A case for blended and collaborative learning as strategies for teaching editing and publishing within a postgraduate writing program

Several recent studies have called for the breakdown of' arbitrary distinctions between virtual and "face-to-face" classrooms' (Comeaux & McKenna-Byington 2003: 348; see also McDonald 2002; Rosset, Douglis & Frazee 2003; Morse 2003). In 2004 the Professional and Creative Writing discipline at Deakin University added Editing and Publishing (which had previously been available as on-campus-only units at our institution) to an established list of online postgraduate writing units taught via the auspices of the new (to our university) WebCT technology. This paper describes and evaluates our experience of challenging the 'arbitrary distinctions' between our two cohorts of students by incorporating blended and collaborative learning strategies into our course via two specific projects.

Benefits of a year-long workplace weight loss program on cardiovascular risk factors

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a year-long workplace weight loss program in reducing risk factors of coronary heart disease.

Design: A randomised, controlled study of low fat (25% of dietary energy) diet- and/or moderate exercise-induced weight loss interventions in free-living, middle-aged men. Compliance was monitored from food and activity diaries at monthly blood pressure measurement sessions. Blood was sampled and body composition determined from dual energy X-ray absorptiometry before and after 12 months.

Subjects and setting: Fifty-eight overweight men (mean [+ or -] SD age: 43.4 [+ or -] 5.7 years; BMI 29.0 [+ or -] 2.6 kg/[m.sup.2]), recruited from a national corporation, were instructed into diet (n = 18) exercise (a 21) or control (n = 19) groups over 12 months; 16 control subjects combined diet and exercise (n = 16) for the subsequent 12 months.

Main outcome measures: At 12 months, weight, total and regional fat and lean mass, dietary energy and percentage dietary fat intake, physical activity indices, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, serum insulin, blood lipids and lipoproteins.

Statistical analyses: Differences between groups were tested using analysis of variance with Scheffe post hoc test. Differences between pre- and post-intervention variables were tested using Students' paired t-tests. Pearson's correlation coefficient and univariate linear regression identified association between dependent variables, multiple stepwise regression identified specific predictors.

Results: Weight loss with either diet or exercise resulted in a reduction in systolic blood pressure (-3.3 [+ or -] 1.7%), diastolic blood pressure (-4.8 [+ or -] 1.3%) and LDL cholesterol (-3.9 [+ or -] 2.8%), a rise in HDL cholesterol (+10.0 [+ or -] 3.8%) and a change in the LDL/HDL ratio (-8.9 [+ or -] 3.5%). Abdominal fat loss (-26.8 [+ or -] 3.6% after diet; -16.6 [+ or -] 4.5% after exercise; -21.0 [+ or -] 4.7% after diet and exercise) was the strongest predictor of change in blood pressure: twenty percent abdominal fat loss predicted a percentage fall of 2.4 [+ or -] 0.05% in systolic blood pressure and 5.4 [+ or -] 0.07% in diastolic blood pressure. Greater abdominal fat loss was associated with the greatest decrease in serum insulin (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Modest changes in diet and exercise effected by a low cost workplace-based education program achieved weight loss, loss of abdominal fat, reduced blood pressure and serum insulin and improved blood lipid concentrations. (Nutr Diet 2002;59:87-96)

The role of formal mentoring on business success and self-esteem in participants of a new business start-up program

The current study investigated the relationship between career-related mentoring, psychosocial mentoring, business success, and self-esteem in participants of a program that was designed to assist in the establishment of a new business. Seventy-seven protégés and their matched mentors were included in the study. A comparison of mentor and protégé perceptions revealed that mentors considered themselves to provide higher levels of psychosocial support than did the protégés. Protégé perceptions of business success were predicted by the frequency of mentor contact and the level of career-related support provided by their mentor.

Reflections on teaching and learning online: quality program design, delivery and support issues from a cross-global perspective

This reflective paper began with a discussion of the online program design and delivery experiences of three senior faculty members at the University of Calgary (Canada) and Deakin University (Australia), which was recorded at Deakin University. After drawing on this recording in their research and practice, one faculty member from each institution decided to review and expanded upon their intervening experiences in terms of issues of quality program design, delivery, and support issues when teaching, and learning in different cultural contexts. The authors discovered that these issues are as important today as they were when they met to record the interview, and have concluded their discussion here with thoughts about the teaching, student, and administrative supports that institutions engaged in online program delivery cross-culturally must address in order to successfully deliver quality online programs worldwide.

The Resilient Families program: promoting health and wellbeing in adolescents and their parents during the transition to secondary school.

Resilient Families is a school-based prevention program designed to help students and parents develop knowledge, skills and support networks to promote health and wellbeing during the early years of secondary school. the program is designed to build within-family connectedness (parent--adolescent communication, conflict resolution) as well as improve social support between different families, and between families and schools. It is expected to promote social, emotional and academic competence and to prevent health and social problems in youth.

Colorectal cancer screening in Australia: an economic evaluation of a potential biennial screening program using faecal occult blood tests

Objective: To evaluate whether the introduction of a national, co-ordinated screening program using the faecal occult blood test represents 'value-for-money' from the perspective of the Australian Government as third-party funder.  Methods: The annual equivalent costs and consequences of a   biennial screening program in 'steady-state' operation were estimated for the Australian population using 1996 as the reference year. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and the years of life lost (YLLs) averted, and the health service costs were modelled, based on the epidemiology and the costs of colorectal cancer in Australia together with the mortality reduction achieved in randomised controlled trials. Uncertainty in the model was examined using Monte Carlo simulation methods. Results: We estimate a minimum or 'base program' of screening those aged 55 to 69 years could avert 250 deaths per annum (95% uncertainty interval 99–400), at a gross cost of $A55 million (95% UI $A46 million to $A96 million) and a gross incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $A17,000/DALY (95% UI $A13,000/DALY to $A52,000/DALY). Extending the program to include 70 to 74-year-olds is a more effective option (cheaper and higher health gain) than including the 50 to 54-year-olds. Conclusions: The findings of this study support the case for a national program directed at the 55 to 69-year-old age group with extension to 70 to 74-year-olds if there are sufficient resources. The pilot tests recently announced in Australia provide an important opportunity to consider the age range for screening and the sources of uncertainty, identified in the modelled evaluation, to assist decisions on implementing a full national program.

Impact of the Pick and Tick food information program on the salt content of food in New Zealand

The Pick the Tick programme of the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand aims to provide a framework for cooperation with the food industry to improve nutrition labelling and to develop a healthy food supply. Food manufacturers, whose products meet defined nutritional criteria, are able to display the Pick the Tick logo on food labels. The tick is used by 59% of shoppers in assisting them make healthy food choices. Food companies are encouraged to reformulate product composition if they fail to meet criteria and develop new products to specifically meet the Pick the Tick criteria. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the programme on food formulation. The main outcome measure was the amount of salt not added to food products. Changes to sodium levels were multiplied by the volume of sales and then converted to salt in tonnes to provide a tangible measure of the impact of the programme. In a 1-year period, July 1998 to June 1999, Pick the Tick influenced food companies to exclude ~33 tonnes of salt through the reformulation and formulation of 23 breads, breakfast cereals and margarine. Breakfast cereals showed the largest reduction in sodium content by an average of 378 mg sodium per 100 g product (61%). Bread was reduced by an average of 123 mg per 100 g product (26%) and margarine by 53 mg per 100 g (11%). Pick the Tick appeals to the food industry as a tool for marketing food products and has provided an incentive to improve the nutritional value of foods. The tick on approved products not only acts as a ‘nutrition signpost’ for consumers but can also significantly influence the formulation of products without sacrificing taste or quality.

The Australian Government`s abandoned infrastructure outsourcing program: "fiasco" or relatively typical?

Early in 2001, after a damning public report by the Auditor-General, the Australian Federal Government was forced to abandon its highly promoted “whole of government” infrastructure outsourcing initiative. This about-face was greeted in the press with reports that the initiative was a “fiasco”. Yet a four-year case study of the initiative suggests a more complex picture. The initiative can be viewed in a quite different light on the basis of comparisons with a contemporary survey of 240 Australian organisations engaged in IT outsourcing. This reveals that many of the negative outcomes associated with this “fiasco” are typical of those experienced by large Australian organisations. This has important implications for decision makers confronted with choices about sourcing IT service delivery.