Thinking Critically in the Land of Princesses and Giants : The Affordances and Challenges of Critical Approaches in the Early Years

During the last four decades, educators have created a range of critical literacy approaches for different contexts, including compulsory schooling (Luke & Woods, 2009) and second language education (Luke & Dooley, 2011). Despite inspirational examples of critical work with young students (e.g., O’Brien, 1994; Vasquez, 1994), Comber (2012) laments the persistent myth that critical literacy is not viable in the early years. Assumptions about childhood innocence and the priorities of the back-to-basics movement seem to limit the possibilities for early years literacy teaching and learning. Yet, teachers of young students need not face an either/or choice between the basic and critical dimensions of literacy. Systematic ways of treating literacy in all its complexity exist. We argue that the integrative imperative is especially important in schools that are under pressure to improve technical literacy outcomes. In this chapter, we document how critical literacy was addressed in a fairytales unit taught to 4.5 - 5.5 year olds in a high diversity, high poverty Australian school. We analyze the affordances and challenges of different approaches to critical literacy, concluding they are complementary rather than competing sources of possibility. Furthermore, we make the case for turning familiar classroom activities to critical ends.

Removal of epoxy-attached thin-sections from glass slides by plasma-etching

Thin-sectioned samples mounted on glass slides with common petrographic epoxies cannot be easily removed (for subsequent ion-milling) by standard methods such as heating or dissolution in solvents. A method for the removal of such samples using a radio frequency (RF) generated oxygen plasma has been investigated for a number of typical petrographic and ceramic thin sections. Sample integrity and thickness were critical factors that determined the etching rate of adhesive and the survivability of the sample. Several tests were performed on a variety of materials in order to estimate possible heating or oxidation damage from the plasma. Temperatures in the plasma chamber remained below 138°C and weight changes in mineral powders etched for 76 hr were less than ±4%. A crystal of optical grade calcite showed no apparent surface damage after 48 hr of etching. Any damage from the oxygen plasma is apparently confined to the surface of the sample, and is removed during the ion-milling stage of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) sample preparation.

The product of text and 'Other' statements : discourse analysis and the critical use of Foucault

Much has been written on Michel Foucault’s reluctance to clearly delineate a research method, particularly with respect to genealogy (Harwood 2000; Meadmore, Hatcher, & McWilliam 2000; Tamboukou 1999). Foucault (1994, p. 288) himself disliked prescription stating, “I take care not to dictate how things should be” and wrote provocatively to disrupt equilibrium and certainty, so that “all those who speak for others or to others” no longer know what to do. It is doubtful, however, that Foucault ever intended for researchers to be stricken by that malaise to the point of being unwilling to make an intellectual commitment to methodological possibilities. Taking criticism of “Foucauldian” discourse analysis as a convenient point of departure to discuss the objectives of poststructural analyses of language, this paper develops what might be called a discursive analytic; a methodological plan to approach the analysis of discourses through the location of statements that function with constitutive effects.

Growth of confined cancer spheroids : a combined experimental marker, critical modelling approach

A critical step in the dissemination of ovarian cancer is the formation of multicellular spheroids from cells shed from the primary tumour. The objectives of this study were to apply bioengineered three-dimensional (3D) microenvironments for culturing ovarian cancer spheroids in vitro and simultaneously to build on a mathematical model describing the growth of multicellular spheroids in these biomimetic matrices. Cancer cells derived from human epithelial ovarian carcinoma were embedded within biomimetic hydrogels of varying stiffness and grown for up to 4 weeks. Immunohistochemistry, imaging and growth analyses were used to quantify the dependence of cell proliferation and apoptosis on matrix stiffness, long-term culture and treatment with the anti-cancer drug paclitaxel. The mathematical model was formulated as a free boundary problem in which each spheroid was treated as an incompressible porous medium. The functional forms used to describe the rates of cell proliferation and apoptosis were motivated by the experimental work and predictions of the mathematical model compared with the experimental output. This work aimed to establish whether it is possible to simulate solid tumour growth on the basis of data on spheroid size, cell proliferation and cell death within these spheroids. The mathematical model predictions were in agreement with the experimental data set and simulated how the growth of cancer spheroids was influenced by mechanical and biochemical stimuli including matrix stiffness, culture duration and administration of a chemotherapeutic drug. Our computational model provides new perspectives on experimental results and has informed the design of new 3D studies of chemoresistance of multicellular cancer spheroids.

Analytical electron microscope investigation of boron carbide microstructures at elevated temperatures

The microstructures of hot-pressed B4C were monitored during in situ heating experiments from room temperature to 1000C by analytical electron microscopy (AEM). Variations in the microstructure of B4C were not observed. However, during heating, secondary phases formed in voids and on the surfaces of the specimen.

Effect of cold water immersion after exercise in the heat on muscle function, body temperatures, and vessel diameter

Cold water immersion (CWI) is a popular recovery modality, but actual physiological responses to CWI after exercise in the heat have not been well documented. The purpose of this study was to examine effects of 20-min CWI (14 degrees C) on neuromuscular function, rectal (T(re)) and skin temperature (T(sk)), and femoral venous diameter after exercise in the heat. Ten well-trained male cyclists completed two bouts of exercise consisting of 90-min cycling at a constant power output (216+/-12W) followed by a 16.1km time trial (TT) in the heat (32 degrees C). Twenty-five minutes post-TT, participants were assigned to either CWI or control (CON) recovery conditions in a counterbalanced order. T(re) and T(sk) were recorded continuously, and maximal voluntary isometric contraction torque of the knee extensors (MVIC), MVIC with superimposed electrical stimulation (SMVIC), and femoral venous diameters were measured prior to exercise, 0, 45, and 90min post-TT. T(re) was significantly lower in CWI beginning 50min post-TT compared with CON, and T(sk) was significantly lower in CWI beginning 25min post-TT compared with CON. Decreases in MVIC, and SMVIC torque after the TT were significantly greater for CWI compared with CON; differences persisted 90min post-TT. Femoral vein diameter was approximately 9% smaller for CWI compared with CON at 45min post-TT. These results suggest that CWI decreases T(re), but has a negative effect on neuromuscular function.

An extensible simulation framework for critical infrastructure security

We introduce the Network Security Simulator (NeSSi2), an open source discrete event-based network simulator. It incorporates a variety of features relevant to network security distinguishing it from general-purpose network simulators. Compared to the predecessor NeSSi, it was extended with a three-tier plugin architecture and a generic network model to shift its focus towards simulation framework for critical infrastructures. We demonstrate the gained adaptability by different use cases

Ranked critical factors in PPP briefings

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are increasingly used to procure Australian infrastructure projects. As with all construction projects, the early briefing stages are often the most crucial in determining a successful outcome. There is, however, a lack of systematic research on the type and nature of the critical factors affecting the effectiveness and efficiency of PPP during this period. A literature review is presented of PPP usage in Australia, in which four main categories of factors (procurement, stakeholder, risk, and finance) are identified, each with several subfactors. A questionnaire survey involving state government stakeholders is also described, and a mathematical model that ranks the factors involved is developed. This is followed by an examination of the potential of the factors to help improve the PPP briefing stage for both public and private sectors.

Evaluating the role of deep granitic rocks in generating anomalous temperatures in SW-Queensland

Across central Australia and south-west Queensland, a large (~800,000km2) subsurface temperature anomaly occurs (Figure 1). Temperatures are interpreted to be greater than 235°C at 5km depth, ca. 85°C higher than the average geothermal gradient for the upper continental crust (Chopra & Holgate, 2005; Holgate & Gerner, 2011). This anomaly has driven the development of Engineered Geothermal Systems (EGS) at Innamincka, where high temperatures have been related to the radiogenic heat production of High Heat Producing Granites (HHPG) at depth, below thermally insulative sedimentary cover (Chopra & Holgate, 2005; Draper & D’Arcy, 2006; Meixner & Holgate, 2009). To evaluate the role of granitic rocks at depth in generating the broader temperature anomaly in SW-Queensland, we sampled 25 granitic rocks from basement intervals of petroleum drill cores below thermal insulative cover along two transects (WNW–ESE and NNE–SSW — Figure 1) and performed a multidisciplinary study involving petrography, whole-rock chemistry, zircon dating and thermal conductivity measurements.

In situ SANS study of the surface and pore filling adsorption of subcritical and supercritical CO2 in porous silica as a function of pore size

We applied small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and ultra small-angle neutron scattering (USANS) to monitor evolution of the CO2 adsorption in porous silica as a function of CO2 pressure and temperature in pores of different sizes. The range of pressures (0 < P < 345 bar) and temperatures (T=18 OC, 35 OC and 60 OC) corresponded to subcritical, near critical and supercritical conditions of bulk fluid. We observed that the adsorption behavior of CO2 is fundamentally different in large and small pores with the sizes D > 100 Å and D < 30 Å, respectively. Scattering data from large pores indicate formation of a dense adsorbed film of CO2 on pore walls with the liquid-like density (ρCO2)ads≈0.8 g/cm3. The adsorbed film coexists with unadsorbed fluid in the inner pore volume. The density of unadsorbed fluid in large pores is temperature and pressure dependent: it is initially lower than (ρCO2)ads and gradually approaches it with pressure. In small pores compressed CO2 gas completely fills the pore volume. At the lowest pressures of the order of 10 bar and T=18 OC, the fluid density in smallest pores available in the matrix with D ~ 10 Å exceeds bulk fluid density by a factor of ~ 8. As pressure increases, progressively larger pores become filled with the condensed CO2. Fluid densification is only observed in pores with sizes less than ~ 25 – 30 Å. As the density of the invading fluid reaches (ρCO2)bulk~ 0.8 g/cm3, pores of all sizes become uniformly filled with CO2 and the confinement effects disappear. At higher densities the fluid in small pores appears to follow the equation of state of bulk CO2 although there is an indication that the fluid density in the inner volume of large pores may exceed the density of the adsorbed layer. The equivalent internal pressure (Pint) in the smallest pores exceeds the external pressure (Pext) by a factor of ~ 5 for both sub- and supercritical CO2. Pint gradually approaches Pext as D → 25 – 30 Å and is independent of temperature in the studied range of 18 OC ≤ T ≤ 60 OC. The obtained results demonstrate certain similarity as well as differences between adsorption of subcritical and supercritical CO2 in disordered porous silica. High pressure small angle scattering experiments open new opportunities for in situ studies of the fluid adsorption in porous media of interest to CO2 sequestration, energy storage, and heterogeneous catalysis.

Professional practice research : ensuring teacher development through a critical approach to professional learning

Currently the development of a national system for the ongoing enhancement of teacher professionalism across Australia is underway. The initiative led by Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) on behalf of the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (now SCSEEC) is progressing rapidly with a finalised set of Professional Standards for Teachers and a set of Professional Standards for Principals approved by Ministers in 2011. It is clear that there is an inextricable link between the newly proposed professional standards and the professional education of teachers and principals across Australia. Further, it is imperative that the education sector will need to work in a unified manner through ongoing consultations to ensure the standards truly reflect what teachers and principals desire of the profession, in terms of teacher preparation, professional learning and training, and professional recognition.

The product of text and “Other” statements : discourse analysis and the critical use of Foucault

Much has been written on Michel Foucault’s reluctance to clearly delineate a research method, particularly with respect to genealogy (Harwood 2000; Meadmore, Hatcher, & McWilliam 2000; Tamboukou 1999). Foucault (1994, p. 288) himself disliked prescription stating, “I take care not to dictate how things should be” and wrote provocatively to disrupt equilibrium and certainty, so that “all those who speak for others or to others” no longer know what to do. It is doubtful, however, that Foucault ever intended for researchers to be stricken by that malaise to the point of being unwilling to make an intellectual commitment to methodological possibilities. Taking criticism of “Foucauldian” discourse analysis as a convenient point of departure to discuss the objectives of poststructural analyses of language, this paper develops what might be called a discursive analytic; a methodological plan to approach the analysis of discourses through the location of statements that function with constitutive effects.