Virtual vignettes and pedagogical potentials : Insights into a virtual schooling service

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An Analysis of UK Farmland : 1981-2004

The importance of agriculture in many countries has tended to reduce as their economies move from a resource base to a manufacturing industry base. Although the level of agricultural production in first world countries has increased over the past two decades, this increase has generally been at a less significant rate compared to other sectors of the economies. Despite this increase in secondary and high technology industries, developed countries have continued to encourage and support their agricultural industries. This support has been through both tariffs and price support. Although the average farm production property may require this support to maintain long-term production, the better farms can actually achieve production levels and commodity prices that result in these units being competitive on a free market basis. This paper will analyse the total return performance of UK farmland over the period 1981-2004. This analysis will compare the total return from rural properties in the UK and compare this performance to commercial property returns (total, office, retail, industrial), equities and gilts over this 24-year period. The analysis will be based on the IPD UK let land index and the IPD property index. The portfolio diversification and risk-reduction benefits of UK farmland will be highlighted. The analysis shows that rural property has negative correlations with equities and gilts, as well as insignificant positive correlations with retail, industrial and office property. Rural property also provides portfolio diversification benefits.

Youth, femininity and self-shaping

The arguments in this paper concerned the manner in which young people learn to construct specific types of relationships with themselves. The analysis of this self-making is accomplished by applying Foucault’s four-part model of self-formation, to an examination of the role of manuals such as young women’s magazines in the shaping of various aspects of the ‘youthful self’. The intention has been to provide a set of tools for approaching the issue of young women's magazines which avoids some of the problems associated with critical theory - a paradigm which translates such magazines almost exclusively in terms of social control.

Designing for engagement : building IT systems

Context The School of Information Technology at QUT has recently undertaken a major restructuring of their Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) course. Some of the aims of this restructuring include a reduction in first year attrition and to provide an attractive degree course that meets both student and industry expectations. Emphasis has been placed on the first semester in the context of retaining students by introducing a set of four units that complement one another and provide introductory material on technology, programming and related skills, and generic skills that will aid the students throughout their undergraduate course and in their careers. This discussion relates to one of these four fist semester units, namely Building IT Systems. The aim of this unit is to create small Information Technology (IT) systems that use programming or scripting, databases as either standalone applications or web applications. In the prior history of teaching introductory computer programming at QUT, programming has been taught as a stand alone subject and integration of computer applications with other systems such as databases and networks was not undertaken until students had been given a thorough grounding in those topics as well. Feedback has indicated that students do not believe that working with a database requires programming skills. In fact, the teaching of the building blocks of computer applications have been compartmentalized and taught in isolation from each other. The teaching of introductory computer programming has been an industry requirement of IT degree courses as many jobs require at least some knowledge of the topic. Yet, computer programming is not a skill that all students have equal capabilities of learning (Bruce et al., 2004) and this is clearly shown by the volume of publications dedicated to this topic in the literature over a broad period of time (Eckerdal & Berglund, 2005; Mayer, 1981; Winslow, 1996). The teaching of this introductory material has been done pretty much the same way over the past thirty years. During this period of time that introductory computer programming courses have been taught at QUT, a number of different programming languages and programming paradigms have been used and different approaches to teaching and learning have been attempted in an effort to find the golden thread that would allow students to learn this complex topic. Unfortunately, computer programming is not a skill that can be learnt in one semester. Some basics can be learnt but it can take many years to master (Norvig, 2001). Faculty data typically has shown a bimodal distribution of results for students undertaking introductory programming courses with a high proportion of students receiving a high mark and a high proportion of students receiving a low or failing mark. This indicates that there are students who understand and excel with the introductory material while there is another group who struggle to understand the concepts and practices required to be able to translate a specification or problem statement into a computer program that achieves what is being requested. The consequence of a large group of students failing the introductory programming course has been a high level of attrition amongst first year students. This attrition level does not provide good continuity in student numbers in later years of the degree program and the current approach is not seen as sustainable.

Alternative schooling programs for at risk youth : three case studies

This thesis develops a critical realist explanatory critique of alternative schooling programs for youth at risk taking place at three case study sites. Throughout the thesis the author pursues the question, \Are alternative provisions of schooling working academically and socially for youth at risk?. The academic lens targets literacy learning and associated pedagogies. Social outcomes are posited as positive social behaviours and continued engagement in learning. A four phased analysis, drawing on critical realism, interpretive and subject specific theories is used to elicit explanations for the research question. An overall framework is a critical realist methodology as set out by Danermark, Ekstrom, Jakobsen and Karlsson (2002, p. 129). Consequently phase one describes the phenomena of alternative schooling programs taking place at three case study sites. This is reported first as staff narratives that are resolved into imaginable historical causal components of \generative events., \prior schooling structures., \models of alternative schooling., \purpose., \individual agency., and \relations with linked community organisations.. Then transcendental questions are posed about each component using retroduction to uncover structures, underlying mechanisms and powers, and individual agency. In the second phase the researcher uses modified grounded theory methodology to theoretically redescribe causal categories related to a \needed different teaching and administrative approach. that emerged from the previous critique. A transcendental question is then applied to this redescription. The research phenomena are again theoretically redescribed in the third phase, this time using three theoretically based constructs associated with literacy and literacy pedagogies; the NRS, the 4 Resources Model, and Productive Pedagogies. This redescription is again questioned in terms of its core or \necessary. components. The fourth phase makes an explanatory critique by comparing and critiquing all previous explanations, recontextualising them in a wider macro reality of alternative schooling. Through this critical realist explanatory critiquing process, a response emerges not only to whether alternative provisions of schooling are working, but also how they are working, and how they are not working, with realistically based implications for future improvement.

Behaviour disorders and the negligent teacher

The purpose of this paper is to examine the legal implications of the continuing rise in the number of school children diagnosed with behaviour disorders. Not only are teachers now subject to a dense grid of legal regulation, they are also increasingly vulnerable to actions in tort. It will be argued here that as more and more children are labelled ‘disordered’, then the concomitant duty of care requirements for teachers becomes more onerous. As a consequence, teachers are less likely to be able to defend themselves against claims of negligence. It is concluded that while the schooling system needs to retain a healthy scepticism about each new pathologising disorder that seeks special status for its sufferers, it also needs to provide greater training and resources for teachers regarding disorder management. It is also concluded that recent changes to negligence law regarding the issue of ‘reasonable foreseeability’ within breach of duty of care, may not be as significant as might have been hoped by the teaching community. Indeed, the elevated standard of care, as required by increasing numbers of disordered pupils, place teachers in an ever more difficult legal position.

ADHD : a case study in fallacy

This paper has two central purposes: the first is to survey some of the more important examples of fallacious argument, and the second is to examine the frequent use of these fallacies in support of the psychological construct: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The paper divides twelve familiar fallacies into three different categories—material, psychological and logical—and contends that advocates of ADHD often seem to employ these fallacies to support their position. It is suggested that all researchers, whether into ADHD or otherwise, need to pay much closer attention to the construction of their arguments if they are not to make truth claims unsupported by satisfactory evidence, form or logic.

I got drunk and lost my virginity : young women's magazines and the management of sexual identity

It has often been argued that young woman’s magazine’s, like Cosmopolitan, Cleo Dolly and Seventeen, constitute a significant instrument in the patriarchal repression of young women - their hegemonic success lying in the fact that they appear to be sites wherein young women are ‘free’ from the elements of coercion so obviously in evidence within other terrains, such as the school and the family. This paper will suggest an alternative approach to these magazines. Rather than locating such texts within an overall model of repression and patriarchal domination, it will be argued here that they can be regarded as practical manuals which enrol young women to do specific kinds of work on themselves. In doing so, they form an effective link between the governmental imperatives aimed at constructing particular personas (such as, for example, ‘the sexually responsible young woman’), and the actual practices whereby these imperatives are operationalised. These manuals do not prevent young women from learning to ‘project a unique self’, they constitute a significant source of practices and techniques through which particular types of self are shaped.

Type extension and efficient AST manipulation

Oberon-2 is an object-oriented language with a class structure based on type extension. The runtime structure of Oberon-2 is described and the low-level mechanism for dynamic type checking explained. It is shown that the superior type-safety of the language, when used for programming styles based on heterogeneous, pointer-linked data structures, has an entirely negligible cost in runtime performance.

Using Media Technologies in English

English has long been the subject where print text has reigned supreme. Increasingly in our networked and electronically connected world, however, we can be using digital technologies to create and respond to texts studied in English classrooms. The current approach to English includes the concept of ‘multiliteracies,’ which suggests that print texts alone are necessary but not sufficient’ (E.Q, 2000) and that literacy includes the flexible and sustainable mastery of a repertoire of practices. This also includes the decoding and deployment of media technologies (E.Q, 2000). This has become more possible in Australia as secondary students have increasing access to computers and online platforms at home and at school. With the advent of web 2.0., with its interactive platforms and free media making software, teachers and students can use this software to access information and emerging online literature in English covering a range of text types and new forms for authentic audiences and contexts. This chapter is concerned with responding to literary and mediated texts through the use of technologies. If we remain open to trying out new textual forms and see our digital ‘native students’ (Prensky, 2007) as our best resource, we can move beyond technophobia, become digital travellers’ ourselves and embrace new digital forms in our classrooms.

Problem-based learning (PBL) in Virtual Space : Developing experiences for professional development

This book reports the outcomes of an investigation into discovering the qualitatively different ways that students experience Problem-based learning (PBL)in virtual space. PBL is increasingly being used in many fields including engineering education. At the same time, many engineering education providers are turning to online distance education. Unfortunately there is a dearth of research into what constitutes an effective learning experience for adult learners who undertake PBL instruction through online distance education. Data were collected from a course which adopted the PBL strategy and was delivered entirely in virtual space. Students were asked to respond to open-ended questions designed to elicit their learning experiences. Data were analysed using the phenomenographic approach. Five qualitatively different ways of experiencing PBL in virtual space were discovered. Results indicate that the design of students' online learning experience was responsible for making students aware of deeper ways of experienceing PBL in virtual space. The outcomes imply that pedagogical strategies can be devised for shifting students' focus as they engage in virtual PBL.

Virtual reality or virtually real : blended teaching and learning in a Master's level research methods class

This paper examines the enabling effect of using blended learning and synchronous internet mediated communication technologies to improve learning and develop a Sense of Community (SOC) in a group of post-graduate students consisting of a mix of on-campus and off-campus students. Both quantitative and qualitative data collected over a number of years supports the assertion that the blended learning environment enhanced both teaching and learning. The development of a SOC was pivotal to the success of the blended approach when working with geographically isolated groups within a single learning environment.

No borders : virtual communities in online learning

It can be argued that technological advances and increasing familiarity with technology in the general population has created a huge potential for expansion of online learning (OL) across the educational spectrum. The growth of OL at the university level over the last few years has brought with it an increasing need to understand the learning processes and social processes involved in the ‘cyber’ or ‘virtual’ lecture hall and seminar room by asking questions such as: What are ‘virtual universities’? How – or more critically whether – virtual learning environments are different from face-to-face (F2F) ones? In other words, there is a critical need to explore how students relate to each other and their lecturer(s) in a literal ‘school without walls’? This paper explores the development of a virtual community within a wholly online MA in Applied Linguistics program within the framework of online community development proposed by Haythornthwaite et al (2000).

Structural health monitoring of bridges using acoustic emission technology and signal processing techniques

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is the term applied to the procedure of monitoring a structure’s performance, assessing its condition and carrying out appropriate retrofitting so that it performs reliably, safely and efficiently. Bridges form an important part of a nation’s infrastructure. They deteriorate due to age and changing load patterns and hence early detection of damage helps in prolonging the lives and preventing catastrophic failures. Monitoring of bridges has been traditionally done by means of visual inspection. With recent developments in sensor technology and availability of advanced computing resources, newer techniques have emerged for SHM. Acoustic emission (AE) is one such technology that is attracting attention of engineers and researchers all around the world. This paper discusses the use of AE technology in health monitoring of bridge structures, with a special focus on analysis of recorded data. AE waves are stress waves generated by mechanical deformation of material and can be recorded by means of sensors attached to the surface of the structure. Analysis of the AE signals provides vital information regarding the nature of the source of emission. Signal processing of the AE waveform data can be carried out in several ways and is predominantly based on time and frequency domains. Short time Fourier transform and wavelet analysis have proved to be superior alternatives to traditional frequency based analysis in extracting information from recorded waveform. Some of the preliminary results of the application of these analysis tools in signal processing of recorded AE data will be presented in this paper.