Reactions and responses : the concept of learning networks

In Victoria, Australia, the potential of networks to respond to issues of risk for young people has been identified. Learning networks have become a means to reform resulting in a number of policy strategies by the Victorian Labour government since 2000 and including School Networks and Local Learning and Employment Networks (LLENs). At the same time organic learning networks continue to form at a ‘grass roots’ level as communities respond to perceived needs. This presentation draws on research into the foundation, formation and practice of the Smart Geelong Region Local Learning and Employment Network (SGR LLEN) and considers the opportunities and tensions when government policies take up and institutionalise solutions in ways that potentially work against the conditions that make them effective, viable and sustainable.

The future of a concept : the case for sustaining 'innovation' in education

Innovation is a prominent feature of current governmental discourse, and in whose name large amounts of public money is spent. Innovation in this context is valued because of its perceived potential to do things in new or better ways that creates desirable outcomes. In recent years, innovation in an educational context, has been identified among policy-makers as one of the key mechanisms by which significant and effective change is meant to be introduced and sustained. Yet based on research conducted over the last three years by the author and others, innovation’s potential to transform schooling in particular, is not being realised. The key issue impeding innovation’s potential in transforming educational practices lies in the basic but fundamental problem that the dominate ways of conceptualising innovation are largely inadequate. They neither accurately describe or capture the experience of innovative practices on the ground. Nor do they offer an adequate framework in which innovation as a process could be better managed. What is needed is a more rigorous and useful understanding of innovation that can pragmatically used by schools and others attempting to undertake innovation. Such an understanding would also assist policymakers in setting policy frameworks that actually encouraged and sustained innovative practices in education. This paper is a first step toward developing such a concept.

Interlink decision making index (IDMI) -- a simple tool/concept to assist decision making for sustainability Part 1: definition of IDMI

There is an apparent gap between the LCA or other assessment's outcomes and its effective application in the decision making process. It is needed to provide to the decision makers a simple, less human interfered mechanism that integrates all the key criteria (environmental, economic, technical and safety etc.). The proposed index: Interlink Decision Making Index (IDMI) has all these features: simple, interlink (all criteria) and automatically and quantified influence of critical criteria (ie. no human weighting needed) and is able to assist the multi-criteria decision making for sustainability based on the outcomes of specific assessments (eg. LCA, ElA etc.). The index represents a pure numerical value and does not necessarily have any physical meanings, but it reflects the total merits of a particular option once the normal decision making criteria and (up to two) critical criteria (CC) have been chosen. Then, without arbitrarily weighting process, the comparison and selection of the best possible option, ie. decision can be made based on the derived IDMI results. Two hypothetical examples are presented in part 2 of the paper to demonstrate the application of the IDMI concept and it's differences with the traditional "tabular method" in the decision making process.

Interlink decision making index (IDMI) : a simple tool/concept to assist decision making for sustainability part 2 : calculation and examples of IDMI

There is an apparent gap between the LCA or other assessment's outcomes and its effective application in the decision making process. It is needed to provide to the decision makers a simple, less human interfered mechanism that integrates all the key criteria (environmental, economic, technical and safety etc.). The proposed index: Interlink Decision Making Index (IDMI) has all these features: simple, interlink (all criteria) and automatically and quantified influence of critical criteria (ie. no human weighting needed) and is able to assist the multi-criteria decision making for sustainability based on the outcomes of specific assessments (eg. LCA, BIA etc.). The index represents a pure numerical value and does not necessarily have any physical meanings, but it reflects the total merits of a particular option once the normal decision making criteria and (up to two) critical criteria (Ce) have been chosen. Then, without arbitrarily weighting process, the comparison and selection of the best possible option, ie. decision can be made based on the derived IDMI results. Two hypothetical examples are presented in the part 2 of the paper to demonstrate the application of the IDMI concept and it's differences with the traditional "tabular method" in the decision making process.

Recover : A seven-element concept for evaluating recovery

In recent years empirical investigations into service recovery have examined the impact of firm’s recovery attempt on consumers’ post-purchase decisions. However, these measurements tended to be based on one or two outcomes ignoring the complexity of post purchase behavior. As such, there exist limited empirical studies of multiple consumer outcomes. This paper considers the need to examine the impact of service recovery processes using multiple customer-based factors. Seven outcome issues are identified and described in this paper that relate to the essence of a positive after-service affiliations of customer with the service provider.

Using multimedia concept maps to enhance the learner experience in business law

Students’ learning experience can be affected by difficulties in understanding the interrelationships between concepts and also between topics. Concept maps have been used in many disciplines (Kremer & Gains, 1996) to structure information and express relationships between them. Their holistic approach with multiple pathways through the learning resource can make relationships and linkages between topics and subtopics obvious, and contribute to a meaningful and positive learning experience. This paper outlines the development and formative evaluation of two hypermedia concept maps which led to the development of a series of eleven concept maps to enhance the learning experience of students in a first year undergraduate business law unit.

As part of the Stage 1 formative evaluation, two concept maps were developed together with supporting multimedia resources and trialled on the learners. Feedback was also obtained from technical staff. This phase was designed to assess and control the quality of the learning resource as well as the impact it had on the learning experience. The paper closes by discussing how information gained in Stage 1 was used in Stage 2 as a basis to modify the initially trialled maps and to develop the other supporting maps.

Effects of sexually transmitted infection status, relationship status, and disclosure status on sexual self-concept

Research has indicated that having a sexually transmitted infection (STI) such as genital herpes and genital human papilloma virus (HPV) can have a negative impact on an individual's sexuality. The current study was designed to evaluate the effect of STI status, relationship status, and disclosure status on various dimensions of sexual self-concept. A questionnaire that evaluated the above variables was completed by 117 individuals with genital herpes, 82 individuals with HPV, and 75 individuals with no STI. The results demonstrated that having herpes or HPV had a significant negative impact on aspects of sexual self-concept. It does not appear that an individual's relationship status is a factor associated with the impact of having an STI on the sexual self-concept. Respondents who had disclosed their STI to their partners, however, had significantly more positive feelings about aspects of their sexual self-concept than those who had not disclosed their STI to their partners. The implications of these research findings for health practitioners are discussed.