Debate on statutory control of the surveying profession in Queensland : 1907 to 1975

This article was written in 1997. After a 2009 review the content was left mostly unchanged - apart from this re-written abstract, restructured headings and a table of contents. The article deals directly with professional registration of surveyors; but it also relates to government procurement of professional services. The issues include public service and professional ethics; setting of professional fees; quality assurance; official corruption; and professional recruitment, education and training. Debate on the Land Surveyors Act 1908 (Qld) and its amendments to 1916 occurred at a time when industrial unrest of the 1890s and common market principles of the new Commonwealth were fresh in peoples’ minds. Industrial issues led to a constitutional crisis in the Queensland’s then bicameral legislature and frustrated a first attempt to pass a Surveyors Bill in 1907. The Bill was re-introduced in 1908 after fresh elections and Kidston’s return as state premier. Co-ordinated immigration and land settlement polices of the colonies were discontinued when the Commonwealth gained power over immigration in 1901. Concerns shifted to protecting jobs from foreign competition. Debate on 1974 amendments to the Act reflected concerns about skill shortages and professional accreditation. However, in times of economic downturn, a so-called ‘chronic shortage of surveyors’ could rapidly degenerate into oversupply and unemployment. Theorists championed a naïve ‘capture theory’ where the professions captured governments to create legislative barriers to entry to the professions. Supposedly, this allowed rent-seeking and monopoly profits through lack of competition. However, historical evidence suggests that governments have been capable of capturing and exploiting surveyors. More enlightened institutional arrangements are needed if the community is to receive benefits commensurate with sizable co-investments of public and private resources in developing human capital.

Re-imagining school through young people’s drawings

Children’s drawings provide rich qualitative data (Walker, 2008) and “valuable information for the assessment of children's environmental perceptions” (Barraza, 1999, p. 49). They are the primary data source being used to re-imagine school from a student perspective (Schratz & Steiner-Löffler, 1998) in a research project being carried out with primary school students in Queensland, Australia. This paper will report on the progress of this project which addresses a mostly unmet need for students’ perspectives to be included in school design (Rudduck & Flutter, 2004). Grade 5/6 students in a number of primary schools have been invited to submit annotated drawings with up to 200 words of text illustrating their ideal educational spaces. Using purpose-designed analytical tools, the submissions will be compared across student backgrounds and school types to obtain a better understanding of the needs and educational desires of young people in relation to changing learning environments. The findings will inform consideration of the design and use of educational spaces with all work exhibited through a dedicated website. The term ‘educational spaces’ avoids restrictive notions of what the concept of ‘school’ means, referring to any real or virtual space in which teaching and learning may occur or, as Ferguson and Seddon (2007) have referred to it, “the shifting imagery of education” that includes red brick schools and dispersed learning networks. The theoretical framework for this study is grounded in the work of Greene (1995) and Wright-Mills (2001) who cited the deployment of critical and empathic imagination in addressing education reform.

Enforcing P3P policies using a digital rights management system

The protection of privacy has gained considerable attention recently. In response to this, new privacy protection systems are being introduced. SITDRM is one such system that protects private data through the enforcement of licenses provided by consumers. Prior to supplying data, data owners are expected to construct a detailed license for the potential data users. A license specifies whom, under what conditions, may have what type of access to the protected data. The specification of a license by a data owner binds the enterprise data handling to the consumer’s privacy preferences. However, licenses are very detailed, may reveal the internal structure of the enterprise and need to be kept synchronous with the enterprise privacy policy. To deal with this, we employ the Platform for Privacy Preferences Language (P3P) to communicate enterprise privacy policies to consumers and enable them to easily construct data licenses. A P3P policy is more abstract than a license, allows data owners to specify the purposes for which data are being collected and directly reflects the privacy policy of an enterprise.

Non-motorized public transport development : present scenario and future approach in developing cities

Over the last few decades, most large cities in the developing world have been experiencing rapid and imbalanced transport sector development resulting in severe congestion and poor levels of service. The most common response at a policy level under this circumstance has been to focus on private and public motorized transport modes, and especially on traffic control measures and mass transit systems. Despite their major role in the overall transport system in many developing cities in Asia & Latin America, relatively little attention is given to non-motorized transport (NMT) modes (walk, bicycle and cycle-rickshaw). In particular, this ideology is applicable to the paid category of non-motorized public transport (NMPT), notably three-wheeler cycle rickshaws that still have an important socio-economic, environmental and trip-making role in many developing cities. Despite, they are often seen as inefficient and backward; an impediment to progress; and inconsistent with modern urban image. Policy measures therefore, to restrict or eliminate non-motorized transport from urban arterials and other feeder networks have been implemented in cities as diverse as Dhaka, Delhi, Karachi, Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, Surabaya and Beijing . This paper will primarily investigate the key contribution of NMPT in the sustainable transport system and urban fabric of developing cities, with Dhaka as case study. The paper will also highlight in detail the impediments towards NMPT development and provide introductory concept on possible role this mode is expected to play into the future of these cities

Parents’ choice of early childhood education service in Hong Kong : a pilot study

The introduction of a voucher scheme for early childhood education in Hong Kong has resulted in significant changes in the field. This paper reports data from a pilot study that aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of how parents chose early childhood education service following the introduction of a voucher scheme in Hong Kong. Eight-six Chinese parents with children aged three participated in interviews and focus group discussions. This group of parents had just gone through the process of selecting a kindergarten or nursery for their child for the school year of 2007-2008. Parents from a range of socioeconomic circumstances and educational levels who had selected non-profit kindergartens and nurseries in public and private housing estates participated. Results showed that what parents looked in their choice of service matched closely with how they defined quality. As evidenced in the study, parents’ changing views on quality shared a great deal of resemblance with the specific notion of quality being heavily promoted by recent reform policy. The findings pointed to the complex interactions of policy, choice and practices of early childhood education. The new voucher scheme is intensifying the governing of the self and the field, the impact of which can be worrying.

Homework for refugee middle school students with backgrounds marked by low levels of engagement with English school literacy

Homework presents many challenges for refugees from Africa who are arriving in Australian schools with histories of little, no or severely interrupted schooling. This is evident in the emergence of school- and community-based homework help, clubs and tutoring programs for the students. The aim of this article is to describe the homework support options accessed by eight students from Burundi, Rwanda, Eritrea and Sudan who participated in a study of pedagogy for middle school-aged African refugees, and the views on homework of their parents and teachers. The article shows some tensions between family and school expectations and the dilemmas that arise for teachers in a broader context of public concern about and official policy statement on excessive and repetitive homework. It is argued that application of policy guidelines needs to account for disadvantages that potentially accrue to students who cannot design their own independent study programs. Further, it is suggested that integration of skills and meaning-based pedagogy inherent in recent approaches to literacy education has potential for ensuring that students receive the forms of homework they require.

Integrating engineering education in the middle school mathematics curriculum

Many nations are experiencing a decline in the number of graduating engineers, an overall poor preparedness for engineering studies in tertiary institutions, and a lack of diversity in the field. Given the increasing importance of mathematics, science, engineering, and technology in our world, it is imperative that we foster an interest and drive to participate in engineering from an early age. This discuission paper argues for the intergration of engineering education within the elementary and middle school mathematics curricula. In doing so, we offer a definition of engineering education and address its core goals; consider some perceptions of engineering and engineering education held by teachers and students; and offer one approach to promoting engineering education within the elementary and middle school mathematics curriculum, namely through mathematical modeling.

Integrating engineering model eliciting activities in elementary school curricula

This paper argues for a future-oriented, inclusion of Engineering Model Eliciting Activities (EngMEAs) in elementary mathematics curricula. In EngMEAs students work with meaningful engineering problems that capitalise on and extend their existing mathematics and science learning, to develop, revise and document powerful models, while working in groups. The models developed by six groups of 12-year students in solving the Natural Gas activity are presented. Results showed that student models adequately solved the problem, although student models did not take into account all the data provided. Student solutions varied to the extent students employed the engineering context in their models and to their understanding of the mathematical concepts involved in the problem. Finally, recommendations for implementing EngMEAs and for further research are discussed.

Introducing Engineering Education in the Middle School

This paper first describes a new three-year, longitudinal project that is implementing engineering education in three middle schools in Australia (grade levels 7-9). This important domain is untapped in Australia. Hence, as a starting point, we conducted a context analysis to help situate engineering education in a school system. We report on this analysis with respect to findings from one of two literature-based surveys that gathered middle-school student responses in mathematics (n=172) and science (n=166) towards understanding their dispositions for engineering education. ANOVA indicated gender differences for 3 out of 23 items in both mathematics and science. In addition, the majority of students agreed or strongly agreed with 17 of the 23 survey items, however, there were some differences between mathematics and science. We conclude the paper with some recommendations for establishing engineering education in schools, including the development of partnerships among engineering and education faculties, school systems, and industry to develop contemporary engineering resources to support school-level mathematics, science, and technology.

How well are Australian children doing in the first year of school?

Background: The transition to school is a sensitive period for children in relation to school success. In the early school years, children need to develop positive attitudes to school and have experiences that promote academic, behavioural and social competence. When children begin school there are higher expectations of responsibility and independence and in the year one class, there are more explicit academic goals for literacy and numeracy and more formal instruction. Most importantly, children’s early attitudes to learning and learning styles have an impact on later educational outcomes. Method: Data were drawn from The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). LSAC is a cross-sequential cohort study funded by the Australian Government. In these analyses, Wave 2 (2006) data for 2499 children in the Kindergarten Cohort were used. Children, at Wave 2, were in the first year of formal school. They had a mean age of 6.9 years (SD= 0.26). Measures included a 6-item measure of Approaches to Learning (task persistence, independence) and the Academic Rating Scales for language and literacy and mathematical thinking. Teachers rated their relationships with children on the short form of the STRS. Results: Girls were rated by their teachers as doing better than boys on Language and literacy, Approaches to learning; and they had a better relationship with their teacher. Children from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island (ATSI) background were rated as doing less well on Language and Literacy and Mathematical thinking and on their Approaches to learning. Children from high Socio Economic Position families are doing better on teacher rated Language and Literacy, Mathematical thinking, Approaches to learning and they had a better relationship with their teacher. Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of key demographic variables in understanding children’s early school success.

Communicating ecologically positive development

It is difficult to present a paradigm shift from resource efficient to ecologically sustainable design, when many students have not yet thought about what sustainability is, let alone what it implies for the design of the built environment ‘Positive Development’ requires students to think beyond green building to something that does not yet exist. The concept of ecologically positive development suggests a product, building, system or urban area that leaves the ecological base and public estate better off than if no development had occurred. For some years now, I have experimented with communicating this paradigm shift in design to students and professionals ‐ with mixed results. This paper discusses some of the challenges, failures and successes in shifting design studio work from environmentally‐sensitive to eco-positive. The framework underlying this exploration is action research. Conclusions about the success of the strategies used for overcoming perceptual barriers to new typologies of architecture are drawn from recent student feedback. The talk will show examples of student projects that attempt eco-positive development projects.

Emerging urban futures, land, water, infrastructure

This paper will examine the intersection of design research and problem‐based teaching through the process and outcomes of a four year long ARC funded research project: the Emerging Futures Project. Sustainability is central to the project; in its overall content as well as in the broad aim of determining better outcomes for urban consolidation.   

Seeing is understanding : the effect of visualisation in understanding programming concepts

How and why visualisations support learning was the subject of this qualitative instrumental collective case study. Five computer programming languages (PHP, Visual Basic, Alice, GameMaker, and RoboLab) supporting differing degrees of visualisation were used as cases to explore the effectiveness of software visualisation to develop fundamental computer programming concepts (sequence, iteration, selection, and modularity). Cognitive theories of visual and auditory processing, cognitive load, and mental models provided a framework in which student cognitive development was tracked and measured by thirty-one 15-17 year old students drawn from a Queensland metropolitan secondary private girls’ school, as active participants in the research. Seventeen findings in three sections increase our understanding of the effects of visualisation on the learning process. The study extended the use of mental model theory to track the learning process, and demonstrated application of student research based metacognitive analysis on individual and peer cognitive development as a means to support research and as an approach to teaching. The findings also forward an explanation for failures in previous software visualisation studies, in particular the study has demonstrated that for the cases examined, where complex concepts are being developed, the mixing of auditory (or text) and visual elements can result in excessive cognitive load and impede learning. This finding provides a framework for selecting the most appropriate instructional programming language based on the cognitive complexity of the concepts under study.

AITPM Email Newsletter Volume 0904, April 2009: Presidents Message

President’s Report Hello fellow AITPM members, A few weeks ago we saw another example of all levels of Government pulling together in real time to try to deal with a major transport incident, this time it was container loads of ammonium nitrate falling off the Pacific Adventurer during Cyclone Hamish and the associated major oil spill due to piercing of its hull off Moreton Bay in southern Queensland. The oil spill was extensive, affecting beaches and estuaries from Moreton Island north to the Sunshine Coast; a coastal stretch of at least 60km. We saw the Queensland Government, Brisbane, Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast Regional Council crews deployed quickly once the gravity of the situation was realised to clean up toxic oil on beaches and prevent extensive upstream contamination. Environmental agencies public and private were quick to respond to help affected wildlife. The Navy’s HMAS Yarra and another minesweeper were deployed to search for the containers in the coastal area in an effort to have them salvaged before all ammonium nitrate could leach into and harm marine habitat, which would have a substantial impact not only on that environment but also the fishing industry. all of this during the final fortnight before a State election.) While this could be branded as a maritime problem, the road transport and logistics system was crucial to the cleanup. The private vehicular ferries were enlisted to transport plant and equipment from Brisbane to Moreton Island. The plant themselves, such as graders, were drawn from road building and maintenance inventory. Hundreds of Councils’ staff were released from other activities to undertake the cleanup. While it will take some time for us to know the long term impacts of this incident, it seems difficult to fault “grassroots” government crews and their private counterparts, such as Island tourism staff, in the initial cleanup effort. From a traffic planning and management perspective, we should also remember that this sort of incident has happened on road and rail corridors in the past, albeit on lesser scales. It underlines that we do need to continue to protect communities, commercial interests, and the environment through rigorous heavy vehicle management, planning and management of dangerous goods routesincluding rail corridors through urban areas), and carefully considered incident and disaster recovery plans and protocols. I’d like to close in reminding everyone again that AITPM’s flagship event, the 2009 AITPM National Conference, Traffic Beyond Tomorrow, is being held in Adelaide from 5 to 7 August. SA Branch President Paul Morris informs me that we have had over 50 paper submissions to date, from which a very balanced and informative programme of sessions has been prepared. www.aitpm.com has all of the details about how to register, sponsor a booth, session, etc. Best regards all, Jon Bunker

AITPM Email Newsletter Volume 0907, July 2009 : President's Message

President’s Message AITPM President’s Message, July 2009 Hello fellow AITPM members, It’s now very early July so many Australians are going to experience a range of new, or increases in, fees, charges, and perhaps taxes by State and local governments. For example, Queenslanders are to be hit at the petrol pump, no longer living with the luxury of the State’s previous 8c per litre fuel subsidy, bringing general motorists’ fuel costs into line with the other States. A consolation is that they now don’t have to live with the real or perceived “price gouging” that has appeared in the past to make Queensland prices much closer than 8c to those in other States. Environmental lobbyists argue that this Government’s decision brings public transport costs closer to parity with private transport. However, my sense from sloppy petrol price elasticities is that the State’s motorists will get used to the reversal of what was a reverse tax pretty quickly, an amount which can be less than day-of-the week fluctuation. On the other hand, withholding this State revenue may help in some way the funding of the several major public transport infrastructure projects in progress; not to mention some of the cost of running the Transit Authority’s expanding service commitments. Other policy actions, such as a Federal Government review of taxation on employees’ package vehicles, which might discourage rather than encourage excess kilometres travelled, may have a greater environmental benefit. Of course, a downside is that many vehicles used so are Australian built, and discouraging fleet turnover may damage an industry which faces ever increasing uncertainty, and particularly at the present, is in need of some care and attention. I for one hope to this end that the new 4 cylinder (1.8L petrol or 2L diesel) so called “true Holden” Cruze and Toyota’s pending Camry Hybrid are both roaring successes, and will be taken up in droves as fleet and employee use vehicles. I’m not sure what drive-trains Ford and Holden plan to drop into their next full sized models but even if they’re not Australian sourced, let’s hope they coordinate the requisite performance expected by the “Aussie Battler” with suitable green credentials. I am also encouraged to see that already many Government fleet vehicles are smaller in size, but still fit for purpose. For instance, my local police station uses the Camry based Aurion as a district car. I close again in reminding everyone that AITPM’s flagship event, the 2009 AITPM National Conference, Traffic Beyond Tomorrow, is being held in Adelaide from 5 to 7 August. www.aitpm.com has all of the details about how to register, sponsor a booth, session, etc. Best regards all, Jon Bunker