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Confirming the validity and reliability of the Placement Evaluation Tool to evaluate midwifery practice placements (PET-Midwifery)
No full textProblem: In Australia, program accreditation requirements include that education providers monitor and evaluate teaching and learning environments and provide evidence of outcomes being used to inform program quality improvement. Yet, closing this loop has proven challenging. Background: The Australian National Placement Evaluation Centre (NPEC) functions to measure the quality of placements through student evaluations. One measure the Placement Evaluation Tool (PET) had not been tested in midwifery student cohorts. Aim: To confirm the validity and reliability of the Placement Evaluation Tool (PET) for midwifery. Design: Survey instrument development. Methods: A three-phase, sequential study involving seven Australian universities and students enrolled in entry level midwifery programs. Findings: The Content Validity Index (CVI) was > 0.90 for relevance and clarity. There was strong concurrent validity between the PET-Midwifery and the MidSTEP CLE scale [r = 0.503, p = 0.01]. Overall satisfaction with placements was high (mean 8.02/10). The PET-Midwifery was found to be reliable: Cronbach's alpha 0.957 with an Intraclass Correlation Co-efficient of 0.957. Discussion: The PET – Midwifery is valid and reliable for midwifery students to evaluate the quality of midwifery practice placements. Administered through the Australian National Placement Evaluation Centre, it is feasible that this tool will allow education providers to monitor and evaluate learning environments and use this information to inform program quality improvement. Conclusion: The PET – Midwifery can offer education providers and midwifery practice placement settings with valuable information to effectively close all evaluation loops, as required for accreditation and to help enhance the quality of midwifery practice education. © 2025 The Author(s
Legacy '23 and Sport Participation for Women and Girls in Regional Australia
No full textThis chapter critically examines Football Australia’s (FA’s) FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ “Legacy ’23” strategy, which aimed to increase women’s and girl’s participation in football by boosting female engagement, improving facilities, and developing leadership and high-performance pathways. However, impacts were likely uneven, particularly in regional Australian communities where significant participation barriers persist. The event was successful from several viewpoints, yet women and girls in regional Australia continue to face access challenges with limited infrastructure, socio-economic constraints, and masculine hegemonic biases in sport which prioritise men and boys’ participation. Through a critical collaborative ethnographic approach, this chapter explores three themes: the need for equitable access beyond infrastructure, the importance of long-term commitment over ad hoc legacy initiatives, and the influence of hegemonic masculinity in community sports. Findings from this study indicate Legacy ’23 primarily benefited cities/metropolitan areas, leaving regional communities largely unaffected. For sport participation legacies to be realised, event design and legacy strategies must address regional nuances and intersectional inequalities to ensure initiatives reach women and girls in all communities and foster inclusive environments for sustained participation
Investigating digital poverty and the new forms of agency and advocacy needed in initial teacher education
No full textUsing Judith Butler’s theory of performative subjection, this paper explores the issue of digital poverty in Initial Teacher Education and the need for new forms of agency and advocacy to address it. The concept of digital agency (DA) and educational data advocacy (EDA) are discussed as possible ameliorating concepts for digital poverty and the increasing digital divide in Initial Teacher Education (ITE). In this theoretical paper, the authors employ the concept of DA alongside EDA specifically in the context of learners in university settings where technology is often used but the level of autonomy that students experience might vary considerably. Drawing on the context of Australian Initial Teacher Education programs, the paper calls for greater advocacy around the potential for forms of discrimination, inequity, and prejudice perpetuated as a result of digital poverty. The authors draw on two studies and examine their own practices in relation to the ways teaching academics might act as Educational Data Advocates (EDA) in Initial Teacher Education. The findings provide a novel perspective of the ways Digital Poverty in Australian Initial Teacher Education programs are associated with agency and advocacy, with implications for policy and practice in an increasingly digitised teacher training context. © 2025 Australian Teacher Education Association
Content and quality of comparative tactical game-centered approaches in physical education : a systematic review
Get PDFEffective teaching pedagogies and curriculum frameworks in school physical education have been regularly changing and widely debated. However, teachers have predominately used technical and sport-based approaches, but tactical game-centered approaches (TGAs) are becoming more common when teaching games in physical education. This review systematically described the content and the quality of research that compared TGAs with other teaching approaches within school physical education. All 24 studies that were found compared a technical approach (TA) or control group with a TGA, and most originated from Western Europe. Studies were conducted equally in primary and secondary schools, most research was mixed-gender, and the majority incorporated a single sport to compare teaching approaches. The quality of reporting was mostly low with a moderate to serious risk of bias. Studies commonly showed that TGAs improved student outcomes in tactical skill; skill execution; affective, procedural knowledge and/or physical activity; and TAs improved skill execution and technical skill. © 2024 AERA
Integrating coding across the curriculum : a scoping review
Get PDFBackground and context: Coding and computational thinking are often taught through integrated curricula, despite a paucity of classroom-based research on their effectiveness. Objective: To investigate evidence of learning resulting from cross-curricular coding tasks in middle-school classrooms, and the school environment factors that impact upon this. Method: This scoping review synthesises recent empirical research on classroom-based integrated coding curricula in middle schools, and analyses the nature of student learning reported in the studies. Findings: By analysing the way computational thinking has been operationalised, we contend that it conceptually conflates a range of learning outcomes. The analysis also reveals that the quality of student learning is subject to teacher knowledge and pedagogy, which are in turn heavily influenced by factors from multiple levels of school ecosystems. Implications: Future research into integrated coding curricula should address specific outcomes in computer science, in the integrated subject, and general competencies, and consider school ecosystem factors. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
A call to innovate Antarctic avian influenza surveillance
Get PDFHighly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses are increasingly spreading between birds and mammals globally, with sporadic transmission to humans. With recent emergence in Antarctica, traditional animal capture and influenza testing approaches have proven challenging and logistically impractical. Without reference laboratories in the region, responses are slow and few samples will ever be collected or tested from local outbreaks due to lack of infrastructure. We call for development of innovative data collection strategies that can be deployed for a diverse range of sample types for rapid, field-forward characterization. Policy shifts and enhanced biosecurity protocols are required to protect Antarctic biodiversity, and we advocate for global coordination and strengthened collaborations between national programs, tour operators, and scientists to establish a ‘smart surveillance’ network. © 2024 The Author(s
Discussion : utilizing waste‑shredded rubber pieces for improved foundation stability [Transp. Infrastruct. Geotech. 11(6), 3941–3968]
Get PDFThis communication article presents a discussion of various identified shortcomings in the original research paper by Thapa et al. (the Authors) that was recently published in Transp. Infrastruct. Geotech. 11(6), 3941–3968, 2024. The Authors investigated the application of waste shredded rubber pieces (SRPs) for improving the performance of shallow foundations bearing on a problematic collapsible soil obtained from the Western Uttar Pradesh region of India. They performed laboratory experiments, including Atterberg (consistency) limits, compaction, unconfined compressive strength and undrained direct-shear tests, on the unamended soil (i.e., 0% SRP content) and five soil–SRP blends prepared with gravimetric SRP contents ranging from 1% to 5%. Moreover, the Authors employed finite-element method (FEM) modeling to assess the effects of SRP content on the ultimate bearing capacity (B) and settlement (S) response of an infinite strip footing bearing on the investigated compacted soil–SRP blends. Using the results obtained from the six FEM simulations, the Authors then produced multiple linear regression (MLR) models for predicting the FEM-generated B and S values of the compacted soil amended with 0–5% SRP additive. In this communication article, the Discussers raise several shortcomings of the Authors’ research, including (i) the presented Atterberg limits results are fundamentally compromised by the inclusion of the coarse SRP additive in the test material, and (ii) the validity and applicability of their proposed MLR models for predicting the B and S responses of shallow footings bearing on the SRP-amended soil. © The Author(s) 2025
Former teachers’ perceptions of post-teaching career job satisfaction : lessons for the profession
Get PDFTeachers worldwide are rethinking their commitment to the profession and their traditional roles in schools and classroom teaching, evidenced by significant global rates of teacher attrition and subsequent teacher shortages. Research aimed at deepening our understanding of teachers’ decisions to leave the profession has primarily reported on teachers’ intentions to leave the profession, with limited insights from former teachers. In this paper, we report on the second phase of a national study in Australia that focused on understanding teacher attrition from the perspectives of former teachers and their post-teaching work experiences. Framed by the concept of work satisfaction, we draw on in-depth interviews with 25 former teachers from across the country to understand the motivating factors shaping their post-teaching work experiences. Using thematic analysis, the findings revealed the power of professional autonomy, trust, and care as enablers of work satisfaction. These findings have the potential to identify the necessary changes at the individual, school, and systemic levels that would encourage a return to teaching in schools and strategies aimed at enhancing retention. © 2025 Educational Review
Surgical face masks as reinforcement to improve the tensile mode fracture toughness of reinforced concrete under three-point bending tests
No full textA set of experimental three-point bending tests and numerical simulations for using surgical masks as reinforcing layers in concrete samples were carried out. Different samples were prepared for analysis with changes in the number and position of the masks. The tensile strength of concrete was measured at 2.1 MPa, while that of face musk was 4.3 MPa. In these samples, fracture patterns, maximum load, fracture toughness of state I, fracture energy, and external work at the point of peak load were investigated based on the theory of fracture mechanics. The fracture procedure of specimens without face masks evolves quicker than the specimens with face masks. When the face mask was situated upper the notch, the fracture toughness increased rapidly by increasing the face mask number. When one face mask was situated upper the notch, the fracture toughness decreases by increasing the distance between the face mask and the lower boundary. When the face mask goes through the notch, the fracture toughness has the maximum value. It decreases by increasing the distance between the face mask and the lower boundary. When two face masks exist in the model, the fracture toughness decreases by increasing the distance between the face mask and the lower boundary. In addition, the external work decreases by increasing the distance between two face masks. © 2024 Elsevier Lt
Transfer of salmonella from skin to flesh and peelers during peeling of baby cucumbers
No full textSalmonella is of concern in the fresh produce sector, and a recent outbreak of Salmonella infections was associated with baby cucumbers in Australia. Some consumers advocate peeling cucumbers to improve food safety. We investigated the transfer of Salmonella Typhimurium (n = 2) and Salmonella Newport (n = 1) from unrinsed and rinsed cucumber skin to flesh and peelers (stainless steel or plastic) during peeling of baby cucumbers. Levels of Salmonella attached to cucumbers were ~7.64 to 7.87 log CFU/g (unrinsed) and ~6.75 to 7.40 log CFU/g (rinsed). Levels of Salmonella Typhimurium transferred onto the flesh were higher (~0.1 to 1.8 log %) than those of Salmonella Newport (~-1.7 to 1.4 log %) irrespective of rinsing prior to peeling. Levels of Salmonella transferred to the stainless steel peeler were generally lower (~-3.62 to 1.58 log %) than those transferred to the plastic peeler (