Supervision provided to Indigenous Australian doctoral students: a black and white issue

The number of Indigenous Australians completing doctoral qualifications is disparately below their non-Indigenous contemporaries. Whilst there has been a steady increase in Indigenous completions in recent years, significant work remains to redress the imbalance. Supervision has been identified as a primary influencer of the likely success of Indigenous doctoral students, yet very little research has been undertaken in this area. This paper examines the experiences of 11 Indigenous Australians who hold a doctoral qualification. It also provides the experiences of five non-Indigenous supervisors who were an integral part of the supervision team of one of the successful doctoral graduates. A best-practice framework for supervision is offered as a guide for how supervisors, universities and national bodies can contribute to building the number of doctoral qualified Indigenous Australians.     

Patterns,drivers and challenges pertaining to postgraduate taught study: an international comparative analysis

The global growth in postgraduate (PG) study since the mid-1990s has been attributed to the expansion in Masters by Coursework participation (Bekhradnia, B. (2005). Postgraduate education in the UK: Trends and challenges higher education policy institute. Paper presented at a conference The future of postgraduate education supporting the students of today and tomorrow, London, 17 March). However, unlike at undergraduate level, research into understanding PG growth has been under-researched. This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge gap by identifying and comparing the growth in PG study in Australia, Canada, the USA and the UK. It explores the possible drivers behind the growth and concludes by highlighting potential challenges facing the future of PG study across the sector.     

Course of depression and anxiety symptoms during the transition to parenthood for female adolescents with histories of victimization

The aim of the current study was to increase understanding of how victimization history impacts the longitudinal course of depression and anxiety in a sample of 55 adolescents emerging into parenthood. Adolescents were interviewed about their victimization experiences during their second trimester of pregnancy, and interviews were subsequently classified according the Maltreatment Classification Scale (Barnett, Manly, & Cicchetti, 1993). Adolescents reported on their symptoms of depression and anxiety prenatally and 6 and 12 months postpartum. Growth curve modeling revealed that, on average, there was a steady linear decline in depression and anxiety symptoms across the transition to parenthood, with a rate of change of 25% and 20%, respectively, from the prenatal assessment to 12 months postpartum. Sexual abuse history attenuated the likelihood of a decrease in depressive symptoms over time. Neglect history was associated with higher prenatal levels of anxiety, as well as a steeper decline in anxiety symptoms over time. Future research is needed to determine the role of poly-victimization in predicting the onset and change of depression and anxiety symptoms. Findings from the current study have the potential to aid in the design of preventative and intervention efforts to reduce risks of mental health difficulties in adolescent parents.     

Humans and Change: BlackBerry Haters to iPhone Fans

This article is a lighthearted look at how people's attitudes changed over time in relation to their mobile phones, what the drivers of that change were, and what we can learn from that.     

Using learning sets to support UK delivery of off-shore learning in Africa

This account of practice focuses on the delivery of Action Learning Sets in Swaziland and Malawi as part of a UK university's remote Master's degree teaching programme. It draws upon the experience of an Academic delivering the programme and the efforts made to refine the approach to action learning given time, understanding and resource challenges. The outcome of limited research on the benefits of Action Learning Sets is shared within this context.     

STUDENT INTEREST IN TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE (SITS) SURVEY: DEVELOPMENT,VALIDATION, AND USE OF A NEW INSTRUMENT

This study presents the systematic development, validation, and use of a new instrument for measuring student interest in science and technology. The Student Interest in Technology and Science (SITS) survey is composed of 5 sub-sections assessing the following dimensions: interest in learning science, using technology to learn science, science careers, technology careers, and attitudes toward biotechnology. Our development process included review of existing instrumentation, pilot testing, and expert panel review. The resulting instrument was administered before and after implementation of a biotechnology intervention which used a computer-based game to engage learners in the use of biotechnology to address a societal issue. We employed item response theory (IRT) to explore instrument validity and precision. Results of the psychometric analyses suggest that the SITS survey has a well-defined structure and meets IRT assumptions. Difficulty and discrimination parameters as well as reliability analyses indicate that SITS items provide useful measures of student interest. Finally, we use the SITS to explore the extent to which the intervention used in this study supports changes in student interest and association between students’ interest and related content knowledge. Implications for the future use of this instrument are discussed.     

Interpretation,teaching and rationality

That processes of interpretation are unavoidable in any educational experience has not received serious attention in teaching and teacher education. One of the authors devised an exercise for her graduate class to help them understand practical aspects of hermeneutic theory in connection with rationality, truth and the nature of teaching and learning. The three co‐authors, each from a different cultural background, monitored and described their experiences of this exercise in order to explore the role of interpretation in teaching and learning. The students' interpretive activity was found to link subject matter to their past experience, reconstructing both. This process is described in detail and it is suggested that curricular spaces for interpretation be deliberately incorporated into teaching and learning situations.

Le fait que des processus d'interprétation sont inévitables dans des expériences éducationnelles n'a pas reçu d'attention sérieuse en enseignement ou en enseignement pédagogique. Un des auteurs a conçu un exercice pour aider sa classe graduée à comprendre les aspects pratiques de la théorie ‘hermeneutique’ par rapport à la rationalité, la vérité et la nature de l'enseignement et de l'apprentissage. Les trois co‐auteurs, provenant chacun d'une culture différente, analysent et décrivent leurs expériences de cet exercice a fin d'explorer le rôle de l'interprétation dans l'enseignement et l'apprentissage. L'activité interprétative des étudiants a démontré une tendance à lier les thèmes à leur expérience antérieure, reconstruisant tous les deux. Ce processus est décrit en détail et il est suggéré que des espaces curriculaires pour l'interprétation soient incorporés aux situations d'enseignement et d'apprentissage.

Los procesos de interpretación son inevitables en cualquier experiencia educativa que no ha recibido la debida atención, en la educación de la enseñanza y la educación pedagógica. Una de los autores ideó un ejercicio para que a su clase de graduados les ayude a entender aspectos prácticos de la teoría "hermeneutic" en conexión con la racionalidad, la verdad y la naturaleza de la enseñanza y el aprender. Las tres co‐autores, cada una de un diverso fondo cultural, analizan y describen sus experiencias de este ejercicio para explorar el papel de la interpretación en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje. La actividad interpretativa de los estudiantes demostró un enlace del tema con sus experiencias previas, reconstruyendo ambos. Este proceso se describe detalladamente y se sugiere que los espacios curriculares para la interpretación estén incorporados deliberadamente en situaciones de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje.

Dass in jeder erzieherischen Erfahrung Interpretationsvorgange unumgänglich sind, auch im Bereich des Lehrens und der Lehrerbildung,, erhielt noch keine ernste Beachtung. Eine der Autorinnen entwickelte eine Aufgabe fur ihre “graduate students” um ihnen praktische Aspekte der Hermeneutic verstandlich zu machen, besonders in bezug auf Rationalitat, Wahrheit , und die Art des Lernens und Lehrens. Ihre Co‐autorinnen, jede aus einem anderen Herkunftsland, beobachten und beschreiben ihre Erlebnisse mit dieser Aufgabe, um,die Rolle der Interpretation im Lehren und Lernen zu erforschen. Es war zu ersehen, dass die Interpretationstatigkeit dieser Studentinnen eine Verbindung herstellte zwischen Lehrinhalt und vergangenen Erfahrungen, und zugleich auch beide Bereiche rekonstruierte. Dieser Prozess ist im Detail dargestellt, und es wird vorgeschlagen, curiculare Freiraume fur Interpretationsprozesse zu schaffen und diese ganz bewusst in Lehr‐und Lernsituationen zu integrieren.     

Fostering children’s relationship with nature: exploring the potential of Forest School

Forest School offers children opportunities to explore the natural environment regularly over an extended period of time. It is based on six key principles, one of which states Forest School fosters a relationship with nature and develops long-term pro-environment attitudes through regular personal experiences in nature. We consider to what extent this aim is achieved by exploring the published evidence. We identify that a relationship with nature could be demonstrated under six themes although there is little robust evidence to support this. We suggest further research is carried out directly linked to this aim of Forest School.     

Constructing Giftedness in a Due Process Hearing: Deconstructing an Administrative Law Judge’s Decision

The purpose of this study is to explore how a Florida administrative law judge (ALJ) adjudicated the giftedness of one student who was found ineligible to be enrolled in a gifted education program. Specifically, we explore the discourse in an ALJ’s final order to uncover how an ALJ navigates through conflict and deconstructs the conflicting expert opinions and special education state statute on the definition of giftedness and then constructs giftedness from these sources to arrive at the final decision. Utilizing qualitative discourse analysis, we explore what this construction can tell us about the interpretation of the nature of giftedness and what counts as data. Findings in this case suggest that the ALJ gives more weight to experience and expertise.