Where in the world is room N101? Engaging with first year education students' experiences of transition

National reports on students’ experiences in their first year of tertiary study suggest that many students, particularly those coming directly from  secondary schools, find the transition into university life particularly difficult. These reports suggest that while many students find the experience to be a challenging hurdle others feel disengaged and unconnected to academic life. Reports also note that many students enter university with the expectation that their university experience should 'fit into their lives' rather than vice-versa.

Additionally, research indicates that successful transitional experiences for undergraduate students are critical in promoting effective learning habits, positive attitudes and openness to new knowledge. Establishing positive practices in the early days of the undergraduate course can enable students to utilise these experiences and knowledge as a part of their life-long professional habits. However, in order for this to occur, connections must be made, and relationships built, between students and their new peer groups and with the wider academic community. Connections must also be made between students' prior experiences and their new knowledge.

In light of the findings of recent research and reports, Deakin University has instituted a First Year Initiative to assist students in their transitions. Alongside and complementary to this, the Faculty of Education has developed a new three year Education Studies Major program which began this year.

In this paper, we discuss the ways in which the first two units of this new educational program aim to address some of the issues that students face when making the transition into university life. We see the implementation of the first two units as a 'pilot study' and while at this stage, evaluation of these units is only beginning, here we will consider some of the pedagogical strategies, resources, organisational structures and 'grounded' experiences that are being trialled as means to help students make the connections and take the first successful steps in their journey to becoming professional educators. Ways in which these new approaches aim to build important relationships between students, with staff and, as well, help them connect their prior experiences with new knowledge, will be considered in light of the literature on first year student transitions.

Considerations for performing arts organisations in a climate of transition to the open market context in Vietnam

The emergence of a global economy and culture has created a worldwide climate of change since the 1980s. These changes impact on the growth of a national economy and change the significance of sectors in society, for example the service sector, which increasingly accounts for an important part of the economy (Burbules & Torres, 2000). The arts have also been profoundly influenced by social changes, and technological development. While these changes pose new challenges for the arts, most of which struggle for financial viability in an era of globalisation, privatisation and reduced public funding, the developments also open new opportunities for arts companies/artists but require them to possess the capability to identify and adapt to change. This process underlines the necessary new capacities of arts management, arts marketing, arts leaders and artists.

Doi moi - Vietnamese economic reforms in 1986 - provided impetus for change in every sector, resulting in growth of the service sector in Vietnam (UNDP, 2002). Arts organisations in Vietnam found themselves operating in a more competitive environment, forcing them to adjust to this new economic structure. Improved Vietnamese living standards helped to create more demands for a diverse entertainment industry and allowed both the government and individuals to spend more on the arts. A new cultural policy - socialisation (somewhat equivalent to privatisation in Western countries) was implemented in the arts and cultural sector, producing for performing arts organisations (PAOs) as well as a broader cultural milieu in Vietnam, challenges of being self-sustaining but also more autonomy and greater funding diversity. Simultaneously, this led to upgraded artistic standards, improved infrastructure and higher musicians’ salaries; the latter having only experienced slow improvement during the subsidised era.

This paper investigates how social changes affected organisational operations of selected PAOs in Vietnam and Australia. The analysis of how PAOs in each country adjusted to rapid changes will provide experience for learning from each other, particularly for the Vietnamese case. These analyses provide points of discussion, comparison and implications for development of arts management training in Vietnam. Case studies, personal interviews with key participants and policy actors have been used to discern which direction performing arts management should take in order to correspond with Vietnam’s present and future economic situation and its political position in the world.

Book review : The politics of transition in Central Asia and the caucasus : enduring legacies and emerging challenges

Review of Amanda E. Wooden & Christoph H. Stefes (eds), The Politics of Transition in Central Asia and the Caucasus: Enduring Legacies and Emerging Challenges. Central Asian Studies. London & New York: Routledge, 2009, xviþ268 pp., £80.00 h/b.

Biocompatibility of transition metal-substituted cobalt ferrite nanoparticles

Transition metals of copper, zinc, manganese, and nickel were substituted into cobalt ferrite nanoparticles via a sol-gel route using citric acid as a chelating agent. The microstructure and elemental compositions of the nanoparticles were characterized using scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The particle size of the nanoparticles was investigated using particle size analyzer, and the zeta potentials were measured using zeta potential analyzer. The phase components of the synthesized transition metal-substituted cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were studied using Raman spectroscopy. The biocompatibility of the nanoparticles was assessed using osteoblast-like cells. Results indicated that the substitution of transition metals strongly influences the physical, chemical properties, and biocompatibility of the cobalt ferrite nanoparticles. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media.

Evolution of the electrochemical capacitance of transition metal oxynitrides with time: the effect of ageing and passivation

A number of transition metal nitrides and oxynitrides, which are actively investigated today as electrode materials in a wide range of energy conversion and storage devices, possess an oxide layer on the surface. Upon exposure to ambient air, properties of this layer progressively change in the process known as "ageing". Since a number of electrochemical processes involve the surface or sub-surface layers of the active electrode compounds only, ageing could have a significant effect on the overall performance of energy conversion and storage devices. In this work, the influence of the ageing of tungsten and molybdenum oxynitrides on their electrochemical properties in supercapacitors is explored for the first time. Samples are synthesised by the temperature-programmed reduction in NH3 and are treated with different gases prior to exposure to air in order to evaluate the role of passivation in the ageing process. After the synthesis, products are subjected to controlled ageing and are characterised by low temperature nitrogen adsorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Capacitive properties of the compounds are evaluated by performing cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge and discharge measurements in the 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte. © 2014 the Partner Organisations.

The effect of transition to specialty practice programs on Australian emergency nurses' professional development, recruitment and retention

BACKGROUND: To date, emergency nursing Transition to Specialty Practice Program (TSPP) evaluations have been single-site observational studies. The aim of this paper was to examine the professional development, recruitment and retention outcomes of Australian emergency nursing TSPPs. METHODS: An explanatory sequential design was used. Data were collected via online surveys and interviews of emergency Nurse Unit Managers and Nurse Educators. Survey data from EDs with TSPPs and EDs without TSPPs were compared. Qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. RESULTS: Data were collected from 118 EDs, and 13 interviews. TSPPs were offered in 72.1% of EDs. EDs with TSPPs had higher proportions of nurses with postgraduate qualifications (Mdn 28.3% vs. 22.1%, p=0.45) and Clinical Specialists (Mdn 16.4% vs. 6.3%, p=0.04). The median proportion of currently rostered nurses with TSPP completion was 34.2% in EDs with TSPPs introduced in 2000-2005 indicating ED high levels of retention. CONCLUSION: Emergency nursing TSPPs have had a positive effect on nursing professional development, recruitment and retention. To ensure consistency in outcomes and optimise reliability of emergency nursing skills and knowledge, a national emergency nursing TSPP framework is needed.

Immune biomarkers in the spectrum of childhood noncommunicable diseases

A biomarker is an accurately and reproducibly quantifiable biological characteristic that provides an objective measure of health status or disease. Benefits of biomarkers include identification of therapeutic targets, monitoring of clinical interventions, and development of personalized (or precision) medicine. Challenges to the use of biomarkers include optimizing sample collection, processing and storage, validation, and often the need for sophisticated laboratory and bioinformatics approaches. Biomarkers offer better understanding of disease processes and should benefit the early detection, treatment, and management of multiple noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This review will consider the utility of biomarkers in patients with allergic and other immune-mediated diseases in childhood. Typically, biomarkers are used currently to provide mechanistic insight or an objective measure of disease severity, with their future role in risk stratification/disease prediction speculative at best. There are many lessons to be learned from the biomarker strategies used for cancer in which biomarkers are in routine clinical use and industry-wide standardized approaches have been developed. Biomarker discovery and validation in children with disease lag behind those in adults; given the early onset and therefore potential lifelong effect of many NCDs, there should be more studies incorporating cohorts of children. Many pediatric biomarkers are at the discovery stage, with a long path to evaluation and clinical implementation. The ultimate challenge will be optimization of prevention strategies that can be implemented in children identified as being at risk of an NCD through the use of biomarkers.

Non-uniform bird assemblages in urban environments : the influence of streetscape vegetation

The urban landscape encompasses a broad spectrum of variable environments ranging from remnant patches to highly modified streetscapes. Despite the expansion of urban environments, few studies have examined the influence of urbanization on faunal diversity, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere. In this study, four broad habitat types were recognized in the urban environment, representing a continuum of modification ranging from parks with remnant vegetation to streetscapes dominated by native vegetation and those dominated by exotic vegetation to recently developed streetscapes. Bird censuses were conducted at 36 sites throughout urban Melbourne, with nine sites surveyed in each habitat type. The four habitat types supported significantly different bird communities based on species richness, abundance and composition suggesting that bird assemblages of urban environments are non-uniform. Parks and native streetscapes generally supported fewer introduced species than exotic and recently developed streetscapes. Overall abundance and richness of species were lower in the exotic and recently developed streetscapes than in parks and native streetscapes. Significant differences were also observed in foraging guilds within the four habitat types, with parks having the most foraging guilds and recently developed streetscapes having the fewest. The transition from native to exotic streetscapes saw the progressive loss of insectivorous and nectarivorous species reflecting a reliance by these species on structurally diverse and/or native vegetation for both shelter and food resources. The implementation of effective strategies and incentives which encourage the planting of structurally diverse native vegetation in streetscapes and gardens should be paramount if avian biodiversity is to be retained and enhanced in urban environments. It is also critical to encourage the maintenance of the existing remnant vegetation in the urban environment.

Luminescence and microstructure of Sr2Mg(BO3)2 doped with Eu

Sr₂Mg(B0₃)₂ doped with Eu was synthesized respectively in air and weak reducing atmosphere (combustion of carbon particle), whose photoluminescence characteristics and structure were also studied at room-temperature. In air, the fluorescent body's color was white for different synthesized temperatures. At room temperature, the sample was excited and showed red typical emission spectrum of Eu³⁺ whose emission apex were sharp near 612 nm and emission spect~m was made up of the charge transformation band (CTB) of Eu^{3 +} and excitation spectrum of 4f→4f high energy level transition, then reached the area of VUV. However, under reducing atmosphere (combustion of carbon particles), the color of the sample yielded was yellow, whose color became deeper with increasing temperature and showed phase transition. Using UV excitation, the luminescence of yellow sample was very weak. In a complicated broad spectrum at visible light area, the red emission spectrum of Eu²⁺ was not observed. Crystal structure and luminescence of the sample were completely different from the results of Diaz and Keszler. Two samples were prepared under oxidation and reducing atmosphere at high temperature, which were different on crystal structure and microstructure. By studying Sr₂Mg(B0₃)₂:Eu³⁺ a series of directional faults or educts were found, because Eu^{3 +} ions substituted for Sr^{2 +} ions. However, microstructure of Sr₂Mg(B0₃ )₂: Eu^{2 +} is more complicated, whose excitation spectrum might be excited by Eu^{2 +}. By XRD patten of the samples, phase transitibn could be found. Twins and clusters that were formed from point defect such as interstitial atom and big angle crystal boundary could be found by TEM.

Project management practice in transition of old residential region

With the rapid urbanisation worldwide, the transitions of old residential regions inside or close to the urban districts have been challenging both governments and professionals. The sustainable maintenance, innovation and construction of these regions incorporate the history, culture, environment and policy factors into the economic objectives. Over the long and complex process of a transition project, the dedicated project management crew are frequently confronted with diversified novel issues and obliged to contribute appropriate solutions urgently. In this paper, the authors first analyse the state of the art of transition projects of old residential regions based on their practices in real projects. Furthermore, the authors explore the sustainable alternatives of transition projects from the reservation and development perspectives of culture, environment, society and infrastructure. Finally, the authors develop a multi-dimensional implementary framework for guiding the practices of management of transition projects.

The spectrum and the spectre of the public self : persona studies

One of the most intriguing elements of the study of celebrity is the complex relationship between the renowned individuals that have celebrity status and the populace. In past work, I have identified how celebrities “embody” audiences producing a kind of audience-subjectivity that is both collective and individual. If our media systems are producing slightly different collective configurations and quite different ways in which individuals exhibit and share, this relationship between the individual and the collective so foregrounded by celebrity culture may be differently constituted. This presentation will look at how the celebration of the self is played out now across culture in variations of the social and para-social structures of celebrity culture, in professional settings and what would be seen as forms of online leisure and recreational activities. In one sense, this is the spectre of celebrity that has now been virtualised by individuals and their forms of public display. In another sense, we now have a very diverse range and spectrum of public personalities which demands a more extensive analysis of the constitution of public persona, where the embodiment of collectives and the articulation of identity forms for different purposes and objectives produce via a series of micro-publics a substantially different public sphere.

Comparative studies of structural transition between AlN nanocrystals and nanowires

The structural transition of AIN nanocrystals and nanowires were investigated simultaneously under pressures up to 37.2 GPa by in situ angle dispersive high-pressure x-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation source and a single diamond anvil cell. The size of hexagonal AIN nanocrystals and the diameter of nanowires are 45 nm on average. A pressure-induced wurtzite to rocksalt phase transition starts at 21.5 GPa and completes at 27.8 GPa for the nanocrystals and nanowires, respectively. The high-pressure behaviors of AlN nanocrystals the same as the AIN nanowires might arise from the similar size and diameter in nanocrystals and nanowires. Hexagonal AIN nanocrystals (45 nm) display an apparent volumetric contraction as compared to the AlN nanocrystals (10 nm) which might induce the difference of transition pressure.

Disadvantaged locations and transition: lived lives of students demonstrating resilience

This study answered what biographical experiences shape the trajectory of students demonstrating resilience during a time of transition. It charted the material conditions of agency and structures. The findings pointed to supportive social relationships, community and school resources and educational policies being critical to shaping agency.