Incorporating anchored learning in a C# intelligent tutoring system

This research showed that one solution that can be used to help the students learn how to program is by providing a system that can behave like a tutor to teach the students individually. An intelligent tutoring system named CSTutor was built in this research to assist the students. CSTutor asks the student to write programs in a role playing environment, presenting the most appropriate tasks to the students, and provides help to the students' problems.

A time for everything : reviewing an institution’s virtual learning environment

This paper outlines a review carried out at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in 2013 to identify the extent to which the centrally supported virtual learning environment met current and future learning and teaching needs. A range of consultation and investigation activities occurred from May to November to encourage open stakeholder feedback as well as to allow for reflection on alternative digital technologies, systems and strategies. This resulted in the development of nine recommendations, which, following a planning phase, will commence being implemented from mid-2014.

In the right space : exploring the dynamics between design, environment and pedagogy

The environments that we inhabit shape our everyday lives, influencing our behaviors and responses (Manu, 2013). As we enter an immersive phase of education in which physical and digital environments become inseparable, should we reconsider the role and importance of design on pedagogical practice? This paper explores the reciprocal cause and effect of space, technology and pedagogy in shaping the design of educational experiences within Queensland University of Technology's collaborative learning spaces.

‘Healthy mobile check-ins’ study: using GIS in smartphones to track use of urban environment by survivors of endometrial cancer

Aims/Objectives Our study aims to test the capacity of a newly developed smartphone innovation to obtain data on social, structural, and spatial determinants of the daily health-related behaviours of women living in urban Brisbane neighbourhoods who have survived endometrial cancer. Methods The women used a mobile web app designed specifically for the project to record GIS/location data on every destination they visited within their local urban neighbourhoods over a two-week period. Additionally, we gathered textual data on the social context/reasons for travel, as well as mode of transport to reach these destinations. The data was transported to SPSS and Google Earth for statistical and spatial analysis. We then met with the women to discuss lifestyle interventions to maximise their use of their local neighbourhoods in ways that could increase their physical activity levels and improve their overall health and well-being. These interventions will be evaluated and translated into a large-scale national study if effective. Results Initial findings about patterns in the group’s use of the local urban environment will be displayed, including daily distances travelled, types of locations visited, walking levels, use of public transport, use of green spaces and use of health-related resources. Any socio-demograpahic differences found between the women will be reported. Qualitative, quantitative, and spatial/mapping data will be displayed Conclusion The benefits and limitations of the mobile website designed to collect a range of data types about human-neighbourhood interactions with implications for intervention design will be discussed.

Towards a spatial language for mobile robots

We present a framework and first set of simulations for evolving a language for communicating about space. The framework comprises two components: (1) An established mobile robot platform, RatSLAM, which has a "brain" architecture based on rodent hippocampus with the ability to integrate visual and odometric cues to create internal maps of its environment. (2) A language learning system based on a neural network architecture that has been designed and implemented with the ability to evolve generalizable languages which can be learned by naive learners. A study using visual scenes and internal maps streamed from the simulated world of the robots to evolve languages is presented. This study investigated the structure of the evolved languages showing that with these inputs, expressive languages can effectively categorize the world. Ongoing studies are extending these investigations to evolve languages that use the full power of the robots representations in populations of agents.

Design and implementation of unified communications as a service based on the OpenStack cloud environment

Cloud Computing, based on early virtual computer concepts and technologies, is now itself a maturing technology in the marketplace and it has revolutionized the IT industry, being the powerful platform that many businesses are choosing to migrate their in-premises IT services onto. Cloud solution has the potential to reduce the capital and operational expenses associated with deploying IT services on their own. In this study, we have implemented our own private cloud solution, infrastructure as a service (IaaS), using the OpenStack platform with high availability and a dynamic resource allocation mechanism. Besides, we have hosted unified communication as a service (UCaaS) in the underlying IaaS and successfully tested voice over IP (VoIP), video conferencing, voice mail and instant messaging (IM) with clients located at the remote site. The proposed solution has been developed in order to give advice to bussinesses that want to build their own cloud environment, IaaS and host cloud services and applicatons in the cloud. This paper also aims at providing an alternate option for proprietary cloud solutions for service providers to consider.

Learning about and taking action for the environment : child and teacher experiences in a preschool water education program

Water education and conservation programs have grown exponentially in Australian primary and secondary schools and, although early childhood services have been slower to respond to the challenges of sustainability, they are catching up fast. One early program targeted at preschools was the Water Aware Centre Program in northern New South Wales developed by the local water supply authority. This paper reports on a qualitative study of children’s and teachers’ experiences of the program in three preschools. The study’s aim was to identify program attributes and pedagogies that supported learning and action taking for water conservation, and to investigate if and how the program influenced children’s and teachers’practices. Data were collected through an interview with the program designer, conversations with child participants of the program, and a qualitative survey with early childhood staff. A three-step thematic analysis was conducted on the children’s and teachers’ data. Findings revealed that the program expanded children and teachers’ ideas about water conservation and increased their water conservation practices. The children were found to influence the water conservation practices of the adults around them, thus changing practices at school and at home.

Nanomaterials and the Environment

The subject of nanomaterials is very topical, with advances in knowledge made at a very rapid pace, making dissemination of this new knowledge a need of the hour. Although it is widely recognised that nanotechnology is playing a key role in many areas of societal endeavour, it is still unclear what risks certain nanomaterials may pose to humans and the environment. While nanotechnology has brought enormous benefits to humankind, its impact on human health and the environment is yet to be fully understood.

Key influences on cycling for transport

Over recent years, the health, transport and environment sectors have been increasingly focused on the promotion of transport cycling. From a health perspective, transport cycling is recognised as a beneficial form of physical activity as it can be easily integrated into daily living, is done at an intensity that confers health benefits, and is associated with reductions in mortality and morbidity [1]. From a safety perspective, the risk of a serious cycling injury decreases as cycling increases [2] as having more cyclists on roads increases motor vehicle drivers’ awareness of cyclists and in turn makes cycling safer. Whereas cycling for recreation is the fourth most commonly reported physical activity among Australian adults [3], transport cycling is an underutilised travel mode. Approximately 1.3% of journeys to work in Australia are made by bicycle [4]. This low prevalence is mirrored in the UK and the US, but not in some European countries like the Netherlands and Denmark, where over 18% and 26%, respectively, of all journeys are made by bicycle [5]. In the past decade, concerted efforts have been made by Australian state and local governments to increase cycling rates [6]. Notably, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane have implemented policies, increased bicycle commuting infrastructure, and offered information and promotion programs to encourage commuter cycling [6,7]. Governments have also developed comprehensive longterm plans for guiding future cycling strategies, using lessons learned from around the world in developing successful cycling policy and promotion [6,7]. Changes in transport cycling rates in inner cities since these efforts have been implemented are encouraging. In Sydney, census data indicate an 83% increase in the number of people using a bicycle for commuting between 2001 and 2011 [8]. Counts of bicycles being ridden along major cycling commuter routes indicate increases in weekday morning cycling trips in Brisbane (63% increase from 2004 to 2010) [7] and in Melbourne (a 43% increase from 2006 to 2008) [9]. However, bicycle mode share to work has changed little: for example, between 2001 and 2011, it decreased slightly from 1.6% to 1.3% in Brisbane [10,11]. Researchers have been investigating factors that may be contributing to low rates of cycling for transport, to inform future policy and programming to encourage transport cycling. The aim of this paper is to overview our work to date in this area of research in Queensland.

A prospective study investigating the links among classroom environment, school connectedness, and depressive symptoms in adolescents

School connectedness and classroom environment have both been strongly linked to depressive symptoms, but their interrelation is unclear. We tested whether school connectedness mediated the link between classroom environment and depressive symptoms. A sample of 504 Australian seventh- and eighth-grade students completed the Classroom Environment Scale, Psychological Sense of School Membership scale, and Children's Depression Inventory, at three time points. Together, the classroom environment and school connectedness accounted for 41% to 45% of variance in concurrent depressive symptoms, and 14% of subsequent depressive symptoms with prior symptoms accounted for. Only a partial mediation was found, with both classroom environment and school connectedness continuing to contribute uniquely to the prediction of concurrent and subsequent depressive symptoms. These findings provide additional support for the idea that school-based pathways to depressive symptoms are a complex interplay between environment and individual difference variables, necessitating individual and environmental school-based interventions.

Young Children and the Environment : Early Education for Sustainability [2nd Edition]

This book is a practical resource that illustrates the difference that early childhood educators can make by working with children, their families and the wider community to tackle one of the most important contemporary issues facing the world today: sustainable living. This second edition has been substantially revised and updated, with a new section exploring sustainability education in a variety of global contexts. Researched and written by authors recognised as leaders in their own countries, the chapters in this new section provide readers with international resources and perspectives to further their teaching about early childhood education for sustainability.

A conceptual approach to track design changes within a multi-disciplinary BIM environment

Successful management of design changes is critical for the efficient delivery of construction projects. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is envisioned to play an important role in integrating design, construction and facility management processes through coordinated changes throughout the project life-cycle. BIM currently provides significant benefits in coordinating changes across different views in a single model, and identifying conflicts between different discipline-specific models. However, current BIM tools provide limited support in managing changes across several discipline-specific models. This paper describes an approach to represent, coordinate, and track changes within a collaborative multi-disciplinary BIM environment. This approach was informed by a detailed case study of a large, complex, fast-tracked BIM project where we investigated numerous design changes, analyzed change management processes, and evaluated existing BIM tools. Our approach characterises design changes in an ontology to represent changed component attributes, dependencies between components, and change impacts. It explores different types of dependencies amongst different design changes and describes how a graph based approach and dependency matrix could assist with automating the propagation and impact of changes in a BIM-based project delivery process.

Durability study of CFRP strengthened steel circular hollow section members under marine environment

Galvanic corrosion is a common phenomenon in Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) strengthened steel structures in wet environments and submerged conditions, which reduces durability by weakening the bond between the CFRP and steel substrate. CFRP materials have already been proven to have superior resistance to corrosion and chemical attacks but the adhesive and steel are generally affected by long-term exposure to moisture, especially in conjunction with salts resulting from deicing of ocean spray. This paper presents the results of a research program to improve the durability of CFRP strengthened steel circular hollow section (CHS) members by treating the steel surface with an epoxy based adhesion promoter and inserting Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) as a galvanic corrosion barrier against simulated sea water. It also presents the effects of accelerated corrosion on the bond of CFRP strengthened hollow steel members. The program consisted of four CFRP strengthened steel beams and one unstrengthened steel beam. Two strengthened beams were used as control while the other two beams were exposed to a highly corrosive environment to induce accelerated corrosion. The corrosion rate was considered 10% which represents a moderate level of loss in the cross-sectional area of the steel tube throughout its intended service life. The beams were then loaded to failure under four-point bending. The research findings indicate that the accelerated corrosion adversely affected the ultimate strength of the conditioned beams and the embedded glass fibre enhanced the bond durability.

The impact of the environment on health in Mongolia : a systematic review

Mongolia has significant exposure to environmental risk factors because of poor environmental management and behaviors, and children are increasingly vulnerable to these threats. This study aimed to assess levels of exposure and summarize the evidence for associations between exposures to environmental risk factors and adverse health outcomes in Mongolia, with a particular focus on children. A systematic review was conducted using the PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Global Health Library, CINAHL, CABI, Scopus, and mongolmed.mn electronic databases up to April 2014 . A total of 59 studies meeting the predetermined criteria were included. Results indicate that the Mongolian population has significant exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution, metals, environmental tobacco smoke, and other chemical toxins, and these risk factors have been linked to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases among adults and respiratory diseases and neurodevelopmental disorders among children. Well-designed epidemiological investigations in vulnerable populations especially in pregnant women and children are recommended.