The Impact of Parental Attachment on Adolescent Perception of the School Environment and School Connectedness

The extent to which students feel accepted, valued, respected and included in the school has recently surfaced as one of the most important predictors of adolescent mental health (particularly depressive symptoms). The school environment is an established predictor of school connectedness, but we set out to examine whether parental attachment predicts both adolescents' perception of the school environment and school connectedness. A study of 171 high school students from years 8 to 12 showed that parent attachment strongly predicted both. We also confirmed that the relationship between parent attachment and school connectedness is not a direct one but that parent attachment influences individual differences in the way adolescents perceive the school environment, which in turn influences school connectedness. This finding shows how multiple systems might be interlinked in influencing wellbeing in adolescents, and confirms the importance of intervening at the double level of both the family and the school system.

Opportunities of public transport experience enhancements with mobile services and urban screens

Public transportation is an environment with great potential for applying innovative ubiquitous computing services to enhance user experiences. This paper provides the underpinning rationale for research that will be looking at how real-time passenger information system deployed by transit authorities can provide a core platform to improve commuters’ user experiences during all stages of their journey. The proposal builds on this platform to inform the design and development of innovative social media, mobile computing and geospatial information applications, with the hope to create fun and meaningful experiences for passengers during their everyday travel. Furthermore, we present the findings of our pilot study that aims to offer a better understanding of passengers’ activities and social interactions during their daily commute.

Helping undergraduate students across disciplines and cultures actively engage and collaborate as equal members of a community of scholars : peer review within an e-learning environment

At the international level, the higher education sector is currently being subjected to increased calls for public accountability and the current move by the OECD to rank universities based on the quality of their teaching and learning outcomes. At the national level, Australian universities and their teaching staff face numerous challenges including financial restrictions, increasing student numbers and the reality of an increasingly diverse student population. The Australian higher education response to these competing policy and accreditation demands focuses on precise explicit systems and procedures which are inflexible and conservative and which ignore the fact that assessment is the single biggest influence on how students approach their learning. By seriously neglecting the quality of student learning outcomes, assessment tasks are often failing to engage students or reflect the tasks students will face in the world of practice. Innovative assessment design, which includes new paradigms of student engagement and learning and pedagogically based technologies have the capacity to provide some measure of relief from these internal and external tensions by significantly enhancing the learning experience for an increasingly time-poor population of students. That is, the assessment process has the ability to deliver program objectives and active learning through a knowledge transfer process which increases student participation and engagement. This social constructivist view highlights the importance of peer review in assisting students to participate and collaborate as equal members of a community of scholars with both their peers and academic staff members. As a result of increasing the student’s desire to learn, peer review leads to more confident, independent and reflective learners who also become more skilled at making independent judgements of their own and others' work. Within this context, in Case Study One of this project, a summative, peer-assessed, weekly, assessment task was introduced in the first “serious” accounting subject offered as part of an undergraduate degree. The positive outcomes achieved included: student failure rates declined 15%; tutorial participation increased fourfold; tutorial engagement increased six-fold; and there was a 100% student-based approval rating for the retention of the assessment task. However, in stark contrast to the positive student response, staff issues related to the loss of research time associated with the administration of the peer-review process threatened its survival. This paper contributes to the core conference topics of new trends and experiences in undergraduate assessment education and in terms of innovative, on-line, learning and teaching practices, by elaborating the Case Study Two “solution” generated to this dilemma. At the heart of the resolution is an e-Learning, peer-review process conducted in conjunction with the University of Melbourne which seeks to both create a virtual sense of belonging and to efficiently and effectively meet academic learning objectives with minimum staff involvement. In outlining the significant level of success achieved, student-based qualitative and quantitative data will be highlighted along with staff views in a comparative analysis of the advantages and disadvantages to both students and staff of the staff-led, peer review process versus its on-line counterpart.

Beyond the walls of academia : architectural internships

A full architectural education typically involves five years of formal education and two years of practice experience under the supervision of a registered architect. In many architecture courses some of this period of internship can be taken either as a ‘year out’ between years of study, or during enrolment as credited study; work place learning or work integrated learning. This period of learning can be characterised as an internship in which the student, as an adult learner, is supervised by their employer. This is a highly authentic learning environment, but one in which the learner is both student and employee, and the architect is both teacher and employer; at times conflicting roles. While the educational advantages of such authentic practice experience are well recognised, there are also concerns about the quality and variability of such experiences. This paper reviews the current state of practice, with respect to architectural internships, and analyses such practice using Laurillard’s ‘conversational framework’ (2002). The framework highlights the interactions and affordances between teacher and student in the form of concepts, adaptations, reflections, actions and feedback. A review of common practice in architectural work place learning, internships in other fields of education, and focused research at the author’s own university, are discussed, then analysed for ‘affordances’ of learning. Such analysis shows both the potential of work place learning to offer a unique environment for learning, and the need to organise and construct such experiences in ways that facilitates learning.

‘Show Me Your Wiki and I’ll Show you Mine’: Using Online Interactive Media to Improve Academic Writing and Research in a Public Health Under-Graduate Cohort

The number of Internet users in Australia has been steadily increasing, with over 10.9 million people currently subscribed to an internet provider (ABS, 2011). Over the past year, the most avid users of the Internet were 15 – 24 year olds, with approximately 95% accessing the internet on a regular basis (ABS, Social Trends, 2011). While the internet has been described as fundamental to higher education students, social and leisure internet tools are also increasingly being used by these students to generate and maintain their social and professional networks and interactions (Duffy & Bruns 2006). Rapid technological advancements have enabled greater and faster access to information for learning and education (Hemmi et al, 2009; Glassman and Kang, 2011). As such, we sought to integrate interactive, online social media into the assessment profile of a Public Health undergraduate cohort at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). The aim of this exercise was to engage students to both develop and showcase their research on a range of complex, contemporary health issues within the online forum of Wikispaces (http://www.wikispaces.com/) for review and critique by their peers. We applied Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (SLT) to analyse the interactive processes from which students developed deeper and more sustained learning, and via which their overall academic writing standards were raised. This paper outlines the assessment task, and the students’ feedback on their learning outcomes in relation to the Attentional, Retentional, Motor Reproduction, and Motivational Processes outlined by Bandura in SLT. We conceptualise the findings in a theoretical model, and discuss the implications for this approach within the broader tertiary environment.

Status of current research on the implication of climate change on built environment

The cycling interaction between climate change and building performance is of dynamic nature and both are essentially the cause and the effect of each other. On one hand, buildings contribute significantly to the global warming process. On the other hand, climate change is also expected to impact on many aspects of building performance. In this paper, the status of current research on the implication of climate change on built environment is reviewed. It is found that although the present research has covered broad areas of research, they are generally only limited to the qualitative analyses. It is also highlighted that although it is widely realized that reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector is very important, the adoption of complementary adaptation strategy to prepare the building for a range of climate change scenarios is also necessary. Due to the lack of holistic approach to generate future hourly weather data, various approaches have been used to generate different key weather variables. This ad hoc situation has seriously hindered the application of building simulation technique to the climate change impact study, in particular, to provide quantitative information for policy and design development.

Some reflections about P2M : the place of the mirror

The purpose of this paper is to provide some insights about P2M, and more specifically, to develop some thoughts about Project Management seen as a Mirror, a place for reflection…, between the Mission of organisation and its actual creation of Values (with s: a source of value for people, organisations and society). This place is the realm of complexity, of interactions between multiple variables, each of them having a specific time horizon and occupying a specific place, playing a specific role. Before developing this paper I would like to borrow to my colleague and friend, Professor Ohara, the following, part of a paper going to be presented at IPMA World Congress, in New Delhi later this year in November 2005. “P2M is the Japanese version of project & program management, which is the first standard guide for education and certification developed in 2001. A specific finding of P2M is characterized by “mission driven management of projects” or a program which harness complexity of problem solving observed in the interface between technical system and business model.” (Ohara, 2005, IPMA Conference, New Delhi) “The term of “mission” is a key word in the field of corporate strategy, where it expresses raison d’être or “value of business”. It is more specifically used for expressing “the client needs” in terms of a strategic business unit. The concept of mission is deemed to be a useful tool to share essential content of value and needs in message for complex project.” (Ohara, 2005, IPMA Conference, New Delhi) “Mission is considered as a significant “metamodel representation” by several reasons. First, it represents multiple values for aspiration. The central objective of mission initiative is profiling of ideality in the future from reality, which all stakeholders are glad to accept and share. Second, it shall be within a stretch of efforts, and not beyond or outside of the realization. Though it looks like unique, it has to depict a solid foundation. The pragmatic sense of equilibrium between innovation and adaptation is required for the mission. Third, it shall imply a rough sketch for solution to critical issues for problems in reality.” (Ohara, 2005, IPMA Conference, New Delhi) “Project modeling” idea has been introduced in P2M program management. A package of three project models of “scheme”, “system” and “service” are given as a reference type program. (Ohara, 2005, IPMA Conference, New Delhi) If these quotes apply to P2M, they are fully congruent with the results of the research undertaken and the resulting meta-model & meta-method developed by the CIMAP, ESC Lille Research Centre in Project & Program Management, since the 80’s. The paper starts by questioning the common Project Management (PM) paradigm. Then discussing the concept of Project, it argues that an alternative epistemological position should be taken to capture Page 2 / 11 the very nature of the PM field. Based on this, a development about “the need of modelling to understand” is proposed grounded on two theoretical roots. This leads to the conclusion that, in order to enables this modelling, a standard approach is necessary, but should be understood under the perspective of the Theory of Convention in order to facilitate a situational and contextual application.

Perspectives on research in project management

We review the substantial progress and trends of research in Project Management, which we have grouped into nine major schools of thought. We address interactions between the different schools and with other related management fields, and provide insights into current and potential research in each and across these schools.

Processpedia : an ecological environment for BPM stakeholders' collaboration

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to clarify how end-users’ tacit knowledge can be captured and integrated in an overall business process management (BPM) approach. Current approaches to support stakeholders’ collaboration in the modelling of business processes envision an egalitarian environment where stakeholders interact in the same context, using the same languages and sharing the same perspectives on the business process. Therefore, such stakeholders have to collaborate in the context of process modelling using a language that some of them do not master, and have to integrate their various perspectives. Design/methodology/approach: The paper applies the SECI knowledge management process to analyse the problems of traditional top-down BPM approaches and BPM collaborative modelling tools. Besides, the SECI model is also applied to Wikipedia, a successful Web 2.0-based knowledge management environment, to identify how tacit knowledge is captured in a bottom-up approach. Findings – The paper identifies a set of requirements for a hybrid BPM approach, both top-down and bottom-up, and describes a new BPM method based on a stepwise discovery of knowledge. Originality/value: This new approach, Processpedia, enhances collaborative modelling among stakeholders without enforcing egalitarianism. In Processpedia tacit knowledge is captured and standardised into the organisation’s business processes by fostering an ecological participation of all the stakeholders and capitalising on stakeholders’ distinctive characteristics.

Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D Investment for the Australian built environment : Phase 2 Case Study Reports Part 1 - Overview of Findings

This report provides an overview of findings of qualitative research comprising three case studies undertaken as a part of the retrospective analysis component of Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D investment for the Australian Built Environment. These case studies (see Parts 2, 3 and 4 of this suite of reports) were undertaken to illustrate the nature of past R&D investments in Australia. This was done to complement: (i) the audit and analysis of past R&D investment undertaken by Thomas Barlow (2011); and (ii) the Construction 2030 roadmap being developed by Swinburne University of Technology and Professor Göran Roos from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. These documents will be the basis for the final phase of the present project - developing policy guidelines for future R&D investment in the Australian built environment. Refer also Parts 1, 2 and 3 for detail findings.

Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D Investment for the Australian built environment : Phase 2 Case Study Report Part 4 - CADD, BIM and IPD

This report discusses findings of a case study into "CADD, BIM and IPD" undertaken as a part of the retrospective analysis component of Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D investment for the Australian Built Environment. This case study investigated the evolution that has taken place in the Queensland Department of Public Works Division of Project Services during the last 20 years from: the initial implementation of computer aided design and documentation(CADD); to the experimentation with building information modelling (BIM) from the mid 2000’s; embedding integrated practice (IP); to current steps towards integrated project delivery (IPD) with the integration of contractors in the design/delivery process. This case study should be read in conjunction with Part 1 of this suite of reports.

Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D Investment for the Australian built environment : Phase 2 Case Study Report Part 2 - Road Construction Safety

This report discusses findings of a case study into "Road Construction Safety" undertaken as a part of the retrospective analysis component of Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D investment for the Australian Built Environment. The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (QTMR) has taken a leadership role in developing a safer working environment for road construction workers. In the past decades, a range of initiatives have been introduced to contribute to improved performance in this area. Several initiatives have been undertaken by QTMR as part of their overarching commitment to safety. Three such initiatives form the basis for this case study investigation, in order to better illustrate the nature of R&D investment and its impact on day-to-day operations and the supply chain. These are the development and implementation of: (i) the Mechanical Traffic Aid: (ii) the Thermal Imaging Camera; and (iii) the Trailer-based CCTV (camera). This case study should be read in conjunction with Part 1 of this suite of reports.

Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D Investment for the Australian built environment : Phase 2 Case Study Report Part 3 - Green Buildings

This report discusses findings of a case study into "Green Buildings" undertaken as a part of the retrospective analysis component of Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D investment for the Australian Built Environment. The Western Australian Government (WAG) has taken a leadership role for a number of decades in developing more environmentally responsive buildings. In the past decade, considerable initiatives have been introduced to contribute to: (i) greening the stock of government buildings; and (ii) providing leadership in the development of other non-residential buildings developed commercially. This role has been informed by global, national and internal initiatives and research in this area. This case study investigates: (i) the nature of this leadership; and (ii) the role of R&D policy development; and (iii) the dissemination and impact of outcomes in the broader industry. This case study should be read in conjunction with Part 1 of this suite of reports.

Ocular surface changes with short-term contact lens wear

Contact lenses are a common method for the correction of refractive errors of the eye. While there have been significant advancements in contact lens designs and materials over the past few decades, the lenses still represent a foreign object in the ocular environment and may lead to physiological as well as mechanical effects on the eye. When contact lenses are placed in the eye, the ocular anatomical structures behind and in front of the lenses are directly affected. This thesis presents a series of experiments that investigate the mechanical and physiological effects of the short-term use of contact lenses on anterior and posterior corneal topography, corneal thickness, the eyelids, tarsal conjunctiva and tear film surface quality. The experimental paradigm used in these studies was a repeated measures, cross-over study design where subjects wore various types of contact lenses on different days and the lenses were varied in one or more key parameters (e.g. material or design). Both, old and newer lens materials were investigated, soft and rigid lenses were used, high and low oxygen permeability materials were tested, toric and spherical lens designs were examined, high and low powers and small and large diameter lenses were used in the studies. To establish the natural variability in the ocular measurements used in the studies, each experiment also contained at least one “baseline” day where an identical measurement protocol was followed, with no contact lenses worn. In this way, changes associated with contact lens wear were considered in relation to those changes that occurred naturally during the 8 hour period of the experiment. In the first study, the regional distribution and magnitude of change in corneal thickness and topography was investigated in the anterior and posterior cornea after short-term use of soft contact lenses in 12 young adults using the Pentacam. Four different types of contact lenses (Silicone hydrogel/ Spherical/–3D, Silicone Hydrogel/Spherical/–7D, Silicone Hydrogel/Toric/–3D and HEMA/Toric/–3D) of different materials, designs and powers were worn for 8 hours each, on 4 different days. The natural diurnal changes in corneal thickness and curvature were measured on two separate days before any contact lens wear. Significant diurnal changes in corneal thickness and curvature within the duration of the study were observed and these were taken into consideration for calculating the contact lens induced corneal changes. Corneal thickness changed significantly with lens wear and the greatest corneal swelling was seen with the hydrogel (HEMA) toric lens with a noticeable regional swelling of the cornea beneath the stabilization zones, the thickest regions of the lenses. The anterior corneal surface generally showed a slight flattening with lens wear. All contact lenses resulted in central posterior corneal steepening, which correlated with the relative degree of corneal swelling. The corneal swelling induced by the silicone hydrogel contact lenses was typically less than the natural diurnal thinning of the cornea over this same period (i.e. net thinning). This highlights why it is important to consider the natural diurnal variations in corneal thickness observed from morning to afternoon to accurately interpret contact lens induced corneal swelling. In the second experiment, the relative influence of lenses of different rigidity (polymethyl methacrylate – PMMA, rigid gas permeable – RGP and silicone hydrogel – SiHy) and diameters (9.5, 10.5 and 14.0) on corneal thickness, topography, refractive power and wavefront error were investigated. Four different types of contact lenses (PMMA/9.5, RGP/9.5, RGP/10.5, SiHy/14.0), were worn by 14 young healthy adults for a period of 8 hours on 4 different days. There was a clear association between fluorescein fitting pattern characteristics (i.e. regions of minimum clearance in the fluorescein pattern) and the resulting corneal shape changes. PMMA lenses resulted in significant corneal swelling (more in the centre than periphery) along with anterior corneal steepening and posterior flattening. RGP lenses, on the other hand, caused less corneal swelling (more in the periphery than centre) along with opposite effects on corneal curvature, anterior corneal flattening and posterior steepening. RGP lenses also resulted in a clinically and statistically significant decrease in corneal refractive power (ranging from 0.99 to 0.01 D), large enough to affect vision and require adjustment in the lens power. Wavefront analysis also showed a significant increase in higher order aberrations after PMMA lens wear, which may partly explain previous reports of "spectacle blur" following PMMA lens wear. We further explored corneal curvature, thickness and refractive changes with back surface toric and spherical RGP lenses in a group of 6 subjects with toric corneas. The lenses were worn for 8 hours and measurements were taken before and after lens wear, as in previous experiments. Both lens types caused anterior corneal flattening and a decrease in corneal refractive power but the changes were greater with the spherical lens. The spherical lens also caused a significant decrease in WTR astigmatism (WRT astigmatism defined as major axis within 30 degrees of horizontal). Both the lenses caused slight posterior corneal steepening and corneal swelling, with a greater effect in the periphery compared to the central cornea. Eyelid position, lid-wiper and tarsal conjunctival staining were also measured in Experiment 2 after short-term use of the rigid and SiHy contact lenses. Digital photos of the external eyes were captured for lid position analysis. The lid-wiper region of the marginal conjunctiva was stained using fluorescein and lissamine green dyes and digital photos were graded by an independent masked observer. A grading scale was developed in order to describe the tarsal conjunctival staining. A significant decrease in the palpebral aperture height (blepharoptosis) was found after wearing of PMMA/9.5 and RGP/10.5 lenses. All three rigid contact lenses caused a significant increase in lid-wiper and tarsal staining after 8 hours of lens wear. There was also a significant diurnal increase in tarsal staining, even without contact lens wear. These findings highlight the need for better contact lens edge design to minimise the interactions between the lid and contact lens edge during blinking and more lubricious contact lens surfaces to reduce ocular surface micro-trauma due to friction and for. Tear film surface quality (TFSQ) was measured using a high-speed videokeratoscopy technique in Experiment 2. TFSQ was worse with all the lenses compared to baseline (PMMA/9.5, RGP/9.5, RGP/10.5, and SiHy/14) in the afternoon (after 8 hours) during normal and suppressed blinking conditions. The reduction in TFSQ was similar with all the contact lenses used, irrespective of their material and diameter. An unusual pattern of change in TFSQ in suppressed blinking conditions was also found. The TFSQ with contact lens was found to decrease until a certain time after which it improved to a value even better than the bare eye. This is likely to be due to the tear film drying completely over the surface of the contact lenses. The findings of this study also show that there is still a scope for improvement in contact lens materials in terms of better wettability and hydrophilicity in order to improve TFSQ and patient comfort. These experiments showed that a variety of changes can occur in the anterior eye as a result of the short-term use of a range of commonly used contact lens types. The greatest corneal changes occurred with lenses manufactured from older HEMA and PMMA lens materials, whereas modern SiHy and rigid gas permeable materials caused more subtle changes in corneal shape and thickness. All lenses caused signs of micro-trauma to the eyelid wiper and palpebral conjunctiva, although rigid lenses appeared to cause more significant changes. Tear film surface quality was also significantly reduced with all types of contact lenses. These short-term changes in the anterior eye are potential markers for further long term changes and the relative differences between lens types that we have identified provide an indication of areas of contact lens design and manufacture that warrant further development.

The economics of happiness : a lifetime perspective

The three studies in this thesis focus on happiness and age and seek to contribute to our understanding of happiness change over the lifetime. The first study contributes by offering an explanation for what was evolving to a ‘stylised fact’ in the economics literature, the U-shape of happiness in age. No U-shape is evident if one makes a visual inspection of the age happiness relationship in the German socio-economic panel data, and, it seems counter-intuitive that we just have to wait until we get old to be happy. Eliminating the very young, the very old, and the first timers from the analysis did not explain away regression results supporting the U-shape of happiness in age, but fixed effect analysis did. Analysis revealed found that reverse causality arising from time-invariant individual traits explained the U-shape of happiness in age in the German population, and the results were robust across six econometric methods. Robustness was added to the German fixed effect finding by replicating it with the Australian and the British socio-economic panel data sets. During analysis of the German data an unexpected finding emerged, an exceedingly large negative linear effect of age on happiness in fixed-effect regressions. There is a large self-reported happiness decline by those who remain in the German panel. A similar decline over time was not evident in the Australian or the British data. After testing away age, time and cohort effects, a time-in-panel effect was found. Germans who remain in the panel for longer progressively report lower levels of happiness. Because time-in-panel effects have not been included in happiness regression specifications, our estimates may be biased; perhaps some economics of the happiness studies, that used German panel data, need revisiting. The second study builds upon the fixed-effect finding of the first study and extends our view of lifetime happiness to a cohort little visited by economists, children. Initial analysis extends our view of lifetime happiness beyond adulthood and revealed a happiness decline in adolescent (15 to 23 year-old) Australians that is twice the size of the happiness decline we see in older Australians (75 to 86 yearolds), who we expect to be unhappy due to declining income, failing health and the onset of death. To resolve a difference of opinion in the literature as to whether childhood happiness decreases, increases, or remains flat in age; survey instruments and an Internet-based survey were developed and used to collect data from four hundred 9 to 14 year-old Australian children. Applying the data to a Model of Childhood Happiness revealed that the natural environment life-satisfaction domain factor did not have a significant effect on childhood happiness. However, the children’s school environment and interactions with friends life-satisfaction domain factors explained over half a steep decline in childhood happiness that is three times larger than what we see in older Australians. Adding personality to the model revealed what we expect to see with adults, extraverted children are happier, but unexpectedly, so are conscientious children. With the steep decline in the happiness of young Australians revealed and explanations offered, the third study builds on the time-invariant individual trait finding from the first study by applying the Australian panel data to an Aggregate Model of Average Happiness over the lifetime. The model’s independent variable is the stress that arises from the interaction between personality and the life event shocks that affect individuals and peers throughout their lives. Interestingly, a graphic depiction of the stress in age relationship reveals an inverse U-shape; an inverse U-shape that looks like the opposite of the U-shape of happiness in age we saw in the first study. The stress arising from life event shocks is found to explain much of the change in average happiness over a lifetime. With the policy recommendations of economists potentially invoking unexpected changes in our lives, the ensuing stress and resulting (un)happiness warrant consideration before economists make policy recommendations.