The “new” science specialists

A Victorian government initiative called The Primary Science Specialists Professional Learning Program is designed to tackle students' falling interest in science by investing in the building of teacher capacity. The aims of the initiative are: to improve the science knowledge base of all teachers and therefore increase teachers' capacity to engage students in their learning of science; to increase student interest, aspirations and participation in science and to raise the level of science achievement. The role of the "new" science specialist is not necessarily to teach science to all students, rather to promote science, organise the teaching programs and resources for teaching science and support other teachers in teaching science in their school. The results, to date, show that by creating the role of science specialists in primary schools, and investing in science as a specialised knowledge area, science can be promoted, science teaching resources better managed, and teachers who are not confident in science, mentored. In this way, the impact of promoting and improving the teaching of science can extend from the science specialists to other teachers, to students, the school and the wider community.

Critical fictions

This thesis draws on feminist theory from the sciences and the humanities to analyse dystopian literature for children and adults. It demonstrates that fiction plays a critical role in understanding how subjectivity and coporeality is implicated in the directions that new science is taking.

Education and training as a social science : some empirical evidence in the Rosebank Business Precinct of Auckland New Zealand

Tertiary institutions should seek continuous feedback from industries to keep track of the needs of businesses to provide education and training. Academics should stay in touch with businesses by networking and consulting. Holland and De Cieri (2006) refer to theories of child learning (pedagogy) to inform their understanding of andragogy, the study of adult learning. Adult learners would be continuous learners and would move in and out of formal education according to individual needs or life circumstances, job requirements or career development. In designing programmes and up-grading curricula, these are important factors to bear in mind so that programmes “cater” for these learners as well.

This study was financed by Auckland City Council focussing on Auckland’s Rosebank Business Precinct (ARBP). The surrounding communities, particularly Mäori, Pacific peoples and recent migrants, experience disparities in employment. Our research questions were:
• Is there a skills match between the present-day workforce and actual business needs over the medium term?
• What can these data tell us about Rosebank’s trajectory as a skilled business cluster and about its future workforce requirements?
• What education and training will be necessary for these organisations to maintain their competitive advantage and profit margins?

The target population were the 500-600 businesses operating on Rosebank Road. A total of 529 businesses were identified. Interviews with 102 companies with a 36-question questionnaire were conducted. The sampling frame was owner-managers (senior, non-shareholding managers). Of the respondent firms, 68.75% had vacancies for up to 3 months and 31.24% vacancies for 6 months.

This paper highlights areas identified in the ARBP for developing programmes and curricula for tertiary institutions to provide employable students with the right knowledge, skills and attributes (KSAs) to grow existing ventures. A fine balance must be struck between human and organisational needs. In the analysis and discussion we point out what education or training is necessary for the ARBP to provide greater efficiencies and subsequent improvement to their profit levels by current and future employees entering the workforce; well “equipped” employees with knowledge and skills to add value in their organisations. Recommendations, future perspectives and conclusions form the last part of this paper

Networking of Multimedia Women Event : beyond epsilon science - "where to look and how to realize new opportunities"

"Networking of Multimedia Women" event is a continuation of an on-going conversation in the multimedia research community and efforts by the ACM SIGMM to engage and promote female researchers in multimedia community, enable networking of junior and senior female researchers, and give insights towards successful professional careers based on examples. This year, the event will have a theme, called "Beyond Epsilon Science", where preeminent senior female researchers from academia, industry and government, Svetha Venkatesh, Nalini Venkatasubramanian, Dulce Ponceleon, Susanne Boll, and Maria Zemankova will present and discuss how to go beyond epsilon science, where to look for big ideas with high social impact, as well as how to obtain funding to realize these ideas, innovations and opportunities. Their current research projects and funding efforts, and their personal experiences will drive the event's discussions, awareness of major research and funding initiatives, answers to open questions and insights into successful professional careers.

New frontiers in biologging science

The term ‘biologging’ refers to the use of miniaturized animal-attached tags for logging and/or relaying of data about an animal's movements, behaviour, physiology and/or environment. Biologging technology substantially extends our abilities to observe, and take measurements from, free-ranging, undisturbed subjects, providing much scope for advancing both basic and applied biological research. Here, we review highlights from the third international conference on biologging science, which was held in California, USA, from 1 to 5 September 2008. Over the last few years, considerable progress has been made with a range of recording technologies as well as with the management, visualization, integration and analysis of increasingly large and complex biologging datasets. Researchers use these techniques to study animal biology with an unprecedented level of detail and across the full range of ecological scales—from the split-second decision making of individuals to the long-term dynamics of populations, and even entire communities. We conclude our report by suggesting some directions for future research.

New challenges in making plans: putting design back into the applied science of planning

The origins of the ‘planning’ lie in the regional sciences and attempts to undertake social engineering of land use occupancy.
Over the last 100 years planning, as a discipline, has variously dabbled in design on the margins with urban design and neourbanism, but has stayed staunchly in the applied science and social science realms. This penchant detrimentally affects its graduates abilities to holistically appreciate and envision the consequences of their decisions-making and plan-making, to convey strength of conviction and expertise to the community, but also to establish a solid basis upon which its professional practice applications and decision-making paradigms successfully articulate equity and comprehensiveness of rational land use and development planning and decision-making. While planning re-learnt how to legitimately evaluate design and aesthetics into planning in the 1960s through the emergent McHargian ecological design paradigm, quickly embracing it as a consequence of major environmental land use disasters that occurred ‘on its watch’ that were demonstrable failures of its claimed insight and professional responsibilities, it has struggled as a discipline to embrace design as an integral technology in its daily operations and expressed ‘territory’ of professional responsibility. This paper reviews this legacy and then charts some emergent patterns in the teaching and practice of planning in Australia that are attempting to re-position design as a legitimate and integral part of the knowledge and skills of a professional planners.