Moving Towards Problem Based Learning (PBL): Some Initial Experiences at AUT University

A business case was first presented for the School of Engineering at AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand, to change the delivery schemes of all undergraduate degree programs towards a Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach, envisioning a raised institutional profile, improved completion rates, increased community or industry engagement, increased consultancy income, and improved staff retention. In preparation for the actual move towards PBL, a preliminary study was undertaken subsequently to consider issues such as staff training, resource development and risk factors. The role of a teacher as a facilitator and the educational philosophy behind it needed to be reviewed, in order to be able to formulate a staff development scheme. Curriculum and resource development aspects and the timeline for the implementation of PBL at AUT were also investigated and reported. This paper presents some of the highlighting features of this report

Metal Complexes of Multidentate N2S2 Heterocyclic Schiff-base Ligands;Formation, Structural Characterisation and Biological Activity

The synthesis of ligands with N2S2 donor sets that include imine, an amide, thioether, thiolate moieties and their metal complexes were achieved. The new Schiff-base ligands; N-(2-((2,4-diphenyl-3-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonan-9-ylidene)amino)ethyl)-2-((2-mercaptoethyl)thio)-acetamide (H2L1) and N-(2-((2,4-di-p-tolyl-3-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonan-9-ylidene)amino)ethyl)-2-((2-mercaptoethyl)thio) acetamide (H2L2) were obtained from the reaction of amine precursors with 1,4-dithian-2-one in the presence of triethylamine as a base in the CHCl3 medium. Complexes of the general formula K2[M(Ln)Cl2], (where: M = Mn (II), Co(II) and Ni(II)) and [M(Ln)], (where: M = Cu(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II); n =1-2, expect [Cu(HL2)Cl]) were isolated. The entity of ligands and complexes including their purity were confirmed using elemental microanalysis (C.H.N.S), atomic absorption (A.A), chloride content, conductivity measurement's, melting point and thermal analysis technique. The molecular structures were elucidated with FT-IR, UV-Vis, magnetic susceptibility, 1H-and 13C-NMR and mass spectroscopy. The synthesised compounds were evaluated for their activity against bacterial strains (G+ and G-) and fungi species. The tested compounds indicated that; the ligands have not shown any antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli. The Cd(II) complexes, for ligands H2L1 and H2L2, display the higher antimicrobial activity, compared with the other complexes. The H2L1 and H2L2 have not shown any activity against Candida albicans. All complexes for ligands (H2L1 and H2L2) exhibited less activity against Candida albicans, compared with other types of fungi

An analysis of specialist and non-specialist user requirements for geographic climate change information

This article was published in the journal, Applied Ergonomics [© Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society] and the definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2013.03.029The EU EuroClim project developed a system to monitor and record climate change indicator data based on satellite observations of snow cover, sea ice and glaciers in Northern Europe and the Arctic. It also contained projection data for temperature, rainfall and average wind speed for Europe. These were all stored as data sets in a GIS database for users to download. The process of gathering requirements for a user population including scientists, researchers, policy makers, educationalists and the general public is described. Using an iterative design methodology, a user survey was administered to obtain initial feedback on the system concept followed by panel sessions where users were presented with the system concept and a demonstrator to interact with it. The requirements of both specialist and non-specialist users is summarised together with strategies for the effective communication of geographic climate change information

Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus; or, Coloured plates ... of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America ...

Title on spine: Hortus botanicus americanus.Paging irregular.Mary Ann Beinecke Decorative Art Collection. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Library.Mode of access: Internet

Safety at the Workplace – Selected Issues of Personal Data Safety

The paper presents the problem domain related to data safety management in the face of the threats that organisations of all types encounter in this scope. The Author’s particular concern are personal data management issues, which are of key importance for contemporary enterprises as they frequently determine wining the market advantage and growth in their competitiveness. Yet, incidents of personal data breaches, aimed at economic organisations have been on the increase in the recent years, leading not only to substantial financial losses, but what is worse, frequently resulting in damage to their reputation. Therefore, a vital issue for all enterprises is to make their employees acquainted with threats to data security and their potential harmful effects on the operations and financial results of organisations. The paper presents an analysis of breaches to personal data in organisations in a global dimension as well as analyses of their negative effects to their image and trust of their customers

Carbon reduction activism in the UK: lexical creativity and lexical framing in the context of climate change

This article examines discourses associated with a new environmental movement, “Carbon Rationing Action Groups” (CRAGs). This case study is intended to contribute to a wider investigation of the emergence of a new type of language used to debate climate change mitigation. Advice on how to reduce one's “carbon footprint,” for example, is provided almost daily. Much of this advice is framed by the use of metaphors and “carbon compounds”—lexical combinations of at least two roots—such as “carbon finance” or “low carbon diet.” The study uses a combination of tools from frame analysis and lexical pragmatics within the general framework of ecolinguistics to compare and contrast language use on the CRAGs' website with press coverage reporting on them. The analysis shows how the use of such lexical carbon compounds enables and facilitates different types of metaphorical frames such as dieting, finance and tax paying, war time rationing, and religious imperatives in the two corpora