The influence of student perceptions about school experience on non-university bound students\u27 motivation to succeed

In Australiari high schools today there. are increasingly greater numbers of students completing a final two years of post-compulsory secondary schooling Without the intention of progressing to a university tertiary education. Educators acknowledge that the comparative lack of motivation displayed by these students poses problems within the classroom and the educational system and most are concerned about how best to cater for the distinct and unique needs of this group of students. This thesis investigates the influence of student perceptions about school experience on Year 12 non-university bound students\u27 motivation to succeed. The study focuses on the perceptions students hold about the classroom processes and curriculum they experience in their final year of school and. then explores how these perceptions influence the motivational goal orientations students adopt

The influence of students\u27 contextual perceptions on motivational goal pursuit in the first year of middle school

The nature of student motivation in schools, particularly during early adolescence, has been of interest and concern to educators and researchers alike. Particularly over the last 20 years, considerable technological advances, societal changes, changes in traditional family structures, and changes in educational structures and practice have seen the issue of student motivation emerge as a prime focus for educators and researchers. Simultaneously, developments in educational research and consequent understandings developed about student motivation in classroom contexts have revealed the complexity of students\u27 motivational processes and served to inspire further research in this field

Promoting resilience for teachers: Pre-service and in-service professional learning

No abstract available for this publication

\u27I\u27m coming back again!\u27 The resilience process of early career teachers

Early career teachers face a range of challenges in their first years of teaching and how these challenges are managed as career implications. Based on current literature, this paper presents a model of early career teacher resilience where resilience is seen as a process located at the interface of personal and contextual challenges and resources. Through a semi-structured interview the challenges faced by 13 Australian early career teachers and the resources available to manage these challenges are examined. Findings show that beginning teachers experience multiple, varied and ongoing challenges and that personal and contextual resources are both important in sustaining them through the beginning year(s) of their teaching careers. The study emphasises the critical roles played by family and friends and the importance of relationships in the resilience process. Implications for future research and teacher education are discussed

Unpackaging demand for water service quality : evidence from conjoint surveys in Sri Lanka

In the early 2000s, the Government of Sri Lanka considered engaging private sector operators to manage water and sewerage services in two separate service areas: one in the town of Negombo (north of Colombo), and one stretching along the coastal strip (south from Colombo) from the towns of Kalutara to Galle. Since then, the government has abandoned the idea of setting up a public-private partnership in these two areas. This paper is part of a series of investigations to determine how these pilot private sector transactions (forming part of the overall water sector reform strategy) could be designed in such a manner that they would benefit the poor. The authors describe the results of a conjoint survey evaluating the factors that drive customer demand for alternative water supply and sanitation services in Sri Lanka. They show how conjoint surveys can be used to unpackage household demand for attributes of urban services and improve the design of infrastructure policies. They present conjoint surveys as a tool for field experiments and a source of valuable empirical data. In the study of three coastal towns in southwestern Sri Lanka the conjoint survey allows the authors to compare household preferences for four water supply attributes-price, quantity, safety, and reliability. They examine subpopulations of different income levels to determine if demand is heterogeneous. The case study suggests that households care about service quality (not just price). In general, the authors find that households have diverse preferences in terms of quantity, safety, and service options, but not with regard to hours of supply. In particular, they find that the poor have lower ability to trade off income for services, a finding that has significant equity implications in terms of allocating scarce public services and achieving universal water access.Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Water and Industry,Economic Theory&Research,Water Use,Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions

Navigating changing times : exploring teacher educator experiences of resilience

While there exists notable research in Australia and internationally on the ways pre-service and early career teachers develop and maintain resilience, there is a paucity of literature examining the resilience of teacher educators. The teacher education landscape has a dynamic nature, and in the Australian context, there have been multiple changes to policy and accreditation that have impacted on the work of teacher educators, including: the introduction of literacy and numeracy testing and a teaching performance assessment for teacher education students; and strict regulatory controls for providers. This context, combined with the intensification of academic work in higher education settings, has led us to investigate the personal and contextual factors that enable or constrain teacher educators’ resilience. In this chapter, we draw on a social ecological model of resilience to explore the factors that sustain and challenge teacher educators in their work, and use the findings to highlight implications for the field of teacher education

Sulfonated copolymers as heparin-mimicking stabilizer of fibroblast growth factor : size, architecture, and monomer distribution effects

Fibroblast growth factors (FGF) are involved in a wide range of biological processes such as cell proliferation and differentiation. In living organisms, the binding of FGF to its receptors are mediated through electrostatic interactions between FGF and naturally occurring heparin. Despite its prevalent use in medicine, heparin carries notable limitations, namely; its extraction from natural sources (expensive, low yield and extensive purification), viral contamination, and batch-to-batch heterogeneity. In this work a range of synthetic homopolymers and copolymers of sodium 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonate (AMPS®) were evaluated as potential FGF stabilisers. This was studied by measuring the proliferation of BaF3-FR1c cells, as a model assay, and the results will be compared with the natural stabilisation and activation of FGF by heparin. This study explores the structure-activity relationship of these polysulfonated polymers with a focus on the effect of molecular weight, co-monomer type, charge dispersion and polymer architecture on protein stabilisation

Longitudinal Survey of Fecal Microbiota in Healthy Dogs Administered a Commercial Probiotic

The aim of this longitudinal microbiome study was to investigate the effects of a commercially available veterinary synbiotic product (Blackmore's® Paw DigestiCare 60™) on the fecal microbiome of healthy dogs using 16S rRNA gene microbial profiling. Fifteen healthy, privately-owned dogs participated in a 2-week trial administration of the product. Fecal samples were collected at different time points, including baseline (prior to treatment), during administration and after discontinuation of product. Large intra- and inter-individual variation was observed throughout the study, but microbiome composition at higher phylogenetic levels, alpha and beta diversity were not significantly altered after 2 weeks of probiotic administration, suggesting an absence of probiotic impact on microbial diversity. Administration of the synbiotic preparation did, however, result in transient increases in probiotic species from Enterococacceae and Streptococacceae families as well as an increase in Fusobacteria; with the fecal microbiota partially reverting to its baseline state 3-weeks after cessation of probiotic administration

Quantification of risk factors for postherpetic neuralgia in herpes zoster patients: A cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate risk factors for postherpetic neuralgia, the neuropathic pain that commonly follows herpes zoster. METHODS: Using primary care data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, we fitted multivariable logistic regression models to investigate potential risk factors for postherpetic neuralgia (defined as pain ≥90 days after zoster, based on diagnostic or prescription codes), including demographic characteristics, comorbidities, and characteristics of the acute zoster episode. We also assessed whether the effects were modified by antiviral use. RESULTS: Of 119,413 zoster patients, 6,956 (5.8%) developed postherpetic neuralgia. Postherpetic neuralgia risk rose steeply with age, most sharply between 50 and 79 years (adjusted odds ratio [OR] for a 10-year increase, 1.70, 99% confidence interval 1.63-1.78). Postherpetic neuralgia risk was higher in women (6.3% vs 5.1% in men: OR 1.19, 1.10-1.27) and those with severely immunosuppressive conditions, including leukemia (13.7%: 2.07, 1.08-3.96) and lymphoma (12.7%: 2.45, 1.53-3.92); autoimmune conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis (9.1%: 1.20, 0.99-1.46); and other comorbidities, including asthma and diabetes. Current and ex-smokers, as well as underweight and obese individuals, were at increased risk of postherpetic neuralgia. Antiviral use was not associated with postherpetic neuralgia (OR 1.04, 0.97-1.11). However, the increased risk associated with severe immunosuppression appeared less pronounced in patients given antivirals. CONCLUSIONS: Postherpetic neuralgia risk was increased for a number of patient characteristics and comorbidities, notably with age and among those with severe immunosuppression. As zoster vaccination is contraindicated for patients with severe immunosuppression, strategies to prevent zoster in these patients, which could include the new subunit zoster vaccine, are an increasing priority