Teaching of medical ethics: Implications for an integrated curriculum

This paper reports on an investigation into the teaching of medical ethics and related areas in the medical undergraduate course at the University of Queensland. The project was designed in the context of a major curriculum change to replace the current 6 year course by an integrated, problem-based, 4 year graduate medical course, which began in 1997. A survey of clinical students, observations of clinical teaching sessions, and interviews with clinical teachers were conducted. Data obtained have contributed to curriculum development and will provide a baseline for comparison and evaluation of the graduate course in this field. A view of integrated ethics teaching is advanced in the light of the data obtained.

Disability focus groups: A strategy for including people with disability in parishes

This paper reports the findings of an exploratory qualitative study examining parish awareness of the need to include individuals with disability in genuine and meaningful ways. Based on the interviews of over thirty persons, including people with disability, parents, parish workers, volunteers and human service workers within church agencies in the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane, Australia, the authors devised a process for including individuals in parishes. This process, known as a Disability Focus Group, was then implemented in one parish as a pilot study. The outcomes of the pilot are discussed.

Implications of missed opportunities for learning and assessment in design and technology education

Supporting student learning can be difficult, especially within open-ended or loosely structured activities, often seen as valuable for promoting student autonomy in many curriculum areas and contexts. This paper reports an investigation into the experiences of three teachers who implemented design and technology education ideas in their primary school classrooms for the first time. The teachers did not capitalise upon many of the opportunities for scaffolding their students' learning within the open-ended activities they implemented. Limitations of the teachers' conceptual and procedural knowledge of design and technology were elements that influenced their early experiences. The study has implications for professional developers planning programs in newly introduced areas of the curriculum to support teachers in supporting learning within open-ended and loosely structured problem solving activities. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measuring impacts of an holistic farm business management training program

A case study approach within an action research framework incorporating qualitative and quantitative domains was adopted to explore the impact on Queensland farmers of a farm business management extension programme. Three new indices were developed to quantify changes perceived by participants. The first measure, the Bennett Change Index, provided statistically significant evidence that attitudinal and behavioural changes were more frequent in participants with less formal education, but also more frequent in participants who had high urbanisation and self-directed learning index scores. The other 2 new indices, Management Constructs Change and Management Objectives Change, provided evidence of statistically significant changes in participant beliefs about, and attitudes towards, farm business management. Although highly correlated with each other, these changes were unrelated statistically to any of 6 other commonly used biographical or psychometric indices employed; including level of formal education. It is concluded that these new measures, with context-relevant modifications, have potential as aids to programme impact evaluation in a range of agricultural and wider applications. They may provide insights into personal psychological issues that complement direct behavioural measures of change.

Case report: unusual presentation of Fasciolopsis buski in a Viet Namese child

A Viet Namese child presented with a history of abdominal pain. Shortly afterwards, he vomited eight live trematode flukes that were collected and morphologically identified as Fasciolopsis buski. The identification was confirmed by DNA analysis. Adult worms of F buski from humans are very rarely seen except at autopsy, and this is the first such report from Viet Nam. (C) 2003 Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Determinants of exercise capacity in patients with type 2 diabetes

OBJECTIVE - Type 2 diabetes is associated with reduced exercise capacity, but the cause of this association is unclear. We sought the associations of impaired exercise capacity in type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - Subclinical left ventricular (LV) dysfunction was sought from myocardial strain rate and the basal segmental diastolic velocity (Em) of each wall in 170 patients with type 2 diabetes (aged 56 +/- 10 years, 91 men), good quality echocardiographic images, and negative exercise echocardiograms. The same measurements were made in 56 control subjects (aged 53 +/- 10 years, 29 men). Exercise capacity was calculated in metabolic equivalents, and heart rate recovery (HRR) was measured as the heart rate difference between peak and 1 min after exercise. In subjects with type 2 diabetes, exercise capacity was correlated with clinical, therapeutic, biochemical, and echocardiographic variables, and significant independent associations were sought using a multiple linear regression model. RESULTS - Exercise capacity, strain rate, Em, and HRR were significantly reduced in type 2 diabetes. Exercise capacity was associated with age (r- = -0.37, P < 0.001), male sex (r = 0.26, P = 0.001), BMI (r = -0.19, P = 0.012), HbA(1c) (AlC; r = -0.22, P = 0.009), Em (r = 0.43, P < 0.001), HRR (r = 0.42, P < 0.001), diabetes duration (r = -0.18, P = 0.021), and hypertension history (r = -0.28, P < 0.001). Age (P < 0.001), male sex (P = 0.007), BMI (P = 0.001), Em (P = 0.032), HRR (P = 0.013), and AlC (P = 0.0007) were independent predictors of exercise capacity. CONCLUSIONS - Reduced exercise capacity in patients with type 2 diabetes is associated with diabetes control, subclinical LV dysfunction, and impaired HRR.

Sustainable Native Floriculture?

The Centre for Native Floriculture (CNF) commenced in May 2003 at The University of Queensland, Gatton. The CNF is a joint initiative with the Queensland State Government, with funding for an initial 3-year period. The phase-out of bush-picking under the South East Queensland Forests Agreement was a catalyst for the Centres establishment. The CNF vision is: ‘to help create an internationally competitive and environmentally sustainable native floriculture industry that provides significant employment opportunities in Queensland’. The Centre is comprised of three research, development and extension programs. The Value Chain Program assists native floriculture industry groups in developing efficient consumer-orientated production, handling and marketing systems for select high potential species. These value chain systems will serve as models for realizing the market potential of and regional fiscal returns on other native ornamental species identified as crop ideotypes that are sought after by end-users (e.g. florists). The Floriculture Program supports the value chain by working to enhance germplasm for the native floriculture industry through selection and breeding, optimize cultivation protocols and overcome any technical barriers that arise. Such barriers include propagation constraints, disease problems and post-harvest limitations. The Capacity Building Program operates to transfer technology and other skills (e.g. value chain management principles) to industry members, train operatives for the industry and promote native floriculture. Conservation of native flora is encouraged through cultivation and community engagement. Protection of biodiversity is advocated via regional production systems that spare natural areas and educate the public as to the biological, floricultural and aesthetic values of native flora. Eco-agricultural tourism focused on wildflowers both in nature and in cultivation is also advocated by the CNF.

The role of different sources of communication and trust in reducing change-related uncertainties during organisational change

The current paper presents a qualitadve study of the role of different sources of communicadon in reducing change-related uncertaintj' experienced by employees during organisadonal change. The paper examines the role of trust in influencing how employees' appraise informadon from different sources within organisadons. Interviews with 19 employees from a range of organisadons idendfy the different types of change-related uncertaindes experienced during change. In addidon, the different sources of communicadon utilised by employees are idendfied and the role each source plays in reducing the different t}'pes of uncertaint}' invesdgated. From employee responses it is evident that t)'pically supervisors are the best source of change informadon, while communicadon from senior management usually focuses on strategic issues. Employees indicate that communicadon with coworkers operates as a support mechanism providing an avenue to share grievances arising from the change. Finally, trust is idendfied as playing an important role in influencing who employees go to for informadon when experiencing uncertainty'. ImpUcadons for change management research in addidon to pracdcal implicadons are discussed.

Development of the student placement evaluation form: A tool for assessing student fieldwork performance

Evaluation of students undertaking fieldwork education placements is a critical process in the health professions. As training programs and practice evolve, systems for assessing students need to be reviewed and updated constantly. In 1995, staff of the occupational therapy training program at the University of Queensland, Australia decided to develop a new tool for assessing student fieldwork performance. Using an action research methodology, a team developed the Student Placement Evaluation Form, a flexible and comprehensive criterion-referenced evaluation tool. The present paper examines action research as an appropriate methodology for considering real-life organisational problems in a systematic and participatory manner. The action research cycles undertaken, including preliminary information gathering, tool development, trial stages and current use of the tool, are detailed in the report. Current and future development of the tool is also described.

Rich task implementation: modernism meets postmodernism

School renewal', 'productive pedagogies', 'rich tasks', 'New Basics', 'key learning areas'--these are some of the discourses of change in selected Queensland schools. This paper will report on teaching as an insider/outsider in a school's Health and Physical Education department during a time of intense pressure for structural, curriculum and pedagogical shifts. As a teacher/researcher, I spent ten weeks in a government secondary school attempting to implement rich tasks as well as collect data using formal and informal interviews, field note, and document analyses, with a focus upon teachers', students' and administrators' sense of change processes and outcomes. It is suggested that the processes of, and barriers to, curriculum change in this context are best explained in terms of tensions between modernist and postmodernist phenomena.

Infusing the use of seasonal climate forecasting into crop management practice in North East Australia using discussion support software

Seasonal climate forecasting offers potential for improving management of crop production risks in the cropping systems of NE Australia. But how is this capability best connected to management practice? Over the past decade, we have pursued participative systems approaches involving simulation-aided discussion with advisers and decision-makers. This has led to the development of discussion support software as a key vehicle for facilitating infusion of forecasting capability into practice. In this paper, we set out the basis of our approach, its implementation and preliminary evaluation. We outline the development of the discussion support software Whopper Cropper, which was designed for, and in close consultation with, public and private advisers. Whopper Cropper consists of a database of simulation output and a graphical user interface to generate analyses of risks associated with crop management options. The charts produced provide conversation pieces for advisers to use with their farmer clients in relation to the significant decisions they face. An example application, detail of the software development process and an initial survey of user needs are presented. We suggest that discussion support software is about moving beyond traditional notions of supply-driven decision support systems. Discussion support software is largely demand-driven and can compliment participatory action research programs by providing cost-effective general delivery of simulation-aided discussions about relevant management actions. The critical role of farm management advisers and dialogue among key players is highlighted. We argue that the discussion support concept, as exemplified by the software tool Whopper Cropper and the group processes surrounding it, provides an effective means to infuse innovations, like seasonal climate forecasting, into farming practice. Crown Copyright (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

An evaluation of participatory planning at Mapoon Aboriginal community: Opportunities for inclusive local governance

The Queensland Government is increasingly using participatory planning as a means to improve infrastructure and service delivery to Indigenous settlements. In addition to technical and economic goals, participatory planning practice seeks also to achieve social development goals, including empowerment, capacity building, community control and ownership. This article presents the findings of an evaluation of one such planning project, conducted at Old Mapoon in 1995. Despite various efforts to follow participatory processes, the plan had mixed success in achieving social development goals. This suggests some misunderstandings between the practice of participatory planning and the workings of local governance. It also presents some opportunities for participatory planning methods to be integrated with more inclusive forms of governance.