Achieving medium-high density in low scale development: The Queensland experience in innovative ‘fine-grained’ urbanism

Worldwide population growth and economic agglomeration is driving increasing urban density within larger metropolitan conurbations. Population growth and housing diversity and affordability issues in Queensland have seen an increasing demand for more diverse and higher density development. Under Queensland’s flexible planning regulatory provisions, a level of ‘medium’ to ‘high density’ is being achieved by a focus on fine-grained urban design, low scale development, lot diversity, and delivery of single dwelling products. This for Queensland (and Australia) has been an unprecedented innovation in urban and dwelling design. Dwellings are being delivered on lots with zero regulatory minimum sizes providing for a range of new products including ‘apartments on the ground’. This paper reviews recent and nascent demonstrations of EDQ’s fine-grained urbanism principles, identifiable with historical ‘vernacular suburbanism’. The paper introduces and defines a concept of a ‘natural density’ linking human scale built form with walkability. The paper challenges the notion that (sub)urban development, outside major city centres, needs to be of a higher scale to achieve density and diversity aspirations. ‘Natural density’ provides a means of achieving the increasing demand for more diverse and higher density development.

Being chased by zombies!: Understanding the experience of mixed reality quests

Both researchers and practitioners show increasing interest in exploring mixed reality games: games, where physical environments blend together with digital technologies. In this paper we have extended earlier work by bringing attention to the role of narrative in mixed reality games. For our case study we chose a mobile phone application Zombies Run!, which is designed to support actual running. This application contains a fictional story about a zombie apocalypse and provides runners with various quests (in the form of missions) to complete during their run. We investigated different aspects of participants' experience with the application and how it changed their running. Our findings show how the app changed running in three major ways. Firstly, it changed the way runs were organised. Secondly, it shook up established running routines. And lastly, it shaped the meanings associated with running.

Enhancing the shopping experience with ambient displays: A field study in a retail store

This paper discusses the prototypical implementation of an ambient display and the results of an empirical study in a retail store. It presents the context of shopping as an application area for Ambient Intelligence (AmI) technologies. The prototype consists of an ambient store map that enhances the awareness of customer activity. The results of our study indicate potentials and challenges for an improvement of the shopping experience with AmI technologies. Based on our findings we discuss challenges and future developments for applying AmI technologies to shopping environments.

Relevance of prior experience in MHP based interactive TV services

Despite its rising success, interactive TV (iTV) has found very little attention in the field of HCI. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate the usability of iTV services. It presents the results of a usability test and discusses the implications for further developments. The results show, that prior knowledge of Internet and mobile phones supports the usability of iTV services regarding navigation and text input, while the lack of it leads to great difficulties. Difficult tasks, such as writing a text message, had a success rate of only 20%, while guided tours proofed to be more usable with a success rate of 70%.

Inpatient experience of anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an extremely serious mental illness, with a high mortality rate and many debilitating physical and psychological symptoms. While hospitalisation is sometimes required for patients with AN there remains no evidence base for “best practice’ inpatient treatment. With patients’ views recognised as critical to improving efficiency and outcomes, calls have been made for more qualitative research into inpatients’ experiences. In light of this the current paper utilised thematic analysis to examine 16 semi-structured interviews with inpatients diagnosed with AN, at a specialised eating disorders hospital unit. The study found an overarching theme of relationship ambivalence in connection with sub-themes of patients’ eating disorders, eating disorder co-patients, staff and treatment. Participants’ goals in relationship to their eating disorder and engagement in treatment shaped and were shaped by interactions with other inpatients with AN and staff. Clinical implications for this study and future research directions are discussed.

Running Men

In this multi-screen installation, iconic male characters from Hollywood films are reconfigured to create infinitely looping scenes of running; trapping the characters in a kind of Nietchzen eternal recurrence. Stemming primarily from my investigation into anxiety as a shared social experience, the carefully edited, looped, and rotoscoped characters become avatars or surrogates for myself, and for the viewer. Through this editing, they are caught in a space of relentless confusion and paranoia – they run with, and from, anxiety. They are never caught by any unseen pursuers, but are equally unable to catch up to any unseen goal. These figures act as models of masculinity, they are objects of identification and emulation. Simultaneously, as celebrities, they are also fictions of the media sphere, both real and ethereal, they are impossible to grasp. In this duality, the work also references cinema’s tangled conflation of character and celebrity identity. It examines the subjective and intersubjective engagements we can have with popular culture, and the way that these engagements can as strategies to ‘make sense’ of social experiences. The work was exhibited in the Carriageworks space of ‘You Imagine What You Desire’, the 19th Biennale of Sydney.

A stunning experience

‘A Stunning Experience’ pits Oprah Winfrey and David Letterman against each other in an infinite interview. Through simple editing and compositing, both parties are rendered mute, positioned at either edge of a black void. The interviewer/interviewee dynamic is playfully reconfigured into an awkward exchange comprised entirely of blinks, breaths and head-nods. Accompanied by the sound of a curious and whispering studio audience, this wordless clash between the two talk show titans becomes emblematic of their infamous sixteen-year feud. The quasi-staring contest upends the cult of personality surrounding these iconic television hosts, while also creating and proposing a space for reflection upon the experiential and even meditative potential of watching television.

Running men: The precarious, paranoid body in screen culture

This paper discusses my video installation Running Men as an example of how an artist’s appropriative engagements with screen images of the perilous body can reflect the technological zeitgeist of the last hundred years but also create a space of meditative and mediated reflection in Slavoj Žižek’s “endlessness” of the present-future. In this artwork, iconic male characters from Hollywood films are recontextualised to create infinitely looping scenes of running; trapping the characters in a kind of Nietchzen eternal recurrence that suspends them between impending violence and uncertain futures. Stemming primarily from my investigation into anxiety as a shared social experience, one perhaps primed by the increasing intensity of visual culture in the 21st century, these digitally reconfigured bodies become avatars or surrogates for myself, and for the viewer. Through selective editing, these emblematic figures are caught in a space of relentless confusion and paranoia – they run with, and from anxiety. They are never caught by any unseen pursuers, but are equally unable to catch up to any unseen goal. These figures map an historical trajectory of violence and masculinity as it has been projected through various iterations of screen culture Simultaneously, as celebrities, they are also fictions of the media sphere, both real and ethereal, they are impossible to grasp but paradoxically are objects of identification and emulation. In this duality, the work also references cinema’s tangled conflation of character and celebrity identity. This discussion will address the two distinct but connected sites and activities of body/image engagement. Firstly, the artistic process and conceptual ramifications of this activity, and secondly in the artwork’s potential as an installation to provide an opportunity for the viewer (like the artist) to reflect on the constructed-ness and complicated power structures at play in the representation of a gendered body.

Imagination for inclusion: Shared understandings across diverse contexts of educational practice

This chapter explores inclusive education as a social imaginary; that is, a common understanding that has become a global perspective. We trace the roots of inclusive education in early movements for social justice and the development of special education and note that these two domains continue to be seen in the ongoing tensions within the practice of inclusive education. We conclude that although much has been achieved in opening up greater opportunities for all children and young people to participate in and engage with education, there is still much work to be done. Creative imagining, discursive dialogue, and courageous actions in breaking down barriers in schools and communities will strengthen the local and global social imaginary of inclusive education, thus affording even greater opportunities for all children and young people regardless of any categorisation that may have been applied to their differences.

The schooling experience of adolescent boys with AD/HD: An Australian case study

This study explored the experience of schooling of six adolescent boys diagnosed with AD/HD from the perspectives of the boys, their mothers and their teachers. The study utilised social constructionism as the theoretical orientation and the Dynamic Developmental Theory (DDT) of AD/HD as the explanatory framework. Utilising a multiple, instrumental case-study, data were collected by means of semi-structured individual and focus group interviews as well as a review of school reports across a two year period. Findings of the study suggest that taking medication as prescribed together with supporting the students to make and manage friendships, utilising classroom strategies that support learning, and providing an engaging classroom environment are important considerations to promote a positive schooling experience for adolescents with AD/HD.

Warning constraint limit experience

'Warning constraint limit experience' is an installation comprising drawings, a large scale fabric work, and a performative video. This work explores the performative act of drawing and the limits of language and subjectivity. The fabric work acts as a bodily extension that both facilitates and constrains movement during the drawing process and operates as a provisional structure for viewing the work in the gallery. This work was developed and presented at The Lock-Up Cultural Centre, Newcastle NSW in 2011 and revised for the solo exhibition ‘I build my dwelling’, held at Metro Arts in 2012.

The application of learning analytics to improve learning: Questions from the academy

Since 2007, close collaboration between the Learning and Teaching Unit’s Academic Quality and Standards team and the Department of Reporting and Analysis’ Business Objects team resulted in a generational approach to reporting where QUT established a place of trust. This place of trust is where data owners are confident in date storage, data integrity, reported and shared. While the role of the Department of Reporting and Analysis focused on the data warehouse, data security and publication of reports, the Academic Quality and Standards team focused on the application of learning analytics to solve academic research questions and improve student learning. Addressing questions such as: • Are all students who leave course ABC academically challenged? • Do the students who leave course XYZ stay within the faculty, university or leave? • When students withdraw from a unit do they stay enrolled on full or part load or leave? • If students enter through a particular pathway, what is their experience in comparison to other pathways? • With five years historic reporting, can a two-year predictive forecast provide any insight? In answering these questions, the Academic Quality and Standards team then developed prototype data visualisation through curriculum conversations with academic staff. Where these enquiries were applicable more broadly this information would be brought into the standardised reporting for the benefit of the whole institution. At QUT an annual report to the executive committees allows all stakeholders to record the performance and outcomes of all courses in a snapshot in time or use this live report at any point during the year. This approach to learning analytics was awarded the Awarded 2014 ATEM/Campus Review Best Practice Awards in Tertiary Education Management for The Unipromo Award for Excellence in Information Technology Management.

Cooperative game play with avatars and agents: Differences in brain activity and the experience of play

The current study sought to identify the impact of whether teammates in a cooperative videogame were controlled by other humans (avatars) or by the game (agents). The impact on player experience was explored through both subjective questionnaire measures and brain wave activity measurement (electroencephalography). Play with human teammates was associated with a greater sense of relatedness, but less competence and flow than play with other computer-controlled teammates. In terms of brain activity, play with human teammates was associated with greater activity in the alpha, theta and beta power bands than play with computer-controlled teammates. Overall, the results suggest that play with human teammates involves greater cognitive activity in terms of 'mentalising' than play with computer-controlled teammates. Additionally, the associations between subjective measures of player experience and brain activity are described. Limitations of the current study are identified and key directions for future research are discussed.

Two worlds apart: Indigenous community perspectives and Non-Indigenous teacher perspectives on Australian schools

Our evaluation studies of Indigenous school reform begin from a different starting point: listening to, hearing and engaging with the commentaries, voices, narratives and analyses of Indigenous community as they discuss and recount their experiences and current encounters with Australian state schools. Here we undertake a contrastive documentation of the views of Indigenous community members, Elders, parents, education workers, and young people and, indeed, of the views of their non-Indigenous teachers and school principals. This is a dramatic picture of two distinctive cultural lifeworlds, communities and worldviews in contact, of two very different ‘constructions’ by participants of a shared, mutual experience: everyday interaction in the social field of the Australian school. Taken together, our Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants repeatedly confirmed and corroborated a key theme: that Indigenous peoples continue to be viewed and ‘treated’ through the lens and language of cultural, intellectual and moral ‘deficit’.

Introducing the multi-faceted teaching experiment

A mathematics classroom is comprised of many mathematicians with varying understanding of mathematics knowledge, including the teacher, students and sometimes researchers. To align with this conceptualisation of knowledge and understanding, the multi-faceted teaching experiment will be introduced as an approach to study all classroom participants’ interactions with the shared knowledge of mathematics. Drawing on the experiences of a large curriculum project, it is claimed that, unlike a multi-tiered teaching experiment, the multi-faceted teaching experiment provides a research framework that allows for the study of mathematicians’ building of knowledge in a classroom without privileging the experience of any one participant.