Issues using COTS simulation software packages for the interoperation of models

This paper intends to examine the interoperation of simulation models from the viewpoint of a simulation engineer who uses standard tools and methods to create these models. The paper will look at the models in the context of COTS (commercially available off-the shelf) simulation packages with a view to applying distributed simulation (DS) theory to the subject. By studying current methods employed which enable COTS simulation packages to interoperate, this paper will discuss the tools currently used and examine their appropriateness. The paper will also suggest how an example COTS simulation package could be modified to provide the necessary functions and interoperability required to allow full distributed simulation

An approach to reconcile the agile and CMMI contexts in product line development

Software product line approaches produce reusable platforms and architectures for products set developed by specific companies. These approaches are strategic in nature requiring coordination, discipline, commonality and communication. The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) contains important guidelines for process improvement, and specifies "what" we must have into account to achieve the disciplined processes (among others things). On the other hand, the agile context is playing an increasingly important role in current software engineering practices, specifying "how" the software practices must be addressed to obtain agile processes. In this paper, we carry out a preliminary analysis for reconciling agility and maturity models in software product line domain, taking advantage of both.Postprint (published version

The role of content and language in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) at university: Challenges and implications for ESP

In a context characterized by the increasing presence of CLIL programs in universities with a tradition of ESP courses, we analyze the case of a university in Catalonia (Spain) with regard to the position of CLIL and ESP. As CLIL programs are promoted to improve students' language proficiency in English, we explore the importance of language learning in these programs and the implications derived for ESP. Data were obtained from institutional documentation, class observation, and lecturer and student views on CLIL expressed in focus groups and a questionnaire. Findings show imprecise guidelines for CLIL implementation. Although we can observe an institutional shift from ESP to CLIL, the latter courses do not generally include language support. Lecturer and student perspectives provide useful insights for action that can be taken by ESP course designers to adapt courses to make them more relevant to students' discipline-related needs. Faced with these findings, we propose engaging in collaboration with content lecturers to develop graduates' proficiency in English. This collaboration can take place both through the integration of language in content courses and through the integration of content in ESP courses to make them more relevant to disciplines' communicative needs. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Postprint (published version

Deriving Information Requirements from Responsibility Models

This paper describes research in understanding the requirements for complex information systems that are constructed from one or more generic COTS systems. We argue that, in these cases, behavioural requirements are largely defined by the underlying system and that the goal of the requirements engineering process is to understand the information requirements of system stakeholders. We discuss this notion of information requirements and propose that an understanding of how a socio-technical system is structured in terms of responsibilities is an effective way of discovering this type of requirement. We introduce the idea of responsibility modelling and show, using an example drawn from the domain of emergency planning, how a responsibility model can be used to derive information requirements for a system that coordinates the multiple agencies dealing with an emergency

\u201cImprovisation is not allowed in a second language\u201d: A survey of Italian lecturers\u2019 concerns about teaching their subjects through English

English Medium Instruction (EMI) is increasingly being introduced across European universities in countries where English is not a commonly-used language, such as Italy and other central and southern European countries. However the competences and concerns of the lecturers involved are not always considered when such developments are introduced and support or training may not be offered. This paper reports on a survey on English-Medium Instruction (EMI) to which 115 lecturers in a public university in northern Italy responded. The survey was carried out by the university\u2019s Language Centre as part of the LEAP (Learning English for Academic Purposes) Project which was developed to support lecturers in EMI. The survey sought to identify what the lecturers perceived as their strengths and weakness in English, their concerns and also their evaluations of the experience of teaching through English if they had had any. The findings discussed in this paper shed light on the needs of lecturers that are involved in EMI, which relate to methodology as well as language issues. The implications of this for European Language Centres intending to support EMI at their universities are discussed in the conclusions

Introduction

This is the post print version of the chapter - Copyright @ 2003 The editorsThis book is about surrogacy and, more specifically, surrogate motherhood. It is a collection of essays that aims to provide a contemporary and international picture of a practice, traceable to ancient times, devised to solve the problem of childlessness. The collection, which explores surrogacy from a variety of perspectives including law, policy, medicine and psychology, is timely. For although there is nothing new in the notion that a woman might bear a child for someone else, there is some evidence that the incidence of surrogacy is increasing and technology has developed to make ever more complex arrangements possible

Review of the Crown-of-thorns Starfish Research Committee (COTSREC) Program

In December 1988, following criticism in the media of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's handling of the crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) issue, the then Minister for the Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories, Senator the Honourable Graham Richardson, requested a review of the Authority's crown-of-thorns starfish research program and policies. The research program had been recommended to the Authority by the Crown-of-thorns Starfish Advisory Committee (COTSAC), a body of experts convened by the Authority in 1984 for this purpose. Funding of $3 million over four years for the program (1985-86 to 1988-89) was provided by the Federal Government. The program was reviewed annually by another advisory body established by the Authority, the Crown-of-thorns Starfish Advisory Review Committee (COTSARC). Zann and Moran (1988), Moran and Johnson (1990) and Lassig (1991) have summarised the structure and results of this program

The Outcomes Of New Teachers Being Reflective

New university teachers are typically advancing scholars who have recently commenced academic teaching duties. Referred to as neophytes in this study, these teachers are usually early career academics, postgraduate students or sessional lecturers who begin teaching with little more training than attendance at short professional development courses or seminars. Their teaching and learning theories are generally naive and their practice is often limited. In view of the already substantiated connections that have been found between teachers’ conceptions of teaching (COTs) and their practical approaches to teaching, the COTs held by neophytes are of consequence, as they are usually indicative of the quality of their teaching practices. The topic of the quality of teaching in universities is presently under scrutiny by governments and their agencies, educational institutions and researchers, the community at large, university students and the teachers themselves. Since most university teaching is conducted by sessional staff, many of who are neophyte teachers, the problem of how to ensure high-quality teaching is significant. Subsequently, the development of neophyte tertiary teachers continues to be a concern across the higher education sector. While the value of reflective practice as part of professional development programs for university teachers has been somewhat established, research into the needs and practices of neophyte teachers is an under-represented area of higher education literature. This gap in our understanding of how to meet the needs of this group of university teachers is made particularly challenging by the increasing numbers of neophyte teachers in universities and the likely impending retirement of a high proportion of current university teachers. This study examines the changes that occurred in the COTs of a group of neophytes as a result of their participation in a professional development program. Utilising elements of cognitive apprenticeship (A. Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989) and conceptual change theories (Posner, Strike, Hewson, & Gertzog, 1982), the program scaffolded teachers to become reflective practitioners (Biggs, 2003; Boud, 2001; Boud, Keogh, & Walker, 1985; Schön, 1983, 1987). By adopting a mixed methods case-based research design, this study provides an example of a program that was largely administered using online technologies that were tailored to meet the needs of the neophyte teachers. During the study, an interventional program of reflective practice was developed and implemented across a semester period. Five neophyte teachers at one Australian metropolitan university engaged in this program and evidence of their developing COTs was documented by gathering interview, journal and questionnaire data. From an analysis of these data, evidence emerged of how the neophytes’ COTs had changed. The most effective elements of the reflective practice program were also identified. This study revealed the benefits of neophyte tertiary teachers engaging in professional development teaching programs, especially when reflective practice is used as a strategy within the context of an online teaching program. These findings have significance for the design of professional development programs for neophyte teachers in university contexts. After participating in a theoretically informed program of reflective practice, the neophyte teachers in this study developed their reflective practice skills. Although the neophytes did not opt to engage in collaborative reflective practices, instead appearing to need a period of reflective incubation, they developed their COTs, which increased their capacity to think about their own teaching. This enabled them to consider how they could make improvements to the quality of their teaching