Kin Eng Chin

Human participant recruitment is often a critical part of the research process. However, this aspect of research method is often glossed over in the literature, despite being common to all research approaches involving human participants. In this study, which explored how preservice teachers view the importance of media literacy pedagogy in teaching, we surveyed and interviewed a cohort of Gen Z BEd students drawn from across three public universities in WA. Recruiting from this mythical cohort of digital natives proved onerous, and we report on the pragmatics of implementing the research design and its data collection phases. Traditional participant recruitment methods, which have been systematically employed for decades in some cases, are often unquestioned. Similarly, problem-solving skills are key to developing a researcher's sense of self-efficacy to overcome unforeseen challenges to research design plans.


We report that in the postdigital era, conventional participant recruitment methods appear to have become less effective for some cohorts of participants. Because participant recruitment often occurs in crucial early stages of a project, challenges can affect the doctoral candidate's self-efficacy and resilience. However, positivity is key, bootstraps are pulled, and agile recruitment solutions can be found.

Australian students' results in international assessments have led to considerable attention on teacher quality and, more specifically, on how well pre-service teachers (PSTs) are being prepared to teach. Acting on one of the recommendations in the Action Now, Classroom Ready Teachers Report (TEMAG, 2014), the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership updated Accreditation Standards and Procedures for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs to include primary specialisation into ITE courses (AITSL, 2017). The Australian Government's Next Steps report (2022) also identified the need to obtain data on the specialisation of ITE graduates to assist with issues of supply and demand. Our study was designed to increase knowledge of primary PSTs' perceptions of the primary specialisation program and explore reasons informing PSTs' specialisation choice. Data for this research project were gathered from PSTs undertaking ITE in a primary teaching course at an Australian University. A mixed methods approach, involving a questionnaire and small follow-up research focus group, was undertaken late in 2022. The data identify the perceptions of primary PSTs relating to their specialisation choices and the dominant factors that impact on these choices.

Line graphs serve as visual representations of quantitative information, aiding readers in comprehending extensive data, trends, and relationships. Given their widespread use in daily life, it is expected that everyone can make sense of line graphs. This paper proposes and validates a sense-making perspective, and it reports on the ways mathematics undergraduates make sense of a context-based line graph. Data were collected through a line graph task and semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that the mathematics undergraduates made sense of the graph through perception, operation, and reason. This paper contributes insights into how the participants make sense of the line graph and offers evidence that can inform researchers, educators and curriculum developers about the validity of the framework. This framework can serve as a useful tool for future research in similar areas and potentially shape instructional approaches.

This tribute reflects on the life and contributions of Emeritus Professor David Tall, a distinguished scholar in Mathematical Thinking and Mathematics Education, who passed away on July 15, 2024. David Tall's groundbreaking ideas, such as concept image, , procept, and the three worlds of mathematics, , have profoundly influenced the mathematics education community. His philosophy of reciprocal learning and encouragement of innovative research shaped many scholars, including the author, who considers him not only a supervisor but an academic father. David's legacy will continue to inspire future generations in academia.