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In an era of internationalism, higher education and vocational training have been core to Australia’s nation-building, regional co-operation and public diplomacy. This essay examines what has become of the people-to-people aspect of Australia’s engagements in the Indo-Pacific region, as discussed in the Australian government’s influential White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century (2012). More recently, established patterns of international educational exchange, and their economic, social and cultural benefits, have been disrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, shifting international relations and domestic politics, with consequences for international education and public diplomacy.

This essay introduces the scholarly context for a reappraisal of Australian histories of international education within the Indo-Pacific region since the mid-20th century, and the role of NGOs, academia and government in educational schemes and scholarships. It draws on an approach informed by international history, the history of education and diplomatic studies, to provide an overview of key themes and the past and present case studies discussed in the seven articles of this special journal issue.

The little-known histories of international education in Australia, and associated scholarship schemes, are important aspects of soft power or public diplomacy and the nation’s relations with the Indo-Pacific region. We argue that there needs to be greater acknowledgement of the vital role of these interpersonal interactions and the international organisations that facilitated such exchanges in histories of Australia’s internationalism and diplomacy. While Australian governments have initiated scholarship programmes, what is becoming clear is that understanding their significance for Australian–regional relationships demands a research focus on student expectations and experiences that often lay beyond government control.

This essay and the articles in this special issue offer new historic and current insights on international education policy and programmes and Australia’s diplomatic relations. Many of the highlighted case studies have not previously been analysed within this context, and fresh analysis makes an intervention into the field, revealing the complexities and limitations of international education and people-to-people relationships for Australia’s past and present connections with the Indo-Pacific region.

The purpose of this study is to understand the potential of serious gaming as an imaginative and creative method to collect data in disaster studies that address key concerns such as extractive research, power inequalities, and bridging the theory-practice gap in exploring post-disaster recovery.

Novel serious gaming approach deployed to connect theory-practice by identifying and co-analysing post-disaster recovery gaps in a workshop setting.

The serious game has value in bridging theory-practice divides, identifying and exploring gaps/solutions in post-flood recovery, and serving as a novel social science research approach for disaster studies.

Outlining a dialogic approach to knowledge construction between academics, practitioners, policymakers and community voices on post-disaster recovery.

Fostering collaboration and knowledge construction on post-disaster recovery gaps across stakeholders is valuable in improving disaster resilience strategies that benefit communities affected by disasters.

The paper proposes a creative and co-developed serious game method of data collection for disaster studies.

This paper aims to examine how doctoral students in education and applied linguistics fields successfully navigated graduate writing demands by participating in a support community that catalyzed writing productivity, peer mentoring and feedback. Guiding graduate students’ writing processes based on scholarly interests and providing peer support are vital to scholarly productivity and transition into academia.

Following a collaborative analytic autoethnographic case study design (Adams et al., 2022; Chang et al., 2013), the authors narrated major events that impacted their writing and publication experiences. The authors visualized their entire doctoral writing experience based on the frequency of writing events that contributed to writing productivity. In data triangulation discussions, the authors reflected on writing experiences.

Findings show that the support community alleviated individual struggles associated with writing a dissertation and high-quality papers. Key factors contributing to scholarly growth included nonevaluative peer support, feedback and shared academic resources. Writing within the periphery of faculty research and predominantly focusing on doctoral milestones led to individual scholarly interests being overshadowed. Without structured guidance, doctoral writers may develop initiatives to alleviate individual struggles and meet academic writing demands in the disciplines.

The authors recommend including structured guidance on developing writing productivity and a personal research agenda in the early stages of the doctorate.

This study offers unique examples of how a student group supported writing productivity and socialization into the academic community. It illustrates the multifaceted nature of academic writing influenced by faculty–student relationships, peers and individual initiatives. This paper provides doctoral writers and graduate programs with examples of accomplishing academic publishing goals.

This preliminary small-scale research aims to achieve an insight into drug use offenders’ rehabilitation experiences both in and out of prison, as well as considering how perceptions of the public may inhibit their successful reintegration into society.

A mixed-methods approach was used, with five semi-structured interviews conducted alongside the distribution of the Attitude towards prisoners questionnaire among the general public (n = 106) in the North-West region of England.

Participants recalled a mixture of experiences, highlighting the presence of contraband in prisons to be an inhibiting factor of successful rehabilitation. Additionally, participants expressed the need for more support when preparing for release such as confirmation of accommodation and possible employment. Questionnaires also indicated the public to perceive offenders negatively (M = 76, SD = 16.99), thus presenting a further challenge in the resettlement of drug use offenders.

Findings highlight that improving practices to decrease the presence of contraband in prisons, monitoring an individual’s use of methadone, preparing an individual for their release from prison and educating the public would reduce some of the obstacles experienced by drug use offenders.

This study outlines some of the obstacles that drug use offenders experience when attempting to end their drug use activity and criminal engagement.

Today, appearance is an integral aspect of a politician's image and personality and therefore his or her brand (Budesheim & DePaola, 1994; Sanghvi & Hodges, 2015; Smith & French, 2009). While appearance is critical to political marketing, most of the research focusing on appearance in politics is experimental in nature (Lenz & Lawson, 2011; Olivola & Todorov, 2010; Todorov et al., 2005). This study investigates the importance of appearance for marketing politicians through a qualitative interpretivist framework that offers implications for theory. Moreover, this chapter offers a specific focus on the importance of appearance for female politicians.

Research shows women face greater scrutiny on their appearance (Carlin & Winfrey, 2009; Sanghvi, 2018). This chapter examines myriad of issues women in politics face based on their appearance. It also examines how women have successfully managed the issue of appearance at local, state and national levels. Thus, this study delivers a multifaceted view of the topic and facilitates the understanding of how appearance management enters into the political marketing process.

The purpose of the current innovative practice paper is to introduce a technique to explore leader identity development and meaning-making that builds on the narrative pedagogical tradition. In this paper, we recommend a process for combining turning-point graphing and responsive (semi-structured) interviews to co-explore leadership identity development and meaning-making with college students.

The paper provides student feedback data on the effectiveness of the technique in improving understanding of leader identity and transforming meaning-making.

We hope practitioners can utilize this approach to build leadership identity development and meaning-making capacity in college students.

The purpose of this study is therefore to detail an additive manufacturing process for printing TiD parts for implant applications. Titanium–diamond (TiD) is a new composite that provides biocompatible three-dimensional multimaterial structures. Thus, the authors report a powder-deposition and print optimization strategy to overcome the dual-functionality gap by printing bulk TiD parts. However, despite favorable customization outcomes, relatively few additive manufacturing (AM) feedstock powders offer the biocompatibility required for medical implant and device technologies.

AM offers a platform to fabricate customized patient-specific parts. Developing feedstock that can be 3D printed into specific 3D structures while providing a favorable interface with the human tissue remains a challenge. Using laser metal deposition, feedstock powder comprising diamond and titanium was co-printed into TiD parts for mechanical testing to determine optimal manufacturing parameters.

TiD parts were fabricated comprising 30% and 50% diamond. The composite powder had a Hausner ratio of 1.13 and 1.21 for 30% and 50% TiD, respectively. The flow analysis (Carney flow) for TiD 30% and 50% was 7.53 and 5.15 g/s. The authors report that the printing-specific conditions significantly affect the integrity of the printed part and thus provide the optimal manufacturing parameters for structural integrity as determined by micro-computed tomography, nanoindentation and biocompatibility of TiD parts. The hardness, ultimate tensile strength and yield strength for TiD are 4–6 GPa (depending on build position), 426 MPa and 375 MPa, respectively. Furthermore, the authors show that increasing diamond composition to 30% results in higher osteoblast viability and lower bacteria count than titanium.

In this study, the authors provide a clear strategy to manufacture TiD parts with high integrity, performance and biocompatibility, expanding the material feedstock library and paving the way to customized diamond implants. Diamond is showing strong potential as a biomedical material; however, upscale is limited by conventional techniques. By optimizing AM as the avenue to make complex shapes, the authors open up the possibility of patient-specific diamond implant solutions.

This article aims to contribute to a clearer understanding of the importance of mentor preparation and provide recommendations for effective mentor preparation programmes based on the literature.

A narrative review of a range of literature focussing on the importance and characteristics of effective mentor practice and preparation.

Many mentors working in educational contexts lack adequate preparation, and a shift in mentoring practice from a mentor as expert approach, which mentors are likely revert to without training, to a more collaborative relationship in line with educative mentoring is recommended. Relationship building, working collaboratively and encouraging critical reflection are essential mentoring capabilities, and can be supported by participation in effective mentoring preparation programmes. Characteristics of these programmes include: providing time for mentors to reflect on their personal capabilities and attitudes; strengthening their knowledge about mentoring and learning a range of approaches and tools.

Implications for mentor preparation include consideration of curricula that focus on the nature of effective mentoring relationships, provision of effective observation-based feedback and the facilitation of critical reflection. Blended learning models appear to have potential and organisational leaders need to recognise and value mentoring to ensure that it is prioritised.

This article makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the nature of effective mentor preparation programmes.

The purpose of this paper was to examine consumer perceptions of aesthetic attributes of textile-based assistive devices (ADs) and the language used by consumers to express those perceptions and concerns. Previous investigations of user feedback for ADs have largely focused on functional attributes rather than aesthetics.

An interpretivist research philosophy was selected to investigate the meaning behind consumer perceptions and to understand their viewpoints on the aesthetic dimensions of ADs. Using product reviews for two ADs sold on Amazon.com as data, the researchers conducted qualitative data analysis through coding and interpretation of meanings behind reviews to determine consumers’ perceptions related to their ADs.

The authors identified consumer concerns linking to aesthetics evidenced as a multisensory integration of visual, tactile and olfactory cues. Consumer-preferred language used to address aesthetic preferences was found to supplement the literature. Aesthetic considerations were found to be impactful on avoiding stigma and encouraging or discouraging continued use of the devices.

Findings may contribute to the development of textile-based ADs with improved aesthetics to enhance user experiences. New ways of using consumer language to interpret user needs may assist in future research and design practice for consumer products.

The use of consumer product reviews as a rich source of user data is discussed in this paper. As previous research on assistive technology has largely focused on functionality, results of this analysis offer insight into consumers’ aesthetic judgments related to ADs and bring a sensory perspective to the research area.