Space and culture: Tradition verses culture

This paper proposes to examine contemporary culture, through communication and technology, in an attempt to expose some of these new or altered spatial concepts evident in film and built form, such as ratefaction and saturation

Experience of problem-based learning (PBL) in virtual space : a phenomenographical study

This thesis reports the outcomes of an investigation into students’ experience of 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. Research was therefore focussed on discovering the qualitatively different ways that students experience PBL in virtual space. Data was collected in an electronic environment from a course, which adopted the PBL strategy and was delivered entirely in virtual space. Students in this course were asked to respond to open-ended questions designed to elicit their learning experience in the course. Data was analysed using the phenomenographical approach. This interpretative research method concentrated on mapping the qualitative differences in students’ interpretations of their experience in the course. Five qualitatively different ways of experiencing were discovered: Conception 1: ‘A necessary evil for program progression’; Conception 2: ‘Developing skills to understand, evaluate, and solve technical Engineering and Surveying problems’; Conception 3: ‘Developing skills to work effectively in teams in virtual space’; Conception 4: ‘A unique approach to learning how to learn’; Conception 5: ‘Enhancing personal growth’. Each conception reveals variation in how students attend to learning by PBL in virtual space. Results indicate that the design of students’ online learning experience was responsible for making students aware of deeper ways of experiencing PBL in virtual space. Results also suggest that the quality and quantity of interaction with the team facilitator may have a significant impact on the student experience in virtual PBL courses. The outcomes imply pedagogical strategies can be devised for shifting students’ focus as they engage in the virtual PBL experience to effectively manage the student learning experience and thereby ensure that they gain maximum benefit. The results from this research hold important ramifications for graduates with respect to their ease of transition into professional work as well as their later professional competence in terms of problem solving, ability to transfer basic knowledge to real-life engineering scenarios, ability to adapt to changes and apply knowledge in unusual situations, ability to think critically and creatively, and a commitment to continuous life-long learning and self-improvement.

What student attributes affect experience of PBL in Virtual Space?

Some Engineering Faculties are turning to the problem-based learning (PBL)paradigm to engender necessary skills and competence in their graduates. Since, at the same time, some Faculties are moving towards distance education, questions are being asked about the effectiveness of PBL for technical fields such as Engineering when delivered in virtual space. This paper outlines an investigation of how student attributes affect their learning experience in PBL courses offered in virtual space. A frequency distribution was superimposed on the outcome space of a phenomenographical study on a suitable PBL course to investigate the effect of different student attributes on the learning experience. It was discovered that the quality, quantity, and style of facilitator interaction had the greatest impact on the student learning experience. This highlights the need to establish consistent student interaction plans and to set, and ensure compliance with, minimum standards with respect to facilitation and student interactions.

Space-time variation of malaria incidence in Yunnan province, China

Abstract Background Understanding spatio-temporal variation in malaria incidence provides a basis for effective disease control planning and monitoring. Methods Monthly surveillance data between 1991 and 2006 for Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum malaria across 128 counties were assembled for Yunnan, a province of China with one of the highest burdens of malaria. County-level Bayesian Poisson regression models of incidence were constructed, with effects for rainfall, maximum temperature and temporal trend. The model also allowed for spatial variation in county-level incidence and temporal trend, and dependence between incidence in June–September and the preceding January–February. Results Models revealed strong associations between malaria incidence and both rainfall and maximum temperature. There was a significant association between incidence in June–September and the preceding January–February. Raw standardised morbidity ratios showed a high incidence in some counties bordering Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, and counties in the Red River valley. Clusters of counties in south-western and northern Yunnan were identified that had high incidence not explained by climate. The overall trend in incidence decreased, but there was significant variation between counties. Conclusion Dependence between incidence in summer and the preceding January–February suggests a role of intrinsic host-pathogen dynamics. Incidence during the summer peak might be predictable based on incidence in January–February, facilitating malaria control planning, scaled months in advance to the magnitude of the summer malaria burden. Heterogeneities in county-level temporal trends suggest that reductions in the burden of malaria have been unevenly distributed throughout the province.

The relationship between significant others' positive and negative statements, self-talk and self-esteem

This study investigated the effect of self-talk in mediating between positive and negative statements made by significant others and self-esteem with children in grades 3 to 7. Students completed questionnaires on the frequency of positive and negative statements from parents, teachers, and peers. Findings suggest that self-talk does mediate between significant others' statements and children's self-esteem.

The effect of social support derived from World of Warcraft on negative psychological symptoms

Previous research examining players of Massively-Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) suggests that players form meaningful relationships with each other. Other research indicates that people may derive social support from online sources and this social support has been associated with greater wellbeing. This study used an online survey of players (N = 206) of the MMOG “World of Warcraft” (WoW) to examine if social support can be derived from MMOGs, and to examine its relationship with negative psychological symptoms. Players of WoW were found to derive social support from playing and a positive relationship was found between game engagement and levels of in-game social support. Higher levels of in-game social support were associated with fewer negative psychological symptoms, although this effect was not maintained after accounting for social support derived from the offline sources. Additionally, a small subsample of players (N = 21) were identified that played for between 44 and 82 hours per week (M = 63.33). These players had significantly lower levels of offline social support and higher levels of negative symptoms compared to the rest of the sample. This study provides evidence that social support can be derived from MMOGs and the associated potential to promote well being, but also highlights the potential harm from spending excessive hours playing.

Children's self-talk and significant others' positive and negative statements

A sample of 675 elementary school children in Grades 3-7 were administered the Self-talk Inventory and the Significant Others' Statements Inventory. The psychometric properties of both scales were investigated and the relationships between positive and negative self-talk and significant others' (parents, teachers, siblings and peers) positive and negative statements were explored using correlational and multiple regression analyses. Sex and age differences were also examined. The significant relationships and differences are described.

Third space in cyberspace : Indigenous youth, new technologies and literacies

This chapter analyses the affordances and constraints of an online literacy program designed for Indigenous Australian youth through a partnership between the Indigenous community, university staff and local schools. The after-school program sought to build on the cultural resources and experiences of the young people through a dialogic process of planning, negotiating, implementing, reflecting, and renegotiating the program with participants and a range of stakeholders. In the majority of cases, students presented themselves as part of pervasive global popular cultures, often hot-linking their webpages to pop icons and local sports stars. Elders regarded their competency as a potential cultural tool and community resource.

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.

Discussions in space

In-place digital augmentation enhances the experience of physical spaces through digital technologies that are directly accessible within that space. This can take place in many forms and ways, e.g., through location-aware applications running on the individuals’ portable devices, such as smart phones, or through large static devices, such as public displays, which are located within the augmented space and accessible by everyone. The hypothesis of this study is that in-place digital augmentation, in the context of civic participation, where citizens collaboratively aim at making their community or city a better place, offers significant new benefits, because it allows access to services or information that are currently inaccessible to urban dwellers where and when they are needed: in place. This paper describes our work in progress deploying a public screen to promote civic issues in public, urban spaces, and to encourage public feedback and discourse via mobile phones.

Between flagged borders, across gendered lands : the voiceless female space in contemporary representations of Australian beach

International and national representations of the beach perpetuate normative female concepts by maintaining dominant masculine myths, such as that of the heroic lifesaver and tanned sunbaker. Female experiences on the beach are traditionally associated with rhetorics of danger and peril, contrasted to the welcomed and protective gaze of the beach male. Conventional understandings of the gaze promote male surveillance of women, and although some resistance exists, the beach primarily remains a place to observe the female form. This article attempts to explore currents of resistance at the beach through a self-reflexive examination of Schoolies. Although the event is fixed within patriarchal codes and structures, small eddies of resistance exist amongst female participants in light of increasing awareness of masculine hegemony. The Australian beach remains a contested site of multiple constructs of gender and national identity. This article reveals the changing tides of resistance.

Towards automatic tree crown detection and delineation in spectral feature space using PCNN and morphological reconstruction

The application of object-based approaches to the problem of extracting vegetation information from images requires accurate delineation of individual tree crowns. This paper presents an automated method for individual tree crown detection and delineation by applying a simplified PCNN model in spectral feature space followed by post-processing using morphological reconstruction. The algorithm was tested on high resolution multi-spectral aerial images and the results are compared with two existing image segmentation algorithms. The results demonstrate that our algorithm outperforms the other two solutions with the average accuracy of 81.8%.