Measuring costs of sustainability issues in highway infrastructure : perception of stakeholders in Australia

With increasing pressure to deliver environmentally friendly and socially responsible highway infrastructure projects, stakeholders are also putting significant focus on the early identification of financial viability and outcomes for these projects. Infrastructure development typically requires major capital input, which may cause serious financial constraints for investors. The push for sustainability has added new dimensions to the evaluation of highway projects, particularly on the cost front. Comprehensive analysis of the cost implications of implementing place sustainable measures in highway infrastructure throughout its lifespan is highly desirable and will become an essential part of the highway development process and a primary concern for decision makers. This paper discusses an ongoing research which seeks to identify cost elements and issues related to sustainable measures for highway infrastructure projects. Through life-cycle costing analysis (LCCA), financial implications of pursuing sustainability, which are highly concerned by the construction stakeholders, have been assessed to aid the decision making when contemplating the design, development and operation of highway infrastructure. An extensive literature review and evaluation of project reports from previous Australian highway projects was first conducted to reveal all potential cost elements. This provided the foundation for a questionnaire survey, which helped identify those specific issues and related costs that project stakeholders consider to be most critical in the Australian industry context. Through the survey, three key stakeholders in highway infrastructure development, namely consultants, contractors and government agencies, provided their views on the specific selection and priority ranking of the various categories. Findings of the survey are being integrated into proven LCCA models for further enhancement. A new LCCA model will be developed to assist the stakeholders to evaluate costs and investment decisions and reach optimum balance between financial viability and sustainability deliverables.

The crash involvement of older drivers is associated with their hazard perception latencies

Hazard perception in driving is the one of the few driving-specific skills associated with crash involvement. However, this relationship has only been examined in studies where the majority of individuals were younger than 65. We present the first data revealing an association between hazard perception and self-reported crash involvement in drivers aged 65 and over. In a sample of 271 drivers, we found that individuals whose mean response time to traffic hazards was slower than 6.68 seconds (the ROC-curve derived pass mark for the test) were 2.32 times (95% CI 1.46, 3.22) more likely to have been involved in a self-reported crash within the previous five years than those with faster response times. This likelihood ratio became 2.37 (95% CI 1.49, 3.28) when driving exposure was controlled for. As a comparison, individuals who failed a test of useful field of view were 2.70 (95% CI 1.44, 4.44) times more likely to crash than those who passed. The hazard perception test and the useful field of view measure accounted for separate variance in crash involvement. These findings indicate that hazard perception testing and training could be potentially useful for road safety interventions for this age group.

Pondering policy and parental perspectives : how parents view their role in shaping early childhood public policy

The focus of this paper is the role of Australian parents in early childhood education and care (ECEC), in particular, their role in shaping ECEC public policy. The paper reports the findings of a study investigating the different ways in which a group of parents viewed and experienced this role. Set against a policy backdrop where parents are positioned as 'consumers' and 'participants' in ECEC, the study employed a phenomenographic research approach to describe this role as viewed and experienced by parents. The study identified four logically related, qualitatively different ways of constituting this role among this group of parents, ranging from 'no role in shaping public policy' (the no role conception) to 'participating in policy decision-making, particularly where policy was likely to affect their child and family (the participating in policy decision-making conception). The study provides an insider-perspective on the role of parents in shaping policy and highlights variation in how this role is constituted by parents. The study also identifies factors perceived by parents as influencing their participation and discusses their implications for both policy and practice.

The development and validation of two complementary measures of drivers' hazard perception ability

Hazard perception in driving involves a number of different processes. This paper reports the development of two measures designed to separate these processes. A Hazard Perception Test was developed to measure how quickly drivers could anticipate hazards overall, incorporating detection, trajectory prediction, and hazard classification judgements. A Hazard Change Detection Task was developed to measure how quickly drivers can detect a hazard in a static image regardless of whether they consider it hazardous or not. For the Hazard Perception Test, young novices were slower than mid-age experienced drivers, consistent with differences in crash risk, and test performance correlated with scores in pre-existing Hazard Perception Tests. For drivers aged 65 and over, scores on the Hazard Perception Test declined with age and correlated with both contrast sensitivity and a Useful Field of View measure. For the Hazard Change Detection Task, novices responded quicker than the experienced drivers, contrary to crash risk trends, and test performance did not correlate with measures of overall hazard perception. However for drivers aged 65 and over, test performance declined with age and correlated with both hazard perception and Useful Field of View. Overall we concluded that there was support for the validity of the Hazard Perception Test for all ages but the Hazard Change Detection Task might only be appropriate for use with older drivers.

Curriculum alignment: Exploring student perception of learning achievement measures

The importance of constructively aligned curriculum is well understood in higher education. Based on the principles of constructive alignment, this research considers whether student perception of learning achievement measures can be used to gain insights into how course activities and pedagogy are assisting or hindering students in accomplishing course learning goals. Students in a Marketing Principles course were asked to complete a voluntary survey rating their own progress on the intended learning goals for the course. Student perceptions of learning achievement were correlated with actual student learning, as measured by grade, suggesting that student perceptions of learning achievement measures are suitable for higher educators. Student perception of learning achievement measures provide an alternate means to understand whether students are learning what was intended, which is particularly useful for educators faced with large classes and associated restrictions on assessment. Further, these measures enable educators to simultaneously gather evidence to document the impact of teaching innovations on student learning. Further implications for faculty and future research are offered.

Effects of reduced contrast on the perception and control of speed when driving

Misperception of speed under low-contrast conditions has been identified as a possible contributor to motor vehicle crashes in fog. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the effects of reduced contrast on drivers’ perception and control of speed while driving under real-world conditions. Fourteen participants drove around a 2.85 km closed road course under three visual conditions: clear view and with two levels of reduced contrast created by diffusing filters on the windscreen and side windows. Three dependent measures were obtained, without view of the speedometer, on separate laps around the road course: verbal estimates of speed; adjustment of speed to instructed levels (25 to 70 km h-1); and estimation of minimum stopping distance. The results showed that drivers traveled more slowly under low-contrast conditions. Reduced contrast had little or no effect on either verbal judgments of speed or estimates of minimum stopping distance. Speed adjustments were significantly slower under low-contrast than clear conditions, indicating that, contrary to studies of object motion, drivers perceived themselves to be traveling faster under conditions of reduced contrast. Under real-world driving conditions, drivers’ ability to perceive and control their speed was not adversely affected by large variations in the contrast of their surroundings. These findings suggest that perceptions of self-motion and object motion involve neural processes that are differentially affected by variations in stimulus contrast as encountered in fog.

Examination of gaze behaviors under in situ and video simulation task constraints reveals differences in information pickup for perception and action

Gaze and movement behaviors of association football goalkeepers were compared under two video simulation conditions (i.e., verbal and joystick movement responses) and three in situ conditions (i.e., verbal, simplified body movement, and interceptive response). The results showed that the goalkeepers spent more time fixating on information from the penalty kick taker’s movements than ball location for all perceptual judgment conditions involving limited movement (i.e., verbal responses, joystick movement, and simplified body movement). In contrast, an equivalent amount of time was spent fixating on the penalty taker’s relative motions and the ball location for the in situ interception condition, which required the goalkeepers to attempt to make penalty saves. The data suggest that gaze and movement behaviors function differently, depending on the experimental task constraints selected for empirical investigations. These findings highlight the need for research on perceptual— motor behaviors to be conducted in representative experimental conditions to allow appropriate generalization of conclusions to performance environments.

The ecological approach to visual perception and the actor performance captured in the gaming landscape

The use of Performance Capture techniques in the creation of games that involve Motion Capture is a relatively new phenomenon. To date there is no prescribed methodology that prepares actors for the rigors of this new industry and as such there are many questions to be answered around how actors navigate these environments successfully when all available training and theoretical material is focused on performance for theatre and film. This article proposes that through a deployment of an Ecological Approach to Visual Perception we may begin to chart this territory for actors and begin to contend with the demands of performing for the motion captured gaming scenario.

The changing face of practice for developing perception : action skill in cricket

The use of bowling machines is common practice in cricket. In an ideal world all batters would face real bowlers in practice sessions, but this is not always possible, for many reasons. The clear advantage of using bowling machines is that they alleviate the workload required from bowlers (Dennis, Finch & Farhart, 2005) and provide relatively consistent and accurate ball delivery which may not be otherwise available to many young batters. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many, if not most of the world’s greatest players use these methods within their training schedules. For example, Australian internationals, Michael Hussey and Matthew Hayden extensively used bowling machines (Hussey & Sygall, 2007). Bowling machines enable batsmen to practice for long periods, developing their endurance and concentration. However, despite these obvious benefits, in recent times the use of bowling machines has been questioned by sport scientists, coaches, ex- players and commentators. For example, Hussey’s batting coach comments “…we never went near a bowling machine in [Michael’s] first couple of years, I think there’s something to that …” (Hussey & Sygall, 2007, p. 119). This chapter will discuss the efficacy of using bowling machines with reference to research findings, before reporting new evidence that provides support for an alternative, innovative and possibly more representative practice design. Finally, the chapter will provide advice for coaches on the implications of this research, including a case study approach to demonstrate the practical use of such a design.

Parental bonding and alexithymia : a meta-analysis

Aim: The primary purpose of this meta-analysis was to explore, clarify and report the strength of the relationship between alexithymia, as measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and parenting style as measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). Methods: Web of Science, PsycInfo, PubMed and ProQuest: Dissertations and Theses searches were undertaken, yielding nine samples with sufficient data to be included in the meta-analysis. Results: Evidence indicated moderate to strong relationships between maternal care and alexithymia, and between maternal care and two of the three TAS-20 alexithymia facets (Difficulties Describing Feelings and Difficulties Identifying Feelings, but not Externally Oriented Thinking). Moderate relationships were observed for both maternal- and paternal-overprotection and alexithymia respectively, and for overprotection (both maternal and paternal) and Difficulties Describing Feelings. Conclusion: This study is the first meta-analysis of the relationship between parenting styles and alexithymia, and findings confirm an especially strong association between maternal care and key elements of alexithymia. This review highlights the issues that still remain to be addressed in exploring the link between parenting style and alexithymia.

Juvenile justice and truancy legislation : The move towards parental responsibilisation in Queensland

Much current Queensland media rhetoric, government policy and legislation on truancy and youth justice appears to be based on ideas of responsibilisation – of sheeting responsibility for children’s behaviour back onto their parents. This article examines the evidence of parental responsibility provisions in juvenile justice and truancy legislation in Queensland and the drivers behind this approach. It considers recent legislative initiatives as part of an international trend toward making parents ‘responsible’ for the wrongs of their children. It identifies the parental responsibility rhetoric appearing in recent ministerial statements and associated media reports. It then asks the questions – are these legislative provisions being enforced? And if so, are they successful? Are they simply adding to the administrative burdens placed on teachers and schools, and the socioeconomic burdens placed on already disadvantaged parents? Parental responsibility provisions have been discussed at length in the context of juvenile offending and research suggests that punishing parents for the acts of their children does not decrease delinquency. The paper asks how, as a society, we intend to evaluate these punitive measures against parents?