Maximising the potential of ICT to provide authentic summative assessment opportunities

This paper reports on elements of a study that was conducted in Western Australia to explore the potential of various forms of digitally based external assessments for senior secondary school courses. One problem that needed addressing was how to provide students with authentic assessment opportunities, particularly in subjects in which performance is an integral component. Traditionally, assessment in many of these subjects was by way of a three-hour paper examination. This established a dichotomy for teachers in which the pedagogy of the subject was very different from the method of assessment. In wanting to maximise their student’s potential for success, many teachers taught to the examination, consequently sacrificing a practical performance approach to the subject for a more theoretical form of delivery

Engineering: good for technology education?

Recent curriculum changes in the educational system of Australia have resulted in study options being available in Engineering for senior secondary students to use for university entrance. In other educational systems, Engineering is playing an increasingly important role, either as a stand-alone subject or as part of an integrated approach to Science, Mathematics and Technology. These developments raise questions about the relationship between Engineering and Technology education, some of which are explored in this paper

CoRe: A way to build pedagogical content knowledge for beginning teachers

Research has shown that one of the factors which enables teachers to be effective is their rich pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Beginning teachers need support to develop this PCK and recent research in the field has proposed a conceptual tool known as “content representations”, or CoRes, as a model for doing this. The study reported here brought together science and technology experts in content and pedagogy, early career secondary teachers, and researchers to design a CoRe to assist development of teacher PCK. The study then researched the early career teachers’ use of the CoRe in their planning and delivery of a unit in their classrooms to examine the effect of the CoRe on teaching and learning, and on the development of the teachers’ PCK

Full and reduced coactions of locally compact groups on C*-algebras

We survey the results required to pass between full and reduced coactions of locally compact groups on C*-algebras, which say, roughly speaking, that one can always do so without changing the crossed-product C*-algebra. Wherever possible we use definitions and constructions that are well-documented and accessible to non-experts, and otherwise we provide full details. We then give a series of applications to illustrate the use of these techniques. We obtain in particular a new version of Mansfield's imprimitivity theorem for full coactions, and prove that it gives a natural isomorphism between crossed-product functors defined on appropriate categories

An Empirically Derived Base for the Validation of Standards for Industrial Arts Programs in Seventh-day Adventist Schools in the United States of America

Problem This study identified two problems. The first was that, at the time of writing, there existed no comprehensive data describing the number, nature, and status of SDA industrial arts programs. The second problem was the lack of comprehensive criteria for the evaluation and guidance of SDA industrial arts programs. Method Two separate methodologies were utilized to answer the 31 research questions. One related to the development, administration, and analysis of a survey, and the other to the development and validation of standards for industrial arts. The responses from mailed surveys were computer-analyzed and the resulting data formed the basis of the answers to the research questions. Standards for industrial arts were compiled from computer searches and other sources before being pilot tested and then validated. Results 1. Grade 9 is the focus of the industrial arts program as far as both numbers of students taking industrial arts and the numbers of courses offered is concerned. 2. Most principals perceive industrial arts as a general education course that has a role to play in the instructional program of college-bound students. 3. Both SDA and public-school industrial arts chairmen rate the academic ability of industrial arts students as below that of other students, and public-school chairmen rate the academic ability of their industrial arts students as significantly lower than SDA chairmen rate their industrial arts students. 4. A significantly larger proportion of SDA schools have industrial arts programs than do public schools. 5. SDA industrial arts departments spend more per student on equipment and supplies than do public-school industrial arts departments. Conclusions From the data collected, the following conclusions were made: 1. SDA industrial arts programs are not following the latest curriculum developments in the are of industrial arts and technology education. The trend is toward consolidation while SDA industrial arts offerings are diversifying. 2. There are few significant differences between SDA and public-school industrial arts departments, apart from the most common course in the SDA system being auto mechanics, while that of the public schools is drawing. 3. There is a significant discrepancy between the current and ideal emphasis on the purposes of industrial arts as perceived by chairmen

Journey to America: South Asian Diaspora Migration to the United States (1965–2015)

This chapter examines the immigration of South Asian and Indian populations to the United States between 1820 and 2015. More specifically, this effort scrutinizes legislative changes in immigration policy enabling this group to become the second largest immigrant group after Mexicans in the United States. These changes include the following: the removal of national origin quotas, the introduction of temporary skilled worker programs, and the creation of employment-based permanent visas. Because of these policy changes, by 2015, South Asian immigrants, primarily Indians, had become the top recipients of high-skilled H-1B temporary visas and were the second-largest group of international students in the United States. All told, this study will answer the following questions: What are the origins and demographics of these emigrants who make up the South Asia diaspora? What fields of endeavor are they drawn to by their prior education and skill sets? To what geographic locations have they migrated? And how successful are they in assimilating into their new surroundings

Corporations - Officers and Directors - Indemnification of Expenses Incurred in Defense of Contract of Employment

Plaintiff, Sorenson, contracted with defendant, Overland Corporation, to become one of its directors, and the contract was approved by Overland\u27s stockholders. After he began to serve as a director, Sorenson was made a party defendant to a stockholder\u27s derivative suit attacking the propriety of his contract of employment with Overland. The derivative suit terminated in favor of Sorenson and he then brought an action for reimbursement of the counsel fees incurred by him in defending the stockholder\u27s action. Plaintiff\u27s action was under a corporate by-law providing that the corporation shall indemnify directors and officers against expenses incurred by them in successfully defending any action in which they are involved by reason of being or having been a director or officer of that corporation. On appeal from summary judgment for defendant, held, affirmed. The stockholder\u27s suit was based on a matter which arose before plaintiff became a director and was not by reason of his being or having been a director. The contract was made by plaintiff in his individual capacity, not as a director, and did not come within the protection of the by-law. Sorenson v. Overland Corp., (3d Cir. 1957) 242 F. (2d) 70