The commercial provision of schooling and its implications for Australia. This project aims to identify modes of commercial provision of schooling around the globe and the policy networks and changing forms and practices of the state that help this provision. The integration of public schooling and corporate investment has become relatively commonplace around the world, yet there is no academic research on how this phenomenon could affect Australia. The project expects to show how commercial pro ....The commercial provision of schooling and its implications for Australia. This project aims to identify modes of commercial provision of schooling around the globe and the policy networks and changing forms and practices of the state that help this provision. The integration of public schooling and corporate investment has become relatively commonplace around the world, yet there is no academic research on how this phenomenon could affect Australia. The project expects to show how commercial provision of schooling creates relationships between governments and private companies and the implications of this commercial provision for equitable and democratic schooling in Australia.Read moreRead less
Integrating between-person and within-person approaches to personality in the workplace. Personality tests are used to predict well being and productivity at work and are often used for personnel decisions within organisations in developed countries, including Australia. The treatment of personality as a fixed set of traits that produce similar responses across situations ignores human variability across situations which is needed for design of interventions to make humans happier and more effec ....Integrating between-person and within-person approaches to personality in the workplace. Personality tests are used to predict well being and productivity at work and are often used for personnel decisions within organisations in developed countries, including Australia. The treatment of personality as a fixed set of traits that produce similar responses across situations ignores human variability across situations which is needed for design of interventions to make humans happier and more effective at work. The results of tests of the integrated model of personality will be used to design interventions for the development of responses that lead to greater well being and effectiveness of managers in work settings.Read moreRead less
Technologies of performance, technologies of governance: the bane, benefits, ethics and future of performance measurement in government. This study examines governments' increasing use of performance management and the complex ways this is transforming schools, universities, health and welfare services. It aims to improve service performance by identifying problems areas and engaging wider public perspectives.
Young people shaping livelihoods across three generations. This proposal for a third cohort to the Life Patterns longitudinal study aims to investigate how in a context of technological and structural change a new generation of young Australians builds livelihood-resilience, keeping the focus on those elements that have proven to be enabling for previous generations. The project aims to generate new knowledge about the influences of education, work, housing, relationships, wellbeing on positive ....Young people shaping livelihoods across three generations. This proposal for a third cohort to the Life Patterns longitudinal study aims to investigate how in a context of technological and structural change a new generation of young Australians builds livelihood-resilience, keeping the focus on those elements that have proven to be enabling for previous generations. The project aims to generate new knowledge about the influences of education, work, housing, relationships, wellbeing on positive trajectories. Expected outcomes of this project include systematic evidence and a new holistic livelihood-resilience framework for analysing youth trajectories. This project should provide significant benefits to the national response supporting positive youth transitions through education and work.Read moreRead less
The Origins and Effects of the Unified National System of Higher Education in Australia. The project will provide the first systematic and fully documented account of the genesis, aims, authorship, design, negotiation, carriage and implementation of the changes introduced to Australian higher education from 1987 to 1992. In addition, it will evaluate the immediate and long-term effects of these changes in reference to the purpose and rationale of the reforms as presented in the policy documents ....The Origins and Effects of the Unified National System of Higher Education in Australia. The project will provide the first systematic and fully documented account of the genesis, aims, authorship, design, negotiation, carriage and implementation of the changes introduced to Australian higher education from 1987 to 1992. In addition, it will evaluate the immediate and long-term effects of these changes in reference to the purpose and rationale of the reforms as presented in the policy documents of the period. The project will undertake detailed case studies of four Australian universities, tracing how they were affected by the creation of the Unified National System of higher education. This account and analysis of the changes orchestrated by Minister John Dawkins will help inform future higher education policy debate.Read moreRead less
Implementing Indigenous knowledge approaches in doctoral education . This project aims to apply Indigenous knowledge approaches (agency of Country; power of stories and iterative, intergenerational and intercultural knowledge production) to Australian doctoral education. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of Indigenous and transcultural (migrant, refugee and international) doctoral education. Expected outcomes of the project include multimedia portal/app and policy recomm ....Implementing Indigenous knowledge approaches in doctoral education . This project aims to apply Indigenous knowledge approaches (agency of Country; power of stories and iterative, intergenerational and intercultural knowledge production) to Australian doctoral education. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of Indigenous and transcultural (migrant, refugee and international) doctoral education. Expected outcomes of the project include multimedia portal/app and policy recommendations for doctoral supervision, language and examination protocols that place Indigenous and transcultural knowledges at the forefront of Australian research. This should provide significant benefits to Australian higher education, enabling Australia to become a world leader in global knowledge production. Read moreRead less
Understanding and overcoming technical difficulties in woodwind musical instruments. A large minority of Australians play musical instruments, and even more enjoy listening. Wind instruments predominate in school bands. This project will provide knowledge and resources that will improve teaching and playing techniques. It will also provide understanding and information useful to instrument makers, of which Australia has several. The information will be made available in both technical and non-te ....Understanding and overcoming technical difficulties in woodwind musical instruments. A large minority of Australians play musical instruments, and even more enjoy listening. Wind instruments predominate in school bands. This project will provide knowledge and resources that will improve teaching and playing techniques. It will also provide understanding and information useful to instrument makers, of which Australia has several. The information will be made available in both technical and non-technical forms via our widely used web site.
The quality of this research, its useful application to practical problems, and the rapid and easy communication to a wide and very interested subset of the public will enhance Australia's reputation for research and music.Read moreRead less
Community organising in Australian education policy, 1970s-1980s . This project aims to investigate the activities, networks, ambitions, and rationales of community groups advocating for education policy reform across Australia in the 1970s and 1980s. The project expects to generate new knowledge about the relationship between education policy change and civic participation in Australia’s recent history. Expected outcomes include a detailed understanding of how community-based education reformer ....Community organising in Australian education policy, 1970s-1980s . This project aims to investigate the activities, networks, ambitions, and rationales of community groups advocating for education policy reform across Australia in the 1970s and 1980s. The project expects to generate new knowledge about the relationship between education policy change and civic participation in Australia’s recent history. Expected outcomes include a detailed understanding of how community-based education reformers shaped education policy, from across the political spectrum. This should provide significant benefits including an innovative, publicly available database, insight into how and why people organised to bring about education reform, and the role of community action in policy formation.Read moreRead less
Enabling place pedagogies in rural and urban Australia. This project will tell us how children and adults learn about place in the local areas where they live and work. The findings will be applied in action research with teachers in early childhood, school, and adult education settings, and in the preparation of teachers. It will address two Research Priority areas, 1: An Environmentally Sustainable Australia and 2. Strengthening AustraliaÍs economic and social fabric, which we argue are insepa ....Enabling place pedagogies in rural and urban Australia. This project will tell us how children and adults learn about place in the local areas where they live and work. The findings will be applied in action research with teachers in early childhood, school, and adult education settings, and in the preparation of teachers. It will address two Research Priority areas, 1: An Environmentally Sustainable Australia and 2. Strengthening AustraliaÍs economic and social fabric, which we argue are inseparable. Incorporating the findings into the curricula of teacher education will ensure that the project will have sustained long term benefits as well as the immediate application built into the study.Read moreRead less
Smart micro learning with open education resources. This project aims to enhance personalised learning systems for mobile device users . Open online education is gaining in popularity with its ease of use. The project tackles the problems in relation to more and more popular mobile and ‘micro learning’, where people learn on the move and within small units of time. Ontology and machine learning technologies used in this project will help to optimise the offering of open education resources, by p ....Smart micro learning with open education resources. This project aims to enhance personalised learning systems for mobile device users . Open online education is gaining in popularity with its ease of use. The project tackles the problems in relation to more and more popular mobile and ‘micro learning’, where people learn on the move and within small units of time. Ontology and machine learning technologies used in this project will help to optimise the offering of open education resources, by providing solutions meeting each individual learner’s needs. The main outcome will consolidate a cloud based micro learning framework through integrating a group of novel algorithms.Read moreRead less