Proceedings of the Lifesaving Foundation’s 2010 Research Conference & Ireland Medal Ceremony

The Lifesaving Foundation Ltd (2010) These Proceedings are freely available in the public domain for distribution to anyone involved and interested in decreasing drowning deaths around the world. Please share this piece of information with your partners and associates giving credit to the authors

Child–parent interaction in relation to road safety education : Part 2 – main report

• Children and young people are particularly vulnerable road users. • Child pedestrian injury rates are poor compared with the rest of Europe. • The factors that impact on children’s road safety and their capability in traffic are numerous, multi-faceted and complex. • • The systematic review conducted by Cattan et al. (2008) as the initial phase of this study shows that: • parents see themselves as being responsible for developing their children’s road safety awareness and skills; • holding hands is the most common road-crossing interaction between parents and children; • adults rarely make use of road-crossing events to give oral instructions; • few parents and children are consistent in their road-crossing behaviour; • roadside training by volunteer parents for groups of children can lead to significant improvements in children’s road safety behaviour; • belief in fate seems to influence the likelihood of parents using restraints, such as seat belts or car seats, with their children; and • parents’ understanding of the child’s perspective in carrying out road safety tasks and their motivation to actively involve their child in making decisions at the roadside can be improved through training. • Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) suggests that the modelling role of parents can make a significant contribution to children’s learning about road use and their development of traffic competence whether or not parents are aware of this. • The main aim of this study was to explore the way parents influence children and young people aged 0–16 years to be safer road users. • This study included children and young people aged 5–16 and parents of children aged 0–16 years old

Development of activity-based language learning of Chinese for a primary school in western Sydney : a participatory action research study

This study explores the use of activity-based learning in the Chinese as a Foreign Language classroom, for young learners in the western Sydney region. The research takes account of current opportunities and the challenges arising from language policy in the Australian context. Activity-based learning is the focus of this research, with hands-on experiments and various classroom activities used rather than having students passively listening to the teacher. In this study, to engage students and to improve their Chinese learning, a wide range of activities, using music, drama games and visual arts, were implemented in the classroom. This thesis aims to answer the following three research questions: How can activity-based learning be used to teach Chinese language to learners who do not have a Chinese language background, in a western Sydney primary school? What factors influence the implementation of an activity-based approach of this kind? What evidence of learning, in relation to outcomes listed in the NSW Chinese K-10 syllabus for Stage 2 students, can be ascertained following the implementation of an activity- based approach to learning Chinese language? This study applied a qualitative methodology using action research with a teacher-as-researcher. The action research involved planning, acting, observing, reflecting and re-planning in a spiral cycle. The teacher-researcher, also a beginning teacher, fostered her own professional learning through reflection, on a weekly basis, on her own teaching practice and used the action research mode to improve the teaching activities. Two cycles of data were collected from a variety of sources, including: feedback from the classroom teacher obtained through observation and interviews; the teacher-researcher’s weekly reflective journal: student focus groups; and checklists completed by students at the end of each cycle. This research shows that the use of an activity-based learning approach for young learners in western Sydney has a significant impact on their Chinese language learning. Such approaches can engage students emotionally, behaviourally and cognitively through a variety of classroom activities. By using various activities such as simple drama games, Chinese songs and visual arts activities, students have achieved the outcomes outlined in the Chinese syllabus, in a relaxing and productive learning environment. Different classroom activities, incorporating various art forms, make Chinese easier to learn and remember, which helps to keep students emotionally engaged and to maintain their interest in learning Chinese. Hence, it is an effective way to motivate students to continue studying Chinese at the next stage. In the meantime, the teacher-researcher’ s professional learning has been enhanced in the process of conducting this research with the help of the teacher-as-researcher mode of action research

Keeping your head in a revolution

Explores new developments in information services

The Steering Towards Readiness Framework : The Lived Experience of Clinical Facilitators in Identifying, Assessing and Managing Students at Risk of Not Being Ready to Practice as Beginning Practitioners Within Western Australian Health Settings

Clinical facilitators (CFs) are a fundamental resource for student registered nurses (RNs) as they facilitate the consolidation of theory and practice in preparation for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA). Health service providers (HSPs) and higher education providers (HEPs) require CFs to identify, assess and manage (I, A & M) the risks of final placement nursing students and, in doing so, protect risk to patient safety. This research aimed to explore the lived experience of CFs in Western Australia in identifying, assessing and managing risk of a student progressing to be a RN. The study used an interpretative phenomenological approach with Heideggerian hermeneutical principles and commentary to guide the exploration and analysis of nine in-depth interviews with CFs. Follow-up interviews substantiated the initial findings. The five major themes identified were ‘The contexts’ of the HSPs’ and CFs’ toolboxes; the CFs’ ‘Responses to navigating current conditions’; and three phases of a final placement: termed ‘Navigating current traffic conditions’, ‘Forging ahead’ and ‘Reaching the destination’. The findings revealed how participants took this journey not only with students, but with other nurses, academics and colleagues. The Steering Towards Readiness framework developed during the study highlights how CFs rely on themselves and/or on other nurses to support students on a final placement. Students were identified as not being independent in the workplace and ready only with support. Further debriefing for CFs to better I, A & M risk was needed. This research used an innovative approach to describe how the contexts, resources and attributes of nurses, students and CFs influence how risk to student readiness is identified, assessed and managed on a student’s final placement. The study paves the way for an examination of the likelihood of risk and possible strategies to actively engage the CF in a cooperative relationship with educational and health setting providers. Such a relationship may assist in the graduation of industry-ready and capable graduates

The Internet of Things Connectivity Binge: What are the Implications?

Despite wide concern about cyberattacks, outages and privacy violations, most experts believe the Internet of Things will continue to expand successfully the next few years, tying machines to machines and linking people to valuable resources, services and opportunities