Evaluation of an Australian solar community : implications for education and training

1.1 Background What is renewable energy education and training? A cursory exploration of the International Solar Energy Society website (www.ises.org) reveals numerous references to education and training, referring collectively to concepts of the transfer and exchange of information and good practices, awareness raising and skills development. The purposes of such education and training relate to changing policy, stimulating industry, improving quality control and promoting the wider use of renewable energy sources. The primary objective appears to be to accelerate a transition to a better world for everyone (ISEE), as the greater use of renewable energy is seen as key to climate recovery; world poverty alleviation; advances in energy security, access and equality; improved human and environmental health; and a stabilized society. The Solar Cities project – Habitats of Tomorrow – aims at promoting the greater use of renewable energy within the context of long term planning for sustainable urban development. The focus is on cities or communities as complete systems; each one a unique laboratory allowing for the study of urban sustainability within the context of a low carbon lifestyle. The purpose of this paper is to report on an evaluation of a Solar Community in Australia, focusing specifically on the implications (i) for our understandings and practices in renewable energy education and training and (ii) for sustainability outcomes. 1.2 Methodology The physical context is a residential Ecovillage (a Solar Community) in sub-tropical Queensland, Australia (latitude 28o south). An extensive Architectural and Landscape Code (A&LC) ‘premised on the interconnectedness of all things’ and embracing ‘both local and global concerns’ governs the design and construction of housing in the estate: all houses are constructed off-ground (i.e. on stumps or stilts) and incorporate a hybrid approach to the building envelope (mixed use of thermal mass and light-weight materials). Passive solar design, gas boosted solar water heaters and a minimum 1kWp photovoltaic system (grid connected) are all mandatory, whilst high energy use appliances such as air conditioners and clothes driers are not permitted. Eight families participated in an extended case study that encompassed both quantitative and qualitative approaches to better understand sustainable housing (perceived as a single complex technology) through its phases of design, construction and occupation. 1.3 Results The results revealed that the level of sustainability (i.e. the performance outcomes in terms of a low-carbon lifestyle) was impacted on by numerous ‘players’ in the supply chain, such as architects, engineers and subcontractors, the housing market, the developer, product manufacturers / suppliers / installers and regulators. Three key factors were complicit in the level of success: (i) systems thinking; (ii) informed decision making; and (iii) environmental ethics and business practices. 1.4 Discussion The experiences of these families bring into question our understandings and practices with regard to education and training. Whilst increasing and transferring knowledge and skills is essential, the results appear to indicate that there is a strong need for expanding our education efforts to incorporate foundational skills in complex systems and decision making processes, combined with an understanding of how our individual and collective values and beliefs impact on these systems and processes.

Move it, use it : university-school collaboration for learning to teach physical education in primary schools

Reports of increasing numbers of obese Australian children and adolescents have raised the alarm to be proactive in reducing this so called epidemic. It has evoked a call for greater emphasis on teaching physical education in schools, as a measure for attaining fitness not only with obese students but for all students. This paper emphasises how preservice teachers need to be a key target for implementing physical education (PE) reform in schools, as many primary teachers will be generalists and may not be confident enough to implement PE effectively. Through a review of existing literature, teaching practices essential for the effective promotion and implementation of PE were identified under six broad categories: personal-professional skills development, addressing system requirements, pedagogical practices, managing student behaviour, providing feedback to students, and reflecting on practice. Subsequently, the development of these practices in preservice teachers is considered in the context of a university-school collaboration where preservice teachers taught physical education to primary school students for one day per week over a four week period. These authentic teaching experiences provided the preservice teachers with vital opportunities to put theory into practice and interact with “real-world” students. Self-evaluative data from 38 of these preservice teachers, in the form of a five-part Likert scale survey and extended response survey, demonstrated that they were able to develop the majority of the essential teaching practices identified by literature. In particular, the preservice teachers developed self efficacy, enthusiasm, and motivation for teaching PE, facets which are often found to be lacking in generalist primary teachers and yet are essential if children’s perceptions and habits regarding physical activity are to be changed.

Teaching to disrupt preconceptions : education for social justice in the imperial aftermath

In this paper I discuss some of the approaches that I take in challenging student teachers to understand education in global context, rather than in a decontextualized or instrumental way. These approaches draw on my experience of being an educator from the ‘global South’ (the Caribbean) now working in the ‘global North’ (Australia). As the first black teacher that most Australian student teachers have encountered in their entire education, I find that I can offer them provocative educational narratives and questions stemming from a lifetime career in education, studying and working in various roles in schools, colleges, universities and ministries of education in Jamaica, Grenada, Hong Kong, the UK, the USA and Australia. I set out to disrupt the preconceptions of my students as a starting point in a collective journey of thinking differently about education.

The SurfAid International Schools Program : opportunities for HPE and senior health education

SurfAid International is a humanitarian organisation that has been delivering a range of evidence based health promotion initiatives, primarily for people living on Nias and the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia since 2000. The SurfAid Schools Program launched in 2007, providing opportunities for the development of global awareness, cultural knowledge, empathy and active citizenship among students living in Australia, New Zealand, North America and the United Kingdom. This session will commence with an overview of the work of SurfAid International and resources provided by the SurfAid International Schools Program. The social justice orientation of the Queensland Health Education Senior Syllabus and the HPE Essential Learnings will be reviewed along with a consideration for affective learning through attitudes and values. Participants will be given time to consider how units with a health of specific populations focus could be conceptualised, developed and managed. Opportunities for co-curricular applications will also be discussed.

School policy responses to cyberbullying : an Australian legal perspective

The use of electronic means of contact to support repeated aggressive behaviour by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others – or ‘cyberbullying’ as it is now known – is increasingly becoming a problem for modern students, teachers, parents and schools. Increasingly victims of face to face bullying are looking to the law as a means of recourse, not only against bullies but also school authorities who have the legal responsibility to provide a safe environment for learning. It is likely that victims of cyberbullying will be inclined to do the same. This article examines a survey of the anti-bullying policies of a small sample of Australian schools to gauge their readiness to respond to the challenge of cyberbullying, particularly in the context of the potential liability they may face. It then uses that examination as a basis for identifying implications for the future design of school anti-bullying policies.

The market structure and characteristics of electronic games

A multi-billion dollar industry, electronic games have been experiencing strong and rapid growth in recent times. The world of games is not only exciting due to the magnificent growth of the industry however, but due to a host of other factors. This chapter explores electronic games, providing an analysis of the industry, key motivators for game play, the game medium and academic research concerning the effects of play. It also reviews the emerging relationship games share with sport, recognizing that they can replicate sports, facilitate sports participation and be played as a sport. These are complex relationships that have not yet been comprehensively studied. The current chapter serves to draw academic attention to the area and presents ideas for future research.

What's happening down under : young adolescent education in Australia

The middle years are an important period of learning, in which knowledge of fundamental disciplines are developed, yet this is also a time when students are at the greatest risk of disengagement from learning. Student motivation and engagement in these years is critical, and can be influenced by tailoring approaches to teaching with learning activities and learning environments that specifically consider the needs of middle years’ students.

Their children's first educators : parents' views about child sexual abuse prevention education

In this descriptive focus group study, we investigated parents’ views about child sexual abuse prevention education at home and in schools. Focus groups were conducted with a sample of 30 Australian adults who identified as the parent or caregiver of a child/children aged 0–5 years. The study explored (1) parents’ knowledge about child sexual abuse prevention, (2) the child sexual abuse prevention messages they provided to their children and the topics they discussed, (3) their attitudes towards child sexual abuse prevention education in schools, and (4) their preferences for content. Data analysis provided seven key themes in these four areas: knowledge (the inadequacy of their own prevention education; and how important is stranger danger now?); messages (bodies, touching, and relationships; the role of protective adults; and parent–child communication); attitudes (voice and choice); and preferences (not the nitty gritty, just the basics). The findings may be useful in assisting school authorities and providers of child sexual abuse prevention programs to better understand parents’ contributions to child sexual abuse prevention education, and their perspectives in relation to provision of school-based prevention programs.

Learning and acting in project situations through a meta-method (MAP) a case study : contextual and situational approach for project management governance in management education

The paper introduces the underlying principles and the general features of a meta-method (MAP method) developed as part of and used in various research, education and professional development programmes at ESC Lille. This method aims at providing effective and efficient structure and process for acting and learning in various complex, uncertain and ambiguous managerial situations (projects, programmes, portfolios). The paper is developed around three main parts. First, I suggest revisiting the dominant vision of the project management knowledge field, based on the assumptions they are not addressing adequately current business and management contexts and situations, and that competencies in management of entrepreneurial activities are the sources of creation of value for organisations. Then, grounded on the former developments, I introduce the underlying concepts supporting MAP method seen as a ‘convention generator’ and how this meta method inextricably links learning and practice in addressing managerial situations. Finally, I briefly describe an example of application, illustrating with a case study how the method integrates Project Management Governance, and give few examples of use in Management Education and Professional Development.

Learning and acting in project situations through a meta-method (MAP) : a case study : contextual and situational approach for project management governance in management education

The paper introduces the underlying principles and the general features of a meta-method (MAP method – Management & Analysis of Projects) developed as part of and used in various research, education and professional development programmes at ESC Lille. This method aims at providing effective and efficient structure and process for acting and learning in various complex, uncertain and ambiguous managerial situations (projects, programmes, portfolios). The paper is organized in three parts. In a first part, I propose to revisit the dominant vision of the project management knowledge field, based on the assumptions they are not addressing adequately current business and management contexts and situations, and that competencies in management of entrepreneurial activities are the sources of creation of value for organisations. Then, grounded on the new suggested perspective, the second part presents the underlying concepts supporting MAP method seen as a ‘convention generator' and how this meta-method inextricably links learning and practice in addressing managerial situations. The third part describes example of application, illustrating with a brief case study how the method integrates Project Management Governance, and gives few examples of use in Management Education and Professional Development.

Obtaining peak performance in the transition to Higher Education: Support for the worried well, acutely anxious and seriously sluggish student

Research suggests that students in their late teens and early twenties have not reached "identity formation" (James Marcia, 1969, 1980). The heightened anxiety and uncertainty about themselves and their future contribute to sometimes crippling fears emanating as anxiety, clinical depression and other mood disorders. This paper will explore some issues and suggest healthy ways of helping young people safely through these chaotic years and into a fulfilling career.

Risk, uncertainty and complexity in science education

Increasingly societies and their governments are facing important social issues that have science and technology as key features. A number of these socio-scientific issues have two features that distinguish them from the restricted contexts in which school science has traditionally been presented. Some of their science is uncertain and scientific knowledge is not the only knowledge involved. As a result, the concepts of uncertainty, risk and complexity become essential aspects of the science underlying these issues. In this chapter we discuss the nature and role of these concepts in the public understanding of science and consider their links with school science. We argue that these same concepts and their role in contemporary scientific knowledge need to be addressed in school science curricula. The new features for content, pedagogy and assessment of this urgent challenge for science educators are outlined. These will be essential if the goal of science education for citizenship is to be achieved with our students, who will increasingly be required to make personal and collective decisions on issues involving science and technology.

Work-integrated learning as a component of the capstone experience in undergraduate law

There is currently little guidance in the Australian literature in relation to how to design an effective capstone experience. As a result, universities often fail to provide students with a genuine culminating experience in the final year of their degree. This paper will consider the key objectives of capstone experiences – closure and transition – and will examine how these objectives can be met by a work-integrated learning (WIL) experience. This paper presents an argument for the inclusion of WIL as a component of a capstone experience. WIL is consistent with capstone objectives in focusing on the transition to professional practice. However, the capacity of WIL to meet all of the objectives of capstones may be limited. The paper posits that while WIL should be considered as a potential component of a capstone experience, educators should ensure that WIL is not equated with a capstone experience unless it is carefully designed to ensure that all the objectives of capstones are met.

ePortfolios and eGovernment : from technology to the entrepreneurial self

We analyse the electronic portfolio (ePortfolio) in higher education policy and practice. While evangelical accounts of the ePortfolio celebrate its power as a new eLearning technology, we argue that it allows the mutually-reinforcing couple of neoliberalism and the enterprising self to function in ways in which individual difference can be presented, cultured and grown, all the time within a standardised framework which relentlessly polices the limits of the acceptable and unacceptable. We point to the ePortfolio as a practice of (self-) government, arguing that grander policy coalesces out of a halting, experimental set of technological instruments for thinking about how life should be lived.

Controlled growth of carbon nanotubes for electronic and photovoltaic applications

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), experimentally observed for the first time twenty years ago, have triggered an unprecedented research effort, on the account of their astonishing structural, mechanical and electronic properties. Unfortunately, the current inability in predicting the CNTs’ properties and the difficulty in controlling their position on a substrate are often limiting factors for the application of this material in actual devices. This research aims at the creation of specific methodologies for controlled synthesis of CNTs, leading to effectively employ them in various fields of electronics, e.g. photovoltaics. Focused Ion Beam (FIB) patterning of Si surfaces is here proposed as a means for ordering the assembly of vertical-aligned CNTs. With this technique, substrates with specific nano-structured morphologies have been prepared, enabling a high degree of control over CNTs’ position and size. On these nano-structured substrates, the growth of CNTs has been realized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), i.e. thermal decomposition of hydrocarbon gases over a heated catalyst. The most common materials used as catalysts in CVD are transition metals like Fe and Ni; however, their presence in the CNT products often results in shortcomings for electronic applications, especially for those based on silicon, being the metallic impurities incompatible with very-large-scale integration (VLSI) technology. In the present work the role of Ge dots as an alternative catalysts for CNTs synthesis on Si substrates has been thoroughly assessed, finding a close connection between the catalytic activity of such material and the CVD conditions, which can affect both size and morphology of the dots. Successful CNT growths from Ge dots have been obtained by CVD at temperatures ranging from 750 to 1000°C, with mixtures of acetylene and hydrogen in an argon carrier gas. The morphology of the Si surface is observed to play a crucial role for the outcome of the CNT synthesis: natural (i.e. chemical etching) and artificial (i.e. FIB patterning, nanoindentation) means of altering this morphology in a controlled way have been then explored to optimize the CNTs yield. All the knowledge acquired in this study has been finally applied to synthesize CNTs on transparent conductive electrodes (indium-tin oxide, ITO, coated glasses), for the creation of a new class of anodes for organic photovoltaics. An accurate procedure has been established which guarantees a controlled inclusion of CNTs on ITO films, preserving their optical and electrical properties. By using this set of conditions, a CNTenhanced electrode has been built, contributing to improve the power conversion efficiency of polymeric solar cells.