Redintegration and lexicality effects in children: do they depend upon the demands of the memory task?

The effect of long-term knowledge upon performance in short-term memory tasks was examined for children from 5 to 10 years of age. The emergence of a lexicality effect, in which familiar words were recalled more accurately than unfamiliar words, was found to depend upon the nature of the memory task. Lexicality effects were interpreted as reflecting the use of redintegration, or reconstruction processes, in short-term memory. Redintegration increased with age for tasks requiring spoken item recall and decreased with age when position information but not naming was required. In a second experiment, redintegration was found in a recognition task when some of the foils rhymed with the target. Older children were able to profit from a rhyming foil, whereas younger children were confused by it, suggesting that the older children make use of sublexical phonological information in reconstructing the target. It was proposed that redintegrative processes in their mature form support the reconstruction of detailed phonological knowledge of words.

An instructional design model for constructivist learning

The emergent requirements for effective e-learning calls for a paradigm shift for instructional design. Constructivist theory and semiotics offer a sound underpinning to enable such revolutionary change by employing the concepts of Learning Objects. E-learning guidelines adopted by the industry have led successfully to the development of training materials. Inadequacy and deficiency of those methods for Higher Education have been identified in this paper. Based on the best practice in industry and our empirical research, we present an instructional design model with practical templates for constructivist learning.

The state estimation of flow demands in gas networks from sparse pressure telemetry

This paper presents novel observer-based techniques for the estimation of flow demands in gas networks, from sparse pressure telemetry. A completely observable model is explored, constructed by incorporating difference equations that assume the flow demands are steady. Since the flow demands usually vary slowly with time, this is a reasonable approximation. Two techniques for constructing robust observers are employed: robust eigenstructure assignment and singular value assignment. These techniques help to reduce the effects of the system approximation. Modelling error may be further reduced by making use of known profiles for the flow demands. The theory is extended to deal successfully with the problem of measurement bias. The pressure measurements available are subject to constant biases which degrade the flow demand estimates, and such biases need to be estimated. This is achieved by constructing a further model variation that incorporates the biases into an augmented state vector, but now includes information about the flow demand profiles in a new form.

Physiological demands of competitive elite cross-country skiing

Introduction Researchers have, for decades, contributed to an increased collective understanding of the physiological demands in cross-country skiing; however, almost all of these studies have used either non-elite subjects and/or performances that emulate cross-country skiing. To establish the physiological demands of cross-country skiing, it is important to relate the investigated physiological variables to the competitive performance of elite skiers. The overall aim of this doctoral thesis was, therefore, to investigate the external validity of physiological test variables to determine the physiological demands in competitive elite cross-country skiing. Methods The subjects in Study I – IV were elite male (I – III) and female (III – IV) cross-country skiers. In all studies, the relationship between test variables (general and ski-specific) and competitive performances (i.e. the results from competitions or the overall ski-ranking points of the International Ski Federation (FIS) for sprint (FISsprint) and distance (FISdist) races) were analysed. Test variables reflecting the subject’s general strength, upper-body and whole-body oxygen uptake, oxygen uptake and work intensity at the lactate threshold, mean upper-body power, lean mass, and maximal double-poling speed were investigated. Results The ability to maintain a high work rate without accumulating lactate is an indicator of distance performance, independent of sex (I, IV). Independent of sex, high oxygen uptake in whole-body and upper-body exercise was important for both sprint (II, IV) and distance (I, IV) performance. The maximal double-poling speed and 60-s double-poling mean power output were indicators of sprint (IV) and distance performance (I), respectively. Lean mass was correlated with distance performance for women (III), whereas correlations were found between lean mass and sprint performance among both male and female skiers (III). Moreover, no correlations between distance performance and test variables were derived from tests of knee-extension peak torque, vertical jumps, or double poling on a ski-ergometer with 20-s and 360-s durations (I), whereas gross efficiency while treadmill roller skiing showed no correlation with either distance or sprint performance in cross-country skiing (IV). Conclusion The results in this thesis show that, depending on discipline and sex, maximal and peak oxygen uptake, work intensity at the lactate threshold, lean mass, double-poling mean power output, and double-poling maximal speed are all externally valid physiological test variables for evaluation of performance capability among elite cross-country skiers; however, to optimally indicate performance capability different test-variable expressions should be used; in general, the absolute expression appears to be a better indicator of competitive sprint performance whereas the influence of body mass should be considered when evaluating competitive distance performance capability of elite cross-country skiers.

Numeracy across the curriculum: recognising and responding to the demands and numeracy opportunities inherent in secondary teaching

The 1998 Report of the National Standards and Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education Project, 'Preparing a Profession' illustrates the emphasis being placed in Australia on the development of numeracy skills amongst not only primary but also secondary school pupils. This report demands that graduates of all initial teacher training courses should not only be numerate themselves, but should also understand the contribution of numeracy to education and daily life, and be able to identify and respond to pupils' numeracy learning needs. This report and its implementation in Victoria through the 'Guidelines for the Evaluation of Teacher Education Courses' led to the introduction in 1999 of a compulsory unit 'Numeracy across the curriculum' for all Deakin University students in the final year of their secondary teacher training course. This paper discusses the nature of the current emphasis on numeracy. It also describes the rationale, development and delivery of the first year of the 'Numeracy across the curriculum' unit, provides a brief evaluation from the perspective of staff and students, and discusses what impact such teacher education programs might have on secondary schools' approaches to numeracy.

The challenge of reconciling working time demands and life transitions : a policy proposal

Labour markets, like all market institutions, exhibit structural and dynamic characteristics. Both the structural and dynamic characteristics of labour markets inevitably change and evolve over time in response to a host of exogenous and endogenous factors. In the case of the Australian labour market, structural changes are reflected in significant shifts in the industry and occupational composition of employment, the decline of full-time work and the concomitant rise in part-time and atypical forms of employment, demographic changes in the labour force, as well as changes in social and individual preferences. Dynamic shifts can be found in cyclical pattern of employment and wages growth, the growth in labour mobility, and transitions between various labour market states.
The starting point for this paper is that these structural and dynamic changes have given rise to an increase in the likelihood that individuals will experience a transition between various labour market states, and a greater diversity in the range of transitions they may experience over their working life. This acceleration in the rate of transition generates ‘transition costs’ for both employers and employees, as well the likelihood of mismatch between employer and employee working time preferences. As a consequence, existing labour market policy regimes, based on the traditional model of labour market participation over the life course may not provide adequate protection for most workers today.
Gunther Schmid (1998) and others have proposed institutional reforms which promote ‘transitional labour markets’. Transitional labour market institutions are those that allow individuals (and firms) to successfully adjust to critical events. While transitional labour market institutions may consist of traditional ‘active labour market policy’ mechanisms, Schmid and others have proposed a range of innovative policy responses which allow individuals (and firms) to adjust the intensity of their abour market participation over the life cycle. In this paper we use the general approach of advocated by the transitional labour market concept to do three things. First, we investigate the processes by which the nature of labour market transitions has changed over time. Second, we review the range of policy options available to government to smooth labour market dysfunctions associated with labour market transitions, with the objective of ensuring labour markets operate more efficiently and more equitably. Third, we focus on one possible way in which an existing labour market institution, Long Service Leave (LSL), could be reformed to make way for a more comprehensive transitional labour market institution in the form of a ‘working time bank’.

Strategies for accommodating individuals` styles and preferences in flexible learning programmes

There has been a considerable growth in the use of flexible methods of delivery for workplace learning and development. However, in designing programmes of flexible learning there is often the assumption that learners will exhibit uniformity in the ways in which they process and organise information (cognitive style), in their predispositions towards particular learning formats and media (instructional preferences) and the conscious actions they employ to deal with the demands of specific learning situations (learning strategies). In adopting such a stance one runs the risk of ignoring important aspects of individual differences in styles, preferences and strategies. Our purpose in this paper will be to: (i) consider some aspects of individual difference that are pertinent to the delivery of flexible learning in the workplace; (ii) identify some of the challenges that extant differences in styles and preferences between individuals may raise for instructional designers and learning facilitators; (iii) suggest ways in which models of flexible learning design and delivery may acknowledge and accommodate individual differences in styles and preferences through the use of an appropriate range of instructional design, learning and support strategies.