Teachers, teams and technology: Investigating a team approach for supporting teachers\u27 uptake of ICT

This study sought to explore the professional development of elementary school teachers who were keen to use Information and Communications (ICT) in their teaching and learning. The main object of the study was to investigate a model of professional development that would support teachers as they adopted ICT. At the same time a simple framework to help locate teachers on some typology of ICT uptake was desirable, on the grounds that such a typology could help teachers, professional development planners and schools in their use of and support for ICT and its associated professional development.A review of the literature suggests two factors were of particular significance to teachers in Western Australia. The first was collaboration, and the second was an outcomes orientation. Collaboration is shorthand for the myriad ways that teachers worked together and an outcomes orientation embodies, in short, a student-centred approach to learning. Outcomes orientation is a current major initiative of the WA Department of Education and of keen relevance to educators in Western Australian schools

A typology for identifying teachers\u27 progress in ICT uptake

This paper describes the design of an instrument to help identify teachers\u27 level of ICT uptake. The instrument takes the form of a typology matrix comprising four stages in ICT uptake across a continuum describing teachers\u27 levels of dependence. Identification of teachers\u27 positions in the typology matrix is determined by their affective, cognitive and demonstrated states of ICT application and use. The paper describes the process of determining the position of two elementary school teachers within the typology and discusses the reliability and validity of the instrument and the placement process

I just wanted it finished! : The transitions of a novice project manager

How do you identify quality project managers? Is it possible to rate project managers on a scale, and more importantly once their level has been identified, can their skills be improved? These issues are addressed in this case study by observing the development of a research officer as she unwillingly undertook the management of a series of multimedia projects aimed at training and up-skilling tertiary students. The major conclusion from this research are that her skill development can be identified through the use of a four-stage typology derived from the literature on adult learning

Improving assessment: rubrics in a tertiary multimedia course

This paper explains how alternative assessment methods were implemented in a first-year tertiary course on web design. The aim was to make assessment clearer for the students to understand, and more focussed, using a rubric—a detailed, criterion-referenced marking guide. The results of a post-course evaluation of this action research showed that students strongly appreciated the use of this type of assessment. Our conclusion is that the rubric approach improves student satisfaction and can save lecturers time when marking

Shared Assessment: a Strategy for Managing Multidisciplinary Projects

Assessment-centered is the new black, apparently, if you believe recent research literature (eg. Boud & Associates, 2010) – but multi-disciplinary student assessments in multimedia are already challenging to assess. Naturally the more complex the project the more challenging it is for those administering the assessments, and in multi-unit settings (rather than end-of-course ‘capstone’ units) the complexity can be extreme. The consequential staff overload is insufficiently addressed even if the results are worth it. Shared assessments start with one large situated project and ask multiple staff running multiple units to collaborate whilst designing their assessments, all based around student teams ‘solving’ that project. This on-going research has developed criteria for better supporting staff in complex multidisciplinary projects in multimedia. After two years of iterations we thought to share the draft criteria, the positive results and the challenges through this paper and use feedback to better prepare for future iterations

Managing Multidisciplinary Student Design Teams

The management of multidisciplinary student teams is a challenge. In this paper we describe our experience in running a shared assessment across several units. Four multidisciplinary teams were formed, and success was mixed, with one team splitting into two along discipline lines and all experiencing communication issues. The main management challenges that arose were based around difficulty in communication and the understanding of the other disciplines requirements. We outline the process we used to construct the shared assessment, and provide some insight in how the student groups dealt with issues that arose

Classical Boundary-value Problem in Riemannian Quantum Gravity and Taub-Bolt-anti-de Sitter Geometries

For an $SU(2)\times U(1)$-invariant $S^3$ boundary the classical Dirichlet problem of Riemannian quantum gravity is studied for positive-definite regular solutions of the Einstein equations with a negative cosmological constant within biaxial Bianchi-IX metrics containing bolts, i.e., within the family of Taub-Bolt-anti-de Sitter (Taub-Bolt-AdS) metrics. Such metrics are obtained from the two-parameter Taub-NUT-anti-de Sitter family. The condition of regularity requires them to have only one free parameter ($L$) and constrains $L$ to take values within a narrow range; the other parameter is determined as a double-valued function of $L$ and hence there is a bifurcation within the family. We found that {\it{any}} axially symmetric $S^3$-boundary can be filled in with at least one solution coming from each of these two branches despite the severe limit on the permissible values of $L$. The number of infilling solutions can be one, three or five and they appear or disappear catastrophically in pairs as the values of the two radii of $S^3$ are varied. The solutions occur simultaneously in both branches and hence the total number of independent infillings is two, six or ten. We further showed that when the two radii are of the same order and large the number of solutions is two. In the isotropic limit this holds for small radii as well. These results are to be contrasted with the one-parameter self-dual Taub-NUT-AdS infilling solutions of the same boundary-value problem studied previously.Comment: Minor changes and references added: Version in the Journa

Caries experience among publicly-funded dental patients in Australia, 1995-96: Type of care and geographic location

The document attached has been archived with permission from the Australian Dental Association. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.Health card holders are a financially disadvantaged group and are the target population eligible for publicly-funded dental care. While their health status is generally worse compared with other Australians, there is also considerable variation among card holders. The aims of this study were to describe the oral health status of publicly-funded dental patients by type of care, geographic location and age, and to compare trends over time against other Australian studies. Patients were sampled randomly, based on date of birth, by State/Territory dental services in 1995-96. Dentists recorded oral health measures at the initial visit of a course of care using written instructions, but there was no formal calibration. The 6109 patients sampled were weighted in proportion to the numbers of publicly-funded dental patients for each State/Territory. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that caries experience measured by the DMFT index increased across older age groups (p<0.05). For rural compared with urban patients, mean numbers of decayed and filled teeth tended to be higher. For emergency compared with non-emergency care, mean numbers of decayed and missing teeth were higher, and filled teeth lower. The findings of this monitoring survey document high levels of previous disease and treatment and indicate variation between subgroups of users of publicly-funded dental care. This included an uneven geographic distribution of oral health and disease, and variation in unmet treatment needs by type of course of care. Temporal comparisons indicate publicly-funded patients have experienced the population trend towards lower levels of tooth loss over time but have higher levels of untreated decayed teeth compared with the general population.D.S. Brennan, A.J. Spencer and G.D Slad

Dental amalgam and mercury in dentistry

The document attached has been archived with permission from the Australian Dental Association. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.Mercury in dentistry has re-emerged as a contentious issue in public health, predominantly because so many people are inadvertently exposed to mercury in order to obtain the benefits of dental amalgam fillings, and the risks remain difficult to interpret. This commentary aims to examine the issues involved in public policy assessment of the continued use of dental amalgam in dentistry.AJ Spence