2012 University Annual Learning and Teaching Conference. Peer assisted study sessions : helping more students to develop their study skills

Abstract submitted to the Annual Learning and Teaching Conference 2012. Paper delivered under the theme 'student engagement'

Development and feasibility testing of an education program to improve knowledge and self-care among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients with heart failure

INTRODUCTION: There is a 70% higher age-adjusted incidence of heart failure (HF) among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, three times more hospitalisations and twice as many deaths as among non-Aboriginal people. There is a need to develop holistic yet individualised approaches in accord with the values of Aboriginal community health care to support patient education and self-care. The aim of this study was to re-design an existing HF educational resource (Fluid Watchers-Pacific Rim) to be culturally safe for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, working in collaboration with the local community, and to conduct feasibility testing.  METHODS: This study was conducted in two phases and utilised a mixed-methods approach (qualitative and quantitative). Phase 1 used action research methods to develop a culturally safe electronic resource to be provided to Aboriginal HF patients via a tablet computer. An HF expert panel adapted the existing resource to ensure it was evidence-based and contained appropriate language and images that reflects Aboriginal culture. A stakeholder group (which included Aboriginal workers and HF patients, as well as researchers and clinicians) then reviewed the resources, and changes were made accordingly. In Phase 2, the new resource was tested on a sample of Aboriginal HF patients to assess feasibility and acceptability. Patient knowledge, satisfaction and self-care behaviours were measured using a before and after design with validated questionnaires. As this was a pilot test to determine feasibility, no statistical comparisons were made.  RESULTS: Phase 1: Throughout the process of resource development, two main themes emerged from the stakeholder consultation. These were the importance of identity, meaning that it was important to ensure that the resource accurately reflected the local community, with the appropriate clothing, skin tone and voice. The resource was adapted to reflect this, and members of the local community voiced the recordings for the resource. The other theme was comprehension; images were important and all text was converted to the first person and used plain language. Phase 2: Five Aboriginal participants, mean age 61.6±10.0 years, with NYHA Class III and IV heart failure were enrolled. Participants reported a high level of satisfaction with the resource (83.0%). HF knowledge (percentage of correct responses) increased from 48.0±6.7% to 58.0±9.7%, a 20.8% increase, and results of the self-care index indicated that the biggest change was in patient confidence for self-care, with a 95% increase in confidence score (46.7±16.0 to 91.1±11.5). Changes in management and maintenance scores varied between patients.  CONCLUSIONS: By working in collaboration with HF experts, Aboriginal researchers and patients, a culturally safe HF resource has been developed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients. Engaging Aboriginal researchers, capacity-building, and being responsive to local systems and structures enabled this pilot study to be successfully completed with the Aboriginal community and positive participant feedback demonstrated that the methodology used in this study was appropriate and acceptable; participants were able to engage with willingness and confidence

Researching Self-Determined Space Connected to Land in the Arctic: Indigenous-led Architecture in Sámi Territory

During the summer of 2022, I participated in a research trip with the Canadian Centre of Architecture (CCA) to Kautokeino in Northern Norway, with a focus on Indigenous-led architecture in the Arctic. The CCA hosted a workshop called Futurecasting: Towards Indigenous-Led Architecture and Design in the Arctic, which hosted a gathering of Inuit, First Nations, Métis and Sámi designers and graduate students. Collectively we received lectures from Indigenous architects, created artworks displayed at the CCA, and went on two research trips to Kautokeino, Norway and Montreal, Quebec. We learned from Elders, Knowledge Holders, Scholars, Sámi Duojár, Kahnawake Artists, and Community Members. Lectures, storytelling, conversations and the trip included snowmobiling in the arctic with reindeer herders and a hands-on design build project creating a Luovvi, which is the form of a Sámi storage room. Through this research experience, I found that Sámi architecture, and Indigenous architecture globally, designs and exercises self-determined spaces by connecting land-based activities into built structures. From snowmobile sheds to meat drying structures, Indigenous Sámi homes and landscapes are designed in the Arctic context, rooted in Indigenous culture and place

Miles Franklin: The American Fulfillment of My Brilliant Career

This thesis looks at the life and works of Stella Miles Franklin, analyzing a few of her loosely autobiographical protagonists and how they take control of their lives in spite of their tough circumstance

"Both diligent and secret": the intelligence letters of William Herle

PhDThe unpublished letters of William Herle, diplomat and intelligencer to the court of Elizabeth I reveal startling insights into the role of such agents in political affairs. As well as their more obvious content of sensitive information, Herle's letters expose his primary impetus behind the pursuit of intelligence; of the construction and maintenance of a patronage alliance based upon the judicious exchange and release of knowledge at politically sensitive moments. This epistolary aspect of intelligence letters - overlooked by much scholarship - reveals the complex strategies Herle implements to circumvent the disruption of social hierarchy at the moment of counsel, the private transfer of knowledge in a medium often subject to broadcast, and the uncomfortable union of potent intelligence and familiar affect. This dissertation investigates the world of Elizabethan intelligence operations as experienced by William Herle, focusing on the topics of religion, early modern diplomacy, imprisonment, secret communication and patronage relationships based upon intelligence-exchange. The letters are an invaluable resource for scholars of early modern history and sixteenth-century letter writing, documenting the lengths to which a client would go to secure and maintain patronage in this period, encompassing the giving of gifts, the transmitting of books, and the strategic deployment of potent information. Scrutinizing intelligence operations from a social and textual standpoint offers the scholar a wider picture of the agent's position and relation to the political landscape. This dissertation examines Herle's evolving status of common informant, prison spy, diplomatic envoy, and special ambassador, surmounting obstacles of social hierarchy whilst maintaining a marginal, secret status. By identifying the epistolary and social minutiae of Herle's letters, this study relocates the position of the Elizabethan intelligencer, departing from the typical notion of skulking spy and instead positioning the agent directly in contact, both textual and physical, with the political power-base

An Empirical look at Recipient Benefits Associated with a University-Issued Student Leadership Award

Within academia there is an elaborate and extensive system of awards for both students and faculty (Frey, 2006). Although the majority of student-based awards are for outstanding leadership and related accomplishments, there has been virtually no research on the impact of receiving such a leadership award (Frey, 2006). Due to the conspicuous absence of empirical studies in this area, a significant knowledge gap exists regarding the possible value or positive effects associated with winning a university-issued student leadership award. To begin to fill this knowledge gap, this study examined the San Diego State University (SDSU) Quest for the Best award program that has been around since 1987 and produced a total of 222 winners. Using a 35-question survey designed specifically for this purpose, former winners were asked to rate the extent to which they benefited both intrinsically and extrinsically, and then variation in these benefits were decomposed using multiple regression analysis into demographic factors, academic discipline, and length of time since the award was won. After the elimination of 25 undeliverable surveys, the final sample consisted of responses from 125 former winners for a response rate of 63%. Survey findings reveal that the typical winner was a white female based in the College of Sciences. In addition, award winners benefited more intrinsically than extrinsically from winning the award; in particular, the highest scoring intrinsic effects were feeling proud and recognized for their involvement; affirmed of their impact on campus; an increase in leadership capabilities and self-confidence, a stronger connection to their faculty/staff honoree; and a stronger affinity to SDSU. Leading extrinsic effects included listing the award on their resume, wearing the medallion at commencement, and help with admission to graduate school. Taken together, the effects were most likely to occur within a short timeframe of winning the award and seemed diminished for those earning a middle/upper class salary ($75,000 -$124,999). Based on these findings, some recommendations for future research include conducting longitudinal studies of award winners to examine their career trajectory, comparing award winners to non-winners, and finally, collecting a comprehensive national database of university leadership award winners

A Tudor Family Library: Social Ambition and Continental Books in Sir Michael Dormer's Donation to the Bodleian Library

This essay argues that an examination of the list of books donated to the Bodleian by Sir Michael Dormer in 1603 complicates our assumptions about the audience for Italian Renaissance literature in the Tudor period. Such study causes us to readjust our knowledge of the kinds of books owned by the gentry when set against the known book collections represented in the standard literature. It demonstrates that, by scrutinizing institutional donation lists in granular detail, we can increase the cumulative bibliographical data available to study book ownership across a wider social spectrum than has previously been accessible to scholars across the disciplines.