Teaching Teachers for the Future : an Australian government national project

This paper describes the Teaching Teachers of the Future (TTF) Project – a national project funded ($8.8mil AUD) by the Australian Government. The project was aimed at building the capacity of student teachers to use technology to improve student learning outcomes. It discusses the aims and objectives of the project, its genesis in a changing educational and political landscape, the use of TPACK as a theoretical scaffold, and briefly reports on the operations of the various components and part-ners. Further, it discusses the research opportunities afforded by the project includ-ing a national survey of all PSTs in Australia gauging their TPACK confidence and the use of the Most Significant Change (MSC) methodology. Finally the paper dis-cusses the outcomes of the project and its future.

Pitfall (An Opportunistic Cultural Survey)

A pitfall is an unapparent source of trouble or danger; a hidden hazard: Today we all face, or will soon be facing ecological pitfalls of many kinds. ‘Pitfall’ is a continually-evolving artwork built from multiple screens, a tabletop landscape mapped with projections, fibre optics, 3D spatial sound and infrared night imagery. It builds upon ideas, recordings and cross-disciplinary processes developed during my 2012-13 ANAT Synapse Art-Science residency, with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), Australia’s largest private-sector conservation organisation.

Designing and evaluating an online role play in conflict management

Purpose This paper aims to identify, through a literature review, key issues regarding how online role plays can be designed and to apply them when designing a role play on conflict management. Design/methodology/approach By drawing on the key issues identified in the literature review, a role play on conflict management was designed and evaluated. Data were collected by developing a survey that focused on perceived learning, participation and satisfaction. Findings Overall, a majority of the students felt that they learned and participated in the role play. The most positive finding was that the students were satisfied with their role play experience. Research limitations/implications Researchers are urged to further develop the dimensions and measures of online role play success. The measures that were developed for evaluating perceived learning, participation and satisfaction with role plays can be further developed and tested. It is suggested that the effects on learning need to be further explored. Practical implications It is suggested that teachers take the identified key issues of online role play design into account. An important challenge seems to be to encourage students to reflect and do additional reading and research in relation with online role plays. Originality/value Online collaboration is commonly argued as beneficial from an e-learning perspective. However, a challenge for research and practice is to learn how collaborative e-learning activities may be developed. This paper contributes by focusing on how online role plays can be designed and evaluated.

Radiographer commenting of trauma radiographs : a survey of the benefits, barriers and enablers to participation in an Australian healthcare setting

Introduction Radiographer abnormality detection systems that highlight abnormalities on trauma radiographs (‘red dot’ system) have been operating for more than 30 years. Recently, a number of pitfalls have been identified. These limitations initiated the evolution of a radiographer commenting system, whereby a radiographer provides a brief description of abnormalities identified in emergency healthcare settings. This study investigated radiographers' participation in abnormality detection systems, their perceptions of benefits, barriers and enablers to radiographer commenting, and perceptions of potential radiographer image interpretation services for emergency settings. Methods A cross-sectional survey was implemented. Participants included radiographers from four metropolitan hospitals in Queensland, Australia. Conventional descriptive statistics, histograms and thematic analysis were undertaken. Results Seventy-three surveys were completed and included in the analysis (68% response rate); 30 (41%) of respondents reported participating in abnormality detection in 20% or less of examinations, and 26(36%) reported participating in 80% or more of examinations. Five overarching perceived benefits of radiographer commenting were identified: assisting multidisciplinary teams, patient care, radiographer ability, professional benefits and quality of imaging. Frequently reported perceived barriers included ‘difficulty accessing image interpretation education’, ‘lack of time’ and ‘low confidence in interpreting radiographs’. Perceived enablers included ‘access to image interpretation education’ and ‘support from radiologist colleagues’. Conclusions A range of factors are likely to contribute to the successful implementation of radiographer commenting in addition to abnormality detection in emergency settings. Effective image interpretation education amenable to completion by radiographers would likely prove valuable in preparing radiographers for participation in abnormality detection and commenting systems in emergency settings.

Methodology for developing real-time motorway traffic risk identification models using individual-vehicle data

Most of existing motorway traffic safety studies using disaggregate traffic flow data aim at developing models for identifying real-time traffic risks by comparing pre-crash and non-crash conditions. One of serious shortcomings in those studies is that non-crash conditions are arbitrarily selected and hence, not representative, i.e. selected non-crash data might not be the right data comparable with pre-crash data; the non-crash/pre-crash ratio is arbitrarily decided and neglects the abundance of non-crash over pre-crash conditions; etc. Here, we present a methodology for developing a real-time MotorwaY Traffic Risk Identification Model (MyTRIM) using individual vehicle data, meteorological data, and crash data. Non-crash data are clustered into groups called traffic regimes. Thereafter, pre-crash data are classified into regimes to match with relevant non-crash data. Among totally eight traffic regimes obtained, four highly risky regimes were identified; three regime-based Risk Identification Models (RIM) with sufficient pre-crash data were developed. MyTRIM memorizes the latest risk evolution identified by RIM to predict near future risks. Traffic practitioners can decide MyTRIM’s memory size based on the trade-off between detection and false alarm rates. Decreasing the memory size from 5 to 1 precipitates the increase of detection rate from 65.0% to 100.0% and of false alarm rate from 0.21% to 3.68%. Moreover, critical factors in differentiating pre-crash and non-crash conditions are recognized and usable for developing preventive measures. MyTRIM can be used by practitioners in real-time as an independent tool to make online decision or integrated with existing traffic management systems.

Disaster resilience in tertiary hospitals : a cross-sectional survey in Shandong Province, China

Background: Hospital disaster resilience can be defined as a hospital’s ability to resist, absorb, and respond to the shock of disasters while maintaining critical functions, and then to recover to its original state or adapt to a new one. This study aims to explore the status of resilience among tertiary hospitals in Shandong Province, China. Methods: A stratified random sample (n = 50) was derived from tertiary A, tertiary B, and tertiary C hospitals in Shandong Province, and was surveyed by questionnaire. Data on hospital characteristics and 8 key domains of hospital resilience were collected and analysed. Variables were binary, and analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies. Results: A response rate of 82% (n = 41) was attained. Factor analysis identified four key factors from eight domains which appear to reflect the overall level of disaster resilience. These were hospital safety, disaster management mechanisms, disaster resources and disaster medical care capability. The survey demonstrated that in regard to hospital safety, 93% had syndromic surveillance systems for infectious diseases and 68% had evaluated their safety standards. In regard to disaster management mechanisms, all had general plans, while only 20% had specific plans for individual hazards. 49% had a public communication protocol and 43.9% attended the local coordination meetings. In regard to disaster resources, 75.6% and 87.5% stockpiled emergency drugs and materials respectively, while less than a third (30%) had a signed Memorandum of Understanding with other hospitals to share these resources. Finally in regard to medical care, 66% could dispatch an on-site medical rescue team, but only 5% had a ‘portable hospital’ function and 36.6% and 12% of the hospitals could surge their beds and staff capacity respectively. The average beds surge capacity within 1 day was 13%. Conclusions: This study validated the broad utility of a framework for understanding and measuring the level of hospital resilience. The survey demonstrated considerable variability in disaster resilience arrangements of tertiary hospitals in Shandong province, and the difference between tertiary A hospitals and tertiary B hospitals was also identified in essential areas.

The effects of rurality on mental and physical health

The effects of rurality on physical and mental health are examined in analyses of a national dataset, the Community Tracking Survey, 2000-2001, that includes individual level observations from household interviews. We merge it with county level data reflecting community resources and use econometric methods to analyze this multi-level data. The statistical analysis of the impact of the choice of definition on outcomes and on the estimates and significance of explanatory variables in the model is presented using modern econometric methods, and differences in results for mental health and physical health are evaluated. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

A survey in mathematics for industry: Two-timing and matched asymptotic expansions for singular perturbation problems

Following the derivation of amplitude equations through a new two-time-scale method [O'Malley, R. E., Jr. & Kirkinis, E (2010) A combined renormalization group-multiple scale method for singularly perturbed problems. Stud. Appl. Math. 124, 383-410], we show that a multi-scale method may often be preferable for solving singularly perturbed problems than the method of matched asymptotic expansions. We illustrate this approach with 10 singularly perturbed ordinary and partial differential equations. © 2011 Cambridge University Press.

Understanding service firms brand value creation : a multilevel perspective including the overarching role of service brand marketing capability

Purpose This study seeks to extend the existing literature on value creation by specifically focusing on service brand value creation (SBVC) and the role of brand marketing. Design/methodology/approach The authors first develop a model of SBVC and simultaneously investigate SBVC from the firm perspective (service brand value offering – SBVO) and from the customer perspective (service brand perceive value-in use – SBPVI). Subsequently, they investigate the effects of SBVO on SBPVI and integrate the moderation role of service brand marketing capability (SBMC) on the relationship between SBVO-SBPVI outcomes. SBVO is viewed as the firms' interpretation of and responsiveness to customer requirements via the delivery of superior performance the value offering through the service brand and SBPVI customers' perceived value from the firms' service brand. The contributions of SBVC to customer-based performance outcomes are then investigated. Hypotheses were tested using a sample of the senior managers of service firms in Cambodia and their customers. A survey was used to gather data via a drop-and-collect approach. Findings Results indicated that SBVO is positively related to SBPVI and SBPVI is positively related to customer-based performance. Noticeably, the results revealed that SBMC enhances the positive relationship between the firm SBVO and the customers SBPVI. Originality/value The paper extends the previous literature on value creation to capture SBVC. More significantly, the premise of the theoretical framework provides a breakthrough in the current SBVC literature which has so far neglected to take into account the dyadic approach (firm-customer) in understanding value creation and more specifically SBVC. The model is expanded by looking at the contingency role of SBMC in communicating value to customers.

Security and Privacy in Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks : Survey and the Road Ahead

Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs) can make roads safer, cleaner, and smarter. It can offer a wide range of services, which can be safety and non-safety related. Many safety-related VANETs applications are real-time and mission critical, which would require strict guarantee of security and reliability. Even non-safety related multimedia applications, which will play an important role in the future, will require security support. Lack of such security and privacy in VANETs is one of the key hindrances to the wide spread implementations of it. An insecure and unreliable VANET can be more dangerous than the system without VANET support. So it is essential to make sure that “life-critical safety” information is secure enough to rely on. Securing the VANETs along with appropriate protection of the privacy drivers or vehicle owners is a very challenging task. In this work we summarize the attacks, corresponding security requirements and challenges in VANETs. We also present the most popular generic security policies which are based on prevention as well detection methods. Many VANETs applications require system-wide security support rather than individual layer from the VANETs’ protocol stack. In this work we will review the existing works in the perspective of holistic approach of security. Finally, we will provide some possible future directions to achieve system-wide security as well as privacy-friendly security in VANETs.

Survey : video forensic tools

Due to extension of using CCTVs and the other video security systems in all areas, these sorts of devices have been introduced as the most important digital evidences to search and seizure crimes. Video forensics tools are developed as a part of digital forensics tools to analyze digital evidences and clear vague points of them for presenting in the courts Existing video forensics tools have been facilitated the investigation process by providing different features based on various video editing techniques. In this paper, some of the most popular video forensics tools are discussed and the strengths and shortages of them are compared and consequently, an alternative framework which includes the strengths of existing popular tools is introduced.

Survey on BPM Conference impression

In May/June 2014, the Program Committee Chairs of BPM’15 conducted a survey with present and past attendees and submitters to the BPM conference to gather feedback on the general perception of the conference. The survey is available at http://survey.qut.edu.au/f/180586/6bb1/. In particular, the survey included questions about the reputation of the conference, the reasons why survey participants submitted papers, whether they plan to submit to BPM’15, and soliciting input on a number of suggested changes and additions to the conduct of the conference series.

Development of gas sensing technology for ground and airborne applications powered by solar energy : methodology and experimental results

Monitoring gases for environmental, industrial and agricultural fields is a demanding task that requires long periods of observation, large quantity of sensors, data management, high temporal and spatial resolution, long term stability, recalibration procedures, computational resources, and energy availability. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are currently representing the best alternative to monitor large, remote, and difficult access areas, as these technologies have the possibility of carrying specialised gas sensing systems, and offer the possibility of geo-located and time stamp samples. However, these technologies are not fully functional for scientific and commercial applications as their development and availability is limited by a number of factors: the cost of sensors required to cover large areas, their stability over long periods, their power consumption, and the weight of the system to be used on small UAVs. Energy availability is a serious challenge when WSN are deployed in remote areas with difficult access to the grid, while small UAVs are limited by the energy in their reservoir tank or batteries. Another important challenge is the management of data produced by the sensor nodes, requiring large amount of resources to be stored, analysed and displayed after long periods of operation. In response to these challenges, this research proposes the following solutions aiming to improve the availability and development of these technologies for gas sensing monitoring: first, the integration of WSNs and UAVs for environmental gas sensing in order to monitor large volumes at ground and aerial levels with a minimum of sensor nodes for an effective 3D monitoring; second, the use of solar energy as a main power source to allow continuous monitoring; and lastly, the creation of a data management platform to store, analyse and share the information with operators and external users. The principal outcomes of this research are the creation of a gas sensing system suitable for monitoring any kind of gas, which has been installed and tested on CH4 and CO2 in a sensor network (WSN) and on a UAV. The use of the same gas sensing system in a WSN and a UAV reduces significantly the complexity and cost of the application as it allows: a) the standardisation of the signal acquisition and data processing, thereby reducing the required computational resources; b) the standardisation of calibration and operational procedures, reducing systematic errors and complexity; c) the reduction of the weight and energy consumption, leading to an improved power management and weight balance in the case of UAVs; d) the simplification of the sensor node architecture, which is easily replicated in all the nodes. I evaluated two different sensor modules by laboratory, bench, and field tests: a non-dispersive infrared module (NDIR) and a metal-oxide resistive nano-sensor module (MOX nano-sensor). The tests revealed advantages and disadvantages of the two modules when used for static nodes at the ground level and mobile nodes on-board a UAV. Commercial NDIR modules for CO2 have been successfully tested and evaluated in the WSN and on board of the UAV. Their advantage is the precision and stability, but their application is limited to a few gases. The advantages of the MOX nano-sensors are the small size, low weight, low power consumption and their sensitivity to a broad range of gases. However, selectivity is still a concern that needs to be addressed with further studies. An electronic board to interface sensors in a large range of resistivity was successfully designed, created and adapted to operate on ground nodes and on-board UAV. The WSN and UAV created were powered with solar energy in order to facilitate outdoor deployment, data collection and continuous monitoring over large and remote volumes. The gas sensing, solar power, transmission and data management systems of the WSN and UAV were fully evaluated by laboratory, bench and field testing. The methodology created to design, developed, integrate and test these systems was extensively described and experimentally validated. The sampling and transmission capabilities of the WSN and UAV were successfully tested in an emulated mission involving the detection and measurement of CO2 concentrations in a field coming from a contaminant source; the data collected during the mission was transmitted in real time to a central node for data analysis and 3D mapping of the target gas. The major outcome of this research is the accomplishment of the first flight mission, never reported before in the literature, of a solar powered UAV equipped with a CO2 sensing system in conjunction with a network of ground sensor nodes for an effective 3D monitoring of the target gas. A data management platform was created using an external internet server, which manages, stores, and shares the data collected in two web pages, showing statistics and static graph images for internal and external users as requested. The system was bench tested with real data produced by the sensor nodes and the architecture of the platform was widely described and illustrated in order to provide guidance and support on how to replicate the system. In conclusion, the overall results of the project provide guidance on how to create a gas sensing system integrating WSNs and UAVs, how to power the system with solar energy and manage the data produced by the sensor nodes. This system can be used in a wide range of outdoor applications, especially in agriculture, bushfires, mining studies, zoology, and botanical studies opening the way to an ubiquitous low cost environmental monitoring, which may help to decrease our carbon footprint and to improve the health of the planet.

1000 voices: reflective online multimodal narrative inquiry as a research methodology for disability research

This article outlines the research approach used in the international 1000 Voices Project. The 1000 Voices project is an interdisciplinary research and public awareness project that uses a customised online multimodal storytelling platform to explore the lives of people with disability internationally. Through the project, researchers and partners have encouraged diverse participants to select the modes of storytelling (e.g. images, text, videos and combinations thereof) that suit them best and to self-define what both ‘disability’ and ‘life story’ mean to them. The online reflective component of the approach encourages participants to organically and reflectively develop story events and revisions over time in ways that suit them and their emerging lives. This article provides a detailed summary of the project's theoretical and methodological development alongside suggestions for future development in social work and qualitative research.

Biodiesel production from non-edible beauty leaf (Calophyllum Inophyllum) oil : process optimization using response surface methodology (RSM)

In recent years, the beauty leaf plant (Calophyllum Inophyllum) is being considered as a potential 2nd generation biodiesel source due to high seed oil content, high fruit production rate, simple cultivation and ability to grow in a wide range of climate conditions. However, however, due to the high free fatty acid (FFA) content in this oil, the potential of this biodiesel feedstock is still unrealized, and little research has been undertaken on it. In this study, transesterification of beauty leaf oil to produce biodiesel has been investigated. A two-step biodiesel conversion method consisting of acid catalysed pre-esterification and alkali catalysed transesterification has been utilized. The three main factors that drive the biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester (FAME)) conversion from vegetable oil (triglycerides) were studied using response surface methodology (RSM) based on a Box-Behnken experimental design. The factors considered in this study were catalyst concentration, methanol to oil molar ratio and reaction temperature. Linear and full quadratic regression models were developed to predict FFA and FAME concentration and to optimize the reaction conditions. The significance of these factors and their interaction in both stages was determined using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The reaction conditions for the largest reduction in FFA concentration for acid catalysed pre-esterification was 30:1 methanol to oil molar ratio, 10% (w/w) sulfuric acid catalyst loading and 75 °C reaction temperature. In the alkali catalysed transesterification process 7.5:1 methanol to oil molar ratio, 1% (w/w) sodium methoxide catalyst loading and 55 °C reaction temperature were found to result in the highest FAME conversion. The good agreement between model outputs and experimental results demonstrated that this methodology may be useful for industrial process optimization for biodiesel production from beauty leaf oil and possibly other industrial processes as well.