Projects in the hardware research group of the department of computer science of the University of Illinois,

Illustrations, p. 30-52, numbered as leaves.

Current projects on economic and social implications of science and technology.

Other slight variations in title.

Enlivening, Invigorating & Enhancing Science:This session explores learning from a range of Primary Science Teaching Trust projects focused on invigorating the experience of children, teachers and whole school communities with primary science.

This session will provide you with opportunity to find out what is being achieved and explore the implications for your own practice.

Knowledge Sharing within IT Projects

Even though today’s corporations recognize that they need to understand modern project management techniques (Schwalbe, 2002, p2), many researchers continue to provide evidence of poor IT project success. With Kotnour, (2000) finding that project performance is positively associated with project knowledge, a better understanding of how to effectively manage knowledge in IT projects should have considerable practical significance for increasing the chances of project success. Using a combined qualitative/quantitative method of data collection in multiple case studies spanning four continents, and comprising a variety of organizational types, the focus of this current research centered on the question of why individuals working within IT project teams might be motivated towards, or inhibited from, sharing their knowledge and experience in their activities, procedures, and processes. The research concluded with the development of a new theoretical model of knowledge sharing behavior, ‘The Alignment Model of Motivational Focus’. This model suggests that an individual’s propensity to share knowledge and experience is a function of perceived personal benefits and costs associated with the activity, balanced against the individual’s alignment to a group of ‘institutional’ factors. These factors are identified as alignments to the project team, to the organization, and dependent on the circumstances, to either the professional discipline or community of practice, to which the individual belongs.

Identifying the knowledge management structures in enterprise systems projects

Enterprise System (ES) implementation and management are knowledge intensive tasks that inevitably draw upon the experience of a wide range of people with diverse knowledge capabilities. Knowledge Management (KM) has been identified as a critical success factor in ES projects. Despite the recognized importance of managing knowledge for ES benefits realization, systematic attempts to conceptualize KM-structures have been few. Where the adequacy of KM-structures is assessed, the process and measures are typically idiosyncratic and lack credibility. Using the ‘KM-process’, itself based in sociology of knowledge, this paper conceptualizes four main constructs to measure the adequacy of KM-structures. The SEM model is tested using 310 responses gathered from 27 ES installations that had implemented SAP R/3. The findings reveal six constructs for KM-structure. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates the application of KM-structures in the context of ES using the Adaptive Structuration Theory. The results demonstrate that having adequate KM-structures in place, while necessary, is not sufficient. These rules and resources must be appropriated to have greater positive influence on the Enterprise System. Furthermore, the study provides empirical support for knowledge-based theory by illustrating the importance of knowledge use/re-use (vs. knowledge creation) as the most important driver in the process of KM.

A Framework of Issues in Large Process Modelling Projects

As process management projects have increased in size due to globalised and company-wide initiatives, a corresponding growth in the size of process modeling projects can be observed. Despite advances in languages, tools and methodologies, several aspects of these projects have been largely ignored by the academic community. This paper makes a first contribution to a potential research agenda in this field by defining the characteristics of large-scale process modeling projects and proposing a framework of related issues. These issues are derived from a semi -structured interview and six focus groups conducted in Australia, Germany and the USA with enterprise and modeling software vendors and customers. The focus groups confirm the existence of unresolved problems in business process modeling projects. The outcomes provide a research agenda which directs researchers into further studies in global process management, process model decomposition and the overall governance of process modeling projects. It is expected that this research agenda will provide guidance to researchers and practitioners by focusing on areas of high theoretical and practical relevance.

The science of assessment : identifying and predicting environmental impacts

The historical challenge of environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been to predict project-based impacts accurately. Both EIA legislation and the practice of EIA have evolved over the last three decades in Canada, and the development of the discipline and science of environmental assessment has improved how we apply environmental assessment to complex projects. The practice of environmental assessment integrates the social and natural sciences and relies on an eclectic knowledge base from a wide range of sources. EIA methods and tools provide a means to structure and integrate knowledge in order to evaluate and predict environmental impacts.----- This Chapter will provide a brief overview of how impacts are identified and predicted. How do we determine what aspect of the natural and social environment will be affected when a mine is excavated? How does the practitioner determine the range of potential impacts, assess whether they are significant, and predict the consequences? There are no standard answers to these questions, but there are established methods to provide a foundation for scoping and predicting the potential impacts of a project.----- Of course, the community and publics play an important role in this process, and this will be discussed in subsequent chapters. In the first part of this chapter, we will deal with impact identification, which involves appplying scoping to critical issues and determining impact significance, baseline ecosystem evaluation techniques, and how to communicate environmental impacts. In the second part of the chapter, we discuss the prediction of impacts in relation to the complexity of the environment, ecological risk assessment, and modelling.

The impact of unique characteristics of projects and project-based organisations on knowledge transfer

Knowledge has been recognised as an important organisational asset that increases in value when shared; the opposite to other organisational assets which decrease in value during their exploitation. Effective knowledge transfer in organisations helps to achieve and maintain competitive advantage and ultimately organisational success. So far, the research on knowledge transfer has focused on traditional (functional) organisations. Only recently has attention been directed towards knowledge transfer in projects. Existing research on project learning has recognised the need for knowledge transfer within and across projects in project-based organisations (PBOs). Most projects can provide valuable new knowledge from unexpected actions, approaches or problems experienced during the project phases. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the impact of unique projects characteristics on knowledge transfer in PBO. This is accomplished through review of the literature and a series of interviews with senior project practitioners. The interviews complement the findings from the literature. Knowledge transfer in projects occurs by social communication and transfer of lessons learned where project management offices (PMOs) and project managers play significant roles in enhancing knowledge transfer and communication within the PBO and across projects. They act as connectors between projects and the PBO ‘hub’. Moreover, some project management processes naturally facilitate knowledge transfer across projects. On the other hand, PBOs face communication challenges due to unique and temporary characteristics of projects. The distance between projects and the lack or weakness of formal links across projects, create communication problems that impede knowledge transfer across projects. The main contribution of this paper is to demonstrate that both social communication and explicit informational channels play important role in inter-project knowledge transfer. Interviews also revealed the important role organisational culture play in knowledge transfer in PBOs.

Collaboration using BIM : results of cooperative research centre for construction innovation projects

This paper discusses the issues with sharing information between different disciplines in collaborative projects. The focus is on the information itself rather than the wider issues of collaboration. A range of projects carried out by the Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation (CRC CI) in Australia is used to illustrate the issues.

Teaching and learning science and mathematics through technology practice

In this chapter we review studies of the engagement of students in design projects that emphasise integration of technology practice and the enabling sciences, which include physics and mathematics. We give special attention to affective and conceptual outcomes from innovative interventions of design projects. This is important work because of growing international concern that demand for professionals with technological expertise is increasing rapidly, while the supply of students willing to undertake the rigors of study in the enabling sciences is proportionally reducing (e.g., Barringtion, 2006; Hannover & Kessels, 2004; Yurtseven, 2002). The net effect is that the shortage in qualified workers is having a detrimental effect upon economic and social potential in Westernised countries (e.g., Department of Education, Science and Training [DEST], 2003; National Numeracy Review Panel and National Numeracy Review Secretarial, 2007; Yurtseven, 2002). Interestingly, this trend is reversed in developing economies including China and India (Anderson & Gilbride, 2003).

Spatial Science News from QUT, Urban Development, November 2009.

Brief overview of topics/issues of interest end of 2009, including Spatial Science Students undertake Variety of Research Projects; labs and offices on the move again); Congratulations to Surveying Student Project- QSEA awards.

Developing an integrated decision model for the enhancement of sustainability deliverables for Australian road infrastructure projects

Road and highway infrastructure provides the backbone for a nation's economic growth. The versatile dispersion of population in Australia, from sparsely settled communities in remote areas to regenerated inner city suburbs with high density living in metropolitans, calls for continuing development and improvement on roads infrastructure under the current federal government policies and state governments' strategic plans. As road infrastructure projects involve large resources and mechanism, achieving sustainability not only in economic scales but also through environmental and social responsibility becomes a crucial issue. Current efforts are often impeded by different interpretation on sustainability agenda by stakeholders involved in these types of projects. As a result, sustainability deliverables at the project level is not often as transparent and measurable, compared to promises in project briefs and designs. This paper reviews the past studies on sustainable infrastructure construction, focusing on roads and highway projects. Through literature study and consultation with the industry, key sustainability indicators specific to road infrastructure projects have been identified. Based on these findings, this paper introduces an on-going research project aimed at identifying and integrating the different perceptions and priority needs of the stakeholders, and issues that impact on the gap between sustainability foci and its actual realization at project end level. The exploration helps generate an integrated decision-making model for sustainable road infrastructure projects. The research will promote to the industry more systematic and integrated approaches to decision-making on the implementation of sustainability strategies to achieve deliverable goals throughout the development and delivery process of road infrastructure projects in Australia.