Evaluating the use of ambient and tangible interaction approaches for personal indoor climate preferences [Extended Abstract]

In this paper we describe the preliminary results of a field study which evaluated the use of MiniOrb, a system that employs ambient and tangible interaction mechanisms to allow inhabitants of office environments to report on subjectively perceived office comfort levels. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of ubiquitous computing in the individual control of indoor climate and specifically answer the question to what extent ambient and tangible interaction mechanisms are suited for the task of capturing individual comfort preferences in a non-obtrusive manner. We outline the preliminary results of an in-situ trial of the system.

User-led innovation in call center knowledge work

So called “knowledge work” is seen as integral to post-industrial society and, for some, information and communications technologies (ICTs) are critical enablers of the associated practices. Many still propose the technologically deterministic route of rolling out ICTs and expecting that users will, and indeed can, “download” what they know into a system that can then be used in a number of ways. This approach is usually underpinned by the predominant assumption that the system will be developed by one group (developers) and used by another group (users). In this paper, we report on an exploratory case study of the enactment of ICT supported knowledge work in a human resources contact center which illustrates the negotiable boundary between the developer and user in local level innovation processes. Drawing upon ideas from the social shaping of technology, we examine how discussions regarding producer-user relations in innovation processes require a degree of greater sophistication as we show how users often develop (or produce) technologies and work practices in situ—in this case, to enable knowledge work practices and contribute to the project of constructing the knowledge component of professional identity. Much has been made of contextualizing the user; further work is required to contextualize the developer as a user and understand the social actors in ICT innovation environments who straddle both domains

The relationship between ambient ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and objectively measured personal UVR exposure dose is modified by season and latitude

Despite the widespread use of ambient ultraviolet radiation (UVR) as a proxy measure of personal exposure to UVR, the relationship between the two is not well-defined. This paper examines the effects of season and latitude on the relationship between ambient UVR and personal UVR exposure. We used data from the AusD Study, a multi-centre cross-sectional study among Australian adults (18-75 years), where personal UVR exposure was objectively measured using polysulphone dosimeters. Data were analysed for 991 participants from 4 Australian cities of different latitude: Townsville (19.3 °S), Brisbane (27.5 °S), Canberra (35.3 °S) and Hobart (42.8 °S). Daily personal UVR exposure varied from 0.01 to 21 Standard Erythemal Doses (median=1.1, IQR: 0.5–2.1), on average accounting for 5% of the total available ambient dose. There was an overall positive correlation between ambient UVR and personal UVR exposure (r=0.23, p<0.001). However, the correlations varied according to season and study location: from strong correlations in winter (r=0.50) and at high latitudes (Hobart, r=0.50; Canberra, r=0.39), to null or even slightly negative correlations, in summer (r=0.01) and at low latitudes (Townsville, r=-0.06; Brisbane, r=-0.16). Multiple regression models showed significant effect modification by season and location. Personal exposure fraction of total available ambient dose was highest in winter (7%) and amongst Hobart participants (7%) and lowest in summer (1%) and in Townsville (4%). These results suggest season and latitude modify the relationship between ambient UVR and personal UVR exposure. Ambient UVR may not be a good indicator for personal exposure dose under some circumstances.

Permissionary work

The Los Angeles-based collaborative duo responds to the community-focused mission of the Center for the Arts Eagle Rock by asking themselves what kinds of invitations they want to extend to others publicly and privately. The resulting works depict various attempts at engagement and include examples that are insider, narcissistic, exclusive, inclusive, and imaginary. This new body of work furthers CamLab’s ongoing investigation into intimacy and how the political becomes personal by making its existing networks palpable and by giving its potential networks form.

Contextualising co-creation of value in electronic personal health records

This conceptual paper is a preliminary part of an ongoing study into take-up of electronic personal health records (ePHRs). The purpose of this work is to contextually ‘operationalise' Grönroos’ (2012) model of value co-creation in service for ePHRs. Using findings in the extant literature we enhance theoretical and practical understanding of the potential for co-creation of value with ePHRs for relevant stakeholders. The research design focused on the selection and evaluation of relevant literature to include in the discussion. The objective was to demonstrate which articles can be used to 'contextualise' the concepts in relation to relevant healthcare providers and patient engagement in the co-creation of value from having shared ePHRs. Starting at the service concept, that is, what the service provider wants to achieve and for whom, there is little doubt that there are recognised benefits that co-create value for both healthcare providers and healthcare consumers (i.e. patients) through shared ePHRs. We further highlight both alignments and misalignments in the resources and activities concepts between stakeholder groups. Examples include the types of functionalities as well as the interactive and peer communication needs perceived as useful for healthcare providers compared to healthcare consumers. The paper has implications for theory and practice and is an original and innovative approach to studying the co-creation of value in eHealth delivery.

Profiling high-range speeding offenders : investigating criminal history, personal characteristics, traffic offences, and crash history

This paper reports profiling information for speeding offenders and is part of a larger project that assessed the deterrent effects of increased speeding penalties in Queensland, Australia, using a total of 84,456 speeding offences. The speeding offenders were classified into three groups based on the extent and severity of an index offence: once-only low-rang offenders; repeat high-range offenders; and other offenders. The three groups were then compared in terms of personal characteristics, traffic offences, crash history and criminal history. Results revealed a number of significant differences between repeat high-range offenders and those in the other two offender groups. Repeat high-range speeding offenders were more likely to be male, younger, hold a provisional and a motorcycle licence, to have committed a range of previous traffic offences, to have a significantly greater likelihood of crash involvement, and to have been involved in multiple-vehicle crashes than drivers in the other two offender types. Additionally, when a subset of offenders’ criminal histories were examined, results revealed that repeat high-range speeding offenders were also more likely to have committed a previous criminal offence compared to once only low-range and other offenders and that 55.2% of the repeat high-range offenders had a criminal history. They were also significantly more likely to have committed drug offences and offences against order than the once only low-range speeding offenders, and significantly more likely to have committed regulation offences than those in the other offenders group. Overall, the results indicate that speeding offenders are not an homogeneous group and that, therefore, more tailored and innovative sanctions should be considered and evaluated for high-range recidivist speeders because they are a high-risk road user group.

Environmental, personal, and genetic determinants of response to vitamin D supplementation in older adults

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Suboptimal vitamin D status can be corrected by vitamin D supplementation, but individual responses to supplementation vary. We aimed to examine genetic and nongenetic determinants of change in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) after supplementation. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: We used data from a pilot randomized controlled trial in which 644 adults aged 60 to 84 years were randomly assigned to monthly doses of placebo, 30 000 IU, or 60 000 IU vitamin D3 for 12 months. Baseline characteristics were obtained from a self-administered questionnaire. Eighty-eight single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 41 candidate genes were genotyped using Sequenom MassArray technology. Serum 25(OH)D levels before and after the intervention were measured using the Diasorin Liaison platform immunoassay. We used linear regression models to examine associations between genetic and nongenetic factors and change in serum 25(OH)D levels. RESULTS: Supplement dose and baseline 25(OH)D level explained 24% of the variability in response to supplementation. Body mass index, self-reported health status, and ambient UV radiation made a small additional contribution. SNPs in CYP2R1, IRF4, MC1R, CYP27B1, VDR, TYRP1, MCM6, and HERC2 were associated with change in 25(OH)D level, although only CYP2R1 was significant after adjustment for multiple testing. Models including SNPs explained a similar proportion of variability in response to supplementation as models that included personal and environmental factors. CONCLUSION: Stepwise regression analyses suggest that genetic variability may be associated with response to supplementation, perhaps suggesting that some people might need higher doses to reach optimal 25(OH)D levels or that there is variability in the physiologically normal level of 25(OH)D.

Predicting Australian adults' sun-safe behaviour : examining the role of personal and social norms

Objectives To address the scarcity of comprehensive, theory-based research in the Australian context, this study, using a theory of planned behaviour (TPB) framework, investigated the role of personal and social norms to identify the key predictors of adult Australians' sun-safe intentions and behaviour. Design The study used a prospective design with two waves of data collection, 1 week apart. Methods Participants were 816 adults (48.2% men) aged between 18 and 88 years recruited from urban, regional, and rural areas of Australia. At baseline, participants completed a questionnaire assessing the standard TPB predictors (attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control [PBC]), past behaviour, behavioural intention, and additional measures of group norm for the referent groups of friends and family, image norm, personal norm, personal choice/responsibility, and Australian identity. Seventy-one per cent of the participants (n = 577) reported on their sun-safe behaviour in the subsequent week. Results Via path modelling, past behaviour, attitude, group norm (friends), personal norm, and personal choice/responsibility emerged as independent predictors of intentions which, in turn, predicted sun-safe behaviour prospectively. Past behaviour, but not PBC, had direct effects on sun-safe behaviour. The model explained 61.6% and 43.9% of the variance in intention and behaviour, respectively. Conclusions This study provides support for the use of a comprehensive theoretical decision-making model to explain Australian adults' sun-safe intentions and behaviours and identifies viable targets for health-promoting messages in this high-risk context.

How can principals enhance teacher job satisfaction and work commitment?

Teachers leave the teaching profession at different stages throughout their careers. When mid-career teachers leave the profession, there is a potential loss of experienced, quality staff. Increasingly principals have the responsibility for recruiting and keeping quality staff, which translates to responsibility for arresting the attrition rate. This paper reports on an ongoing study that investigates how school leadership may affect teacher job satisfaction in order to understand how principals can enhance teacher work commitment. This paper uses the domains of leadership identified in Education Queensland’s Leadership Matters Framework (2008) to compare school leaders’ and teachers’ perceptions about mid-career teachers’ leaving the profession. Five current principals and five ex-teachers participated in semi-structured, qualitative, individual interviews about which leadership practices impact on teacher work commitment. The ideas identified by each cohort were coded through a content analysis. The five domains of leadership (i.e., personal, relational, intellectual, organisational and educational leadership) provided an analytical framework. Both participant groups indicated relational leadership practices as the strongest influence on teacher work commitment. The relational skills, such as valuing staff, being approachable, being consistent with staff interactions, having good interpersonal skills and developing staff strengths, were noted to have specific impacts on teachers’ work commitment. There were significant differences between the groups, with the ex-teachers rating the personal leadership practices as the second most important practice that can influence teacher work commitment. In contrast, the principals felt that the organisational and education leadership practices were of next importance for teacher work commitment. The findings have implications for principal leadership professional learning. Improving relational skills may help school leaders to increase teacher work. Teacher attrition is a serious concern to many education jurisdictions and by understanding reasons for decline in commitment, jurisdictions can redress the negative impact of leadership practices and keep teachers committed and in the profession. However, further research needs to incorporate more participants through a quantitative study to validate connections with the qualitative findings presented in this current study.

Seeing it differently: physical education, teacher education and the possibilities of personal construct theory

The celebrated work of Lortie (1975) alerted teacher educators to the extended period of 'apprenticeship' that student teachers have been through before they arrive at teacher education programmes. The subjective implicit theories (Marland, 1992) developed by prospective teachers are shaped by their lifeworld experiences at school and in the case of physical education teachers, their experiences in sport. The biography of physical education teacher education (PETE) students tends to be characterised by ecto-mesomorphic individuals who have been socialised by the rigours of highly competitive sport (Gore, 1990; Macdonald, 1992; Rossi, 1996). We can add to this, the requirements of teacher preparation in physical education which for the most part are dominated by the traditions and rhetoric of the 'natural' bio-physical sciences; largely a legacy of Henry's (1964) work on physical education as an academic discipline, as well as that of Abernathy and Waltz the same year (Abernathy & Waltz, 1964). In the United Kingdom, Curl (1973) further advanced the argument in an attempt to justify human movement as an independent field of study with its own corpus of knowledge. It is little wonder then, that the dominant pedagogical discourse in physical education is, as Tinning (1991) discusses, one of performance pedagogy (see also Hendry, 1986 for an earlier discussion). The knowledge required to support such a discourse could be described as 'official' (Apple, 1993) and it assumes such status by virtue of the power appropriated by and bestowed upon the scientific community in PETE (Macdonald & Tinning, 1995; Sparkes, 1989, 1993). However, there are social reifiers too, and these tend to relate to the social construction of the body (Kirk, 1993; Kirk & Spiller, 1994; Gilroy, 1994) and what Tinning (1985) has termed the Cult of Slenderness. Furthermore the 'slender image' has become a signifier of 'good health'. This is inextricably linked to what might be considered as a health triplex—'exercise = fitness = health' (see Kirk & Colquhoun, 1989; Tinning & Kirk, 1991) which in Australia, underpins curriculum packages such as Daily Physical Education which teachers (often including physical education primary...

The validity of personal disturbance scale (DSSI/sAD) in people with diabetes mellitus, using longitudinal data

Despite being used since 1976, Delusions-Symptoms-States-Inventory/states of Anxiety and Depression (DSSI/sAD) has not yet been validated for use among people with diabetes. The aim of this study was to examine the validity of the personal disturbance scale (DSSI/sAD) among women with diabetes using Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) cohort data. The DSSI subscales were compared against DSM-IV disorders, the Mental Component Score of the Short Form 36 (SF-36 MCS), and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Factor analyses, odds ratios, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses and diagnostic efficiency tests were used to report findings. Exploratory factor analysis and fit indices confirmed the hypothesized two-factor model of DSSI/sAD. We found significant variations in the DSSI/sAD domain scores that could be explained by CES-D (DSSI-Anxiety: 55%, DSSI-Depression: 46%) and SF-36 MCS (DSSI-Anxiety: 66%, DSSI-Depression: 56%). The DSSI subscales predicted DSM-IV diagnosed depression and anxiety disorders. The ROC analyses show that although the DSSI symptoms and DSM-IV disorders were measured concurrently the estimates of concordance remained only moderate. The findings demonstrate that the DSSI/sAD items have similar relationships to one another in both the diabetes and non-diabetes data sets which therefore suggest that they have similar interpretations.

Mini-Orb : A personal indoor climate preference feedback interface

The control of environmental factors in open-office environments, such as lighting and temperature is becoming increasingly automated. This development means that office inhabitants are losing the ability to manually adjust environmental conditions according to their needs. In this paper we describe the design, use and evaluation of MiniOrb, a system that employs ambient and tangible interaction mechanisms to allow inhabitants of office environments to maintain awareness of environmental factors, report on their own subjectively perceived office comfort levels and see how these compare to group average preferences. The system is complemented by a mobile application, which enables users to see and set the same sensor values and preferences, but using a screen-based interface. We give an account of the system’s design and outline the results of an in-situ trial and user study. Our results show that devices that combine ambient and tangible interaction approaches are well suited to the task of recording indoor climate preferences and afford a rich set of possible interactions that can complement those enabled by more conventional screen-based interfaces.

Learning experiences for the transition to professional work

A better educated workforce contributes to a more informed and tolerant society with higher economic output, and this is also associated with higher levels of personal health, interpersonal trust and civic and social engagement. Against this backdrop, the role of universities has expanded, as university learning has moved beyond providing an education to preparing students for leadership positions within society. This article examines the effectiveness of final-year learning experiences from the perception of recent graduates. The aim is to improve undergraduate curriculum to facilitate the transition to professional employment. An online quantitative and qualitative survey instrument was developed to investigate graduates’ perceptions of their different learning experiences and assessment types in their senior year. Four hundred and twelve alumni from five universities completed the survey. Our results indicate that graduates value case studies, group work and oral presentations, and that graduates rate lectures and guest lectures from practitioners as the least important in their transition to work. The results validate the use of graduate capability frameworks and mapping the development of the skills over the curriculum. These results are useful for curriculum designers to assist with designing programmes on the transition to professional work.

Submission for the Queensland Government Parliamentary Inquiry into personal health promotion interventions using telephone and web-based technologies

Telephone and web-based technologies such as SMS, smartphone apps, gamification, online/mobile games, online quizzes and tools can be used in personal health interventions in two ways: health promotion or social marketing. In response to the Queensland government's call for submissions to the parliamentary inquiry, a social marketing and design submission from four of the faculties at Queensland University of Technology was submitted. There appears to be a great deal of confusion in government circles about the terms ‘social marketing’ and ‘health promotion’ and often they are used interchangeably when they are actually significantly different approaches. Social marketing is the science and practice of behaviour change and involves goods and services that offer a value proposition, and which incentivises citizens to change their behaviour voluntarily. However, social marketing is often mistakenly used to describe advertising and communication or social media marketing. This submission contains an overview of how technology interventions need to be implemented to be successful, provides examples of the evidence that telephone and web-based interventions can effectively influence public health outcome. This submission poses seven critical factors.