A formal foundation for security architecture. Security of computer systems is essential for the maintenance of privacy, confidentiality and integrity of personal, commercial and government data, and the trustworthiness of the computational devices that are embedded in critical societal infrastructure. However, current theoretical understanding of secure systems development is poor. The project will develop our understanding of an emerging approach to the design of secure systems and develop ver ....A formal foundation for security architecture. Security of computer systems is essential for the maintenance of privacy, confidentiality and integrity of personal, commercial and government data, and the trustworthiness of the computational devices that are embedded in critical societal infrastructure. However, current theoretical understanding of secure systems development is poor. The project will develop our understanding of an emerging approach to the design of secure systems and develop verification methods that may be applied to guarantee systems security. Its outcomes will contribute to processes for certifying systems at very high levels of security, a requirement in defence and government settings that will become increasingly significant in the commercial sector.Read moreRead less
Relations between academics' understanding of their subject matter and their experiences of research and teaching. This project addresses an issue of international concern for higher education. Previous studies of associations between research and teaching have focused either on direct relations between outcomes, or on faculty and administrator opinions. We mean to explain the connection using a framework from our research into academics' understanding of their subject matter and approaches to t ....Relations between academics' understanding of their subject matter and their experiences of research and teaching. This project addresses an issue of international concern for higher education. Previous studies of associations between research and teaching have focused either on direct relations between outcomes, or on faculty and administrator opinions. We mean to explain the connection using a framework from our research into academics' understanding of their subject matter and approaches to teaching. We expect the outcomes to demonstrate that the key to the research-teaching connection lies in how active researchers and teachers experience the two activities, and that the association is mediated by the way in which they understand their subject matter.Read moreRead less
Writing in the academy: the practice-based thesis as an evolving genre. National benefits of this project include:
An improvement in the quality of research higher degree scholarship in the areas of the Creative and Performing Arts in Australian universities
A greater understanding of what counts as successful writing in practice-based doctoral theses in Australian universities
A research-informed basis for the development of training initiatives which target the specific needs of stude ....Writing in the academy: the practice-based thesis as an evolving genre. National benefits of this project include:
An improvement in the quality of research higher degree scholarship in the areas of the Creative and Performing Arts in Australian universities
A greater understanding of what counts as successful writing in practice-based doctoral theses in Australian universities
A research-informed basis for the development of training initiatives which target the specific needs of students writing practice-based doctoral theses in Australian universities
A research-informed basis for improving the quality of research higher degree supervision in the areas of the Creative and Performing Arts in Australian universities
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Extending the capabilities of argumentative Chinese students: Enhancing Australia's pedagogical capacity for engaging China through internationalising research education. In 2007, 90,000 students from China were studying in Australia. This represents 23% of Australia's international students. This project will improve Australia's capacity for engaging China by producing an innovative framework for teaching mainland Chinese research students. It will explore the educational value of engaging thes ....Extending the capabilities of argumentative Chinese students: Enhancing Australia's pedagogical capacity for engaging China through internationalising research education. In 2007, 90,000 students from China were studying in Australia. This represents 23% of Australia's international students. This project will improve Australia's capacity for engaging China by producing an innovative framework for teaching mainland Chinese research students. It will explore the educational value of engaging these students' Chinese intellectual heritage; their communicative abilities in English and Chinese, and the knowledge they access via digital technologies. Australia's knowledge about the internationalisation of its research education and developmental, cooperative approaches to research will be increased. This will enhance Australia's capacity for research-based engagement with the educational culture of China. Read moreRead less
Generating Science Content Knowledge through Digital Animation in a Knowledge-building Community of Preservice Teachers. Sustaining Australia's growth and prosperity is dependent on continuous innovation in the teaching of science. Yet science is one of the least taught subjects in the primary curriculum because teachers lack content knowledge and confidence. This research engages preservice primary teachers in using new technologies to develop their understanding of science content knowledge th ....Generating Science Content Knowledge through Digital Animation in a Knowledge-building Community of Preservice Teachers. Sustaining Australia's growth and prosperity is dependent on continuous innovation in the teaching of science. Yet science is one of the least taught subjects in the primary curriculum because teachers lack content knowledge and confidence. This research engages preservice primary teachers in using new technologies to develop their understanding of science content knowledge through digital animation and to collaborate with other preservice teachers interstate and internationally. The products and processes of digital animation will help maintain and expand Australia's base as a knowledge economy as well as provide a social benefit of improved science teaching in schools. Read moreRead less
Realising Gifted Students' Potential: Elucidating psychosocial determinants and the impact of different educational settings on educational outcomes and psychosocial wellbeing. As current gifted students are expected to provide future leaders in all fields of endeavour, there is an increasing emphasis in Australia and worldwide on how to educate gifted students most effectively. Our proposed research will improve Australia's capacity to educate gifted students by: informing practice on how best ....Realising Gifted Students' Potential: Elucidating psychosocial determinants and the impact of different educational settings on educational outcomes and psychosocial wellbeing. As current gifted students are expected to provide future leaders in all fields of endeavour, there is an increasing emphasis in Australia and worldwide on how to educate gifted students most effectively. Our proposed research will improve Australia's capacity to educate gifted students by: informing practice on how best to select students to participate in gifted education; maximising the potential of gifted young Australians; and providing guidance for future intervention strategies. This research will contribute substantially to further actualising Australia's claim to be the clever country and will have important implications for the future of gifted education.Read moreRead less
Partner training and communication outcomes for students with multiple and severe disabilities. This research has the potential to benefit one of the most disadvantaged groups in the community: students with multiple and severe disabilities. These students typically spend more than 70% of the school day with no communication with teachers, teacher aides or other students. The proposed research will investigate whether it is possible to improve levels of communication and engagement through train ....Partner training and communication outcomes for students with multiple and severe disabilities. This research has the potential to benefit one of the most disadvantaged groups in the community: students with multiple and severe disabilities. These students typically spend more than 70% of the school day with no communication with teachers, teacher aides or other students. The proposed research will investigate whether it is possible to improve levels of communication and engagement through training teachers and teacher aides as effective communication partners. Higher levels of communication at school will improve Quality of Life for these students. This research will inform the development of training programs for school staff working with students with multiple and severe disabilities.Read moreRead less
Attracting, preparing, and sustaining quality teachers in early education. This project aims to address the chronic shortage of early childhood teachers in Australia, which is compromising quality and return on investment in early education. The project expects to generate new understandings about this specialist teacher workforce through an innovative, ecological, longitudinal design that will track early childhood teachers’ career trajectories and develop a world-first tool to assess early chi ....Attracting, preparing, and sustaining quality teachers in early education. This project aims to address the chronic shortage of early childhood teachers in Australia, which is compromising quality and return on investment in early education. The project expects to generate new understandings about this specialist teacher workforce through an innovative, ecological, longitudinal design that will track early childhood teachers’ career trajectories and develop a world-first tool to assess early childhood teacher quality. Findings are expected to inform policy— including the Australian Government-endorsed 10-year national Workforce Strategy and the Australian Government's Early Years Strategy— to support the future sustained supply of a quality early childhood teacher workforce and improve outcomes for young children.Read moreRead less
Enhancing basic academic skills of low-achieving students: the role of automaticity in numeracy, reading and comprehension. The project is designed to improve the basic reading and numeracy skills of low-achieving school students. The aim of the research is to investigate the effects of improved automaticity of basic skills on higher-order processes such as comprehension and problem solving. The underlying rationale for the program is that improving automaticity in component skills, such as dec ....Enhancing basic academic skills of low-achieving students: the role of automaticity in numeracy, reading and comprehension. The project is designed to improve the basic reading and numeracy skills of low-achieving school students. The aim of the research is to investigate the effects of improved automaticity of basic skills on higher-order processes such as comprehension and problem solving. The underlying rationale for the program is that improving automaticity in component skills, such as decoding or calculating, frees up working memory resources. This freeing up of resources allows students to focus on inherently attention demanding higher-order cognitive activities, of the sort increasingly required of students in the middle school years.Read moreRead less
Understanding and Addressing Everyday Sexisms in Australian Universities. This project aims to improve the ways in which gender-based discrimination is understood and addressed in Australian universities by employing a situated, intersectional, and creative approach to researching everyday sexisms. This project expects to use an innovative approach to generate new knowledge about everyday sexisms at the individual level and across disciplinary and university contexts. Expected outcomes include n ....Understanding and Addressing Everyday Sexisms in Australian Universities. This project aims to improve the ways in which gender-based discrimination is understood and addressed in Australian universities by employing a situated, intersectional, and creative approach to researching everyday sexisms. This project expects to use an innovative approach to generate new knowledge about everyday sexisms at the individual level and across disciplinary and university contexts. Expected outcomes include new gender equity practices that will assist universities to refine current programs, strategies, and policies capable of eliminating gender-based discrimination. This should provide significant benefits for Australian society, including women and gender diverse people working in universities.
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