Culturally inclusive design in a multicultural society

Multiculturalism in design advocates that people's belief and cultures should be placed at the centre of design processes and designers should be capable of addressing cultural diversity in multiple ways of thinking. However, contemporary design discourses seem not to be philosophically inclusive and practically applicable in mulriculmral contexts. This paper theoretically reviews three predominant metaphysical conceptual thinking frameworks: Dualism, Monism and Holism in many multicultural societies and argue a possibility of the culturally inclusive design.

Optimising employee engagement with internal communication : a social exchange perspective

Drawing on principles of social exchange this thesis employs mediated regression to investigate the relationship between internal communication and employee engagement in the Australian workforce. Findings suggest organisations and supervisors should focus internal communication efforts toward building greater perceptions of support and stronger identification among employees in order to foster optimal engagement. This research contributes to public relations and management scholarship through understanding how perceived support and identification act as mediating mechanisms in the relationship between internal communication and employee engagement at the organisational and supervisory level.

Liminal moments : designing, thinking and learning

This paper provides a contextual reflection for understanding best practice teaching to first year design students. The outcome (job) focussed approach to higher education has lead to some unanticipated collateral damage for students, and in the case we discuss, has altered the students’ expectations of course delivery with specific implications and challenges for design educators. This tendency in educational delivery systems is further compounded by the distinct characteristics of Generation Y students within a classroom context. It is our belief that foundational design education must focus more on process than outcomes, and through this research with first year design students we analyse and raise questions relative to the curriculum for a Design and Creative Thinking course—in which students not only benefit from learning the theories and processes of design thinking, conceptualisation and creativity, but also are encouraged to see it as an essential tool for their education and development as designers. This study considers the challenges within a design environment; specifically, we address the need for process based learning in contrast to the outcome-focused approach taken by most students. With this approach, students simultaneously learn to be a designer and rethink their approach to “doing design”.

The role and future challenges of wireless communication networks for cooperative autonomous city vehicles

This paper elaborates on the use of future wireless communication networks for autonomous city vehicles. After addressing the state of technology, the paper explains the autonomous vehicle control system architecture and the Cybercars-2 communication framework; it presents experimental tests of communication-based real-time decision making; and discusses potential applications for communication in order to improve the localization and perception abilities of autonomous vehicles in urban environments.

Improving safety for driverless city vehicles : real-time communication and decision making

This paper elaborates on the Cybercars-2 Wireless Communication Framework for driverless city vehicles, which is used for Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure communication. The developed framework improves the safety and efficiency of driverless city vehicles. Furthermore, this paper also elaborates on the vehicle control software architecture. On-road tests of both the communication framework and its application for real-time decision making show that the communication framework is reliable and useful for improving the safe operation of driverless city vehicles.

Pragmatic two-way communication : a practitioner perspective on dialogue in public relations

Public relations has traditionally claimed a close association with dialogue, but this research demonstrates that formal notions of dialogue have little relevance to the real world of public relations practice. Instead, practitioners undertake pragmatic forms of two-way communication, because the constraints within which they work mean dialogue is difficult if not impossible to carry out. This qualitative research project shows that although the label of 'dialogue' has been co-opted in both the theory and practice of public relations, this claimed connection is not supported by empirical evidence.

Auditor communication in an evolving environment : going beyond SAS 600 auditors' reports on financial statements

In 1993 the Auditing Practices Board issued an expanded audit report, SAS 600 Auditors’ Reports on Financial Statements, in an attempt to educate users and to clarify certain matters pertaining to the audit function. This paper investigates the extent to which the new audit report, SAS 600, has been successful in aligning the views of auditors, preparers and users about issues dealt with in the expanded audit report, and the extent to which the three groups considered that it would be useful for additional matters, including corporate governance, to be reported upon by the auditor. Our findings suggest that SAS 600 has been successful in clarifying the purpose of the audit and the respective responsibilities of auditors and directors. However, to meet the expectations of users and to add more value, the audit report needs to provide more information about the findings of the audit.

Optimizing employee engagement with internal communication : a social exchange perspective

Employee engagement is linked to higher productivity, lower attrition, and improved organizational reputations resulting in increased focus and resourcing by managers to foster an engaged workforce. While drivers of employee engagement have been identified as perceived support, job characteristics, and value congruence, internal communication is theoretically suggested to be a key influence in both the process and maintenance of employee engagement efforts. However, understanding the mechanisms by which internal communication influences employee engagement has emerged as a key question in the literature. The purpose of this research is to investigate whether social factors, namely perceived support and identification, play a mediating role in the relationship between internal communication and engagement. To test the theoretical model, data are collected from 200 non-executive employees using an online self-administered survey. The study applies linear and mediated regression to the model and finds that organizations and supervisors should focus internal communication efforts toward building greater perceptions of support and stronger identification among employees in order to foster optimal levels of engagement.

Authentication of concast communication

In this paper we tackle the problem of finding an efficient signature verification scheme when the number of signatures is signi.- cantly large and the verifier is relatively weak. In particular, we tackle the problem of message authentication in many-to-one communication networks known as concast communication. The paper presents three signature screening algorithms for a variant of ElGamal-type digital signatures. The cost for these schemes is n applications of hash functions, 2n modular multiplications, and n modular additions plus the verification of one digital signature, where n is the number of signatures. The paper also presents a solution to the open problem of finding a fast screening signature for non-RSA digital signature schemes.

Standards that we can 'own' : Threshold Learning Outcomes for Journalism, Public Relations, and Media & Communication Studies

This paper outlines the progress by the JoMeC (Journalism, Media & Communication) Network in developing TLO (Threshold Learning Outcome) statements for Bachelor-level university programs in the disciplines of Journalism, Public Relations and Media & Communications Studies. The paper presents the finalised TLO statement for Journalism, and outlines moves to engage discipline-based groups to further develop preliminary TLOs for Public Relations and Media & Communication Studies. The JoMeC Network was formed in 2011, in response to requirements that from 2014 all degrees and qualifications at Australian universities would be able to demonstrate that they comply with the threshold learning standards set by the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). The AQF’s threshold standards define the minimum types and levels of knowledge, skills and capabilities that a student must demonstrate in order to graduate. The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) will use the AQF’s threshold standards as a key tool in recording and assessing the performance of higher educational institutions, and determining whether they should be registered as Australian Higher Education Providers under the Higher Education Standards Framework. The Office of Learning & Teaching (OLT) places the onus on discipline communities to collaborate in order to develop and ‘own’ the threshold learning standards that can be considered the minimum learning outcomes of university-level programs in that field. With the support of an OLT Grant, the JoMeC Network’s prime goal has been to develop three sets of discipline-specific TLOs – one each for the Journalism, Public Relations, and Media & Communications Studies disciplines. This paper describes the processes of research, consultation, drafting and ongoing revision of the TLO for Journalism. It outlines the processes that the JoMeC Network has taken in developing a preliminary TLO draft to initiate discussion of Public Relations and Media & Communication Studies. The JoMeC Network plans to hand management of further development of these TLOs to scholars within the discipline who will engage with academics and other stakeholders to develop statements that the respective disciplines can embrace and ‘own’.

Confucius Institutes and the network communication approach to public diplomacy

Discussions of public diplomacy in recent years have paid a growing amount of attention to networks. This network perspective is understood to provide insights into various issues of public diplomacy, such as its effects, credibility, reputation, identity and narratives. This paper applies the network idea to analyse China’s Confucius Institutes initiative. It understands Confucius Institutes as a global network and argues that this network structure has potential implications for the operation of public and cultural diplomacy that are perhaps underestimated in existing accounts of Chinese cultural diplomacy. In particular, it is noted that the specific setup of Confucius Institutes requires the engagement of local stakeholders, in a way that is less centralised and more networked than comparable cultural diplomacy institutions. At the same time, the development of a more networked for of public cultural diplomacy is challenged in practice by both practical issues and the configuration of China’s state-centric public diplomacy system informed by the political constitution of the Chinese state.

Preservice practicum supervision : researching an on-line communication system

Practicum is widely recognised as an essential component of preservice professional teacher education. The effective supervision of preservice teachers while undertaking practicum is fundamental to the success of the field experience. However, many of the traditional models of supervision are under pressure. Alternative models for the supervision of preservice teacher practicum are needed to encourage stronger communication links between the university and field placement sites. This paper describes one such model, PracLink, an on-line communication infrastructure used to facilitate and support student learning during practicum. Research findings regarding the use of PracLink are reported, which highlight the strengths and potential of this model while also addressing its shortcomings.

Synthesizing form and data : developing practices for student engagement and learning

We explore the relationship between form and data as a design agenda and learning strategy for novice visual information designers. Our students are university seniors in digital, visual design but novices to information design, manipulation and interpretation. We describe design strategies developed to scaffold sophisticated aesthetic and conceptual engagement despite limited understanding of the domain of designing with information. These revolve around an open-ended design project where students created a physical design from data of their choosing and research. The accompanying learning strategies concern this relationship between data and form to investigate it materially, formally and through ideation. Exemplifying student works that cross media and design domains are described.

Building resilient communities : creating effective multi-channel communication during disaster response and recovery

Aim: To examine evidence-based strategies that motivate appropriate action and increase informed decision-making during the response and recovery phases of disasters.