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Year 5 Buddha Triad: Inscription
No full texthttps://gandhari-texts.sydney.edu.au/edition/budhanada-schist-buddha-triad-year-5
Investigation of methods for the optimal selection of students into specialist science secondary schools
Full text linkThe mission of specialist science secondary schools (SSSS) is to increase the number of students with aspirations to participate in higher education courses and careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM; Means et al., 2021). Although many SSSS use selective admission criteria (Erdogan & Stuessy, 2015), the efficacy of such entry assessment still requires exploration. This research is investigating the characteristics of students that may best benefit from the education provided through SSSS to in-turn inform the best design for the entry assessment. Our conceptual framework (shown below) was developed from social cognitive career theory, explaining factors influencing individuals' academic or career choices (Lent et al., 1994). Based on this theory, there are four student characteristics our work has chosen to focus on: critical thinking, creativity, science self-efficacy, and science identity.
These four characteristics are being explored through a validated questionnaire constructed from four pre-existing and validated instruments (Lin & Tsai, 2013; Lockhart et al., 2022; Runco et al., 2001; Sosu, 2013). The questionnaire was distributed and data were collected from students (n = 87), alumni (n = 193), teachers (n = 23), and school administrators (n = 3) from one SSSS in Thailand from April to June 2023. Participants’ demographic information was collected to investigate any correlations between cohorts and their questionnaire responses. Additional qualitative data were obtained through both open-ended responses and interviews (teacher n = 14 and school administrator n = 1) to reveal further depth and help understand participants’ perspectives. This presentation will share the questionnaire findings from one school involving this study.
These preliminary results provide practitioners and decision-makers with some initial insights about the student characteristics they should focus on for the selection of suitable students for SSSS.
REFERENCESErdogan, N., & Stuessy, C. L. (2015). Modeling Successful STEM High Schools in the United States: An Ecology Framework. Online Submission, 3(1), 77-92.Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of vocational behavior, 45(1), 79-122.Lin, T. J., & Tsai, C. C. (2013). A Multi-dimensional instrument for evaluating Taiwanese high school students’ science learning self-efficacy in relation to their approaches to learning science. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 11, 1275-1301.Lockhart, M. E., Kwok, O. M., Yoon, M., & Wong, R. (2022). An important component to investigating STEM persistence: the development and validation of the science identity (SciID) scale. International Journal of STEM Education, 9(1), 1-17.Means, B., Wang, H., Wei, X., Young, V., & Iwatani, E. (2021). Impacts of attending an inclusive STEM high school: meta-analytic estimates from five studies. International Journal of STEM Education, 8(1), 1-19.Runco, M. A., Plucker, J. A., & Lim, W. (2001). Development and psychometric integrity of a measure of ideational behavior. Creativity Research Journal, 13(3-4), 393-400.Sosu, E. M. (2013). The development and psychometric validation of a Critical Thinking Disposition Scale. Thinking skills and creativity, 9, 107-119
Disrupting the past paper pandemic – developing new question banks
Full text linkOne way of maintaining the academic standard and integrity of successive deliveries of a unit is to re-use a confidential multiple-choice question bank in the final exam. Such questions can be carefully workshopped to ensure a breadth of learning outcomes is being assessed, without repetition, at different performance levels. By necessity, the COVID-19 pandemic caused higher education institutions to quickly pivot to online exams, causing a pandemic of past papers being released on multiple forums, including student discussion boards and contract cheating companies. This included previously well-tested, confidential question banks. As a result, academics needed to rapidly produce new collections of questions, ideally different in form to those now available online.
Our study focuses on exam data from DATA1001 (Foundations of Data Science) at The University of Sydney, with an annual cohort of more than 2000 students. We investigate patterns in the new multiple-choice question bank. What was the actual performance level compared to the expected performance level? What types of questions best differentiated between students of different abilities? What emerges is interesting findings about what students mastered, and what they struggled to learn, with implications for developing and reviewing multiple-choice questions
Sustainability in the pharmacy and pharmaceutical science curriculum
Full text linkBACKGROUND
Sustainability is fast becoming a significant economic factor for the pharmaceutical industry and therefore important for future professionals in the sector. However, sustainability often plays only a marginal role in pharmaceutical science and pharmacy degrees.
Sustainability in the pharmaceutical sector encompasses a wide range of environmental and socio-economic issues that require contributions from multiple science disciplines, complicating its introduction into curricula.
PLAN
This curriculum initiative aims to identify suitable frameworks for embedding sustainability concepts and practices into the pharmaceutical science and pharmacy degrees at Monash University.
We report here on preliminary insights from curriculum mapping, an analysis of literature frameworks and an evaluation of ‘pilot’ teaching activities addressing sustainability. Student perspectives will be investigated through assessment data and survey results (human ethics approval pending).
ACTION AND EVALUATION
Sustainability-focused teaching activities have recently been incorporated into the Monash University pharmaceutical science and pharmacy degrees. These activities draw on a range of frameworks and standards, including the UN sustainable development goals (United Nations, n.d.) and the ESG (environment, social, governance) framework.
The AMEE consensus statement learning outcomes (Shaw et al., 2021) have been used for mapping sustainability content in the Monash Pharmacy degree.
REFERENCES
Shaw, E., Walpole, S., McLean, M., Alvarez-Nieto, C., Barna, S. et al. (2021) AMEE Consensus Statement: Planetary health and education for sustainable healthcare. Medical Teacher 43(3), 272-286, DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2020.1860207
United Nations (n.d.), Sustainable development goals. Retrieved May 22, 2023 from https://sdgs.un.org/goal
From teacher to learner: Using digital technology to enhance authenticity and engagement in poster presentations in the classroom and online
Full text linkOver the past few decades, we have witnessed a rapid shift from traditional classrooms to digital learning environments. This shift has allowed for the creation of a more dynamic and interactive educational landscape. Students are now afforded learning opportunities that most of us could have only dreamed of with information and digital solutions at their fingertips. However, along with this increase in educational learning opportunities comes a distinct need for educators to continuously adapt and evolve their teaching and educational content to meet the needs of their digitally savvy student cohort. This can be a challenge as academics are often hesitant to engage with and learn new technologies and frequently lack the time to invest in developing digitally relevant material and assessments to meet the needs of the changing student cohort.
In 2022, Federation University joined collaborative forces with Adobe and launched a program for academic teaching staff titled ‘Adobe Innovation Champions Pilot program’. The aim of this program was to engage staff in innovative digital technologies to improve pedagogical outcomes in their classrooms. The program facilitated staff to bring to the table novel ideas and to learn how to use the Adobe suite of products to develop innovative solutions to teaching deficits in their classrooms.
This presentation provides an insight into the author’s engagement and experience with this program and the development of an interactive online poster presentation format from idea to delivery. It outlines how quickly digital technology can transform educational delivery and how these can be adapted and changed to meet educator and student needs. The result was an interactive online poster gallery created through Adobe XD, a software platform focused on website building. However, with some academic creativity and lateral thinking, the Adobe XD platform was engaged with in a manner different to its intended purpose. This saw students interact with scientific conference posters comprehensively before a presentation session, whilst also enabling the platform to be used as the poster presentation itself, resulting in seamless content delivery
Parental motivations and heritage language schooling: A study of Japanese and Marathi parents
Full text linkWhy do heritage language learners (HLLs) end up in heritage language schools (HLS)? Until now, there has been relatively little research on the links between parental motivation and language learners’ language school attendance within the domain of heritage language (HL). This paper examines Marathi (people from the state of Maharashtra, India) and Japanese parental experiences in HL schooling and identifies their motivations to send their children to HLSs over other providers in Melbourne, Australia, drawing on the instrumental and integrative motivation framework (Gardner & Lambert, 1972). Analysing the cases of Marathi and Japanese parents, I propose that parental motivation lies on a continuum, which I refer to as the parental-motivation continuum. I argue that integrative-affective motivation in parents is the major motivation for sending children to HLSs and that HLSs are integral in activating the cultural identity of students, which goes beyond merely HL learning
Social Work Advocacy for Black Reparations
Full text linkReparations are acknowledgement, acceptance, and redress for gross injustices and wrongdoings. U.S. Black reparations can attempt to address and repair systematic oppression through comprehensive interventions aimed at the vestiges of chattel enslavement and undoing and countering disproportionate, negative outcomes experienced by African Americans. Social workers committed to doing anti-racism should fervently advance reparations in social work education and practice as a social justice policy priority. This article envisions ways that social workers can actualize advocacy for reparations as an anti-racist practice. The social work profession has the potential to serve and support the Black reparations movement through education, collaboration, and community organizing.
Reframing Dementia: How to promote rights and strengths-based care for people living with dementia and their carers
Full text linkBy using a life course approach, this article seeks to discuss and analyse the impact on a carer when their older loved one experiences cognitive changes such as dementia, and the specific implications in case for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. In Western contexts such as Australia, dementia is often understood through a biomedical lens and deficit-based frameworks. These dominant understandings can maintain ageist attitudes that construct older people and those with dementia as a social policy burden. This is further amplified for people from non-dominant cultures. This paper examines the marketisation of aged care in Australia and phenomena of ambiguous loss in identifying a range of issues for carers, including the specific experiences and challenges for culturally and linguistically diverse people. Finally, it discusses implications for critical social work practice and argues for radical change at structural and organisational levels. It proposes that a reframing of dementia as a shared social experience along with strengths-based and relational practice are key to creating more meaningful counter narratives that foster a sense of agency and empowerment for carers and people with dementia
Sustainability education impacts on student knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and wellbeing
Full text linkBACKGROUND
Educating about sustainability is a critical step in moving towards a more sustainable future for humanity. And as higher education moves into the online space, there is greater potential for education for sustainability to reach bigger and more diverse audiences. The University of Tasmania’s (UTAS) Diploma of Sustainable Living is one such example. However, while sustainability education has the potential to impact student knowledge, attitudes and behaviours about sustainability, these impacts are rarely captured in a systematic way. In this presentation we introduce the outcome of a study designed to capture the impacts of taking a fully online unit, Backyard Biodiversity (KPZ006), part of the Diploma of Sustainable Living at UTAS. The study uses a survey, offered to students before and after taking the unit, to examine changes in student knowledge, attitudes, behaviours, and wellbeing.
AIMS
This study aims to understand if and how engaging with the online unit, Backyard Biodiversity, impacts on student knowledge, attitudes, behaviours, and wellbeing.
DESCRIPTION OF INTERVENTION
This study is designed to assess the impact of an online unit, Backyard Biodiversity, on its non- traditional (predominantly mature-aged, part-time) student cohort. This 12-week, Diploma-level unit is focused on understanding biodiversity, its benefits (using Sustainable Development Goals framework) and how to create a more biodiverse backyard. To do so, it uses an experiential learning approach where students learn about and engage with their own backyard and neighbourhood. The unit was consciously designed to have co-benefits for student wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviours.
DESIGN AND METHODS
We draw on a mixed-methods research design by including survey questions that facilitate quantitative (e.g. Likert scale questions) and qualitative (e.g. open-ended questions) analyses. The before-after surveys have been offered to students since the unit’s inception in 2020 and are matched according to an anonymous linking code. To date, over 1500 total surveys have been completed but in this analysis, we included only paired surveys - those that had a matched before and after survey completed (n = 140). We report the average responses before and after for selected questions and use T-tests to determine statistically significant differences.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
We found that there was a statistically significant increase in students’ subjective knowledge, and agency around biodiversity management. There were significant changes in how important students considered biodiversity to be and how connected they felt to nature. Students reported more pro- environmental behaviours after taking the unit and many believed that taking the unit improved their wellbeing. While there are limitations to this approach, our study suggests that sustainability education, even fully online units, can create real impacts for sustainability