Digital Storytelling within a Service-Learning Partnership: Technology as Product and Process for University Students and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse High School Youth

This chapter describes a university/high school partnership focused on digital storytelling. It also explains the multi-stage process used to establish this successful partnership and project. The authors discuss the central role that technology played in developing this university/high school partnership, a collaboration that extended the impact of a digital storytelling project to reach high school students, university students, educators, high school administrators, and the local community. Valuing a reflective process that can lead to the creation of a powerful final product, the authors describe the impact of digital storytelling on multiple stakeholders, including the 13 university students and 33 culturally and linguistically diverse high school youth who participated during the fall of 2009. In addition, the chapter includes reflections from university and high school student participants expressed during focus groups conducted throughout the project. While most participants had a positive experience with the project, complications with the technology component often caused frustrations and additional challenges. Goals for sharing this project are to critically evaluate digital storytelling, describe lessons learned, and recommend good practices for others working within a similar context or with parallel goals.

Learning in and beyond small business advisory programmes

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how participants learn in small business advisory programmes and to explore the impact of these learning programmes on the development of reflective learning dispositions in participants. The research involves two case studies of small business advisory programmes in Queensland, a state of Australia. One involves training in the use of GPS/GIS technology amongst rural SMEs and the other seeks to develop improved management and operational capabilities in regional and metropolitan manufacturing SMEs. Face to face semi-structured interviews were conducted throughout rural, regional and metropolitan Queensland with participants, trainers and senior executives in the administering organisations that ran the programmes. Learning in these programmes occurs through a combination of interaction with others and the adoption of practice-based and learner-centred processes. The impact of the programmes on participants includes the development of reflective learning dispositions, improved confidence in learning and appreciation of the value of new knowledge to their business. The research suggests that small business training programmes have the potential to affect the development of critical reflective learning dispositions in participants which is of fundamental importance to the development of a learning or knowledge economy.

A case study examination of the influence of cultural diversity in the multicultural nursing workforce on the quality of care and patient safety in a Saudi Arabian hospital

The purpose of the study: The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of cultural diversity, in a multicultural nursing workforce, on the quality and safety of patient care and the work environment at King Abdul-Aziz Medical City, Riyadh region. Study background: Due to global migration and workforce mobility, to varying degrees, cultural diversity exists in most health services around the world, particularly occurring where the health care workforce is multicultural or where the domestic population comprises minority groups from different cultures speaking different languages. Further complexities occur when countries have a multicultural workforce which is different from the population for whom they care, in addition to the workers being from culturally diverse countries and with different languages. In Saudi Arabia the health system is mainly staffed by expatriate nurses who comprise 67.7% of the total number of nurses. Study design: This research utilised a case study design which incorporated multiple methods including survey, qualitative interviews and document review. Methods: The participant nurses were selected for the survey via a population sampling strategy; 319 nurses returned their completed Safety Climate Survey questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Kruskal–Wallis test) were used to analyse survey data. For the qualitative component of the study, a purposive sampling strategy was used; 24 nurses were interviewed using a semi-structured interview technique. The documentary review included KAMC-R policy documents that met the inclusion criteria using a predetermined data abstraction instrument. Content analysis was used to analyse the policy documents data. Results: The data revealed the nurses‘ perceptions of the clinical climate in this multicultural environment is that it was unsafe, with a mean score of 3.9 out of 5. No significant difference was detected between the age groups or years of experience of the nurses and the perception of safety climate in this context; the study did reveal a statistically significant difference between the cultural background categories and the perception of safety climate. The qualitative phase indicated that the nurses within this environment were struggling to achieve cultural competence; consequently, they were having difficulties in meeting the patients‘ cultural and spiritual needs as well as maintaining a high standard of care. The results also indicated that nurses were disempowered in this context. Importantly, there was inadequate support by the organisation to manage the cultural diversity issue and to protect patients from any associated risks, as demonstrated by the policy documents and supported by the nurses‘ experiences. The study also illustrated the limitations of the conceptual framework of cultural competence when tested in this multicultural workforce context. Therefore, this study generated amendments to the model that is suitable to be used in the context of a multicultural nursing workforce. Conclusion: The multicultural nature of this nursing work environment is inherently risky due to the conflicts that arise from the different cultural norms, beliefs, behaviours and languages. Further, there was uncertainty within the multicultural nursing workforce about the clinical and cultural safety of the patient care environment and about the cultural safety of the nursing workforce. The findings of the study contribute important new knowledge to the area of patient and nurse safety in a multicultural environment and contribute theoretical development to the field of cultural competence. Specifically, the findings will inform policy and practice related to patient care in the context of cultural diversity.

Putting the cart before the horse? Driving student engagement through first year career identity development in a large multidisciplinary creative industries cohort

It is now widely accepted that first year students benefit from pedagogies which mediate and support their transitions to university, and assist them to develop an adaptive student identity. We present an initiative which takes an alternative and additional approach to this way of viewing the first year experience. Based on research into creative industries career trajectories, this initiative focuses on the establishment of nascent career identity and professional self-concept amongst 600 first semester Bachelor of Creative Industries (BCI) students at QUT. The BCI is offered as a three year undergraduate program involving self-selection of majors, minors and electives, and also as a four year double degree with Business and Law faculties. Students engage in a scaffolded process of initial career visioning and reflective course planning, based on their own industry and careers research, guided by industry-active academic and careers staff, and drawing upon the experiences of final year students.

A capability framework visualisation for multiple heterogeneous UAVs : from a mission commander's perspective

There is an increased interested in Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations and research into advanced methods for commanding and controlling multiple heterogeneous UAVs. Research into areas of supervisory control has rapidly increased. Past research has investigated various approaches of autonomous control and operator limitation to improve mission commanders' Situation Awareness (SA) and cognitive workload. The aim of this paper is to address this challenge through a visualisation framework of UAV information constructed from Information Abstraction (IA). This paper presents the concept and process of IA, and the visualisation framework (constructed using IA), the concept associated with the Level Of Detail (LOD) indexing method, the visualisation of an example of the framework. Experiments will test the hypothesis that, the operator will be able to achieve increased SA and reduced cognitive load with the proposed framework.

Preparing to teach : perceptions of graduate entry teacher education students

International reviews of teaching and teacher education have highlighted the importance of quality teachers in improving the outcomes of students. Teachers may enter the teaching profession through a variety of pathways. Currently in Australia, one pathway is through graduate entry teacher education programs in which people who already hold university degrees outside of education can undertake one-year formal teacher preparation programs. It may be argued that graduate entry teachers value add to the teaching profession as they bring with them a range of careers and wealth of experiences often beyond those of teachers who enter the profession through traditional four-year Bachelor of Education programs. This paper reports on a study that investigated the preparedness to teach of a group of graduate entry teacher education students as they prepared to exit from university and enter the teaching profession. The study concluded that this group of graduating teachers perceived that the field experience components in their formal teacher education programs contributed most to their beginning professional learning. The study revealed also that this group of graduating teachers sought further professional learning opportunities in the canonical skills of teaching. These findings may be used to inform the design of future teacher education programs.

Meaningful musical engagement : the potential impact of generative music systems on learning experiences

In order to create music, the student must establish a relationship with the musical materials. In this thesis, I examine the capacity of a generative music system called jam2jam to offer individuals a virtual musical play-space to explore. I outline the development of an iteration of software development named jam2jam blue and the evolution of a games-like user interface in the research design that jointly revealed the nature of this musical exploration. The findings suggest that the jam2jam blue interface provided an expressive gestural instrument to jam and experience musicmaking. By using the computer as an instrument, participants in this study were given access to meaningful musical experiences in both solo and ensemble situations and the researcher is allowed a view of their development of a relationship with the musical materials from the perspective of the individual participants. Through an iterative software development methodology, pedagogy and experience design were created simultaneously. The research reveals the potential for the jam2jam software to be used as a reflective tool for feedback and assessment purposes. The power of access to ensemble music making is realised though the participants’ virtual experiences which are brought into their physical space by sharing their experience with others. It is suggested that this interaction creates an environment conducive to self-initiated learning in which music is the language of interaction. The research concludes that the development of a relationship between the explorer and the musical materials is subject to the collaborative nature of the interaction through which the music is experienced.

Research initiatives to improve the visibility and hence safety of road workers at night-time

Research has demonstrated the benefits that clothing incorporating retroreflective markers can provide in significantly improving visibility and reducing accidents, especially at night. Adding biomotion markings to standard vests can enhance the night-time conspicuity of roadway workers by capitalizing on perceptual capabilities.

Evaluating the success of large-scale, integrated information systems through the lens of IS-impact and IS-support

This study proceeds from a central interest in the importance of systematically evaluating operational large-scale integrated information systems (IS) in organisations. The study is conducted within the IS-Impact Research Track at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). The goal of the IS-Impact Track is, "to develop the most widely employed model for benchmarking information systems in organizations for the joint benefit of both research and practice" (Gable et al, 2009). The track espouses programmatic research having the principles of incrementalism, tenacity, holism and generalisability through replication and extension research strategies. Track efforts have yielded the bicameral IS-Impact measurement model; the ‘impact’ half includes Organisational-Impact and Individual-Impact dimensions; the ‘quality’ half includes System-Quality and Information-Quality dimensions. Akin to Gregor’s (2006) analytic theory, the ISImpact model is conceptualised as a formative, multidimensional index and is defined as "a measure at a point in time, of the stream of net benefits from the IS, to date and anticipated, as perceived by all key-user-groups" (Gable et al., 2008, p: 381). The study adopts the IS-Impact model (Gable, et al., 2008) as its core theory base. Prior work within the IS-Impact track has been consciously constrained to Financial IS for their homogeneity. This study adopts a context-extension strategy (Berthon et al., 2002) with the aim "to further validate and extend the IS-Impact measurement model in a new context - i.e. a different IS - Human Resources (HR)". The overarching research question is: "How can the impacts of large-scale integrated HR applications be effectively and efficiently benchmarked?" This managerial question (Cooper & Emory, 1995) decomposes into two more specific research questions – In the new HR context: (RQ1): "Is the IS-Impact model complete?" (RQ2): "Is the ISImpact model valid as a 1st-order formative, 2nd-order formative multidimensional construct?" The study adhered to the two-phase approach of Gable et al. (2008) to hypothesise and validate a measurement model. The initial ‘exploratory phase’ employed a zero base qualitative approach to re-instantiating the IS-Impact model in the HR context. The subsequent ‘confirmatory phase’ sought to validate the resultant hypothesised measurement model against newly gathered quantitative data. The unit of analysis for the study is the application, ‘ALESCO’, an integrated large-scale HR application implemented at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), a large Australian university (with approximately 40,000 students and 5000 staff). Target respondents of both study phases were ALESCO key-user-groups: strategic users, management users, operational users and technical users, who directly use ALESCO or its outputs. An open-ended, qualitative survey was employed in the exploratory phase, with the objective of exploring the completeness and applicability of the IS-Impact model’s dimensions and measures in the new context, and to conceptualise any resultant model changes to be operationalised in the confirmatory phase. Responses from 134 ALESCO users to the main survey question, "What do you consider have been the impacts of the ALESCO (HR) system in your division/department since its implementation?" were decomposed into 425 ‘impact citations.’ Citation mapping using a deductive (top-down) content analysis approach instantiated all dimensions and measures of the IS-Impact model, evidencing its content validity in the new context. Seeking to probe additional (perhaps negative) impacts; the survey included the additional open question "In your opinion, what can be done better to improve the ALESCO (HR) system?" Responses to this question decomposed into a further 107 citations which in the main did not map to IS-Impact, but rather coalesced around the concept of IS-Support. Deductively drawing from relevant literature, and working inductively from the unmapped citations, the new ‘IS-Support’ construct, including the four formative dimensions (i) training, (ii) documentation, (iii) assistance, and (iv) authorisation (each having reflective measures), was defined as: "a measure at a point in time, of the support, the [HR] information system key-user groups receive to increase their capabilities in utilising the system." Thus, a further goal of the study became validation of the IS-Support construct, suggesting the research question (RQ3): "Is IS-Support valid as a 1st-order reflective, 2nd-order formative multidimensional construct?" With the aim of validating IS-Impact within its nomological net (identification through structural relations), as in prior work, Satisfaction was hypothesised as its immediate consequence. The IS-Support construct having derived from a question intended to probe IS-Impacts, too was hypothesised as antecedent to Satisfaction, thereby suggesting the research question (RQ4): "What is the relative contribution of IS-Impact and IS-Support to Satisfaction?" With the goal of testing the above research questions, IS-Impact, IS-Support and Satisfaction were operationalised in a quantitative survey instrument. Partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling employing 221 valid responses largely evidenced the validity of the commencing IS-Impact model in the HR context. ISSupport too was validated as operationalised (including 11 reflective measures of its 4 formative dimensions). IS-Support alone explained 36% of Satisfaction; IS-Impact alone 70%; in combination both explaining 71% with virtually all influence of ISSupport subsumed by IS-Impact. Key study contributions to research include: (1) validation of IS-Impact in the HR context, (2) validation of a newly conceptualised IS-Support construct as important antecedent of Satisfaction, and (3) validation of the redundancy of IS-Support when gauging IS-Impact. The study also makes valuable contributions to practice, the research track and the sponsoring organisation.

Queer community archives in California since 1950

Purpose: This study provides insight into the histories and current statuses of queer community archives in California and explores what the archives profession can learn from the queer community archives and archivists. Through the construction of histories of three community archives (GLBT Historical Society; Lavender Library, Archives, and Cultural Exchange of Sacramento, Inc.; and ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives), the study discovered why these independent, community-based archives were created, the issues that influenced their evolution, and the similarities and differences among them. Additionally, it compared the community archives to institutional archives which collect queer materials to explore the similarities and differences among the archives and determine possible implications for the archives profession. Significance: The study contributes to the literature in several significant ways: it is the first in-depth comparative history of the queer community archives; it adds to the cross-disciplinary research in archives and history; it contributes to the current debates on the nature of the archives and the role of the professional archivist; and it has implications for changing archival practice. Methodology: This study used social constructionism for epistemological positioning and new social history theory for theoretical framework. Information was gathered through seven oral history interviews with community archivists and volunteers and from materials in the archives’ collections. This evidence was used to construct the histories of the archives and determine their current statuses. The institutional archives used in the comparisons are the: University of California, Berkeley’s Bancroft Library; University of California, Santa Cruz’s Special Collections and University Archives; and San Francisco Public Library’s James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center. The collection policies, finding aids, and archival collections related to the queer communities at the institutional and community archives were compared to determine commonalities and differences among the archives. Findings: The findings revealed striking similarities in the histories of the community archives and important implications for the archives’ survival and their relevancy to the archives profession. Each archives was started by an individual or small group collecting materials to preserve history that would otherwise have been lost as institutional archives were not collecting queer materials. These private collections grew and became the basis for the community archives. The community archives differ in their staffing models, circulation policies, and descriptive practices. The community archives have grown to incorporate more public programming functions than most institutional archives. While in the past, the community archives had little connection to institutional archives, today they have varying degrees of partnerships. However, the historical lack of collecting queer materials by institutional archives makes some members of the communities reluctant to donate materials to institutional archives or collaborate with them. All three queer community archives are currently managed by professionally trained and educated archivists and face financial issues impacting their continued survival. The similarities and differences between the community and institutional archives include differences in collection policies, language differences in the finding aids, and differing levels of relationships between the archives. However, they share similar sensitivity in the use of language in describing the queer communities and overlap in the types of materials collected. Implications: This study supports previous research on community archives showing that communities take the preservation of history into their own hands when ignored by mainstream archives (Flinn, 2007; Flinn & Stevens, 2009; Nestle, 1990). Based on the study’s findings, institutional archivists could learn from their community archivist counterparts better ways to become involved in and relevant to the communities whose records they possess. This study also expands the understanding of history of the queer communities to include in-depth research into the archives which preserve and make available material for constructing history. Furthermore, this study supports reflective practice for archivists, especially in terms of descriptions used in finding aids. It also supports changes in graduate education for archives students to enable archivists in the United States to be more fully cognizant of community archives and able to engage in collaborative, international projects. Through this more activist role of the archivists, partnerships between the community and institutional archives would be built to establish more collaborative, respectful relationships with the communities in this post-custodial age of the archives (Stevens, Flinn, & Shepherd, 2010). Including community archives in discussions of archival practice and theory is one way of ensuring archives represent and serve a diversity of voices.

Coteaching social education : an oasis in changing times

With the introduction and continued steady roll-out of the Australian Curriculum, teaching Social Education in 21st Century Australia has become increasingly challenging. This article explores how two teacher-educators tackled the challenge when developing a new Social Education course at a Queensland university using the strategy of coteaching. During the case study, data were collated from cogenerative dialogues, pre-service teacher questionnaires, and reflective journals. The data were subsequently explored using concepts from cultural sociology such as capital (Bourdieu, 1977) and agency and structure (Sewell, 1992). This paper examines how coteaching afforded the teacher-educators a vehicle to develop innovative curriculum and model ways to create a productive learning environment that reflected the philosophy of Social Education. It therefore speaks to higher-education institutions and schools about ways for navigating the present educational milieu through the adoption of collaborative strategies based on ethical relations that promote shared decision-making and reflexive practices.

Just give me the facts? literalism versus symbolism in B2B advertising

For decades the prevailing idea in B2B marketing has been that buyers are motivated by product/service specifications. Sellers are put on approved supplier lists, invited to respond to RFPs, and are selected on the basis of superior products, at the right price, delivered on time. The history of B2B advertising is filled with the advice “provide product specifications” and your advertising will be noticed, lead to sales inquiries, and eventually result in higher sales. Advertising filled with abstractions might work in the B2C market, but the B2B marketplace is about being literal. What we know about advertising — and particularly the message component of advertising — is based on a combination of experience, unproven ideas and a bit of social science. Over the years, advertising guidelines produced by the predecessors of BMA (National Industrial Advertising Association, Association of Industrial Advertising, and the Business/Professional Advertising Association) stressed emphasizing product features and tangible benefits. The major publishers of B2B magazines, e.g., McGraw-Hill, Penton Publishing, et al. had similar recommendations. Also, B2B marketing books recommend advertising that focuses on specific product features (Kotler and Pfoertsch, 2006; Lamons, 2005). In more recent times, abstraction in advertising messages has penetrated the B2B marketplace. Even though such advertising legends as David Ogilvy (1963, 1985) frequently recommended advertising based on hard-core information, we’ve seen the growing use of emotional appeals, including humor, fear, parental affection, etc. Beyond the use of emotion, marketers attempt to build a stronger connection between their brands and buyers through the use of abstraction and symbolism. Below are two examples of B2B advertisements — Figure 1A is high in literalism and Figure 1B is high in symbolism. Which approach — a “left-brain” (literal) or “right brain” (symbolic) is more effective in B2B advertising? Are the advertising message creation guidelines from the history of B2B advertising accurate? Are the foundations of B2B message creation (experience and unproven ideas) sound?

Producing solidarity : a settlement strategy of the Karen refugee community in Brisbane, Australia

This paper explores the link between experience and context. It places the lived experiences of Karen refugees during settlement in Brisbane, Australia within the socio-political context of Burma, or particularly the historical context of persecution. Two key events – the Wrist-tying Ceremony and the Karen New Year – provide a link between experience and context. The findings of this study show a community strategically at work in a new and ongoing settlement process. This process pays respect to the complexities of cultural integrity whilst also engaging with the challenges of integration. The complexities are local (in terms of cultural, linguistic and religious diversity), national (maintaining a broader sense of community that includes linkages across Australia, as well as an engagement with the Australian socio-political context), and transnational (participating in a global Karen community). This transnational community encompasses Karen settling elsewhere in the world, Karen in refugee camps neighbouring Burma, and Karen living inside Burma. This paper argues that substantial “identity work” is involved in Karen settlement. The two key community events are useful vignettes of this identity work. Both events demonstrate how Karen cultural practices can meaningfully negotiate deeply historical ideas of Karen identity with contemporary challenges of settlement. In addition, they set out a version of settlement that departs from traditional settlement constructs; they show how the lived experience of settlement is messy, complex and dynamic, and not reflective of the neat, idealistic models that immigration policy and settlement theory project.

The "free-factor" impact on value in health services

Purpose - This paper seeks to understand the impact of financial cost on customer value in health prevention services by comparing free government services with private fee-charging providers. This is important as there is a common belief that a free health service is of lower quality and thus lower value than a paid service. However there is no evidence to verify this notion. Design / Methodology / Approach - A large-scale online survey was administered nationwide to Australian women. The respondents were asked about the functional and emotional value derived from their service experiences. Findings - Structural equation modelling (SEM) revealed non significant relationships between fee/free services and functional and emotional value (FV/EV). The non-significant relationship with FV is contrary to the theory of price quality relationship in services. This could be attributed to consumer perceptions that the technical quality of health professionals is comparable across free and paid services. The non-significant relationship with EV could be explained by the indicators used to reflect EV. These indicators were reflective of breast screening behaviour, not breast screening services. Subsequently, it may be posited that the act of having a breast screen is sufficient for consumers to derive emotional value, regardless of the financial cost. Originality / Value - This research fills an important gap in the literature by investigating the impact of financial cost on a service that consumers use proactively(prevention), rather than reactively (treatment). Insights are provided into the impact of cost on customer value in preventive health services, which are valuable to social marketing academics, health practitioners, and governments

Reading images : the book club in the art gallery

This paper seeks to document and understand one instance of community-university engagement: that of an on-going book club organised in conjunction with public art exhibitions. The curator of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Art Museum invited the authors, three postgraduate research students in the faculty of Creative Writing and Literary Studies at QUT, to facilitate an informal book club. The purpose of the book club was to generate discussion, through engagement with fiction, around the themes and ideas explored in the Art Museum’s exhibitions. For example, during the William Robinson exhibition, which presented evocative images of the environment around Brisbane, Queensland, the book club explored texts that symbolically represented aspects of the Australian landscape in a variety of modes and guises. This paper emerges as a result of the authors’ observations during, and reflections on, their experiences facilitating the book club. It responds to the research question, how can we create a best practice model to engage readers through open-ended, reciprocal discussion of fiction, while at the same time encouraging interactions in the gallery space? To provide an overview of reading practices in book clubs, we rely on Jenny Hartley’s seminal text on the subject, The Reading Groups Book (2002). Although the book club was open to all members of the community, the participants were generally women. Elizabeth Long, in Book Clubs: Woman and the Uses of Reading in the Everyday (2003), offers a comprehensive account of women’s interactions as they engage in a reading community. Long (2003, 2) observes that an image of the solitary reader governs our understanding of reading. Long challenges this notion, arguing that reading is profoundly social (ibid), and, as women read and talk in book clubs, ‘they are supporting each other in a collective working-out of their relationship to a particular historical movement and the particular social conditions that characterise it’ (Long 2003, 22). Despite the book club’s capacity to act as a forum for analytical discussion, DeNel Rehberg Sedo (2010, 2) argues that there are barriers to interaction in such a space, including that members require a level of cultural capital and literacy before they feel comfortable to participate. How then can we seek to make book clubs more inclusive, and encourage readers to discuss and question outside of their comfort zone? How can we support interactions with texts and images? In this paper, we draw on pragmatic and self-reflective practice methods to document and evaluate the development of the book club model designed to facilitate engagement. We discuss how we selected texts, negotiating the dual needs of relevance to the exhibition and engagement with, and appeal to, the community. We reflect on developing questions and material prior to the book club to encourage interaction, and describe how we developed a flexible approach to question-asking and facilitating discussion. We conclude by reflecting on the outcomes of and improvements to the model.