Introducing new building technologies : lessons from a case study

Hypocaust systems, where conditioned or non-conditioned air is passed through ducts within the concrete floor or ceiling of a building prior to its delivery to the rooms, are starting to appear in new buildings in Australia.

This paper describes the lessons that can be learned from the early experiences with a hypocaust system, installed in a new building in Melbourne. It concludes that a more cooperative process between all those involved in introducing and using a new 'technology' is essential if the problems described are to be avoided or at least minimized.

Taking stock of school music education in Victoria: the lessons of history in the present context of the national review

The National Review of School Music Education represents a unique opportunity to identify and find solutions to some of the very long-standing problems in Australian school music education, particularly in the government school sector. This paper is based on the premise that there are lessons to be learned from the over 150 years of music education in Victorian government schools and that it is only by considering the current status, provision and quality of school music from an historical perspective and resolving emergent issues that effective and worthwhile music education can be provided for future generations of Australian students. Developments in school music education since the 1850s are discussed and analysed in terms of the present-day issues to be addressed by National Review and a number of mutually-dependent factors are identified as combining to produce almost cyclic patterns of ebb and flow in the status, provision and quality of music education in Victoria. The paper identifies several such factors requiring immediate attention including the inadequacy of generalist primary teacher education in music, what has effectively become the extra-curricular status of music in many government schools, and the more recent problems associated with 'the over-crowded curriculum' and the emergence of The Arts as the generic Key Learning Area in which Music now finds itself as just one of many arts disciplines. The paper concludes by making three key recommendations for consideration in the context of the current National Review of School Music Education.

Agricultural land retirement: lessons from an Australian case study

In this paper, we analyse the case for agricultural land retirement in Australia. For the case study considered, using defined criteria, we demonstrate that land retirement is an effective policy option. This finding depends crucially on the magnitude and sign of the price effect resulting from a fall in wool production because of agricultural land retirement. Uniquely in the literature, we argue that the price effect will positively contribute to a benefit–cost analysis of agricultural land retirement. We detail the necessary conditions that need to prevail for this to occur. We also explain why the expected benefits of land-use change are fewer than might be expected in the case study.

Measuring regional sustainability: lessons to be learned

Developing tools for measuring progress toward sustainability has proven a challenging task. Indicators offer an excellent means to explore the success or otherwise of management strategies. They also allow reporting social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainability. To ensure that the tools developed are effective in measuring the progress toward sustainable futures, an evaluation of the methods and the indicators used must be undertaken so that with progress there is learning and with the new knowledge methods can be redesigned to better advance sustainability. This paper discusses a study carried out in the south west region of Victoria, Australia, using indicators as the basis for developing a tool to measure progress toward sustainability. By evaluating the methods and indicators used in the study this paper provides an insight into the challenges encountered and the lessons learned. Issues explored include selecting indicators, collating data, integrating social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainability and using an adaptive approach.

Views from the executive suite : lessons from the introduction of performance management

Performance management introduced to the senior health executive levels in the New South Wales public health care system included the senior executive service in 1989 and, as a key element of that service, performance agreements in 1990. This is the first qualitative study examining senior health executives' personal experiences of these changes. In consideration of what has been learnt from the most relevant literature and this study, this paper concludes that the introduction and implementation performance management is a continuous process. This process includes the key steps of planning, measuring, monitoring and evaluating. It can be used as a means to achieve overall effective organisation performance by bringing in a two way management process for the organisation and its senior health executives.

Mental health promotion and socio-economic disadvantage: lessons from substance abuse, violence and crime prevention and child health

Issue addressed: Mental health promotion aimed at populations with low socio-economic status (SES) may benefit by investigating prevention strategies that effectively address related child and adolescent problems.
Methods: Evidence from a number of literature reviews and program evaluations was synthesised. First, the impact of SES on development from childhood to adulthood is considered in light of research on substance
abuse, violence, crime, and child development problems. Second, evaluations of interventions are reviewed to identify those that have shown outcomes in research studies (efficacy) or in real-world settings (effectiveness) in reducing developmental problems associated with low SES. Low SES is measured in different ways including low levels of education and/or income or definitions that combine several variables into a new indicator of low SES.
Results: Factors associated with low SES are also associated to varying extent with the development of violence and crime, substance abuse and child health problems. Interventions that address underlying determinants of low SES show strong efficacy in decreasing adolescent crime and violence and effectiveness in improving child health outcomes. Although there is limited efficacy evidence that substance abuse prevention can be effectively addressed by targeting low SES, programs designed to improve educational pathways show some efficacy in reducing aspects of adolescent substance use.
Conclusion: Mental health promotion strategies can draw on the approaches outlined here that are associated with the prevention of child and adolescent problems within low SES communities. Alternatively, such interventions could be supported in mental health promotion policy as they may assist in preventing related problems that undermine mental health.

Development and implementation of agri-environmental policy: english experience and lessons for Australia

In this article we consider what Australia can learn from English experience with regard to the design, implementation and evaluation of Agri-Environmental Policy (AEP). First, we examine the emergence of the
need for farmers to meet Good Farming Practice standards to receive AEP payments. This concept closely relates to the 'duty of care' idea in Australia. Second, we explain how contracts have been used to implement AEP identifying important issues in design. Finally, we consider the importance of benefit and costs estimates of AEP implementation in determining policy developments. We conclude with a summary of results for AEP design and implementation in Australia.

Teaching presence in computer conferencing : lessons from the United States and Australia

This paper uses the category of teaching presence as a framework to analyze and compare teaching presence in two computer conference contexts. Teaching presence is defined as the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes. This paper is based on an interview designed to capture reflections about teaching practices of two instructors, one from the United States and the other from Australia. We first present individual case studies of the two computer conference contexts, followed by conclusions and implications for research and practice.

Describing elements of mathematics lessons that accommodate diversity in student background

We are researching actions that teachers can take to improve mathematics learning for all students. Structural elements of the lessons being trialled include making aspects of pedagogy explicit to seek to overcome differences in familiarity with schooling processes, and sequencing tasks with the potential to engage students. This article reports research on teachers building learning communities by preparing variations to set tasks in order to address differences in students’ backgrounds.