Diversity and inclusion in the early years

The emphasis on inclusion of diverse learners presents challenges to teachers, particularly those whose understandings have been framed by notions of school readiness and special education of children with disabilities or learning difficulties. This mixed method study of early years children and teachers across three school sites in Australia explored factors associated with children’s development, achievement and adjustment. The focus went beyond organizational or structural issues to consider pedagogic responses to diverse learners from the kindergarten class through Year 1 and Year 2. The study identified factors influencing children’s outcomes, and highlighted areas of tension between inclusive policies and normative understandings that have implications for teachers’ professional learning.

A three year outcome evaluation of a theory based drink driving education program

This study reports on the impact of a "drink driving education program" taught to grade ten high school students. The program which involves twelve lessons uses strategies based on the Ajzen and Madden theory of planned behavior. Students were trained to use alternatives to drink driving and passenger behaviors. One thousand seven hundred and seventy-four students who had been taught the program in randomly assigned control and intervention schools were followed up three years later. There had been a major reduction in drink driving behaviors in both intervention and control students. In addition to this cohort change there was a trend toward reduced drink driving in the intervention group and a significant reduction in passenger behavior in this group. Readiness to use alternatives suggested that the major impact of the program was on students who were experimenting with the behavior at the time the program was taught. The program seems to have optimized concurrent social attitude and behavior change.

Transforming educational practice : teachers' perceptions of embedding academic litaracy support within a B.Ed twinning program

An academic literacies approach frames students as active participants in their own learning as they develop their voice and identity. This paper describes teachers’ perceptions of developing and delivering an academic literacies program to TESOL pre-service teachers in a B.Ed twinning program. Data indicates that an academic literacies program is a dynamic process that is ever evolving in order to meet students’ needs. A cornerstone of the program was the continual and open communication between teachers to ensure that students’ needs were met. Additionally, a collaborative approach between twinning partners needs to occur in order for the benefits of the academic literacies program to continue for students.

Analysis of acoustic emission data for structural health monitoring applications

Acoustic emission (AE) is the phenomenon where high frequency stress waves are generated by rapid release of energy within a material by sources such as crack initiation or growth. AE technique involves recording these stress waves by means of sensors placed on the surface and subsequent analysis of the recorded signals to gather information such as the nature and location of the source. It is one of the several diagnostic techniques currently used for structural health monitoring (SHM) of civil infrastructure such as bridges. Some of its advantages include ability to provide continuous in-situ monitoring and high sensitivity to crack activity. But several challenges still exist. Due to high sampling rate required for data capture, large amount of data is generated during AE testing. This is further complicated by the presence of a number of spurious sources that can produce AE signals which can then mask desired signals. Hence, an effective data analysis strategy is needed to achieve source discrimination. This also becomes important for long term monitoring applications in order to avoid massive date overload. Analysis of frequency contents of recorded AE signals together with the use of pattern recognition algorithms are some of the advanced and promising data analysis approaches for source discrimination. This paper explores the use of various signal processing tools for analysis of experimental data, with an overall aim of finding an improved method for source identification and discrimination, with particular focus on monitoring of steel bridges.

Seismic mitigation of building structural systems using passive dampers

This paper treats the seismic mitigation of medium rise frame-shear wall structures and building facade systems using passive damping devices. The frame shear wall structures have embedded viscoelastic and friction dampers in different configurations and placed in various locations in the structure. Influence of damper type, configuration and location are investigated. Results for tip deflections which provide an overall evaluation of the seismic response of the structure, are determined. Seismic mitigation of building facade systems in which visco-elastic dampers are fitted at the horizontal connections between the facades and the frame, instead of the traditional rigid connections, are also treated. Finite element techniques are used to model and analyse the two structural systems under different earthquake loadings, scaled to the same peak ground acceleration for meaningful comparison of responses. Results demonstrate the feasibility of these techniques for seismic mitigation.

Using TAM to examine consumer acceptance of a mobile phone assisted smoking cessation program in Australia

This paper study examines Australian smokers’ perceptions of a potential SMS-assisted smoking cessation program. Using TAM we tested perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and subjective norms on intentions to use this cessation program if it was available. Findings show that perceived usefulness and subjective norms were the significant predictors of intentions to use. Perceived ease of use did not directly influence this outcome instead it has an indirect influence through perceived usefulness. These preliminary findings can be built upon through introducing additional variables to help practitioners better understand consumer acceptance when marketing e-health programs such as this.

Rumination, post-traumatic growth, and distress : structural equation modelling with cancer survivors

Objective Theoretical models of post-traumatic growth (PTG) have been derived in the general trauma literature to describe the post-trauma experience that facilitates the perception of positive life changes. To develop a statistical model identifying factors that are associated with PTG, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used in the current study to assess the relationships between perception of diagnosis severity, rumination, social support, distress, and PTG. Method A statistical model of PTG was tested in a sample of participants diagnosed with a variety of cancers (N=313). Results An initial principal components analysis of the measure used to assess rumination revealed three components: intrusive rumination, deliberate rumination of benefits, and life purpose rumination. SEM results indicated that the model fit the data well and that 30% of the variance in PTG was explained by the variables. Trauma severity was directly related to distress, but not to PTG. Deliberately ruminating on benefits and social support were directly related to PTG. Life purpose rumination and intrusive rumination were associated with distress. Conclusions The model showed that in addition to having unique correlating factors, distress was not related to PTG, thereby providing support for the notion that these are discrete constructs in the post-diagnosis experience. The statistical model provides support that post-diagnosis experience is simultaneously shaped by positive and negative life changes and that one or the other outcome may be prevalent or may occur concurrently. As such, an implication for practice is the need for supportive care that is holistic in nature.

The effect of track defects on the dynamics of wagons under brake-traction torque

Track defects cause profound effects to the stability of railway wagons; normally such problems are modeled for cases of wagons running at constant speed. Brake/traction torque adversely affect the wheel-rail contact characteristics but they are not explicitly considered in most of the wagon-track interaction simulation packages. This research developed a program that can simulate the longitudinal behaviour of railway wagon dynamics under the actions of braking or traction torques. This paper describes the mathematical formulation of modelling of a full wagon system using a fixed coordinate reference system. The effect of both the lateral and the vertical track geometry defects to the dynamics of wagons is reported; sensitivity of traction/brake state is analysed through a series of numerical examples.

A participant’s response : recreating the circle with We Al-Li: a program for sharing and regeneration

Personal reflections on the We Al-Li Program

A robust structure and motion replacement for bundle adjustment

This paper demonstrates the application of a robust form of pose estimation and scene reconstruction using data from camera images. We demonstrate results that suggest the ability of the algorithm to rival methods of RANSAC based pose estimation polished by bundle adjustment in terms of solution robustness, speed and accuracy, even when given poor initialisations. Our simulated results show the behaviour of the algorithm in a number of novel simulated scenarios reflective of real world cases that show the ability of the algorithm to handle large observation noise and difficult reconstruction scenes. These results have a number of implications for the vision and robotics community, and show that the application of visual motion estimation on robotic platforms in an online fashion is approaching real-world feasibility.

The First Steps Program : a case study of a new model of community child health service

Community Child Health Nursing Services provide support for new mothers; however, the focus has often been on individual consultations, complemented by a series of group sessions soon after birth. We describe a new model of community care for first-time mothers that centres on group sessions throughout the whole contact period. The model was developed by practicing child health nurses for a large health service district in south-east Queensland, which offers a comprehensive community child health service. Issues identified by clinicians working within existing services, feedback from clients and the need for more resource-efficient methods of service provision underpinned the development of the model. The pilot program was implemented in two community child health centres in Brisbane. An early individual consultation to engage the family with the service was added in response to feedback from clinicians and clients. The modified model has since been implemented service-wide as the ‘First Steps Program’. The introduction of this model has ensured that the service has been able to retain a comprehensive service for first-time parents from a universal population, while responding to the challenges of population growth and the increasing number of complex clients placing demands on resources.

Making sense of brain tumour: A qualitative investigation of personal and social processes of adjustment

This study investigated personal and social processes of adjustment at different stages of illness for individuals with brain tumour. A purposive sample of 18 participants with mixed tumour types (9 benign and 9 malignant) and 15 family caregivers was recruited from a neurosurgical practice and a brain tumour support service. In-depth semi-structured interviews focused on participants’ perceptions of their adjustment, including personal appraisals, coping and social support since their brain tumour diagnosis. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically using open, axial and selective coding techniques. The primary theme that emerged from the analysis entailed “key sense making appraisals”, which was closely related to the following secondary themes: (1) Interactions with those in the healthcare system, (2) reactions and support from the personal support network, and (3) a diversity of coping efforts. Adjustment to brain tumour involved a series of appraisals about the illness that were influenced by interactions with those in the healthcare system, reactions and support from people in their support network, and personal coping efforts. Overall, the findings indicate that adjustment to brain tumour is highly individualistic; however, some common personal and social processes are evident in how people make sense of and adapt to the illness over time. A preliminary framework of adjustment based on the present findings and its clinical relevance are discussed. In particular, it is important for health professionals to seek to understand and support individuals’ sense-making processes following diagnosis of brain tumour.

Creating global networks through an online engineering graduate program

Internationally the railway industry is facing a severe shortage of engineers with high level, relevant, profession and technical knowledge and abilities, in particular amongst engineers involved in the design, construction and maintenance of railway infrastructure. A unique graduate level program has been created to meet that global need via a fully online, distance education format. The development and operation of this Master of Engineering degree is proposed as a model of the process needed for the industry-relevance, flexible delivery, international networking, and professional development required for a successful graduate engineering program in the 21st century. In particular, the paper demonstrates how a mix of new and more familiar technologies are utilised through a variety of tasks to overcome the huge distances and multiple time zones that separate the participants across a growing number of countries, successfully achieving close and sustained interaction amongst the participants and railway experts.

Shijiazhuang ecological landscape planning and design comprehensive improvement program for the Hutuo River

International practice-led design research in landscape architecture has identified water quality and water availability as two of the most important environmental issues in developing countries. China is particularly focused on improving water supplies for its rural and urban populations. However a significant gap in knowledge exists between urban planning and environmental engineering in China as to how to design Chinese public open spaces to reduce water pollution in urban rivers. This project responded to traditional zoning methods in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, by proposing a range of water sensitive design innovations from lake construction to planting design to modify standardised engineering solutions in a Chinese context.