Transition Pedagogy Handbook : A Good Practice Guide for Policy and Practice in the First Year Experience at QUT

This Handbook has been specifically designed for academic and professional staff responsible for managing first year students and curriculum and co-curricular programs at QUT. As well as presenting examples of good practice, the handbook provides a brief overview of QUT’s First Year Experience Program, a summary of QUT’s First Year Experience and Retention Policy and the Transition Pedagogy that frames both curricular and co-curricular activities. We hope you find this resource both useful and informative.

Amanda Gearing Queensland Flood Collection 2011-2012

A collection of oral history recordings, photographs, hand drawn maps, videos and speech notes relating to the 2011 Queensland floods and the major flood event that occurred in Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley region on 10 January 2011: a flash flood (described as an 'inland tsunami') which devastatingly took 21 human lives. The collection, amassed by Toowoomba-based journalist Amanda Gearing for her Master of Arts degree, includes 86 oral history recordings of flood survivors and rescuers in Spring Bluff, Murphys Creek, Toowoomba, Withcott, Postmans Ridge, Helidon, Carpendale and Grantham as well as digital photographs and videos taken by a number of those interviewed including those taken by Amanda Gearing and other locals. The interviews are very personal and powerful recollections of the experience of the flood event. Some recall feelings of fear and despair and tell of trauma and loss which continues well after the flood event. All are stories of resilience and hope, of rebuilding lives, of lessons learnt, and recommendations in order to avoid the same devastating results in future disasters.

Negotiating futility, managing emotions : nursing the transition to palliative care

Nurses play a pivotal role in caring for patients during the transition from life-prolonging care to palliative care. This is an area of nursing prone to emotional difficulty, interpersonal complexity, and interprofessional conflict. It is situated within complex social dynamics, including those related to establishing and accepting futility and reconciling the desire to maintain hope. Here, drawing on interviews with 20 Australian nurses, we unpack their accounts of nursing the transition to palliative care, focusing on the purpose of nursing at the point of transition; accounts of communication and strategies for representing palliative care; emotional engagement and burden; and key interprofessional challenges. We argue that in caring for patients approaching the end of life, nurses occupy precarious interpersonal and interprofessional spaces that involve a negotiated order around sentimental work, providing them with both capital (privileged access) and burden (emotional suffering) within their day-to-day work.

Book review "Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation by Tom Sito , The MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, 2013"

As a Lecturer of Animation History and 3D Computer Animator, I received a copy of Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation by Tom Sito with an element of anticipation in the hope that this text would clarify the complex evolution of Computer Graphics (CG). Tom Sito did not disappoint, as this text weaves together the multiple development streams and convergent technologies and techniques throughout history that would ultimately result in modern CG. Universities now have students who have never known a world without computer animation and many students are younger than the first 3D CG animated feature film, Toy Story (1996); this text is ideal for teaching computer animation history and, as I would argue, it also provides a model for engaging young students in the study of animation history in general. This is because Sito places the development of computer animation within the context of its pre-digital ancestry and throughout the text he continues to link the discussion to the broader history of animation, its pioneers, technologies and techniques...

Stepping outside the circle : a reflective practice framework for creative facilitators

Stepping Outside the Circle was a practice-based research project focussed on creating a professional reflection framework for creative facilitators working within the community, education, corporate and health and wellbeing sectors. Underpinned by theories of critical reflection, transformative learning, reflexivity and agency, this study explored the potential benefits of multimodal inquiry processes, adapting existing reflective practice models for the unique requirements of creative facilitation contexts. Through application of the key findings from this research, synthesised in a practitioner resource, it is hoped that individual practitioners and creative organisations may develop their understanding of evaluation strategies, self- reflexivity, professional sustainability and practitioner self-care.

Microtubules and cadherins : a neglected partnership

Classical cadherins are fundamental determinants of tissue organization both in health and disease. It has long been recognized that cadherins function in close cooperation with the cytoskeleton, particularly with actin. Less appreciated is the capacity for cadherins to also interact functionally and biochemically with microtubules and their associated proteins. In this review, we aim to highlight the potential for cooperativity between cadherins and microtubules. Cadherins can regulate the organization and dynamics of microtubules through mechanisms such as anchorage of minus ends and cortical capture of plus ends. Such cadherin-induced reorganization of microtubules may then affect cadherin biology by diverse processes that include directed vesicular traffic by microtubule-based motors and regulation of cortical signaling and organization. Ultimately, we hope this will stimulate fresh interest and research to understand a neglected partnership.

The many meanings of live coding

The ten-year anniversary of TOPLAP presents a unique opportunity for reflection and introspection. In this essay we ask the question, what is the meaning of live coding? Our goal is not to answer this question, in absolute terms, but rather to attempt to unpack some of live coding's many meanings. Our hope is that by exploring some of the formal, embodied, and cultural meanings surrounding live-coding practice, we may help to stimulate a conversation that will resonate within the live-coding community for the next ten years

“You could scream the place down”: Five poems on the experience of aged care

This article presents five poems constructed from interviews with older people adjusting to living in residential aged care. They are part of the “Inside Aged Care” project, on-going longitudinal phenomenological research tracking the lived experience of aged care from the perspective of residents, family members and service providers. Poetry, through the process of poetic transcription, provided an engaging, evocative and almost visceral way to help us appreciate what it might be like to be ageing in aged care. To date, despite a growing body of work documenting the importance and impact of research in the form of poetry, applying a literary lens is rare in gerontological research. At a very practical level, therefore, we hope these poems help older people, their families, students and those working in aged care better understand the unique world and perspective of new aged care residents.

The facilitator files : supporting the supporters of nursing students

Nurse education in Australia has undergone a substantial transformation in the course of its professional history. The use of experiential teaching and learning approaches in both pre and post registration courses has escalated dramatically and resulted in the extensive use of hospital based clinical experiences for student learning. The role of the clinical facilitator is used to provide stimulation to the affective and cognitive domains of student professional development and additionally is often used as a vehicle for student assessment. While most tertiary nursing schools utilise hospital clinical experiences widely, few studies have examined whether clinical facilitators have the necessary tools to effectively support and assess students in the clinical environment. Although employed for their clinical expertise and understanding of specific clinical contexts, facilitators are expected to have an understanding of experiential learning, how it informs the undergraduate curriculum and be able to support the development of neophyte nurses as they learn to apply theoretical concepts to the increasingly complex realm of patient care. Additionally, clinical facilitators are often employed on a casual basis and as a consequence of the casualisation of the facilitator workforce, universities are continually recruiting new clinical facilitators to these positions. This paper will explore a trial of facilitator education offered to clinical facilitators at the Queensland University of Technology, School of Nursing campus in Brisbane, Australia. It will report on the use of a series of student/facilitator “vignettes” created specifically for the purpose of facilitator education and how these interactions have been embedded within a wider educational package to support facilitators in their development as facilitators rather than teachers of nursing education. Finally, it will discuss the implications of facilitator preparedness on their ability to support and assess nursing students as they engage in the important transition from neophyte to registered nurse.

Translocation of bats as a conservation strategy : previous attempts and potential problems

Translocation is an increasingly popular conservation tool from which a wide range of taxa have benefited. However, to our knowledge, bats have not been translocated successfully. Bats differ behaviourally, morphologically and physiologically from the taxa for which translocation the- ory has been developed, so existing guidelines may not be directly transferable. We review previous translocations of bats and discuss characteristics of bats that may require special consideration dur- ing translocation. Their vagility and homing ability, coloniality, roost requirements, potential ability to transmit diseases, susceptibility to anthropomorphic impacts, and cryptic nature have implications for establishing populations, effects of these populations on the release site, and ability to monitor translocation success following release. We hope that our discussion of potential problems will be able to supplement the existing, more generic guidelines to provide a starting point for the planning of bat translocations.

Pollen image classification using the classifynder system: Algorithm comparison and a case study on New Zealand honey

We describe an investigation into how Massey University’s Pollen Classifynder can accelerate the understanding of pollen and its role in nature. The Classifynder is an imaging microscopy system that can locate, image and classify slide based pollen samples. Given the laboriousness of purely manual image acquisition and identification it is vital to exploit assistive technologies like the Classifynder to enable acquisition and analysis of pollen samples. It is also vital that we understand the strengths and limitations of automated systems so that they can be used (and improved) to compliment the strengths and weaknesses of human analysts to the greatest extent possible. This article reviews some of our experiences with the Classifynder system and our exploration of alternative classifier models to enhance both accuracy and interpretability. Our experiments in the pollen analysis problem domain have been based on samples from the Australian National University’s pollen reference collection (2,890 grains, 15 species) and images bundled with the Classifynder system (400 grains, 4 species). These samples have been represented using the Classifynder image feature set.We additionally work through a real world case study where we assess the ability of the system to determine the pollen make-up of samples of New Zealand honey. In addition to the Classifynder’s native neural network classifier, we have evaluated linear discriminant, support vector machine, decision tree and random forest classifiers on these data with encouraging results. Our hope is that our findings will help enhance the performance of future releases of the Classifynder and other systems for accelerating the acquisition and analysis of pollen samples.

A comparison of classification algorithms within the Classifynder pollen imaging system

We describe an investigation into how Massey University's Pollen Classifynder can accelerate the understanding of pollen and its role in nature. The Classifynder is an imaging microscopy system that can locate, image and classify slide based pollen samples. Given the laboriousness of purely manual image acquisition and identification it is vital to exploit assistive technologies like the Classifynder to enable acquisition and analysis of pollen samples. It is also vital that we understand the strengths and limitations of automated systems so that they can be used (and improved) to compliment the strengths and weaknesses of human analysts to the greatest extent possible. This article reviews some of our experiences with the Classifynder system and our exploration of alternative classifier models to enhance both accuracy and interpretability. Our experiments in the pollen analysis problem domain have been based on samples from the Australian National University's pollen reference collection (2890 grains, 15 species) and images bundled with the Classifynder system (400 grains, 4 species). These samples have been represented using the Classifynder image feature set. In addition to the Classifynder's native neural network classifier, we have evaluated linear discriminant, support vector machine, decision tree and random forest classifiers on these data with encouraging results. Our hope is that our findings will help enhance the performance of future releases of the Classifynder and other systems for accelerating the acquisition and analysis of pollen samples. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Tubule detection in testis images using boundary weighting and circular shortest path

In studies of germ cell transplantation, measureing tubule diameters and counting cells from different populations using antibodies as markers are very important. Manual measurement of tubule sizes and cell counts is a tedious and sanity grinding work. In this paper, we propose a new boundary weighting based tubule detection method. We first enhance the linear features of the input image and detect the approximate centers of tubules. Next, a boundary weighting transform is applied to the polar transformed image of each tubule region and a circular shortest path is used for the boundary detection. Then, ellipse fitting is carried out for tubule selection and measurement. The algorithm has been tested on a dataset consisting of 20 images, each having about 20 tubules. Experiments show that the detection results of our algorithm are very close to the results obtained manually. © 2013 IEEE.

A framework for model integration and holistic modelling of socio-technical systems

This paper presents a layered framework for the purposes of integrating different Socio-Technical Systems (STS) models and perspectives into a whole-of-systems model. Holistic modelling plays a critical role in the engineering of STS due to the interplay between social and technical elements within these systems and resulting emergent behaviour. The framework decomposes STS models into components, where each component is either a static object, dynamic object or behavioural object. Based on existing literature, a classification of the different elements that make up STS, whether it be a social, technical or a natural environment element, is developed; each object can in turn be classified according to the STS elements it represents. Using the proposed framework, it is possible to systematically decompose models to an extent such that points of interface can be identified and the contextual factors required in transforming the component of one model to interface into another is obtained. Using an airport inbound passenger facilitation process as a case study socio-technical system, three different models are analysed: a Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) model, Hybrid Queue-based Bayesian Network (HQBN) model and an Agent Based Model (ABM). It is found that the framework enables the modeller to identify non-trivial interface points such as between the spatial interactions of an ABM and the causal reasoning of a HQBN, and between the process activity representation of a BPMN and simulated behavioural performance in a HQBN. Such a framework is a necessary enabler in order to integrate different modelling approaches in understanding and managing STS.

Unified user experience model enabling a more comprehensive understanding of emotional experience design

Design deals with improving the lives of people. As such interactions with products, interfaces, and systems should facilitate not only usable and practical concerns but also mediate emotionally meaningful experiences. This paper presents an integrated and comprehensive model of experience, labeled 'Unified User Experience Model', covering the most prominent perspectives from across the design field. It is intended to support designers from different disciplines to consider the complexity of user experience. The vision of the model is to support both the analysis of existing products, interfaces, and systems, as well as the development of new designs that take into account this complexity. In essence, we hope the model can enable designers to develop more marketable, appropriate, and enhanced products to improve experiences and ultimately the lives of people.