ASSESSING THE USE OF LIDAR AND UAV TECHNOLOGY FOR MONITORING GROWING ALFALFA

Alfalfa is a popularly grown crop because of its value as a nutritious feed source for livestock. The efficient production of an alfalfa crop relies on the monitoring of certain parameters, like height, quality, and yield. Traditionally, producers have used manual measurements of alfalfa plant height to estimate the nutritive quality and yield of a growing alfalfa crop. Manual measurements of plant height are often labor intensive and provide low resolution data that is not acceptable for full field scale assessment of growing alfalfa. The two studies presented in this thesis offer detailed insight into the rapid and accurate monitoring of alfalfa with LiDAR and UAV technologies. The first study explores the use of a simple single beam LiDAR sensor to accurately estimate the average canopy height and yield of an alfalfa crop. Predictive models of alfalfa canopy height were developed and evaluated to find the optimal LiDAR derived measurements to use. The resulting measurements were then used to build predictive models of yield, and the best yield model was determined. The best models of canopy height and yield both incorporated the 95th percentile of LiDAR derived canopy height as a single explanatory variable. The second study assesses the field conditions, flight parameters, and general statistical descriptors that should be considered for the stable collection and application of UAV derived canopy height information. Data taken from different alfalfa fields at different flight parameters with different statistical processing were all compared. General canopy height distribution statistics from UAV flights flown at or below 50 m with nadir and oblique camera angles over thick stands of alfalfa were determined to be reliable for the detection and application of the alfalfa canopy surface. Using these determined methods, predictive models of canopy height and yield were generated and compared. The best model of average canopy height used the 50th percentile of UAV derived canopy height from an UAV flight at 30 m in a nadir imaging configuration. The best model of yield used the 95th percentile from an UAV flight at 50 m in an oblique imaging configuration

Integration of information literacy training into engineering and technology education

Information literacy has become an important skill for undergraduate students due to societal changes that have seen information become a valuable commodity, the need for graduates to become lifelong learners, and the recognition that information literacy is an underpinning generic skill for effective learning in higher education. This paper describes a sequence of purposefully designed activities to help students learn and practice information literacy skills that were integrated into a first-year engineering and technology study unit as a core element of the unit syllabus. A formal evaluation of these activities was planned and undertaken in semester 1 2003.<br /

Planning, delivery and evaluation of information literacy training for engineering and technology students

Information literacy has become an important skill for undergraduate students due to societal changes that have seen information become a valuable commodity, the need for graduates to become lifelong learners, and the recognition that information literacy is an underpinning generic skill for effective learning in higher education. This paper describes a sequence of activities and technologies designed to help students learn and practice information literacy skills. These activities have been purposefully designed and integrated into a first-year engineering and technology study unit as a core syllabus element. A formal evaluation of aspects of these activities was planned and undertaken in semester one 2003.<br /

Information literacy for a sustainable career in engineering and technology

Information literacy has become an important skill for undergraduate students due to societal changes that have seen information become a valuable commodity, the need for graduates to become lifelong learners to remain effective across their working lives, and the recognition by many stakeholders that information literacy is an underpinning generic skill for effective learning in higher education. Important elements in the design and delivery of information literacy training include the collaborative process between library and academic staff, the need to link generic information literacy skills into the specific discipline context of the students, and catering for a wide diversity in the student body including off-campus students. This paper describes a sequence of activities designed to help students learn and practice information literacy skills that have been purposefully designed and integrated into a first-year engineering and technology study unit as a core element of the unit syllabus.<br /

A Response to William A. Fischel

This response paper addresses Dr. Fischel\u27s critique of four points about the American Planning Association\u27s (APA) amicus curiae brief: (1) The APA is not concerned about the overall impact of growth management systems that restrict the pace of development and therefore boost the cost of housing on a metropolitan basis; (2) a monetary damages remedy for an interim taking from excessive land use controls is a better solution than the builder\u27s remedy, which is court permission to allow the plaintiff/ developer to construct a housing project in which housing units are set aside for low- and moderate-income persons; (3) mandatory inclusionary zoning allows communities, once they have fulfilled their fairshare objective, to act in an exclusionary manner toward market rate development; and (4) exclusionary zoning is somehow justifiable because everyone does it

Online self and peer assessment in large, multi-campus, multi-cohort contexts

The increasing use of team assignments within higher education is well documented. The driving forces behind this include desires to facilitate reflective and collaborative learning, to develop generic teamwork skills for graduate employment and to reduce the grading workloads of faculty staff. Students however consistently report dissatisfaction when the assessment of team assignments produces a common grade for all team members. Self-andpeer-assessment (SAPA) is presented as a fair, valid and reliable method of producing information about ongoing team processes. This information can provide ongoing feedback to team members and rich formative data to instructors attempting to assess the team process and students&rsquo; teamwork skills. This data can also enable individualised summative assessment in dysfunctional teams or situations of uneven team member contributions. Whilst manual SAPA protocols can work effectively for smaller classes, computer-assisted SAPA offers a solution to the problems of large classes. This paper reports on the early stages of an online SAPA tool, originally developed for small classes of architecture students, adapted for use by very large business communication classes comprising up to 1000 students in a semester. This large unit is delivered on four Australian campuses as well as off-campus and in off-shore mode, by up to fourteen instructors at any one time. The paper documents how three researchers from very different backgrounds worked to create their own research team, implement a pilot study, and adapt the online tool, whilst adhering to comparability of assessment constraints and maintaining integrity of research design.<br /

Online self-and-peer-assessment for teamwork in architecture and business communications

There is considerable evidence of general student scepticism regarding the purpose of team assignments and high levels of concern for the fairness of assessment procedures when all members of a team receive the same grade. Some educators are similarly anxious about not only the validity of team grades, but also the need to assess ongoing team processes in addition to the final assignment product. This paper offers self-andpeer-assessment (SAPA) as a fair, valid and reliable method of producing information about ongoing team processes. The paper examines a pilot study investigating an online SAPA tool originally developed for a small class of architecture students. This tool is adapted for use for by students completing team assignment in two further architecture design units and for a very large class of 800 business communication students. The sample students studied on four campuses, as well as in off campus and offshore modes. The paper focuses on the initial stages of the study to demonstrate how researchers from very different backgrounds collaborated to adapt the online tool and implement a pilot study whilst maintaining both comparability of assessment and integrity of research design.<br /