Assessing the structure of learning outcomes from counselling using the SOLO taxonomy: an exploratory study

Thirty-five clients who had received counselling completed a letter to a friend describing in as much detail as possible what they had learned from counselling. The participants' written responses were analysed and classified using the Structure of Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy. The results suggested that an expanded SOLO offers a promising and exciting way to view the outcomes of counselling within a learning framework. If the SOLO taxonomy is found to be stable in subsequent research, and clients are easily able to be classified using the taxonomy, then this approach may have implications for the process of counselling. To maximise the learning outcomes, counsellors could use strategies and techniques to enhance their clients' learning.

Micro-structure differences in kaolinite suspensions

SEM observations of the aqueous suspensions of kaolinite from Birdwood (South Australia) and Georgia (USA) show noticeable differences in number of physical behaviour which has been explained by different microstructure constitution.. Birdwood kaolinite dispersion gels are observed at very low solid loadings in comparison with Georgia KGa-1 kaolinite dispersions which remain fluid at higher solids loading. To explain this behaviour, the specific particle interactions of Birdwood kaolinite, different from interaction in Georgia kaolinite have been proposed. These interactions may be brought about by the presence of nano-bubbles on clay crystal edges and may force clay particles to aggregate by bubble coalescence. This explains the predominance of stair step edge-edge like (EE) contacts in suspension of Birdwood kaolinite. Such EE linked particles build long strings that form a spacious cell structure. Hydrocarbon contamination of colloidal kaolinite particles and low aspect ratio are discussed as possible explanations of this unusual behaviour of Birdwood kaolinite. In Georgia KGa-1 kaolinite dispersions instead of EE contact between platelets displayed in Birdwood kaolinite, most particles have edge to face (EF) contacts building a cardhouse structure. Such an arrangement is much less voluminous in comparison with the Birdwood kaolinite cellular honeycomb structure observed previously in smectite aqueous suspensions. Such structural characteristics of KGa-1 kaolinite particles enable higher solid volume fractions pulps to form before significantly networked gel consistency is attained.

Landscape landscapism

Clearly the world is a different place to what it was 40 years ago, and much of that difference can be characterised as disturbances to the local on the basis of globalism, particularly due to changes in communication and information technology. Like it did to modernism before it, this societal change calls for, or more aptly calls to, designers to reformulate their practices to reflect this significant new paradigm. This is a rationale that has driven much avant-garde activity in the 20th century, and in this case, 'landscape urbanism' in the 21st. In the case of this discussion, it is important to recognise the avant-garde cycle at work in the development of the discipline, not only to contextualise its production, but so that its greatest values can be welcomed: despite the propaganda and arrogance, important revisions occurred to the canons after all the -isms. That said, I do find myself asking: do we need another -ism?

The Children's Depression Scale : assessment of factor structure with data from a normal population

A study investigated the reliability and construct validity of the Children's Depression Scale. The revised subscales were shown to have strong construct and face validity and high reliability.

Unusual hydrate stabilization in the two-dimensional layered structure of quinacrinium bis(2-carboxy-4,5-dichlorobenzoate) tetrahydrate, a proton-transfer compound of the drug quinacrine

The crystal structure of the hydrated proton-transfer compound of the drug quinacrine [rac-N'-(6-chloro-2-methoxyacridin-9-yl)-N,N-diethylpentane-1,4-diamine] with 4,5-dichlorophthalic acid, C23H32ClN3O2+ . 2(C8H3Cl2O4-).4H2O (I), has been determined at 200 K. The four labile water molecules of solvation form discrete ...O--H...O--H... hydrogen-bonded chains parallel to the quinacrine side chain, the two N--H groups of which act as hydrogen-bond donors for two of the water acceptor molecules. The other water molecules, as well as the acridinium H atom, also form hydrogen bonds with the two anion species and extend the structure into two-dimensional sheets. Between these sheets there are also weak cation--anion and anion--anion pi-pi aromatic ring interactions. This structure represents only the third example of a simple quinacrine derivative for which structural data are available but differs from the other two in that it is unstable in the X-ray beam due to efflorescence, probably associated with the destruction of the unusual four-membered water chain structures.

Modern landscape

Landscape is a perennial source of conceptual material for most creative disciplines, and, arguably, everything else, but it is always irritating to landscape architects how it is seized on by architects when their own canon is boring them or their language of form is getting a bit straight. What is frustrating is that while landscape architecture attempts to come to terms with factors, systems and nuances of situations that may result in form, there is a tendency in architecture to make icons of generic 'natural' archetypes. This is not to say that landscape architecture has yet developed a strong formal language that engages with these nuances, just that the struggle with them is at its root, and this struggle with specificity in the face of generic-ness is a noble one. In the face of this, to see architecture describe a 'new' and 'innovative' interest in landscape in 'the ground' seems like a diversion: surely there must be innovation in a real, articulate and sophisticated understanding of the architectural canon.

Clypeotheca, a new skeletal structure in scleractinian corals : a potential stress indicator

Physiological responses to environmental stress are increasingly well studied in scleractinian corals. This work reports a new stress-related skeletal structure we term clypeotheca. Clypeotheca was observed in several livecollected common reef-building coral genera and a two to three kya subfossil specimen from Heron Reef, Great Barrier Reef and consists of an epitheca-like skeletal wall that seals over the surface of parts of the corallum in areas of stress or damage. It appears to form from a coordinated process wherein neighboring polyps and adjoining coenosarc seal themselves off from the surrounding environment as they contract and die. Clypeotheca forms from inward skeletal centripetal growth at the edges of corallites and by the merging of flange-like outgrowths that surround individual spines over the surface of the coenosteum. Microstructurally, the merged flanges are similar to upsidedown dissepiments and true epitheca. Clypeotheca is interpreted primarily as a response to stress that may help protect the colony from invasion of unhealthy tissues by parasites or disease by retracting tissues in areas that have become unhealthy for the polyps. Identification of skeletal responses of corals to environmental stress may enable the frequency of certain types of environmental stress to be documented in past environments. Such data may be important for understanding the nature of reef dynamics through intervals of climate change and for monitoring the effects of possible anthropogenic stress in modern coral reef habitats.

Real Design of a Virtual Landscape : Designing and building a landscape in Second Life

3D Virtual Environments (VE) are real; they exist as digital worlds with the advantage of having none of the constraints of the real world. As such they are the perfect training ground for design students who can create, build and experiment with design solutions without the constraint of real world projects. This paper reports on an educational setting used to explore a model for using VE such as Second Life (SL) developed by Linden Labs in California, as a collaborative environment for design education. A postgraduate landscape architecture learning environment within a collaborative design unit was developed to integrate this model where the primary focus was the application of three-dimensional tools within design, not as a presentation tool, but rather as a design tool. The focus of the unit and its aims and objectives will be outlined before describing the use of SL in the unit. Attention is focused on the collaboration and learning experience before discussing the outcomes, student feedback, future projects using this model and potential for further research. The outcome of this study aims to contribute to current research on teaching and learning design in interactive VE’s. We present a case study of our first application of this model.

Using information criteria to select the correct variance–covariance structure for longitudinal data in ecology

1. Ecological data sets often use clustered measurements or use repeated sampling in a longitudinal design. Choosing the correct covariance structure is an important step in the analysis of such data, as the covariance describes the degree of similarity among the repeated observations. 2. Three methods for choosing the covariance are: the Akaike information criterion (AIC), the quasi-information criterion (QIC), and the deviance information criterion (DIC). We compared the methods using a simulation study and using a data set that explored effects of forest fragmentation on avian species richness over 15 years. 3. The overall success was 80.6% for the AIC, 29.4% for the QIC and 81.6% for the DIC. For the forest fragmentation study the AIC and DIC selected the unstructured covariance, whereas the QIC selected the simpler autoregressive covariance. Graphical diagnostics suggested that the unstructured covariance was probably correct. 4. We recommend using DIC for selecting the correct covariance structure.

XCFS - a novel approach for clustering XML documents using both the structure and the content

XML document clustering is essential for many document handling applications such as information storage, retrieval, integration and transformation. An XML clustering algorithm should process both the structural and the content information of XML documents in order to improve the accuracy and meaning of the clustering solution. However, the inclusion of both kinds of information in the clustering process results in a huge overhead for the underlying clustering algorithm because of the high dimensionality of the data. This paper introduces a novel approach that first determines the structural similarity in the form of frequent subtrees and then uses these frequent subtrees to represent the constrained content of the XML documents in order to determine the content similarity. The proposed method reduces the high dimensionality of input data by using only the structure-constrained content. The empirical analysis reveals that the proposed method can effectively cluster even very large XML datasets and outperform other existing methods.

Content, structure and orientations of the practice-led exegesis

The emergent field of practice-led research is a unique research paradigm that situates creative practice as both a driver and outcome of the research process. The exegesis that accompanies the creative practice in higher research degrees remains open to experimentation and discussion around what content should be included, how it should be structured, and its orientations. This paper contributes to this discussion by reporting on a content analysis of a large, local sample of exegeses. We have observed a broad pattern in contents and structure within this sample. Besides the introduction and conclusion, it has three main parts: situating concepts (conceptual definitions and theories), practical contexts (precedents in related practices), and new creations (the creative process, the artifacts produced and their value as research). This model appears to combine earlier approaches to the exegesis, which oscillated between academic objectivity in providing a context for the practice and personal reflection or commentary upon the creative practice. We argue that this hybrid or connective model assumes both orientations and so allows the researcher to effectively frame the practice as a research contribution to a wider field while doing justice to its invested poetics.

Eco-structure data forms : classification of data analysis using perceived design affordances for musical outcomes

This paper explores a method of comparative analysis and classification of data through perceived design affordances. Included is discussion about the musical potential of data forms that are derived through eco-structural analysis of musical features inherent in audio recordings of natural sounds. A system of classification of these forms is proposed based on their structural contours. The classifications include four primitive types; steady, iterative, unstable and impulse. The classification extends previous taxonomies used to describe the gestural morphology of sound. The methods presented are used to provide compositional support for eco-structuralism.