Research projects focussed on the environment and education have attracted funding in the latest round of projects announced in the federal Government’s National Competitive Grants Program. The Australian Research Council (ARC) announced on Wednesday 15 October funding from 2009 for research projects that will produce significant national benefit.
CSU is the lead institution in two ARC Discovery grants:
- ‘Designing landscapes to deliver ecosystem services to agriculture’.
Associate Professor Gary Luck and Dr Peter Spooner from the CSU Institute of Land, Water and Society at Albury-Wodonga have secured $255 000 for the three year project. They will identify situations where agriculture can gain maximum benefit from nature's services such as pollination. The services by nature contribute billions of dollars to production. Read more here.
- ‘Knocking down the mathematical divide in Australia’.
Disadvantaged Indigenous and rural students living in remote Australian settlements will benefit from this three year $ 170 000 research project led by Professor Tom Lowrie, Director of CSU’s Research Institute Professional Practice, Learning & Education based in Wagga Wagga and Griffith University in Queensland. Read more here.
CSU academics are also part of research teams on the following projects:
- ‘Space to Grow: The Faulkes Telescope and improving science engagement in schools’.
The $312 000, three year Linkage project, which will be administrated by Macquarie University, aims to develop and enrich science school students and their teachers through access to the Faulkes Telescopes, including the facility in Siding Springs in northern NSW. Associate Professor David McKinnon from the School of Teacher Education at CSU at Bathurst and Dr Lena Danaia, a Post Doctoral Fellow at CSU at Bathurst, are involved in the project.
- ‘Extending the capabilities of argumentative Chinese students: Enhancing Australia’s pedagogical capacity for engaging China through internationalisation research education’.
- Teaching reading in Australia: An historical investigation of early reading pedagogy, the figure of the teacher and literacy education’
This two year, $80 000 ARC Discovery project administered by the University of South Australia will make a distinctive national and international contribution to the teaching of reading and literacy research. “An historical perspective on reading pedagogy is important, otherwise we keep recycling myths and misunderstandings about teaching reading and literacy, and waste time arguing over ‘method’,” said Professor Bill Green from the School of Teacher Education at CSU at Bathurst.
- ‘Staying on at school: strategies for increasing high school completion rates in low-retention regions of NSW’.
Professor Sue Dockett and Associate Professor Bob Perry and from the Murray School of Education at CSU in Albury-Wodonga will be part of a $401 000 Linkage project led by the University of Western Sydney. In conjunction with the NSW Department of Education, the project will explore young people’s decisions to leave school early. The project builds on the expertise of Professors Dockett and Perry in the investigation of educational transitions and the ways in which educational systems and schools can develop programs and curricula that will be more successfully retain school students.
- ‘Heatwaves, population health, and emergency management in Australia – a qualitative study’.
Professor Kevin Parton from CSU in Orange will be part of the Linkage project led by the University of Adelaide. $132 000 will be spent on the research examining the barriers, incentives, and opportunities for improvement in service delivery, awareness and community engagement. Questions to be posed in the project include: What factors influence effective emergency assistance for persons suffering heat related illness? In what ways do cultural beliefs and practices affect the likelihood of heat related illness? What aspects of care and emergency services are most likely to prevent heat induced illness? Which groups in the community are most and least likely to take heed of heat wave warnings?
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