Characterisation and Mitigation of Caustic Cracking: A Safety and Maintenance Concern in Alumina and Pulp-and-Paper Processing. Extraction of alumina from mineral bauxite (Bayer process) and pulp-and-paper processing (Kraft process) are major industries in Australia. Cracking of reaction vessels, digesters, cleaning tanks and pipework are major concern for plant integrity, occupational health, safety and environment. Caustic cracking is often the first suspect when a failure occurs. The propose ....Characterisation and Mitigation of Caustic Cracking: A Safety and Maintenance Concern in Alumina and Pulp-and-Paper Processing. Extraction of alumina from mineral bauxite (Bayer process) and pulp-and-paper processing (Kraft process) are major industries in Australia. Cracking of reaction vessels, digesters, cleaning tanks and pipework are major concern for plant integrity, occupational health, safety and environment. Caustic cracking is often the first suspect when a failure occurs. The proposed program will investigate the role of critical impurities and additives, temperature and stress fluctuations in caustic cracking of mild steel and their weldments (known to be most susceptible). This project will also develop an intellectual and infrastructural base that will also be a vital resource for several Australian industries where such cracking is a major concern.Read moreRead less
The online future of Science and Engineering education: The essential elements of laboratory-based learning for remote-access implementation. Laboratory classes are a critical part of science and engineering degree programs, but there has been little research into what actually takes place within them. Remote laboratories, in which students control equipment via the internet, are one potential solution for accommodating rising numbers of students, but the interfaces must be developed to effectiv ....The online future of Science and Engineering education: The essential elements of laboratory-based learning for remote-access implementation. Laboratory classes are a critical part of science and engineering degree programs, but there has been little research into what actually takes place within them. Remote laboratories, in which students control equipment via the internet, are one potential solution for accommodating rising numbers of students, but the interfaces must be developed to effectively support student learning. This project will investigate how students interact with equipment, each other, and with laboratory demonstrators in order to determine the crucial components of effective laboratory learning experiences. It will identify and characterise the interactions of students in laboratory classes, and develop mechanisms to support these interactions remotely.Read moreRead less
Engaging Students during the Early Years of Secondary School. This project aims to design, test and share sustainable strategies to support teachers and enable students from low socioeconomic communities to achieve success. The greatest decreases in students’ interest and effort occur when they transition into secondary school, with students from low socioeconomic communities at greatest risk of disengagement. What can teachers do to engage their students during this key life transition? This pr ....Engaging Students during the Early Years of Secondary School. This project aims to design, test and share sustainable strategies to support teachers and enable students from low socioeconomic communities to achieve success. The greatest decreases in students’ interest and effort occur when they transition into secondary school, with students from low socioeconomic communities at greatest risk of disengagement. What can teachers do to engage their students during this key life transition? This project plans to identify teacher behaviours that motivate students in their first year at secondary school. Using an experimental design with a representative sample of 150 teachers and 1500 students in low socioeconomic areas across three states, the project plans to test whether an online professional learning program for teachers can improve student engagement and achievement. This cost-effective and scalable intervention is designed for widespread dissemination to Australian teachers.Read moreRead less
Building Citizenship Capacity in Young Adults With and Without Cerebral Palsy. This project will investigate practical aspects of citizenship participation within the context of a young adult population, as different from frequently reported theoretical views on citizenship. Specifically, the aim is to identify strategies necessary for building citizenship capacities for young adults with cerebral palsy (CP), as they are now living longer, but not eligible for care at the same level as during sc ....Building Citizenship Capacity in Young Adults With and Without Cerebral Palsy. This project will investigate practical aspects of citizenship participation within the context of a young adult population, as different from frequently reported theoretical views on citizenship. Specifically, the aim is to identify strategies necessary for building citizenship capacities for young adults with cerebral palsy (CP), as they are now living longer, but not eligible for care at the same level as during school years. Gaining capacities for success as a participating community member, young adults with CP need opportunities to manage not only physical and economic demands, but also develop knowledge and competencies necessary to engage in civic and social reciprocity within the community.Read moreRead less
The roles of scientific diagrams in contributing to science achievement and conceptual change. The project is designed to develop a body of research that facilitates excellence in teaching and in learning scientific diagrams in secondary school science. Benefits will include the dissemination of effective pedagogical strategies and improved science achievement measured by conceptual change from both cognitive and affective perspectives.
Genetic evaluation of the diversity of the stygobitic fauna of the Pilbara, Western Australia. This study has two main aims, designed to help manage populations of the subterranean invertebrate fauna in an economically important region of Western Australia: 1) to provide phylogenetic and population genetic information on the structure of populations of amphipods and other groundwater fauna in the Pilbara, Western Australia, and 2) to investigate areas of the ecology of the fauna including respon ....Genetic evaluation of the diversity of the stygobitic fauna of the Pilbara, Western Australia. This study has two main aims, designed to help manage populations of the subterranean invertebrate fauna in an economically important region of Western Australia: 1) to provide phylogenetic and population genetic information on the structure of populations of amphipods and other groundwater fauna in the Pilbara, Western Australia, and 2) to investigate areas of the ecology of the fauna including response to changes in water chemistry. The genetic information will be used to gain an understanding of species diversity, distributions, and movement in order to help set conservation priorities in managing resources, habitats, and fauna. The ecological data will be used to study the effects of dewatering and changes in water chemsitry on morphology and survival.Read moreRead less
Einsteinian Physics: A new paradigm for school science. This project aims to determine whether the early teaching of the modern Einsteinian paradigm of physics improves students' understanding of physics and attitudes to science. The project aims to investigate whether it is feasible to teach all students the physics that underpins modern technology. It is expected that by introducing students to the paradigm of Einsteinian physics before they learn the useful Newtonian approximations, their eng ....Einsteinian Physics: A new paradigm for school science. This project aims to determine whether the early teaching of the modern Einsteinian paradigm of physics improves students' understanding of physics and attitudes to science. The project aims to investigate whether it is feasible to teach all students the physics that underpins modern technology. It is expected that by introducing students to the paradigm of Einsteinian physics before they learn the useful Newtonian approximations, their engagement and understanding of physics is intended to improve. This is critical to Australia as enrolments in the hard sciences plummet.Read moreRead less
Are the kids alright? Understanding the wellbeing of Australian children in their middle years. This project will produce the first comprehensive national stock-take of wellbeing among Australian children in their middle years, with a special focus on children who experience disadvantage. Findings will reflect children's views and experiences, have direct policy relevance and lay the groundwork for comparing and monitoring of child wellbeing.
Eventful learning in quality pre-service science teacher education. The study aims to build a theory that explains quality in science teacher education by identifying successful learning-teaching events across programs of university science teacher education. This theory will guide wider application of eventful learning practices at university to enhance the successful entry of new teachers to the profession.
Management of rehabilitated bauxite mines to accelerate the return of vertebrate fauna. This project will examine the effect of thinning and burning mine-site rehabilitation on the abundance of terrestrial mammals and reptiles. This nationally significant project will provide Resource Managers in Western Australia with measures of impacts of forestry thinning and burning (for timber production and drinking water catchment) on vertebrates, and will provide management tools to conserve biodiversit ....Management of rehabilitated bauxite mines to accelerate the return of vertebrate fauna. This project will examine the effect of thinning and burning mine-site rehabilitation on the abundance of terrestrial mammals and reptiles. This nationally significant project will provide Resource Managers in Western Australia with measures of impacts of forestry thinning and burning (for timber production and drinking water catchment) on vertebrates, and will provide management tools to conserve biodiversity within productive forest environments. Expected outcomes are procedures to accelerate returns of vertebrate fauna to mine-sites, measurements of thinning and burning practices on tree-health, and trial procedures for forest thinning (the 12000 Ha Wungong catchment) that minimise impacts on terrestrial vertebrates.Read moreRead less