Educational simulation in construction: the virtual construction simulator

Students in the architecture, engineering, and construction disciplines are often challenged with visualizing and understanding the complex spatial and temporal relationships involved in designing and constructing three-dimensional (3D) structures. An evolving body of research traces the use of educational computer simulations to enhance student learning experiences through testing real-world scenarios and the development of student decision-making skills. Ongoing research at Pennsylvania State University aims to improve engineering education in construction through interactive construction project learning applications in an immersive virtual reality environment. This paper describes the first- and second-generation development of the Virtual Construction Simulator (VCS), a tool that enables students to simultaneously create and review construction schedules through 3D model interaction. The educational value and utility of VCS was assessed through surveys, focus group interviews, and a student exercise conducted in a construction management class. Results revealed VCS is a valuable and effective four-dimensional (4D) model creation and schedule review application that fosters collaborative work and greater student task focus. This paper concludes with a discussion of the findings and the future development steps of the VCS educational simulation

Two Faces of AIDS in Hong Kong: Culture and the Construction of the `AIDS Celebrity'

Since the first reported case of HIV infection in Hong Kong in 1985, only two HIV-positive individuals in the territory have voluntarily made public their seropositivity: a British dentist named Mike Sinclair, who disclosed his condition to the media in 1992 and died in 1995, and J.J. Chan, a local Chinese disc-jockey, who came forward in 1995 and died just a few months later. When they made their revelations, both became instant media personalities and were invited by the Hong Kong Government to act as spokespeople for AIDS awareness and prevention. Mike Sinclair worked as an education officer for the Hong Kong AIDS Foundation, and J.J. Chan appeared in Government television commercials about AIDS. This article explores how the public identities of these two figures were constructed in the cultural context of Hong Kong where both Eastern and Western values exist side by side and interact. It argues that the construction of `AIDS celebrities' is a kind of `identity project' negotiated among the players involved: the media, the Government, the public, and the person with AIDS (PWA) himself, each bringing to the construction their own `theories' regarding the self and communication. When the players in the construction hold shared assumptions about the nature of the self and the role of communication in enacting it, harmonious discourses arise, but when cultural models among the players differ, contradictory or ambiguous constructions result. The effect of culture on the way `AIDS celebrities' are constructed has implications for the way societies view the issue of AIDS and treat those who have it. It also helps reveal possible sites of difficulty when individuals of different cultures communicate about the issue.

Science Teacher Education in Brazil: 1950-2000

This paper analyzes the most significant events occurring in Brazil`s educational, social and political areas over the last half century, viewed against a background of relevant worldwide events. The hypothesis presented here is that the relations between the country`s educational policies, the demands of the various segments of academia, and the public school system have always been strained. This strain has contributed positively to the evolution of academic knowledge and production, to the design of more modern curricular projects by institutional authorities, and to the initial recognition of the specific construction of school knowledge by the school system itself. However, the interaction of these major institutions lacks a crucial element-one that would lead to an effective change in the education of science teachers and produce a positive impact on Brazil`s schools-namely, the wholehearted participation of science teachers themselves. With this analysis, we intend to contribute by offering some perspectives and proposals for science teacher education in Brazil.

HAPPINESS INDEXTHE CONSTRUCTION AND ANALYSIS

This study aims to investigate the important indicators that contribute to happiness among Beijing residence. The residents of Beijing were taken as the target population for the survey. A questionnaire was used as the main statistical instrument to collect the data from the residents in Beijing. In so doing the investigation employs Factor analyses and chi-square analyses as the main statistical tools used for the analyses in this research. The study found that Beijing residents gained greater happiness in the family, interpersonal relationships, and health status. The analysis also shows that generally, the residence of Beijing feels happier and also in terms of gender basis, females in Beijing feel happier as compare to their male counterpart. It will find that gender, age and education are statistically significant when dealing with happiness.

The modus operandi of special education: teachers' ability to analyse student needs and apply it to classroom planning

The contemporary debate about quality education for children with disabilities and impairments has continued to focus on mainstream schools, and, more recently, the emphasis on inclusion considers the reproduction of exclusionary practice within school structures. While the socio-cultural construction of disability is recognised as disabling, this paper argues that a constructive approach to policy implementation can be accomplished by drawing on 'insider' information constructed by teachers involved in inclusive practice.

Consuming children : education, entertainment, advertising

"Schools are dull, adults are dim, kids rule, pleasure can be purchased - these are canons of children's consumer cultures. In the places where kids, commodities and images meet, education, entertainment and advertising merge. Kids consume the corporate abundance with an appetite. But what happens now that schools are on the market? Is this a form of corporate gluttony? Are designer schools educationally "grotesque"? How are students packaged? How can curriculum compete with other attractions constantly advertised to students? Are students themselves both purchasers and commodities for sale?"

This volume argues that people are entering another stage in the construction of the young as the demarcations between education, entertainment and advertising collapse and as the lines between the generations both blur and harden. Drawing from the voices of students and from contemporary cultural theory this book provokes the reader to ponder the role of the school in the "age of desire.

Gender and IT : ongoing challenges for computing and information technology education in Australian secondary education

# 1. Introduction. Exploring the gender and IT problem and possible ways forward /​ Julianne Lynch
# 2. The imagined curriculum: who studies Computing and Information Technology subjects at the senior secondary level? /​ Margaret Vickers and My Trinh Ha
# 3. A question of attention: challenges for researching the under representation of girls in Computing and Information Technology subjects /​ Leonie Rowan
# 4. The nature and purpose of Computing and Information Technology subjects in the senior secondary school curriculum in New South Wales /​ Toni Downes
# 5. The social construction of Computing and Information Technology subject subculture /​ Catherine Harris
# 6. Boy nerds, girl nerds: constituting and negotiating Computing and Information Technology and peer groups as gendered subjects in schooling /​ Kerry Robinson and Cristyn Davies
# 7. CIT teachers' cultures in a globalising world /​ Carol Reid and Jose van der Akker
# 8. Perceptions of changing pedagogies in Computing and Information Technology /​ Susanne Gannon

The construction of new teacher identities and new collaborative partnerships

There are many different versions of partnerships between teachers and academics and both authors have themselves been involved in various collaborations with classroom teachers. This paper is concerned with the construction of teacher identity within such collaborative partnerships. We will focus on the problematic nature of some of these partnerships by examining the discourses that construct teachers as 'resistant', or 'unwilling' in accounts of collaborative work that was not necessarily successful. In particular we will ask: Why are the relationships seen to be problematic? In whose terms are they problematic? This critique of existing discourses within accounts of collaborative partnerships will allow a rethinking of the relations between teachers and academics. In the conclusion to this paper we will attempt to answer the question: What are the features of particular relationships that can produce shifts in discourses so that teachers are 'truly' located and positioned as collaborative partners?

Securing the oral tradition : reflective positioning and professional conversations in midwifery education

We postulate that positioning is a powerful tool in guiding and transforming student professional learning and practice development. In our experiences with students enrolled in he Graduate Diploma of Midwifery, we determined that positioning elaborates individual scholarship and identity formation of the learner midwife in practice settings. Positioning Theory, developed by Harré and other authorities, is a psycho-sociological 'ontology' or concept of how individuals metaphorically position or locate themselves, and others, within institutions and societies. Three key components of positioning theory include 'position', 'speech act' and 'storylines', developing from the everyday social interactions of professional conversations. Reflective positioning can be applied as an analytical tool for the moment-to- moment exchanges inherent in practice related conversations, occurring between midwives and midwifery students. These moment-to-moment interactions of professional conversations can be used by students to complete or fill their learning gaps. Positioning therefore, provides a novel, contemporary theoretical framework to 'unpack' or understand the complexity of midwifery practice and yet is complementary with reflective practice. Excerpts are used to demonstrate reflective positioning applications by students. Midwives are encouraged by health services and by the University to provide student support through a 'preceptorship' program to supervise, work with and assess students for competence in midwifery practices. We claim that reflective positioning by students within professional conversations with their preceptor/midwives, are the construction sites for learning and where identity formation of each student as a future midwife is both shaped and transformed. Both academics and managers of health services need to embrace the value of workplace conversations, the sites of rich oral traditions of nursing and midwifery. Thus, in seeking claim to our rich oral traditions, all students will benefit from engagement in reflective positioning to promote their professional learning and practice development.

The Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ): An outcomes and evaluation measure for patient education and self-management interventions for people with chronic conditions

Objective: This paper describes the development and validation of the Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ). The aim was to develop a user-friendly, relevant, and psychometrically sound instrument for the comprehensive evaluation of patient education programs, which can be applied across a broad range of chronic conditions.

Methods: Item development for the heiQ was guided by a Program Logic Model, Concept Mapping, interviews with stakeholders and psychometric analyses. Construction (N = 591) and confirmatory (N = 598) samples were drawn from consumers of patient education programs and hospital outpatients. The properties of the heiQ were investigated using item response theory and structural equation modeling.

Results: Over 90 candidate items were generated, with 42 items selected for inclusion in the final scale. Eight independent dimensions were derived: Positive and Active Engagement in Life (five items, Cronbach's alpha (α) = 0.86); Health Directed Behavior (four items, α = 0.80); Skill and Technique Acquisition (five items, α = 0.81); Constructive Attitudes and Approaches (five items, α = 0.81); Self-Monitoring and Insight (seven items, α = 0.70); Health Service Navigation (five items, α = 0.82); Social Integration and Support (five items, α = 0.86); and Emotional Wellbeing (six items, α = 0.89).

Conclusion:The heiQ has high construct validity and is a reliable measure of a broad range of patient education program benefits.

Practice Implications: The heiQ will provide valuable information to clinicians, researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders about the value of patient education programs in chronic disease management.

Traversing theory and transgressing academic discourses : arts-based research in teacher education

Pre-service teacher education is marked by linear and sequential programming which offers a plethora of strategies and methods (Cochran-Smith & Zeichner, 2005; Darling Hammond & Bransford, 2005; Grant & Zeichner, 1997). This paper emerges from a three year study within a core education subject in preservice teacher education in Australia. This ‘practitioner’ research (Zeichner, 1999) engaged the problematics of authentic and meaningful learner-centred teaching and learning through an arts-based curriculum. Over the period of the study, two hundred and eighty pre-service teachers participated in a ‘dialogical performance’ (Conquergood, 2003) of pedagogy about curriculum and assessment through the construction of art about curriculum and assessment. The possibilities of an arts-based pedagogy in pre-service education were affirmed by the research. An enacted epistemological move by the teacher educators led to similar shifts by the students. This opened a space for the reappearance of learner through engagements with identities, positionings and agency. This was an act of ‘putting theory to work’ (Lather, 2006, 2007) and invoked transgressive practices of academic discourses.

A Foucauldian strategy for vocational education and training research

Vocational education and training (VET) is an area of research dominated by positivist approaches. Such approaches complement the behaviourist educational philosophy known as 'competency-based training' (CBT) that underpins Australia’s VET system. This paper reflects on a quandary encountered by researchers examining the history of competency based education at a TAFE institution in South Australia. The issue was how to account for a series of mutations in the way CBT was understood and practised that subverted the largely unquestioned expectation of progress. The researchers found that Foucault’s 'genealogical' approach allowed for the construction of a mode of intelligibility that lends the history a disturbing cogency. At the centre of this construction is an understanding of CBT as a highly permeable system whose configurability supports the reticulation of multiple forms of power.

The employers' perspective of the impact of RICS education reform on building surveying

Purpose: This paper seeks to present the second part of research funded by the RICS Education Trust to investigate the impact of the 2001 education reforms on Building Surveying. The first part of the research involved the collection of data from university course leaders.

Design/methodology/approach: This research involved the collection of data from large national, mainly London-based, employers of building surveyors at a focus group meeting.

Findings: The paper finds that issues of concern to these employers include the extent of construction technology knowledge of graduates, the delivery of contract administration, the placement year, post-graduate conversion courses and the high referral rate for the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC). Recommendations include advice to universities on the design of building surveying undergraduate and conversion courses, a call for further research on the high APC referral rate, and greater liaison between industry and universities.

Research limitations/implications: The main limitation of the research is that the employers from whom data were collected were mainly large, national firms. Further research would be required to elicit the views of smaller regional organisations.

Practical implications: Both parts of this RICS Education Trust funded research provides a foundation for the Building Surveying Faculty of the RICS to complete their review of the education and training of building surveyors.

Originality/value: The research provides useful data on the impact of RICS education reform on building surveying, but mainly large, national firms.

RICS education reform and building surveying : the employers' view

This paper presents the second part of research funded by the RICS Education Trust to investigate the impact of the 2001 education reforms on building surveying. The research involved the collection of data from large national, mainly London-based, employers of building surveyors. Issues of concern to these employers include the extent of construction technology knowledge of graduates, the delivery of contract administration, the placement year, post-graduate conversion courses and the high referral rate for the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC). Recommendations include advice to universities on the design of building surveying undergraduate and conversion courses, a call for further research on the high APC referral rate and greater liaison between industry and universities.

Barriers to indigenous education and educational research reform in Australia

Across all Indigenous education sectors in Australia there continues to be extensive debate about the appropriateness of proposed assessment criteria, curriculum content, language of instruction, pedagogical approaches, research practices and institutional structures. Until relatively recently, policy initiatives targeting these issues have been developed and implemented separately and without reference to the interrelated nature of the barriers that confront Indigenous peoples in their attempts to challenge mainstream educational and research practices that potentially marginalise their individual and collective interests. Increasingly, these issues are being linked under the banner of 'Indigenous education reform', and the potential for collective Indigenous community action is being realised. The current Indigenous education reform process in Australia is concerned with reversing the trend associated with patterns of academic underachievement by Indigenous students in the nation's school systems. Concurrently, reforms in the area of Indigenous education research are concerned with achieving fundamental changes to the way Indigenous education research is initiated, constructed and practised. Mainstream institutions. Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous peoples have different interests in the outcome of the resolution processes associated with proposals to reform Indigenous education and research practices. It is through investigation of stakeholder positioning in relation to key issues, and through reference to stakeholder interests in the outcome of negotiated resolutions, that a critical approach to analysing Indigenous education and research reform initiatives can be achieved. The three case studies contained within this portfolio represent an attempt to investigate the patterns of contestation associated with the delivery of primary school education for Aboriginal students in the Northern Territory and the problems associated with implementing reformed Indigenous education research guidelines. This research has revealed pervasive mainstream community and institutional support for assimilatory policies and a related lack of support for policies of Indigenous community 'self-determination1. This implies insufficient support within the Nation-State for Indigenous proposals for education and research reforms that legitimise the incorporation of Indigenous languages and cultural knowledge and that aim to re-position Indigenous peoples as central to the construction and delivery of education and educational research within their own communities. Common barriers to the implementation of reformed institutional structures and educational and research practices have been identified across each of the three case studies. The analysis of these common barriers points to a generalised statement about the nature of the resistance by mainstream Australians and their institutions to Indigenous community proposals for educational and research reforms. This research identifies key barriers to Indigenous Australian education and research reforms as being: Resurgent mainstream community and institutional support for assimilatory policies implies a lack of support for increasing the level of Indigenous community involvement in the construction and delivery of education and educational research; Mainstream institutional commitment to the principles of economic rationalism and the incorporation of corporate managerialist approaches reduces the potential for Indigenous community involvement in the setting of educational and research objectives; The education and social policy agendas of recent Australian governments are geared toward the achievement of national economic growth and the strengthening of Australia's position in the global economy. As a direct result, the unique cultural identities and linguistic heritages of Indigenous peoples in Australia are marginalised; Identified 'disempowenng' attitudes and practices of educators, researchers and institutional representatives continue to impact negatively upon the educational outcomes of Indigenous students; Insufficient institutional support for the development of mechanisms to ensure Indigenous community control over all aspects of the research project continues to impede the successful negotiation of research in Indigenous community contexts; The promotion of 'deficit' educational approaches for Indigenous students reinforces the marginalisation of their existing linguistic and cultural knowledge bases; The relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Australia continues to be constrained by the philanthropically based 'donor-recipient' model of service delivery. The framing of Indigenous peoples as recipients of mainstream community benevolence has ongoing disempowering and negative consequences; Currently proposed national Indigenous education policies and programmes for the implementation of these polices do not adequately take into account the diversity in linguistic, political, cultural and social interests of Indigenous peoples in Australia; Widespread 'institutional racism' within mainstream educational institutions perpetuates the disadvantage experienced by Indigenous students and Indigenous community members who aim to derive benefit from education and educational research.