Australian Postgraduate Students' Perceptions,Preferences and Mobility

Postgraduate students' choice of university, and related mobility issues, have been of interest to Australian university researchers, supervisors and administrators for some time. However, with the release of the Commonwealth Government's 1999 Green Paper on research and research training, which proposes greater portability of research student funding, a sense of urgency regarding these issues has developed. This paper reports on students' choice of a particular university for postgraduate research and on what information they made those decisions. A survey was conducted in 1997 of 938 applicants for Postgraduate Research Scholarships to Flinders University, Macquarie University and the Universities of Western Australia, Adelaide and Melbourne. The survey sought to identify respondents' choices and possible movement to undertake research awards. Questions dealt with a wide range of issues with a particular focus on sources used to access information on higher degrees, preference(s) for where they wished to study, factors leading to their preferred choice, and influences on the decision to move or not move to another institution. Approximately 50% of respondents were younger than 25 years and only 27% were living with their parents. An Honour's degree was the most common prior qualification for students (73%), but only 61% were enrolling directly from their previous degree. Thirty-six per cent reported that they regularly read their main local paper for information related to postgraduate research opportunities and 39% of respondents did not regularly access any source of media for postgraduate information. Forty-two per cent of students did not explore any opportunities at other universities prior to making their decision about enrolment. Almost all students who were planning to enrol at the same university were remaining in the same department. Commensurate with this, 73% reported that their Honour's supervisor or academic staff in their original university were their major source of information on study destinations. These results provide baseline data, which can be used to approach the issue of postgraduate mobility more strategically.     

Distorted representations of the ‘capability approach’ in Australian school education

Recently, curriculum developments in Australia have seen the incorporation of functionalist ‘general capabilities’ as essential markers of schooling, meaning that any pedagogical expression of classroom-based practice, including subsequent instruction, should entail the identification and development of operational general capabilities. The paper questions and critiques recent curriculum developments in Australia that characterises capabilities purely in functionalist terms, something that the broader capabilities literature eschews. The analysis is informed by aspects of the theoretical frameworks of Martin Heidegger and Pierre Bourdieu. It examines the notion of ‘general capabilities’ in the Australian Curriculum. The paper argues that there is an inherent contradiction in Australian education policy, namely a vocationally oriented national school curriculum with implied functionings that cannot fulfil designated purposes. The paper finds that the curriculum's connection to increased individual and national economic prosperity, one championing ‘jobs and careers of the twenty-first century’, is evident, although current populous forms and categories of employment seem to suggest otherwise.     

A content analysis of the presentation of the mole concept in chemistry textbooks

The goal of this study was to examine the means used by textbook authors to introduce, define, and explain the mole concept in high school and introductory college chemistry textbooks. The analysis was framed by four questions:

• 1 How is the mole defined?
• 2 What concepts about the atom are introduced prior to the mole?
• 3 Is Avogadro's constant presented as an experimentally determined value?
• 4 What is the context for introducing the mole?

Twenty-nine high school and introductory college level chemistry texts were examined. After independent reading of appropriate sections of each text, discussion of differences, second or third readings of texts, and subsequent discussions, both authors reach 100% agreement concerning the results. Major conclusions were

• 1 Two ways of defining the mole dominate the texts. One way defines the mole as Avogadro's number (6.02 × 10²³) particles; the other method defines the mole in terms of carbon-12.
• 2 All texts that present a definition in terms of C-12 introduce and define concepts about the atom prior to introducing the mole.
• 3 Most texts at all levels point out that the value 6.02 × 10²³ is an experimentally determined quantity.
• 4 Nearly all texts discuss the mole in relation to die problem of finding a way to count particles that are too small to be directly weighed. Most texts also use a familiar counting unit, such as the dozen, to introduce the mole by analogy.

Four issues were discussed: (a) the defining attributes of the mole concept itself and the cognitive requirements for comprehending the two most frequently used definitions; (b) the connection between the definition of the mole presented in the text and the concepts about atoms that are introduced before the mole concept is developed; (c) the experimental nature of Avogadro's number; and (d) the context or setting for developing the mole concept.     

Article Title Here

This article attempts to analyse the ongoing debate regarding open-mindedness as an educational value. The views of Hare, McLaughlin and Gardner are considered. They do not always agree on what open-mindedness is, and the discussion could benefit from a more unified terminology and better counter-examples. The value and limitations of open-mindedness in both science and the humanities are discussed and analysed. It is argued that open-mindedness, while clearly a virtue if not taken to excess, need not be a goal of the educational process.     

Representing How Rabbits Quack and Competitors Act: Limits on Preschoolers' Efficient Ability to Track Perspective

This study investigated whether humans have two mind‐reading systems whereby the efficient system, unlike the flexible system, is naturally limited. There were two experiments and the first included adults as well as children (3‐ to 4‐year‐olds; total N = 128). In Experiment 1, all groups efficiently gazed in anticipation of an agent's beliefs about object location but not object identity (an ambiguous figure). In Experiment 2, children showed limits in anticipating a competitive agent's action in terms of his perspective on what is desirable. Flexibility in verbally predicting agents' actions across contexts developed with age. Convergence on signature limits across different ages and methods suggests that indirect anticipations involve minimal mind reading, whereas direct predictions tap a refined understanding of perspective.     

Engaging suppliers in CRM: The role of justice in buyer–supplier relationships

Given the crucial role of suppliers in collaborative supply chains, it is surprising that little attention has been paid to the nature and management of supplier relationships in the implementation of a retailer's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategy. To address this gap in the extant literature, the theory of organizational justice is used to explore the extent to which perceived fairness in buyer–supplier relationships supports or inhibits supplier engagement with the CRM process. The rationale is that suppliers who feel fairly treated by key retail customers are more likely to invest resources in the acquisition and use of data central to the retailer's CRM strategy. By empirically testing a conceptual model linking downstream CRM to upstream SRM, the results provide evidence to indicate that customer data use is significantly influenced by perceptions of fairness, particularly with respect to the distribution of rewards, and the transparency of decision-making processes. As a key criticism of CRM centers upon the failure of organizations to exploit the full potential of customer data, the results highlight the usefulness of understanding the relational linkages between buyers and suppliers and the consequential behavior of suppliers in terms of engagement with customer data vital to the success of retailers’ CRM strategies.     

Comparative Bayesian Confirmation and the Quine-Duhem Problem: A Rejoinder to Strevens

By and large, we think (Strevens's [2005]) is a useful replyto our original critique (Fitelson and Waterman [2005]) of hisarticle on the Quine–Duhem (QD) problem (Strevens [2001]).But, we remain unsatisfied with several aspects of his reply(and his original article). Ultimately, we do not think he properlyaddresses our most important worries. In this brief rejoinder,we explain our remaining worries, and we issue a revised challengefor Strevens's approach to QD.

1 Strevens's ‘clarifications’

2 Strevens's new-and-improved ‘negligibility arguments’

     

An Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Brief COPE with a Sample of Kenyan Caregivers

Given the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Kenya, more Kenyans now find themselves in the role of informal caregiver for a family member or multiple family members living with HIV/AIDS. However, there exists little research on how these individuals cope. The present study explores coping responses among caregivers for family members living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya. An exploratory factor analysis of the Brief COPE yielded five factors, with strong loadings on Emotional Support and Instrumental Support. Implications for using the Brief COPE in research and clinical practice among Kenyans are discussed.     

‘Am I safe here and do you like me?’ Understanding complex trauma and attachment disruption in the classroom

Elementary and special education teachers and school counsellors currently provide support to children presenting learning disabilities and behavioural problems symptomatic of the more hidden diagnosis of complex trauma resulting from abuse or severe attachment disruption. Specific disorders such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) may be diagnosed in such children, but not the aetiology of complex trauma, resulting in missing information in the development of remedial and behavioural interventions. The evolving field of trauma counselling provides important information to special education teachers and school counsellors who work with children who have experienced trauma. In this review article authors Linda O'Neill of the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), Francis Guenette who is a doctoral student at the University of Victoria and Andrew Kitchenham of the University of Northern British Columbia summarise attachment, neurobiological, and complex trauma research that can be used in school settings to understand better the needs of these children. They conclude by suggesting that teachers and school counsellors would benefit from training on the consequences of childhood trauma and attachment disruption to develop interventions that will be effective and to identify what types of behaviours children can control and those they cannot.     

The Status of Literature: English teaching and the condition of literature teaching in schools

Although the curriculum subject of English is continually reviewed and revised in all English speaking countries, the status of literature is rarely questioned: i.e. that it is of high cultural value and all students should be taught about it. The concerns of any review, in any country, are typically about what counts as literature, especially in terms of national heritage, and then how much of the curriculum it should occupy. This paper reports on three inter‐related pieces of research that examine the views of in‐service and pre‐service English teachers about their experiences of teaching literature and their perceptions of its ‘status’ and significance, both at official level and in the classroom; it draws attention to how England compares with some other English‐speaking countries and to the need to learn from the negative outcomes of political policy in England. The findings suggest that the nature of engagement with literature for teachers and their students has been distorted by official rhetorics and assessment regimes and that English teachers are deeply concerned to reverse this pattern.