Will it work? an initial examination of the processes and outcomes of converting course materials to CD-ROMs

The Faculty of Business and Law at Deakin University (Victoria, Australia) decided to dispense of all printed post-graduate learning materials and replace them with CD-ROMs from the commencement of the 2006 academic year. In addition, CD-ROMs were developed for a limited
number of undergraduate units as part of a future delivery plan for this cohort of students. The following paper describes this project, the reasons underpinning it, and the processes the Faculty adopted to implement the project. The project is ongoing and part of a broader agenda for change
that will see an even greater application of electronic technology to teaching and learning within the Faculty. Although only initial findings and observations are possible at this stage, the project provides a basis for longitudinal reporting and, potentially, a guide for other institutions who may
be considering such a move. The paper reports on these observations and on those in the educational development arena and suggests that the Faculty will need to learn from these initial experiences and evaluate the project in greater depth to guarantee a smooth transition for all stakeholders.

Can written nursing practice standards improve documentation of initial assessment of ED patients?

Introduction: There is wide variation in emergency nursing practice in terms of initial patient assessment and the interventions implemented in response to these patient assessment findings. It is hypothesised that written ED nursing practice standards will reduce variability in documentation standards related to initial patient assessment.

Aim: This study aimed to examine the effect of written ED nursing practice standards augmented by an in-service education programme on the documentation of the initial nursing assessment.

Method: A pre-test/post-test design was used. Initial patient assessment was assessed using the Emergency Department Observation Chart. All adult patients (>18 years) who presented with chest pain and who were triaged to the general adult cubicles were eligible for inclusion in the study. Random sampling was used to select the patients for the pre-test (n = 78) and post-test groups (n = 74).

Results: There was significant improvement in documentation of all aspects of symptom assessment except quality and historical variables: pre-hospital care, cardiac risk factors, and past medical history. Improvements in documentation of elements of primary survey assessment were variable. There were significant increases in documentation of respiratory effort, chest auscultation findings, capillary refill and conscious state. There was a significant 18.3% decrease in the frequency of documentation of respiratory rate and no significant changes in documentation of oxygen saturation, heart rate or blood pressure.

Conclusion: Written ED nursing practice standards were effective in improving the documentation of some elements of initial nursing assessment for patients with chest pain. Active implementation strategies are important to ensure effective uptake of written practice standards and the relationship between nursing documentation and actual clinical practice warrants further consideration using a naturalistic approach in real practice settings.

Operationalising the balanced scorecard : an initial analysis of factor structure

To date there has been very little empirical analysis of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) within the marketing literature. With measuring performance being a central issue in marketing and the BSC being one of the most utilised approaches, this paper investigates the BSC and its factor structure. This research tested independently the “goodness-of-fit” of both the traditional four-factor model and a later five-factor model, which included an “employee/human resource” dimension. Data were collected from a sample of medium-tolarge Australian businesses. Factor analysis was conducted on the two alternative factor structures, revealing that the five-factor model fits the observed data as well as does the fourfactor model, supporting the inclusion of an “employee/human resource” perspective in future BSC models.

An initial classification of branding strategy in Australian arts organisations

This research examined the corporate branding approaches and strategies adopted by six prominent Australian arts and cultural organisations. The aim of this exploration was to identify patterns in branding across different arts and cultural organisations, and attempt to provide an initial classification for understanding how these organisations approach branding strategy. We found that three factors influenced branding strategy in the surveyed organisations, viz., the focus of branding process, the degree of consistency in branding communication, and the required level of customers’ involvement in the branded products. The organisations studied were then plotted on a continuum that considered each of these factors.

Segmenting initial fans of a new team: a taxonomy of sport early adopters

ABSTRACT
Marketers are interested in the first buyers of new products, given their important role in driving wider community adoption. This is especially the case for new entertainment products, like new or relocated sports teams who must quickly build fan connections and loyalty, given the importance of crowds and social networks in adding value to the entertainment experience. Fans choose to connect with sports teams for numerous reasons; however, fan development in the context of a new team has rarely been examined. This paper examines the diversity and similarity among inaugural fans of an expansion team. A large sample (n= 1724) was classified into five segments revealing how each varies in their brand associations, satisfaction, identification and involvement. By analysing key dimensions (relationship identifiers) that characterise how consumers connect with a new team, the authors provide new insights about the nature of consumers in the context of a new sports team. Furthermore, the five segments were found to be distinct cohorts, with sufficient variation between them to warrant variant marketing approaches to achieve the outcome of committed, long-term fans.

Brachiaria decumbens supresses the initial growth of Coffea arabica

Brachiaria decumbens vem se tornando uma das plantas daninhas mais freqüentes na infestação de cafezais em formação, pois além de sua elevada agressividade e dificuldade de controle, está ocorrendo expansão das áreas cafeeiras para locais anteriormente ocupados por pastagens. Objetivou-se neste trabalho avaliar os efeitos desta planta daninha, em densidades crescentes, sobre o desenvolvimento inicial de mudas de café (Coffea arabica L. cv. Catuaí Amarelo). O experimento foi conduzido em condições semi-controladas, sem limitação de água. Uma muda de café foi transplantada em caixa de amianto com capacidade para 70 L, preenchida com terra coletada da camada arável de um Latossolo Vermelho. Os tratamentos constaram de diferentes densidades de transplante de capim-braquiária, a saber: 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 36, 48 e 60 plantas m-2. O ensaio foi conduzido por um período experimental de 120 dias após o plantio (DAP). Todas as características analisadas foram afetadas negativamente pela interferência da planta daninha, mas as que se mostraram mais sensíveis a essa interferência foram à área foliar e a biomassa seca das folhas. Houve redução de 41,8% na área foliar do cafeeiro quando conviveu com o capim-braquiária a partir da densidade de 8 plantas m-2, chegando a 68,7% na densidade de 60 plantas m-2. Também a partir da densidade de 8 plantas m-2, a redução na biomassa seca das folhas em relação à testemunha foi de 41,4% e na densidade de 60 plantas m-2 chegou a 72,8%. Brachiaria decumbens, a partir da densidade de 8 plantas m-2, interfere negativamente sobre as mudas de café até os 120 DAP.

Weed control strip influences the initial growth of Eucalyptus grandis

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Objetivos e conteúdos no ensino de física para adultos: um estudo de caso

The dissertation presents the learning, production and results of a study with a group of adult students of a high school level class in a night time public school at the Zona Oeste district of Natal-RN. As a teacher of Physics of these adult students, whose age is between 17 and 65 years, we felt the need to deepen our knowledge about the specifics of these students and build ways of teaching which would lead to a more significant educational process beside them. Among these ways of teaching, we emphasize, first, the performance of an extra-class activity that triggered the students' oral narratives about their life stories. Such narratives have led us to prioritize, as goals of teaching: socialization and the rescue of the search for a permanent learning, self-esteem and skills development to promote the exercise of autonomy. The students' previous contacts with the country life showed to be extremely significant for their memories and motives, suggesting the theme "Nature" to be adopted as a matrix for generative themes to be adopted during the teaching and learning moments with them. Considering these results, we construct a teaching proposal for continued work with the class, with which we chose the "Climate" as a guiding theme of this proposal, here presented and analyzed. In addition to a movement between problematizations developed in a thematic framework - through the initial questions of the students -, and those in a more conceptual approach - that we induced -, we have adopted as central methodological aspect the use of oral and written language, both as an exercise of dialogue, Freire's perspective, such as a structural element of cognitive processes, the perspectives of Vygotsky and Bakhtin. The development of the proposal was registered by audio and teacher and students´ regular written records, for 1 month and a half. As positive outcomes of the proposal, we emphasize the changing attitudes of students, showing a significant increase of their initiative in participating of the classes, besides a creative and critical use of arguments during the situations studied