Evaluating the learning outcomes of an international field trip in postgraduate lighting design courses

Lighting industry professionals work in an international marketplace and encounter a range of social, geographical and cultural challenges associated with this. Education in lighting should introduce students to aspects of these challenges. To achieve this, an international field trip was recently undertaken that sought to provide an authentic learning experience for students. Twelve Masters of Lighting students from two Australian universities took part in a field trip to Shanghai, China and surrounding areas. The goal was to offer students insight into practical issues in the lighting industry at an international level and to do so in a unique and authentic context. To evaluate the outcomes of the trip, each participant was surveyed afterwards. Benefits were identified in terms of: increased knowledge and insight into manufacturing issues in lighting, experiential learning in lighting design practice not available locally (e.g, master planning), increased understanding of cultural influences in design and enhancing professional contacts within the lighting industry. Field trips may also act as an inverted curriculum experience for new students to engage them and promote learning within a professional context.

Facilitating Malaysia towards innovative society : arguing the case for open access policy

The Malaysian National Innovation Model blueprint states that there is an urgent need to pursue an innovation-oriented economy to improve the nation’s capacity for knowledge, creativity and innovation. In nurturing a pervasive innovation culture, the Malaysian government has declared the year 2010 as an Innovative Year whereby creativity among its population is highly celebrated. However, while Malaysian citizens are encouraged to be creative and innovative, scientific data and information generated from publicly funded research in Malaysia is locked up because of rigid intellectual property licensing regimes and traditional publishing models. Reflecting on these circumstances, this paper looks at, and argue why, scientific data and information should be made available, accessible and re-useable freely to promote the grassroots level of innovation in Malaysia. Using innovation theory as its platform of argument, this paper calls for an open access policy for publicly funded research output to be adopted and implemented in Malaysia. Simultaneously, a normative analytic approach is used to determine the types of open access policy that ought to be adopted to spur greater innovation among Malaysians.

Good Practice Report : Blended Learning

In early 2011, the Australian Learning and Teaching Council Ltd (ALTC) commissioned a series of Good Practice Reports on completed ALTC projects and fellowships. This report will: • Provide a summative evaluation of the good practices and key outcomes for teaching and learning from completed ALTC projects and fellowships relating to blended learning • Include a literature review of the good practices and key outcomes for teaching and learning from national and international research • Identify areas in which further work or development are appropriate. The literature abounds with definitions; it can be argued that the various definitions incorporate different perspectives, but there is no single, collectively accepted definition. Blended learning courses in higher education can be placed somewhere on a continuum, between fully online and fully face-to-face courses. Consideration must therefore be given to the different definitions for blended learning presented in the literature and by users and stakeholders. The application of this term in these various projects and fellowships is dependent on the particular focus of the team and the conditions and situations under investigation. One of the key challenges for projects wishing to develop good practice in blended learning is the lack of a universally accepted definition. The findings from these projects and fellowships reveal the potential of blended learning programs to improve both student outcomes and levels of satisfaction. It is clear that this environment can help teaching and learning engage students more effectively and allow greater participation than traditional models. Just as there are many definitions, there are many models and frameworks that can be successfully applied to the design and implementation of such courses. Each academic discipline has different learning objectives and in consequence there can’t be only one correct approach. This is illustrated by the diversity of definitions and applications in the ALTC funded projects and fellowships. A review of the literature found no universally accepted guidelines for good practice in higher education. To inform this evaluation and literature review, the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, as outlined by Chickering and Gamson (1987), were adopted: 1. encourages contacts between students and faculty 2. develops reciprocity and cooperation among students 3. uses active learning techniques 4. gives prompt feedback 5. emphasises time on task 6. communicates high expectations 7. respects diverse talents and ways of learning. These blended learning projects have produced a wide range of resources that can be used in many and varied settings. These resources include: books, DVDs, online repositories, pedagogical frameworks, teaching modules. In addition there is valuable information contained in the published research data and literature reviews that inform good practice and can assist in the development of courses that can enrich and improve teaching and learning.

Learning as identity and practice through involvement in online moderation

For teachers working in a standards-based assessment system, professional conversations through organised social moderation meetings are a vital element. This qualitative research investigated the learning that occurred as a result of online moderation discussions. Findings illustrate how participating in social moderation meetings in an online context can support teachers to understand themselves as assessors, and can provide opportunities for teachers to imagine possibilities for their teaching that move beyond the moderation practice.

Stop lecturing me, I want to learn

Re-evaluation of pedagogical practice is driving learning design at Queensland University of Technology. One objective is to support approaches to increase student engagement and attendance in physical and virtual learning spaces through opportunities for active and problem-based learning. This paper provides an overview and preliminary evaluation of the pilot of one of these initiatives, the Open Web Lecture (OWL), a new web-based student response application that seamlessly integrates a virtual learning environment within a physical learning space.

‘Please leave your mobile phone on’ : Social educational networking in a social society : Encouraging in-class engagement at QUT across physical and virtual learning environments

Though stadium style seating in large lecture theatres may suggest otherwise, effective teaching and learning is a not a spectator sport. A challenge in creating effective learning environments in both physical and virtual spaces is to provide optimal opportunity for student engagement in active learning. Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has developed the Open Web Lecture (OWL), a new web-based student response application, which seamlessly integrates a virtual learning environment within the physical learning space. The result is a blended learning experience; a fluid collaboration between academic and students connected to OWL via the University’s Wi-Fi using their own laptop or mobile web device. QUT is currently piloting the OWL application to encourage student engagement. OWL offers opportunities for participants to: • Post comments and questions • Reply to comments
 • "Like" comments
 • Poll students and review data • Review archived sessions. Many of these features instinctively appeal to student users of social networking media, yet avail the academic of control within the University network. Student privacy is respected through a system of preserving peer-peer anonymity, a functionality that seeks to address a traditional reluctance to speak up in large classes. The pilot is establishing OWL as an opportunity for engaging students in active learning opportunities by enabling • virtual learning in physical spaces for large group lectures, seminar groups, workshops and conferences • live collaborative technology connecting students and the academic via the wireless network using their own laptop or mobile device • an non- intimidating environment in which to ask questions • promotion of a sense of community • instant feedback • problem based learning. The student and academic response to OWL has been overwhelmingly positive, crediting OWL as an easy to use application, which creates effective learning opportunities though interactivity and immediate feedback. This poster and accompanying online presentation of the technology will demonstrate how OWL offers new possibilities for active learning in physical spaces by: • providing increased opportunity for student engagement • supporting a range of learners and learning activities • fostering blended learning experiences. The presentation will feature visual displays of the technology, its various interfaces and feedback including clips from interviews with students and academics participating in the early stages of the pilot.

Using the web to look for work: Implications for online job seeking and recruiting

Purpose - The web is now a significant component of the recruitment and job search process. However, very little is known about how companies and job seekers use the web, and the ultimate effectiveness of this process. The specific research questions guiding this study are: how do people search for job-related information on the web? How effective are these searches? And how likely are job seekers to find an appropriate job posting or application? Design/methodology/approach - The data used to examine these questions come from job seekers submitting job-related queries to a major web search engine at three points in time over a five-year period. Findings - Results indicate that individuals seeking job information generally submit only one query with several terms and over 45 percent of job-seeking queries contain a specific location reference. Of the documents retrieved, findings suggest that only 52 percent are relevant and only 40 percent of job-specific searches retrieve job postings. Research limitations/implications - This study provides an important contribution to web research and online recruiting literature. The data come from actual web searches, providing a realistic glimpse into how job seekers are actually using the web. Practical implications - The results of this research can assist organizations in seeking to use the web as part of their recruiting efforts, in designing corporate recruiting web sites, and in developing web systems to support job seeking and recruiting. Originality/value - This research is one of the first studies to investigate job searching on the web using longitudinal real world data. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Social network analysis of an online dating network

Online social networks can be found everywhere from chatting websites like MSN, blogs such as MySpace to social media such as YouTube and second life. Among them, there is one interesting type of online social networks, online dating network that is growing fast. This paper analyzes an online dating network from social network analysis point of view. Observations are made and results are obtained in order to suggest a better recommendation system for people-to-people networks.

A recommendation method for online dating networks based on social relations and demographic information

A new relationship type of social networks - online dating - are gaining popularity. With a large member base, users of a dating network are overloaded with choices about their ideal partners. Recommendation methods can be utilized to overcome this problem. However, traditional recommendation methods do not work effectively for online dating networks where the dataset is sparse and large, and a two-way matching is required. This paper applies social networking concepts to solve the problem of developing a recommendation method for online dating networks. We propose a method by using clustering, SimRank and adapted SimRank algorithms to recommend matching candidates. Empirical results show that the proposed method can achieve nearly double the performance of the traditional collaborative filtering and common neighbor methods of recommendation.

Convenience, loyal, and customising users : a survey of the behaviours and intentions of young online news users in Australia

The implications of the shift to online news consumption for journalism cultures and practices have attracted considerable scholarly attention and public debate. Less well considered are the implications of online news consumption for and by young people. This paper reports on research into the behaviours and intentions of online news consumers, 18-30 years of age, to propose three distinctive types of user (convenience, loyal and customising). Also opened up for discussion are questions about the strategic value to commercial news organisations of audience-centred empirical research that seeks to respond the crisis of professional journalism.

Sacred cows and crashing boars : ethno-religious minorities and the politics of online representation in Malaysia

Starting with the incident now known as the Cow’s Head Protest, this article traces and unpacks the events, techniques, and conditions surrounding the representation of ethno-religious minorities in Malaysia. The author suggests that the Malaysian Indians’ struggle to correct the dominant reading of their community as an impoverished and humbled underclass is a disruption of the dominant cultural order in Malaysia. It is also among the key events to have has set in motion a set of dynamics—the visual turn—introduced by new media into the politics of ethno-communal representation in Malaysia. Believing that this situation requires urgent examination the author attempts to outline the problematics of the task.

Effect of MHD and heat generation on natural convection flow in an open square cavity under microgravity condition

Purpose - Thermo-magnetic convection and heat transfer of paramagnetic fluid placed in a micro-gravity condition (g = 0) and under a uniform vertical gradient magnetic field in an open square cavity with three cold sidewalls have been studied numerically. Design/methodology/approach - This magnetic force is proportional to the magnetic susceptibility and the gradient of the square of the magnetic induction. The magnetic susceptibility is inversely proportional to the absolute temperature based on Curie’s law. Thermal convection of a paramagnetic fluid can therefore take place even in zero-gravity environment as a direct consequence of temperature differences occurring within the fluid due to a constant internal heat generation placed within a magnetic field gradient. Findings - Effects of magnetic Rayleigh number, Ra, Prandtl number, Pr, and paramagnetic fluid parameter, m, on the flow pattern and isotherms as well as on the heat absorption are presented graphically. It is found that the heat transfer rate is suppressed in increased of the magnetic Rayleigh number and the paramagnetic fluid parameter for the present investigation. Originality/value - It is possible to control the buoyancy force by using the super conducting magnet. To the best knowledge of the author no literature related to magnetic convection for this configuration is available.

Cognitive engagement and questioning online

This chapter discusses a range of issues associated with supporting inquiry and deep reasoning while utilising information and communications technology (ICT). The role of questioning in critical thinking and reflection is considered in the context of scaffolding and new opportunities for ICT-enabled scaffolding identified. In particular, why-questioning provides a key point of focus and is presented as an important consideration in the design of systems that not only require cognitive engagement but aim to nurture it. Advances in automated question generation within intelligent tutoring systems are shown to hold promise for both teaching and learning in a range of other applications. While shortening attention spans appear to be a hazard of engaging with digital media cognitive engagement is presented as something with broader scope than attention span and is best conceived of as a crucible within which a rich mix of cognitive activities take place and from which new knowledge is created.

Strategic project evaluation for open pit mining ventures using real options and allied econometric techniques

Open pit mine operations are complex businesses that demand a constant assessment of risk. This is because the value of a mine project is typically influenced by many underlying economic and physical uncertainties, such as metal prices, metal grades, costs, schedules, quantities, and environmental issues, among others, which are not known with much certainty at the beginning of the project. Hence, mining projects present a considerable challenge to those involved in associated investment decisions, such as the owners of the mine and other stakeholders. In general terms, when an option exists to acquire a new or operating mining project, , the owners and stock holders of the mine project need to know the value of the mining project, which is the fundamental criterion for making final decisions about going ahead with the venture capital. However, obtaining the mine project’s value is not an easy task. The reason for this is that sophisticated valuation and mine optimisation techniques, which combine advanced theories in geostatistics, statistics, engineering, economics and finance, among others, need to be used by the mine analyst or mine planner in order to assess and quantify the existing uncertainty and, consequently, the risk involved in the project investment. Furthermore, current valuation and mine optimisation techniques do not complement each other. That is valuation techniques based on real options (RO) analysis assume an expected (constant) metal grade and ore tonnage during a specified period, while mine optimisation (MO) techniques assume expected (constant) metal prices and mining costs. These assumptions are not totally correct since both sources of uncertainty—that of the orebody (metal grade and reserves of mineral), and that about the future behaviour of metal prices and mining costs—are the ones that have great impact on the value of any mining project. Consequently, the key objective of this thesis is twofold. The first objective consists of analysing and understanding the main sources of uncertainty in an open pit mining project, such as the orebody (in situ metal grade), mining costs and metal price uncertainties, and their effect on the final project value. The second objective consists of breaking down the wall of isolation between economic valuation and mine optimisation techniques in order to generate a novel open pit mine evaluation framework called the ―Integrated Valuation / Optimisation Framework (IVOF)‖. One important characteristic of this new framework is that it incorporates the RO and MO valuation techniques into a single integrated process that quantifies and describes uncertainty and risk in a mine project evaluation process, giving a more realistic estimate of the project’s value. To achieve this, novel and advanced engineering and econometric methods are used to integrate financial and geological uncertainty into dynamic risk forecasting measures. The proposed mine valuation/optimisation technique is then applied to a real gold disseminated open pit mine deposit to estimate its value in the face of orebody, mining costs and metal price uncertainties.