The psychology of university student learning and performance: using the wiki tool in Blackboard to support collaborative hypertext development among first-year psychology students

Before wikis and mind-maps there was hypertext. Somehow hypertext lost popularity at exactly the same time as its direct descendent, the world-wide web, become omnipresent. One of the problems for educators wishing to use and evaluate hypertext was the lack of availability of tools that students could understand for its generation. Times have now changed. Social networking is rampant, Wikipedia has been a huge success, and universities have now developed pervasive computer systems based on Blackboard and similar products. These provide easy-to-learn tools for hypertext creation, if you know where to look. We have been using the wiki tool in blackboard to support a collaborative hypertext project. Students in their first year of psychology are asked to gather information regarding career paths in the profession. They then cooperate in small groups with overlapping interests to present this information as a wiki on the MySCU site. At the end of semester, each group gives a brief presentation regarding their wiki and its development. Use of the wiki tool editor requires almost no training, and the majority of students were able to complete this assignment with ease. Gentle encouragement to incorporate hypertext design elements, as opposed to a linear presentation, was effective in many cases. Pleasingly, the experience leaves a (small) group of students interested in how to develop these skills further, manipulating CSSs and trying to get images on the background. Feedback on the unit was generally positive, and very few intra-group problems emerged. The success of this project suggests that the educational benefits of hypertext may now be achievable: at the very least it is now possible for educators to focus upon evaluation of the conceptual skills acquired rather than the technical details of hypertext creation for their students

Reframing ‘well-being’ in schools: the potential of recognition

In Australia and internationally, the well-being of children and young people is a core focus of social policy, with a growing imperative to locate well-being within the sphere of education. However, the term ‘well-being’ remains ambiguous and the implementation of educational approaches to promote and improve it appears fragmented and ad hoc. In Australia, little is known about how well-being is understood and supported in schools, particularly from the perspective of students themselves. This article reports on key findings from an ambitious mixed-methods study funded by the Australian Research Council that investigated conceptualisations and practices around well-being in schools. Underpinned by theoretical interests linked to Childhood Studies and recognition theory, the research investigated policy, student and staff perspectives on well-being. The findings point to the key role of relationships, providing considerable scope for analysing the salience of Honneth’s modes of recognition for well-being in schools

Promoting students’ safety and wellbeing : Ethical practice in schools

Although ‘child safety’ is now a national policy priority in Australia, there is little research exploring the practices in schools that contribute to children and young people’s felt sense of safety and wellbeing. Drawing on a mixed-method Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery project, this article presents findings from interviews with school staff (N = 10), leaders (N = 5) and nine focus groups with students (N = 58), in primary and secondary schools in three Australian states (New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia). We employ relational ethics, recognition theory and the theory of practice architectures to explore practices at school that support student wellbeing and safety. The findings contribute significantly to understanding the ‘bundled’ nature of current practices and the conditions that enable and constrain these. Close attention to these findings is critical as schools seek to operationalise the National Child Safe Principles and refine ongoing safeguarding procedures. The findings have informed the development of an online survey that is currently testing, on a much larger scale, which elements of ethical practice are most positively associated with students’ safety, wellbeing and recognition at school

Improving student wellbeing: having a say at school

The wellbeing of children and young people remains a concern internationally and an increasing focus of policy, programmes, and teacher professional development in schools. Supporting wellbeing is now central to the realisation of children’s rights, evidenced by an expanding literature linking children’s participation and their wellbeing. As promising as such scholarship might be in advocating for the democratisation of schools, little empirical research has investigated these links. Drawing on relevant findings from a large mixed-methods study in Australia that sought the views of students, principals, teachers, and other staff about wellbeing at school, this paper explores a number of links between student voice and wellbeing. The findings revealed that students understood wellbeing in multifaceted ways, including having a say, being listened to, having rights, and being respected. Further, both students and staff identified positive associations between having a say at school, being recognised (cared for, respected, and valued), and wellbein

Couples’ attributions about behaviours modulated by hearing impairment: links with relationship satisfaction

The aim of the study was to examine the link between the nature of attributions made by partners about behaviours modulated by hearing loss, and overall relationship satisfaction. Forty-three hearing-impaired males and 23 hearing-impaired females together with their partners, each rated the hearing-impaired person\u27s hearing ability, their own relationship satisfaction, and their attributions for hypothetical behaviours typically associated with impaired hearing. Attributions covered perceived causes of behaviour and perceived responsibility. The extent to which the behaviours typically associated with impaired hearing, were attributed to personal causes and responsibilities was inversely correlated with relationship satisfaction. Female partners (more than male partners, or females with impaired hearing) made attributions that accentuated the unpleasant implications of behaviour. Where attributions and ratings of degree of hearing loss were greater in partners than in the person with the loss, relationship satisfaction was lower. Implications for rehabilitation counselling are discussed

Applying Strengths Model principles to build a rural community-based mental health support service and achieve recovery outcomes

Introduction: The Personal Helpers and Mentors (PHaMs) service is a non-clinical, community-based Australian Government initiative aimed at increasing opportunities for recovery for people whose lives are severely affected by mental illness. Using a strengths-based recovery model, PHaMs caseworkers support and mentor people 'at risk of falling through the gaps' between state funded clinical treatment services and federally funded social services (such as supported housing, education and employment). While there is evidence that PHaMs realises its aim in metropolitan areas, little is known about how services are developed and function in low resource rural settings and what outcomes are achieved. These questions were addressed in a case study of a PHaMs service in a rural town in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Methods: Data were collected from two sources: local service documents prepared for staff orientation and operational purposes, and records and reports of service participants' performance and achievements. Participants' gains in wellbeing, recovery goals, and the target outcome areas of increased access to services, increased personal capacity and self-reliance, and increased community participation, were gathered from self-reports. The Role Functioning Scale was used as a measure of caseworker ratings of participants' adaptive functioning. The qualitative data were examined for semantic content and underlying themes. The quantitative analyses involved repeated measures and between-groups comparisons of uncontrolled pre-test-post-test and retrospective pre-test data. Results: From commencement of the service in October 2009 to June 2014, an estimated 31% of the people living with severe mental illness in the local government area had accessed the PHaMs service (N=126; mean age 31.9 years; 42% male, 27% Aboriginal). The document analysis revealed that despite a lack of detail on how a PHaMs service should be developed or delivered, by focusing on the goal of client recovery, and taking a strengths-based rather than a deficit approach to the human and other resources that were available, the PHaMs service was established and is maintained by applying Strengths Model principles and being committed to teamwork and interagency respect. Caseworker ratings of participants who had completed an Individual Recovery Plan indicated significant gains in adaptive functioning, including improvements in physical health and wellbeing, management of symptoms, accommodation, vocational skills development and increased community involvement. Conclusions: Strengths-based recovery services offered by a rural PHaMs service can assist Australians with severe mental illness to achieve meaningful gains towards recovery. Furthermore, a Strengths Model approach to service development and operations - one that recognises individual abilities and prizes interpersonal relationships and teamwork - can maximise the potential of local human and other resources, and serve as a solution to resolving apparent service gaps and perceived deficits in rural and regional areas

Couples' attributions about behaviours modulated by hearing impairment: Links with relationship satisfaction

The aim of the study was to examine the link between the nature of attributions made by partners about behaviours modulated by hearing loss, and overall relationship satisfaction. Forty-three hearing-impaired males and 23 hearing-impaired females together with their partners, each rated the hearing-impaired person's hearing ability, their own relationship satisfaction, and their attributions for hypothetical behaviours typically associated with impaired hearing. Attributions covered perceived causes of behaviour and perceived responsibility. The extent to which the behaviours typically associated with impaired hearing, were attributed to personal causes and responsibilities was inversely correlated with relationship satisfaction. Female partners (more than male partners, or females with impaired hearing) made attributions that accentuated the unpleasant implications of behaviour. Where attributions and ratings of degree of hearing loss were greater in partners than in the person with the loss, relationship satisfaction was lower. Implications for rehabilitation counselling are discussed

Ambivalent attitudes about teaching children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Drawing on attitude theories from social psychology, we conducted a survey of Australian pre-service (n = 327) and in-service (n = 127) teachers' attitudes about teaching children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This paper reports a content analysis of beliefs, affect and behaviours towards teaching children with ADHD and quantitative analyses pertaining to attitudinal ambivalence - that is, where a teacher may simultaneously report negative and positive evaluations of teaching children with ADHD. While on average, overall or global attitudes were mildly positive for both cohorts, considerable ambivalence about teaching children with ADHD was commonly experienced. Participants reported ambivalent beliefs, affect and behaviours, as well as ambivalence between these attitude components. Paradoxically, participants who knew more about ADHD and held stronger positive global attitudes about teaching children with ADHD reported less ambivalent behaviours towards these children, but reported more ambivalent beliefs. The implications for teachers' professional development and training are discussed

Forming Strong Attitudes: Teachers' Attitudes Toward Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a childhood condition whose characteristic behaviours of hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity are salient in school settings. Teachers' actions and decisions when working with children who demonstrate behaviours consistent with ADHD can be expected to be impacted by their knowledge of ADHD, and their attitude toward teaching such children. Teachers are exposed to numerous sources of inconsistent information about ADHD during their training and classroom experience. The formation of attitudes in response to such complexity is poorly understood. The present research used models of attitude content, structure and strength to investigate the formation of teachers' knowledge of ADHD and attitudes toward teaching children who display its characteristics. The results are reported in journal article form comprising studies reported in Chapters 2 to 4. ... The findings from this project carry practical implications for teacher training on ADHD, and for school psychologists. Strong attitudes were shown to develop via combinations of direct, indirect and personal experiences with ADHD, and via amount and structural consistency of information and thought about ADHD. The results highlight the need to investigate such complex attitudes in ecologically valid ways. The development of models of attitude strength is important for understanding attitudes toward other social issues that polarise opinions and have enduring consequences, such as global warming or genetic modification of crops. Like ADHD, these topics are based on large amounts of structurally inconsistent information. Thus, the research reported in this thesis pertains to the formation of complex, real-life attitudes and may generalise to other multifaceted, personally relevant attitude objects