Graduate-entry pre-service teachers : The relationship between their experience using technology in their previous occupations and their technological pedagogical beliefs

An important aspect of teachers’ work is integrating technology to support student learning. Teachers’ beliefs, knowledge, and skills related to technology develop well before their pre-service teacher education begins. For those graduate-entry pre-service teachers, prior experiences may play a valuable role in shaping their self-efficacy for, and use of technology in their pedagogical practice. This paper presents findings from the first phase of a mixed method study of students enrolled in a one-year graduate teaching course (N = 146). Graduate-entry pre-service teachers at an Australian university were invited at the commencement of their course to complete a survey about their self-efficacy beliefs using technology in their previous occupations, and their self-efficacy beliefs for integrating technology into classroom teaching. The connections between previous occupational experiences using technology and technology self-efficacy beliefs were examined. Analysis revealed a significant relationship between the four variables: application of technology, types of technological tools used, general technology self-efficacy and technology pedagogy self-efficacy. The greater the experience in applying a wide variety of technological tools in their previous workplace, the higher the participant’s self-efficacy beliefs for both general technology and technology pedagogy. The results are particularly interesting of those participants (n = 58), who used specialised professional technology applications while working in these roles. For this subsample, there was a significantly higher positive linear relationship between the types of technological tools used in previous occupations, and their self-efficacy beliefs regarding both general technology and technology pedagogy. The implications of this study are to provide a greater understanding of the technological skills, expertise and beliefs graduate-entry teachers bring with them from previous roles. It aims to highlight how graduate-entry teachers’ experience of using specialised technology pertinent to their previous professions, could facilitate the achievement of mandated technology pedagogy reforms

Utilizing Vocalizations to Survey, Identify and Monitor Eastern Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis) on Long Island, New York

The Eastern black rail (laterallus jamaicanesis) is the smallest of the rail species and facing catastrophic decline throughout its home range. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the black rail population has decreased as much as 90%, leading to its proposed Federal listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (2018). Due to its potential change in listing status, it is important to get accurate population estimates for the black rail and to establish survey methods to detect absence/presence of this mysterious species. To that end, this project documents my work initiated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on a pilot study to determine the presence of black rail at a historic breeding site at Gilgo State Park, Oak Beach, NY. Initiated in 2017, the first year of the study consisted of determining survey routes, ground truthing the survey route and working out the logistics of accessing the marsh. In 2018, the department launched and conducted its first call-response black rail survey, recording a positive detection for the species. This was the first detection of black rails on Long Island since the 2nd Breeding Bird Atlas was conducted between 2000-2005, during which time one bird was heard calling from the marsh (McGowan and Corwin, 2008). This call-response survey protocol was repeated in 2019 with the addition of an acoustic element and vegetation surveys to determine associations with vegetative habitats. The project has yielded positive detection of the black rail at Oak Beach, NY, which has subsequently been analyzed for variables of tide cycle and moon phase and factors that may limit presence of black rails at Oak Beach (availability of quality habitat, presence of predators, and natural range limitations.) By creating a working survey method, researchers can work together in determining where black rails are present and take the necessary steps to protect them and their habitats

The Green Wallbot

The need and demand for robotic technology to increase the uptake of green walls and facades whilst reducing OHS and maintenance costs is clear. The benefits of urban green infrastructure are widely accepted and include urban heat island attenuation, increased bio diversity, reduced carbon emission, biophilia effects, provision of spaces for social interaction, attenuation of rainwater flooding and improved air quality. With climate change and increasing temperatures a stark reality, resilience and liveability as well as sustainability are greatly enhanced through the adoption of Green Infrastructure (GI). Wallbot, a robotic installation to inspect, monitor and maintain green walls offers the chance to reduce OHS issues and maintenance costs associated with green walls

Hospital service use for young people with chronic health conditions : a population-based matched retrospective cohort study

Aim: This study aims to identify the hospitalised morbidity associated with three common chronic health conditions among young people using a population-based matched cohort. Methods: A population-level matched case-comparison retrospective cohort study of young people aged ≤18 years hospitalised with asthma, type 1 diabetes (T1D) or epilepsy during 2005–2018 in New South Wales, Australia using linked birth, health and mortality records. The comparison cohort was matched on age, sex and residential postcode. Adjusted rate ratios (ARR) were calculated by sex and age group. Results: There were 65 055 young people hospitalised with asthma, 6648 with epilepsy, and 2209 with T1D. Young people with epilepsy (ARR 10.95; 95% confidence interval (CI) 9.98–12.02), T1D (ARR 8.64; 95% CI 7.72–9.67) or asthma (ARR 4.39; 95% CI 4.26–4.53) all had a higher risk of hospitalisation than matched peers. Admission risk was highest for males (ARR 11.00; 95% CI 9.64–12.56) and females with epilepsy (ARR 10.83; 95% CI 9.54–12.29) compared to peers. The highest admission risk by age group was for young people aged 10–14 years (ARR 5.50; 95% CI 4.77–6.34) living with asthma, children aged ≤4 years (ARR 12.68; 95% CI 11.35–14.17) for those living with epilepsy, and children aged 5–9 years (ARR 9.12; 95% CI 7.69–10.81) for those living with T1D compared to peers. Conclusions: The results will guide health service planning and highlight opportunities for better management of chronic health conditions, such as further care integration between acute, primary and community health services for young people

Collaborating with patient and public members in developing the COVID - Curated and open analysis and research platform (CO-CONNECT).

Objectives We aimed to support the work of CO-CONNECT by meaningfully involving patient and public members across all project work packages.  In addition, we aimed to ensure that the team members and outputs are connected to public perspectives and that public voices are adequately represented and embedded throughout CO-CONNECT. Approach We have two public members on our leadership team who co-lead our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) work stream with support from academics.  They convened a “Public User Group” (PUG) of five public members from across the United Kingdom who regularly contribute to all aspects of CO-CONNECT.  Our PPIE work was co-produced with our public members and a PPIE strategy was developed to ensure meaningful involvement throughout CO-CONNECT.  At the beginning of the project, we developed an information pack for our public members to provide insight into CO-CONNECT and the importance of their role. Results To ensure complete transparency with the public, our PUG members attend and actively contribute to all team meetings within CO-CONNECT.  This provides opportunities for public voices to be heard and acted upon in relation to questions about the use of, and access to, healthcare data in healthcare research.  PUG members have contributed to the development of the CO-CONNECT website including providing information for biographies to increase public awareness of the involvement of public members in CO-CONNECT.  They have written blogs and been interviewed for newsletter articles on the important of public involvement in research.  Together we have created videos discussing their experience of being involved with CO-CONNECT and created a set of “Frequently Asked Questions” to provide more information about CO-CONNECT for the public-facing website. Conclusion The PPIE work within CO-CONNECT has created an innovative approach to ensuring public voices are heard and acted upon within data linkage networks.  This model has the potential to be used in future projects to ensure inclusive and meaningful involvement of patient and public members in healthcare research

Impact of chronic health conditions and injury on school performance and health outcomes in New South Wales, Australia : a retrospective record linkage study protocol

Introduction: Children who have sustained a serious injury or who have a chronic health condition, such as diabetes or epilepsy, may have their school performance adversely impacted by the condition, treatment of the condition and/or time away from school. Examining the potential adverse impact requires the identification of children most likely to be affected and the use of objective measures of education performance. This may highlight educational disparities that could be addressed with learning support. This study aims to examine education performance, school completion and health outcomes of children in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, who were hospitalised with an injury or a chronic health condition compared with children who have not been hospitalised for these conditions. Method and analysis This research will be a retrospective population-level case-comparison study of hospitalised injured or chronically ill children (ie, diabetes, epilepsy, asthma or mental health conditions) aged ≤18 years in NSW, Australia, using linked health and education administrative data collections. It will examine the education performance, school completion and health outcomes of children who have been hospitalised in NSW with an injury or a chronic health condition compared with children randomly drawn from the NSW population (matched on gender, age and residential postcode) who have not been hospitalised for these conditions. Ethics and dissemination The study received ethics approval from the NSW Population Health Services Research Ethics Committee (2018HRE0904). Findings from the research will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at scientific conferences

Mental disorders and their impact on academic performance in Australia: a matched population-based cohort study.

Objectives To compare scholastic performance and high school completion of young people hospitalised with a mental disorder compared to young people not hospitalised for a mental disorder by sex. Approach A population-based matched case-comparison cohort study of young people aged ≤18 years hospitalised for a mental disorder during 2005-2018 in New South Wales, Australia using linked birth, health, education and mortality records. The comparison cohort was matched on age, sex and residential postcode. Generalised linear mixed modelling examined risk of school performance below the national minimum standard (NMS) and generalised linear regression examined risk of not completing high school for young people with a mental disorder compared to matched peers. Results Young males with a mental disorder had over a 1.7 times higher risk of not achieving the NMS for numeracy (ARR: 1.71; 95%CI 1.35-2.15) and reading (ARR: 1.99; 95%CI 1.80-2.20) compared to matched peers. Young females with a mental disorder had around 1.5 times higher risk of not achieving the NMS for numeracy (ARR: 1.50; 95%CI 1.14-1.96) compared to matched peers. Both young males and females with a disorder had around a three times higher risk of not completing high school compared to peers. Young males with multiple disorders had up to a six-fold increased risk and young females with multiple disorders had up to an eight-fold increased risk of not completing high school compared to peers. Conclusions Early recognition and support could improve school performance and educational outcomes for young people who were hospitalised with a mental disorder. This support should be provided in conjunction with access to mental health services and school involvement and assistance

Environmental detection of Penicillium marneffei and growth in soil microcosms in competition with Talaromyces stipitatus

Accepted versio