Supporting Primary and Secondary Beginning Teachers Online: Key findings of the Education Alumni Support Project

During 2005, the Education Alumni Support Project (EdASP) (Maxwell, Smith, Baxter, Boyd, Harrington, Jenkins, Sargeant & Tamatea 2006) provided online support for University of New England (UNE) graduand, and later, graduate, teachers as they commenced their careers. The project was based on research which reported that many beginning teachers did not get the support they needed as permanent or contract workers, or, as casual, relief or support teachers, and that small scale trials had shown that online support could be effective. One third of beginning teachers who were alumni of UNE in 2004, reported they did not receive adequate or any mentoring. UNE web-based technologies provided the teachers and mentors with online environments for professional and social interaction, and resource sharing. We found that support was especially sought by the project participants in their first school term, and there were differences in the levels of online support sought by secondary and primary beginning teachers. The project raises implications for on-going systemic support for beginning teachers, the issue of transition from students to teachers, as well as questions about teacher education students’ preparation. This paper provides the key findings of the project. Detailed description of the project structure, data collection and data analysis are available in Maxwell et al. (2006)

A Comparative Analysis of Airline Pilots’ Approaches to Learning

This paper reports a study investigating approaches to learning (deep, surface, achieving) by airline pilots. Three hundred and forty-six respondents from five international airlines and an institute completed the Pilot Learning Process Questionnaire (PLPQ). The results showed a general tendency for surface scores to be substantially lower than deep and achieving scores, with greatest variability among the carriers on the achieving scale. The European carrier was implicated in all post hoc analyses conducted and one Pacific Rim carrier\u27s profile showed significant differences from other airlines. The results are discussed in terms of cultural, training/rewards, and tenure factors. Implications for pilot training and selection are noted

Enzyme Treatments to Enhance Oil Recovery

During ethanol production in a dry-grind plant, the whole kernel is ground and corn oil can be extracted as a co-product

A New Test of a Theory about Old Mosquitoes

In vector control, it is widely accepted that killing adult mosquitoes would sharply reduce the proportion of old mosquitoes and cause the greatest changes to malaria transmission. The principle is based on a mathematical model of the sporozoite rate (the proportion of infective mosquitoes) that emphasized changes in mosquito age. Killing adult mosquitoes also reduces mosquito population densities, which are directly proportional to human biting rates (the number of bites, per person, per day). Eect sizes of vector control can be compared using sporozoite rates and human biting rates, which are commonly measured. We argue that human biting rates convey more use- ful information for planning, monitoring and evaluating vector control, and operational research should focus on understanding mosquito ecology

An invisibility cloak using silver nanowires

In this paper, we use the parameter retrieval method together with an analytical effective medium approach to design a well-performed invisible cloak, which is based on an empirical revised version of the reduced cloak. The designed cloak can be implemented by silver nanowires with elliptical cross-sections embedded in a polymethyl methacrylate host. This cloak is numerically proved to be robust for both the inner hidden object as well as incoming detecting waves, and is much simpler thus easier to manufacture when compared with the earlier proposed one [Nat. Photon. 1, 224 (2007)].Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 2 table

The Barriers and Facilitators of Institutionalisation of Inclusive Education Policy and Practice in Papua New Guinea Education System

The study examined, analysed and determined the barriers and facilitators of institutionalisation of Inclusive Education policy and its practice in the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Education system. The focus was on 'Special Education Resources Centres', 'Mainstream Schools'; and the education authorities at the local/district level, the Provincial (state) level and the National (federal) level. The federal government through the National Department of Education initiated a National Special Education Plan and Policy Guidelines in 1993. The national plan had strategic plans for the implementation and institutionalisation of Inclusive Education policy and its practice in the mainstream school system. The approach in educating children with disabilities was based on the philosophy of integration and now shifted to inclusion where all children including disabled children are prepared by Special Education Resource Centres, placed in schools and then assisted by the school-teachers, and both professionals and paraprofessionals from the Special Education Resource Centres (SERCs). This was a new philosophy that the United Nations Geneva and Salamanca (1994) conventions declared and mandated as a universal right to address inequality and allow equal participation of every person to be included in the provision of education service in all member countries

Algorithm Selection Framework for Cyber Attack Detection

The number of cyber threats against both wired and wireless computer systems and other components of the Internet of Things continues to increase annually. In this work, an algorithm selection framework is employed on the NSL-KDD data set and a novel paradigm of machine learning taxonomy is presented. The framework uses a combination of user input and meta-features to select the best algorithm to detect cyber attacks on a network. Performance is compared between a rule-of-thumb strategy and a meta-learning strategy. The framework removes the conjecture of the common trial-and-error algorithm selection method. The framework recommends five algorithms from the taxonomy. Both strategies recommend a high-performing algorithm, though not the best performing. The work demonstrates the close connectedness between algorithm selection and the taxonomy for which it is premised.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, accepted to WiseML '2

Electron energy loss and induced photon emission in photonic crystals

The interaction of a fast electron with a photonic crystal is investigated by solving the Maxwell equations exactly for the external field provided by the electron in the presence of the crystal. The energy loss is obtained from the retarding force exerted on the electron by the induced electric field. The features of the energy loss spectra are shown to be related to the photonic band structure of the crystal. Two different regimes are discussed: for small lattice constants $a$ relative to the wavelength of the associated electron excitations $\lambda$, an effective medium theory can be used to describe the material; however, for $a\sim\lambda$ the photonic band structure plays an important role. Special attention is paid to the frequency gap regions in the latter case.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Using the entomological inoculation rate to assess the impact of vector control on malaria parasite transmission and elimination

Prior studies have shown that annual entomological inoculation rates (EIRs) must be reduced to less than one to substantially reduce the prevalence of malaria infection. In this study, EIR values were used to quantify the impact of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs), indoor residual spraying (IRS), and source reduction (SR) on malaria transmission. The analysis of EIR was extended through determining whether available vector control tools can ultimately eradicate malaria. The analysis is based primarily on a review of all controlled studies that used ITN, IRS, and/or SR and reported their effects on the EIR. To compare EIRs between studies, the percent difference in EIR between the intervention and control groups was calculated. Eight vector control intervention studies that measured EIR were found: four ITN studies, one IRS study, one SR study, and two studies with separate ITN and IRS intervention groups. In both the Tanzania study and the Solomon Islands study, one community received ITNs and one received IRS. In the second year of the Tanzania study, EIR was 90% lower in the ITN community and 93% lower in the IRS community, relative to the community without intervention; the ITN and IRS effects were not significantly different. In contrast, in the Solomon Islands study, EIR was 94% lower in the ITN community and 56% lower in the IRS community. The one SR study, in Dar es Salaam, reported a lower EIR reduction (47%) than the ITN and IRS studies. All of these vector control interventions reduced EIR, but none reduced it to zero. These studies indicate that current vector control methods alone cannot ultimately eradicate malaria because no intervention sustained an annual EIR less than one. While researchers develop new tools, integrated vector management may make the greatest impact on malaria transmission. There are many gaps in the entomological malaria literature and recommendations for future research are provided