Problems experienced by students on field placement: using research findings to inform curriculum design and content

Recent recognition of workplace learning from within the University sector has resulted in more emphasis being placed on including field experiences in course curriculum across a range of disciplines. This article begins with a short review of the literature relating to the current context in which work-based learning occurs. Next, selected findings from a survey of 39 Victorian social work students on their experiences of placement learning are reported. The survey focused on problems encountered by students on placement. A number of the problems students faced suggested the need for additional opportunities both before and during the placements to engage with material on safety in the field, and ways to deal with workplace stress and conflict. In response to these issues the article summarises some pedagogical strategies that may be used to enhance student learning in these areas both leading up to and during their field placements. In addition to matters relating to safety and stress, financial pressures were evident for students endeavouring to complete field placements. The recent moves from universities to embrace industry based learning, clearly has implications for funding support made available to students undertaking this type of education.

The design and development of an integrated system for object-oriented finite element computing

Finite Element Method (FEM) is widely used in Science and Engineering since 1960’s. The vast majority of FEM software is procedure-oriented. However, this conventional style of designing FEM software encounters problems in maintenance, reuse, and expansion of the software. Recently the object-oriented finite element method attracts the attention of lots of researchers, and now there is a growing interest in this method. In this paper, the object-oriented finite element (OOFE) is briefly introduced. Then the design and development of an integrated OOFE system is described. A comparison of the integrated OOFE system and a procedure-oriented system shows that our OOFE system has many advantages.

Truth is God harm minimization through the practice of ecologically sustainable design and buddhism

The emergence of the global ecological crisis is presenting unique opportunities for the coordination of ethical thinking across cultural boundaries. Harm minimization as an ethical imperative operates as the ‘modus operandi’ behind both Ecologically Sustainable Design (ESD) and Buddhist practice. The architectural response to ESD is founded upon the ‘Declaration of Interdependence for a Sustainable Future’ adopted in 1993 by the International Union of Architects, of which the RAIA is a member.

Buddhism is a response to existential concerns universal to humanity. It developed as a set of principles for personal transformation known as the Four Noble Truths elucidated two and a half thousand years ago. Buddhist meditation practise ‘interrupts automatic patterns of conditioned behaviour’ recognised as the major obstacle to be overcome in any programme for change. Unsustainable egocentric behaviour is considered fundamental to our global ecological crisis and calls for radical behavioural change are increasingly being heard at the professional as well as the personal level. Emerging synergies between the Western cognitive sciences and Buddhist study of the mind increasingly validate the Tibetan Buddhist mind development phenomenon. Buddhists argue that their programme for enhancing ethical behaviour through mind development is a step-by step process of observation and analysis built upon empirical observation – a fundamental pre-requisite of any ‘scientific’ enquiry. Collaborative research programmes currently underway are an attempt to re-interpret Buddhist meditation techniques within a framework acceptable to Western scientific understanding. A truly holistic approach to harm minimization requires its consideration.

A process model to support design and construction

This research is focused on developing a highly detailed understanding of current organisational interactions and information flows leading to a definition of the process model for the environment into which information and communication technology (ICT) applications will be placed. The authors of this paper propose a theoretical process model and the associated detailed information structure which reflects the complexity of information, stakeholder interaction and intellectual property concerns which are currently seen in the construction industry. This is being developed and tested against a field study renovation project. The field study project identifies information flows and interactions between stakeholders such as designers, project managers, clients, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers. The process model which is being established shows very high levels of complexity in dependencies and interdependencies between implicit and explicit information within the project design and construction teams. Without an understanding of these detailed and complex process interactions, proposals for the application of ICT to the construction industry will not reflect the requirements of those for whom they are being developed.

Managing social and intellectual capital to inform design and development of learning objects : issues, applications and technologies

The purpose of this paper is to present and analyse a case example of the development and implementation of a digital learnmg object in context with academic literature in the field. The paper's content describes the creation of a multimedia learning object from conception in 2004 to completion m 2006. Provided is the rationale and outcome of a strategically funded University project aimed at illuminating an industrial case study of good management and communication practices for use in classrooms throughout the entire university. This paper is intended to act as a guide for others. Our experience as academics in successful dialogue With educational technologists will inspire and inform those embarking on similar projects, and aspects of it will generalise to development and implementation Issues for other kinds of learning objects.

The design and implementation of an active replication scheme for distributing services in a cluster of workstations

Replication is the key to providing high availability, fault tolerance, and enhanced performance in a cluster of workstations (COWs). However, building such a system remains as a difficult and challenging task, mainly due to the difficulty of maintaining data consistency among replicas and the lack of easy and efficient tools supporting the development procedure. In this paper we propose an active replication scheme in which data consistency can be maintained. Based on the active replication scheme, we present an object-oriented design pattern and a constructing tool to simplify the design and implementation of service replications in COWs.

Procurement of construction facilities: a case study of design management within a design and construct organisation

Presents a case study of design management within an Australian design-construct organization on a large residential apartment project, with the purpose of identifying and analysing issues associated with the organization, responsibilities and stages of development in a typical design-construct project. Discusses the nature of introspection in the Australian construction industry, the shift in procurement methods, the design and build approach, whole life issues, the need for a design manager, and the role of the facilities manager. Profiles the case study organization and its contracts and procurement methods, before focusing on weaknesses in the company, the role of the project design development manager in leading the design team, managing the design consultants, and interacting and advising the developer in relation to design decisions. Suggests from the exercise that: the project manager should remain the overall project leader, manager and interface between design, cost, programme, buildability, construction and user requirements; the design manager should be responsible for issuing all documentation; and the design cost manager should be responsible for verifying that the design developed accords with project budgets, project brief and quality requirements in conjunction with the design manager.

Computational simulation of chassis design and manufacturing

Australian Universities including Deakin University are entering the Formula One SAE car competition this year which was initialised in USA many years ago and has attracted many universities to participate all over the world. There are many categories to be competed for novelty of the design. To achieve optimised design of the car, computational techniques have widely been used in all aspects of the design and manufacturing of the car for the team at Deakin University. In this work, the design and manufacturing of the chassis was computationally simulated to optimise the structure for stress and natural frequencies. The chassis is designed using solid modelling code IDEAS with the geometry exported to ABAQUS, a FEM software, for optimisation.