Acknowledging social justice and equity through good practice for monitoring student learning engagement in FYE

As higher education institutions respond to government targets to widen participation, their student populations will become increasingly diverse, and the issues around student success and retention will be more closely scrutinised. The concept of student engagement is a key factor in student achievement and retention and Australasian institutions have a range of initiatives aimed at monitoring and intervening with students who are at risk of disengaging. Within the widening participation agenda, it is absolutely critical that these initiatives are designed to enable success for all students, particularly those for whom social and cultural disadvantage have been a barrier. Consequently, for the sector, initiatives of this type must be consistent with the concept of social justice and a set of principles would provide this foundation. This session will provide an opportunity for participants to examine a draft set of principles and to discuss their potential value for the participants’ institutional contexts.

A proposed model for successful implementation of e-Government in Malaysia

This paper proposes a theoretical model for e-Government in Malaysia and addresses issues involved in its implementation. It presents three possible models including the Framework for Electronic Government (Grant & Chau, 2005), the Three Pillars Framework (Georgescu, 2007) and The Grid-Group Theory from cultural studies (Douglas, 1996) and integrates and adapts them to the specific needs of the Malaysian environment.

Road safety issues for older road users : CARRS-Q Monograph 1

[Selection of papers from the Older Road User Safety Symposium, 26 November 2000, Brisbane, Australia.]----- This publication is a selection of papers on older road user safety which were presented at the Older Road User Safety Symposium on Sunday 26 November 2000 at the Sheraton Brisbane Hotel, Queensland, Australia. The Symposium was held on the day before Australia’s annual Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference, which provided an opportunity to garner both presenters and participants from the wider road safety community in Australia. Road safety is a large and diverse area of scholarship and practice, and many disciplines are drawn on in the processes of understanding and addressing road safety problems. The safety of older road users is no different. As this selection shows, work on older road user safety can be informed by demography, research on the mental and physical effects of ageing, social research on older people as road users, evaluation of educational and behavioural interventions, road crash analysis, engineering research and practice, and reviews of policy approaches within Australia and elsewhere. It is possible to summarise these into four constellations, which are reflected in the papers selected for this publication: social impacts and responses; physical and cognitive capability; specific road use performance; and environment/ecology. Though three years have passed since the Symposium, the issues raised in these papers remain current.

Wellness education : an integrated theoretical framework for fostering transformative learning

Optimum Wellness involves the development, refinement and practice of lifestyle choices which resonate with personally meaningful frames of reference. Personal transformations are the means by which our frames of reference are refined across the lifespan. It is through critical reflection, supportive relationships and meaning making of our experiences that we construct and reconstruct our life paths. When individuals are able to be what they are destined to be or reach their higher purpose, then they are able to contribute to the world in positive and meaningful ways. Transformative education facilitates the changes in perspective that enable one to contemplate and travel a path in life that leads to self-actualisation. This thesis argues for an integrated theoretical framework for optimum Wellness Education. It establishes a learner centred approach to Wellness education in the form of an integrated instructional design framework derived from both Wellness and Transformative education constructs. Students’ approaches to learning and their study strategies in a Wellness education context serve to highlight convergences in the manner in which students can experience perspective transformation. As they learn to critically reflect, pursue relationships and adapt their frames of reference to sustain their pursuit of both learning and Wellness goals, strengthening the nexus between instrumental and transformative learning is a strategically important goal for educators. The aim of this exploratory research study was to examine those facets that serve to optimise the learning experiences of students in a Wellness course. This was accomplished through three research issues: 1) What are the relationships between Wellness, approaches to learning and academic success? 2) How are students approaching learning in an undergraduate Wellness subject? Why are students approaching their learning in the ways they do? 3) What sorts of transformations are students experiencing in their Wellness? How can transformative education be formulated in the context of an undergraduate Wellness subject? Subsequent to a thorough review of the literature pertaining to Wellness education, a mixed method embedded case study design was formulated to explore the research issues. This thesis examines the interrelationships between student, content and context in a one semester university undergraduate unit (a coherent set of learning activities which is assigned a unit code and a credit point value). The experiences of a cohort of 285 undergraduate students in a Wellness course formed the unit of study and seven individual students from a total of sixteen volunteers whose profiles could be constructed from complete data sets were selected for analysis as embedded cases. The introductory level course required participants to engage in a personal project involving a behaviour modification plan for a self-selected, single dimension of Wellness. Students were given access to the Standard Edition Testwell Survey to assess and report their Wellness as a part of their personal projects. To identify relationships among the constructs of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL), Wellness and Student Approaches to Learning (SAL) a blend of quantitative and qualitative methods to collect and analyse data was formulated. Surveys were the primary instruments for acquiring quantitative data. Sources included the Wellness data from Testwell surveys, SAL data from R-SPQ surveys, SRL data from MSLQ surveys and student self-evaluation data from an end of semester survey. Students’ final grades and GPA scores were used as indicators of academic performance. The sources of qualitative data included subject documentation, structured interview transcripts and open-ended responses to survey items. Subsequent to a pilot study in which survey reliability and validity were tested in context, amendments to processes for and instruments of data collection were made. Students who adopted meaning oriented (deep/achieving) approaches tended to assess their Wellness at a higher level, seek effective learning strategies and perform better in formal study. Posttest data in the main study revealed that there were significant positive statistical relationships between academic performance and total wellness scores (rs=.297, n=205, p<.01). Deep (rs=.343, n=137, p<.01) and achieving (rs=.286, n=123, p<.01) approaches to learning also significantly correlated with Wellness whilst surface approaches had negative correlations that were not significant. SRL strategies including metacognitive selfregulation, effort, help-seeking and critical thinking were increasingly correlated with Wellness. Qualitative findings suggest that while all students adopt similar patterns of day to day activities for example attending classes, taking notes, working on assignments the level of care with which these activities is undertaken varies considerably. The dominant motivational trigger for students in this cohort was the personal relevance and associated benefits of the material being learned and practiced. Students were inclined to set goals that had a positive impact on affect and used “sense of happiness” to evaluate their achievement status. Students who had a higher drive to succeed and/or understand tended to have or seek a wider range of strategies. Their goal orientations were generally learning rather than performance based and barriers presented a challenge which could be overcome as opposed to a blockage which prevented progress. Findings from an empirical analysis of the Testwell data suggest that a single third order Wellness construct exists. A revision of the instrument is necessary in order to juxtapose it with the chosen six dimensional Wellness model that forms the foundation construct in the course. Further, redevelopment should be sensitive to the Australian context and culture including choice of language, examples and scenarios used in item construction. This study concludes with an heuristic for use in Wellness education. Guided by principles of Transformative education theory and behaviour change theory, and informed by this representative case study the “CARING” heuristic is proposed as an instructional design tool for Wellness educators seeking to foster transformative learning. Based upon this study, recommendations were made for university educators to provide authentic and personal experiences in Wellness curricula. Emphasis must focus on involving students and teachers in a partnership for implementing Wellness programs both in the curriculum and co-curricularly. The implications of this research for practice are predicated on the willingness of academics to embrace transformative learning at a personal level and a professional one. To explore students’ profiles in detail is not practical however teaching students how to guide us in supporting them through the “pain” of learning is a skill which would benefit them and optimise the learning and teaching process. At a theoretical level, this research contributes to an ecological theory of Wellness education as transformational change. By signposting the wider contexts in which learning takes place, it seeks to encourage changing paradigms to ones which harness the energy of each successive contextual layer in which students live. Future research which amplifies the qualities of individuals and groups who are “Well” and seeks the refinement and development of instruments to measure Wellness constructs would be desirable for both theoretical and applied knowledge bases. Mixed method Wellness research derived and conducted by teams that incorporate expertise from multiple disciplines such as psychology, anthropology, education, and medicine would enable creative and multi-perspective programs of investigation to be designed and implemented. Congruences and inconsistencies in health promotion and education would provide valuable material for strengthening the nexus between transformational learning and behaviour change theories. Future development of and research on the effectiveness of the CARING heuristic would be valuable in advancing the understanding of pedagogies which advance rather than impede learning as a transformative process. Exploring pedagogical models that marry with transformative education may render solutions to the vexing challenge of teaching and learning in diverse contexts.

A hybrid recommender systems based on weighted tags

Social tags in web 2.0 are becoming another important information source to describe the content of items as well as to profile users’ topic preferences. However, as arbitrary words given by users, tags contains a lot of noise such as tag synonym and semantic ambiguity a large number personal tags that only used by one user, which brings challenges to effectively use tags to make item recommendations. To solve these problems, this paper proposes to use a set of related tags along with their weights to represent semantic meaning of each tag for each user individually. A hybrid recommendation generation approaches that based on the weighted tags are proposed. We have conducted experiments using the real world dataset obtained from Amazon.com. The experimental results show that the proposed approaches outperform the other state of the art approaches.

A dynamic approach to forecast rental growth

Numerous econometric models have been proposed for forecasting property market performance, but limited success has been achieved in finding a reliable and consistent model to predict property market movements over a five to ten year timeframe. This research focuses on office rental growth forecasts and overviews many of the office rent models that have evolved over the past 20 years. A model by DiPasquale and Wheaton is selected for testing in the Brisbane, Australia office market. The adaptation of this study did not provide explanatory variables that could assist in developing a reliable, predictive model of office rental growth. In light of this result, the paper suggests a system dynamics framework that includes an econometric model based on historical data as well as user input guidance for the primary variables. The rent forecast outputs would be assessed having regard to market expectations and probability profiling undertaken for use in simulation exercises. The paper concludes with ideas for ongoing research.

The CARRS-Q advanced driving simulator

Overview of the CARRS-Q Simulators • CARRS-Q has two simulators: The Advanced Driving Simulator and a simpler “Desktop” simulator • Both use the same research grade simulation software SCANeR, produced by French company OKTAL • The Advanced Driving Simulator can integrate three aspects of simulation: – driving simulator – traffic simulator (links to AIMSUN) – control simulator

Integrated Acquisition Engineering Model for acquiring heavy engineering assets

In asset intensive industries such as mining, oil & gas, utilities etc. most of the capital expenditure happens on acquiring engineering assets. Process of acquiring assets is called as “Procurement” or “Acquisition”. An asset procurement decision should be taken in consideration with the installation, commissioning, operational, maintenance and disposal needs of an asset or spare. However, such cross-functional collaboration and communication does not appear to happen between engineering, maintenance, warehousing and procurement functions in many asset intensive industries. Acquisition planning and execution are two distinct parts of asset acquisition process. Acquisition planning or procurement planning is responsible for determining exactly what is required to be purchased. It is important that an asset acquisition decision is the result of cross-functional decision making process. An acquisition decision leads to a formal purchase order. Most costly asset decisions occur even before they are acquired. Therefore, acquisition decision should be an outcome of an integrated planning & decision making process. Asset intensive organizations both, Government and non Government in Australia spent AUD 102.5 Billion on asset acquisition in year 2008-09. There is widespread evidence of many assets and spare not being used or utilized and in the end are written off. This clearly shows that many organizations end up buying assets or spares which were not required or non-conforming to the needs of user functions. It is due the fact that strategic and software driven procurement process do not consider all the requirements from various functions within the organization which contribute to the operation and maintenance of the asset over its life cycle. There is a lot of research done on how to implement an effective procurement process. There are numerous software solutions available for executing a procurement process. However, not much research is done on how to arrive at a cross functional procurement planning process. It is also important to link procurement planning process to procurement execution process. This research will discuss ““Acquisition Engineering Model” (AEM) framework, which aims at assisting acquisition decision making based on various criteria to satisfy cross-functional organizational requirements. Acquisition Engineering Model (AEM) will consider inputs from corporate asset management strategy, production management, maintenance management, warehousing, finance and HSE. Therefore, it is essential that the multi-criteria driven acquisition planning process is carried out and its output is fed to the asset acquisition (procurement execution) process. An effective procurement decision making framework to perform acquisition planning which considers various functional criteria will be discussed in this paper.

Early osteogenic response of osteoprogenitor cells on modified titanium implant surfaces leads to improved osteogenesis

Background: Implant surface micro-roughness and hydrophilicity are known to improve the osteogenic differentiation potential of osteoprogenitor cells. This study was aimed to determine whether topographically and chemically modified titanium implant surfaces stimulate an initial osteogenic response in osteoprogenitor cells, which leads to their improved osteogenesis. ----- ----- Methods: Statistical analysis of microarray gene expression profiling data available from studies (at 72 hours) on sand-blasted, large grit acid etched (SLA) titanium surfaces was performed. Subsequently, human osteoprogenitor cells were cultured on SLActive (hydrophilic SLA), SLA and polished titanium surfaces for 24 hours, 3 days and 7 days. The expression of BMP2, BMP6, BMP2K, SP1, ACVR1, FZD6, WNT5A, PDLIM7, ITGB1, ITGA2, OCN, OPN, ALP and RUNX2 were studied using qPCR. ----- ----- Results: Several functional clusters related to osteogenesis were highlighted when genes showing statistically significant differences (from microarray data at 72 hours) in expression on SLA surface (compared with control surface) were analysed using DAVID (online tool). This indicates that differentiation begins very early in response to modified titanium surfaces. At 24 hours, ACVR1 (BMP pathway), FZD6 (Wnt pathway) and SP1 (TGF-β pathway) were significantly up-regulated in cultures on the SLActive surface compared to the other surfaces. WNT5A and ITGB1 also showed higher expression on the modified surfaces. Gene expression patterns on Day 3 and Day 7 did not reveal any significant differences.----- ----- Conclusion: These results suggest that the initial molecular response of osteoprogenitor cells to modified titanium surfaces may be responsible for an improved osteogenic response via the BMP and Wnt signalling pathways.

The politics of technology adoption : Water metering in Progressive Era Chicago

This paper examines the interactions between knowledge and power in the adoption of technologies central to municipal water supply plans, specifically investigating decisions in Progressive Era Chicago regarding water meters. The invention and introduction into use of the reliable water meter early in the Progressive Era allowed planners and engineers to gauge water use, and enabled communities willing to invest in the new infrastructure to allocate costs for provision of supply to consumers relative to use. In an era where efficiency was so prized and the role of technocratic expertise was increasing, Chicago’s continued failure to adopt metering (despite levels of per capita consumption nearly twice that of comparable cities and acknowledged levels of waste nearing half of system production) may indicate that the underlying characteristics of the city’s political system and its elite stymied the implementation of metering technologies as in Smith’s (1977) comparative study of nineteenth century armories. Perhaps, as with Flyvbjerg’s (1998) study of the city of Aalborg, the powerful know what they want and data will not interfere with their conclusions: if the data point to a solution other than what is desired, then it must be that the data are wrong. Alternatively, perhaps the technocrats failed adequately to communicate their findings in a language which the political elite could understand, with the failure lying in assumptions of scientific or technical literacy rather than with dissatisfaction in outcomes (Benveniste 1972). When examined through a historical institutionalist perspective, the case study of metering adoption lends itself to exploration of larger issues of knowledge and power in the planning process: what governs decisions regarding knowledge acquisition, how knowledge and power interact, whether the potential to improve knowledge leads to changes in action, and, whether the decision to overlook available knowledge has an impact on future decisions.

Examination of process to develop a framework for better implementation of quality practices in building projects

Quality, as well as project success, in construction projects should be capable of being regarded as the fulfillment of expectation of those contributors and stakeholders involved in such projects. Although a significant amount of quality practices have been introduced within the industry, establishment and attainment of reasonable levels of quality internationally in construction projects continues to be an ongoing problem. To date, some investigation into the introduction and improvement of quality practices and stakeholder management in the construction industry has been accomplished independently, but so far no major studies have been completed that examine comprehensively how quality management practices that particularly concentrate on the stakeholders’ perspective of quality can be used to contribute to final project quality outcomes. This paper aims to examine the process for development of a framework for better involvement of stakeholders in quality planning and practices and subsequently to contribute to higher quality outcomes within construction projects. Through extensive literature review it highlights various perceptions of quality, categorizes quality issues with particular focus on benefits and shortcomings and also examines stakeholders’ viewpoint of project quality in order to promote the improvement of outcomes throughout a project’s lifecycle. It proposes a set of arranged information as a basis for development of prospective framework which ultimately aims to improve project quality outcomes. The subsequent framework that will be developed from this research will provide project managers and owners with the required information and strategic direction to achieve their own and their stakeholders’ targets for implementation of quality practices and achievement of high quality outcomes on their future projects.

From deep North to global governance exemplar : Fitzgerald's impact on the International Anti-corruption Movement

In pre-Fitzgerald Queensland, the existence of corruption was widely known but its extent and modes of operation were not fully evident. The Fitzgerald Report identified the need for reform of the structure, procedures and efficiency in public administration in Queensland. What was most striking in the Queensland reform process was that a new model for combating corruption had been developed. Rather than rely upon a single law and a single institution, existing institutions were strengthened and new institutions were instituted to create a set of mutually supporting and mutually checking institutions, agencies and laws that jointly sought to improve governmental standards and combat corruption. Some of the reforms were either unique to Queensland or very rare. One of the strengths of this approach was that it avoided creating a single overarching institution to fight corruption. There are many powerful opponents of reform. Influential institutions and individuals resist any interference with their privileges. In order to cause a mass exodus from an entrenched corruption system, a seminal event or defining process is needed to alter expectations and incentives that are sufficient to encourage significant numbers of individuals to desert the corruption system and assist the integrity system in exposing and destroying it. The Fitzgerald Inquiry was such an event. The article also briefly addresses methods for destroying national corruption system where they emerge and exist.

Replication of the Frank-Starling response in a Mock Circulation loop

Mock circulation loops (MCLs) are used to evaluate cardiovascular devices prior to in-vivo trials; however they lack the vital autoregulatory responses that occur in humans. This study aimed to develop and implement a left and right ventricular Frank-Starling response in a MCL. A proportional controller based on ventricular end diastolic volume was used to control the driving pressure of the MCL’s pneumatically operated ventricles. Ventricular pressure-volume loops and end systolic pressure-volume relationships were produced for a variety of healthy and pathological conditions and compared with human data to validate the simulated Frank-Starling response. The non-linear Frank-Starling response produced in this study successfully altered left and right ventricular contractility with changing preload and was validated with previously reported data. This improvement to an already detailed MCL has resulted in a test rig capable of further refining cardiovascular devices and reducing the number of in-vivo trials.

The probability archive : essence, uncertainty, and the ‘Olduvai imperative.’

Starting from a local problem with finding an archival clip on YouTube, this paper expands to consider the nature of archives in general. It considers the technological, communicative and philosophical characteristics of archives over three historical periods: 1) Modern ‘essence archives’ – museums and galleries organised around the concept of objectivity and realism; 2) Postmodern mediation archives – broadcast TV systems, which I argue were also ‘essence archives,’ albeit a transitional form; and 3) Network or ‘probability archives’ – YouTube and the internet, which are organised around the concept of probability. The paper goes on to argue the case for introducing quantum uncertainty and other aspects of probability theory into the humanities, in order to understand the way knowledge is collected, conserved, curated and communicated in the era of the internet. It is illustrated throughout by reference to the original technological 'affordance' – the Olduvai stone chopping tool.

Gap analysis of intrusion detection in smart grids

Given the recent emergence of the smart grid and smart grid related technologies, their security is a prime concern. Intrusion detection provides a second line of defense. However, conventional intrusion detection systems (IDSs) are unable to adequately address the unique requirements of the smart grid. This paper presents a gap analysis of contemporary IDSs from a smart grid perspective. This paper highlights the lack of adequate intrusion detection within the smart grid and discusses the limitations of current IDSs approaches. The gap analysis identifies current IDSs as being unsuited to smart grid application without significant changes to address smart grid specific requirements.