Independence and Alpern Multitowers

Let $T$ be any invertible, ergodic, aperiodic measure-preserving transformation of a Lebesgue probability space (X, \calB, \mu), and \P\, any finite measurable partition of $X$. We show that a (finite) Alpern multitower may always be constructed whose base is independent of \P

The Future of Assessment is Mobile

Mobile devices now allow us to capture a students learning in situ. Although the iPad is largely used in education, its use is often as a supportive tool and not on endemic to assessment. Digitisation of assessment holds the promise of reducing the assessment load to two-thirds of the current administrative workload. The process transforms to a co-creative learning experience negotiated between the teacher, student and parent

Single session intervention: an example of clinical research in practice

Single session consultations seem to be an efficient and effective way of providing therapeutic interventions at a time of increasing demands for services and shrinking resources. Though 'one-off' consultations have a long clinical history, specific interest in their use was sparked by Talmon's (1990) observation that 78% of his clients who had had only one consultation had experienced improvement in their presenting problems. Several Australian studies have supported Talmon's advocacy of this approach (Boyhan, 1996; Hampson, O'Hanlon, Pentony and Cramby, 1994; Price, 1994) but have significant methodological flaws. The present study used a pre-post methodology to assess the effectiveness of single session interventions and explored whether family dynamics impacted on changes in the presenting problem and in level of coping. The results indicated significant changes in both. Family pride or morale was identified as a major factor in positive response to the interventions. The implications for the use of single sessions and for further clinically based research are discussed

Performance enhancement of the task assessment process through the application of an electronic performance support system

Higher education in Australia, as for many other countries, has changed greatly over the last 20 years at all levels and in many areas of operation including teaching, learning and assessment. The driving forces for these changes have been both internal and external, and have included factors such as: the increasing student population; the increasing use of part-time staff; a reduction in government funding; an increased expectation of institutional accountability; and the growing access and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in teaching and learning. Assessment has not escaped these changes but in many cases has not kept up with exemplary and recommended practice. This is especially so in the specific area of task assessment that involves professional judgement, where assessment is a timeconsuming, expensive, poorly managed, and a stressful professional activity, and is often a negative emotional experience for both learners and educators

A brief exploration of variances in Larry Grenadier’s approach to soloing in piano trio and duo contexts on selected recordings of All the Things You Are and Long Ago and Far Away

Larry Grenadier is a highly accomplished and acclaimed modern jazz bassist. Amongst his many collaborations with the luminaries of jazz, he is probably best known for his enduring partnership with the Brad Mehldau trio, which has been continuous since 1994. This study focuses on Grenadier’s improvisational style, specifically aiming to contrast his approach in piano trio and drumless piano-bass duo contexts, in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Four musical transcriptions have been completed (one performance in each ensemble setting of the standards All the Things You Are and Long Ago and Far Away) and analysed for aspects such as rhythmic complexity, motivic and melodic development, harmonic approach, and adherence to the form. In tandem to the analysis, Grenadier himself was interviewed to further unpack his views on improvising. An overall comparison section discusses the similarities and differences between the performances, cross-referencing the analytical findings with Grenadier’s interview, resulting in several conclusions about how his approach appears to vary across the performances. Through the analysis, it is found that – while the transcriptions share common techniques – it is observable that the trio improvisations are often relatively more complex, and the duo performances more foundational. Despite this empirical distinction, Grenadier asserts in the interview that he does not consciously change his approach: instead, he suggests that the presence of different musical personalities leads his improvising to alternate outcomes in the moment. Importantly, it is also noted that his overall improvisational approach is strongly informed by a blurred line between bassline and bass solo, inferring that the absence of drums might subconsciously direct him to play more foundationally. The outcomes of this research not only provide a fascinating insight into a member of the jazz music elite, but are also highly informative for my own practice and direction for performance in these contexts, as well as any other bassists wishing to gain a deeper understanding of how to approach performing in similar ensembles

Using hypermedia to improve the dissemination and accessibility of syllabus documents with particular reference to primary mathematics

The fundamental question that this study set out to investigate was: Can the advantages of hypermedia be extended to curriculum materials that are for the sole use of teachers? To consider this question, three areas needed to be investigated: hypermedia (the medium); teachers (the target) and curriculum documents (the content). Hypermedia has a long history dating back to Bush (1986) who in 1945 imagined his Memex system as building information trails between ideas. However, it was not until the mid 1980s that technology caught up with the theory and hypermedia came of age. The evaluation of hypermedia documents is still in its infancy and design standards are still being formlulated. Social acceptability and usability will be of major concern in the evaluation process of hypermedia. Therefore this study needed to investigate whether this medium of presentation is socially acceptable to teachers? Advances in Information Technology (IT), both in hardware and software in the last few years have brought the potential of hypermedia to the personal computer (PC). Information, be it text, sound, graphics or video, or a mixture of these, can now be presented on the same screen and the movement between screens can be seamless. The movement between screens is no longer limited to sequential movement as it is when the information is presented in a hard copy form, but can be randomly accessed. This access allows the user to move about the information as they would move about within their own minds, that is, by association. Already commercial hypermedia products are being produced for the education and leisure markets. Teachers\u27 work loads are increasing, as they take on more curriculum responsibilities, while at the same time, information is expanding at a rapid rate. The challenge today is to encourage teachers to use new information technology to overcome these problems. However, since their inception into schools fifteen years ago, computers have not delivered the results that had been expected of them. Can the access to hypermedia curriculum documents help teachers to lessen their work load and encourage them to use IT? Firstly, it is important to consider whether curriculum materials for teacher use are suitable for hypermedia presentation. The literature indicated that textual materials that are not meant to be read sequentially like a novel, arc suitable to be presented in hypermedia form. At present, curriculum materials for teachers contain the content in hard copy form but the presentation is lacking in quality. This hard copy material is expensive, hard to correct and slow to update. Hypermedia offers the potential to overcome these limitations and to provide easy access to much more information. This new medium could allow teachers for the first ti.me to truly integrate their teaching programme by enabling them to access multiple curriculum documents. The methodology used in this study was based on two types of descriptive research, survey and correlation methods. The target population for this study was all K-7 teachers using the Western Australia Mathematics syllabus within Western Australia. The instrument was a mailed survey questionnaire that consisted of five parts. The first part consisted of collecting personal data such as age and gender. The second part was the Computer Attitude Scale (CAS), designed by Loyd and Gressard (1984), and was used to measure attitudes towards learning and using computers. The third part consisted of questions that asked teachers for their views and impressions on the social acceptability and utility of the present hard copy. The fourth part consisted of questions on computer experience and use, both in and outside the classroom. The final part consisted questions on the likely acceptance and usefulness of a hypermedia copy of the syllabus. This study found that the likely medium-based anxiety for this type of application is low for the teachers sampled, with 70 percent indicating that they were likely to accept this type of application. The findings indicated that the acceptance rate increased as the teachers\u27 positive attitude towards computers increased. Teachers that rated themselves competent at using a computer were also more likely to accept this type of application. Time spent using a computer at school showed that teachers who frequently use them at least several times a week were more likely to accept this type of application. The study also found that the majority of teachers sampled considered the ability to link the syllabus to other teaching material was very useful. Many of the problems identified by the teachers sampled concerning the usability of the present hard copy could be overcome using a hypermedia version

Let the data speak: Using rigour to extract vitality from qualitative data

Qualitative data can be gathered from an array of rich sources of research information. One of the popular ways to collect this data is by interviewing a range of experts on the topic, followed by transcription, resulting in a database of written documents, often supplemented by other documented data that informs the topic. Thematic or Content Analysis can then be used to explore the data and identify themes of meaning that enlighten the research topic, with the themes being gathered into nodes. The researcher now has an array of nodes, which needs to be organised into a coherent model, and more importantly, one that represents the views of the research informants. To do this with some degree of rigour, the researcher needs some way of ranking the nodes in terms of their relative importance. The node ranking can be based on experience, or on the literature, but neither of these approaches looks to the data itself. If the database contains new or unexpected knowledge, neither experience nor the literature will guide us to it, and vital new insights may easily be missed. The framework outlined in this paper aims to provide a sound first‑cut analysis of the data, based on the evidence in the research interviews themselves. Clearly the literature and research experience have an important role to play in shaping the results of any research. However this paper argues that one should proceed only after the data itself has been offered the first chance to speak .The node classification matrix detailed here, identifies distinct node categories, each ranging in significance and with particular characteristics that reveal key aspects of the informants\u27 views. In this way the researcher can use the nodes to reveal the voice of the experts, and build a scientifically rigorous set of results from a qualitative database

THE BIOENERGETICS AND BEHAVIOUR OF THE RAINBOW TROUT (ONCORHYNCHUS MYKISS) WHEN FEEDING ON A COPPER CONTAMINATED DIET

The long-term effects of sub-lethal dietary Cu-exposure were investigated in relation to consequential energy shifts and resultant locomotory adaptation in 0. mykiss. This study represents the first to attempt to quantify the physiological cost of dietary heavy-metal exposure, the timing and extent of daily behavioural adaptation and resultant significance, in terms of ecologically important behaviours to the fish. Two long-term (2 & 3 months) dietary exposures of 730 mg Cu kgˉ¹ mg d.w. feed showed exposed fish to have a 3-fold increase in liver [Cu] and 10-fold increase in intestinal [Cu] compared to control fish. Consequently exposed fish elicited a detoxification response, and metallothionein production was also greatly increased in these tissues. Cu-uptake was regulated into the body and physiological homeostasis was maintained although a 2-fold increase in lipid peroxidation product was found in the liver of exposed fish. Simultaneous analysis of voluntary spontaneous swimming and VO2. showed exposed fish to have a 1.52 mmol 02 kgˉ¹ hˉ¹ increase over controls, and it was also shown that the cost of routine metabolism became more critical for exposed fish at higher swimming speeds. Although results further showed that the increase in both standard metabolism and routine metabolism over controls by Cu-exposed fish varied greatly between individuals. The increased energetic requirement to remain active when feeding on a Cu-contaminated diet was off-set by a reduction in swimming activity. Growth rates remained indifferent between treatments suggesting that the reduction in activity fully compensated for the increased cost of standard, and routine metabolism in exposed fish. Finite behavioural analyses over the 24-h cycle showed control fish to display periodicity in specific swimming speed, peaking in activity during the night-dawn period. Cu-exposed fish exhibited a different circadian behavioural profile, lacking distinct periodicity in specific swimming speed favouring low-level activity during the night-dawn period, and investing in higher cost swimming activity only during feeding periods. It was suggested that the high swimming activity of control fish during non-feeding periods was associated with inter-individual competition and development of the feeding hierarchy. Direct observation of trout social groups, showed a 50% reduction in the activity of the alpha fish leading to a similarly sized reduction in encounters with subordinates when the group was feeding on a Cu-contaminated diet. Consequently, a general reduction was observed in the strength of the feeding hierarchy, measured as a reduction in the size disparity between individuals within a discrete social group, and a reduction in social stress effects on subordinate fish estimated from lactate accumulation within the muscle. Feeding hierarchies are a result of initial paired interactions, and direct behavioural examination showed that fish feeding on a Cu-contaminated diet were less willing to compete in expensive escalated interactions, favouring withdrawal at a lower level of energetic investment. This lower withdrawal threshold in Cu-exposed fish, was suggested to be related to lower self-assessment of Resource Holding Power (RHP), due to the increased metabolic costs of routine metabolism in Cu-exposed fish, and a reduced resource value of a contaminated diet. The results of this investigation are discussed with regard to energetic decisions undertaken by the fish, associated with the relative costs and benefits of investing energy into growth or activity, to maximise net energy intake (food) when feeding in a social group. And how evaluation of strategies to maximise net energy gain may become more critical in rainbow trout when feeding on a Cu-contarninated diet

'From Island to Island': Extracts from an Unpublished Autobiography

Alistair Te Ariki Campbell was a leading figure in the post-war Literary Society of Victoria University College which after several 'Broadsheets', published a new literary journal Hilltop in 1949. In these extracts from his unpublished autobiography we approach some of the sources of his poems, especially that of'The Return ', his most celebrated single work, first published in Hilltop 2 under the title 'Landscape with Figures'. He also gives us a student's view of life at Victoria, but before coming to Wellington he had 'reluctantly and resentfully' enrolled as a student at Otago University for the 1944 academic year..