Computer-mediated education : the relationship between computer access, tutorial attendance and student grades

One of the problems faced by Australian academics in the 21st century is to facilitate learning with a changing profile of students, in bigger and bigger classes. As educators at tertiary institutions, our environment is undergoing major changes as increasingly business and commerce programs are offering courses either partially (Web enabled) or totally (Web exclusive) online. This study has developed an important model allowing the prediction of students' overall results and indicates that a student's final grade is dependant, in part, on accessing the study materials and study tools available to them via WebCT and attending face-to-face tutorials.

In her own right : women officers and equality in the Salvation Army

The nature of women's equality in the Army, during the 19th century, was unprecedented, and even today women can rise to positions of power and authority not easily equalled in the community. In the 20th century the principle of equality remained the same, but the practice did not. Any major turnaround in women's officership will require an orientation to first identifying and understanding the forces that effect women's advancement in the Army, plus the introduction of fairly exact and regulated remedial measures.

I'm the slice of pie that's ostracised.... : Foucault's technologies, and personal agency, in the voice of women who are homeless, Adelaide, South Australia

In contrast to the international research (particularly in the United Kingdom and North America), much of the Australian literature regarding homelessness to date omits the perspective of people who are homeless. In contributing to the fledgling Australian literature in the field, the following article adopts a secondary approach to the data analysis of original research. When analysed, the voices of homeless women from an agency in Adelaide, South Australia exhibit elements of both Foucault’s technologies of domination and the self. While the results show that the women do have a powerful sense of the broader external issues exerted on them (reflecting both technologies of domination and the self), the analysis also reveals ambiguities in their responses. Apparent in the voice of homeless women is a sense of personal agency which appears to be absent in Foucault’s technologies. By considering the viewpoints of homeless women, various policy implications can also be drawn. Indeed, this is one of the motivations of the article, namely to inject into policy debate and development the voices of the people most adversely affected by it. The policy implications of the women’s voices centre around the desire to be included rather than remain on the margins, the need for supportive relationships, the necessity to take small steps to independent living, and the need for more affordable, independent housing.

Prioritization of psychological well-being in the care of diabetes: moving beyond excuses, bringing solutions

Jones and colleagues recently made a plea for the prioritization of psychological well-being in diabetes care [1]. Such calls to action began over 20 years ago with the 'St Vincent Declaration' guidelines [2]. A 'plea' two decades later emphasizes that this paradigm shift is a long, slow burn. In the 21st century, people with diabetes are now adding their powerful voices via social media, advocating for better psychological support, as active consumers (and constructive critics) of health care [3]. We can learn considerably from organizations such as Cancer Voices (www.cancervoicesaustralia.org) - they demonstrate how consumer representation and involvement in research agendas, policy and service provision play an integral part in shaping holistic health care. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Linking and sharing data in the humanities and creative arts: building the HuNI Virtual Laboratory

The Humanities Networked Infrastructure (HuNI) is one of the national Virtual Laboratories that are being developed as part of the Australian government's National e-Research Collaboration Tools and Resources (NeCTAR) programme. This paper examines the methodologies and technical architecture being deployed by HuNI to link and share Australian data in the humanities and creative arts.