Successful Grant Applications

The following projects made successful grant applications in 2007.

Distress Detection and helping behaviours amongst tertiary students

Project Team

• Ms. Catherine Leahy
• Professor Deborah Turnbull

School/Branch
Medicine Learning & Teaching Unit/ School of Psychology

Project Outline
This project seeks to understand mental health and distress detection amongst students studying in a diversity of discipline. It should provide valuable information on the extent of psychological distress and peer support behaviours to identifying the distress and to providing support.

Project Update
The project is basically going very well. All the data has now been collected. I recently travelled to Sydney to meet with some experts in mental health, two of these experts generously flew in from northern states, to discuss how to order and structure the findings? The data is currently with a statistician who is working out how to use a new method to analyse the data - hierarchical multilevel modelling is comparatively new to health science research.

Payment for the statistician will use the biggest proportion of the grant money. There has also been a significant amount of qualitative data collected and I am considering hiring a research assistant for a short period to co-analyse this data with me.

The results so far are indicating that tertiary students have very high psychological distress, considerably higher than age matched peers in the general population. Students and staff who participated in the studies have all been provided with feedback on the general findings for their particular year level in their particular discipline. Over the next several months I will be analysing the data about detection of distress in peers.
Catherine Leahy

Enhancing the learning experience of international Postgraduate business students from Non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) in group projects/assignments with local students

Project Team

• Dr Pi-Shen Seet
• Dr Sam Wells
• Ms Olga Muzychenko

School/Branch
Adelaide Graduate School of Business (AGSB)

Project Outline
This project attempts to address the enhancement of both international and local students undergoing group assignments in diverse cultural groups on a post-experience postgraduate MBA program. Best practices for implementation will be identified through surveys, interviews, focus groups and participant observation.

Feasibility study for a pathways to University interactive multimedia resource

Project Team

• Ms Alison Galbreath
• Michael Colbung
• Daniel Turner

School/Branch
Wilto Yerlo CASM

Project Outline
This project attempts to gather information on pathways and programs for Indigenous students wishing to study at the University. Research the development of an animated program for use on PC/Web/DVD detailing pathways to various careers offered through University programs.

An investigation of the factors influencing the success and retention of indigenous students in the Humanities & Social Sciences Foundation program at the University of Adelaide

Project Team

• Ms Elizabeth Grant
• Ms Camille Dobson

School/Branch:
Wilto Yerlo CASM

Project Outline
The Centre for Australian Indigenous Research and Studies has offered the Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation program since 1996. This program provides indigenous students alternate pathways to tertiary study and aims to increase their participation at the University. This study will use qualitative and quantitative research techniques to examine the factors which affect the participation and retention of Indigenous students in the foundation program to provide further understandings of the factors that affect their academic success.

For further information about the application processes please contact the Workforce Strategy Consultant (Equity and Diversity) on extension 38180.