Comparative study of DFSS in product and service innovation

Six sigma has proven itself as a major quality initiative in the last two decades. It is a philosophy which provides a systematic approach to applying numerous tools in the framework of several quality improvement methodologies. The most widely used six sigma methodology is DMAIC, which is best suited for improving existing processes. In order to build quality into the product or service, a proactive approach like Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) is required. This paper provides an overview of DFSS, product innovation, and service innovation. The emphasis is on comparing how DFSS is applied differently in product and service innovation. This paper contributes by analysing the existing literature on DFSS in product and service innovation. The major findings are that the DFSS approach in services and products can be differentiated along the following three dimensions: methodology, characteristics, and technology.

Towards an understanding of teacher judgement in the context of social moderation

Social moderation involves teachers gathering together to discuss their judgements of the quality of student work and to reach agreement regarding the standard awarded. This qualitative study conducted over a three-year period investigated the social practice of moderation and the influence on teachers’ judgements of students work. An initial survey of teachers’ understandings of moderation and standards, pre-interviews of teachers who participated in the moderation meetings, observations of these meetings with a particular focus on one teacher (focus teachers) comprised the data collection methods. Data analysis involved organising, matching, coding, identifying patterns and themes using a constant comparative method. Socio-cultural theories of learning and assessment underpinned the approach to data analysis and proved helpful in explaining the diverse influences on teachers’ judgements beyond the task criteria, and the progressive development of shared understandings through engaging in professional discussions of students’ work. The study revealed that the process is not clear and linear and is influenced by factors such as the representation of the standards and the knowledge base of the teachers.

Partners in education : the teacher education done differently (TEDD) project

There has been an abundance of education reform recommendations for teaching and teacher education as a result of national and international reviews. A major criticism in education is the lack of connection between theory and practice (or praxis), that is, how the learning at university informs practical applications for teaching in the classroom. This paper presents the Teacher Education Done Differently (TEDD) project, funded by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR). It outlines how it has re-structured its offering of coursework in a Bachelor of Education (BEd) held at an Australian university campus to embrace praxis. Establishing partnerships was crucial to the development of this project. TEDD initially gathered a reference group of educators, which included university staff, school executives, and other key stakeholders, who formed an Advisory Group and Steering Committee. These groups formed a collective vision for TEDD and aimed to motivate others, foster team work, and create leadership roles that would benefit all stakeholders. The paper presents how university units changed to include a stronger praxis development for preservice teachers. Preservice teachers take their learning into schools within lead-up programs such as Ed Start for practicum I, III, and IV; Science in Schools, and Studies of Society and its Environment (SOSE). Findings showed that opportunities for undertaking additional real-world experiences were perceived to assist the preservice teachers’ praxis development. Additional school-based experiences as lead-up days for field experiences and as avenues for exploring the teaching of specific subject areas presented as an opportunity for enhancing education for all.

Comparative Studies Simplified in GPFlow

We present a novel, web-accessible scientific workflow system which makes large-scale comparative studies accessible without programming or excessive configuration requirements. GPFlow allows a workflow defined on single input values to be automatically lifted to operate over collections of input values and supports the formation and processing of collections of values without the need for explicit iteration constructs. We introduce a new model for collection processing based on key aggregation and slicing which guarantees processing integrity and facilitates automatic association of inputs, allowing scientific users to manage the combinatorial explosion of data values inherent in large scale comparative studies. The approach is demonstrated using a core task from comparative genomics, and builds upon our previous work in supporting combined interactive and batch operation, through a lightweight web-based user interface.

Where do we find services in enterprise architectures? A comparative approach

In recent years, enterprise architecture (EA) has captured growing attention as a means to systematically consolidate and interrelate diverse IT artefacts in order to provide holistic decision support. Since the emergence of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), many attempts have been made to incorporate SOA artefacts in existing EA frameworks. Yet the approaches taken to achieve this goal differ substantially for the most commonly used EA frameworks to date. This paper investigates and compares five widely used EA frameworks in the way they embrace the SOA paradigm. It identifies what SOA artefacts are considered to be in the respective EA frameworks and their relative position in the overall structure. The results show that services and related artefacts are far from being well-integrated constructs in current EA frameworks. The comparison presented in this paper will support practitioners in identifying an EA framework that provides SOA support in a way that matches their requirements and will hopefully inspire the academic EA and SOA communities to work on a closer integration of these architectures.

Web 2.0 applications in enterprises and education

Web 2.0 technology and concepts are being used increasingly by organisations to enhance knowledge, efficiency, engagement and reputation. Understanding the concepts of Web 2.0, its characteristics, and how the technology and concepts can be adopted, is essential to successfully reap the potential benefits. In fact, there is a debate about using the Web 2.0 idiom to refer to the concept behind it; however, this term is widely used in literature as well as in industry. In this paper, the definition of Web 2.0 technology, its characteristics and the attributes, will be presented. In addition, the adoption of such technology is further explored through the presentation of two separate case examples of Web 2.0 being used: to enhance an enterprise; and to enhance university teaching. The similarities between these implementations are identified and discussed, including how the findings point to generic principles of adoption.

Knowledge to deal with challenges to science education from without and within

This chapter focuses on two challenges to science teachers’ knowledge that Fensham identifies as having recently emerged—one a challenge from beyond Science and the other a challenge from within Science. Both challenges stem from common features of contemporary society, namely, its complexity and uncertainty. Both also confront science teachers with teaching situations that contrast markedly with the simplicity and certainty that have been characteristic of most school science education, and hence both present new demands for science teachers’ knowledge and skill. The first, the challenge from without Science, comes from the new world of work and the “knowledge society”. Regardless of their success in traditional school learning, many young persons in many modern economies are now seen as lacking other knowledge and skills that are essential for their personal, social and economic life. The second, the challenge from within Science, derives from changing notions of the nature of science itself. If the complexity and uncertainty of the knowledge society demand new understandings and contributions from science teachers, these are certainly matched by the demands that are posed by the role of complexity and uncertainty in science itself.

A highway for research in science education that no longer leads to the frontier

A review of "Progressing science education: constructing the scientific research programme into the contingent nature of learning science", by Keith S. Taber, Dordrecht, Springer, 2009.

A formative evaluation of the Stronger Smarter Learning Communities Project. 2011 report.

This report is a formative evaluation of the operations of the DEEWR funded Stronger Smarter Learning Community (SSLC) project from September 2009 to July 2011. It is undertaken by an independent team of researchers from Queensland University of Technology, the University of Newcastle and Harvard University. It reports on findings from: documentary analysis; qualitative case studies of SSLC Hub schools; descriptive, multivariate and multilevel analysis of survey data from school leaders and teachers from SSLC Hub and Affiliate schools and from a control group of non-SSLC schools; and multilevel analysis of school-level data on SSLC Hubs, Affiliates and ACARA like-schools. Key findings from this work are that: • SSLC school leaders and teachers are reporting progress in changing school ethos around issues of: recognition of Indigenous identity, Indigenous leadership, innovative approaches to staffing and school models, Indigenous community engagement and high expectations leadership; • Many Stronger Smarter messages are reportedly having better uptake in schools with high percentages of Indigenous students; • There are no major or consistent patterns of differences between SSLC and non-SSLC schools in teacher and school leader self-reports of curriculum and pedagogy practices; and • There is no evidence to date that SSLC Hubs and Affiliates have increased attendance or increased achievement gains compared to ACARA like-schools. Twenty-one months is relatively early in this school reform project. Hence the major focus of subsequent reports will be on the documentation of comparative longitudinal gains in achievement tests and improved attendance. The 2011 and 2012 research also will model the relationships between change in school ethos/climate, changed Indigenous community relations, improved curriculum/pedagogy, and gains in Indigenous student achievement, attendance and outcomes. The key challenge for SSLC and the Stronger Smarter approach will be whether it can systematically generate change and reform in curriculum and pedagogy practices that can be empirically linked to improved student outcomes.

Vocational education and training in schools : career advisers' perceptions and practices

This paper explores the currently highly topical issue of Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS). Specifically, it focuses upon career advisers' perceptions of VETiS, their advising practices as pertaining to this program and their views of others' perceptions of VETiS. It draws upon a national research project and data derived from interviews conducted with career advisers during the course of the project. The paper demonstrates that career advisers perceive VETiS in a favorable light on the whole, and they advocate the practice of advising all students to do VETiS if students desire to do so. That said, the paper goes on to highlight tensions apparent in the career advisers' perceptions of, and subsequent advice-giving practices regarding VETiS - particularly in terms of the potential benefits it affords all students. It becomes clear that careers advisers have different agendas for advising different students - academic and non-academic students - to undertake VETiS as a course of study. Finally, the paper demonstrates the ways in which career advisers become complicit in the marginalisation of VETiS programs and the status of VET.

Comparative study of coagulase negative Staphylococci (CoNS) from clinical isolates, skin and nasal sources

Staphylococci are important pathogenic bacteria responsible for a range of diseases in humans. The most frequently isolated microorganisms in a hospital microbiology laboratory are staphylococci. The general classification of staphylococci divides them into two major groups; Coagulase-positive staphylococci (e.g. Staphylococcus aureus) and Coagulase-negative staphylococci (e.g. Staphylococcus epidermidis). Coagulase-negative staphylococcal (CoNS) isolates include a variety of species and many different strains but are often dominated by the most important organism of this group, S. epidermidis. Currently, these organisms are regarded as important pathogenic organisms causing infections related to prosthetic materials and surgical wounds. A significant number of S. epidermidis isolates are also resistant to different antimicrobial agents. Virulence factors in CoNS are not very clearly established and not well documented. S. epidermidis is evolving as a resistant and powerful microbe related to nosocomial infections because it has different properties which independently, and in combination, make it a successful infectious agent, especially in the hospital environment. Such characteristics include biofilm formation, drug resistance and the evolution of genetic variables. The purpose of this project was to develop a novel SNP genotyping method to genotype S. epidermidis strains originating from hospital patients and healthy individuals. High-Resolution Melt Analysis was used to assign binary typing profiles to both clinical and commensal strains using a new bioinformatics approach. The presence of antibiotic resistance genes and biofilm coding genes were also interrogated in these isolates.

Self-Government and the fashioning of resilient personae : legal education, criminal justice, and the government of mental health

This paper explores attempts to shape resilient personae through relations of self-government, and highlights the way that this features as part of advanced liberal forms of rule. As an example of this process, it focuses on the way that undergraduate law students are encouraged to fashion resilient personae throughout their legal studies, so as to avoid, or effectively respond to, experiences that may have a detrimental effect on their mental health. This paper argues that the production of such resilience relies on students being encouraged to take up psychologically- and biomedically-infused subject positions, becoming well-disciplined subjects, entrepreneurs of the self, and even virtuous persons. It highlights that the fashioning of resilient personae in this way involves extensions to the targets and practices of self-government and reinforces advanced liberal government. The paper then suggests how insights into fashioning resilience in this context can inform further research on resilience, particularly resilience produced within criminal justice professionals.