Learning strategies

105 p.Libro ElectrónicoChanging technology, changing business models, changing workforce demographics and the rise of online, on-demand knowledge are challenging corporations’ approaches to workplace learning and training. Learning Strategies is a non-commercial, vendor-neutral collection of case studies from senior learning executives in global corporations and government agencies.Table of Contents Learning Strategies Elliott Masie 4 What Makes a Successful Learning Strategy? Nigel Paine, MASIE Learning Fellow 5 CIA’s Learning Strategy: Focusing Out on the Organization We Serve Bob Baker, Central Intelligence Agency 20 The Strategy of Managing Change Lisa Pedrogo, CNN 29 Building the Case for a Learning Strategy Ruben Bonales, Waste Management, Inc 42 Learning Strategy at Shell: 2 Parts, 3 Pathways & 3 Horizons Willem Manders, Shell 48 Putting the Strategy Back into a Learning Strategy Keith Dunbar, Defense Intelligence Agency 60 Making a Strategic Learning Portfolio the Heart of any Learning Strategy Terry M Farmer and Evan Ishida, Eaton Corporation 68 Setting Learning Strategy: Technology is Key When You Use it Well Mike Cuffe, Farmers Insurance Group 83 The Dynamic Strategy Relies on Insight -­‐ Not Planning Peter Hallard, Lloyds Banking Group 91 On Learning Strategies An Interview with Elliott Masi

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Judith Jeffcoate, Multimedia in Practice ‐Technology and Applications, BCS Practitioner Series, Prentice‐Hall International, 1995. ISBN: 0–13–123324–6. £24.95

Siteworks: ecologies and technologies

SITEWORKS is an interdisciplinary research and practice project that invites artists, scientists and scholars to respond to the Bundanon property through the lens of their specific discipline. Over four years this has led to a series of interactive projects, many utilising electronic technologies. The inaugural investigations focussed on the geomorphology of the site and palaeoenvironmental research, specifically in the area of sea level rise and climate change. In subsequent years the focus has been on water and the river; land management; Indigenous cultural heritage, and food security

Siteworks: ecologies and technologies

SITEWORKS is an interdisciplinary research and practice project that invites artists, scientists and scholars to respond to the Bundanon property through the lens of their specific discipline. Over four years this has led to a series of interactive projects, many utilising electronic technologies. The inaugural investigations focussed on the geomorphology of the site and palaeoenvironmental research, specifically in the area of sea level rise and climate change. In subsequent years the focus has been on water and the river; land management; Indigenous cultural heritage, and food security

Seminars may increase recruitment to randomised controlled trials: lessons learned from WISDOM

Background: Recruiting patients to large randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in the primary care setting can be challenging. Research teams need to identify and utilise strategies that both maximise the efficiency of recruitment and minimise the burden on general practitioners. Purpose: To describe our methods for identifying, approaching and recruiting female patients aged 50–69 years to a long-term double-blind RCT of hormone therapy (HT) – the Women's International Study of long Duration Oestrogen after Menopause (WISDOM). The effectiveness of conducting group seminars with patients prior to one-to-one screening is discussed. Methods: Female patients aged between 50 and 69 years were sent letters from participating general practitioners in Adelaide inviting them to participate in WISDOM and attend an initial seminar providing information about HT and the trial prior to a screening interview with a trial nurse. Recruitment rates for those who did or did not attend group seminars were compared. Results: Women who attended a group seminar conducted by the research team were twice as likely to attend an initial screening visit and enrol to participate in WISDOM than women who did not attend a seminar (p < 0.001). In addition, it was estimated that the time required to randomise a woman in the trial, and the number and duration of telephone calls to screen out uninterested women, was reduced for the seminar group. Conclusion: Conducting group seminars with potential participants may be a useful strategy for maximising recruitment from general practice, by increasing patient information and reducing a research team's workload.Bronwen J. Paine, Nigel P. Stocks and Alastair H. MacLenna

Tree recruitment in an empty forest

To assess how the decimation of large vertebrates by hunting alters recruitment processes in a tropical forest, we compared the sapling cohorts of two structurally and compositionally similar forests in the Rio Manu floodplain in southeastern Peru. Large vertebrates were severely depleted at one site, Boca Manu (BM), whereas the other, Cocha Cashu Biological Station (CC), supported an intact fauna. At both sites we sampled small (1 m tall, ,1 cm dbh) and large (1 cm and ,10 cm dbh) saplings in the central portion of 4-ha plots within which all trees 10 cm dbh were mapped and identified. This design ensured that all conspecific adults within at least 50 m (BM) or 55 m (CC) of any sapling would have known locations. We used the Janzen-Connell model to make five predictions about the sapling cohorts at BM with respect to CC: (1) reduced overall sapling recruitment, (2) increased recruitment of species dispersed by abiotic means, (3) altered relative abundances of species, (4) prominence of large-seeded species among those showing depressed recruitment, and (5) little or no tendency for saplings to cluster closer to adults at BM. Our results affirmed each of these predictions. Interpreted at face value, the evidence suggests that few species are demographically stable at BM and that up to 28% are increasing and 72% decreasing. Loss of dispersal function allows species dispersed abiotically and by small birds and mammals to substitute for those dispersed by large birds and mammals. Although we regard these conclusions as preliminary, over the long run, the observed type of directional change in tree composition is likely to result in biodiversity loss and negative feedbacks on both the animal and plant communities. Our results suggest that the best, and perhaps only, way to prevent compositional change and probable loss of diversity in tropical tree communities is to prohibit hunting

A history of high-power laser research and development in the United Kingdom

The first demonstration of laser action in ruby was made in 1960 by T. H. Maiman of Hughes Research Laboratories, USA. Many laboratories worldwide began the search for lasers using different materials, operating at different wavelengths. In the UK, academia, industry and the central laboratories took up the challenge from the earliest days to develop these systems for a broad range of applications. This historical review looks at the contribution the UK has made to the advancement of the technology, the development of systems and components and their exploitation over the last 60 years

Ageing in general practice (AGP) trial: a cluster randomised trial to examine the effectiveness of peer education on GP diagnostic assessment and management of dementia

Extent: 9p.Background: Dementia is increasing in prevalence as the population ages. An earlier rather than later diagnosis allows persons with dementia and their families to plan ahead and access appropriate management. However, most diagnoses are made by general practitioners (GPs) later in the course of the disease and are associated with management that is poorly adherent to recommended guidelines. This trial examines the effectiveness of a peer led dementia educational intervention for GPs. Methods: The study is a cluster randomised trial, conducted across three states and five sites. All GPs will complete an audit of their consenting patients aged 75 years or more at three time points - baseline, 12 and 24 months. GPs allocated to the intervention group will receive two educational sessions from a peer GP or nurse, and will administer the GPCOG to consenting patients at baseline and 12 months. The first education session will provide information about dementia and the second will provide individualised feedback on audit results. GPs in the waitlist group will receive the RACGP Guidelines by post following the 12 month audit Outcomes: Primary outcomes are carer and consumer quality of life and depression. Secondary outcomes include: rates of GP identification of dementia compared to a more detailed gold standard assessment conducted in the patient’s home; GP identification of differential diagnoses including reversible causes of cognitive impairment; and GP referral to specialists, Alzheimers’ Australia and support services. A “case finding” and a “screening” group will be compared and the psychometrics of the GPCOG will be examined. Sample size: Approximately 2,000 subjects aged 75 years and over will be recruited through approximately 160 GPs, to yield approximately 200 subjects with dementia (reducing to 168 by 24 months). Discussion: The trial outlined in this paper has been peer reviewed and supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. At the time of submission of this paper 2,034 subjects have been recruited and the intervention delivered to 114 GPs.Constance D Pond, Henry Brodaty, Nigel P Stocks, Jane Gunn, John Marley, Peter Disler, Parker Magin, Nerida Paterson, Graeme Horton, Susan Goode, Bronwen Paine and Karen E Mat