Q-FE: QPASTT's Whole of Organisation Client Feedback Framework

This report describes the development of a whole of organization framework for obtaining client feedback for the Queensland Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma (QPASTT)

Developing learning cohorts for postgraduate research degrees

Development of researchers through higher degree research studies is a high priority in most universities. Yet, research about supervision as pedagogy and models of supervision is only recently gained increasing attention. Charged with producing good researchers within very limited resources, academics are constantly looking for more efficient models of supervision for higher degree research students. A cohort model of supervision promises several efficiencies, but we argue that its success lies importantly on how well the cohort is developed specifically for higher degree research studies. We drew on a growing body of literature on higher degree research supervision to design, implement and evaluate our approach to developing a cohort of seven students enrolled in the Master of Education (Research) degree. Our approach included four provisions: initial residential workshop, development of a learning community, nourishing scholarship, and ongoing learning opportunities. The four provisions resulted in gradually developing an environment and culture that students found very supportive and nurturing. This paper is based on the findings from data collected from student evaluations in the first year of studies, feedback from the cohort’s sponsor, and our reflective notes. The evaluation substantiated the value in investing time and resources for purposely developing a cohort for higher degree research studies. Whether the cohorts are sponsored or not, universities will still need to invest time and resources for cohort development if a cohort model is intended to gain wider efficiencies in supervision of higher degree research students.

Output feedback optimal control with contraints

In Chapters 1 through 9 of the book (with the exception of a brief discussion on observers and integral action in Section 5.5 of Chapter 5) we considered constrained optimal control problems for systems without uncertainty, that is, with no unmodelled dynamics or disturbances, and where the full state was available for measurement. More realistically, however, it is necessary to consider control problems for systems with uncertainty. This chapter addresses some of the issues that arise in this situation. As in Chapter 9, we adopt a stochastic description of uncertainty, which associates probability distributions to the uncertain elements, that is, disturbances and initial conditions. (See Section 12.6 for references to alternative approaches to model uncertainty.) When incomplete state information exists, a popular observer-based control strategy in the presence of stochastic disturbances is to use the certainty equivalence [CE] principle, introduced in Section 5.5 of Chapter 5 for deterministic systems. In the stochastic framework, CE consists of estimating the state and then using these estimates as if they were the true state in the control law that results if the problem were formulated as a deterministic problem (that is, without uncertainty). This strategy is motivated by the unconstrained problem with a quadratic objective function, for which CE is indeed the optimal solution (˚Astr¨om 1970, Bertsekas 1976). One of the aims of this chapter is to explore the issues that arise from the use of CE in RHC in the presence of constraints. We then turn to the obvious question about the optimality of the CE principle. We show that CE is, indeed, not optimal in general. We also analyse the possibility of obtaining truly optimal solutions for single input linear systems with input constraints and uncertainty related to output feedback and stochastic disturbances.We first find the optimal solution for the case of horizon N = 1, and then we indicate the complications that arise in the case of horizon N = 2. Our conclusion is that, for the case of linear constrained systems, the extra effort involved in the optimal feedback policy is probably not justified in practice. Indeed, we show by example that CE can give near optimal performance. We thus advocate this approach in real applications.

Performance degradation in feedback control due to constraints

In this note, we present a method to characterize the degradation in performance that arises in linear systems due to constraints imposed on the magnitude of the control signal to avoid saturation effects. We do this in the context of cheap control for tracking step signals.

Letters and numbers in Excel : fostering student engagement in fundamentals of maths & computing

The television quiz program Letters and Numbers, broadcast on the SBS network, has recently become quite popular in Australia. This paper considers an implementation in Excel 2010 and its potential as a vehicle to showcase a range of mathematical and computing concepts and principles.

Crunch time : how did the students perform?

Two newspaper numbers games based on simple arithmetic relationships are discussed. One is rather trivial, but very useful as an introduction to the second, whose potential to give students of elementary algebra practice in semi ad-hoc reasoning and to build general arithmetic reasoning skills was explored theoretically in an earlier paper. Preliminary results on the effectiveness of this general approach are presented, with student performance and feedback on an assignment task and formal examination included, and recommendations for future work.

Developing a culture of peer review of teaching through a distributive leadership approach

Teaching is a core function of higher education and must be effective if it is to provide students with learning experiences that are stimulating, challenging and rewarding Obtaining feedback on teaching is indispensable to enhancing the quality of learning design, facilitating personal and/or professional development and maximising student learning outcomes. Peer review of teaching has the potential to improve the quality of teaching at tertiary level, by encouraging critical reflection on teaching, innovation in teaching practice and scholarship of teaching at all academic levels. However, embedding peer review within the culture of teaching and learning is a significant challenge that requires sustained commitment from senior leadership as well as those in leadership roles within local contexts.

Enhancing student learning in the workplace through developing the leadership capabilities of clinical supervisors in the nursing discipline

The purpose of this project was to build the leadership capacity of clinical supervisors in the nursing discipline by developing, implementing and systematically embedding a leadership model into the structure and practice of student supervision. The University worked in partnership with three major metropolitan hospitals in Queensland to develop a framework and professional development program incorporating leadership and clinical supervision. The Leadership and Clinical Education (LaCE) program consisted of two structured workshops complemented by individual personal development projects undertaken by participants. Participants were supported in these activities with a purpose-built website that provides access to a wide variety of information and other learning resources. Quantitative and qualitative evaluations indicated that the approach was highly valued by participants, as it promoted useful peer dialogue, sharing of experiences and personal development in relation to assisting leadership development and student learning in the workplace. The LaCE program provides an ideal springboard for introducing the development of welltrained leaders into the clinical workplace. The resources developed have the potential to provide ongoing support for clinical supervisors to improve the learning of undergraduate nursing student. The challenge will be to achieve continued innovation within clinical education through sustainable leadership programs.

Exploring young student's functional thinking (Exploración del pensamiento funcional de estudiantes jóvenes)

The Early Years Generalizing Project (EYGP) involves Australian years 1 to 4 (age 5 to 9) students and investigates how they grasp and express generalizations. This paper focuses on data collected from 6 Year 1 students in an exploratory study within a clinical interview setting that required students to identify function rules. Preliminary findings suggest that the use of gestures (both by students and interviewers), self-talk (by students), and concrete acting out, assisted students to reach generalizations and to begin to express these generalities. It also appears that as students became aware of the structure, their use of gestures and selftalk tended to decrease.

ORIGO Stepping Stones Grade K Student Journal

A mathematics curriculum for the Common Core Curriculum at the Kindergarten level for the USA