Learning Experiences in Programming: The Motivating Effect of a Physical Interface

A study of undergraduate students learning to program compared the use of a physical interface with use of a screen-based equivalent interface to obtain insights into what made for an engaging learning experience. Emotions characterized by the HUMAINE scheme were analysed, identifying the links between the emotions experienced during programming and their origin. By capturing the emotional experiences of learners immediately after a programming experience, evidence was collected of the very positive emotions experienced by learners developing a program using a physical interface (Arduino) in comparison with a similar program developed using a screen-based equivalent interface

CEPLER National Essay Competition Winning Entry: In an age of austerity, access to justice is a luxury

The winning submission in the inaugural CEPLER Essay Competition 2014. In a very competitive field, Chris Richards, of City University, produced a beautifully written and reasoned response to a provocative statement

Translations: encounters with popular film and academic discourse

This article examines the relationship between informal knowledge of popular film and its study in higher education. Through interviews, it explores the significance people give to their encounters with films and with critical discourses upon them. The interviewees' class and gender positions variously constrain or motivate their educational aspirations and thus complicate the hope that film and media studies can successfully address 'non-traditional' students. How students watch films and how their knowledge of them is negotiated within families, among friends and at work should be a more central concern. In higher education, students may be more effectively supported and encouraged where some effort is made to engage with the cultures of reception in which they are located. To enable students to 'translate' between common sense and academic modes of discourse on film requires explicit reflection on the differences between fans and casual viewers on the one hand, and academically motivated viewers on the other

Matrix Elements From Moments of Correlation Functions

Momentum-space derivatives of matrix elements can be related to their coordinate-space moments through the Fourier transform. We derive these expressions as a function of momentum transfer Q^2 for asymptotic in/out states consisting of a single hadron. We calculate corrections to the finite volume moments by studying the spatial dependence of the lattice correlation functions. This method permits the computation of not only the values of matrix elements at momenta accessible on the lattice, but also the momentum-space derivatives, providing a priori information about the Q^2 dependence of form factors. As a specific application we use the method, at a single lattice spacing and with unphysically heavy quarks, to directly obtain the slope of the isovector form factor at various Q^2, whence the isovector charge radius. The method has potential application in the calculation of any hadronic matrix element with momentum transfer, including those relevant to hadronic weak decays

New South Wales Vegetation classification and Assessment: Part 3, plant communities of the NSW Brigalow Belt South, Nandewar and west New England Bioregions and update of NSW Western Plains and South-western Slopes plant communities, Version 3 of the NSWVCA database

This fourth paper in the NSW Vegetation Classification and Assessment series covers the Brigalow Belt South-/1(BBS) and Nandewar (NAN) Bioregions and the western half of the New England Bioregion (NET), an area of 9.3 million hectares being 11.6% of NSW. It completes the NSWVCA coverage for the Border Rivers-Gwydir and Namoi CMA areas and records plant communities in the Central West and Hunter–Central Rivers CMA areas. In total, 585 plant communities are now classified in the NSWVCA covering 11.5 of the 18 Bioregions in NSW (78% of the State). Of these 226 communities are in the NSW Western Plains and 416 are in the NSW Western Slopes. 315 plant communities are classified in the BBS, NAN and west-NET Bioregions including 267 new descriptions since Version 2 was published in 2008. Descriptions of the 315 communities are provided in a 919 page report on the DVD accompanying this paper along with updated reports on other inland NSW bioregions and nine Catchment Management Authority areas fully or partly classified in the NSWVCA to date. A read-only version of Version 3 of the NSWVCA database is on the DVD for use on personal computers. A feature of the BBS and NAN Bioregions is the array of ironbark and bloodwood Eucalyptusdominated shrubby woodlands on sandstone and acid volcanic substrates extending from Dubbo to Queensland. This includes iconic natural areas such as Warrumbungle and Mount Kaputar National Parks and the 500,000 ha Pilliga Scrub forests. Large expanses of basalt-derived soils support grassy box woodland and native grasslands including those on the Liverpool Plains; near Moree; and around Inverell, most of which are cleared and threatened. Wetlands occur on sodic soils near Yetman and in large clay gilgais in the Pilliga region. Sedgelands are rare but occupy impeded creeks. Aeolian lunettes occur at Narran Lake and near Gilgandra. Areas of deep sand contain Allocasuarina, eucalypt mallee and Melaleuca uncinata heath. Tall grassy or ferny open forests occur on mountain ranges above 1000m elevation in the New England Bioregion and on the Liverpool Range while grassy box woodlands occupy lower elevations with lower rainfall and higher temperatures. The vegetation classification and assessment is based on over 100 published and unpublished vegetation surveys and map unit descriptions, expert advice, extra plot sampling and data analysis and over 25 000 km of road traverse with field checking at 805 sites. Key sources of data included floristic analyses produced in western regional forest assessments in the BBS and NAN Bioregions, floristic analyses in over 60 surveys of conservation reserves and analysis of plot data in the western NET Bioregion and covering parts of the Namoi and Border Rivers- Gwydir CMA areas. Approximately 60% of the woody native vegetation in the study area has been cleared resulting in large areas of “derived” native grasslands. As of June 2010, 7% of the area was in 136 protected areas and 127 of the 315 plant communities were assessed to be adequately protected in reserves. Using the NSWVCA database threat criteria, 15 plant communities were assessed as being Critically Endangered, 59 Endangered, 60 Vulnerable, 99 Near Threatened and 82 Least Concern. 61 of these communities are assessed as part of NSW or Commonwealth-listed Threatened Ecological Communities. Current threats include expanding dryland and irrigated cropping on alluvial plains, floodplains and gently undulating topography at lower elevations; over-grazing of steep hills; altered water tables and flooding regimes; localized mining; and the spread of exotic species, notably Coolatai Grass (Hyparrhenia hirta)

Adapting to Challenging Leadership in Academia: A Mindfulness Approach

Participants will describe and evaluate effective and supportive leadership (e.g., servant and mindfulness leadership) vs. ineffective and abusive leadership styles and identify positive adaptations and survival techniques promoting higher quality employment and greater contentment. Throughout the presentation, mindfulness principles and techniques will be incorporated and practiced

Service user perspectives of an early intervention in psychosis service: a service evaluation

This evaluation aimed to gather the perspectives of individuals accessing an early intervention in psychosis service (EIPS), in order to inform service development.Individual interviews (n=9) and one focus group (n=7) were conducted. Discussions focused on open questions pertaining to Service Users’ (SUs) experiences of accessing the EIPS. The results were analysed using inductive thematic analysis.Inductive thematic analysis was used and three main themes were generated; Consistency and Communication, facilitating therapeutic relationships between EIP service staff and SU’s. Pushing Boundaries, relating to the importance of services taking a graded approach to developing therapeutic relationships and (re)engaging in activities; and Normalising and Validating experiences of psychosis. Participants emphasised the importance of relationships with EIP service staff and fellow SUs and highlighted how SUs can feel fearful and vulnerable when staff are not accessible or they view their care as inconsistent. Participants further emphasised the need for practitioners to balance an approach that de-stigmatises psychotic experiences whilst validating distress.Consistency of support from EIP services can be as important as flexibility. Clinicians should carefully consider the balance between validating and normalising distressing experiences associated with Psychosis. Offering social activities with other SUs can facilitate therapeutic relationships and recovery but the results suggest that this should be facilitated in a graded way