Providing better clinical reference sources at the point of care

Physicians frequently need clinical reference material at the time they are taking care of patients, but despite the widespread availability of seemingly appropriate resources, physicians do not consistently avail themselves. Previous research has shown that the main obstacle to resource use is lack of time to search, followed by inability to find the information even with extended searching. Using a randomly selected sample of previously published questions (Clinical Questions Collection at the National Library of Medicine), current online electronic clinical reference resources were searched. Search times, success rates, and result quality were compared. Retrieval of drug information was dominated by navigation time, whereas searches for other materials were dominated by search time. It was rare that actually reading the material required significant time. Based on the results, an improved interface for accessing clinical reference data is proposed. Key features include a "Fast" interface that minimizes navigation time to easily found resources and a "Flex" interface that minimizes search time for more arcane material.Master of Science in Information Scienc

Measuring knowledge sharing processes through social network analysis within construction organisations

The construction industry is a knowledge intensive and information dependent industry. Organisations risk losing valuable knowledge, when the employees leave them. Therefore, construction organisations need to nurture opportunities to disseminate knowledge through strengthening knowledge-sharing networks. This study aimed at evaluating the formal and informal knowledge sharing methods in social networks within Australian construction organisations and identifying how knowledge sharing could be improved. Data were collected from two estimating teams in two case studies. The collected data through semi-structured interviews were analysed using UCINET, a Social Network Analysis (SNA) tool, and SNA measures. The findings revealed that one case study consisted of influencers, while the other demonstrated an optimal knowledge sharing structure in both formal and informal knowledge sharing methods. Social networks could vary based on the organisation as well as the individuals’ behaviour. Identifying networks with specific issues and taking steps to strengthen networks will enable to achieve optimum knowledge sharing processes. This research offers knowledge sharing good practices for construction organisations to optimise their knowledge sharing processes

The 45th Australasian Universities Building Education Association Conference: Global Challenges in a Disrupted World: Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Approaches in the Built Environment, Conference Proceedings, 23 - 25 November 2022, Western Sydney University, Kingswood Campus, Sydney, Australia

This is the proceedings of the 45th Australasian Universities Building Education Association (AUBEA) conference which will be hosted by Western Sydney University in November 2022. The conference is organised by the School of Engineering, Design, and Built Environment in collaboration with the Centre for Smart Modern Construction, Western Sydney University. This year’s conference theme is “Global Challenges in a Disrupted World: Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Approaches in the Built Environment”, and expects to publish over a hundred double-blind peer review papers under the proceedings

Online courses for healthcare professionals: is there a role for social learning?

Background: All UK postgraduate medical trainees receive supervision from trained supervisors. Training has traditionally been delivered via face to face courses, but with increasing time pressures and complex shift patterns, access to these is difficult. To meet this challenge, we developed a two-week massive open online course (MOOC) for faculty development of clinical supervisors. Summary of Work: The MOOC was developed by a group of experienced medical educators and delivered via the FutureLearn (FL) platform which promotes social learning through interaction. This facilitates building of communities of practice, learner interaction and collaboration. We explored learner perceptions of the course, in particular the value of social learning in the context of busy healthcare professionals. We analysed responses to pre- and post-course surveys for each run of the MOOC in 2015, FL course statistics, and learner discussion board comments. Summary of Results: Over 2015, 7,225 learners registered for the course, though 6% left the course without starting. Of the 3,055 learners who began the course, 35% (1073/3055) were social learners who interacted with other participants. Around 31% (960/3055) learners participated fully in the course; this is significantly higher than the FL average of 22%. Survey responses suggest that 68% learners worked full-time, with over 75% accessing the course at home or while commuting, using laptops, smart phones and tablet devices. Discussion: Learners found the course very accessible due to the bite-sized videos, animations, etc which were manageable at the end of a busy working day. Inter-professional discussions and social learning made the learning environment more engaging. Discussion were rated as high quality as they facilitated sharing of narratives and personal reflections, as well as relevant resources. Conclusion: Social learning added value to the course by promoting sharing of resources and improved interaction between learners within the online environment. Take Home Messages: 1) MOOCs can provide faculty development efficiently with a few caveats. 2) Social learning added a new dimension to the online environment

Impact of New Method for Laying Separate Sewer System on Pavement Layers

The method of installing underground infrastructure has a significant influence on road resistance and performance under live loads such as traffic. This research presents a new method for laying separate sewer systems by using one trench to sit both sanitary pipe and storm pipe and considers the effects of this approach on the pavement strength. Experimental tests have been conducted in the laboratory using a trench 2.5x0.45x1 metre to install two pipes one over the other (sanitary pipe in the bottom and storm pipe on top). Two cases have tested, the first case using 5 cm surface layer of cold mix asphalt while the second is using soil. A series of loads were applied to test the behaviour of this new system and its effects on the pavement surface layer and the buried pipe. The comparison between the rut print of the live load on the soil layer and the pavement layer was conducted. Results demonstrated that using the cold mix asphalt is still insufficient to provide enough safety to protect buried pipe as a reason of needing to relatively long time to acquire high stiffness. Therefore, minimum cover depth to protect pipelines still required

Women in leadership commemorative issue: selected conference papers 1998-2000

Includes: 1998 Women as Leaders: A Global Challenge 1999 Looking at our Future: Listening to the Past 2000 Keeping Gender on the Agend