Description:
The University of Ballarat organizes international excursion for its undergraduate geology students to provide them an opportunity to learn and gain international experiences of geology. The university previously organized an excursion of New Zealand in November-December 2006 to provide students knowledge about plate boundary and gold mineralization. The excursion was sponsored by Oxiana Limited, the Bicentennial Gold 88 Endowment, Newmont Australia Limited, and Castlemaine Goldfields Ltd. The excursion was planned for 17 days and visit to the Taupo Volcanic Zone, Kaikoura, The Waipara, Mt Cook and the Tasman Glacier, Macraes gold mine, Otago's silcretes, Queenstowm, and Milford Sound. More information about 2006-excursion can be found on the website at http://www.ausimm.com.au/main/education/award-bice-gold-php.
Description:
Tom Hodgson was resident Choreographer in the production of 'Billy Elliot the Musical', Capitol Theatre, Sydney, Australia and Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, Australia, November 2007 - June 2009; LG Arts Centre, Seoul, Korea, August 2010 - March 2011; and Imperial Theatre, New York, USA, November 2009 - March 2010. 'Billy Elliot Australia' was the first attempt at a remount of the show since it's opening in the UK. Due to the show's specific geographic and cultural themes, it needed to be adjusted to suit an Australian audience. Research contribution: 18 months of research and preparation to format and cast the show prior to the start of rehearsals. Development of individual training regimes for the children and adult performers. Extensive workshops and rehearsals prior and during rehearsals to create new choreography and develop existing material. Creation of the first 'show Bible' documenting the staging and choreography of the entire show. This led to the creation of a new Australian show and the creation of a template for all further productions. The significance of the research is the creation of a first class, multi award winning Australian production. Its value is attested by the following indicators: critical and box office success in Australia; the creation of a template, both artistic and financial. for all further productions; the showcasing of Australian talent leading to high demand overseas for numerous performers from the show; and the use of the show bibles for mounting all further productions of the show. 'Billy Elliot Korea' was the first and to date only foreign language version of the show. The show is very geographic and culturally specific and had already been altered to suit differences in language and culture between the British, Australian and American versions. Research contribution: 18 months of research and preparation to format the show for a Korean audiance before rehearsals. Research into the Korean dance scene, its forms, training, history, culture and structure. Understanding the hierarchy and rehearsal practice of Korean performers. Researching of Korean Labor laws and the creation of working schedules to enable the extensive rehearsal timetable to be created. Preparation of new show Bibles for the Korean production. Developing efficient techniques for demonstrating and explaining choreography through an interpreter. This had led to preparation of templates for future foreign language versions of the show. The significance of the research is that it overcomes the cultural barriers and challenges faced when mounting a large-scale production in a foreign language for the first time. Research for 'Billy Elliot New York' is related to investigating and improving training schedules, fitness programs and rehearsal practice of the Broadway production. Research contribution: Investigating and understanding the existing methods, training hours, diet, rehabilitation, and Labor laws of the American production. Researching a safer, more efficient timetable and work load for the cast and in particular the children. Working with a nutritionist to design a diet meeting the nutritional needs of the lead boys playing Billy. The significance of this research is that it led to a more efficient, healthier cast and crew working on the Broadway production. The creation of a new timetable to facilitate adequate resting periods for the children. A new diet for the boys playing Billy to cover their high nutritional requirements.
Description:
Tom Hodgson was resident Choreographer in the production of 'Billy Elliot the Musical', Capitol Theatre, Sydney, Australia and Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, Australia, November 2007 - June 2009; LG Arts Centre, Seoul, Korea, August 2010 - March 2011; and Imperial Theatre, New York, USA, November 2009 - March 2010. 'Billy Elliot Australia' was the first attempt at a remount of the show since it's opening in the UK. Due to the show's specific geographic and cultural themes, it needed to be adjusted to suit an Australian audience. Research contribution: 18 months of research and preparation to format and cast the show prior to the start of rehearsals. Development of individual training regimes for the children and adult performers. Extensive workshops and rehearsals prior and during rehearsals to create new choreography and develop existing material. Creation of the first 'show Bible' documenting the staging and choreography of the entire show. This led to the creation of a new Australian show and the creation of a template for all further productions. The significance of the research is the creation of a first class, multi award winning Australian production. Its value is attested by the following indicators: critical and box office success in Australia; the creation of a template, both artistic and financial. for all further productions; the showcasing of Australian talent leading to high demand overseas for numerous performers from the show; and the use of the show bibles for mounting all further productions of the show. 'Billy Elliot Korea' was the first and to date only foreign language version of the show. The show is very geographic and culturally specific and had already been altered to suit differences in language and culture between the British, Australian and American versions. Research contribution: 18 months of research and preparation to format the show for a Korean audiance before rehearsals. Research into the Korean dance scene, its forms, training, history, culture and structure. Understanding the hierarchy and rehearsal practice of Korean performers. Researching of Korean Labor laws and the creation of working schedules to enable the extensive rehearsal timetable to be created. Preparation of new show Bibles for the Korean production. Developing efficient techniques for demonstrating and explaining choreography through an interpreter. This had led to preparation of templates for future foreign language versions of the show. The significance of the research is that it overcomes the cultural barriers and challenges faced when mounting a large-scale production in a foreign language for the first time. Research for 'Billy Elliot New York' is related to investigating and improving training schedules, fitness programs and rehearsal practice of the Broadway production. Research contribution: Investigating and understanding the existing methods, training hours, diet, rehabilitation, and Labor laws of the American production. Researching a safer, more efficient timetable and work load for the cast and in particular the children. Working with a nutritionist to design a diet meeting the nutritional needs of the lead boys playing Billy. The significance of this research is that it led to a more efficient, healthier cast and crew working on the Broadway production. The creation of a new timetable to facilitate adequate resting periods for the children. A new diet for the boys playing Billy to cover their high nutritional requirements.
Description:
David Wynen performed in 'Billy Elliot The Musical', Captial Theatre Sydney, Australia, November 2007 - November 2008. The research component of this work involved collaborating with the artisitc team in my role as a performer. The musical of Billy Elliot was reinterpreted for the Australia stage as a development phase before reaching New York. Three completely new dance arrangement were researched, workshopped and explored during the process. This work also involved a process of taking the film and expanding it into a live medium. A process involving much reflection and many reincarnations. My work as a performer underwent the ultimate of peer review including high profile reviews and my casting and selection by an international panel of selectors.
Description:
David Wynen performed in 'Billy Elliot The Musical', Captial Theatre Sydney, Australia, November 2007 - November 2008. The research component of this work involved collaborating with the artisitc team in my role as a performer. The musical of Billy Elliot was reinterpreted for the Australia stage as a development phase before reaching New York. Three completely new dance arrangement were researched, workshopped and explored during the process. This work also involved a process of taking the film and expanding it into a live medium. A process involving much reflection and many reincarnations. My work as a performer underwent the ultimate of peer review including high profile reviews and my casting and selection by an international panel of selectors.
Description:
For some time I have been using fiction as a research technology for exploring issues to do with the historical production of gender, and the complex relationship between bodies and culture; most recently in a novel-in-progress called A Short (Personal) History of the Bra and its Contents and with a protagonist who had her formative adolescent years in Australia in the 1970s. In this artcle I would like to explore some of the methdological challenges of writing postmodern history (history in the 'era of the aporia'), the philosophy of history that underpins my use of fiction - or what might be called 'Ficto-history' - and some of the reasons for my stylistic choices, in particular the use of montage. Within this, I would like to take a look at what might be distinctive about 'Tail End Boomers' or 'Baby Busters' (the original 'Generation X') as the first group to be babysat by television; and why the erasure of this distinctive, and the dominance of the Baby Boomer mythology, matters in our readings of the 1970s as a historical period.
Description:
During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Australian women (and Melbournian women in particular) were chastised for extravagance in dress. Excessive expenditure on fashionable clothing was considered a threat to personal solvency and domestic tranquillity. Female profligacy was also deemed self indulgent and unpatriotic in periods of economic and military crisis. Drawing on Zelizer's [Zelizer VA. The social meaning of money. New York: Basic Books; 1994] study of The social meaning of money the paper examines how the state attempted to contain female extravagance in dress by re-orientating spending priorities in household budgets. The earmarking ideology of patriotic thrift was conveyed by apparatuses such as cultural and communications media, the political system and voluntary associations. The earmarking ideology represented an onslaught on fashionable dress, a means of asserting feminine identity in a patriarchal society. The study reveals budgetary earmarking as a social process, which is reflective and constitutive of gendered asymmetries of power in the home.
Description:
Purpose: To determine the effects of prolonged simulated tennis on performance and the ergogenic potential of caffeine, carbohydrates, and cooling. Methods: Twelve highly trained male tennis players (age 18.3 ± 3.0 y, height 178.8 ± 8.5 cm, body mass 73.95 ± 12.30 kg, mean ± SD) performed 4 simulated matches (2 h 40 min) against a ball machine on an indoor hard court. The counterbalanced experimental trials involved caffeine supplementation (3 mg/kg), carbohydrate supplementation (6% solution), precooling and intermittent cooling, and placebo control. Physiological markers (core temperature, heart rate, blood lactate, and blood glucose), subjective responses (ratings of perceived exertion and thermal sensation), stroke velocity and accuracy, serve kinematics, and tennis-specific perceptual skill quantified the efficacy of interventions. Results: Significant effects of time (P < .01) reflected increased physiological demand, reduced serve velocity and ground-stroke velocity and accuracy, and a slowing of the serve racket-arm acceleration phase. Caffeine increased serve velocity (165 ± 15 km/h) in the final set of the match (P = .014) compared with placebo (159 ± 15 km/h, P = .008) and carbohydrate (158 ± 13 km/h, P = .001) conditions. Carbohydrate and cooling conditions afforded physiological advantage (increased blood glucose, P < .01, and reduced preexercise thermal sensation, P < .01) but did not affect performance relative to the placebo condition. Conclusions: Prolonged simulated tennis induced significant decrements in tennis skills. Caffeine supplementation partly attenuated the effects of fatigue and increased serve velocity. In contrast, carbohydrate and cooling strategies had little ergogenic effect on tennis performance.
Description:
Purpose: To determine the effects of prolonged simulated tennis on performance and the ergogenic potential of caffeine, carbohydrates, and cooling. Methods: Twelve highly trained male tennis players (age 18.3 ± 3.0 y, height 178.8 ± 8.5 cm, body mass 73.95 ± 12.30 kg, mean ± SD) performed 4 simulated matches (2 h 40 min) against a ball machine on an indoor hard court. The counterbalanced experimental trials involved caffeine supplementation (3 mg/kg), carbohydrate supplementation (6% solution), precooling and intermittent cooling, and placebo control. Physiological markers (core temperature, heart rate, blood lactate, and blood glucose), subjective responses (ratings of perceived exertion and thermal sensation), stroke velocity and accuracy, serve kinematics, and tennis-specific perceptual skill quantified the efficacy of interventions. Results: Significant effects of time (P < .01) reflected increased physiological demand, reduced serve velocity and ground-stroke velocity and accuracy, and a slowing of the serve racket-arm acceleration phase. Caffeine increased serve velocity (165 ± 15 km/h) in the final set of the match (P = .014) compared with placebo (159 ± 15 km/h, P = .008) and carbohydrate (158 ± 13 km/h, P = .001) conditions. Carbohydrate and cooling conditions afforded physiological advantage (increased blood glucose, P < .01, and reduced preexercise thermal sensation, P < .01) but did not affect performance relative to the placebo condition. Conclusions: Prolonged simulated tennis induced significant decrements in tennis skills. Caffeine supplementation partly attenuated the effects of fatigue and increased serve velocity. In contrast, carbohydrate and cooling strategies had little ergogenic effect on tennis performance.
Description:
Teachers' informed acceptance of challenges associated with teaching technology might ensure the successful implementation of a Technology syllabus in primary schools. They must be prepared to analyse their own understandings of technology concepts and processes, teaching and resource needs, and engage in professional development activities designed to meet their needs. This paper investigates the introduction of a new Technology syllabus into a school and draws on a number of data sources, for example, surveys, interviews with individual teachers, classroom observations, and field notes. It was evident that very specific personal and classroom related issues (e.g., content and pedagogy), and broader issues related to the school and wider communities (e.g., resources and networking), impacted on teachers' acceptance of the syllabus. Based on these findings, the influence of 20 years of technology education and associated research on the essentials of classroom syllabus implementation by teachers is evaluated. Ways of making this store of knowledge and expertise more meaningful and accessible for teachers are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Technology & Design Education is the property of Springer Science & Business Media B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Description:
Teachers' informed acceptance of challenges associated with teaching technology might ensure the successful implementation of a Technology syllabus in primary schools. They must be prepared to analyse their own understandings of technology concepts and processes, teaching and resource needs, and engage in professional development activities designed to meet their needs. This paper investigates the introduction of a new Technology syllabus into a school and draws on a number of data sources, for example, surveys, interviews with individual teachers, classroom observations, and field notes. It was evident that very specific personal and classroom related issues (e.g., content and pedagogy), and broader issues related to the school and wider communities (e.g., resources and networking), impacted on teachers' acceptance of the syllabus. Based on these findings, the influence of 20 years of technology education and associated research on the essentials of classroom syllabus implementation by teachers is evaluated. Ways of making this store of knowledge and expertise more meaningful and accessible for teachers are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Technology & Design Education is the property of Springer Science & Business Media B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Description:
Aim: This article will report on one aspect of a larger study that explored the working lives of nursing unit managers in Australia. The support of nursing unit managers is the focus of this article. Background: There is evidence in the recent literature that nurses are not generally supportive of each other and that nursing unit managers are not adequately supported to manage their expanding administrative and managerial responsibilities. Method: A qualitative feminist approach was used to conduct individual interviews with 20 nursing unit managers employed in the public healthcare system in Australia. Results: The results indicated that participants did not feel supported by the wider organization, but gained support from within their own ranks. Conclusions: The results showed a strong support system within the participant group, despite evidence in the literature that nurses, generally, are not supportive of each other. The results of this study may be used in the development of more effective support mechanisms for nurse managers.
Description:
Principal Topic: This paper is part of a broader study of CEO performance and turnover in China. CEO turnover is usually represented as being determined by firm performance and corporate governance. In addition recent research identifies that CEO’s are recruited to bring a specific skill set to a business, but as the industry context changes, the relevance and hence tenure of these CEOs is reduced Henderson, Miller and Hambrick, 2006). One group of CEOs are those recruited on the basis of their entrepreneurial track record. This research analyses how the interaction between performance and corporate governance characteristics affects the tenure of this group. Methodology/Key Propositions: The research approach is through the development and testing of a model based on the earlier work of Miller (1999), and enhanced by categorization of industry and CEO specific factors. Secondary data is extracted from the National Bureau of Statistics, China, and industry publications that provide commentary on the track record of mobile CEOs. The main proposition is that CEOs with a history of entrepreneurial behaviour, will maintain tenure if their performance continues to reflect the entrepreneurial dimensions that led to their appointment. This relationship will be moderated by measures of corporate governance used in previous work (Pi Lili, Lowe, Zhao, 2005) Results and Implications: The research confirms the impact of governance, industry type and performance on CEO tenure. However it also identifies ’entrepreneurial’ CEOs as an important sub-group for whom the performance criteria appear to be stricter and specifically related to performance factors reflecting their recruitment as entrepreneurs
Description:
Discusses community discourses that pose tensions for educators and community groups wanting to involve children as authentic community decision makers.
Description:
Discusses community discourses that pose tensions for educators and community groups wanting to involve children as authentic community decision makers.
Description:
For some children with impairments, playing on a playground with other children, is seldom or never experienced. Accessible playgrounds have features which can give children with disabilities the opportunity to gain access to play so that they can be included in play with other children, including peers who do not have impairments. In this paper, qualitative data drawn from the views and perceptions of children is explored. Interpretation through reflection on this data attempts to make sense of the lived experience of participants in school and community playgrounds as they try to engage with supposedly accessible play equipment that can facilitate participation, yet also create unintentional barriers to play. The social model of disability, which suggests that disability is created by an unequal social relationship, together with the 'new' sociology of childhood is adopted as a way of viewing the relationship between children, disability and the playground environment. An argument is advanced for broader implications that affect children who use school and community playgrounds which need to be considered to enhance inclusion of children with disabilities in play.
Description:
For some children with impairments, playing on a playground with other children, is seldom or never experienced. Accessible playgrounds have features which can give children with disabilities the opportunity to gain access to play so that they can be included in play with other children, including peers who do not have impairments. In this paper, qualitative data drawn from the views and perceptions of children is explored. Interpretation through reflection on this data attempts to make sense of the lived experience of participants in school and community playgrounds as they try to engage with supposedly accessible play equipment that can facilitate participation, yet also create unintentional barriers to play. The social model of disability, which suggests that disability is created by an unequal social relationship, together with the 'new' sociology of childhood is adopted as a way of viewing the relationship between children, disability and the playground environment. An argument is advanced for broader implications that affect children who use school and community playgrounds which need to be considered to enhance inclusion of children with disabilities in play.
Description:
As a result of social, political and economic problems in their homeland during the mid-nineteenth century, many Chinese people decided to try their luck on the Victorian goldfields. Here they practised many types of musical activity, including Chinese opera, songs, instrumental music, and music for ceremonial and religious occasions. Chinese musicians also participated in concerts and celebrations before the wider community. This article explores these different types of Chinese music, and looks at the role of music in the lives of the Chinese people who, because of the widespread discrimination they faced, were forced to live and work in an environment of prejudice and hostility.
Description:
This research presents a classifier that aims to provide insight into a dataset in addition to achieving classification accuracies comparable to other algorithms. The classifier called, Automated Weighted Sum (AWSum) uses a weighted sum approach where feature values are assigned weights that are summed and compared to a threshold in order to classify an example. Though naive, this approach is scalable, achieves accurate classifications on standard datasets and also provides a degree of insight. By insight we mean that the technique provides an appreciation of the influence a feature value has on class values, relative to each other. AWSum provides a focus on the feature value space that allows the technique to identify feature values and combinations of feature values that are sensitive and important for a classification. This is particularly useful in fields such as medicine where this sort of micro-focus and understanding is critical in classification.
Description:
This research presents a classifier that aims to provide insight into a dataset in addition to achieving classification accuracies comparable to other algorithms. The classifier called, Automated Weighted Sum (AWSum) uses a weighted sum approach where feature values are assigned weights that are summed and compared to a threshold in order to classify an example. Though naive, this approach is scalable, achieves accurate classifications on standard datasets and also provides a degree of insight. By insight we mean that the technique provides an appreciation of the influence a feature value has on class values, relative to each other. AWSum provides a focus on the feature value space that allows the technique to identify feature values and combinations of feature values that are sensitive and important for a classification. This is particularly useful in fields such as medicine where this sort of micro-focus and understanding is critical in classification.
Description:
Background There is increasing evidence that schools internationally are not meeting the needs of increasing numbers of young people, especially those at the secondary level, and whose backgrounds have placed them at disadvantage. The evidence is that significant numbers of young people are becoming disconnected from school. While the official term for this is 'disengagement', it seems that official educational policy responses to these tendencies, far from 'fixing' the problem, seem to be exacerbating it. Current policy preoccupations that emphasize accountability, greater parental choice of schools and a more prescriptive curriculum can present difficulties for young people, particularly those from challenging backgrounds. There may be a mismatch between formal educational policy, and the lived experiences at the level of the school and classroom for the most vulnerable young people. Purpose This paper reports on a single instance of a high school that embarked upon a process of reinventing itself in respect of the importance of relationships and 'relational power' for students over their learning. The paper examines what the teachers and students had to say about the efficacy of this school-based reform. Sample The case-study school was located in an area of extreme social disadvantage in which young people had diminished educational expectations. The research involved observations and interviews with a small sample of stakeholders and focus groups with students (13-16-year-olds). Design and method The study was an ethnographic case study of a single secondary school conducted over a five-week continuous period. It used 'embedded interviews' involving observation of in-class teaching prior to extensive 1-hour interviews with teachers and students' focus groups. All interviews were recorded. Detailed field notes were kept of classroom observations and other activities, including school assemblies, staff meetings and reflections on informal conversations held during teaching breaks in the staffroom. Results and conclusions Positive outcomes emerged from a context where fair boundaries were established and in which students could see school as a place where they could experience fun in their learning. The process was by no means complete, but the school felt that it had found a more efficacious way to move forward and the students made this clear in their statements about what the school was attempting to do with them. Key to these positive outcomes was a commitment to placing relationships between students, teachers and parents at the centre of everything the school did.
Description:
Safe design is a strong theme at present in Australia. To ‘eliminate hazards at the design stage’ is one of the five national priorities set out by the National OHS Strategy. The Australian Safety and Compensation Council have recently released both a guideline for safe design and an engineering education package. Safe design is not only about engineering decisions. Engineers are however an important group. This paper reports on a survey to evaluate perceptions of student engineers on topics relevant to the advancement of safe design including perceptions of: control versus fatalism; accident causation; and perceptions of the role played by engineers.
Description:
Safe design is a strong theme at present in Australia. To ‘eliminate hazards at the design stage’ is one of the five national priorities set out by the National OHS Strategy. The Australian Safety and Compensation Council have recently released both a guideline for safe design and an engineering education package. Safe design is not only about engineering decisions. Engineers are however an important group. This paper reports on a survey to evaluate perceptions of student engineers on topics relevant to the advancement of safe design including perceptions of: control versus fatalism; accident causation; and perceptions of the role played by engineers.