Kim Hudson PhD FHEA

This study investigates the transformation in student knowledge pertaining to the study area of ‘data analytics’, and the building of confidence, specifically in non-STEM students, to analyse, interpret, manipulate, and present data to a range of stakeholders using Microsoft Excel. The context of the study is a newly developed, centrally delivered undergraduate data analytics unit, within which a pre-and post-course survey was embedded. These surveys were administered to students across three separate semesters: S2 2022, S1 2023, and S2 2023. The confidence of both non-STEM and STEM students in conducting data analysis was captured. The findings indicate that students benefit from an immersive curriculum where they are exposed to both an understanding of data analytics in a broad global and social context, characterised by rapid technological change, as well as opportunities to master technical skills utilised through Microsoft Excel. The results demystify the notion that non-STEM students are less capable of expanding their depth of knowledge and technological skill development outside their discipline of choice. These results are important in the context of graduate employability and the importance of digital literacy in a rapidly changing world of work.

This article presents the key findings and discussion from a research project and subsequent report: Involving young children in decision making: An exploration of practitioners’ views. This research explored early childhood practitioners’—childcare workers, kindergarten, pre-primary and grade 1–2 teachers—views on decision making for young children (aged six years and under). The key findings raise some important observations and challenges for the children’s rights agenda and its efficacy in childcare and educational settings. Practitioners’ views highlighted inconsistencies and tensions from theory to practice where involving young children in decision making is not always straightforward. It is argued that, if decision making is to be an authentic vehicle for children’s rights, there needs to be a comprehensive dialogue on what decision making is in age-relevant terms and its practical importance to children’s rights in early education and childcare environments. Importantly, this dialogue needs to address some of the practical inhibitors to participative decision making such as practitioners’ views on children’s capacity to make decisions, the practitioner–child relationship, parameters of discipline and behavioural control, curriculum requirements and practitioners’ time and resources.

State and local governments in Western Australia increasingly identify 'community development' as a key approach for the delivery of community services. In this paper I explore how the concept of community development is understood and practiced by workers in the context of government community services. While definitions are most often presented as a universally understood approach, my key argument is: that there are instead, community development 'discourses' that are variously applied to diverse situations. Foucauldian notions of discourse and power are used to propose that, while there may be core and recognisable traits found within the language of community development, in any given situation these combine with a number of variables (most notably stemming from the organization responsible for community services) to form a 'situated' community development discourse.