Some gifted students have specific literacy learning disabilities in areas such as reading, writi... more Some gifted students have specific literacy learning disabilities in areas such as reading, writing and spelling. The present study uses a ‘differentiated models of giftedness and talent’ framework to examine the learning characteristics of these students. The students, 65 gifted primary school students in Melbourne, had a disability in literacy performance in at least one of reading prose accuracy, prose reading comprehension, or isolated word reading accuracy. Their phonemic awareness (segmentation and blending), and general ability using the WISCIII were assessed. As well, to provide an opportunity for the display of their gifted knowledge, tasks examining their ability to infer from what they had read for texts read accurately were used. Scores on the cognitive factors of the WISC-III identified three categories or ‘profiles’ of gifted knowledge: students gifted verbally, nonverbally and in both areas. The three profiles were associated with particular patterns in literacy knowl...
The relegation of spatial knowledge to a subordinate position has particular implications for exa... more The relegation of spatial knowledge to a subordinate position has particular implications for examining mathematics underachievement. First, most of use have observed in our teaching that some mathematics underachievers (that is, those who have difficulty comprehending numerical ideas) can comprehend elementary spatial concepts but because they lack fluency in number they cannot make sense of the relationships to be developed. Second, you have probably observed that other more able mathematics students (that is, those who do not have difficulty comprehending numerical ideas) have difficulty comprehending spatial concepts and are secure learning spatial knowledge only when the ideas are expressed in numerical terms.
This paper describes a literacy intervention innovation in a primary school that was implemented ... more This paper describes a literacy intervention innovation in a primary school that was implemented on a whole school basis. The school had experienced comparatively low levels of literacy success for several years. Improvement required all staff to evaluate and, where necessary, modify literacy pedagogy. Whole school change that takes account of variation in staff knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and levels of commitment is frequently problematic.
Oral language and literacy competence are major influences on children's developmental pathwa... more Oral language and literacy competence are major influences on children's developmental pathways and life success. Children who do not develop the necessary language and literacy skills in the early years of school then go on to face long-term difficulties. Improving teacher effectiveness may be a critical step in lifting oral language and literacy outcomes. The Classroom Promotion of Oral Language trial aims to determine whether a specifically designed teacher professional learning programme focusing on promoting oral language can lead to improved teacher knowledge and practice, and advance outcomes in oral language and literacy for early years school children, compared with usual practice. This is a two-arm cluster multisite randomised controlled trial conducted within Catholic and Government primary schools across Victoria, Australia. The intervention comprises 4 days of face-to-face professional learning for teachers and ongoing implementation support via a specific worker. T...
International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, Jan 9, 2003
After vertebral or paravertebral tumor resection, tumor cells may remain on the dura. Because a t... more After vertebral or paravertebral tumor resection, tumor cells may remain on the dura. Because a tumoricidal dose is difficult to achieve using external beam radiotherapy without exceeding the spinal cord tolerance, we developed intraoperative applicators to deliver additional dose to the dura. Eight patients with vertebral or paravertebral tumor underwent conformal external beam radiotherapy, tumor resection, and intraoperative radiotherapy to the dura involved by tumor. At surgery, vertebra, soft tissue, and epidural tumor were resected. A radioactive applicator plaque was placed on the dura to deliver 7.5-15 Gy, and then removed. Vertebral reconstruction and stabilization was completed. Chemotherapy was administered for large, high-grade sarcomas. We progressed through three plaque designs, initially (192)Ir, subsequently liquid (90)Y, and finally (90)Y foil in a semicylindrical polycarbonate plaque, in the treatment of 8 patients. The low-energy (90)Y beta-emissions provided a more attractive depth dose profile than that achievable with iridium and gave negligible staff radiation exposure. The (90)Y depth dose measured 29% at 2 mm and 9% at 4 mm from the surface of the foil plaque, with acceptable surface dose homogeneity. The average surface dose rate ranged from 18.7 to 47.6 cGy/min for the iridium plaques and 45.2 to 187.5 cGy/min for the (90)Y plaques. The treatments have been without acute or late neurologic complications. The disease of 6 of 8 patients was locally controlled at median potential follow-up of 24 months. The (90)Y foil applicator is technically elegant, easy to use, and superior to the earlier models. It has been incorporated into a protocol for spinal tumor treatment.
Journal of applied clinical medical physics / American College of Medical Physics, 2015
The Source Production & Equipment Co. (SPEC) model M-15 is a new Iridium-192 brachytherapy source... more The Source Production & Equipment Co. (SPEC) model M-15 is a new Iridium-192 brachytherapy source model intended for use as a temporary high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy source for the Nucletron microSelectron Classic afterloading system. The purpose of this study is to characterize this HDR source for clinical application by obtaining a complete set of Monte Carlo calculated dosimetric parameters for the M-15, as recommended by AAPM and ESTRO, for isotopes with average energies greater than 50 keV. This was accomplished by using the MCNP6 Monte Carlo code to simulate the resulting source dosimetry at various points within a pseudoinfinite water phantom. These dosimetric values next were converted into the AAPM and ESTRO dosimetry parameters and the respective statistical uncertainty in each parameter also calculated and presented. The M-15 source was modeled in an MCNP6 Monte Carlo environment using the physical source specifications provided by the manufacturer. Iridium-192 photo...
Some gifted students have specific literacy learning disabilities in areas such as reading, writi... more Some gifted students have specific literacy learning disabilities in areas such as reading, writing and spelling. The present study uses a ‘differentiated models of giftedness and talent’ framework to examine the learning characteristics of these students. The students, 65 gifted primary school students in Melbourne, had a disability in literacy performance in at least one of reading prose accuracy, prose reading comprehension, or isolated word reading accuracy. Their phonemic awareness (segmentation and blending), and general ability using the WISCIII were assessed. As well, to provide an opportunity for the display of their gifted knowledge, tasks examining their ability to infer from what they had read for texts read accurately were used. Scores on the cognitive factors of the WISC-III identified three categories or ‘profiles’ of gifted knowledge: students gifted verbally, nonverbally and in both areas. The three profiles were associated with particular patterns in literacy knowl...
The relegation of spatial knowledge to a subordinate position has particular implications for exa... more The relegation of spatial knowledge to a subordinate position has particular implications for examining mathematics underachievement. First, most of use have observed in our teaching that some mathematics underachievers (that is, those who have difficulty comprehending numerical ideas) can comprehend elementary spatial concepts but because they lack fluency in number they cannot make sense of the relationships to be developed. Second, you have probably observed that other more able mathematics students (that is, those who do not have difficulty comprehending numerical ideas) have difficulty comprehending spatial concepts and are secure learning spatial knowledge only when the ideas are expressed in numerical terms.
This paper describes a literacy intervention innovation in a primary school that was implemented ... more This paper describes a literacy intervention innovation in a primary school that was implemented on a whole school basis. The school had experienced comparatively low levels of literacy success for several years. Improvement required all staff to evaluate and, where necessary, modify literacy pedagogy. Whole school change that takes account of variation in staff knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and levels of commitment is frequently problematic.
Oral language and literacy competence are major influences on children's developmental pathwa... more Oral language and literacy competence are major influences on children's developmental pathways and life success. Children who do not develop the necessary language and literacy skills in the early years of school then go on to face long-term difficulties. Improving teacher effectiveness may be a critical step in lifting oral language and literacy outcomes. The Classroom Promotion of Oral Language trial aims to determine whether a specifically designed teacher professional learning programme focusing on promoting oral language can lead to improved teacher knowledge and practice, and advance outcomes in oral language and literacy for early years school children, compared with usual practice. This is a two-arm cluster multisite randomised controlled trial conducted within Catholic and Government primary schools across Victoria, Australia. The intervention comprises 4 days of face-to-face professional learning for teachers and ongoing implementation support via a specific worker. T...
International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, Jan 9, 2003
After vertebral or paravertebral tumor resection, tumor cells may remain on the dura. Because a t... more After vertebral or paravertebral tumor resection, tumor cells may remain on the dura. Because a tumoricidal dose is difficult to achieve using external beam radiotherapy without exceeding the spinal cord tolerance, we developed intraoperative applicators to deliver additional dose to the dura. Eight patients with vertebral or paravertebral tumor underwent conformal external beam radiotherapy, tumor resection, and intraoperative radiotherapy to the dura involved by tumor. At surgery, vertebra, soft tissue, and epidural tumor were resected. A radioactive applicator plaque was placed on the dura to deliver 7.5-15 Gy, and then removed. Vertebral reconstruction and stabilization was completed. Chemotherapy was administered for large, high-grade sarcomas. We progressed through three plaque designs, initially (192)Ir, subsequently liquid (90)Y, and finally (90)Y foil in a semicylindrical polycarbonate plaque, in the treatment of 8 patients. The low-energy (90)Y beta-emissions provided a more attractive depth dose profile than that achievable with iridium and gave negligible staff radiation exposure. The (90)Y depth dose measured 29% at 2 mm and 9% at 4 mm from the surface of the foil plaque, with acceptable surface dose homogeneity. The average surface dose rate ranged from 18.7 to 47.6 cGy/min for the iridium plaques and 45.2 to 187.5 cGy/min for the (90)Y plaques. The treatments have been without acute or late neurologic complications. The disease of 6 of 8 patients was locally controlled at median potential follow-up of 24 months. The (90)Y foil applicator is technically elegant, easy to use, and superior to the earlier models. It has been incorporated into a protocol for spinal tumor treatment.
Journal of applied clinical medical physics / American College of Medical Physics, 2015
The Source Production & Equipment Co. (SPEC) model M-15 is a new Iridium-192 brachytherapy source... more The Source Production & Equipment Co. (SPEC) model M-15 is a new Iridium-192 brachytherapy source model intended for use as a temporary high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy source for the Nucletron microSelectron Classic afterloading system. The purpose of this study is to characterize this HDR source for clinical application by obtaining a complete set of Monte Carlo calculated dosimetric parameters for the M-15, as recommended by AAPM and ESTRO, for isotopes with average energies greater than 50 keV. This was accomplished by using the MCNP6 Monte Carlo code to simulate the resulting source dosimetry at various points within a pseudoinfinite water phantom. These dosimetric values next were converted into the AAPM and ESTRO dosimetry parameters and the respective statistical uncertainty in each parameter also calculated and presented. The M-15 source was modeled in an MCNP6 Monte Carlo environment using the physical source specifications provided by the manufacturer. Iridium-192 photo...
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Papers by John Munro