ICTs for creative practice in drama : creating cyberdrama with young people in school contexts

This study explores young people's creative practice through using Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) - in one particular learning area - Drama. The study focuses on school-based contexts and the impact of ICT-based interventions within two drama education case studies. The first pilot study involved the use of online spaces to complement a co-curricula performance project. The second focus case was a curriculum-based project with online spaces and digital technologies being used to create a cyberdrama. Each case documents the activity systems, participant experiences and meaning making in specific institutional and technological contexts. The nature of creative practice and learning are analysed, using frameworks drawn from Vygotsky's socio-historical theory (including his work on creativity) and from activity theory. Case study analysis revealed the nature of contradictions encountered and these required an analysis of institutional constraints and the dynamics of power. Cyberdrama offers young people opportunities to explore drama through new modes and the use of ICTs can be seen as contributing different tools, spaces and communities for creative activity. To be able to engage in creative practice using ICTs requires a focus on a range of cultural tools and social practices beyond those of the purely technological. Cybernetic creative practice requires flexibility in the negotiation of tool use and subjects and a system that responds to feedback and can adapt. Classroom-based dramatic practice may allow for the negotiation of power and tool use in the development of collaborative works of the imagination. However, creative practice using ICTs in schools is typically restricted by authoritative power structures and access issues. The research identified participant engagement and meaning making emerging from different factors, with some students showing preferences for embodied creative practice in Drama that did not involve ICTs. The findings of the study suggest ICT-based interventions need to focus on different applications for the technology but also on embodied experience, the negotiation of power, identity and human interactions.

Thermogravimetric analysis-mass spectrometry (TG-MS) of selected Chinese kaolinites

Thermogravimetric analysis-mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize eight kaolinite samples from China. The results show that the thermal decomposition occurs in three main steps (a) desorption of water below 100 °C, (b) dehydration at about 225 °C, (c) well defined dehydroxylation at around 450 °C. It is also found that decarbonization took place at 710 °C due to the decomposition of calcite impurity in kaolin. The temperature of dehydroxylation of kaolinite is found to be influenced by the degree of disorder of the kaolinite structure and the gases evolved in the decomposition process can be various because of the different amount and kinds of impurities. It is evident by the mass spectra that the interlayer carbonate from impurity of calcite and organic carbon is released as CO2 around 225, 350 and 710 °C in the kaolinite samples.

Submarine dynamic modelling

This paper discusses the development of a dynamic model for a torpedo shaped sub- marine. Expressions for hydrostatic, added mass, hydrodynamic, control surface and pro- peller forces and moments are derived from first principles. Experimental data obtained from flume tests of the submarine are inserted into the model in order to provide computer simulations of the open loop behavior of the system.

Teachers’ understanding of school connectedness : implications for the development and implementation of school based injury prevention strategies

Aim: Worldwide, injury is the leading cause of death and disability for young people. Injuries among young people are commonly associated with risk taking behaviour, including violence and transport risks, which often occur in the context of alcohol use. The school environment has been identified as having a significant role in shaping adolescent behaviour. In particular, school connectedness, the degree to which adolescents feel that they belong and are accepted at school, has been shown to be an important protective factor. Strategies for increasing school connectedness may therefore be effective in reducing risk taking and associated injury. Prior to developing connectedness strategies, it is important to understand the perspectives of those in the school regarding the construct and how it is realised in the school context. The aim of this research was to understand teachers’ perspectives of school connectedness, the strategies they employ to connect with students, and their perceptions of school connectedness as a strategy for risk taking and injury prevention. Method: In depth interviews of approximately 45 minutes duration were conducted with 13 Health and PE teachers and support staff from 2 high schools in Southeast Queensland, Australia. Additionally, 6 focus group workshop discussions were held with 35 Education department employees (5-6 per group), including teachers from 15 Southeast Queensland high schools. Results: Participants were found to place strong importance on the development of connectedness among students, including those at risk for problem behaviour. Strategies used to promote connectedness included building trust, taking an interest in each student and being available to talk to, and finding something positive for students to succeed at. Teachers identified strategies as being related to decreased risk taking behavior. Teacher training on school connectedness was perceived as an important and useful inclusion in a school based injury prevention program. Conclusions: The established link between increased school connectedness and decreased problem behaviour has implications for school based strategies designed to decrease adolescent risk taking behaviour and associated injury. Targeting school connectedness as a point of intervention, in conjunction with individual attitude and behaviour change programs, may be an effective injury prevention strategy.

Modeling factors that influence exercise and dietary change among midlife Australian women: results from the Healthy Aging of Women Study

The objective of this study was to investigate the factors that influence midlife women to make positive exercise and dietary changes. In late 2005 questionnaires were mailed to 866 women aged 51–66 years from rural and urban locations in Queensland, Australia and participating in Stage 2 of the Healthy Aging of Women Study. The questionnaires sought data on socio-demographics, body mass index (BMI), chronic health conditions, self-efficacy, exercise and dietary behavior change since age 40, and health-related quality of life. Five hundred and sixty four (69%) were completed and returned by early 2006. Data analysis comprised descriptive and bivariate statistics and structural equation modeling. The results showed that midlife is a significant time for women to make positive health behavior changes. Approximately one-third of the sample (34.6%) indicated that they had increased their exercise and around 60% had made an effort to eat more healthily since age 40. Modeling showed self-efficacy to be important in making both exercise and dietary changes. Although education appeared to influence self-efficacy in relation to exercise change, this was not the case for dietary change. The study has application for programs promoting healthy aging among women, and implies that those with low education, high BMI and poor mental health may need considerable support to improve their lifestyles.

A quasi-stationary approach to drying kinetics of different shaped food particulates in a heat pump assisted by fluid bed dryer

Experiments were undertaken to study drying kinetics of different shaped moist food particulates during heat pump assisted fluidised bed drying. Three particular geometrical shapes of parallelepiped, cylindrical and spheres were selected from potatoes (aspect ratio = 1:1, 2:1, 3:1), cut beans (length: diameter = 1:1, 2:1, 3:1) and peas respectively. A batch fluidised bed dryer connected to a heat pump system was used for the experimentation. A Heat pump and fluid bed combination was used to increase overall energy efficiency and achieve higher drying rates. Drying kinetics, were evaluated with non-dimensional moisture at three different drying temperatures of 30, 40 and 50o C. Due to complex hydrodynamics of the fluidised beds, drying kinetics are dryer or material specific. Numerous mathematical models can be used to calculate drying kinetics ranging from analytical models with simplified assumptions to empirical models built by regression using experimental data. Empirical models are commonly used for various food materials due to their simpler approach. However problems in accuracy, limits the applications of empirical models. Some limitations of empirical models could be reduced by using semi-empirical models based on heat and mass transfer of the drying operation. One such method is the quasi-stationary approach. In this study, a modified quasi-stationary approach was used to model drying kinetics of the cylindrical food particles at three drying temperatures.

The effects of exercise-induced weight loss on appetite-related peptides and motivation to eat

Context: The magnitude of exercise-induced weight loss depends on the extent of compensatory responses. An increase in energy intake is likely to result from changes in the appetite control system toward an orexigenic environment; however, few studies have measured how exercise impacts on both orexigenic and anorexigenic peptides. ---------- Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of medium-term exercise on fasting/postprandial levels of appetite-related hormones and subjective appetite sensations in overweight/obese individuals. ---------- Design and Setting: We conducted a longitudinal study in a university research center. ---------- Participants and Intervention: Twenty-two sedentary overweight/obese individuals (age, 36.9 ± 8.3 yr; body mass index, 31.3 ± 3.3 kg/m2) took part in a 12-wk supervised exercise programme (five times per week, 75% maximal heart rate) and were requested not to change their food intake during the study. ---------- Main Outcome Measures: We measured changes in body weight and fasting/postprandial plasma levels of glucose, insulin, total ghrelin, acylated ghrelin (AG), peptide YY, and glucagon-like peptide-1 and feelings of appetite. ---------- Results: Exercise resulted in a significant reduction in body weight and fasting insulin and an increase in AG plasma levels and fasting hunger sensations. A significant reduction in postprandial insulin plasma levels and a tendency toward an increase in the delayed release of glucagon-like peptide-1 (90–180 min) were also observed after exercise, as well as a significant increase (127%) in the suppression of AG postprandially. ---------- Conclusions: Exercise-induced weight loss is associated with physiological and biopsychological changes toward an increased drive to eat in the fasting state. However, this seems to be balanced by an improved satiety response to a meal and improved sensitivity of the appetite control system.

The effect of graded levels of exercise on energy intake and balance in free-living men, consuming their normal diet

Objective: To assess the effect of graded increases in exercised-induced energy expenditure (EE) on appetite, energy intake (EI), total daily EE and body weight in men living in their normal environment and consuming their usual diets. Design: Within-subject, repeated measures design. Six men (mean (s.d.) age 31.0 (5.0) y; weight 75.1 (15.96) kg; height 1.79 (0.10) m; body mass index (BMI) 23.3(2.4) kg/m2), were each studied three times during a 9 day protocol, corresponding to prescriptions of no exercise, (control) (Nex; 0 MJ/day), medium exercise level (Mex; ~1.6 MJ/day) and high exercise level (Hex; ~3.2 MJ/day). On days 1-2 subjects were given a medium fat (MF) maintenance diet (1.6 ´ resting metabolic rate (RMR)). Measurements: On days 3-9 subjects self-recorded dietary intake using a food diary and self-weighed intake. EE was assessed by continual heart rate monitoring, using the modified FLEX method. Subjects' HR (heart rate) was individually calibrated against submaximal VO2 during incremental exercise tests at the beginning and end of each 9 day study period. Respiratory exchange was measured by indirect calorimetry. Subjects completed hourly hunger ratings during waking hours to record subjective sensations of hunger and appetite. Body weight was measured daily. Results: EE amounted to 11.7, 12.9 and 16.8 MJ/day (F(2,10)=48.26; P<0.001 (s.e.d=0.55)) on the Nex, Mex and Hex treatments, respectively. The corresponding values for EI were 11.6, 11.8 and 11.8 MJ/day (F(2,10)=0.10; P=0.910 (s.e.d.=0.10)), respectively. There were no treatment effects on hunger, appetite or body weight, but there was evidence of weight loss on the Hex treatment. Conclusion: Increasing EE did not lead to compensation of EI over 7 days. However, total daily EE tended to decrease over time on the two exercise treatments. Lean men appear able to tolerate a considerable negative energy balance, induced by exercise, over 7 days without invoking compensatory increases in EI.

Solving graphics tasks : gender differences in middle-school students

The capacity to solve tasks that contain high concentrations of visual-spatial information, including graphs, maps and diagrams, is becoming increasingly important in educational contexts as well as everyday life. This research examined gender differences in the performance of students solving graphics tasks from the Graphical Languages in Mathematics (GLIM) instrument that included number lines, graphs, maps and diagrams. The participants were 317 Australian students (169 males and 148 females) aged 9 to 12 years. Boys outperformed girls on graphical languages that required the interpretation of information represented on an axis and graphical languages that required movement between two- and three-dimensional representations (generally Map language).

Effect of poly(acrylic acid) molecular mass and end-group functionality on calcium oxalate crystal morphology and growth

A number of series of poly(acrylic acids) (PAA) of differing end-groups and molecular mass were used to study the inhibition of calcium oxalate crystallization. The effects of the end-group on crystal speciation and morphology were significant and dramatic, with hexyl-isobutyrate end groups giving preferential formation of calcium oxalate dihydrate (COD) rather than the more stable calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM), while both more hydrophobic end-groups and less-hydrophobic end groups led predominantly to formation of the least thermodynamically stable form of calcium oxalate, calcium oxalate trihydrate. Conversely, molecular mass had little impact on calcium oxalate speciation or crystal morphology. It is probable that the observed effects are related to the rate of desorption of the PAA moiety from the crystal (lite) surfaces and that the results point to a major role for end-group as well as molecular mass in controlling desorption rate.

Transition to school of diverse learners

This thesis examines the approaches taken by early years teachers in supporting the inclusive school transition of diverse learners. A Thesis by Publication format has been employed, where instead of traditional thesis chapters, scholarly journal articles are presented in an ordered sequence in two sections. The first set of journal articles establishes a synthesis of approaches to diversity and inclusion and to transition to school, in order to set a clear theoretical position arising from the literature. The second set of journal articles reports empirical evidence from three school sites on diversity, inclusion and transition to school, discussed in relation to both the first set of papers and to additional literature. The relationship between these articles, and the methodology used for the theoretical papers, is outlined in linking summaries of the challenges the papers seek to address.

Pre-service teacher education and the development of middle school teacher identity : an exploratory study

This research study investigated the factors that influenced the development of teacher identity in a small cohort of mature-aged graduate pre-service teachers over the course of a one-year Graduate Diploma program (Middle Years). It sought to illuminate the social and relational dynamics of these pre-service teachers’ experiences as they began new ways of being and learning during a newly introduced one-year Graduate Diploma program. A relational-ontological perspective underpinned the relational-cultural framework that was applied in a workshop program as an integral part of this research. A relational-ontological perspective suggests that the development of teacher identity is to be construed more as an ontological process than an epistemological one. Its focus is more on questions surrounding the person and their ‘becoming’ a teacher than about the knowledge they have or will come to have. Hence, drawing on work by researchers such as Alsup (2006), Gilligan, (1982), Isaacs, (2007), Miller (1976), Noddings, (2005), Stout (2001), and Taylor, (1989), teacher identity was defined as an individual pre-service teacher’s unique sense of self as a teacher that included his or her beliefs about teaching and learning (Alsup, 2006; Stout, 2001; Walkington, 2005). Case-study was the preferred methodology within which this research project was framed, and narrative research was used as a method to document the way teacher identity was shaped and negotiated in discursive environments such as teacher education programs, prior experiences, classroom settings and the practicum. The data that was collected included student narratives, student email written reflections, and focus group dialogue. The narrative approach applied in this research context provided the depth of data needed to understand the nature of the mature-aged pre-service teachers’ emerging teacher identities and experiences in the graduate diploma program. Findings indicated that most of the mature-aged graduate pre-service teachers came in to the one-year graduate diploma program with a strong sense of personal and professional selves and well-established reasons why they had chosen to teach Middle Years. Their choice of program involved an expectation of support and welcome to a middle-school community and culture. Two critical issues that emerged from the pre-service teachers’ narratives were the importance they placed on the human support including the affirmation of themselves and their emerging teacher identities. Evidence from this study suggests that the lack of recognition of preservice teachers’ personal and professional selves during the graduate diploma program inhibited the development of a positive middle-school teacher identity. However, a workshop program developed for the participants in this research and addressing a range of practical concerns to beginning teachers offered them a space where they felt both a sense of belonging to a community and where their thoughts and beliefs were recognized and valued. Thus, the workshops provided participants with the positive social and relational dynamics necessary to support them in their developing teacher identities. The overall findings of this research study strongly indicate a need for a relational support structure based on a relational-ontological perspective to be built into the overall course structure of Graduate Pre-service Diplomas in Education to support the development of teacher identity. Such a support structure acknowledges that the pre-service teacher’s learning and formation is socially embedded, relational, and a continual, lifelong process.

Public accountability : the perceived usefulness of school annual reports

Annual reports are an important component of New Zealand schools’ public accountability. Through the annual report the governance body informs stakeholders about school aims, objectives, achievements, use of resources, and financial performance. This paper identifies the perceived usefulness of the school annual report to recipients and the extent to which it serves as an instrument of accountability and/or decision-usefulness. The study finds that the annual report is used for a variety of purposes, including: to determine if the school has conducted its activities effectively and achieved stated objectives and goals; to examine student achievements; to assess financial accountability and performance; and to make decisions about the school as a suitable environment for their child/children. Nevertheless, the study also finds that other forms of communication are more important sources of information about the school than the annual report which is seen to fall short of users’ required qualities of understandability, reliability and readability. It would appear imperative that policy makers review the functional role of the school annual report which is a costly document to prepare. Further, school managers need to engage in alternative means to communicate sufficient and meaningful information in the discharge of public accountability.