Innovation Incubations

The Poop it Kit

A Research Innovation to address a real-world problem: The Poop it Kit

Constipation is presenting as a real concern affecting up to 30% of children in Australia and the western world. These alterations in normal bowel functioning can lead to physical and psychosocial issues including learning difficulties. Nurses play a role in developing innovative health promotion activities about this topic for children.

In 2020, a group of CQUniversity nursing researchers (Reid-Searl, Crowley, Blunt, Anderson and Coll) implemented and evaluated an innovation for children relating to healthy bowel functioning. The innovation was The Poop it Kit.

The ‘Poop it Kit’, is geared at children between 4- 8 years of age. The kit includes fun and innovative resources including 6 books, a game, a toilet door poster, a colouring-in book, a user guide and toys. The features of the kit include seven different Poo characters adapted from the Bristol Stool chart.

The resources in the kit have a focus on raising awareness about healthy bowel functioning. Topics include;

• the different types of poo,
• the anatomy and physiology of bowel functioning,
• prevention of constipation,
• diet and healthy bowel functioning,
• correct positioning on the toilet,
• ignoring the urge to go and holding on
• and fears about going to the toilet.

For more information on the Poop It Kit, contact Professor Kerry Reid-Searl email: k.reid-searl@cqu.edu.au

The Creating Research Opportunities Collaborative is an initiative of the Motivation of Health Behaviours Lab (MoHB Lab), and CREATE. It builds on earlier work of the Rising Star project for undergraduate research and research mentoring sponsored by CQUniversity from 2016-2018.

Through collaborative research mentoring, the CROCS initiative aims to positively impact:

1. student retention in undergraduate and postgraduate coursework degree units
2. pathway enrolments into masters-by-research and doctoral studies
3. research supervisor support and training via mentoring of undergraduate, postgraduate coursework, and early career researchers.

• Impact research project establishing baseline data (secondary data from MoHB Lab students, and evaluation data from the Rising Stars program)
• A proof of concept virtual and in-person student researcher community hub

For more information on this initiative, contact:

• Dr Amanda Rebar (MoHB Lab & CREATE): a.rebar@cqu.edu.au
• Dr Michelle Vanderburg (CREATE; School of Education & the Arts): m.vanderburg@cqu.edu.au

This is a new venture for the Centre, and one which mobilises the strategic development of Research Higher Degree students and supervisory capabilities that may be explored with other Academies during the next triennium of the Centre’s operation.

CARTA’s purpose is to foster a dynamic and targeted research training cohort that draws in disciplinary, methodological and pedagogical expertise to: enhance the quality of students’ research projects; improve the student experience; build capacity for RHD growth (domestic and international); increase the supervision capacity of current staff; and enhance the external profile of creative arts research at CQUniversity.

Launched in September 2018, CARTA sits within the School of Education & the Arts. The leadership team includes Dr Elizabeth Ellison and Professor Craig Batty.

What do I need to do?

Students are expected to attend as many of the residentials as possible, and as such are encouraged to factor travel for CARTA events into their research plans and CQU-funded budgets. Students are also encouraged to discuss their involvement with their supervisors. CARTA does not take the place of your supervision panel.

Students are also expected to contribute to the research culture of CARTA. This means presenting work in progress, participating in workshops, and being part of a dynamic cohort of creative arts researchers and practitioners.

CARTA will also actively build its RHD cohort, with a focus on off-shore (fee-paying) enrolments, as well as domestic candidates, building institutional partnerships, and continuing its excellent record of on-time completions. Through targeted supervisor training and professional development, and research outreach, CARTA will also work within CREATE, and with the School of Graduate Research, to expand CARTA’s supervisory capacity.

I’m interested in studying at CQU in CARTA. What do I do?

In the first instance, interested students are encouraged to visit the Research Higher Degrees website for general information about RHDs, including possible project topics, fees, eligibility requirements, and scholarships. If you are considering studying a Master of Arts (Research) or a Doctor of Philosophy in the creative arts, please then contact the CARTA team via email: carta@cqu.edu.au with a rough overview of your intended topic. The team will then provide you with more information including potential supervisors and capacity, as well as the appropriate paperwork for submitting an application.

The Silo Project

SILO is an acronym for Scientifically Integrated Learning Outcomes. A design-based research methodology is used to construct 28 STEM projects which can embody learning throughout the primary school years. The two research questions for the SILO project are about the translation of research to bridge the gap between theory and practice:

1. How can co-design of research between research and education agencies be effectively undertaken to improve quality and usability of project findings and recommendations?
2. How does evaluation and translation of research best occur in classrooms and schools?

These questions have been identified as priority research areas by the Queensland Department of Education under the priority research theme ‘Empowered learners’.

Digital Scholarship

Digital scholarship is about the creation of multimodal theses and dissertations at the Masters and PhD level. The affordances of multimodality at this level have been shown to improve both the quality and visibility of the research findings.