Will They Know Enough?: Pre-Service Primary Teachers’ Knowledge Base For Teaching Integrated Social Sciences

A significant issue in primary teacher education is developing a knowledge base which prepares teachers to teach in a range of subject areas. In Australia, the problem in primary social science education is compounded by the integrated nature of the key learning area of Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE). Recent debates on teaching integrated social sciences omit discussions on the knowledge base for teaching. In this paper, a case study approach is used to investigate primary pre-service teachers’ approaches to developing a knowledge base in designing a SOSE curriculum unit. Data from five teacher-educators who taught primary SOSE curriculum indicates that novice teachers’ subject content knowledge, as revealed through their curriculum planning, lacked a disciplinary basis. However, understanding of inquiry learning, which is fundamental to social science education, was much stronger. This paper identifies a gap in the scholarship on teaching integrated social science and illustrates the need to support and develop primary teachers’ disciplinary knowledge in teacher education

Teaching for ‘Historical Understanding’: What Knowledge(s) do Teachers Need to Teach History?

Recent curriculum reform in history in Australia promotes ‘historical understanding’ through discipline-based teaching practice. However, many middle school teachers are new to the scope of historical knowledge and skills required. This paper reports on a case study of five Queensland teachers in one secondary school who undertook a school-based trial of the Year 8 Australian Curriculum: History in 2012 - 2013. Drawing on notions of historical consciousness and frameworks for curriculum alignment, the case study indicates that the intent of the stated curriculum to develop concepts of ‘historical understanding’ is undermined by two factors – first, teachers\u27 inadequate knowledge of the scope of the curriculum and second, a patchy understanding of how key substantive and procedural historical concepts contribute to ‘historical understanding’. The research identified significant gaps in the disciplinary knowledge of history teachers and makes recommendations for pre-service and in-service history teacher education

Engineering out the risk for infection with urinary catheters.

Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is the most common nosocomial infection. Each year, more than 1 million patients in U.S. acute-care hospitals and extended-care facilities acquire such an infection; the risk with short-term catheterization is 5% per day. CAUTI is the second most common cause of nosocomial bloodstream infection, and studies suggest that patients with CAUTI have an increased institutional death rate, unrelated to the development of urosepsis. Novel urinary catheters impregnated with nitrofurazone or minocycline and rifampin or coated with a silver alloy-hydrogel exhibit antiinfective surface activity that significantly reduces the risk of CAUTI for short-term catheterizations not exceeding 2-3 weeks

Antecedents and Consequences of Status Consumption Among Urban Vietnamese Consumers

This study examines the antecedents and consequences of status consumption in the transitional economy of Vietnam. Both qualitative (focus groups and in-depth interviews) and quantitative methods (survey) were employed in this investigation. To test the proposed model and hypotheses, a large consumer survey was conducted in the two biggest cities in Vietnam. The results of Structural Equation Modeling provided empirical evidence for the significant impact of most of the proposed antecedents of status consumption. Specifically, modern status orientation, the ‘success’ component of materialism, and both the individualistic self and collectivistic self were found to have a positive impact on status consumption. Traditional status orientation and consumer ethnocentrism were found to be negatively related to status consumption. The findings also suggested the positive consequences of status consumption on satisfaction with status consumption and satisfaction with life in general. Discussion of the research findings and managerial implications are also provided

Blackboard As An Online Learning Environment: What Do Teacher Education Students And Staff Think?

As online learning environments now have an established presence in higher education we need to ask the question: How effective are these environments for student learning? Online environments can provide a different type of learning experience than traditional face-to-face contexts (for on-campus students) or print-based materials (for distance learners). This article identifies teacher education student and staff perceptions of teaching and learning using the online learning management system, Blackboard. Perceptions of staff and students are compared and implications for teacher education staff interested in providing high quality learning environments within an online space are discussed