A review of rationale for allocating costs and payments in producing and supplying public sector information

Presentation given by Dr John S Cook at the Queensland Spatial Conference 2008, Global Warming: What’s Happening in Paradise?, held at Holiday Inn, Surfers Paradise,Queensland from 17-19 July, 2008 This presentation provides some semblance of an information infrastructure that is aligned generally to problems of governance in complex organisations.

Traceability : retracing law and public policy on measurement standards

This presentation outlines key aspects of public policy in broad terms insofar as they relate to establishment, implementation and compliance with legal measurement standards. It refers in particular to traceability of a legal measurement unit from its source in a single international standard as a compliance issue. It comments on accreditation of legal measurement and liability concerned with errors in measurement.

A summary view of government cost recovery policies in Australia and New Zealand relating to the supply of public sector information

Researching administrative history is problematical. A trail of authoritative documents is often hard to find; and useful summaries can be difficult to organise, especially if source material is in paper formats in geographically dispersed locations. In the absence of documents, the reasons for particular decisions and the rationale underpinning particular policies can be confounded as key personnel advance in their professions and retire. The rationale for past decisions may be lost for practical purposes; and if an organisation’s memory of events is diminished, its learning through experience is also diminished. Publishing this document tries to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort by other researchers that need to venture into how policies of charging for public sector information have been justified. The author compiled this work within a somewhat limited time period and the work does not pretend to be a complete or comprehensive analysis of the issues.----- A significant part of the role of government is to provide a framework of legally-enforceable rights and obligations that can support individuals and non-government organisations in their lawful activities. Accordingly, claims that governments should be more ‘business-like’ need careful scrutiny. A significant supply of goods and services occurs as non-market activity where neither benefits nor costs are quantified within conventional accounting systems or in terms of money. Where a government decides to provide information as a service; and information from land registries is archetypical, the transactions occur as a political decision made under a direct or a clearly delegated authority of a parliament with the requisite constitutional powers. This is not a market transaction and the language of the market confuses attempts to describe a number of aspects of how governments allocate resources.----- Cost recovery can be construed as an aspect of taxation that is a sole prerogative of a parliament. The issues are fundamental to political constitutions; but they become more complicated where states cede some taxing powers to a central government as part of a federal system. Nor should the absence of markets be construed necessarily as ‘market failure’ or even ‘government failure’. The absence is often attributable to particular technical, economic and political constraints that preclude the operation of markets. Arguably, greater care is needed in distinguishing between the polity and markets in raising revenues and allocating resources; and that needs to start by removing unhelpful references to ‘business’ in the context of government decision-making.

The economics of the FIFA Football World Cup

The expansion of economics to ‘non-market topics’ has received increased attention in recent years. The economics of sports (football) is such a sub-field. This paper reports empirical evidence of team and referee performances in the FIFA World Cup 2002. The results reveal that being a hosting nation has a significant impact on the probability of winning a game. Furthermore, the strength of a team measured with the FIFA World Ranking does not play the important role presumed, which indicates that the element of uncertainty is working. The findings also indicate that the influence of a referee on the game result should not be neglected. Finally, the previous World Cup experiences seem to have the strongest impact on referees' performances during the game.

Designing spatial story-telling software

What does it mean when we design for accessibility, inclusivity and "dissolving boundaries" -- particularly those boundaries between the design philosophy, the software/interface actuality and the stated goals? This paper is about the principles underlying a research project called 'The Little Grey Cat engine' or greyCat. GreyCat has grown out of our experience in using commercial game engines as production environments for the transmission of culture and experience through the telling of individual stories. The key to this endeavour is the potential of the greyCat software to visualize worlds and the manner in which non-formal stories are intertwined with place. The apparently simple dictum of "show, don't tell" and the use of 3D game engines as a medium disguise an interesting nexus of problematic issues and questions, particularly in the ramifications for cultural dimensions and participatory interaction design. The engine is currently in alpha and the following paper is its background story. In this paper we discuss the problematic, thrown into sharp relief by a particular project, and we continue to unpack concepts and early designs behind the greyCat itself.

On the use of different spatial reference frames for movement control

Previous work has shown that amplitude and direction are two independently controlled parameters of aimed arm movements, and performance, therefore, suffers when they must be decomposed into Cartesian coordinates. We now compare decomposition into different coordinate systems. Subjects pointed at visual targets in 2-D with a cursor, using a two-axis joystick or two single-axis joysticks. In the latter case, joystick axes were aligned with the subjects’ body axes, were rotated by –45°, or were oblique (i.e., one axis was in an egocentric frame and the other was rotated by –45°). Cursor direction always corresponded to joystick direction. We found that compared with the two-axis joystick, responses with single-axis joysticks were slower and less accurate when the axes were oriented egocentrically; the deficit was even more pronounced when the axes were rotated and was most pronounced when they were oblique. This confirms that decomposition of motor commands is computationally demanding and documents that this demand is lowest for egocentric, higher for rotated, and highest for oblique coordinates. We conclude that most current vehicles use computationally demanding man–machine interfaces.

Economics of non-market innovation and digital literacy

This article is an abbreviated version of a debate between two economists holding somewhat different perspectives on the nature of non-market production in the space of new digital media. While the ostensible focus here is on the role of markets in the innovation of new technologies to create new economic value, this context also serves to highlight the private and public value of digital literacy.

Modelling the process of learning in economics

Student learning research literature has shown that students' learning approaches are influenced by the learning context (Evans, Kirby, & Fabrigar, 2003). Of the many contextual factors, assessment has been found to have the most important influence on the way students go about learning. For example, assessment that is perceived to required a low level of cognitive abilities will more likely elicit a learning approach that concentrate on reproductive learning activities. Moreover, assessment demand will also interact with learning approach to determine academic performance. In this paper an assessment specific model of learning comprising presage, process and product variables (Biggs, 2001) was proposed and tested against data obtained from a sample of introductory economics students (n=434). The model developed was used to empirically investigate the influence of learning inputs and learning approaches on academic performances across assessment types (essay assignment, multiple choice question exam and exam essay). By including learning approaches in the learning model, the mechanism through which learning inputs determine academic performance was examined. Methodological limitations of the study will also be discussed.

An instrument to measure the approach to learning for assessment in economics

Economics education research studies conducted in the UK, USA and Australia to investigate the effects of learning inputs on academic performance have been dominated by the input-output model (Shanahan and Meyer, 2001). In the Student Experience of Learning framework, however, the link between learning inputs and outputs is mediated by students' learning approaches which in turn are influenced by their perceptions of the learning contexts (Evans, Kirby, & Fabrigar, 2003). Many learning inventories such as Biggs' Study Process Questionnaires and Entwistle and Ramsden' Approaches to Study Inventory have been designed to measure approaches to academic learning. However, there is a limitation to using generalised learning inventories in that they tend to aggregate different learning approaches utilised in different assessments. As a result, important relationships between learning approaches and learning outcomes that exist in specific assessment context(s) will be missed (Lizzio, Wilson, & Simons, 2002). This paper documents the construction of an assessment specific instrument to measure learning approaches in economics. The post-dictive validity of the instrument was evaluated by examining the association of learning approaches to students' perceived assessment demand in different assessment contexts.

Teaching the economic way of thinking : a new approach to teaching introductory economics in a business degree

In teaching introductory economics there has been a tendency to put a lot of emphasis on imparting abstract models and technical skills to students (Stilwell, 2005; Voss, Blais, Greens, & Ahwesh, 1986). This model building approach has the merit of preparing the grounding for students 10 pursue further studies in economics. However, in a business degree with only a small proportion of students majoring in economics, such an approach tend to alienate the majority of students transiting from high school in to university. Surveys in Europe and Australia found that students complained about the lack of relevance of economics courses to the real world and the over-reliance of abstract mathematical modelling (Kirman, 2001; Lewis and Norris, 1997; Siegfried & Round, 2000). BSB112 Economics 1 is one of the eight faculty core units in the Faculty of Business at QUT, with over 1000 students in each semester. In semester I 2008, a new approach to teaching this unit was designed aiming to achieve three inter-related objectives: (1) to provide business students with a first insight into economic thinking and language, (2) to integrate economic analysis with current Australian social, environmental and political issues, and (3) to cater for students with a wide range of academic needs. Strategies used to achieve these objectives included writing up a new text which departs from traditional economics textbooks in important ways, integrating students' cultures in teaching and learning activities, and devising a new assessment format to encourage development of research skills and applications rather than reproduction of factual knowledge. This paper will document the strategies used in this teaching innovation, present quantitative and qualitative evidence to evaluate this new approach and suggest ways of further improvement.

The economics of credence goods: An experimental investigation of the role of verifiability, liability, competition and reputation in credence goods markets

Credence goods markets are characterized by asymmetric information between sellers and consumers that may give rise to inefficiencies, such as under- and overtreatment or market break-down. We study in a large experiment with 936 participants the determinants for efficiency in credence goods markets. While theory predicts that either liability or verifiability yields efficiency, we find that liability has a crucial, but verifiability only a minor effect. Allowing sellers to build up reputation has little influence, as predicted. Seller competition drives down prices and yields maximal trade, but does not lead to higher efficiency as long as liability is violated.

Hertzian space : modelling spatial presences

This design research concerns the generation of spaces that fully respond to people’s presence and their activities and spatialises the dynamics of a full body massage. Researched though digital and physical modelling full size physical form was constructed using Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) foam with three-dimensional shape defined by a computer generated cutting pattern, and assembled into a non-linear articulated surface.

Learning approach and perception of learning context in economics education : a causality test

In the study of student learning literature, the traditional view holds that when students are faced with heavy workload, poor teaching, and content that they cannot relate to – important aspects of the learning context, they will more likely utilise the surface approach to learning due to stresses, lack of understanding and lack of perceived relevance of the content (Kreber, 2003; Lizzio, Wilson, & Simons, 2002; Ramdsen, 1989; Ramsden, 1992; Trigwell & Prosser, 1991; Vermunt, 2005). For example, in studies involving health and medical sciences students, courses that utilised student-centred, problem-based approaches to teaching and learning were found to elicit a deeper approach to learning than the teacher-centred, transmissive approach (Patel, Groen, & Norman, 1991; Sadlo & Richardson, 2003). It is generally accepted that the line of causation runs from the learning context (or rather students’ self reported data on the learning context) to students’ learning approaches. That is, it is the learning context as revealed by students’ self-reported data that elicit the associated learning behaviour. However, other research studies also found that the same teaching and learning environment can be perceived differently by different students. In a study of students’ perceptions of assessment requirements, Sambell and McDowell (1998) found that students “are active in the reconstruction of the messages and meanings of assessment” (p. 391), and their interpretations are greatly influenced by their past experiences and motivations. In a qualitative study of Hong Kong tertiary students, Kember (2004) found that students using the surface learning approach reported heavier workload than students using the deep learning approach. According to Kember if students learn by extracting meanings from the content and making connections, they will more likely see the higher order intentions embodied in the content and the high cognitive abilities being assessed. On the other hand, if they rote-learn for the graded task, they fail to see the hierarchical relationship in the content and to connect the information. These rote-learners will tend to see the assessment as requiring memorising and regurgitation of a large amount of unconnected knowledge, which explains why they experience a high workload. Kember (2004) thus postulate that it is the learning approach that influences how students perceive workload. Campbell and her colleagues made a similar observation in their interview study of secondary students’ perceptions of teaching in the same classroom (Campbell et al., 2001). The above discussions suggest that students’ learning approaches can influence their perceptions of assessment demands and other aspects of the learning context such as relevance of content and teaching effectiveness. In other words, perceptions of elements in the teaching and learning context are endogenously determined. This study attempted to investigate the causal relationships at the individual level between learning approaches and perceptions of the learning context in economics education. In this study, students’ learning approaches and their perceptions of the learning context were measured. The elements of the learning context investigated include: teaching effectiveness, workload and content. The authors are aware of existence of other elements of the learning context, such as generic skills, goal clarity and career preparation. These aspects, however, were not within the scope of this present study and were therefore not investigated.

Spatial cognition for robots

The paper discusses robot navigation from biological inspiration. The authors sought to build a model of the rodent brain that is suitable for practical robot navigation. The core model, dubbed RatSLAM, has been demonstrated to have exactly the same advantages described earlier: it can build, maintain, and use maps simultaneously over extended periods of time and can construct maps of large and complex areas from very weak geometric information. The work contrasts with other efforts to embody models of rat brains in robots. The article describes the key elements of the known biology of the rat brain in relation to navigation and how the RatSLAM model captures the ideas from biology in a fashion suitable for implementation on a robotic platform. The paper then outline RatSLAM's performance in two difficult robot navigation challenges, demonstrating how a cognitive robotics approach to navigation can produce results that rival other state of the art approaches in robotics.

Learning spatial concepts from RatSLAM representations

RatSLAM is a biologically-inspired visual SLAM and navigation system that has been shown to be effective indoors and outdoors on real robots. The spatial representation at the core of RatSLAM, the experience map, forms in a distributed fashion as the robot learns the environment. The activity in RatSLAM’s experience map possesses some geometric properties, but still does not represent the world in a human readable form. A new system, dubbed RatChat, has been introduced to enable meaningful communication with the robot. The intention is to use the “language games” paradigm to build spatial concepts that can be used as the basis for communication. This paper describes the first step in the language game experiments, showing the potential for meaningful categorization of the spatial representations in RatSLAM.