Schools In Melbourne Research Articles

Collaborative practice re-energises bioscience teaching in schools

This year marks the first decade of operations for the Gene Technology Access Centre (GTAC). The decade has seen a grassroots initiative by a small group of eminent research scientists and dedicated personnel from the University High School in Melbourne grow into a specialist education centre in cell and molecular biology that attracts over 6000 students and their teachers each year. GTAC has not only refocused student and teacher attention on the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary biology, but has also highlighted how a ?centre model for learning?, based upon collaboration and partnerships, can exist within ?the school system? and meet the needs of students and teachers from across Victoria and beyond.

Hannah Jessie Hankin-Hardy, in medical and humanitarian mission in Serbia during the great war

The Studenica Monastery, built in 1186 A.D., the royal mausoleum of the Nemanjic Dynasty, is considered the forerunner of the Serbian statehood and conscience because in it the first school and hospital were established. It is also where the first book was written in Serbian language. Studenica, as the cradle of the Serbian medicine, produced - and through the following eight centuries, nurtured many educators and iconic figures of the Serbian cultural tradition. Among them was St. Sava, the first Serbian Archbishop, whose name is also borne by one of the highest Serbian civilian orders, which is awarded for extreme dedication and philanthropy in Serbia and worldwide. This here is an attempt to preserve the memory of the philanthropist Hannah Henkin Hardy, who was also personally awarded one of these Serbian orders. Hannah Henkin Hardy (1886-1944) was born in Worchester, U.K., completed a medical school in Melbourne, Australia, and arrived in Serbia in January 1915 together with the first Scottish Women's Hospitals. In Kragujevac, together with the Serbian physicians, and the 'Kolo srpskih sestara,' Mrs. Hardy established the League of Serbian Women to jointly fight the great typhus epidemic. She also founded the out-patients ambulances for the poor in Kragujevac, as well as the soup kitchens, and took part in various humanitarian activities. Mrs. Hardy and her husband Samuel Hardy, together with some other philanthropists, repaired the war-damaged Church of St. George in Topola. She joined the Serbian refugees in their escape from the invading enemy forces to the Adriatic Coast through the dangerous snowbound mountains of Albania and Montenegro. She remembered the suffering of the Serbian people and the dedicated humanitarian activities of the Serbian medical corps and foreign medical missions for the rest of her life. Mrs. and Mr. Hardy dedicated their lives to philanthropy and humanitarian work, helping small and suffering peoples and nations.

A history of forestry education in Victoria, 1910–1980

Summary In 2010 it will be 100 years since the School of Forestry Creswick opened and accepted its first student intake. It is timely that in its centenary year the history surrounding the creation of Creswick as a centre for forestry education in Victoria is examined from the perspective of the development of forestry studies in a tertiary environment. This paper examines some of the events, issues and personalities that shaped forestry education in Victoria from the school's commencement in 1910 up to 1980 when The University of Melbourne and Creswick School of Forestry courses combined within the university sphere. Early issues surrounding the choice of Creswick as the school's location and the move to establish the Australian Forestry School in Canberra and its impacts on Creswick and state-federal relations are discussed. Personalities and events involved in shaping forestry education at the time included C.E. Carter and Dr Frank Moulds, both Principals at Creswick, Charles Lane Poole, Principal of the Australian Forestry School and John Chinner, head of forestry at the University of Melbourne, and the organisational and political context in which they operated. Links between Creswick School of Forestry and the University of Melbourne began at the school's establishment when A.J. Ewart, Professor of Botany at the University of Melbourne, was appointed Chairman of the Board of Examiners to oversee the science-based curriculum, ensuring it met university standards, and culminated in 1980 when the courses at the two institutions were combined. Reflections on the major issues discussed assess these issues and events as potential major factors that significantly affected forestry education in Victoria.

Are Safety-Related Features of the Road Environment Associated with Smaller Declines in Physical Activity among Youth?

This study examined how objective measures of the local road environment related to safety were associated with change in physical activity (including active transport) among youth. Few longitudinal studies have examined the impact of the road environment on physical activity among children/adolescents in their neighborhoods. Participants were children aged 8-9 years (n = 170) and adolescents aged 13-15 years (n = 276) in 2004. Data were collected in 2004 and 2006 during follow-up of participants recruited initially in 2001 from 19 primary schools in Melbourne, Australia. Walking/cycling to local destinations was parent-reported for children and self-reported by adolescents. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during nonschool hours was recorded using accelerometers. Road environment features in each participant's neighborhood (area within 800 m radius of their home) were measured objectively using a Geographical Information System. Linear regression analyses examined associations between road features and changes in active transport (AT) and MVPA over 2 years. Children's AT increased but MVPA levels decreased in both age groups; on average, younger girls recorded the greatest declines. The number of traffic/pedestrian lights was associated with DeltaAT among younger girls (B=0.45, p=0.004). The total length of walking tracks (in meters) was associated with AT among younger girls (B = 0.0016, p = 0.015) and adolescent girls (B = 0.0016, p = 0.002). For adolescent boys, intersection density was associated with AT (B = 0.03, p = 0.030). Slow points were associated with MVPA among younger boys before school (B = 1.55, p = 0.021), while speed humps were associated with MVPA among adolescent boys after school (B = 0.23, p = 0.015). There were many associations for adolescent girls: for example, the total length of local roads (B = 0.49, p = 0.005), intersection density (B = 0.05, p = 0.036), and number of speed humps (B = 0.33, p = 0.020) were associated with MVPA during nonschool hours. Safety-related aspects of the built environment are conducive to physical activity among youth and may help stem age-related declines in physical activity. Passive road safety interventions may promote AT and physical activity among less active girls, in particular.

An evaluation of the construct validity of the Developmental Test of Visual‐Motor Integration using the Rasch Measurement Model

One method of evaluating the construct validity of instruments is the Rasch Measurement Model (RMM), an increasingly popular method used for test construction and validation. The aim was to examine the construct validity of the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration 5th Edition (VMI) by applying the RMM to evaluate its scalability, dimensionality, differential item functioning and hierarchical ordering. The participants were 400 children aged 5 to 12 years, recruited from six schools in Melbourne, Victoria, who completed the VMI under the supervision of an occupational therapist. VMI items 1, 2 and 3 were excluded from the Rasch analysis since all of the children achieved a perfect score on these items. None of the items exhibited RMM misfit due to goodness-of-fit mean square (MnSq) infit statistics and standardised z (ZStd) scores being outside the specified acceptable range. VMI item 9 (copied circle) exhibited differential item functioning based on gender. In relation to hierarchical ordering of items, several were found to have similar logit difficulty values. For example, VMI items 26, 27 and 29; items 18, 22 and 24; and items 4, 5 and 11 were found to have the same level of challenge. As well, the VMI scale item logit measure order did not match that presented in the VMI test manual. Theoretically, the VMI items are developmentally ordered; however, this ordering was not mirrored by the item logit difficulty scores obtained. This has scoring implications, where scoring a respondent's VMI test booklet is terminated after three consecutive items are not passed. Clinicians should also be aware that item 9 may exhibit bias related to gender.

An evaluation of a body image intervention based on risk factors for body dissatisfaction: A controlled study with adolescent girls

In this research we aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a theoretically derived school-based body image intervention for young adolescent girls. Participants were 194, female Grade 7 students from two Catholic Secondary Schools in Melbourne, Australia. One school was allocated to the intervention group and the other school was allocated to the control group. The intervention group participated in three 50-min body image intervention sessions, while the control group received their usual classes. All participants completed baseline, post-intervention and 3-month follow-up questionnaires. The intervention group reported significantly more positive outcomes than the control group on measures of intervention topic knowledge, risk factors for body dissatisfaction, body image, dietary restraint and self-esteem, at post-intervention and follow-up. This study provides support for the efficacy of a theoretically derived school-based body image intervention with adolescent girls.

Evaluating Construct Validity of the Slosson Visual-Motor Performance Test Using the Rasch Measurement Model

The aim of this study was to evaluate the construct validity of the Slosson Visual-Motor Performance Test by applying the Rasch Measurement Model to evaluate the test's scalability, dimensionality, differential item functioning based on sex, and hierarchical ordering. Participants were 400 children ages 5 to 12 years, recruited from six schools in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Slosson Visual-Motor Performance Test requires a child to copy 14 different geometric designs three times each for a total 42 scale items. Children completed the test under the supervision of an occupational therapist. Overall, 13 of 42 of the test items exhibited poor measurement properties. As nearly one-third of the scale items were problematic, the Slosson Visual-Motor Performance Test in its current form is not recommended for clinical use.

Internal Consistency and Concurrent Validity of Four Instruments Used to Evaluate the Visual-Motor Integration Skills of School-Aged Children

Objective. The study aim was to examine the internal consistency and concurrent validity of four visual-motor integration assessment tools. Providing early, targeted intervention for children presenting with visual-motor integration difficulties relies on having access to high-quality visual-motor integration assessment tools that are valid and reliable. Method. The participants included 400 typically developing children aged 5 to 12 years, recruited from six schools in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Under the guidance of an occupational therapist, children completed the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, Test of Visual-Motor Integration, Test of Visual-Motor Skills-Revised, and Slosson Visual-Motor Performance Test. The order of completion of the four tests was counterbalanced to minimize an order effect. Cronbach alpha and Pearson's r correlations were calculated using SPSS. Results. Results for Cronbach alpha were all above 0.80, indicating high levels of internal consistency, and all four instruments were significantly correlated with one another, demonstrating concurrent validity. Conclusion. It can be concluded that all four visual-motor integration instruments exhibit acceptable levels of internal consistency and concurrent validity based on this study's results.

Living in two worlds

This paper is based on an analysis of interviews, conducted at three primary schools in Melbourne, which sought to explore the determinants of code-switching between English and Chinese. Specifically, it examined school education and other specific possible determinants of code switching amongst Chinese-Australian bilingual children. The specific determinants of codeswitching that emerge from this study include: the length of residence in an English speaking community; the exposure to languages in schools and family communication patterns. The nature of school education played a leading role in Chinese language maintenance for the bilingual children.

Living in two worlds

This paper is based on an analysis of interviews, conducted at three primary schools in Melbourne, which sought to explore the determinants of code-switching between English and Chinese. Specifically, it examined school education and other specific possible determinants of code switching amongst Chinese-Australian bilingual children. The specific determinants of codeswitching that emerge from this study include: the length of residence in an English speaking community; the exposure to languages in schools and family communication patterns. The nature of school education played a leading role in Chinese language maintenance for the bilingual children.

Strike While the Iron's Hot: Using the Internet and Current Events for Political Engagement

This paper outlines my classroom experiences with a group of second ary school students of French, and it focus es on the development of approaches for encouraging critical political engagement which can be applied to other educational settings. The context here is a government school in inner-city Melbourne, Australia, catering to a socially and ethnically diverse student population of roughly 1200 girls over the school years 7 to 12. I will be discussing a topic on youth employ ment conditions which I taught as part Unit 1 of the senior Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) French course (Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 2003). VCE French prescribes three broad themes, further broken into topics, which are common to many other language courses. These are: 1. The individual:

Editorial: Practice development: who cares and so what?

Editorial: Practice development: who cares and so what?

Interaction of Parenting Experiences and Brain Structure in the Prediction of Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents

Although some evidence suggests that neuroanatomic abnormalities may confer risk for major depressive disorder, findings are inconsistent. One potential explanation for this is the moderating role of environmental context, with individuals differing in their biological sensitivity to context. To examine the influence of adverse parenting as an environmental moderator of the association between brain structure and depressive symptoms. Cross-sectional measurement of brain structure, adverse parenting, and depressive symptoms in early adolescents. General community. A total of 106 students aged 11 to 13 years (55 males [51%]), recruited from primary schools in Melbourne, Australia, and their mothers. Selection was based on affective temperament, aimed at producing a sample representing a broad range of risk for major depressive disorder. No participant evidenced current or past case-level depressive, substance use, or eating disorder. (1) Volumetric measures of adolescents' amygdala, hippocampus, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC); (2) frequency of observed maternal aggressive behavior during a mother-adolescent conflict-resolution interaction; and (3) adolescent depressive symptoms. Boys with smaller right amygdalas reported more depressive symptoms. However, neither hippocampal volume nor asymmetry measures of limbic or paralimbic ACC were directly related to level of depressive symptoms. Importantly, frequency of maternal aggressive behaviors moderated the associations between both the amygdala and ACC, and adolescent symptoms. Particularly, in conditions of low levels of maternal aggressiveness, boys with larger right amygdalas, girls with smaller bilateral amygdalas, and both boys and girls with smaller left paralimbic ACC reported fewer symptoms. These findings help elucidate the complex relationships between brain structure, environmental factors, and depressive symptoms. Further longitudinal research is required to examine how these factors contribute to the onset of case-level disorder, but given that family context risk factors are modifiable, our findings do suggest the potential utility of targeted early parenting interventions.

Using Intensive Interaction to add to the palette of interactive possibilities in teacher–pupil communication

Intensive Interaction was introduced to a special developmental school in Melbourne, Australia. The school had previously used behavioural and skills‐based teaching approaches to underpin the teaching of students with severe/profound intellectual disabilities and autistic spectrum disorders. Video baselines of students involved in classroom interactions were taken before introducing the approach of Intensive Interaction to the school. Following a 30‐week period during which the approach was practised routinely in classrooms, further video records were made. These video records enabled comparison to be made against five indicators of student involvement. Professional development using video techniques and structured reflection was initiated with all involved staff. Increases in the student’s joint focus, positive affect and interactive involvement were noted. In addition to changes in the communicative involvement of the pupils, the practitioner’s communicative involvement was also noted to change.

Do graphic health warning labels have an impact on adolescents’ smoking‐related beliefs and behaviours?

To assess the impact of the introduction of graphic health warning labels on cigarette packets on adolescents at different smoking uptake stages. School-based surveys conducted in the year prior to (2005) and approximately 6 months after (2006) the introduction of the graphic health warnings. The 2006 survey was conducted after a TV advertising campaign promoting two new health warnings. Secondary schools in greater metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. Students in year levels 8-12: 2432 students in 2005, and 2050 in 2006, participated. Smoking uptake stage, intention to smoke, reported exposure to cigarette packs, knowledge of health effects of smoking, cognitive processing of warning labels and perceptions of cigarette pack image. At baseline, 72% of students had seen cigarette packs in the previous 6 months, while at follow-up 77% had seen packs and 88% of these had seen the new warning labels. Cognitive processing of warning labels increased, with students more frequently reading, attending to, thinking and talking about warning labels at follow-up. Experimental and established smokers thought about quitting and forgoing cigarettes more at follow-up. At follow-up intention to smoke was lower among those students who had talked about the warning labels and had forgone cigarettes. Graphic warning labels on cigarette packs are noticed by the majority of adolescents, increase adolescents' cognitive processing of these messages and have the potential to lower smoking intentions. Our findings suggest that the introduction of graphic warning labels may help to reduce smoking among adolescents.

Clinical school partnerships: the way forward in nursing education, research and clinical practice

This paper describes the development of a partnership between a university clinical school and a sub-acute health care facility in Melbourne, Australia. A brief history of nursing education is given to provide a background for the development of this collaborative model. The paper explores the partnership, what it has achieved and continues to achieve, as well as the challenges that have been faced along the way.

When Seeing Matters: An International Virtual Studio Project

The International Virtual Studio Project is a global collaborative project between undergraduate sculpture students from RMIT University School of Art, Melbourne, Australia and Chelsea School of Art, London, UK. The project involves the installation by students of actual work at twin sites in Melbourne and London and virtually on the Internet where a URL site frames and broadcasts real-time webcam activities as a unified outcome. This paper discusses the implications for students and institutions of the use of virtual technologies that imply a public audience. The project is described across two iterations in 2005 & 2006. A third iteration in 2007 involved an exchange of video works using the Youtube website. We examine how collaborative creative activity between spatially disparate student groups encourages learning through self-reflexivity and expands the notion of a global arts community. A pedagogical model is sketched based upon cognitive models of collaborative learning and film theory is used to suggest an active role for the public viewer in art education.

Investment in HIV prevention works: a natural experiment

Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Hospital and School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic. 2053, Australia. National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia. National Centre in HIV Social Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, 215 Franklin Street, Melbourne, Vic. 3000, Australia. Corresponding author. Email: cfairley@unimelb.edu.au

Family, school, peer and individual influences on early adolescent alcohol use: first‐year impact of the Resilient Families programme

This study aimed to examine: (a) the influence of family factors relative to school, peer and individual influences on the development of adolescent alcohol use during the first year of secondary school; and (b) the feasibility of preventing adolescent alcohol use by modifying family factors. Twenty-four schools in Melbourne, Australia were randomly assigned to either the 'Resilient Families' intervention or a control condition. A baseline cohort of 2315 grade 7 students (mean age 12.3 years) were followed-up one year later (n=2128 for longitudinal analyses). A sub-set of parents (n=1166) also returned baseline surveys. The prevalence of lifetime alcohol use in year 7 was 33% and rose to 47% by year 8. Student-reported predictors of year 8 alcohol use included baseline alcohol [Odds Ratio (OR) 3.64] and tobacco use (2.68), and school friend's alcohol (1.41) and tobacco use (1.64). After adjusting for other influences, student-reported family factors were not maintained as significant predictors of year 8 alcohol use. Parent-report predictors of student-reported alcohol use included allowing alcohol use in the home (2.55), parental alcohol use (1.88) and child hyperactivity (1.85). Protective factors included attendance at brief parent education (0.60) and parent involvement in school education (0.65). The intervention appeared to benefit education-related outcomes, but no overall effect in reducing student alcohol use was found in year 8. Intervention effects on alcohol misuse may become significant in later secondary school once the entire program has been implemented. Considerable alcohol use was detected in early secondary school, suggesting that interventions to reduce alcohol use may be usefully implemented prior to this period.

What outcomes are we trying to achieve in our outdoor education programs?

Abstract In this paper we examine the effect an outdoor and experiential education program on the life effectiveness skills of its participants. A private boys school in Melbourne focused on the challenging time of year nine to implement a program they hoped would enable the boys to develop life effectiveness skills in the areas of time management, social competence, achievement motivation, intellectual flexibility, task leadership, emotional control, active initiative and self confidence. The program involved a progression through a variety of curriculum areas including a number of outdoor education components and trips. We specifically considered two major areas of the program. The first, an examination of the boys life effectiveness skills after the program; and secondly whether participation in the outdoor education component had a more significant impact on life effectiveness skills compared to the other programs. Results showed the life effectiveness skills of the boys increased after each aspect of the program, with a significant difference found between the life effectiveness skills of the boys who participated in two outdoor education programs compared to only one. Introduction This study evaluated the effectiveness of an experiential learning and outdoor education school program on the life effectiveness skills of middle school boys. The program is referred to as the Pre- Senior Life Effectiveness (PSLE) Program. We have no direct involvement in the PSLE program, but feel this type of research is important for the outdoor education field. The research aimed to investigate the impact the PSLE program, and its outdoor education component, had on the life effectiveness skills of the year nine boys. Life effectiveness skills are those which are applicable to many areas of life and have the potential to assist individuals in dealing with the challenges and expectations of home, school, work and community life (Neill, 2000). Social, emotional and psychological development associated with adolescence At year nine level, students are generally between the ages of thirteen and fifteen years, which is considered part of their adolescent years. The radical physical developments during adolescence are also known to have a significant impact on an adolescent socially, emotionally and psychologically (Coleman & Hendry, 1999; Edelman & Mandle, 1998; Henderson, Champlin & Evashwick, 1998). Adolescence is marked by uncertainties over social role and identity, sexuality, work and personal relationships (Fosh, Phoenix & Pattman, 2002). The physical, social, emotional, psychological and role changes lead to the fluctuation of an adolescent's body image and thus has implications on sense of self. An adolescent often tries to develop their identity by being independent and individual, yet still requires a sense of uniformity in how they appear to others around them. It is not surprising, considering all the changes linked with adolescence that it is associated with feelings of self-consciousness, negative self-concept and has been referred to as a "crisis in contemporary forms of masculinity" (Fosh et al., 2002, p. 1). Studies by Marsh, Parker and Barnes (1985) and Richards (1999) have associated this stage with the lowest point of selfconcept and an overwhelmingly obvious lowering in physical self-satisfaction. Adolescence and school performance Research has shown that boys' overall performance at school has deteriorated to the point where it is considered that boys are now being disadvantaged (Buckingham, 1999; Henderson & Barnett, 2001; Teese, Davies, Charlton & Polesel, 1995). The deterioration in boys' overall school performance has caused great concern in schools and in the wider community leading to a Parliamentary Inquiry in 1994 and October 2002 into the education of boys. Increased pressure has been placed on schools since the 1990s (Neill, 1997) to educate the 'whole' student, academically, physically, emotionally and psychologically. …