Rethinking Chinese power : a conceptual corrective to the 'power shift' narrative

A growing body of literature has focused on an alleged “power shift” from the United States to China (and from the West to the East more generally). For all its complexities and nuances, much of this power-shift literature continues to unreflectively hold onto a conventional way of conceptualizing power as a type of quantitatively measurable and zero-sum property possessed by the state.  Without critically engaging with the conceptual question of what power means, however, the power-shift debate is both inadequate and misleading. Drawing on some alternative ways of conceptualizing power, I aim to illustrate the contingent and socially constructed nature of “Chinese” economic power and, in doing so, problematize the widely held view of a US-China power shift. I contend that insofar as power is socially constructed, how it is conceptualized matters for international relations. The need to rethink power is at the core of building a new type of major power relationship.

Formative feedback through summative tutorial-based assessments: the relationship to student performance

This paper investigates the effectiveness (measured using assignment and examination performance) of an assessment design incorporating formative feedback through summative tutorial-based assessments to improve student performance, in a second-year Finance course at an Australian university. Data was collected for students who were enrolled in an undergraduate Finance course and analyzed to ascertain performance improvements. The results indicate that there is a relationship between formative feedback through the use of summative tutorial-based assessments and student performance. Our empirical evidence enriches the extant literature surrounding the effectiveness of formative feedback through summative tutorial-based assessments and fosters an interest in assessment designs that provide formative feedback.

Firefighter feedback during active cooling: A useful tool for heat stress management?

Monitoring an individual's thermic state in the workplace requires reliable feedback of their core temperature. However, core temperature measurement technology is expensive, invasive and often impractical in operational environments, warranting investigation of surrogate measures which could be used to predict core temperature. This study examines an alternative measure of an individual's thermic state, thermal sensation, which presents a more manageable and practical solution for Australian firefighters operating on the fireground. Across three environmental conditions (cold, warm, hot & humid), 49 Australian volunteer firefighters performed a 20-min fire suppression activity, immediately followed by 20min of active cooling using hand and forearm immersion techniques. Core temperature (Tc) and thermal sensation (TS) were measured across the rehabilitation period at five minute intervals. Despite the decline in Tc and TS throughout the rehabilitation period, there was little similarity in the magnitude or rate of decline between each measure in any of the ambient conditions. Moderate to strong correlations existed between Tc and TS in the cool (0.41, p<0.05) and hot & humid (0.57, p<0.05) conditions, however this was resultant in strong correlation during the earlier stages of rehabilitation (first five minutes), which were not evident in the latter stages. Linear regression revealed TS to be a poor predictor of Tc in all conditions (SEE=0.45-0.54°C) with a strong trend for TS to over-predict Tc (77-80% of the time). There is minimal evidence to suggest that ratings of thermal sensation, which represent a psychophysical assessment of an individual's thermal comfort, are an accurate reflection of the response of an individual's core temperature. Ratings of thermal sensation can be highly variable amongst individuals, likely moderated by local skin temperature. In account of these findings, fire managers require a more reliable source of information to guide decisions of heat stress management.

Evaluating health services with point of service feedback: perspectives and experiences of patients, staff and community volunteers in an inpatient rehabilitation facility

PURPOSE: To determine patient, staff and community volunteer opinions and experiences of point of service feedback (POSF) in an inpatient rehabilitation facility. METHOD: Participants were recruited by purposeful sampling. Two researchers conducted in-depth semi-scripted interviews with patients, staff or volunteers until no new issues emerged. Manually transcribed interview data underwent thematic analysis that grouped information into categories of related information. RESULTS: Twenty patients, 26 staff from 10 different professional groups, and 2 community volunteers were interviewed. Patient and volunteer data were grouped into five main categories: patients wanted their voice heard and acted on; patients could be positively and negatively affected by POSF; patients could be reluctant to evaluate staff; patients preferred POSF to post-discharge mailed questionnaires; and patients' feedback was influenced by the data collector. Staff wanted: feedback to help them improve the patient experience; and feedback that was trustworthy, usable and used. Staff believed that the feedback-collector influenced patients' feedback and affected how feedback could be used. CONCLUSIONS: Patients, staff and community volunteers identified issues that determine the appropriateness and usefulness of POSF. Policy and practise should address the preferences, needs and experiences of health service users and providers so that POSF produces maximum benefits for both patients and health services. Implications for Rehabilitation POSF can enhance patients' experiences of inpatient rehabilitation by providing a mechanism to be heard and communicating that patients are valued; care must be exercised with patients who find giving feedback stressful. Collecting POSF is most beneficial when coupled with methods to efficiently and effectively respond to feedback. POSF requires interpretation in light of its limitations including patients' ability to accurately and unreservedly communicate their experiences. Who collects POSF requires careful consideration; community volunteers have both advantages and disadvantages.

What counts as effective communication in nursing? Evidence from nurse educators' and clinicians' feedback on nurse interactions with simulated patients.

To examine the feedback given by nurse educators and clinicians on the quality of communication skills of nurses in interactions with simulated patients.

Improving the care of children with advanced cancer by using an electronic patient-reported feedback intervention : results from the PediQUEST randomized controlled trial.

This study aimed to determine whether feeding back patient-reported outcomes (PROs) to providers and families of children with advanced cancer improves symptom distress and health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Effects of realistic force feedback in a robotic assisted minimally invasive surgery system

Robotic assisted minimally invasive surgery systems not only have the advantages of traditional laparoscopic procedures but also restore the surgeon's hand-eye coordination and improve the surgeon's precision by filtering hand tremors. Unfortunately, these benefits have come at the expense of the surgeon's ability to feel. Several research efforts have already attempted to restore this feature and study the effects of force feedback in robotic systems. The proposed methods and studies have some shortcomings. The main focus of this research is to overcome some of these limitations and to study the effects of force feedback in palpation in a more realistic fashion.

Continuous finite-time state feedback stabilizers for some nonlinear stochastic systems

This paper is concerned with the problem of finite-time stabilization for some nonlinear stochastic systems. Based on the stochastic Lyapunov theorem on finite-time stability that has been established by the authors in the paper, it is proven that Euler-type stochastic nonlinear systems can be finite-time stabilized via a family of continuous feedback controllers. Using the technique of adding a power integrator, a continuous, global state feedback controller is constructed to stabilize in finite time a large class of two-dimensional lower-triangular stochastic nonlinear systems. Also, for a class of three-dimensional lower-triangular stochastic nonlinear systems, a recursive design scheme of finite-time stabilization is given by developing the technique of adding a power integrator and constructing a continuous feedback controller. Finally, a simulation example is given to illustrate the theoretical results. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rethinking models of feedback for learning: the challenge of design

Student feedback is a contentious and confusing issue throughout higher education institutions. This paper develops and analyses two models of feedback: the first is based on the origins of the term in the disciplines of engineering and biology. It positions teachers as the drivers of feedback. The second draws on ideas of sustainable assessment. This positions learners as having a key role in driving learning, and thus generating and soliciting their own feedback. It suggests that the second model equips students beyond the immediate task and does not lead to false expectations that courses cannot deliver. It identifies the importance of curriculum design in creating opportunities for students to develop the capabilities to operate as judges of their own learning.

Using rubrics in IT: experiences of assessment and feedback at Deakin University

 Students need to develop informed and realistic career aspirations to gain the most from their university studies towards their initial career development. However developing their aspirations, goals, and expectations is a complex process. In Information Technology (IT) no clear career development framework is evident in the literature. We present a pilot study which investigates the career aspirations of novice students studying IT at an Australian University. Through a series of career activities their aspirations were explored with the aim of improving support for career development. Results indicate that students have no clear short- or long- term aspirations, yet believe that programming skills are key to achieve a career in IT.