased family discord.
Influence of COVID-19 on the preventive health behaviours of indigenous peoples of Australia residing in New South Wales: a mixed-method study protocol
19 October 2021
University of Sydney

Usher, Kim;Bhullar, Navjot;Sibbritt, David;Amarasena, Suruchi Sue Anubha;Peng, Wenbo;Durkin, Joanne;Smallwood, Reakeeta;Power, Tamara;Porter, Cheryl;McGowen, Debbie;Jackson, Debra

INTRODUCTION: Chronic conditions impact indigenous peoples of Australia at a much higher rate than non-indigenous Australians. Attendance at the Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) supported indigenous health checks are crucial to improve prevention and management of chronic health conditions. However, in conjunction with lifestyle and environmental factors, attendance rates at primary healthcare services for screening and treatment have fallen in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to explore the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on preventive health behaviours of indigenous Australians and the associated barriers to, and enablers of, engagement with health services to formulate a targeted intervention strategy. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A concurrent mixed-methods study (comprising quantitative and qualitative data collection methods) will be employed. Descriptive analysis of MBS data about the characteristics of indigenous peoples of Australia claiming health assessment services will be performed. Generalised estimating equation regression models will be used to examine the use of health assessment services over time. Qualitative interviews informed by indigenous research methods will be conducted. Interviews will investigate barriers to, and enablers of, engagement with health services. Thematic approach guided by the principles of indigenist praxis, storytelling and collaborative research will be used to analyse the interview data. The project commenced in July 2020 and will be completed by July 2022. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The project received ethics approval from the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of New South Wales and the University of New England Human Research Ethics Committee. Findings will be disseminated via peer-reviewed journal articles, conferences, government and relevant stakeholder reports, and infographics.
Predictability effects and parafoveal processing in older readers
27 October 2021
University of Sydney

Veldre, Aaron;Wong, Roslyn;Andrews, Sally

Normative aging is accompanied by visual and cognitive changes that impact the systems that are critical for fluent reading. The patterns of eye movements during reading displayed by older adults have been characterized as demonstrating a trade-off between longer forward saccades and more word skipping versus higher rates of regressions back to previously read text. This pattern is assumed to reflect older readers’ reliance on top-down contextual information to compensate for reduced uptake of parafoveal information from yet-to-be fixated words. However, the empirical evidence for these assumptions is equivocal. This study investigated the depth of older readers’ parafoveal processing as indexed by sensitivity to the contextual plausibility of parafoveal words in both neutral and highly constraining sentence contexts. The eye movements of 65 cognitively intact older adults (61-87 years) were compared with data previously collected from young adults in two sentence reading experiments in which critical target words were replaced by valid, plausible, related, or implausible previews until the reader fixated on the target word location. Older and younger adults showed equivalent plausibility preview benefits on first-pass reading measures of both predictable and unpredictable words. However, older readers did not show the benefit of preview orthographic relatedness that was observed in young adults, and showed significantly attenuated preview validity effects. Taken together, the data suggest that older readers are specifically impaired in the integration of parafoveal and foveal information but do not show deficits in the depth of parafoveal processing. The implications for understanding the effects of aging on reading are discussed.
Gender differences in the lifecycle benefits of compulsory schooling policies
04 November 2021
University of Sydney

de New, Sonja C.;Schurer, Stefanie;Sulzmaier, Dominique

We estimate the lifecycle benefits of policies that raise the minimum school leaving age (MSLA). Using a difference-in-differences method, we estimate the causal impact of two adjacent Australian state reforms that extended the MSLA from 14 to 15 in mid 1960. Important gender and state differences emerge in how the reforms affected secondary and postsecondary education outcomes. The biggest winners were women in Victoria, for whom the reform increased postsecondary education, while the reform lifted only minimum schooling qualifications in South Australia. As a consequence, the Victorian reform improved the lifecycle capital accumulation process especially for women, while few benefits were observed for South Australians. Victorian women entered higher-skilled occupations, were more likely to own homes, to be still married and satisfied with family life in pre-retirement age. Victorian men also gained, but the gains were limited to better cognitive and non-cognitive skills, health, and satisfaction with (family) life. Yet, all groups benefitted from delayed and reduced fertility, and a happier family life. We conclude that raising education levels for individuals at the lower end of the education spectrum produces lifecycle benefits that exceed market-return considerations, but major benefits occur only if the reform impacts education outcomes beyond minimum schooling.
Inequality in personality over the life cycle
05 November 2021
University of Sydney

Gensowski, Miriam;Gørtz, Mette;Schurer, Stefanie

We document gender and socioeconomic inequalities in personality over the life cycle (age 18–75), using the Big Five 2 (BFI-2) inventory linked to administrative data on a large Danish population. We estimate life-cycle profiles non-parametrically and adjust for cohort and sample-selection effects. We find that: (1) Women of all ages score more highly than men on all personality traits, including three that are positively associated with wages; (2) High-education groups score more favorably on Openness to Experience, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism than low-education groups, while there is no socioeconomic inequality by Conscientiousness; (3) Over the life cycle, gender and socioeconomic gaps remain constant, with two exceptions: the gender and SES gaps in Openness to Experience widen, while gender differences in Neuroticism, a trait associated with worse outcomes, diminish with age. We discuss the implications of these findings in the context of gender wage gaps, household production models, and optimal taxation.
Exploring the role of parental engagement in non-cognitive skill development over the lifecourse
05 November 2021
University of Sydney

Elkins, Rosemary;Schurer, Stefanie

We examine the role that parental engagement with child’s education plays in the lifecourse dynamics of locus of control (LOC), one of the most widely studied non-cognitive skills related to economic decision-making. We focus on parental engagement as previous studies have shown that it is malleable, easy to measure, and often available for fathers, whose inputs are notably understudied in the received literature. We estimate a standard skill production function using rich British cohort data. Parental engagement is measured with information provided at age 10 by the teacher on whether the father or the mother is very interested in the child’s education. We deal with the potential endogeneity in parental engagement by employing an added-value model, using lagged measures of LOC as a proxy for innate endowments and unmeasured inputs. We find that fathers’, but not mothers’, engagement leads to internality, a belief associated with positive lifetime outcomes, in both young adulthood and middle age for female and socioeconomically disadvantaged cohort members. Fathers’ engagement also increases the probability of lifelong internality and fully protects against lifelong externality. Our findings highlight that fathers play a pivotal role in the skill production process over the lifecourse.
University education and non-cognitive skill development
05 November 2021
University of Sydney

Kassenboehmer, Sonja C;Leung, Felix;Schurer, Stefanie

We examine the effect of university education on students’ non-cognitive skills (NCS) using high-quality Australian longitudinal data. To isolate the skill-building effects of tertiary education, we follow the education decisions and NCS—proxied by the Big Five personality traits—of 575 adolescents over eight years. Estimating a standard skill production function, we demonstrate a robust positive relationship between university education and extraversion, and agreeableness for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The effects are likely to operate through exposure to university life rather than through degree-specific curricula or university-specific teaching quality. As extraversion and agreeableness are associated with socially beneficial behaviours, we propose that university education may have important non-market returns.
Does education strengthen the life skills of adolescents?
05 November 2021
University of Sydney

Schurer, Stefanie

Life skills, sometimes referred to as noncognitive skills or personality traits (e.g. conscientiousness or locus of control—the belief to influence events and their outcomes), affect labor market productivity. Policy makers and academics are thus exploring whether such skills should be taught at the high school or college level. A small portfolio of recent studies shows encouraging evidence that education could strengthen life skills in adolescence. However, as no uniform approach exists on which life skills are most important and how to best measure them, many important questions must be answered before life skill development can become an integral part of school curricula.

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