Federal Aviation Administration-Florida Institute of Technology Workshop on Grounding and Lightning Protection [Melbourne, Florida, April 19-21, 1977].

Mode of access: Internet.

Does the summative assessment of real world learning using criterion-referenced assessment need to be discipline specific?

This paper synthesises the existing literature on the contemporary conception of ‘real world’ and compares it with similar notions such as ‘authentic’ and ‘work integrated learning’. While the term ‘real world’ may be partly dependent on the discipline, it does not necessarily follow that the criterion-referenced assessment of ‘real world’ assessment must involve criteria and performance descriptors that are discipline specific. Two examples of summative assessment (court report and trial process exercise) from a final year core subject at the Queensland University of Technology, LWB432 Evidence, emphasise real world learning, are authentic, innovative and better prepare students for the transition into the workplace than more generic forms of assessment such as tutorial participation or oral presentations. The court report requires students to attend a criminal trial in a Queensland Court and complete a two page report on what they saw in practice compared with what they learned in the classroom. The trial process exercise is a 50 minute written closed book activity conducted in tutorials, where students plan questions that they would ask their witness in examination-in-chief, plan questions that they would ask their opponent’s witness in cross-examination, plan questions that they would ask in reexamination given what their opponent asked in cross-examination, and prepare written objections to their opponent’s questions. The trial process exercise simulates the real world, whereas the court report involves observing the real world, and both assessment items are important to the role of counsel. The design of the criterion-referenced assessment rubrics for the court report and trial process exercise is justified by the literature. Notably, the criteria and performance descriptors are not necessarily law specific and this paper highlights the parts that may be easily transferred to other disciplines.

Impacts and adaptation response of infrastructure and communities to heatwaves : the southern Australian experience of 2009

From 27 January to 8 February during the summer of 2009, southern Australia experienced one of the nation‘s most severe heatwaves. Governments, councils, utilities, hospitals and emergency response organisations and the community were largely underprepared for an extreme event of this magnitude. This case study targets the experience and challenges faced by decision makers and policy makers and focuses on the major metropolitan areas affected by the heatwave — Melbourne and Adelaide. The study examines the 2009 heatwave‘s characteristics; its impacts (on human health, infrastructure and human services); the degree of adaptive capacity (vulnerability and resilience) of various sectors, communities and individuals; and the reactive responses of government and emergency and associated services and their effectiveness. Barriers and challenges to adaptation and increasing resilience are also identified and further areas for research are suggested. This study does not include details of the heatwave‘s effects beyond Victoria and South Australia, or its economic impacts, or of Victoria‘s 'Black Saturday‘ bushfires.

Mobile applications of focused link discovery

Interaction with a mobile device remains difficult due to inherent physical limitations. This dif-ficulty is particularly evident for search, which re-quires typing. We extend the One-Search-Only search paradigm by adding a novel link-browsing scheme built on top of automatic link discovery. A prototype was built for iPhone and tested with 12 subjects. A post-use interview survey suggests that the extended paradigm improves the mobile information seeking experience.

Six degrees of cohesion in patent citation network

While the phrase “six degrees of separation” is widely used to characterize a variety of humanderived networks, in this study we show that in patent citation network, related patents are connected with an average distance of 6, whereas an average distance for a random pair of nodes in the graph is approximately 15. We use this information to improve the recall level in prior-art retrieval in the setting of blind relevance feedback without any textual knowledge.

Rational avoidance of accountability

Anthony Downs public choice theory proposes that every rational person would try to meet their own desires in preference to those of others, and that such rational persons would attempt to obtain these desires in the most efficient manner possible. This paper will demonstrate that the application of this theory would mean that public servants and politicians would perform acts of corruption and maladministration in order to efficiently meet their desires. As such action is unavoidable, political parties must appear to meet the public demand for accountability systems, but must not make these systems viable lest they expose the corruption and maladministration that would threaten the government’s chance or re-election. It is therefore logical for governments to display a commitment for accountability whilst simultaneously ensuring the systems would not be able to interfere with government control or expose its flaws.

Older and wiser?: a comparison of the learning and study strategies of mature age and younger teacher education students

'Non-traditional' students are increasingly a part of university populations. This study examined differences between mature age and younger university students in their learning and study strategies as measured by the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI). Subjects were 21 mature age and 104 younger teacher education students enrolled in The Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) course at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Significant correlations were found between the students' LASSI scores and both their self-reported level of global skill and their perceptions of how difficult the course was. There were significant differences between the two groups in terms of their learning and study strategies, with mature age students reporting themselves to be using effective strategies more often, on average, than younger students. The validity and implications of these findings in terms of student learning, support and instruction in study and learning and in predicting academic success are discussed.

Enterprise bargaining as an organising opportunity - case study of a campaign by NTEU at one university

In the context of an increasingly de-regulated industrial relations' environment, enterprise bargaining has been viewed by unions as an opportunity for organising and increasing membership at the grass roots level. This paper uses a case study approach detailing the process at one university where the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) utilised organising tactics of the type currently promoted by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). The campaign is described and assessed relative to outcomes at other NTEU sites during the same round of bargaining. It is concluded, that, firstly, the tactics used at this site succeeded in producing greater membership growth and mobilisation than at comparable sites. Secondly, the tactics used are applicable to a university workforce including academic and general staff. Thirdly, industrial campaigning in enterprise bargaining does not by itself result in membership growth.