Southern theory : the global dynamics of knowledge in the social sciences

Up front I am impelled to acknowledge an intellectual debt to Raewyn Connell as one of my PhD supervisors about 20 years ago and as having a lasting influence on my own sociological approach to research. One of key themes of this book is that southern theorists are rarely read in the northern hemisphere. This is not the case for Connell, however, one of Australia’s most internationally renowned scholars. The tome reads as the creative outpouring of her lifelong thirst for social science. Its main claim is that southern theory ‘has as much intellectual power as metropolitan social thought, and more political relevance’ (p. xii). A big but compelling claim, as I will explain.

Best practices in prediction for decision-making : lessons from the atmospheric and earth sciences

Predictions that result from scientific research hold great appeal for decision-makers who are grappling with complex and controversial environmental issues, by promising to enhance their ability to determine a need for and outcomes of alternative decisions. A problem exists in that decision-makers and scientists in the public and private sectors solicit, produce, and use such predictions with little understanding of their accuracy or utility, and often without systematic evaluation or mechanisms of accountability. In order to contribute to a more effective role for ecological science in support of decision-making, this paper discusses three ``best practices'' for quantitative ecosystem modeling and prediction gleaned from research on modeling, prediction, and decision-making in the atmospheric and earth sciences. The lessons are distilled from a series of case studies and placed into the specific context of examples from ecological science.

Values, wellness and the social sciences curriculum

Recent initiatives in values education in Australia emphasise the importance of the process of valuing and general methodologies that foster this in the classroom. Although a range of strategies are available, this chapter argues that inquiry-based approaches in the Social Sciences play a significant role in linking valuing processes with decision making skills. Collectively, these approaches prompt the development of reasoning and self awareness which also impact on student wellness. This chapter proposes some curriculum approaches to foreground values education in the Australian Social Sciences classroom. It argues that valuing is an important life skill that can be cultivated in the classroom through specific valuing strategies. It contends that the development of the capacity to make informed value choices is a critical factor in promoting wellness and resilience in students and in preparing them for the decision making skills required for effective participation in society.

Embedding values through global education in social sciences pre-service teacher education : linking the head and heart

This chapter aims to situate values education as a core component of social science pre-service teacher education. In particular, it reflects on an experiment in embedding a values laden Global Education perspective in a fourth year social science curriculum method unit. This unit was designed and taught by the researcher on the assumption that beginning social science teachers need to be empowered with pedagogical skills and new dispositions to deal with value laden emerging global and regional concerns in their secondary school classrooms. Moreover, it was assumed that when pre-service teachers engage in dynamic and interactive learning experiences in their curriculum unit, they commence the process of ‘capacity building’ those skills which prepare them for their own lifelong professional learning. This approach to values education also aimed at providing pre-service teachers with opportunities to ‘create deep understandings of teaching and learning’ (Barnes, 1989, p. 17) by reflecting on the ways in which ‘pedagogy can be transformative’ (Lovat and Toomey, 2011 add page no from Chapter One). It was assumed that this tertiary experience would foster the sine qua non of teaching – a commitment to students and their learning. Central to fostering new ‘dispositions’ through this approach, was the belief in the power of pedagogy to make the difference in enhancing student participation and learning. In this sense, this experiment in values education in secondary social science pre-service teacher education aligns with the Troika metaphor for a paradigm change, articulated by Lovat and Toomey (2009) in Chapter One.

Enhancing the teaching of family and consumer sciences : the role of graphic organisers

In a world of constant and rapid change there are greater demands placed on learners to not only gain content knowledge, but also to develop learning skills and to adopt new strategies that will enable them to produce better and faster learning outcomes. Especially in internationally advancing nations like Kuwait this will be a major challenge of the future. This literature review examines theoretical frameworks that enhance Kuwaiti teachers’ knowledge and skill to adopt culturally relevant reform practices across a number of disciplines and provide guidance in an exploration and use of newer pedagogical tools like graphic organisers. It analyses the effects of graphic organisers on higher order learning and evaluates how they can effect professional development and pedagogical change in Kuwait.

Drug diffusion from polymeric delivery devices : a problem with two moving boundaries

An existing model for solvent penetration and drug release from a spherically-shaped polymeric drug delivery device is revisited. The model has two moving boundaries, one that describes the interface between the glassy and rubbery states of polymer, and another that defines the interface between the polymer ball and the pool of solvent. The model is extended so that the nonlinear diffusion coefficient of drug explicitly depends on the concentration of solvent, and the resulting equations are solved numerically using a front-fixing transformation together with a finite difference spatial discretisation and the method of lines. We present evidence that our scheme is much more accurate than a previous scheme. Asymptotic results in the small-time limit are presented, which show how the use of a kinetic law as a boundary condition on the innermost moving boundary dictates qualitative behaviour, the scalings being very different to the similar moving boundary problem that arises from modelling the melting of an ice ball. The implication is that the model considered here exhibits what is referred to as ``non-Fickian'' or Case II diffusion which, together with the initially constant rate of drug release, has certain appeal from a pharmaceutical perspective.

The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences

Its mission is to promote Mathematics and Science in Africa and to provide a focal point for Mathematics university training in Africa. It offers scholarships for up to 50 students to come and study for a period of nine months. Of the 50 students, about 15 positions are reserved for females. In the 2006/2007 intake there were over 250 applicants. The students are housed and fed and their return travel from their home town is fully funded. Lecturers also stay at AIMS and share their meals with the students, so that a rapport quickly develops. The students are away from their families and friends for nine months and are absolutely committed to the discipline of Mathematics. When they first arrive, some of them have little ability in English but since all tuition is in English they quickly learn. Some find the transitions difficult but they all support one another and at the end of their time their English skills are very good. The students do a series of subjects that last for about three weeks each, consisting of 30 contact hours, as well as a thesis/project. Each course has a number of assignments associated with it and these get evaluated. AIMS has seven or eight teaching assistants who help with the tutorials, marking, advice, and who are a vital component of AIMS.

Spatial sciences/ surveying student BEB801 project Capstone Mini-Conference 2011

Project as a Capstone Learning Unit: Courses of the QUT Faculty of BEE seek to enable students to practice as professionals in their respective disciplines. A major part of such practice is the instigation, management,monitoring, and reporting on an urban development project. This unit offers the student a capstone learning experience near the end of their fourth year of undergraduate study. Expose the student to a set of integrated activities, each building upon the preceding, and culminating in a 'completed' project. Students apply skills and knowledge attained earlier in the course and develop new abilities for application to a real-world problem, industry or research based, to simulate the design, development and management of a project solution. These 10-12minute seminar presentations comprise the mini-conference event that are of benefit to the wider surveying and spatial science industry.

Spatial Sciences Student Awards Recognition : News from School of Urban Development, QUT

Summary of Spatial Sciences (Surveying) Student Prize Ceremony were recently held at The Old Government House - QUT Cultural Precinct. This short industry article briefly outlines the 15 student award descriptions and some photos of 2011 recipients and thanks industry sponsors.

Spatial sciences/ surveying student BEB801 project Capstone Mini-Conference 2011

Project as a Capstone Learning Unit: Courses of the QUT Faculty of BEE seek to enable students to practice as professionals in their respective disciplines. A major part of such practice is the instigation, management,monitoring, and reporting on an urban development project. This unit offers the student a capstone learning experience near the end of their fourth year of undergraduate study. Expose the student to a set of integrated activities, each building upon the preceding, and culminating in a 'completed' project. Students apply skills and knowledge attained earlier in the course and develop new abilities for application to a real-world problem, industry or research based, to simulate the design, development and management of a project solution. These 10-12minute seminar presentations comprise the mini-conference event that are of benefit to the wider surveying and spatial science industry. Additionally Includes MAPMYTOWN 2010, Bell Darling Downs, summary of QUT contributions.

Multi-method, multi-theoretical, multi-level research in the learning sciences

We examine methodologies and methods that apply to multi-level research in the learning sciences. In so doing we describe how multiple theoretical frameworks informs the use of different methods that apply to social levels involving space-time relationships that are not accessible consciously as social life is enacted. Most of the methods involve analyses of video and audio files. Within a framework of interpretive research we present a methodology of event-oriented social science, which employs video ethnography, narrative, conversation analysis, prosody analysis, and facial expression analysis. We illustrate multi-method research in an examination of the role of emotions in teaching and learning. Conversation and prosody analyses augment facial expression analysis and ethnography. We conclude with an exploration of ways in which multi-level studies can be complemented with neural level analyses.

Middle school social sciences : exploring teachers’ conceptions of essential knowledge

This study examines teachers’ conceptions of essential knowledge in the humanities and social sciences, commonly referred to as "social education", in the middle years of schooling. Social education has long been a highly contested area of the curriculum in Australia. In Queensland, social education comprises the integrated learning area of Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE). However, the new Australian Curriculum marks a return to discipline-based study of history and geography. This phenomenographic study addresses a perceived lack of understanding in the current research literature in Australia of the nature of middle school teachers’ professional knowledge for teaching the social sciences. Teachers are conceptualised in this study as curriculum makers in the classroom and, as such, their conceptions of essential knowledge are significant. Shulman’s (1986, 1987) theory of teachers’ knowledge forms the theoretical foundation of the study, which is contextualised in Federal and State education policies and the literature on the middle phase of schooling. Transcripts of interviews conducted with a group of thirty-one Queensland middle school teachers of SOSE were subjected to phenomenographic analysis, revealing seven qualitatively different categories of description. Essential aspects of knowledge for social education emerging from the study were: (1) discipline-based knowledge; (2) curriculum knowledge; (3) knowledge derived from teaching experience; (4) knowledge of middle years learners; (5) knowledge of integration; (6) knowledge of current affairs; and (7) knowledge invested in teacher identity. The three dimensions of variation that linked and differentiated the categories were: (1) content; (2) inquiry learning; and (3) teacher autonomy. These findings are presented as an outcome space where the categories are grouped as knowledge of the learning area, knowledge of contexts and knowledge of self as teacher. The results of the study suggest that social education teachers’ identity and knowledge of self are critical aspects of their knowledge as curriculum makers. The results illustrate that the professional and personal domains intersect, extending Shulman’s (1986, 1987) original theorisation of teachers’ knowledge into the personal arena. Further, middle years teachers’ conceptions of essential knowledge reveal a practice-based theorisation of knowledge for social education that fits the goals of middle schooling. The research concludes that attention to teacher identity in teacher education and in-service professional development has considerable potential to grow teachers’ knowledge in the social sciences and enhance their capacity for school-based curriculum leadership.

Democracy, Crime and Justice. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences

As a growing number of nations embark on a path to democracy, criminologists have become increasingly interested and engaged in the challenges, concerns, and questions connecting democracy with both crime and criminal justice. Rising levels of violence and street crime, white collar crime and corruption both in countries where democracy is securely in place and where it is struggling, have fuelled a deepening skepticism as to the capacity of democracy to deliver on its promise of security and justice for all citizens. What role does crime and criminal justice play in the future of democracy and for democratic political development on a global level? The editors of this special volume of The Annals realized the importance of collecting research from a broad spectrum of countries and covering a range of problems that affect citizens, politicians, and criminal justice officials. The articles here represent a solid balance between mature democracies like the U.S. and U.K. as well as emerging democracies around the globe – specifically in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. They are based on large and small cross-national samples, regional comparisons, and case studies. Each contribution addresses a seminal question for the future of democratic political development across the globe. What is the role of criminal justice in the process of building democracy and instilling confidence in its institutions? Is there a role for unions in democratizing police forces? What is the impact of widespread disenfranchisement of felons on democratic citizenship and the life of democratic institutions? Under what circumstances do mature democracies adopt punitive sentencing regimes? Addressing sensitive topics such as relations between police and the Muslim communities of Western Europe in the wake of terrorist attacks, this volume also sheds light on the effects of terrorism on mature democracies under increasing pressure to provide security for their citizens. By taking a broad vantage point, this collection of research delves into complex topics such as the relationship between the process of democratization and violent crime waves; the impact of rising crime rates on newly established as well as secure democracies; how crime may endanger the transition to democracy; and how existing practices of criminal justice in mature democracies affect their core values and institutions. The collection of these insightful articles not only begins to fill a gap in criminological research but also addresses issues of critical interest to political scientists as well as other social and behavioral scientists and scholars. Taking a fresh approach to the intersection of crime, criminal justice, and democracy, this volume of The Annals is a must-read for criminologists and political scientists and provides a solid foundation for further interdisciplinary research.

Book review: "English for telecoms and information technology" by T. Ricca and M. Duckworth; "English for legal professionals" by A. Frost; "English for the pharmaceutical industry" by M. Buchler, K. Jaehnig, G. Matzig, and T. Weindler; "English for cabin crews" by S. Ellis and L. Lansford; and "English for negotiating" by C. Lafond, S. Vine, and B. Welch.

This review examines five books in the Oxford Business English Express Series, including "English for telecoms and information technology" by T. Ricca and M. Duckworth; "English for legal professionals" by A. Frost; "English for the pharmaceutical industry" by M. Buchler, K. Jaehnig, G. Matzig, and T. Weindler; "English for cabin crews" by S. Ellis and L. Lansford; and "English for negotiating" by C. Lafond, S. Vine, and B. Welch.