Lauren O'Mahony

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.

Social scientists have long been fascinated about why people volunteer. Volunteers give their time to certain organisations without expectation of reward or compensation for their labour (Snyder and Omoto, 2008). The 2011 ‘National Survey of Volunteering Issues’ suggests that the primary motivations for volunteers are a “sense of purpose” and the “difference they make to the community” (Volunteering Australia, 2011:4). While these two primary motivations may span volunteering generally, older adult volunteer motivation in the community radio sector anecdotally reveals a more complex picture. There are strong resonances between existing theoretical literature on motivations in volunteering (Clary et al., 1998) and community radio (Order, 2014b). Clary et al’s work (1998) focuses on the initial motivation to volunteer and what drives continued participation. Order’s (2014b) study found that the main value for participation in community radio was personal development and empowerment at a personal or group level. The purpose of this paper is to explore these broad themes in more detail. Interview data from volunteers at an exemplar community radio station is considered in conjunction with Clary et al’s (1998) six motivational functions of volunteering. Clary et al’s six functions provide the language and a framework to unpack personal development and empowerment at a personal and group level in the community radio sector using interview data about the participation of primarily older volunteers at Perth community radio station 6RPH (Radio Print-Handicapped). The analysis reveals a more nuanced picture of volunteer motivation for individuals. This paper argues that the development of a purposeful identity through volunteering in a community radio context is a primary motivation and consequence for older adult volunteers.

Internationally, industry dissatisfaction with graduate skills and rapid technological change has been driving higher education away from delivering content to developing graduate competencies, transferable skills and lifelong learners. For more than a decade now, the university sector has responded to government and accrediting bodies by trying to identify and integrate competencies within and across curricula. Creative thinking is central to meeting the ongoing personal and professional development of graduates and the needs of employers, and it is one of the competencies identified by all Australian universities as an important graduate attribute. However, there is little evidence that Australian university curricula address it explicitly or assess it formally. The question is how do we teach creative thinking and embed it in the curriculum in a purposive, deliberate way. This presentation examines how a first year unit called Creativity and Innovation at Murdoch University teaches and assesses creative thinking skills.

The response by Australian universities to rapid technological change and industry dissatisfaction with graduate competencies has been , at least, to identify transferable skills that support lifelong learning. Creativity is a core competency in higher education policy and curriculum frameworks, but is rarely made explicit at the level of learning outcomes, activities and assessment. In this paper we will draw on revisions to Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956 ) to argue that we need to develop the creative capacity of Communication Studies graduates more explicitly. We will focus on explaining the significance of providing an environment that fosters the creative dispositions of graduates in the twenty - first century .