Factors influencing the decision to choose information technology preparatory studies in secondary schools: an exploratory study in regional/rural Australia

[Abstract]: The career paths of students are influenced and shaped by the subject choices that are made in the final years of secondary schooling. This paper presents the findings of an empirical study that identified the key factors influencing the decision of rural / regional Australian students to choose or not choose to study Information Processing and Technology. The findings revealed that career oriented, extrinsic factors play an important role in motivating the selection of I.P.T. at school and, by implication, information technology at university. There are few apparent gender differences but there is limited evidence to suggest that males may be more influenced by extrinsic motivators and females by intrinsic motivators. Although the factors used in the study were initially identified largely via informal processes, they all appear to influence the decision to take I.P.T. The focus on career-related factors and the instrumentality of taking I.P.T. could explain the drop-off in students taking the subject. This has potentially significant implications as regards the future supply of good information technology professional

A noninvasive molecular approach: exploiting species-locus-specific PCR primers in defeating numts and DNA cross-contamination of cercopithecidae

The lack of a standardized, noninvasive molecular approach to studying genetic aspects of primates has made it hard for primatologists to decode the evolutionary history of these species. Researchers must optimize their own techniques to fully exploit the available samples. Lack of species-locus-specific primers also contributes to difficulties in using noninvasive genetic samples. Thus, the objectives of this study were to develop a standardized technique to collecting samples noninvasively, propose newly designed species-locus-specific primers, and optimize conditions for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for Macaca fascicularis, M. nemestrina, Trachypithecus cristatus, and T. obscurus. Nine new species-locus-specific primers for three different loci of mitochondrial DNA, namely D-loop, cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), and cytochrome b, were successfully designed. These primers proved to be efficient in amplifying larger datasets (up to ~1,000 bp) of the targeted species in the optimized PCR conditions. The species-locus-specific primers are able to anneal to host DNA alone in highly contaminated feces of highlighted species. They can also offer alternatives measures in avoiding contamination related to nuclear insertion of mitochondrial pseudogenes (numts)

Contents page, and, Introduction by Rod Chadbourne, Guest editor

In 1992, the Commonwealth Department of Employment, Education and Training (DEET) released a policy document titled: Teacher Education: A discussion paper. Among other thought provoking points, it presented Australian teacher educators as relatively old and lacking current teaching experience in schools. According to the discussion paper, 81 % of teacher educators are over 38 years old, 37% are over 48, only 20% taught in schools during the 1980\u27s, and more than 50% were school teachers before 1973 (pp 11- 12). Further, consistent with their obsolescent teaching experience (p.12), teacher educators simply pass on the theory of teaching (p.17) and many of them are out of touch with contemporary practice and the most recent educational research (p.l7). The discussion paper also expressed concern that faculty teaching experience has not kept pace with changes in schools (p.12) and it questioned the quality and relevance of (university) education programs (p.16). Part of the problem is a tendency among teacher educators to emphasise the academic content of studies frequently at the expense of a more professional and practical pedagogical orientation (p.16) One way to address these critical issues, suggested the discussion paper, would be to consider transferring a lot of teacher education from universities to schools

HRM and Performance: What’s Next?

The last decade of empirical research on the added value of human resource management (HRM), also known as the HRM and Performance debate, demonstrates evidence that ‘HRM does matter’ (Huselid, 1995; Guest, Michie, Conway and Sheehan, 2003; Wright, Gardner and Moynihan, 2003). Unfortunately, the relationships are often (statistically) weak and the results ambiguous. This paper reviews and attempts to extend the theoretical and methodological issues in the HRM and performance debate. Our aim is to build an agenda for future research in this area. After a brief overview of achievements to date, we proceed with the theoretical and methodological issues related to what constitutes HRM, what is meant by the concept of performance and what is the nature of the link between these two. In the final section, we make a plea for research designs starting from a multidimensional concept of performance, including the perceptions of employees, and building on the premise of HRM systems as an enabling device for a whole range of strategic options. This implies a reversal of the Strategy-HRM linkage

Experiential learning not enough for organ procurement surgery: implications for perioperative nursing education

Context —Perioperative nurses play a vital role in assisting in surgical procedures for multiorgan procurement, receiving little education apart from on-the-job experiential learning when they are asked to participate in these procedures. Objectives —Within an Australian context and as part of a larger study, this article describes issues that hindered perioperative nurses’ participatory experiences as a result of lacking education, previous exposure, and preparation for assisting in surgical procedures for organ procurement. Design —The grounded theory method was used to develop a substantive theory of perioperative nurses’ experiences of participating in surgical procedures for multiorgan procurement. Participants —Thirty-five perioperative nurses who had experience in surgical procedures for organ procurement from regional, rural, and metropolitan hospitals of 2 Australian states, New South Wales and Western Australia, participated in the research. Results —Levels of knowledge and experience emerged from the data as an influencing condition and was reported to affect the perioperative nurses’ participatory experiences when assisting in procurement surgical procedures. Six components of levels of knowledge and experience were identified and are described. Conclusion —The findings from this study provide a unique contribution to the existing literature by providing an in-depth understanding of the educational needs of perioperative nurses in order to assist successfully in multiorgan procurement procedures. These findings could guide further research with implications for clinical initiatives or education programs specifically targeting the perioperative nursing profession both locally and internationally

Understanding career aspirations of Information Technology students at Deakin University

Students need to develop informed and realistic career aspirations to gain the most from their university studies towards their initial career development. However developing their aspirations, goals, and expectations is a complex process. In Information Technology (IT) no clear career development framework is evident in the literature. We present a pilot study which investigates the career aspirations of novice students studying IT at an Australian University. Through a series of career activities their aspirations were explored with the aim of improving support for career development. Results indicate that students have no clear short- or long- term aspirations, yet believe that programming skills are key to achieve a career in IT

The Activities , Drivers and Barriers of ‘Electronic Public Service Delivery’ in Dubai’s public organisations

Abstract The quest to transform the delivery of government services through innovative and electronic means has been embraced by public organisations worldwide in an ever rising phenomenon, sought after to reap some of the potentially rewarding benefits of the digitisation of government services. In this study, the author reports the experiences of four major public organisations in Dubai as its governing office have imposed a deadline for all of its public agencies to transform and deliver 100 per cent of their services electronically by the end of year 2009. Notably, despite the fact that worldwide reports have placed Dubai as the leader among its Arab peers in the provision of e-government services, technological infrastructures, government’s transparency and internet and mobile penetration rates. Yet, Dubai has missed its 2005 target of transforming 70 per cent of it services electronically facing a dilemma with its digital implementation efforts with achieving less than 45 per cent transformation rate. With e-government deployment failure rates reaching levels of 60 per cent worldwide, the challenges arising from the development of e-government initiatives have proven to be extensive. The complexity of the nature of e-government initiatives as well as the ambiguity surrounding its e-services development process makes reasonable justifications for the high failure rates associated with its deployment efforts all over the world and not just in Dubai. Furthermore, the lack of a universal model and theoretical studies to guide the deployment of this phenomenon have lead researchers and practitioners alike to focus their attention on finding ways and means of improving the adoption and implementation of e-government initiatives. Thus, it was established that it was necessary to find answers for the following questions: How are public organisations in Dubai are going about the diffusion of their egovernment initiatives and what determinates are necessary to be considered in the development process to achieve the initiatives’ success? In response to the aforementioned issues and in order to respond to the research’s objectives and questions, a theoretical framework guided by Roger’s (1995) Organisation Innovation Process theory and extended by Tornatzky and Fleisher’s Technological, Organisational, Environmental (1990) model have been developed to gain a holistic understanding of the phenomenon. The author reported using a multiple in-depth case study research design, drawing on empirical data from semi-structured interviews with e-government participants and gathering evidence from organisations’ documents and proceedings from local and regional Arabic e-government conferences, as well as on-site participants’ observations. This study documented the e-service development activities and identified the influential attributes driving the e-government phenomenon using both a descriptive and exploratory research strategy. Content analysis of the interview transcripts was used to extract answers given during the semi-structured interviews and to identify new themes that emerged from the data. Revision of research findings and comparison with literature have taken place from May, 2011 till April, 2012. The review has contributed to adding over 100 pages to the literature review chapter and over 20 pages to the final chapter of recommendation and conclusion. xi Upon the conclusion of the study’s data presentation and analysis, a further literature review has provided a significant improvement in refining the study’s conceptual framework. It has provides additional theoretical elaboration of key ideas, clearer definition and articulation of the e-services development process and contributed towards the formation of fourteen propositions. The empirical findings indicated three main stages (planning, transformation and deployment) similarly delineated by Rogers’ (1995) Organisation’s Adoption Process theory (initiation, adoption and implementation). However, the stages emerged in a more interactive looping patterns unlike Rogers’ linear model. Additionally, fourteen technological, organisational and environmental factors were indicated as being responsible for influencing the development process of e-services in Dubai public organisations. These propositions are to provide concerned academics with some guidance for further investigation into the e-services’ development practices in the region. This study also attempts to assist and guide government reformers, technological innovations’ team leaders and the implementing staff in Dubai in initiating, deploying, and sustaining their technologically integrated initiatives in a systemic and educated manner

Secure web application development and global regulation

The World Wide Web (WWW) has been predominantly responsible for instigating radical paradigm transformations in today’s global information rich civilizations. Many societies have basic operational economical components that depend on Web enabled systems in order to support daily commercial activities. The acceptance of E-commerce as a valid channel for conducting business coupled with societal integration and dependence on Web enabled technology has instigated the development of local, national, and global efforts to regulate criminal activities on the World Wide Web. This paper makes two contributions. The first contribution is the high-level review of the United States and United Kingdom legislation that has developed from the escalation and integration of the World Wide Web into society. The second contribution is the support for the idea that legislative compatibility, in concert with an organization’s policy compatibility, needs to be acknowledged in secure Web application development methodologies