Assoc Prof Bonnie McBain

In this paper, we analyse the introduction of peer mentors into timetabled classes to understand how in-class mentoring supports students' learning. The peer mentors in this study are high-achieving students who previously completed the same course and who were hired and trained to facilitate Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS). PASS gives students the opportunity to deepen their understanding through revision and active learning and are typically held outside of class time. In contrast, our trial embedded peer mentors into classes for a large (-250 students) first-year workshop-based course. We employed a participatory action research methodology to facilitate the peer mentors' cocreation of the research process. Data sources include peer mentors' journal entries, student cohort data, and a focus group with teaching staff. We found that during face-to-face workshops, peer mentors role-modelled ideal student behaviour (e.g., asking questions) rather than acting as additional teachers, and this helped students to better understand how to interact effectively in class. The identity of embedded peer mentors is neither that of teachers nor of students, and it instead spans aspects of both as described using a three-part schema comprising (i) identity, (ii) associated roles, and (iii) associated practices. As we moved classes online mid-semester in response to the COVID- 19 pandemic, mentors' identities remained stable, but mentors adjusted their associated roles and practices, including through the technical aspects of their engagement with students. This study highlights the benefits of embedding mentors in classrooms on campus and online.

We describe the rationale, creation, and activity of a long-term co-constructed voluntary professional development initiative for tertiary educators. This is a Community of Practice (CoP) formed to investigate "thinking" as a topic which may be explicitly taught. The aim of this paper is to share the value of this CoP in one context and insights into how similar approaches may be useful to other tertiary educators. The project has run for a year to date, involving a small butgrowing collective of tertiary educators, withmembers from one Canadian and several Australian Universities. Our methodology is participatory: we regularly meet,reflect,and record our reflections. Our records contain data relatingto our motivation, our insights, and the impact of these upon our choices in our teaching practices. In particular,our rationaleincludes the mutual desire to invest in developing understanding of our teaching challenges, to enable us to create thoughtful teaching approaches fit for our purposes and contexts. Hence, the central focus of our CoP isthe Development of our Expertise in Fostering Thinking (DEFT). This focus hasilluminatedgaps in existing scholarly literaturepertainingto communal development of theory, personal development of schemata, capacity for reflexivity, and instantiation in our disciplines. Opportunities and risks associated with our other sources of professional learningare identified and discussed. We elaborate on adouble-layered approach, in which we explore the constructionofour ownschemataas a precursor to helpingstudents buildtheirschemataas a foundation for their own understanding, and the role offlexible, critical,and creativethinking on our part. We utilise the scholarship of expertise, frequently returning to such questionsas "How do we know what our students are thinking?"Insights gleaned from our reflections are shared, and recommendations are presented on the formation of similar projects.

Scientific thinking is more than just critical thinking. Teaching the full range of ways to think like a scientist who practices high quality science is rare. A new core subject in the Bachelor of Science at the University of Newcastle was developed to allow students to explore six different ways to thinking scientifically through understanding what high-quality science is and contrasting it with poor science and non-science (pseudoscience). Our evaluation indicates that learning about how to think scientifically and be a scientist who practices high quality science is a skill that is valued by and relevant to first year undergraduate students. An evidence-based pedagogy including active learning, participatory learning, student-centred learning, constructive alignment and quality formative and summative feedback to students can support high learning outcomes.

We offer a simulation of low-carbon electricity supply for Australia, based on currently and economically operating technologies and proven resources, contributing new knowledge by: featuring a GIS-based spatial optimisation process for identifying suitable generator locations; including expanded transmission networks; covering the entire continent; and investigating the significance of biofuel availability and carbon price. We find that nation-wide low-carbon electricity supply is possible at about 160¿GW installed capacity, at indicative cost of around 20¿¢/kWh, involving wind, concentrating solar, and PV utilities, and less than 20¿TWh of biofuelled generation. Dispatchable hydro and biofuel plants are required to plug gaps caused by occasional low-resource periods. Technology and cost breakthroughs for storage, geothermal, and ocean technologies, as well as offshore wind deployment would substantially alter our assessment.

This study examined and compared attitudes of both students and instructors, motivated by an interest in improving the development and delivery of online oral communication learning (OOCL). Few studies have compared student and instructor attitudes toward learning technologies, and no known studies have conducted item response theory (IRT) analyses on these factors. Two independent and anonymous surveys resulted in 255 participants (124 university students, and 131 instructors). Exploratory factor analyses produced final item sets and a two-factor model for student attitudes (Technology Self-efficacy [TSE], and Positive Attitudes [PA]), and a three-factor model for instructors (TSE, Behavioral Intentions, and PA). The OOCL attitude factors showed strong validity through both IRT and classical test theory analyses. Comparisons between students and instructors showed students generally had higher TSE and more positive attitudes towards OOCL. The attitudes most relevant to OOCL were intrinsic interest, behavioral intentions, and perceived usefulness of the technology. This study revealed that technological self-efficacy may be useful for differentiating students and instructors, but not for assessing OOCL attitudes. Further development in this field could focus on the improvement of instructors' attitudes and skills, as well as exploring the role of intrinsic interest.

A colonization experiment was used to investigate landscape use of a commercially managed wet forest in southern Tasmania by the ground-dwelling frog, Crinia signifera. Replicated artificial ponds were placed at increasing distances (20, 100, 250 and 500 m) from nine permanent breeding sites to investigate the effect of pond isolation on colonization. Four of these permanent breeding sites were surrounded by coupes that had been logged within the previous five years and five permanent breeding sites were surrounded by unlogged forest to investigate the effect of recent logging on colonization. The rate of colonization, the frequency of colonization, male size and female size (inferred from clutch size) were monitored over two breeding seasons. No pond isolation effects were found, indicating that C. signifera is randomly distributed throughout the forest landscape for up to 500 m around each permanent breeding site. Such patterns of forest habitat use indicate that management prescriptions should not only take into account the habitat characteristics of breeding sites but should also consider the surrounding terrestrial landscape. Ponds surrounded by unlogged forest were colonized almost two times faster than ponds surrounded by logged forest indicating that landscape modification can significantly alter amphibian mobility. These findings have consequences for total reproductive output especially in landscapes where breeding sites are highly variable and for species that are slow to colonize new breeding sites.