Springboards into design : exploring multiple representations of interaction in a dental surgery

This paper demonstrates that in order to understand and design for interactions in complex work environments, a variety of representational artefacts must be developed and employed. A study was undertaken to explore the design of better interaction technologies to support patient record keeping in a dental surgery. The domain chosen is a challenging real context that exhibits problems that could potentially be solved by ubiquitous computing and multi-modal interaction technologies. Both transient and durable representations were used to develop design understandings. We describe the representations, the kinds of insights developed from the representations and the way that the multiple representations interact and carry forward in the design process.

Damage assessment in multiple-girder composite bridge using vibration characteristics

This paper uses dynamic computer simulation techniques to apply a procedure using vibration-based methods for damage assessment in multiple-girder composite bridge. In addition to changes in natural frequencies, this multi-criteria procedure incorporates two methods, namely the modal flexibility and the modal strain energy method. Using the numerically simulated modal data obtained through finite element analysis software, algorithms based on modal flexibility and modal strain energy change before and after damage are obtained and used as the indices for the assessment of structural health state. The feasibility and capability of the approach is demonstrated through numerical studies of proposed structure with six damage scenarios. It is concluded that the modal strain energy method is competent for application on multiple-girder composite bridge, as evidenced through the example treated in this paper.

Negotiating multiple identities between school and the outside world : A critical discourse analysis

This article examines interview talk of three students in an Australian high school to show how they negotiate their young adult identities between school and the outside world. It draws on Bakhtin’s concepts of dialogism and heteroglossia to argue that identities are linguistically and corporeally constituted. A critical discourse analysis of segments of transcribed interviews and student-related public documents finds a mismatch between a social justice curriculum at school and its transfer into students’ accounts of outside school lived realities. The article concludes that a productive social justice pedagogy must use its key principles of (con)textual interrogation to engage students in reflexive practice about their positioning within and against discourses of social justice in their student and civic lives. An impending national curriculum must decide whether or not it negotiates the discursive divide any better.

Multiple-choice versus short-response items: Differences in omit behavior

The overall rate of omission of items for 28,331 17 year old Australian students on a high stakes test of achievement in the common elements or cognitive skills of the senior school curriculum is reported for a subtest in multiple choice format and a subtest in short response format. For the former, the omit rates were minuscule and there was no significant difference by gender or by type of school attended. For the latter, where an item can be 'worth' up to five times that of a single multiple choice item, the omit rates were between 10 and 20 times that for multiple choice and the difference between male and female omit rate was significant as was the difference between students from government and non-government schools. For both formats, females from single sex schools omitted significantly fewer items than did females from co-educational schools. Some possible explanations of omit behaviour are alluded to.

Stability analysis and control of multiple converter based autonomous microgrid

In this paper, the stability of an autonomous microgrid with multiple distributed generators (DG) is studied through eigenvalue analysis. It is assumed that all the DGs are connected through Voltage Source Converter (VSC) and all connected loads are passive. The VSCs are controlled by state feedback controller to achieve desired voltage and current outputs that are decided by a droop controller. The state space models of each of the converters with its associated feedback are derived. These are then connected with the state space models of the droop, network and loads to form a homogeneous model, through which the eigenvalues are evaluated. The system stability is then investigated as a function of the droop controller real and reac-tive power coefficients. These observations are then verified through simulation studies using PSCAD/EMTDC. It will be shown that the simulation results closely agree with stability be-havior predicted by the eigenvalue analysis.

PhD forum : multiple camera management using wide base-line matching

Manual calibration of large and dynamic networks of cameras is labour intensive and time consuming. This is a strong motivator for the development of automatic calibration methods. Automatic calibration relies on the ability to find correspondences between multiple views of the same scene. If the cameras are sparsely placed, this can be a very difficult task. This PhD project focuses on the further development of uncalibrated wide baseline matching techniques.

Linking early design decisions across multiple disciplines

The early stages of the building design process are when the most far reaching decisions are made regarding the configuration of the proposed project. This paper examines methods of providing decision support to building designers across multiple disciplines during the early stage of design. The level of detail supported is at the massing study stage where the basic envelope of the project is being defined. The block outlines on the building envelope are sliced into floors. Within a floor the only spatial divisions supported are the “user” space and the building core. The building core includes vertical transportation systems, emergency egress and vertical duct runs. The current focus of the project described in the paper is multi-storey mixed use office/residential buildings with car parking. This is a common type of building in redevelopment projects within and adjacent to the central business districts of major Australian cities. The key design parameters for system selection across the major systems in multi-storey building projects - architectural, structural, HVAC, vertical transportation, electrical distribution, fire protection, hydraulics and cost – are examined. These have been identified through literature research and discussions with building designers from various disciplines. This information is being encoded in decision support tools. The decision support tools communicate through a shared database to ensure that the relevant information is shared across all of the disciplines. An internal data model has been developed to support the very early design phase and the high level system descriptions required. A mapping to IFC 2x2 has also been defined to ensure that this early information is available at later stages of the design process.