La evolución del acceso abierto a la investigación y a los datos en la educación superior en Australia

L'accés obert (AO) en el sector de l'ensenyament superior a Austràlia ha experimentat una evolució ràpida. Aquest article revisa els avenços en dues àrees relacionades: l'AO a les publicacions de recerca científica, i a les dades obertes. D'una banda, l'AO pot esdevenir un suport als recursos educatius oberts (REO) en la mesura que proporciona accés a la recerca per a l'aprenentatge i l'ensenyament. D'altra banda, un ampli ventall d'actors (que inclou universitats, els seus principals òrgans, organismes públics de finançament de la recerca i altres organitzacions i xarxes que es concentren explícitament en l'AO) es mostren cada vegada més actius en aquests àmbits de diferents maneres. L'AO convida a canviar l'statu quo en tot el sector de l'ensenyament superior, i l'impuls i el dinamisme actuals en aquesta àrea suggereixen que es continuaran produint canvis ràpids i rellevants en el context de l'AO en un futur previsible. Aquest article identifica i analitza també les pràctiques generals, les polítiques i els canvis culturals i les infraestructures derivats de l'evolució de l'AO en l'ensenyament superior a Austràlia, i acaba plantejant diverses qüestions clau relatives al futur de les pràctiques i polítiques en matèria de dades obertes i de recerca d'AO a Austràlia en un marc de creixent interès per l'AO a escala internacional.Open access (OA) in the Australian tertiary education sector is evolving rapidly and, in this article, we review developments in two related areas: OA to scholarly research publications and open data. OA can support open educational resource (OER) efforts by providing access to research for learning and teaching, and a range of actors including universities, their peak bodies, public research funding agencies and other organisations and networks that focus explicitly on OA are increasingly active in these areas in diverse ways. OA invites change to the status quo across the higher education sector and current momentum and vibrancy in this area suggests that rapid and significant changes in the OA landscape will continue into the foreseeable future. General practices, policies, infrastructure and cultural changes driven by the evolution of OA in Australian higher education are identified and discussed. The article concludes by raising several key questions for the future of OA research and open data policies and practices in Australia in the context of growing interest in OA internationally.El acceso abierto (AA) en el sector de la educación superior en Australia ha experimentado una rápida evolución. Este artículo revisa los avances en dos áreas relacionadas: el AA a las publicaciones de investigación científica, y a los datos abiertos. Por un lado, el AA puede suponer un apoyo a los recursos educativos abiertos (REA) en la medida en que proporciona acceso a la investigación para el aprendizaje y la enseñanza. Por otro lado, un amplio abanico de actores (que incluye universidades, sus principales órganos, organismos públicos de financiación de la investigación, así como otras organizaciones y redes que se concentran explícitamente en el AA) se muestran cada vez más activos en estos ámbitos de distintas maneras. El AA invita a cambiar el statu quo en todo el sector de la educación superior, y el impulso y el dinamismo actuales en esta área sugieren que se seguirán produciendo cambios rápidos y relevantes en el contexto del AA en un futuro previsible. El presente artículo identifica y analiza también las prácticas generales, las políticas y los cambios culturales e infraestructurales derivados de la evolución del AA en la educación superior en Australia, y concluye planteando diversas cuestiones clave relativas al futuro de las prácticas y políticas en materia de datos abiertos y de investigación de AA en Australia en un marco de creciente interés por el AA a escala internacional

Dual diagnosis: a community perspective

This report presents a community inquiry project concerned with addressing Dual Diagnosis needs in the urban communities of Finglas and Cabra, North Dublin. The study was funded by the Social Inclusion/ Addiction Service, CH09, Health Service Executive and Finglas/Cabra Local Drug & Alcohol Task Force. This Participatory Action Research study involved a process in which the research participants were in partnership with the research team for the duration of the study. This project had two research cycles over a nine-month period. In the first month of the study, the community research group (CRG) was established to oversee, support and participate in the research process. This group included members of the community such as service users, their family members and service providers. Throughout this inquiry, central to all activities, was the importance of ensuring that there was a shared community conversation about the local Dual Diagnosis needs. This study achieved this using Participatory Action Research methods. The first cycle comprised of an Open Dialogue Community Forum and three focus groups. Participants included local residents, service users, community representatives, local health, and social care professionals. During this cycle, participants shared personal experiences of Dual Diagnosis and the difficulties in accessing appropriate treatment and care, which often lacks compassion for individuals seeking help. Family members spoke about the effect Dual Diagnosis has had on their own and on their relatives’ lives. Professionals shared their experiences of working and supporting clients with Dual Diagnosis. Findings in this cycle mirrored those from the international literature. For example, no joined up policy, restricted and inappropriate service access, limited family support, a lack of intra agency collaboration, organisational struggles for professionals to liaise across services and agencies in relation to collaborative care. Cycle two focused on how the communities and local organisations can provide effective care for people with Dual Diagnosis and their families, along with required government directives. A second Open Dialogue Forum identified the required actions at community, organisational and governmental level. The findings are summarised across three main domains: Community response; Organisational requirements; Governmental responsibility. This research provides a community insight into the impact of Dual Diagnosis. It highlights ways to address Dual Diagnosis through a series of interconnecting actions supported by governmental and policy change. Additionally, the findings have implications for the two communities and national policy makers. Notably, this work contributes to the dialogue surrounding the unmet needs of those who experience Dual Diagnosis. Of particular relevance to this research is the process by which the community was galvanised and the representative stakeholders brought together in dialogue. Crucially, this process was deemed a significant outcome of this research in that it facilitated the emergence of mutually agreed findings. The community stakeholders can now establish a process towards enacting the required changes to develop provision for people with Dual Diagnosis and their families. This research demonstrates that the community experience of Dual Diagnosis is complex and impactful. Importantly, it appears that there are systemic issues effecting the two communities’ ability to respond to Dual Diagnosis. It is rare for research to present the shared voices of service users, their families and those they seek help from about the impact of a challenging condition like Dual Diagnosis. This collective voice needs acknowledgment as it is grounded in the shared desire to address the needs of those with Dual Diagnosis from a community and local organisational level while signposting both policy and operational changes to drive and facilitate this

EMBEDDING EMPLOYABILITY IN SCIENCE EDUCATION

A new second year employability course offered in blended learning mode at the University of Newcastle was showing promising outcomes in student learning outcomes and perceived student relevance. Highly interactive workshops with embedded feedback from peers and the tutor seemed highly effective. Then COVID-19 happened. The course was transitioned from blended to online learning mode and student attendance in (now online) workshops dropped suddenly and significantly. Might non-attendance compromise students’ learning? In this paper we review multiple lines of evaluation data demonstrating that even after the move online students were well supported by the course materials, produced high quality work, improved their employability and, despite not having highly interactive workshops, recognised the benefits of peer collaboration. We outline the key pedagogy that our research identified as being the driver of these successful outcomes. We also explore how the evaluation data has highlighted further improvements in the course. Lastly, we investigate the importance of well-planned evaluation that can tell the full ‘story’ of teaching and learning outcomes in science degrees

Culture Positivity of CVCs Used for TPN: Investigation of an Association with Catheter-Related Infection and Comparison of Causative Organisms between ICU and Non-ICU CVCs

A relationship between central venous catheter (CVC) tip colonisation and catheter-related blood-stream infection (CRBSI) has been suggested. We examined culture positivity of CVC tips (colonised and infected CVCs) in a total parenteral nutrition (TPN) population. Our aims were to define the relationship between culture positivity and CRBSI, and to compare causative organisms between culture positive and CRBSI CVCS, and between ward and ICU CVCs. All patients receiving TPN via non-tunnelled CVCs during the study (1997-2009) were included. All CVC tips were analysed. Data were collated contemporaneously. A TPN audit committee determined whether CVC tip culture positivity reflected colonisation/CRBSI using CDC criteria. 1,392 patients received TPN via 2,565 CVCs over 15,397 CVC days. 25.4% of CVCs tips were culture positive, of these 32% developed CRBSI. There was a nonsignificant trend of higher Gram negative Bacilli isolation in ICU CVCs ( P = 0 . 1 ) , ward CVCs were associated with higher rates of staphylococcal isolation ( P = 0 . 0 1 ) . A similar pattern of organisms were cultured from CRBSI and culture positive CVCs. The consistent relationship between CRBSI and culture positive CVCs, and similar pattern of causative organisms further supports an aetiological relationship between culture positive CVC tips and CRBSI, supporting the contention that CVC culture-positivity may be a useful surrogate marker for CRBSI rates

Cost efficient narrow linewidth laser transmitter for coherent detection

Authors present a cost efficient narrow linewidth laser transmitter for future coherent detection systems. The spectral purity of the laser allows the phase modulation of data signals at bit rates as low as 155 Mb/s

Fast switching tunable laser sources for wavelength division multiplexing in passive optical access networks

Tunable laser structures with nanosecond switching time between wavelength channels and low-power injection locking are demonstrated on a low-cost platform. These lasers are suitable as source or slave lasers in WDM passive optical access networks

A novel two-section tunable discrete mode Fabry-PÉrot laser exhibiting nanosecond wavelength switching

A novel widely tunable laser diode is proposed and demonstrated. Mode selection occurs by etching perturbing slots into the laser ridge. A two-section device is realized with different slot patterns in each section allowing Vernier tuning. The laser operates at 1.3 mum and achieves a maximum output power of 10 mW. A discontinuous tuning range of 30 nm was achieved with a side mode suppression greater than 30 dB. Wavelength switching times of approximately 1.5 ns between a number of wavelength channels separated by 7 nm have been demonstrated

Discrete mode laser diodes with ultra narrow linewidth emission <3kHz

Ex-facet, free-running ultra-low linewidth (<3 kHz), single mode laser emission is demonstrated using low cost, regrowth-free ridge waveguide discrete mode Fabry-Perot laser diode chips

Assessing distributed leadership for learning and teaching quality: a multi-institutional study

Distributed leadership has been explored internationally as a leadership model that will promote and advance excellence in learning and teaching in higher education. This paper presents an assessment of how effectively distributed leadership was enabled at five Australian institutions implementing a collaborative teaching quality development scheme called the Peer Assisted Teaching Scheme. The Scheme brings together expertise from teams of academics, coordinators, and institutional learning and teaching portfolio holders to the shared goal of enhancing learning and teaching quality. A distributed leadership benchmarking tool was used to assess the Scheme’s effectiveness, and we found that (i) the Scheme is highly consistent with the distributed leadership benchmarks, and that (ii) the benchmarking tool is easily used in assessing the alignment (or otherwise) of teaching and learning quality initiatives with distributed leadership benchmarks. This paper will be of interest to those seeking to assess implementations of distributed leadership to improve teaching quality and leadership capacity

Teaching Science Students How to Think

Scientific thinking is more than just critical thinking. Teaching the full range of ways to think like a scientist who practices high quality science is rare. A new core subject in the Bachelor of Science at the University of Newcastle was developed to allow students to explore six different ways to thinking scientifically through understanding what high-quality science is and contrasting it with poor science and non-science (pseudoscience). Our evaluation indicates that learning about how to think scientifically and be a scientist who practices high quality science is a skill that is valued by and relevant to first year undergraduate students. An evidence-based pedagogy including active learning, participatory learning, student-centred learning, constructive alignment and quality formative and summative feedback to students can support high learning outcomes