Developing professional expertise in the knowledge economy: integrating industry-based learning with the academic curriculum in the field of information technology

In response to the forces of globalization, organizations have had to adapt and even transform themselves. Universities have had to recognize the value of practical working knowledge developed in workplace settings, and promote the value of academic forms of knowledge making to the practical concerns of everyday learning. This paper presents a contemporary case of a designed professional curriculum in the field of information technology that situates workplace learning as a central element in the education of students. Key integrative dimensions are considered along with an analysis of the perspectives of teaching staff and students on the educational experience. (Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 2004, 5(2), 1-11)

Application of bending under tension test to determine the effect of tool radius and the contact pressure on the coefficient of friction in sheet metal forming

To quantify the frictional behaviour in sheet forming operations, several laboratory experiments which simulate the real forming conditions are performed. The Bending Under Tension Test is one such experiment which is often used to represent the frictional flow of sheet material around a die or a punch radius. Different mathematical representations are used to determine the coefficient of friction in the Bending Under Tension Test. In general the change in the strip thickness in passing over the die radius is neglected and the radius of curvature to thickness ratio is assumed to be constant in these equations. However, the effect of roller radius, sheet thickness and the surface pressure are also omitted in some of these equations. This work quantitatively determined the effect of roller radius and the tooling pressure on the coefficient of friction. The Bending Under Tension Test was performed using rollers with different radii and also lubricants with different properties. The tool radii were found to have a direct influence in the contact pressure. The effect of roller radius on friction was considerable and it was observed that there is a clear relationship between the contact pressure and the coefficient of friction.

Portable sick leave in the Victorian building industry : managing cumulative employee benefits in the absence of employment security

The trend away from full-time permanent employment raises questions about the relevance of traditional approaches to managing and compensating employees. Employment in the Australian building industry is characterised by short-term, project-based employment. Employers and unions in the industry have adopted alternative compensation models to accommodate the short-term nature of employment, most notably through portable benefit schemes. In 1997, the Victorian building industry extended the range of portable benefits to include sick leave. Empirical evidence suggests a relationship between employee absence behaviour and accrual entitlement models. Research reported here supports this link, and suggests that both employers and employees can benefit from an alternative, portable, approach to accrued entitlements. Employers can benefit because employees may be less likely to take an instrumental approach to their entitlements. Employees benefit because they are able to accrue entitlements for the period they remain in the building industry, irrespective of the extent to which they change jobs.

The role of information and communication technology in the urgent decision making process : a work in progress report

This paper reports part of a study that examines how members of a senior management team in a public sector organisation make decisions under urgency. Four regional managers, who are geographically dispersed around New Zealand were interviewed, either face-to-face or via telephone, regarding their experiences of decision making under urgency.

Preliminary results indicate that only three out of a possible seven steps of a conventional decision making process are used during the urgent decision making process. The study also shows that participants do not fully utilise the information and communication technology available during the decision making process. The implications the findings have for practice and research are discussed.

A security evaluation criteria for baseline security standards

Recent advances in technology and new software applications are steadily transforming human civilization into what is called the Information Society. This is manifested by the new terminology appearing in our daily activities. E-Business, E-Government, E-Learning, E-Contracting, and E-Voting are just a few of the ever-growing list of new terms that are shaping the Information Society. Nonetheless, as "Information" gains more prominence in our society, the task of securing it against all forms of threats becomes a vital and crucial undertaking. Addressing the various security issues confronting our new Information Society, this volume is divided into 13 parts covering the following topics: Information Security Management; Standards of Information Security; Threats and Attacks to Information; Education and Curriculum for Information Security; Social and Ethical Aspects of Information Security; Information Security Services; Multilateral Security; Applications of Information Security; Infrastructure for Information Security Advanced Topics in Security; Legislation for Information Security; Modeling and Analysis for Information Security; Tools for Information Security. Security in the Information Society: Visions and Perspectives comprises the proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Information Security (SEC2002), which was sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), and jointly organized by IFIP Technical Committee 11 and the Department of Electronics and Electrical Communications of Cairo University. The conference was held in May 2002 in Cairo, Egypt. This volume is essential reading for scholars, researchers, and practitioners interested inkeeping pace with the ever-growing field of Information Security.

Educating for professional capability in the field of information technology: integrating industry-based learning with the academic curriculum

In response to the forces of globalisation, societies and organisations have had to adapt and even proactively transform themselves. Universities, as knowledge-based organisations, have recognised that there are now many other important sites of knowledge construction and use. The apparent monopoly over valued forms of knowledge making and knowledge certification is disappearing. Universities have had to recognise the value of practical working knowledge developed in workplace settings beyond university domains, and promote the value of academic forms of knowledge making to the practical concerns of everyday learning. It is within this broader systems view that professional curriculum development undertaken by universities needs to be examined.

University educational planning responds to these external forces in ways that are drawing together formal academic capability/competence and practice-based capability/competence. Both forms of academic and practice-based knowledge and knowing are being equally valued and related one to the other. University planning in turn gives impetus to the development of new forms of professional education curricula. This paper presents a contemporary case of a designed professional curriculum in the field of information technology that situates workplace learning as a central element in the education of Information Technology (IT)/Information Systems (IS) professionals.

The key dimensions of the learning environment of Deakin University’s BIT (Hons) program are considered with a view to identifying areas of strong integration between the worlds of academic and workplace learning from the perspectives of major stakeholders. The dynamic interplay between forms of theorising and practising is seen as critical in educating students for professional capability in their chosen field. From this analysis, an applied research agenda, relating to desired forms of professional learning in higher education, is outlined, with specific reference to the information and communication technology professions.

An exploratory study of information systems subject indexing

The motivation for detailed study of information systems research subject indexing schemes is explained, along with an analysis of two indexing schemes proposed for use in the area.  A number of reference disciplines are examined for their ability to provide insights and analysis approaches.

Positivism: one ring to rule them all? A tale of information systems research methodology

The tale of research methodology in information systems is told through the fantasy of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The tale is intended to be at once a piece of light hearted fun in its placement of the struggles of research methodology as an epic story but, in the tradition of the court jester, attempts to provide a new perspective on Information Systems (IS) research methodology and our struggles with positivism in particular. Our tale is one of developing a greater maturity and confidence in IS methodology and introduces postmodern methodologies to Information Systems. Our tale, our pastiche, is itself postmodern.

The value of information in an agency model with moral hazard

I show that the principal and the agent may each prefer that the principal or the agent has imperfect information about the principal's technology in a principal-agent environment with moral hazard. Principals expend considerable resources on data cumulation and analysis. However, such investments in information acquisition are benecial only if the agent will know that the principal is not ignorant or it allows the principal to implement a dierent action. When the principal is perfectly informed about her technology, the agent prefers to be ignorant. In addition, the value of perfect information for the agency is negative if the principal would implement the same action with either possible technology. I also investigate the dierences between ex ante and ex post contracting, and the ramications of the principal being ignorant or potentially ignorant about the technology. Finally, I determine if the principal's utility varies continuously with the degree of informativeness of the agent about the principal's technology. In this vein, I determine whether the agent's uncertainty may make the principal better o if she has the less informative technology.

The reality of information systems research

The examination of a practical issue with a web site has led, in this paper, directly to the consideration of the need for, and an assessment of the impact of, an approach based on fundamental theories of ‘what is’, to examine what information systems research is and the relations of its component areas of endeavour. The paper presents an examination of the use of the philosophical field of ontologies, and specifically the use of the ontological approaches upon which to base categories of information systems research activities. This theoretical analysis is intended to be used as the basis from which to develop a methodology to undertake the development of the categorial scheme for the web site that initiated the research.