Beyond Bullying in Primary Schools: Explicating Psychosocial Antecedents and Implementing an Effective Intervention to Enhance Pro-Social Behaviour, Well-Being and Academic Engagement. Early intervention to combat bullying in primary schools is vital given the pervasiveness and long-term consequences of bullying for academic failure, mental health costs, and anti-social behaviour. Consistent with National Research Priorities (promoting/maintaining good health & well-being), our research offers i ....Beyond Bullying in Primary Schools: Explicating Psychosocial Antecedents and Implementing an Effective Intervention to Enhance Pro-Social Behaviour, Well-Being and Academic Engagement. Early intervention to combat bullying in primary schools is vital given the pervasiveness and long-term consequences of bullying for academic failure, mental health costs, and anti-social behaviour. Consistent with National Research Priorities (promoting/maintaining good health & well-being), our research offers important educational and socio-economic benefits by enriching the psychosocial adjustment and life potential of young Australians. Effective intervention and explicating the determinants/consequences of primary school bullying enhances pro-social behaviours, self-concept, mental health, and school engagement of bullies and victims. This fosters safer schools that contribute to individual, local community, and national well-being.Read moreRead less
Researching the design and implementation of systemic, sustainable, school-based teacher professional development in K-6 Science and Technology using e-learning approaches. Effective, sustainable teacher professional development is a critical issue for large operationally diverse, geographically dispersed education systems. Yet, research into designing professional development, particularly ICT-mediated (e-learning) approaches, is sparse. This project uses an innovative e-learning environment ( ....Researching the design and implementation of systemic, sustainable, school-based teacher professional development in K-6 Science and Technology using e-learning approaches. Effective, sustainable teacher professional development is a critical issue for large operationally diverse, geographically dispersed education systems. Yet, research into designing professional development, particularly ICT-mediated (e-learning) approaches, is sparse. This project uses an innovative e-learning environment (developed by the CI and previously used for initial teacher education and developing school student learning), as a research tool for eliciting and operationalising teachers' e-learning-based professional development designs, in K-6 Science and Technology. It will deliver a model of teacher self-renewal, of wide theoretical and practical value, developing new understandings and strategies of professional development, and insights into the potential of new technologies.Read moreRead less
Evaluating professional experience and mentoring in the preparation and induction of teachers for the teaching profession. ? Quality teachers make a difference? (DEST Report, 2003, p1). Possible strategies for the recruitment and retention of high quality teachers to the profession include providing a high quality professional experience component together with effective mentoring for beginning teachers in induction programs. The outcomes of this project will include the articulation of ?high qu ....Evaluating professional experience and mentoring in the preparation and induction of teachers for the teaching profession. ? Quality teachers make a difference? (DEST Report, 2003, p1). Possible strategies for the recruitment and retention of high quality teachers to the profession include providing a high quality professional experience component together with effective mentoring for beginning teachers in induction programs. The outcomes of this project will include the articulation of ?high quality? professional experiences, the development of an instrument for evaluating the effectiveness of mentoring in programs such as induction programs and provide evidence on the effectiveness of such programs.Read moreRead less
Providing the Mathematical Foundation for an Innovative Australia within Reform Based Learning Environments. The focus of this project is the pedagogical change that The Review of Teaching and Teacher Education indicates must take place in order to lay the quantitative foundations for advancing innovation, science, technology, and mathematics, while satisfying the requirements of a reform-based learning environment. Professional learning directed at teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and be ....Providing the Mathematical Foundation for an Innovative Australia within Reform Based Learning Environments. The focus of this project is the pedagogical change that The Review of Teaching and Teacher Education indicates must take place in order to lay the quantitative foundations for advancing innovation, science, technology, and mathematics, while satisfying the requirements of a reform-based learning environment. Professional learning directed at teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and belief structures with respect to mathematics within an environment of curricular change, will be evaluated in evidence-based terms related to teacher change and student outcomes. Significance includes the context, the middle school years in rural district schools, and the influence of technology on pedagogy.Read moreRead less
The Heart of Health Care: Advancing Emotional Well-being, Engagement and Performance in Hospitals. This research will improve our understanding of the drivers of effective health care delivery and will identify practical ways to improve the well-being, performance, retention and engagement of health care professionals and improve patient care, satisfaction and safety. In light of significant staffing shortages of health care professionals, the knowledge created will have substantial benefits in ....The Heart of Health Care: Advancing Emotional Well-being, Engagement and Performance in Hospitals. This research will improve our understanding of the drivers of effective health care delivery and will identify practical ways to improve the well-being, performance, retention and engagement of health care professionals and improve patient care, satisfaction and safety. In light of significant staffing shortages of health care professionals, the knowledge created will have substantial benefits in developing more effective models of quality care. In addition this research will enable health care professionals to build holistic, adaptable and multidisciplinary approaches to patient care in order to ensure a sustainable health care system for the future.Read moreRead less
Blended learning in schools, TAFE and universities: experience, principles, patterns and practice. Effective use of technology in education depends upon the teacher's understanding of good ways to support learning. New uses of technology to improve learning are emerging constantly: the challenge is to share good practice. This project focuses on investigating the quality of blended learning experiences and using the outcomes to identify and share good practice using a format called a 'design pa ....Blended learning in schools, TAFE and universities: experience, principles, patterns and practice. Effective use of technology in education depends upon the teacher's understanding of good ways to support learning. New uses of technology to improve learning are emerging constantly: the challenge is to share good practice. This project focuses on investigating the quality of blended learning experiences and using the outcomes to identify and share good practice using a format called a 'design pattern'. Design patterns combine research-based evidence and the knowledge of experienced practitioners in a format which is relatively easy to communicate, learn and apply. They are not yet used in teaching with technology. We will generate and test design patterns for learning through discussion in technology-based and other classroom settings.Read moreRead less
Mid-rotation diagnosis and management options for correction of water and nutrient deficiencies in plantation-grown eucalypts. This research will improve productivity of bluegum plantations by improving current diagnostic techniques (foliage and soil analysis) for nutrient disorders and the supply of water. Using a novel phloem sampling and analysis technique, we will develop a nutrient (e.g. N, P) and water diagnosis procedure that is quick, cheap, robust and reliable for field use. A major in ....Mid-rotation diagnosis and management options for correction of water and nutrient deficiencies in plantation-grown eucalypts. This research will improve productivity of bluegum plantations by improving current diagnostic techniques (foliage and soil analysis) for nutrient disorders and the supply of water. Using a novel phloem sampling and analysis technique, we will develop a nutrient (e.g. N, P) and water diagnosis procedure that is quick, cheap, robust and reliable for field use. A major innovation will be distinguishing the effects of shortages of water on growth from those of other growth influences. Overall, this project will provide a highly significant theoretical, conceptual and practical advance in mid-rotation, diagnostics for plantations with considerable commercial promise.Read moreRead less
Space to Grow: The Faulkes Telescope and improving science engagement in schools. Exceptional opportunities exist to engage, develop and enrich science students and their teachers through access to the cutting-edge Faulkes Telescopes (FTs). The FT South (sited in Australia) is the world's largest dedicated to educational use with Australia enjoying a 15% share as the host country of this exceptional educational initiative. Operated remotely via the internet, the FT provides natural links to ICT, ....Space to Grow: The Faulkes Telescope and improving science engagement in schools. Exceptional opportunities exist to engage, develop and enrich science students and their teachers through access to the cutting-edge Faulkes Telescopes (FTs). The FT South (sited in Australia) is the world's largest dedicated to educational use with Australia enjoying a 15% share as the host country of this exceptional educational initiative. Operated remotely via the internet, the FT provides natural links to ICT, on-line learning, physics, astronomy and mathematics. Given appropriate support, it can play a valuable role in re-engaging students in science and enhancing science education and literacy outcomes in Australian schools over the next 20 years.Read moreRead less
Developmental pathways to health, education and delinquency outcomes in Western Australia children: a holistic approach to inform early intervention strategies. This project will pioneer population-level data linkages between WA's population health databases and information held by the WA Departments of Education (numeracy and literacy), Justice (juvenile delinquency), Disabilities, and Community Development (child protection). The project will describe temporal, regional, socioeconomic and raci ....Developmental pathways to health, education and delinquency outcomes in Western Australia children: a holistic approach to inform early intervention strategies. This project will pioneer population-level data linkages between WA's population health databases and information held by the WA Departments of Education (numeracy and literacy), Justice (juvenile delinquency), Disabilities, and Community Development (child protection). The project will describe temporal, regional, socioeconomic and racial patterns of developmental outcomes, key risk and protective factors and identify pathways to health and wellbeing, education and juvenile delinquency outcomes among WA children and youth, including those who have had contact with the Child Protection System. Outcomes for specific groups identified as ät risk" will also be examined".Read moreRead less
Federalism in Australian schooling: Its impact upon quality and equity. The project is designed to support the objectives for schooling in Australia that have been identified by the Council of Australian Governments. These objectives are in the face of growing inequities in the distribution of educational resources, growing concentrations of students with high levels of educational needs, and imbalances in the distribution of resources across key stages, especially in early childhood education. ....Federalism in Australian schooling: Its impact upon quality and equity. The project is designed to support the objectives for schooling in Australia that have been identified by the Council of Australian Governments. These objectives are in the face of growing inequities in the distribution of educational resources, growing concentrations of students with high levels of educational needs, and imbalances in the distribution of resources across key stages, especially in early childhood education. By examining the ways in which federalism contributes to the structural barriers to these objectives and by developing and validating a set of structural reforms the project will contribute to these national objectives. Read moreRead less