Keeping Pace: A Critical Longitudinal Analysis of the Psychosocial Determinants of Seeding Success in Educating Home-Grown Doctors for Regional Communities. Australia currently has a medical workforce situation which, if unchecked, will see a deepening of the shortage of doctors in rural & regional communities. Elucidating the impact of psychosocial drivers on medical education outcomes will identify potent practical strategies that seed success. The outcomes of this research have the potential ....Keeping Pace: A Critical Longitudinal Analysis of the Psychosocial Determinants of Seeding Success in Educating Home-Grown Doctors for Regional Communities. Australia currently has a medical workforce situation which, if unchecked, will see a deepening of the shortage of doctors in rural & regional communities. Elucidating the impact of psychosocial drivers on medical education outcomes will identify potent practical strategies that seed success. The outcomes of this research have the potential to 'break the cycle' of doctor shortages in underserved areas by generating new solutions to: improve Australia's capacity to strengthen home-grown medical education; address doctor shortages regionally; and build capacity at community and individual levels. This research has important implications for the future of home-grown medical education nationally and internationally. Read moreRead less
Beyond Bullying in Primary Schools: Explicating Psychosocial Antecedents and Implementing an Effective Intervention to Enhance Pro-Social Behaviour, Well-Being and Academic Engagement. Early intervention to combat bullying in primary schools is vital given the pervasiveness and long-term consequences of bullying for academic failure, mental health costs, and anti-social behaviour. Consistent with National Research Priorities (promoting/maintaining good health & well-being), our research offers i ....Beyond Bullying in Primary Schools: Explicating Psychosocial Antecedents and Implementing an Effective Intervention to Enhance Pro-Social Behaviour, Well-Being and Academic Engagement. Early intervention to combat bullying in primary schools is vital given the pervasiveness and long-term consequences of bullying for academic failure, mental health costs, and anti-social behaviour. Consistent with National Research Priorities (promoting/maintaining good health & well-being), our research offers important educational and socio-economic benefits by enriching the psychosocial adjustment and life potential of young Australians. Effective intervention and explicating the determinants/consequences of primary school bullying enhances pro-social behaviours, self-concept, mental health, and school engagement of bullies and victims. This fosters safer schools that contribute to individual, local community, and national well-being.Read moreRead less
Learning and Teaching Genetics in a Biotechnological World: A Multidimensional Investigation of Conceptual Change. The aim of this research is to investigate students' and experts' understandings of fundamental concepts of genetics. The aim also is to investigate teaching strategies that will develop appropriate concepts for living in a biotechnological world. This is significant because genetics is critical content knowledge for general scientific literacy. This is the first research to investi ....Learning and Teaching Genetics in a Biotechnological World: A Multidimensional Investigation of Conceptual Change. The aim of this research is to investigate students' and experts' understandings of fundamental concepts of genetics. The aim also is to investigate teaching strategies that will develop appropriate concepts for living in a biotechnological world. This is significant because genetics is critical content knowledge for general scientific literacy. This is the first research to investigate how children's theories of genetics develop and it brings together two successful theoretical approaches. The outcomes of this qualitative research will be detailed descriptions and interpretations of what children already know about genetics, what they should know, and effective teaching strategies for conceptual change.Read moreRead less
Developing Coping Skills: Following young people through the transition from primary to secondary schooling. This study provides a unique opportunity to determine developmental changes in coping by tracking a group of young people through the transition from primary to secondary school. The program targets coping efficacy and perceived control over internal states and thus is designed to increase adaptive coping behaviours whilst controlling for the degree to which family is supportive. Using a ....Developing Coping Skills: Following young people through the transition from primary to secondary schooling. This study provides a unique opportunity to determine developmental changes in coping by tracking a group of young people through the transition from primary to secondary school. The program targets coping efficacy and perceived control over internal states and thus is designed to increase adaptive coping behaviours whilst controlling for the degree to which family is supportive. Using a quasi-experimental design it is possible to test theories that suggest that coping efficacy beliefs mediate the relationship between family environment and actual coping behaviours. The study extends successful and innovative work in building resilience in the upper primary school population to the secondary population.
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Interagency collaborations supporting resilient students, families, schools in disadvantaged communities. The ability to display resilience in the face of challenging circumstances-poverty, poor health, geographical isolation, alienation, family breakdown is internationally recognised as a capacity enabling those 'at risk' to achieve educational and life successes. Developing resilience requires input from multiple agencies but little is known about the most effective ways for schools, health/co ....Interagency collaborations supporting resilient students, families, schools in disadvantaged communities. The ability to display resilience in the face of challenging circumstances-poverty, poor health, geographical isolation, alienation, family breakdown is internationally recognised as a capacity enabling those 'at risk' to achieve educational and life successes. Developing resilience requires input from multiple agencies but little is known about the most effective ways for schools, health/community/sport/leisure organizations and employers to collaborate on this objective. This project will identify resilient students and communities and highlight the specific intervention types (educational, health, employment, leisure) with proven ability to foster resilience and improve the educational and life chances of Australian youthRead moreRead less
Engaging economically disadvantaged adolescent girls in physical activity and healthy eating to improve health and prevent obesity. Secondary school represents the final opportunity to influence individuals as they develop adult lifestyle behaviours and enter a transitional period in their lives. Considering the increased prevalence of lifestyle diseases among Australian adults and increases in the prevalence of obesity among young Australians, targeting health-promoting behaviours in adolescent ....Engaging economically disadvantaged adolescent girls in physical activity and healthy eating to improve health and prevent obesity. Secondary school represents the final opportunity to influence individuals as they develop adult lifestyle behaviours and enter a transitional period in their lives. Considering the increased prevalence of lifestyle diseases among Australian adults and increases in the prevalence of obesity among young Australians, targeting health-promoting behaviours in adolescents is clearly a national priority. Furthermore, rates of obesity are much higher in economically disadvantaged areas, with girls more susceptible to the SES disadvantages. This project has the potential to develop a knowledge base and improve the health behaviours of current and future Australians most at risk for the development of lifestyle diseases.Read moreRead less
Young people, physical activity and physical culture: a longitudinal study. The relationship between physical activity and the health of young people is currently a matter of national and international concern. This project will investigate the place and meaning of health, physical activity and physical culture in young people's lives from a longitudinal and qualitative perspective. It will build on the findings of a three year study of young people's engagement with physical activity. Specifica ....Young people, physical activity and physical culture: a longitudinal study. The relationship between physical activity and the health of young people is currently a matter of national and international concern. This project will investigate the place and meaning of health, physical activity and physical culture in young people's lives from a longitudinal and qualitative perspective. It will build on the findings of a three year study of young people's engagement with physical activity. Specifically it will follow cohorts of students from different social, cultural and geographical locations as they move beyond school and make choices associated with health and physical activity in relation to the changing conditions of their lives.Read moreRead less
Discovery Indigenous Researchers Development - Grant ID: DI0989059
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$90,000.00
Summary
Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder: A critical analysis elucidating constructs that influence parental acceptance/rejection of diagnosis and response. Part of the controversy surrounding ADHD is the increasing use of stimulant medication to deal with children who have been given a diagnosis of ADHD. Given the absence of scientific evidence that demonstrates an underlying causal physical pathology for ADHD, many claim that medication is inappropriate, with some suggesting that it is harmfu ....Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder: A critical analysis elucidating constructs that influence parental acceptance/rejection of diagnosis and response. Part of the controversy surrounding ADHD is the increasing use of stimulant medication to deal with children who have been given a diagnosis of ADHD. Given the absence of scientific evidence that demonstrates an underlying causal physical pathology for ADHD, many claim that medication is inappropriate, with some suggesting that it is harmful. This research seeks to explicate parents' perceptions of ADHD & the impact of psycho-social constructs on parents' decisions to accept/reject a diagnosis & respond. This research offers important educational & social benefits. The outcomes of this research have the potential to 'break the cycle' of increasing medication; build parents' capacity to respond; & contribute to a healthy start to life.Read moreRead less
Making prevention matter: Establishing characteristics of effective child sexual abuse prevention programs. Child sexual abuse is a significant public health problem requiring intervention and prevention. School-based child sexual abuse prevention programs aim to educate children to protect themselves and teach adults skills for protecting children. But programs vary widely in their quality and there is inadequate information available to guide program choice. This fundamental research, undertak ....Making prevention matter: Establishing characteristics of effective child sexual abuse prevention programs. Child sexual abuse is a significant public health problem requiring intervention and prevention. School-based child sexual abuse prevention programs aim to educate children to protect themselves and teach adults skills for protecting children. But programs vary widely in their quality and there is inadequate information available to guide program choice. This fundamental research, undertakes the necessary first steps towards implementing high quality, evidence-based child sexual abuse prevention programs. It will develop an overarching evidence-based conceptual framework for program design and evaluation thus advancing Australia's responses to child protection and enhancing children's healthy start to life.Read moreRead less
Diffusion and dissemination of a mental health innovation in an educational setting. The aim of this project is to develop and evaluate sustainable strategies for disseminating mental health promotion programs into primary schools in Western Australia. The Aussie Optimism Program is a school-based mental health promotion program, which has shown efficacy in preventing anxiety and depression in young adolescents. These common childhood mental health problems, affect up to 18% of younger adolesce ....Diffusion and dissemination of a mental health innovation in an educational setting. The aim of this project is to develop and evaluate sustainable strategies for disseminating mental health promotion programs into primary schools in Western Australia. The Aussie Optimism Program is a school-based mental health promotion program, which has shown efficacy in preventing anxiety and depression in young adolescents. These common childhood mental health problems, affect up to 18% of younger adolescents in Australia. If the project's implementation and dissemination strategies are successful, school-based implementation of this program has the potential to reduce the prevalence of anxiety and depression in young adolescents by one third. Read moreRead less