The transition from school to university is challenging and a greater knowledge of the first-year student experience will enable staff to better support their students. University- and government-run student surveys fail to capture the depth and breadth of the first-year experience and so qualitative research is needed to get a more nuanced and…

Citizen science is a research collaboration between scientists and volunteers who provide data for education, conservation, and environmental protection. Volunteers, often the locals in the area, provide data on species occurrence while researchers perform distribution mapping or other data analysis. Social networking sites including Facebook,…

Researcher identity has been widely studied as central to doctoral education. However, little is known about students' emic conceptualization of what represents researcher identity based on their lived experience. Using a sample of 24 Chinese doctoral students in Australia, this study adopts volunteer-employed photography (VEP) to facilitate the…

This lesson plan describes the application of a photo essay technique for landscape interpretation in an interdisciplinary instructor-led international field course. This lesson is, in practice, a field-based exercise or learning activity that asks students to engage in three foundational approaches to place-based landscape reading:…

With smartphone saturation at 100% among Japanese university students, educators are developing new and innovative ways to bring them to the forefront of learning, ensuring students are as engaged with their technology in their formal learning as they are with their informal learning. Smartphones of today are small, portable, have high spec…

This paper focuses on an Australian university short-term study abroad programme in India part-funded by the Australian Government New Colombo Plan -- an initiative that facilitates transformative people-to-people encounters. Our chief interest is extending our reach, through photo diaries and interviews, to understand how participants'…

Using the controversial image of Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi as its provocation, this paper reflects upon the ethics of images used in teaching in a time of high-volume image circulation via social media, as well as a time when debates about content and trigger warnings are starting to gain more traction in the Australian tertiary sector. It…

The ability to think critically and creatively are essential graduate attributes for science students yet many science graduates lack these skills and may struggle to gain employment. As undergraduate science educators, we are aiming to improve critical thinking, creativity and the promotion of deeper learning in our students. We have designed and…

This study addresses the issue of international education through a human development lens. Using a group of Chinese doctoral students in Australia as a case study, it adopts volunteer-employed photography (VEP) to tease out the negative and positive forces that influence students' developmental trajectories during their doctoral education.…

Universities are built upon the collaborative work of academic staff and students, yet the nature of this work has been undergoing profound and rapid change. Pressures within Australia's higher education sector have led to a fracturing of traditional academic roles and growing feelings of disconnection. While there have been many narrative,…

The term sexting has come to be associated with media, political and public concern over young people's involvement in the sending and/or receiving of nude or semi-nude images and/or videos of one another. Public discourses around sexting have framed the practice as problematic, reflecting long-held -- and often very real -- anxieties over young…

This article posits that when children are encouraged to aspire, they can become aware of a new world of choices and opportunities. Children should be supported to aspire in all areas of their lives. Of interest is children's capacity to aspire to attend tertiary education. Literature shows that children cannot aspire to attend higher education…

This article discusses the practical and ethical challenges and benefits of using social media and video-based research methods -- also known as Photovoice -- to investigate contemporary Communication Design education. The two visual research methods discussed include the social media mobile application Snapchat® and participant-generated GoPro®…

This research investigates an intercultural praxis approach to using visual research methods, in Australia and Vietnam, with preservice teachers in a Diploma of Early Childhood (DEC) course. The paper results from limited research with DEC preservice teachers exploring the development of intercultural praxis and limited research in teaching whilst…

For preservice teachers in early childhood education, having a rich exposure to multiple forms of literacy in diverse communities is an essential dimension of their teacher education. In this study, 10 Australian preservice early childhood education students, in the first year of their course, visit two early childhood settings in a large city in…