The effectiveness of physical activity interventions in improving higher education students' mental health : A systematic review

Peer reviewe

Conceptual understanding of osmosis and diffusion by Australian first-year biology students

Osmosis and diffusion are essential foundation concepts for first-year biology students as they are a key to understanding much of the biology curriculum. However, mastering these concepts can be challenging due to their interdisciplinary and abstract nature. Even at their simplest level, osmosis and diffusion require the learner to imagine processes they cannot see. In addition, many students begin university with flawed beliefs about these two concepts which will impede learning in related areas. The aim of this study was to explore misconceptions around osmosis and diffusion held by first-year cell biology students at an Australian regional university. The 18-item Osmosis and Diffusion Conceptual Assessment was completed by 767 students. From the results, four key misconceptions were identified: approximately half of the participants believed dissolved substances will eventually settle out of a solution; approximately one quarter thought that water will always reach equal levels; one quarter believed that all things expand and contract with temperature; and nearly one third of students believed molecules only move with the addition of external force. Greater attention to identifying and rectifying common misconceptions when teaching first-year students will improve their conceptual understanding of these concepts and benefit their learning in subsequent science subjects

Identifying the risk : A prospective cohort study examining postpartum haemorrhage in a regional Australian health service

Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge the midwifery and medical staff who assisted in the data collection for this study and the women who consented to participate. Funding The research study was generously funded through an early career grant awarded by Wishlist: Sunshine Coast Health Foundation. The grant funded a research midwife to undertake study co-ordination, data collection and entry.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Eliciting Expert Knowledge for Bayesian Logistic Regression in Species Habitat Modelling

This research aims to develop a process for eliciting expert knowledge and incorporating this knowledge as prior distributions for a Bayesian logistic regression model. This work was motivated by the need for less data reliant methods of modelling species habitat distributions. A comprehensive review of the research from both cognitive psychology and the statistical literature provided specific recommendations for the creation of an elicitation scheme. These were incorporated into the design of a Bayesian logistic regression model and accompanying elicitation scheme. This model and scheme were then implemented as interactive, graphical software called ELICITOR created within the BlackBox Component Pascal environment. This software was specifically written to be compatible with existing Bayesian analysis software, winBUGS as an odd-on component. The model, elicitation scheme and software were evaluated through five case studies of various fauna and flora species. For two of these there were sufficient data for a comparison of expert and data-driven models. The case studies confirmed that expert knowledge can be quantified and formally incorporated into a logistic regression model. Finally, they provide a basis for a thorough discussion of the model, scheme and software extensions and lead to recommendations for elicitation research

Resilience and workplace stress in Australian and New Zealand obstetrics and gynaecology trainees: A cross-sectional survey

Background Obstetrics and gynaecology training is a demanding vocation; there is a paucity of data on trainee resilience and well-being in this field. Aim To investigate resilience, support and perceived levels of stress and burnout in Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) trainees. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional survey of RANZCOG trainees in Australia and New Zealand (n = 638) was distributed electronically in May 2018. Results Two-hundred and thirty-one (36%) valid responses were received. The mean resilience score was moderate (mean = 77; SD = 11). Resilience was significantly associated with general health (F = 7.5, P = 0.007), depression in the last two weeks (F = 4.4, P = 0.013) and seriously considering leaving the program at some point (F = 15.4, P < 0.001). Most participants (204; 88%) stated improvements could be made to the level of trainee support; with over half identifying the support they received from RANZCOG to be low or very low (132; 57%). One-third of participants (76; 33%) rated the support from their direct supervisor as low to very low. Over half of all participants identified high to very high responses to: burnout (127; 55%); personal stress (134; 58%); workplace stress (143; 62%) and depression (103; 45%). Conclusion RANZCOG trainees exhibit moderate resilience levels, yet they report high levels of perceived stress, depression and burnout and low-level support from direct supervisors. This may highlight the need for enhanced support and working conditions to allow trainees to remain resilient and thrive in their careers

Validated frailty measures using electronic primary care records : a review of diagnostic test accuracy

Peer reviewedPostprin

It (still) takes a village: From academic dishonesty to a culture of academic integrity

Academic integrity in tertiary education is a global concern. This chapter describes academic integrity in Australian universities and proposes an "it takes a village" framework to guide universities toward a re-evaluation of academic integrity education. It takes a village to raise a child - a child needs role models and positive influences from multiple people for healthy growth and development. With regard to academic integrity, the parallel is that the entire university community needs to be involved to foster development of students of integrity. The institution and its community need to provide structures, multiple positive and effective learning experiences, and clear guidelines to support both staff and students. In this chapter, we argue that academic integrity needs to be seen as a complex system, one in which everyone involved has responsibility to develop and maintain a culture of integrity and one which supports a student throughout their academic journey.</p

Interventions reducing sedentary behaviour of adults: An update of evidence

Objectives: This review updates evidence of previous reviews on interventions that target reducing sedentary behaviour among 18- to 69-year-old working aged adults. Methods: A literature search of PubMed, Informit, Scopus, EBSCO, Web of Science and ProQuest. Quality was assessed for individual articles using McMaster University Guidelines. Descriptive analysis was used to summarise findings across studies. Results: Fifteen studies were identified with critical appraisal scores ranging from 10 to 14 (of a possible 15), with a mean score of 11.7 indicating overall moderate quality. The majority of interventions were implemented in the workplace. Others were based in the neighbourhood and education institution settings. Just over half of the studies (n = 9) reported a significant decrease in sedentary behaviour, including in total sedentary behaviour and sitting time, work sitting time and leisure sitting time. Overall sitting time decreases ranged from 8 to 122 minutes per day across all settings. Conclusion: There is some emerging evidence that sedentary behaviour interventions have the potential to reduce sedentary behaviour of working aged adults. However, given the paucity of literature, the effectiveness of such interventions is currently inconclusive. Further high-quality research across different settings is needed using validated standardised measures of sedentary behaviour