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Roads to ruin, pathways to prosperity
Get PDF© John Spoehr, 2016 Except where otherwise noted, Roads to Ruin, Pathways to Prosperity is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Presentation by John Spoehr published as a Dunstan Paper by The Don Dunstan Foundation
Smart Casual: Problem Solving
No full textPlease download and read ‘Instructions_zipped_file_download’ PDF prior to accessing the ‘Smart Casual’ module.This resource is part of the Smart Casual suite of professional development modules, which have been developed for and by Australian law teachers. Teaching and assessment in substantive law subjects often involves hypothetical problem solving, which encourages students to develop skills needed upon graduation. This module examines how to use structured approaches to problem solving to assist students to develop their skills. The module covers: teaching structured approaches, using MIRAT (and other structures), legally material facts, and argument and application.Dept of Education and Trainin
CJCheck Stage 1: development and testing of a checklist for reporting community juries – Delphi process and analysis of studies published in 1996–2015
Get PDFThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background
Opportunities for community members to actively participate in policy development are increasing. Community/citizen's juries (CJs) are a deliberative democratic process aimed to illicit informed community perspectives on difficult topics. But how comprehensive these processes are reported in peer-reviewed literature is unknown. Adequate reporting of methodology enables others to judge process quality, compare outcomes, facilitate critical reflection and potentially repeat a process. We aimed to identify important elements for reporting CJs, to develop an initial checklist and to review published health and health policy CJs to examine reporting standards.
Design
Using the literature and expertise from CJ researchers and policy advisors, a list of important CJ reporting items was suggested and further refined. We then reviewed published CJs within the health literature and used the checklist to assess the comprehensiveness of reporting.
Results
CJCheck was developed and examined reporting of CJ planning, juror information, procedures and scheduling. We screened 1711 studies and extracted data from 38. No studies fully reported the checklist items. The item most consistently reported was juror numbers (92%, 35/38), while least reported was the availability of expert presentations (5%, 2/38). Recruitment strategies were described in 66% of studies (25/38); however, the frequency and timing of deliberations was inadequately described (29%, 11/38).
Conclusions
Currently CJ publications in health and health policy literature are inadequately reported, hampering their use in policy making. We propose broadening the CJCheck by creating a reporting standards template in collaboration with international CJ researchers, policy advisors and consumer representatives to ensure standardized, systematic and transparent reporting
Bilingualism; Creation and Migration; Homes and Nostalgia: Art and Life with Joanna Kurowska: A Polish-American perspective.
No full textJoanna Kurowska is the author of seven critically acclaimed volumes of poetry, Stained Glass (coming March 2016); Intricacies (coming November 2015); The Butterfly's Choice (Broadstone Books, 2015); Inclusions (Cervena Barva Press, 2014); The Wall & Beyond (eLectio Publishing, 2013); Obok : Near (Oficyna Literacka, 1999, Poland); and Ściana : The Wall (Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie, 1997, Poland). Her poems, flash fiction, and scholarly work have been published widely in American and international journals, such as Atticus Review, Bateau, Christianity and Literature, The Conradian (UK), Episteme (India); International Poetry Review, Journal of Religion and the Arts, Kultura (Paris), Levure littéraire, Room Magazine, Slavic & East European Journal, Southern Quarterly, and elsewhere. Kurowska has taught at American Universities, including Indiana University, Bloomington, and the University of Chicago. She is the recipient of scholarly and literary awards, including Bruce Harkness Young Conrad Scholar Award, Kościuszko Foundation Stipend, Pushcart nominations; Jerzy Popiełuszko National Poetry Contest Award; and others. Joanna Kurowska currently works as an independent scholar and writer. Website: http://joanna-kurowska.co
Exploring trans and gender diverse issues in primary education in South Australia
No full textExecutive Summary
An increasing number of young children identify with a gender that differs from that normatively expected of their natally-assigned sex (e.g. Smith & Matthews, 2015; Telfer, Tollit, & Feldman, 2015). Such young children tend to be referred to as trans or gender diverse. The term ‘trans’ is typically used to refer to people whose gender or gender expression differs from that normatively expected of their natally-assigned sex (where those born with a penis are assigned male and expected to act in stereotypically masculine ways or to present themselves as male, and where those born with a vagina are assigned female and expected to act in stereotypically feminine ways or to present themselves as female). The term ‘gender diverse’ is typically used to refer to people whose gender identity is not encompassed by the two categories ‘male’ or ‘female’. Importantly, the terms ‘trans’ and ‘gender diverse’ encompass a wide range of gender expressions.
While population studies suggest that between 0.5% and 1% of people are trans or gender diverse (Clark et al., 2014; Conron, Scott, Stowell, & Landers, 2012), it has been suggested that figures of gender diversity are significantly higher during childhood (Möller, Schreier, Li, & Romer, 2009). Brill and Pepper (2008) argue that there are three typical ages when people acknowledge that they are trans or gender diverse: childhood, preteen/early adolescence, and late adolescence. For children who disclose that they are trans or gender diverse, the likelihood of having their gender affirmed by others is closely related to people’s understandings of gender diversity.
Schools constitute a key context in which children may disclose that they are trans or gender diverse, thus highlighting the importance of schools providing affirming and informed responses. However, research with parents of trans and gender diverse primary school children suggests that a key barrier to inclusion in schools relates to staff members’ understandings of gender, and whether issues of gender diversity are viewed as taboo or are positively included within school policies and practices (Pullen Sansfaçon, Robichaud, & Dumais-Michaud, 2015).
Australian research with students at the secondary level has clearly documented trans and gender diverse students’ negative experiences of school and the implications of this for their well-being (Jones & Hillier, 2013; Jones et al., 2016; Smith et al., 2014; Ullman, 2015). Australian research with parents of trans children, including at the primary level, has emphasised the importance of supportive schools, and the negative impact of gender stereotyping in schools (Riley, Sitharthan, Clemson, & Diamond, 2013), including by school counsellors and psychologists (Riggs & Bartholomaeus, 2015).
The important role that schools can play is currently hindered in Australia by two key issues: 1) the lack of opportunities for educator professional development and support for working with trans and gender diverse students, and 2) the broader climate of misunderstanding and fear, evidenced in recent debates about the Safe Schools Coalition.
The research documented in this report extends the limited amount of research about trans and gender diverse issues in primary education internationally. Rather than focusing on individual trans and gender diverse students, the research examines broader school cultures in relation to educator attitudes and knowledge and the usefulness of classroom resources in the form of picture books for creating inclusive schools. The project received ethics approval from Flinders University and the Department for Education and Child Development.
The research objectives of the project were to:
1. Identify the existing attitudes and knowledge of in-service and pre-service primary school teachers in South Australia about trans and gender diverse students and issues
2. Audit available picture books featuring trans or gender diverse characters
3. Explore the usefulness of picture books which include trans characters for use in primary classrooms by examining students’ understandings
4. Create an online resource with information for supporting trans and gender diverse young people
An online survey examining attitudes towards inclusion, comfort, and confidence in relation to trans and gender diverse students was completed by a sample of South Australian primary school teachers (n = 75) and pre-service teachers (n = 105). Findings between the two cohorts were very similar. The findings from both groups overall suggest that women had more positive attitudes and greater comfort in working with trans and gender diverse students, and that those who had previously worked with a trans or gender diverse student and who had undertaken training had more positive attitudes, greater comfort, and greater confidence in working with trans and gender diverse students.
An audit of picture books featuring trans or gender diverse characters found that there were 34 such books in existence. Twenty of these books focus on trans characters specifically, while 14 focus on various forms of gender diversity. Of those books currently in existence, only three are Australian. The books provide an array of different storylines and relationships which may be useful for exploring with trans and gender diverse children as well as whole classes of children. However, the books often draw on gender stereotypes, reflecting broader cultural representations and understandings of trans and gender diverse people.
Picture books featuring trans characters were explored in book reading sessions with one class of junior primary school students in a government school in South Australia. These books were useful for encouraging discussion and exploration of trans and gender diverse people’s lives. The issues raised in the books were not always clear to the students, although their understandings appeared to grow over the sessions and they were often supportive of the characters. Overall, the salience of hair and clothing in determining gender was central, and many students viewed gender as something fundamental. In some ways the students reiterated the framings of the books in terms of the constructions of binaries (girl/boy) and gender-typed clothing and hair length.
Drawing on these three sources of data, the report concludes with recommendations for developing inclusive school cultures, with a focus on making professional development, resources, and support available to educators. The findings from the three studies highlight the need for:
1. The provision of ongoing teacher education, as professional development and within universities
2. Additional resourcing of programs aimed at facilitating inclusion, such as the Safe Schools Coalition
3. DECD-sanctioned policies and guidelines to support teachers and schools to create inclusive whole school cultures
4. Increase in provision of resources to learn about gender diversity, such as picture books in school libraries, and clearer teaching guides for how to use these in class
Using biological networks to integrate, visualize and analyze genomics data
No full text© 2016 Charitou et al. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/
publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Abstract
Network biology is a rapidly developing area of biomedical research and reflects the current view that complex phenotypes,
such as disease susceptibility, are not the result of single gene mutations that act in isolation but are rather
due to the perturbation of a gene’s network context. Understanding the topology of these molecular interaction networks
and identifying the molecules that play central roles in their structure and regulation is a key to understanding
complex systems. The falling cost of next-generation sequencing is now enabling researchers to routinely catalogue
the molecular components of these networks at a genome-wide scale and over a large number of different conditions.
In this review, we describe how to use publicly available bioinformatics tools to integrate genome-wide ‘omics’
data into a network of experimentally-supported molecular interactions. In addition, we describe how to visualize and
analyze these networks to identify topological features of likely functional relevance, including network hubs, bottlenecks
and modules. We show that network biology provides a powerful conceptual approach to integrate and find
patterns in genome-wide genomic data but we also discuss the limitations and caveats of these methods, of which
researchers adopting these methods must remain aware
A national training program for simulation educators and technicians: evaluation strategy and outcomes
No full textOpen AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.BACKGROUND:
Simulation-based education (SBE) has seen a dramatic uptake in health professions education over the last decade. SBE offers learning opportunities that are difficult to access by other methods. Competent faculty is seen as key to high quality SBE. In 2011, in response to a significant national healthcare issue--the need to enhance the quality and scale of SBE--a group of Australian universities was commissioned to develop a national training program--Australian Simulation Educator and Technician Training (AusSETT) Program. This paper reports the evaluation of this large-scale initiative.
METHODS:
The AusSETT Program adopted a train-the-trainer model, which offered up to three days of workshops and between four and eight hours of e-learning. The Program was offered across all professions in all states and territories. Three hundred and three participants attended workshops with 230 also completing e-learning modules. Topics included: foundational learning theory; orientation to diverse simulation modalities; briefing; and debriefing. A layered objectives-oriented evaluation strategy was adopted with multiple stakeholders (participants, external experts), methods of data collection (end of module evaluations, workshop observer reports and individual interviews) and at multiple data points (immediate and two months later). Descriptive statistics were used to analyse numerical data while textual data (written comments and transcripts of interviews) underwent content or thematic analysis.
RESULTS:
For each module, between 45 and 254 participants completed evaluations. The content and educational methods were rated highly with items exceeding the pre-established standard. In written evaluations, participants identified strengths (e.g. high quality facilitation, breadth and depth of content) and areas for development (e.g. electronic portfolio, learning management system) of the Program. Interviews with participants suggested the Program had positively impacted their educational practices. Observers reported a high quality educational experience for participants with alignment of content and methods with perceived participant needs.
CONCLUSIONS:
The AusSETT Program is a significant and enduring learning resource. The development of a national training program to support a competent simulation workforce is feasible. The Program objectives were largely met. Although there are limitations with the study design (e.g. self-report), there are strengths such as exploring the impact two months later. The evaluation of the Program informs the next phase of the national strategy for simulation educators and technicians with respect to content and processes, strengths and areas for development
Alzheimer’s disease AdvaxCpG- adjuvanted MultiTEP-based dual and single vaccines induce high-titer antibodies against various forms of tau and Aβ pathological molecules
No full textThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Although β-amyloid (Aβ) may be the primary driver of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, accumulation of pathological tau correlates with dementia in AD patients. Thus, the prevention/inhibition of AD may require vaccine/s targeting Aβ and tau simultaneously or sequentially. Since high antibody titers are required for AD vaccine efficacy, we have decided to generate vaccines, targeting Aβ (AV-1959R), Tau (AV-1980R) or Aβ/tau (AV-1953R) B cell epitopes, based on immunogenic MultiTEP platform and evaluate the immunogenicity of these vaccines formulated with Advax(CpG), delta inulin, Alhydrogel(®), Montanide-ISA51, Montanide-ISA720, MPLA-SM pharmaceutical grade adjuvants. Formulation of AV-1959R in Advax(CpG) induced the highest cellular and humoral immune responses in mice. The dual-epitope vaccine, AV-1953R, or the combination of AV-1959R and AV-1980R vaccines formulated with Advax(CpG) induced robust antibody responses against various forms of both, Aβ and tau pathological molecules. While anti-Aβ antibody titers after AV-1953R immunization were similar to that in mice vaccinated with AV-1959R or AV-1959R/AV-1980R combination, anti-tau titers were significantly lower after AV-1953R injection when compared to the AV-1980R or AV-1959R/AV-1980R. In silico 3D-modeling provided insight into the differences in immunogenicity of these vaccine constructs. In sum, AV-1959R and AV-1980R formulated with Advax(CpG) adjuvant were identified as promising immunogenic vaccines for ongoing pre-clinical assessment and future human clinical trials
Superb Fairy-Wren (Malurus cyaneus) Sons and Daughters Acquire Song Elements of Mothers and Social Fathers
No full textThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.Birdsong is regarded as a classic example of a sexually-selected trait and has been primarily studied in systems with male song. Complex solo female song is emerging from the shadows of overlooked phenomena. In males, rearing conditions affect male song complexity, and males with complex songs are often more successful at mate attraction and territorial defense. Little is known about the ontogeny or function of complex female song. Here we examine song elements in fledgling superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) in relation to the song elements of adult tutors. Male and female superb fairy-wrens produce solo song year-round to defend a territory. We ask if sons and daughters acquire song elements from sex-specific vocal tutors. We found that sons and daughters produced the song elements of their mothers and social fathers, and that sons and daughters had comparable song element repertoires at age 7–10 weeks. We conclude that sons and daughters increase their song element repertoire when vocally imitating elements from several vocal tutors, and that both sexes acquire elements from male and female vocal tutors in this system