Building an Australian user community for VIVO

The Australian National Data Service (ANDS) was established in 2008 and aims to: influence national policy in the area of data management in the Australian research community; inform best practice for the curation of data, and, transform the disparate collections of research data around Australia into a cohesive collection of research resources One high profile ANDS activity is to establish the population of Research Data Australia, a set of web pages describing data collections produced by or relevant to Australian researchers. It is designed to promote visibility of research data collections in search engines, in order to encourage their re-use. As part of activities associated with the Australian National Data Service, an increasing number of Australian Universities are choosing to implement VIVO, not as a platform to profile information about researchers, but as a 'metadata store' platform to profile information about institutional research data sets, both locally and as part of a national data commons. To date, the University of Melbourne, Griffith University, the Queensland University of Technology, and the University of Western Australia have all chosen to implement VIVO, with interest from other Universities growing.

Effect of group formation on performance, task management and social loafing

Engineering graduates of today are required to adapt to a rapidly changing work environment. In particular, they are expected to demonstrate enhanced capabilities in both mono-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary teamwork environments. Engineering education needs, as a result, to further focus on developing group work capabilities amongst engineering graduates. Over the last two years, the authors trialed various group work strategies across two engineering disciplines. In particular, the effect of group formation on students' performance, task management, and social loafing was analyzed. A recently developed online teamwork management tool, Teamworker, was used to collect students' experience of the group work. Analysis showed that students who were allowed to freely allocate to any group were less likely to report loafing from other team members, than students who were pre-allocated to a group. It also showed that performance was more affected by the presence or absence of a leader in pre-allocated rather than free-allocated groups.

Coordinated research skills training at QUT

Universities are wanting to drive research performance to new levels to increase competitiveness and secure additional research funding. Information technology departments, libraries and research offices are being tasked with the triple role of developing infrastructure, introducing new services, and raising researchers’ awareness and skill levels in the uptake of these services and related eResearch concepts in order to achieve institutional goals. The purpose of this poster is to provide an overview of the coordinated approach to the provision of research skills workshops and seminars provided to researchers and higher degree research (HDR) students at QUT. Seminars and workshops are provided by the Library in collaboration with High Performance Computing and Research Support (HPC) and the Research Students Centre. The sessions are findable and bookable via the Library’s KickStart system. A list of session topics is provided. The Research Support services web site brings together information on a range of research support services provided by the Library and HPC. Seminars and workshops are also available via a research training calendar system into which all sessions are populated, regardless of the provider. The Library and HPC are also undertaking a train the trainer program.

Early relational reasoning and the novice programmer : swapping as the “hello world” of relational reasoning

We report on a longitudinal research study of the development of novice programmers in their first semester of programming. In the third week, almost half of our sample of students could not answer an explain-in-plain-English question, for code consisting of just three assignment statements, which swapped the values in two variables. We regard code that swaps the values of two variables as the simplest case of where a programming student can manifest a SOLO relational response. Our results demonstrate that the problems many students face with understanding code can begin very early, on relatively trivial code. However, using traditional programming exercises, these problems often go undetected until late in the semester. New approaches are required to detect and fix these problems earlier.

Engineering curricula in the 21st century : the global scenario and challenges for India

In the 21st century's global economy, the new challenges facing the engineering profession have arrived, confirming the need to restructure engineering curricula, teaching and learning practices, and processes, including assessment. Possessing merely technical knowledge no longer guarantees an engineering graduate a successful career. And while all countries are facing this dilemma, India is struggling the most. It has been argued that most Indian engineering educational institutions struggle with the systemic problem of centralisation coupled with an archaic examination system that is detrimental to student learning. This article examines some internationally renowned educational institutions that are embracing the growing importance of non-technical subjects and soft skills in 21st century engineering curricula. It will then examine the problems that India faces in doing the same.

International students in Australian universities : gap between student expectations and realities

Australian Universities are very successful in attracting large number of international students. A large proportion of University revenue comes from the full fee paying international students. However, there have been many reports that international students face numerous problems when they arrive in Australia. The common management practice is to provide support staff services to deal with the orientation and welfare of international students. Such service units act as intermediaries between the students and the teaching and learning community of the university. However, the actual experience of international students may be difficult for support staff, counsellors, advisers and academic staff to anticipate. There is little information on the actual experience of students relative to their expectations. This study aimed at securing a deeper understanding of the contextually relevant issues facing by international students in Australian universities in order to develop management strategies aimed at improved teaching and learning outcomes for international students. Using a highly reliable survey questionnaire, a questionnaire survey was conducted among the international students at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia. About 180 engineering students responded in the survey resulting in a response rate of 81%. Results indicate that international students face many difficulties including understanding colloquial language, Australian accent, cost of tuition, feelin isolation, safety, security, health services, accommodation and part time jobs. They also face difficulty in coping with learning methods in Australia, particularly in research report writing. However, they are happy with their lecturers and find them very helpful. Many of the students lacked the information regarding various community groups, recreational and sports facilities in Australia before arriving. Findings of the study show that there is a significant gap between the expectation of the students before coming to Australia and actual experience they experience here. Importantly, there is a lack of coordination between international students, international student services (ISS) and university management and as a consequence there have been little improvement in conditions. There is no direct link between student experience and University management. Many important suggestions arisen from this study and most important suggestion is that the student information system should be integrated with the University enterprise resource planning (ERP) to reduce the huge gap between international student expectation and actual experiences.

Definition of an airworthiness certification framework for civil unmanned aircraft systems

The development of effective safety regulations for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) is an issue of paramount concern for industry. The development of this framework is a prerequisite for greater UAS access to civil airspace and, subsequently, the continued growth of the UAS industry. The direct use of the existing conventionally piloted aircraft (CPA) airworthiness certification framework for the regulation of UAS has a number of limitations. The objective of this paper is to present one possible approach for the structuring of airworthiness regulations for civilian UAS. The proposed approach facilitates a more systematic, objective and justifiable method for managing the spectrum of risk associated with the diversity of UAS and their potential operations. A risk matrix is used to guide the development of an airworthiness certification matrix (ACM). The ACM provides a structured categorisation that facilitates the future tailoring of regulations proportionate to the levels of risk associated with the operation of the UAS. As a result, an objective and traceable link may be established between mandated regulations and the overarching objective for an equivalent level of safety to CPA. The ACM also facilitates the systematic consideration of a range of technical and operational mitigation strategies. For these reasons, the ACM is proposed as a suitable method for the structuring of an airworthiness certification framework for civil or commercially operated UAS (i.e., the UAS equivalent in function to the Part 21 regulations for civil CPA) and for the further structuring of requirements on the operation of UAS in un-segregated airspace.

Student autonomy enhancing science learning : Observations from a Primary Connections implementation

This case study involved a detailed analysis of the changes in beliefs and teaching practices of teachers who adopted the Primary Connections program as a professional development initiative. When implementing an inquiry-based learning model, teachers observed that their students learnt more when they intervened less. By scaffolding open-ended nquiries they achieved more diverse, complex and thorough learning outcomes than previously achieved with teacher-led discussions or demonstrations. Initially, student autonomy presented erceived threats to teachers, including possible selection of topics outside the teachers’ science knowledge. In practice, when such issues arose, resolving them became a stimulating part of the earning for both teachers and students. The teachers’ observation of enhanced student learning became a powerful motivator for change in their beliefs and practices. Implications for developers of PD programs are (1) the importance of modeling student-devised inquiries, and (2) recognising the role of successful classroom implementation in facilitating change.

Minority activism : trends informing political participation across Australian communities

In the late 1990’s, intense and vigorous debate surrounded the impact of minority communities on Australia’s mainstream society. The rise of far-right populism took the stage with the introduction to the political landscape of Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party, whilst John Howard’s Liberal-National Coalition Government took the fore on debate over immigration issues corresponding with an influx of irregular arrivals. In 2001, following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States of America and subsequent attacks on western targets globally, many of these issues continued to be debated through the security posturing that followed. In recent years, much effort has been afforded to countering the threat of terrorism from home grown assailants. The Government has introduced stringent legislative responses whilst researchers have studied social movements and trends within Australian communities, particularly with respect to minorities. In 2008, the Scanlon Foundation, in association with Monash University and various government entities, released its findings into its survey approach to mapping social cohesion in Australia. It identified a number of spheres of exploration which it believed were essential to measuring cohesiveness of Australian communities generally including, economic, political and socio-cultural factors (Markus and Dharmalingam, 2008). This doctoral project report will explore the political sphere as identified in the Mapping Social Cohesion project and apply it to identified minority ethnic communities. The Scanlon Foundation project identified political participation as one of a number of true indicators of social cohesion. This project acknowledges that democracy in Australia is represented predominantly by two political entities representing a vast majority of constituents under a compulsory voting regime. This essay will identify the levels of political activism achieved by minority ethnic communities and access to democratic participation within the Australian political structure. It will define a ten year period from 1999 to 2009, identifying trends and issues within minority communities that have proactively and reactively promoted engagement in achieving a political voice, framed within a mainstream-dominated political system. It will research social movements and other influential factors over that period to enrich existing knowledge in relation to political participation rates across Australian communities.

Modeling circulation of train-set with multiple routing

Planning on utilization of train-set is one of the key tasks of transport organization for passenger dedicated railway in China. It also has strong relationships with timetable scheduling and operation plans at a station. To execute such a task in a railway hub pooling multiple railway lines, the characteristics of multiple routing for train-set is discussed in term of semicircle of train-sets' turnover. In programming the described problem, the minimum dwell time is selected as the objectives with special derive constraints of the train-set's dispatch, the connecting conditions, the principle of uniqueness for train-sets, and the first plus for connection in the same direction based on time tolerance σ. A compact connection algorithm based on time tolerance is then designed. The feasibility of the model and the algorithm is proved by the case study. The result indicates that the circulation model and algorithm about multiple routing can deal with the connections between the train-sets of multiple directions, and reduce the train's pulling in or leaving impact on the station's throat.

Reproducing successful rituals in bad times : exploring interactions of a new science teacher

Teaching is emotional work. This is especially the case in the first years of teaching when new teachers are particularly vulnerable. By understanding changes in teacher emotions in the early years of teaching we hope to identify strategies that might ultimately reduce teacher attrition. As part of a larger study of the transition of new teachers to the profession, this ethnographic case study explores how a new science teacher produced and reproduced positive emotional interaction rituals with her students in her first year of teaching. We show how dialogical interactions were positive and satisfying experiences for the teacher, and how they were reproduced successfully in different contexts. We also illustrate how both teacher and students used humor to create a structure for dialogical interactions. During these successful interactions the students used shared resources to satisfy their teacher that they were engaging in the relevant science content. The implications of what we have learned for the professional development of new teachers are discussed in relation to an expanded understanding of teacher emotions.

Prediction model of the buildup of volatile organic compounds on urban roads

A model to predict the buildup of mainly traffic-generated volatile organic compounds or VOCs (toluene, ethylbenzene, ortho-xylene, meta-xylene, and para-xylene) on urban road surfaces is presented. The model required three traffic parameters, namely average daily traffic (ADT), volume to capacity ratio (V/C), and surface texture depth (STD), and two chemical parameters, namely total suspended solid (TSS) and total organic carbon (TOC), as predictor variables. Principal component analysis and two phase factor analysis were performed to characterize the model calibration parameters. Traffic congestion was found to be the underlying cause of traffic-related VOC buildup on urban roads. The model calibration was optimized using orthogonal experimental design. Partial least squares regression was used for model prediction. It was found that a better optimized orthogonal design could be achieved by including the latent factors of the data matrix into the design. The model performed fairly accurately for three different land uses as well as five different particle size fractions. The relative prediction errors were 10–40% for the different size fractions and 28–40% for the different land uses while the coefficients of variation of the predicted intersite VOC concentrations were in the range of 25–45% for the different size fractions. Considering the sizes of the data matrices, these coefficients of variation were within the acceptable interlaboratory range for analytes at ppb concentration levels.

Lego robotics : an authentic problem solving tool?

With the current curriculum focus on correlating classroom problem solving lessons to real-world contexts, are LEGO robotics an effective problem solving tool? This present study was designed to investigate this question and to ascertain what problem solving strategies primary students engaged with when working with LEGO robotics and whether the students were able to effectively relate their problem solving strategies to real-world contexts. The qualitative study involved 23 Grade 6 students participating in robotics activities. The study included data collected from researcher observations of student problem solving discussions, collected software programs, and data from a student completed questionnaire. Results from the study indicated that the robotic activities assisted students to reflect on the problem-solving decisions they made. The study also highlighted that the students were able to relate their problem solving strategies to real-world contexts. The study demonstrated that while LEGO robotics can be considered useful problem solving tools in the classroom, careful teacher scaffolding needs to be implemented in regards to correlating LEGO with authentic problem solving. Further research in regards to how teachers can best embed real-world contexts into effective robotics lessons is recommended.

Re-engaging adolescent students in science : an experienced teachers' classroom

Adolescents are both aware of and have the impetuous to exploit aspects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) within their personal lives. Whether they are surfing, cycling, skateboarding or shopping, STEM concepts impact their lives. However science, mathematics, engineering and technology are still treated in the classroom as separate fragmented entities in the educational environment where most classroom talk is seemingly incomprehensible to the adolescent senses. The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of young adolescents with the aim of transforming school learning at least of science into meaningful experiences that connected with their lives using a self-study approach. Over a 12-month period, the researcher, an experienced secondary-science teacher, designed, implemented and documented a range of pedagogical practices with his Year-7 secondary science class. Data for this case study included video recordings, journals, interviews and surveys of students. By setting an environment empathetic to adolescent needs and understandings, students were able to actively explore phenomena collaboratively through developmentally appropriate experiences. Providing a more contextually relevant environment fostered meta-cognitive practices, encouraged new learning through open dialogue, multi-modal representations and assessments that contributed to building upon, re-affirming, or challenging both the students' prior learning and the teacher’s pedagogical content knowledge. A significant outcome of this study was the transformative experiences of an insider, the teacher as researcher, whose reflections provided an authentic model for reforming pedagogy in STEM classes.

Outcomes and implications of one teacher's approach to context-based science in the middle years

In Australia, there is a crisis in science education with students becoming disengaged with canonical science in the middle years of schooling. One recent initiative that aims to improve student interest and motivation without diminishing conceptual understanding is the context-based approach. Contextual units that connect the canonical science with the students’ real world of their local community have been used in the senior years but are new in the middle years. This ethnographic study explored the learning transactions that occurred in one 9th grade science class studying a context-based Environmental Science unit for 11 weeks. Outcomes of the study and implications are discussed in this paper.