Minnis Journals

ET News Digest

Your Weekly Education Newsletter

Tailored programs work in the bush
The bush and what happens in education there is often an afterthought but it is a complex and varied space which requires well thought out strategies to contend with the disadvantage and disconnect that students in the country can experience.
Tailored programs specific to local requirements work well to encourage engagement in schools and student progression to tertiary education. Read more

Teachers are health care workers
Educators wear many hats and increasingly it’s the healthcare one. Queensland school teachers are chalking up around $230 million a year in health-related work, most of it pastoral care.
University of Queensland health and economics researchers found that teachers spent about 10 hours a week – or 380 hours a year – on health-related tasks.
Teachers were engaged in everything from delivering health-related curriculum to complex student welfare cases. Read more

Creating powerful learning in mathematics
Mathematics is an essential building block of STEM literacy. To support student participation and develop positive mathematics identity the three aspects of learning in mathematics: exploring problems together, visualising thinking and using spatial reasoning, can be enhanced by harnessing the affordances of technology in the classroom. Read more

Learning while you sleep
Maybe sleeping should be encouraged in class; it’s been found that the brain is working hard when we’re napping, making connections that play an important role in the formation and retention of new memories.
The process of memory consolidation is associated with sudden bursts of brain activity, called sleep spindles.
Sleep spindles are half-second to two-second bursts of brain activity, measured in the 10-16 Hertz range on an EEG.
Read more

One third of Australian students regret uni choice
The number of Australians continuing to further education is on the rise, with over 1.3 million students currently enrolled into universities nationally compared to 1 million in 2008, but it looks like that means more students who are unhappy with their choice of university and course.
According to new research commissioned by Studiosity, the online study support service, almost 1 in 3 Australian students would attend a different university if they had the chance to choose again. Men are more likely to regret their decision, with 36% wishing they'd made a different choice compared to 28% of females. Mature-aged and part-time students are also significantly more likely to feel they've made the wrong decision. Read more

Victoria’s western coast schools get upgrades
It boasts some of the most spectacular scenery in the state and special needs schools on Victoria’s far western coast are going to be looking pretty well too after some new upgrades.
Students at Warrnambool Special Development School are a step closer to getting a new school with a $19.6 million construction project that will replace the school’s old campus.
Read more

Tell tales a good thing?

Nobody likes a dobber but telling tales might actually be a positive thing says research out of the University of Virginia. The research sheds new light on why young children tell and raises the question of whether tattling should be discouraged in early childhood.
When young children see a peer cause harm, they often tattle to a grown up. But why do children do it? A new Social Development study reveals that even when children cannot be blamed for a transgression, they tattle about it nonetheless. Read More