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Utopia is just up the road and toward the past: young Australian winemakers return to ancient methods
No full textA Crown-of-Thorns Seastar recombinant relaxin-like gonad-stimulating peptide triggers oocyte maturation and ovulation
No full textThe Acanthaster planci species-complex [Crown-of-Thorns Seastar (COTS)] are highly fecund echinoderms that exhibit population outbreaks on coral reef ecosystems worldwide, including the Australian Great Barrier Reef. A better understanding of the COTS molecular biology is critical towards efforts in controlling outbreaks and assisting reef recovery. In seastars, the heterodimeric relaxin-like gonad stimulating peptide (RGP) is responsible for triggering a neuroendocrine cascade that regulates resumption of oocyte meiosis prior to spawning. Our comparative RNA-seq analysis indicates a general increase in RGP gene expression in the female radial nerve cord during the reproductive season. Also, the sensory tentacles demonstrate a significantly higher expression level than radial nerve cord. A recombinant COTS RGP, generated in a yeast expression system, is highly effective in inducing oocyte germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD), followed by ovulation from ovarian fragments. The findings of this study provide a foundation for more in-depth molecular analysis of the reproductive neuroendocrine physiology of the COTS and the RGP
Collaborating with refugees: power, ethics and reciprocity in documentary filmmaking
No full textRepresenting stories through documentary film can offer a means to convey multilayered and sensory accounts of the lived experiences of people in extreme transition, especially former refugees. However, along with the potential of this medium comes the responsibility to engage with participants in an ethical and reciprocal manner. This article examines these prerequisites and applies them to two films about the experiences of people from refugee backgrounds in Australia. The first film, The Last Refuge: Food Stories from Myanmar to Coffs Harbour (2015), explores the Myanmar community, their sociocultural relationship to food and how this informs their identity. The second film, 3Es to Freedom (2017), documents a supported employment program for women from refugee backgrounds. Despite having different purposes and target audiences, the two films reinforced the importance of establishing informed and negotiated consent with marginalised people as the basis of all interactions and representations on film. Such negotiation seeks to minimise power imbalances and forms the ethical starting point for reflexive filmmaking practice that considers the filmmakers’ and participants’ intentions, and that promotes a heightened awareness of how knowledge is created through image-making
Social marketing targeting Indigenous peoples: a systematic review
No full textSocial marketing is a discipline focused on the application of marketing principles to induce socially desirable behaviour change. As social marketing remains one of the main behaviour change approaches pursued by governments and international organisations, it is important to consider its use in relation to vulnerable groups that are particularly exposed to discriminatory practices, marginalisation, exclusion and destitution. The aim of this systematic review is to identify the extent to which Andreasen’s (2002) six social marketing benchmark criteria were reported in social marketing interventions targeting Indigenous peoples. A total of 20 articles covering 13 social marketing interventions were identified for review. Although none of the interventions gave evidence that they addressed all six of the benchmark criteria, they appear to have been effective in challenging some of the issues faced by Indigenous peoples. However, the criteria of segmentation, exchange and competition remain underused in the identified interventions. Social marketing interventions targeting Indigenous peoples tend to rely on television and radio advertising, showing potential for more use of product, place and price to influence, facilitate and maintain socially desirable behaviour change
Toxicity of manganese to various life stages of selected marine cnidarian species
No full textManganese (Mn) pollution in marine waters is increasing and sensitivities to this metal vary widely among marine species. The aims of this study were to characterise Mn chemistry in seawater, and evaluate the toxic effects of Mn on various life stages of two scleractinian corals - the branching sp. Acropora spathulata and massive sp. Platygyra daedalea, and the anemone Exaiptasia pallida. Analytical and theoretical characterisation experiments showed that 97-100% of Mn (II) additions ≤ 200 mg/L in seawater were soluble over 72 h and largely assumed labile complexes. Concentrations estimated to reduce coral fertilisation success by 50% (5.5-h EC50) were 237 mg/L for A. spathulata and 164 mg/L for P. daedalea. A relatively low 72-h LC50 of 7 mg/L was calculated for A. spathulata larvae. In a pilot test using fragments of adult A. spathulata, intact coral tissue rapidly sloughed away from the underlying skeleton at very low concentrations with a 48-h EC50 of just 0.7 mg/L. For E. pallida, survival, tentacle retraction and reproduction were unaffected by prolonged high exposures (12-d NOEC 54 mg/L). This study provides important data supporting the derivation of separate water quality guidelines for Mn in systems with and without coral - a decision recently considered by Australian and New Zealand authorities. It demonstrates the high sensitivity of coral larvae and adult colonies to Mn and the potential risks associated with relying on other early life stage tests and/or E. pallida as ecotoxicological representatives of critically important scleractinian corals
Does religion influence educational attainment?
No full textThere is a relatively large literature on the association between educational attainment and religious affiliation. This work, which is dominated by studies from the United States, has largely escaped the attention of Australian researchers, where the religious tapestry differs markedly from the United States. To examine these associations, we estimated a series of econometric models using data from the Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia survey. We find support for the contention that religion does have statistically significant effects on educational attainment, even when controls are included for a vast array of variables that are often used to explain these associations
Coral reef restoration using mass coral larval enhancement
No full textCoral reef communities are rapidly declining worldwide due to increasing direct anthropogenic disturbances, including global climate change. Active management approaches are needed for effectively slowing and reversing coral loss on degraded reef systems to promote recovery. Research presented in this thesis includes fertilization experiments to optimize embryo and larval culture and testing three tiles types to determine suitable larval recruitment surfaces. Two successful coral restoration experiments, using many thousands of ex situ cultured larvae of two Acropora species, resulted in increased coral settlement and recruitment and re-establishing breeding corals on degraded reef sites in the northern Philippines.
Spawned eggs and sperm of Acropora millepora, A. tenuis and Favites colemani were collected and optimal ranges of sperm concentrations and temporal response patterns for egg-sperm crosses were measured. High fertilization rates were achieved for all three species when sperm density ranged from 104-107 mL-1 and when eggs and sperm were combined after 30 minutes up to 2 hours. Following successful fertilization and larval development, coral settlement and recruitment are essential key drivers of coral reef recovery and resilience. The influence of different settlement surfaces (dead Acropora skeletons, terracotta and fibre-cement tiles) on the spatial and temporal patterns of recruitment in three reef locations in the Bolinao-Anda Reef Complex (BARC), Philippines were examined. Density and composition of coral recruits were consistent among tile types and the spatial density of recruits varied among reefs, possibly influenced by existing coral cover and distance from the major eutrophication source.
Larval enhancement experiments involved collecting gravid colonies of A. tenuis in 2013 and A. cf. loripes in 2014 for spawning and larval culture in the hatchery. Hundreds of thousands of larvae were released onto replicated degraded reef patches (4 x 6 m) enclosed in a low-cost mesh matting system. High settlement rates (\u3e25 spat per tile) were recorded in larval enhancement treatments, versus none in control sites. After 35 months, there were an average of 2.3 colonies per m2 of A. tenuis and 1.8 colonies per m2 of A. cf. loripes. Most A. tenuis colonies grew rapidly and spawned successfully at three years quickly re-establishing a breeding population on degraded reef areas for the first time. The results of these experiments show that mass larval enhancement is a viable option for restoring coral populations on larval-limited, degraded reef areas, where the immediate threats of blast-fishing and other direct human impacts are being managed
A study into organisational readiness and its impacts on school improvement
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare measures of socio-economic status (Index of Community Socio-educational Advantage values (ICSEA)), school performance, school funding and school readiness in terms of their impact on student performance. In this respect, the paper tests the proposition – given research that suggests the teacher is the important ingredient in improved student learning performance – that a school principal who has strategical worked to “ready” their teachers for a whole of school teaching improvement agenda will generate increased student learning results than those who have not and further this improvement will occur irrespective of the circumstance of the socio-economic circumstance of the school.
Design/methodology/approach – In total, 22 Government schools from a single school district in Australia participated in the study, after having been involved in a system sponsored “teaching improvement program”. A survey, consisting of 30 seven-point Likert-style scale items, was administered to all teachers and school leaders in the school district. The survey was designed to rate levels of staff perceived alignment, capability and engagement to the programme as it was implemented by the Head in each school. The information regarding each school’s ICSEA value, funding per student and student learning performance, was obtained from the database provided by the relevant authority (ACARA). All statistical analysis was completed using SPSS Version 22.
Findings – The findings of this study indicate that high levels of organisational readiness, as defined by the alignment, capability and engagement (ACE) approach, are associated with effective teaching and improvement in student outcomes. In turn, the authors interpret this to mean that the internal organisation of a school has important effects on student achievement that are independent to external factors such as school funding or even the socio-educational positioning of the school.
Research limitations/implications – The findings of this study indicate that high levels of organisational readiness, as defined by the ACE approach, are associated with effective teaching and improvement in student outcomes. The implications are that the ACE provides a framework for what the school leader needs to focus on when whole of school teaching improvement is the goal. The study did not investigate what the school leader did in each school to ready their staff.
Practical implications – These findings indicate the importance of leadership in a school and provide an insight into what the school leader needs to focus on when whole of school teaching improvement is the intended goal. This focus can thus be understood as the leader working to ensure all staff members are ACE to the improvement agenda.
Social implications – The improvement of educational outcomes is a global goal of governments. In this respect, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) school systems in particular have linked education system performance and international competitiveness in ways that place pressure on the “black box” of individual schools. Reports, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment and local testing regimes testify that governments and communities are interested in the academic performance of students within and across schooling systems. The benefits of high performing schools contribute to the standard of living of citizens and the well-being of a society more generally. This paper investigates propositions that focus the work of the school leader to achieving such inherent goals.
Originality/value – The paper introduces the concept of school readiness. The premise is considered important to the current research because it represents the ability of schools to participate in reform agendas that are characteristic of government policy positions. The “school readiness” approach lies outside the education literature, motivated by the idea that the literature on turning around failing organisations in sectors outside of education provides clear guidelines for reforming schools. The implications for turnaround leadership are particularly encouraging and important particular organisational factors, in common with sectors outside of education, are of significant importance in enhancing teacher motivation, teacher learning and consequential improvements in student outcomes. This paper seeks to add empirical evidence in support of these approaches by adopting what the authors refer as organisational “readiness” for reform developed by Schiemann (2014)
Power and knowledge in a coach mentoring program
No full textIn order to broaden our understanding of beginner (mentee) coach learning, we must consider how coach education, in particular prescribed mentoring programs may come to influence what is and what is not taken up by mentee coaches. In this article, narrative ethnography is used to explore six beginner (mentee) coaches’ learning experiences in a prescribed mentoring program within a coach education pathway. A Foucauldian perspective, specifically the concept of panopticism is used to analyse the beginner coaches’ experiences. Special attention is paid to the systems of oppression that beginner coaches may be subjected to along with the complex power relationships that may exist between mentor and mentee coaches in prescribed mentoring programs. This article illustrates how within the mentor-mentee coach relationship, subordination of beginner coaches occurs. In particular, beginner coaches are subtly disciplined and controlled so their coaching practices and ideas align with mentors and the culturally accepted coaching model
Implementing team-based learning (TBL) in accounting courses
No full textAccounting education has been criticised for ill-equipping graduates for professional employment, with calls for accounting students to acquire a broader range of skills. Working in teams is an important employability skill, yet students generally have negative perceptions of group work. This paper describes a different approach to group work, team-based learning (TBL). Students of introductory accounting courses were organised into permanent strategic teams and worked on multiple team activities. We examined their perceptions of TBL as a key pedagogical component of their learning activities. Compared to a control sample, our findings suggest that the TBL experience improved some attitudes, particularly among quantitatively inclined students. After experiencing TBL, students believed their teamwork abilities had improved, particularly those related to cultural diversity. Students generally believed that their ability in performing the roles of task leader, socio-emotional leader, and information provider improved significantly, as did their preferences for performing the two leadership roles