What makes for successful numeracy education in remote Indigenous contexts: an ethnographic case study approach. There are many successful teachers and schools who have enabled remote Indigenous learners to engage with, and learn, school mathematics. But what do they do? How do they do it? This project investigates and documents successful practices in 32 schools located in remote communities. The project includes the many aspects of teaching practice.
Social and geographical location and its impact on mathematics teaching and learning. Too many students from poor urban backgrounds or from rural communities are at risk of underperforming in school mathematics. This project identifies the critical factors that contribute to this failure and seeks to develop improved practices to enable greater access to school mathematics.
The digitisation of school health and physical education. While there is growing enthusiasm for using digital technology in school health and physical education (HPE), this is happening in the absence of systematic empirical research. This project aims to describe the forms digital HPE is taking, analyse the commercial and ideological forces shaping it, and discuss its impacts. It aims to provide educational stakeholders with a knowledge base on which to anchor debate, policy and further researc ....The digitisation of school health and physical education. While there is growing enthusiasm for using digital technology in school health and physical education (HPE), this is happening in the absence of systematic empirical research. This project aims to describe the forms digital HPE is taking, analyse the commercial and ideological forces shaping it, and discuss its impacts. It aims to provide educational stakeholders with a knowledge base on which to anchor debate, policy and further research concerning the complex ethical and philosophical issues raised by the digitisation of HPE. As the first HPE research grounded in theories of digital culture, the project also aims to challenge the intellectual foundations of HPE teacher training as well as widely held views about the public health role of schools.Read moreRead less
A novel approach for controlling insect vectors of human disease. Insects are responsible for transmitting a wide variety of debilitating human diseases such as malaria, dengue and yellow fever. Unfortunately, there are very few options available for controlling these insect pests. This project will develop a novel, eco-friendly approach for control of mosquitoes and other important disease vectors.
Government web portals as government actors. This project aims to examine the architectures, rationales, effectiveness and power effects of government web portals, which are conceptualised as spaces of administrative, policy and power contestation. They are the formal public face of online government, but their effectiveness and contribution to government is largely unknown. The project uses digital research methods (hyperlink network analysis and web experiments) to comparatively assess 10 hi-t ....Government web portals as government actors. This project aims to examine the architectures, rationales, effectiveness and power effects of government web portals, which are conceptualised as spaces of administrative, policy and power contestation. They are the formal public face of online government, but their effectiveness and contribution to government is largely unknown. The project uses digital research methods (hyperlink network analysis and web experiments) to comparatively assess 10 hi-tech countries. It expects to contribute to understanding the structure and governance of the state in the 21st century, and provide foundational knowledge to underpin the next generation of government online service strategy.Read moreRead less
Diversity out of a hybrid zone: the interplay of reinforcement and sexual selection in the formation of new species. How are there so many different species? Understanding how new species arise is a fundamental question because it explains current biodiversity and reveals the processes that will continue to give rise to new species in the future. An integral part of any animal species is who they choose to mate with, but how mate choice evolves to create new species remains poorly understood. He ....Diversity out of a hybrid zone: the interplay of reinforcement and sexual selection in the formation of new species. How are there so many different species? Understanding how new species arise is a fundamental question because it explains current biodiversity and reveals the processes that will continue to give rise to new species in the future. An integral part of any animal species is who they choose to mate with, but how mate choice evolves to create new species remains poorly understood. Here I will be studying the processes that affect the evolution of mate choice in an Australian rainforest frog hybrid zone. This system is uniquely suitable for providing internationally important insights into the evolutionary processes that form new species.Read moreRead less
Tipping points and early warning signals in complex ecosystems. This project aims to create a theory of early warning that uses spatial data available on system state, connectivity and environmental stress, and to create tools to infer the risk of ecosystem collapse. Many ecosystems have irreversible tipping points. Since their locations are often unknown, metrics may provide an early warning of collapse but are difficult to apply because they need long time series which are usually lacking. Thi ....Tipping points and early warning signals in complex ecosystems. This project aims to create a theory of early warning that uses spatial data available on system state, connectivity and environmental stress, and to create tools to infer the risk of ecosystem collapse. Many ecosystems have irreversible tipping points. Since their locations are often unknown, metrics may provide an early warning of collapse but are difficult to apply because they need long time series which are usually lacking. This project will use the Great Barrier Reef as a testbed because it has both long time series (standard approach) and rich spatial data (new approach), and exhibits early warning signs. We will use these tools to gauge whether symptoms on the Great Barrier Reef predict local collapse and to develop intervention plans.Read moreRead less
Cereal blueprints for a water-limited world. This project aims to demonstrate that key developmental genes in cereals can be manipulated to design plant architecture for specific resource-limited environments. Producing more food with less water is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. This project expects to increase understanding of how shoot and root systems can be uncoupled to enhance crop adaptation in water-limited environments using an accelerated genome editing approach. ....Cereal blueprints for a water-limited world. This project aims to demonstrate that key developmental genes in cereals can be manipulated to design plant architecture for specific resource-limited environments. Producing more food with less water is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. This project expects to increase understanding of how shoot and root systems can be uncoupled to enhance crop adaptation in water-limited environments using an accelerated genome editing approach. An expected outcome of the project is enhanced drought adaptation for cereals in a dry world. This should provide significant benefits to farmers and consumers in Australia and worldwide.Read moreRead less
Aboriginal outcomes from land claims, transfers and purchases in central Cape York Peninsula. Description and analysis of current land-ownership and land-use outcomes amongst Aboriginal people on Cape York Peninsula, moving away from a common emphasis on traditional land-ownership to focus on emergent forms of use and interest resulting from the articulation of Aboriginal and 'mainstream' land tenure and property rights. The project aims to review the outcomes of land claims, transfers and purch ....Aboriginal outcomes from land claims, transfers and purchases in central Cape York Peninsula. Description and analysis of current land-ownership and land-use outcomes amongst Aboriginal people on Cape York Peninsula, moving away from a common emphasis on traditional land-ownership to focus on emergent forms of use and interest resulting from the articulation of Aboriginal and 'mainstream' land tenure and property rights. The project aims to review the outcomes of land claims, transfers and purchases for Aboriginal groups, particularly the current and likely future outcomes for the development of local Aboriginal society and economy, and the ways in which land ownership and land use outcomes meet or fail Aboriginal aspirations.Read moreRead less
Approaching the Out group Unlocks Intergroup Contact's Benefits for Society. Extensive research on group desegregation shows that intergroup contact (face-to-face interactions between people of opposing groups) should be encouraged for harmonious group relations; such contact maximises social integration, self-esteem, health, and productivity. However, these benefits are often missed as people actively avoid intergroup contact. This research introduces a theoretically- and empirically-grounded t ....Approaching the Out group Unlocks Intergroup Contact's Benefits for Society. Extensive research on group desegregation shows that intergroup contact (face-to-face interactions between people of opposing groups) should be encouraged for harmonious group relations; such contact maximises social integration, self-esteem, health, and productivity. However, these benefits are often missed as people actively avoid intergroup contact. This research introduces a theoretically- and empirically-grounded typology of contact approach-avoidance that aims to: identify personal and situational determinants driving out-group approach in natural settings; delineate outcomes of out-group approach for psychological processes critical to intergroup relations; and, indicate new interventions for encouraging intergroup contact.Read moreRead less