Engaging students with learning technologies

Curtin University initiated its eScholar program in 2009 making funds available for academic staff to implement innovative teaching using Curtin’s extensive suite of learning technologies. The program is based on the philosophy of engaging students with learning technologies that support their growing understanding through authentic and assessable activities.This publication presents the research findings of each of the eScholar projects conducted in 2010 and 2011. Each chapter has undergone a process of double-blind review resulting in high quality descriptions of learning using current and emerging technologies. The publication is divided into 6 sections based on these technologies.University teaching and learning is faced with many challenges. A major one is recognising appropriate learning technologies and their use that support ways in which adults learn. Rapid advances in technologies can easily seduce those with limited understanding of adult learning. This publication offers clear directions founded on teacher and learner experiences grounded in real classroom activity

Premature ovarian failure and ovarian autoimmunity

Premature ovarian failure (POF) is defined as a syndrome characterized by menopause before the age of 40 yr. The patients suffer from anovulation and hypoestrogenism. Approximately 1% of women will experience menopause before the age of 40 yr. POF is a heterogeneous disorder with a multicausal pathogenesis involving chromosomal, genetic, enzymatic, infectious, and iatrogenic causes. There remains, however, a group of POF patients without a known etiology, the so-called "idiopathic" form. An autoimmune etiology is hypothesized for the POF cases with a concomitant Addison's disease and/or oophoritis. It is concluded in this review that POF in association with adrenal autoimmunity and/or Addison's disease (2-10% of the idiopathic POF patients) is indeed an autoimmune disease. The following evidence warrants this view: 1) The presence of autoantibodies to steroid-producing cells in these patients; 2) The characterization of shared autoantigens between adrenal and ovarian steroid-producing cells; 3) The histological picture of the ovaries of such cases (lymphoplasmacellular infiltrate around steroid-producing cells); 4) The existence of various autoimmune animal models for this syndrome, which underlines the autoimmune nature of the disease. There is some circumstantial evidence for an autoimmune pathogenesis in idiopathic POF patients in the absence of adrenal autoimmunity or Addison's disease. Arguments in support of this are: 1) The presence of cellular immune abnormalities in this POF patient group reminiscent of endocrine autoimmune diseases such as IDDM, Graves' disease, and Addison's disease; 2) The more than normal association with IDDM and myasthenia gravis. Data on the presence of various ovarian autoantibodies and anti-receptor antibodies in these patients are, however, inconclusive and need further evaluation. A strong argument against an autoimmune pathogenesis of POF in these patients is the nearly absent histological confirmation (the presence of an oophoritis) in these cases (< 3%). However, in animal models using ZP immunization, similar follicular depletion and fibrosis (as in the POF women) can be detected. Accepting the concept that POF is a heterogenous disorder in which some of the idiopathic forms are based on an abnormal self-recognition by th

Professional development for university teachers: Adaptive positioning and multifaceted foci

Globalisation in higher education has cast academic development as one of the drivers of education transformation. Existing theoretical frameworks are employed together with experiential and reflective knowledge to analyse a case study contextually. The findings demonstrate how academic development is embodied organisationally and how its remit has expanded, identifying emergent developmental challenges. The work concludes that adaptive organisational positioning and expanded design foci have evolved to support multifarious professional learning needs in a dynamic higher education setting. Arguing that these conditions are occurring globally, it is suggested that greater flexibility, situatedness and self-directedness are necessary to assure responsive and sustainable practice into the future

An elearning ecosystem perspective on sustainability: Emergent practices

Contemporary elearning systems at many universities are rapidly evolving in time, scale, design, and functioning, creating new challenges as they strive to achieve efficiencies and become more effective within traditional organisational hierarchies. Against this background previous studies have pointed to concerns around sustainability issues encompassing resource management, infrastructure, costs, efficiency gains, business models, workloads, and educational benefits, amongst others. Whilst these studies individually provide baseline knowledge to conceptualize sustainability in elearning, an overarching framework to guide transition to sustainability is lacking. This research employed an ecological lens to theoretically analyse the complexity that characterises elearning systems and to map how the system can become more sustainable. A conceptual analysis methodology was employed to construct a theoretical framework which was then adopted within a School using a consensus building strategy. The research concluded that as a socio-technical system dramatic shifts in activity patterns were unevenly absorbed at multiple levels of the organisation. Also, rapid growth and continuous change in elearning were inherently supported by capacities that characterise complex systems, rendering information flows and agility across a vast network of system agents with varying degrees of efficiency. Finally, transition of the elearning system to a position of sustainability was supported by the use of consensus-building strategies. Given these emergent results observed in the first year of implementation it is likely that the theoretical framework could have wider application potentially

DSS Applications as a Business Enhancement Strategy

As assistive tools that are applied in varied circumstances such as forecasting situations, managing problems, analysing data or information, Decision Support Systems (DSS) support and improve decision making within business environments. The applications and benefits of DSS have expanded with the integration of web-based technologies, making it a valuable business enhancement tool. To demonstrate this, this paper reviews five expanded DSS case studies to explore its capacity to achieve business enhancement in widely varying contexts. The findings are synthesised to produce a framework that outlines the key business enhancement capabilities of Web-based DSS