An efficient framework for mining outlying aspects
- Authors: Samariya, Durgesh
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: In the era of big data, an immense volume of information is being continuously generated. It is common to encounter errors or anomalies within datasets. These anomalies can arise due to system malfunctions or human errors, resulting in data points that deviate from expected patterns or values. Anomaly detection algorithms have been developed to identify such anomalies effectively from the data. However, these algorithms often fall short in providing insights into why a particular data point is considered as an anomaly. They cannot explain the specific feature subset(s) in which a,data point significantly differs from the majority of the data. To address this limitation, researchers have recently turned their attention,to a new research area called outlying aspect mining. This area focuses on discovering feature subset(s), known as aspects or subspaces, in which anomalous data points exhibit significant deviations from the remaining set of data. Outlying aspect mining algorithms aim to provide a more detailed,understanding of the characteristics that make a data point anomalous. Although outlying aspect mining is an emerging area of research only a few studies have been published so far. One of the key challenges in this field is scaling up these algorithms to handle large datasets, characterised by,either a large data size or high dimensionality. Many existing outlying aspect mining algorithms are not well-suited for such datasets, as they exhaustively enumerate all possible subspaces and utilise density or distance-based anomaly scores to rank subspaces. As a result, most of these algorithms struggle to handle datasets with dimensions exceeding 20. Addressing the scalability issue and developing efficient algorithms for outlying aspect mining in large datasets remain active area of research. The ability to identify and understand the specific feature subsets contributing to anomalies in big data holds great potential for various applications, including fraud detection, network intrusion detection, and anomaly-based decision support systems. Existing outlying aspect mining methods are suffering from three main problems. Firstly, these measures often rely on distance or density-based calculations, which can be biased toward high-dimensional spaces. As the dimensionality of the subspace increases, the density tends to decrease, making it difficult to assess the outlyingness of data points within specific subspaces accurately. Secondly, distances or density-based measures are computationally expensive, especially when dealing with large-scale datasets that contain millions of data points. As distance and density-based measures require computing pairwise distance, it makes them computationally expensive. In addition to that, existing work uses Z-Score normalisation to make density-based scoring measure dimensionally unbias. However, it adds additional computational overload on already computationally expensive measures. Lastly, existing outlying aspect mining uses brute-force methods to search subspaces. Thus, it is essential to tackle this efficiency issue because when the dimensionality of the data is high – candidate subspace grows exponentially, which is beyond computational resources. This research project aims to solve this challenge by developing efficient and effective methods for mining outlying aspects in high-dimensional and large datasets. I have explored and designed different scoring measures to find the outlyingness of a given data point in each subspace. The effectiveness and efficiency of these proposed measures have been verified with extensive experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets. To overcome the first problem, this thesis first identifies and analyses the condition under which Z-Score based normalisation scoring measure fails to find the most outlying aspects and proposes two different approaches called HMass and sGrid++, both measures are dimensionally unbiased in their raw form, which means they do not require any additional normalisation. sGrid++ is a simpler version of sGrid that is not only efficient and effective but also dimensionality unbiased. It does not require Z-score normalisation. HMass is a simple but effective and efficient histogram-based solution to rank outlying aspects of a given query in each subspace. In addition to detecting anomalies, HMass provides explanations on why the points are anomalous. Both sGrid++ and HMass do not require pair-wise calculation like distance or density-based measures; therefore, sGrid++ and HMass are computationally faster than distance and density-based measures, which solves the second issue of existing work. The effectiveness and efficiency of both sGrid++ and HMass are evaluated using synthetic and real-world datasets. In addition to that, I presented an exciting application of outlying aspect mining in the cybersecurity domain. To tackle the third problem, this thesis proposes an efficient and effective outlying aspect mining framework named OIMiner (for Outlying - Inlying Aspect Miner). It introduces a new scoring measure to compute outlying degree, called Simple Isolation score using Nearest Neighbor Ensemble (SiNNE), which not only detects the outliers but also provides an explanation on why the selected point is an outlier. SiNNE is a dimensionally unbias measure in its raw form, which means the scores produced by SiNNE are compared directly with subspaces having different dimensions. Thus, it does not require any normalisation to make the score unbiased. Our experimental results on synthetic and publicly available real-world datasets revealed that (i) SiNNE produces better or at least the same results as existing scores. (ii) It improves the run time of the existing outlying aspect mining algorithm based on beam search by at least two orders of magnitude. SiNNE allows the existing outlying aspect mining algorithm to run in datasets with hundreds of thousands of instances and thousands of dimensions, which was not possible before.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Samariya, Durgesh
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: In the era of big data, an immense volume of information is being continuously generated. It is common to encounter errors or anomalies within datasets. These anomalies can arise due to system malfunctions or human errors, resulting in data points that deviate from expected patterns or values. Anomaly detection algorithms have been developed to identify such anomalies effectively from the data. However, these algorithms often fall short in providing insights into why a particular data point is considered as an anomaly. They cannot explain the specific feature subset(s) in which a,data point significantly differs from the majority of the data. To address this limitation, researchers have recently turned their attention,to a new research area called outlying aspect mining. This area focuses on discovering feature subset(s), known as aspects or subspaces, in which anomalous data points exhibit significant deviations from the remaining set of data. Outlying aspect mining algorithms aim to provide a more detailed,understanding of the characteristics that make a data point anomalous. Although outlying aspect mining is an emerging area of research only a few studies have been published so far. One of the key challenges in this field is scaling up these algorithms to handle large datasets, characterised by,either a large data size or high dimensionality. Many existing outlying aspect mining algorithms are not well-suited for such datasets, as they exhaustively enumerate all possible subspaces and utilise density or distance-based anomaly scores to rank subspaces. As a result, most of these algorithms struggle to handle datasets with dimensions exceeding 20. Addressing the scalability issue and developing efficient algorithms for outlying aspect mining in large datasets remain active area of research. The ability to identify and understand the specific feature subsets contributing to anomalies in big data holds great potential for various applications, including fraud detection, network intrusion detection, and anomaly-based decision support systems. Existing outlying aspect mining methods are suffering from three main problems. Firstly, these measures often rely on distance or density-based calculations, which can be biased toward high-dimensional spaces. As the dimensionality of the subspace increases, the density tends to decrease, making it difficult to assess the outlyingness of data points within specific subspaces accurately. Secondly, distances or density-based measures are computationally expensive, especially when dealing with large-scale datasets that contain millions of data points. As distance and density-based measures require computing pairwise distance, it makes them computationally expensive. In addition to that, existing work uses Z-Score normalisation to make density-based scoring measure dimensionally unbias. However, it adds additional computational overload on already computationally expensive measures. Lastly, existing outlying aspect mining uses brute-force methods to search subspaces. Thus, it is essential to tackle this efficiency issue because when the dimensionality of the data is high – candidate subspace grows exponentially, which is beyond computational resources. This research project aims to solve this challenge by developing efficient and effective methods for mining outlying aspects in high-dimensional and large datasets. I have explored and designed different scoring measures to find the outlyingness of a given data point in each subspace. The effectiveness and efficiency of these proposed measures have been verified with extensive experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets. To overcome the first problem, this thesis first identifies and analyses the condition under which Z-Score based normalisation scoring measure fails to find the most outlying aspects and proposes two different approaches called HMass and sGrid++, both measures are dimensionally unbiased in their raw form, which means they do not require any additional normalisation. sGrid++ is a simpler version of sGrid that is not only efficient and effective but also dimensionality unbiased. It does not require Z-score normalisation. HMass is a simple but effective and efficient histogram-based solution to rank outlying aspects of a given query in each subspace. In addition to detecting anomalies, HMass provides explanations on why the points are anomalous. Both sGrid++ and HMass do not require pair-wise calculation like distance or density-based measures; therefore, sGrid++ and HMass are computationally faster than distance and density-based measures, which solves the second issue of existing work. The effectiveness and efficiency of both sGrid++ and HMass are evaluated using synthetic and real-world datasets. In addition to that, I presented an exciting application of outlying aspect mining in the cybersecurity domain. To tackle the third problem, this thesis proposes an efficient and effective outlying aspect mining framework named OIMiner (for Outlying - Inlying Aspect Miner). It introduces a new scoring measure to compute outlying degree, called Simple Isolation score using Nearest Neighbor Ensemble (SiNNE), which not only detects the outliers but also provides an explanation on why the selected point is an outlier. SiNNE is a dimensionally unbias measure in its raw form, which means the scores produced by SiNNE are compared directly with subspaces having different dimensions. Thus, it does not require any normalisation to make the score unbiased. Our experimental results on synthetic and publicly available real-world datasets revealed that (i) SiNNE produces better or at least the same results as existing scores. (ii) It improves the run time of the existing outlying aspect mining algorithm based on beam search by at least two orders of magnitude. SiNNE allows the existing outlying aspect mining algorithm to run in datasets with hundreds of thousands of instances and thousands of dimensions, which was not possible before.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Incidence and aetiological factors in the development of medial tibial stress syndrome
- Authors: Diacogiorgis, Dimitri
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The aim of this 13 week prospective study was to investigate whether differences in hip, knee, ankle, subtalar, or first metatarsophalangeal joint (MPJ) range of motion and physical activity levels increase a person's likelihood of developing medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS)." --p.2.
- Description: Master of Applied Science
- Authors: Diacogiorgis, Dimitri
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The aim of this 13 week prospective study was to investigate whether differences in hip, knee, ankle, subtalar, or first metatarsophalangeal joint (MPJ) range of motion and physical activity levels increase a person's likelihood of developing medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS)." --p.2.
- Description: Master of Applied Science
A financial stress index to model and forecast financial stress in Australia
- Authors: Mukulu, Sandra
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The series of financial crises that cascaded through and rocked much of the world over the past decade created opportunities to draw meaning from the pattern of countries succumbing to crisis and those who appear to be wholly or partially immune. This thesis examines the case of Australia, a developed country that has seldom experienced an endogenous crisis in the last few decades, but has experienced crisis by contagion. This study designs a financial stress index to measure and forecast the health of the Australian economy and proposes a custom-made stress index to: Gauge the potential for a crisis; and Signal when a timely intervention may minimise fear and contagion losses in the Australian financial market. Financial and economic data is used to design indicators for stress in the banking sector and equity, currency and bond markets. Further, this study explores how movements in equity markets of key trading partners of Australia can be used to predict movements in the Australian equity market. The variance-equal weights (VEW) and principal components approach (PCA) are used to subsume 22 stress indicators into a composite stress index. The VEW and PCA stress indexes were examined to determine monitoring and their forecasting capabilities. It was found that the VEW stress index performed better than the PCA stress index, because it provided more consistent estimates for the level of Australian financial stress. Although, both models show some promise, each model fell short of giving adequate forecasts in financial stress especially at the peak time of the 2007-2009 GFC. Thus, more research is needed to understand the complex nature of financial crisis, how crises develop and the techniques that can be used to predict the onset of financial crises.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Mukulu, Sandra
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The series of financial crises that cascaded through and rocked much of the world over the past decade created opportunities to draw meaning from the pattern of countries succumbing to crisis and those who appear to be wholly or partially immune. This thesis examines the case of Australia, a developed country that has seldom experienced an endogenous crisis in the last few decades, but has experienced crisis by contagion. This study designs a financial stress index to measure and forecast the health of the Australian economy and proposes a custom-made stress index to: Gauge the potential for a crisis; and Signal when a timely intervention may minimise fear and contagion losses in the Australian financial market. Financial and economic data is used to design indicators for stress in the banking sector and equity, currency and bond markets. Further, this study explores how movements in equity markets of key trading partners of Australia can be used to predict movements in the Australian equity market. The variance-equal weights (VEW) and principal components approach (PCA) are used to subsume 22 stress indicators into a composite stress index. The VEW and PCA stress indexes were examined to determine monitoring and their forecasting capabilities. It was found that the VEW stress index performed better than the PCA stress index, because it provided more consistent estimates for the level of Australian financial stress. Although, both models show some promise, each model fell short of giving adequate forecasts in financial stress especially at the peak time of the 2007-2009 GFC. Thus, more research is needed to understand the complex nature of financial crisis, how crises develop and the techniques that can be used to predict the onset of financial crises.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Neural malware detection
- Authors: Park, Sean
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: At the heart of today’s malware problem lies theoretically infinite diversity created by metamorphism. The majority of conventional machine learning techniques tackle the problem with the assumptions that a sufficiently large number of training samples exist and that the training set is independent and identically distributed. However, the lack of semantic features combined with the models under these wrong assumptions result largely in overfitting with many false positives against real world samples, resulting in systems being left vulnerable to various adversarial attacks. A key observation is that modern malware authors write a script that automatically generates an arbitrarily large number of diverse samples that share similar characteristics in program logic, which is a very cost-effective way to evade detection with minimum effort. Given that many malware campaigns follow this paradigm of economic malware manufacturing model, the samples within a campaign are likely to share coherent semantic characteristics. This opens up a possibility of one-to-many detection. Therefore, it is crucial to capture this non-linear metamorphic pattern unique to the campaign in order to detect these seemingly diverse but identically rooted variants. To address these issues, this dissertation proposes novel deep learning models, including generative static malware outbreak detection model, generative dynamic malware detection model using spatio-temporal isomorphic dynamic features, and instruction cognitive malware detection. A comparative study on metamorphic threats is also conducted as part of the thesis. Generative adversarial autoencoder (AAE) over convolutional network with global average pooling is introduced as a fundamental deep learning framework for malware detection, which captures highly complex non-linear metamorphism through translation invariancy and local variation insensitivity. Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) used as a part of the framework enables oneshot training where semantically isomorphic malware campaigns are identified by a single malware instance sampled from the very initial outbreak. This is a major innovation because, to the best of our knowledge, no approach has been found to this challenging training objective against the malware distribution that consists of a large number of very sparse groups artificially driven by arms race between attackers and defenders. In addition, we propose a novel method that extracts instruction cognitive representation from uninterpreted raw binary executables, which can be used for oneto- many malware detection via one-shot training against frequency spectrum of the Transformer’s encoded latent representation. The method works regardless of the presence of diverse malware variations while remaining resilient to adversarial attacks that mostly use random perturbation against raw binaries. Comprehensive performance analyses including mathematical formulations and experimental evaluations are provided, with the proposed deep learning framework for malware detection exhibiting a superior performance over conventional machine learning methods. The methods proposed in this thesis are applicable to a variety of threat environments here artificially formed sparse distributions arise at the cyber battle fronts.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Park, Sean
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: At the heart of today’s malware problem lies theoretically infinite diversity created by metamorphism. The majority of conventional machine learning techniques tackle the problem with the assumptions that a sufficiently large number of training samples exist and that the training set is independent and identically distributed. However, the lack of semantic features combined with the models under these wrong assumptions result largely in overfitting with many false positives against real world samples, resulting in systems being left vulnerable to various adversarial attacks. A key observation is that modern malware authors write a script that automatically generates an arbitrarily large number of diverse samples that share similar characteristics in program logic, which is a very cost-effective way to evade detection with minimum effort. Given that many malware campaigns follow this paradigm of economic malware manufacturing model, the samples within a campaign are likely to share coherent semantic characteristics. This opens up a possibility of one-to-many detection. Therefore, it is crucial to capture this non-linear metamorphic pattern unique to the campaign in order to detect these seemingly diverse but identically rooted variants. To address these issues, this dissertation proposes novel deep learning models, including generative static malware outbreak detection model, generative dynamic malware detection model using spatio-temporal isomorphic dynamic features, and instruction cognitive malware detection. A comparative study on metamorphic threats is also conducted as part of the thesis. Generative adversarial autoencoder (AAE) over convolutional network with global average pooling is introduced as a fundamental deep learning framework for malware detection, which captures highly complex non-linear metamorphism through translation invariancy and local variation insensitivity. Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) used as a part of the framework enables oneshot training where semantically isomorphic malware campaigns are identified by a single malware instance sampled from the very initial outbreak. This is a major innovation because, to the best of our knowledge, no approach has been found to this challenging training objective against the malware distribution that consists of a large number of very sparse groups artificially driven by arms race between attackers and defenders. In addition, we propose a novel method that extracts instruction cognitive representation from uninterpreted raw binary executables, which can be used for oneto- many malware detection via one-shot training against frequency spectrum of the Transformer’s encoded latent representation. The method works regardless of the presence of diverse malware variations while remaining resilient to adversarial attacks that mostly use random perturbation against raw binaries. Comprehensive performance analyses including mathematical formulations and experimental evaluations are provided, with the proposed deep learning framework for malware detection exhibiting a superior performance over conventional machine learning methods. The methods proposed in this thesis are applicable to a variety of threat environments here artificially formed sparse distributions arise at the cyber battle fronts.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Green IT: Sustainability by aligning business requirements with IT resource utilization
- Authors: Subburaj, Srikanth
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The term “green IT” is defined as “Optimal use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for managing the environment sustainability of enterprise operations throughout their life cycles.” Its objective is to create a positive impact on environment through net lowered emissions. The heart of green IT (Information Technology) is the concept of “Environmental Sustainability,” its initiatives are multifaceted to support enterprises “business as usual model,” in low-carbon economy. Many green IT initiatives have provided short–term financial benefits, based on which organizations are now focusing on increased energy efficiency. Since many of these approaches provide less financials benefits’ which are harder to implement but provides improved environmental performance. So the financial benefits and environmental performance should be the multiple objectives in the green IT study.
- Description: Master of Computing (by Research)
- Authors: Subburaj, Srikanth
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The term “green IT” is defined as “Optimal use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for managing the environment sustainability of enterprise operations throughout their life cycles.” Its objective is to create a positive impact on environment through net lowered emissions. The heart of green IT (Information Technology) is the concept of “Environmental Sustainability,” its initiatives are multifaceted to support enterprises “business as usual model,” in low-carbon economy. Many green IT initiatives have provided short–term financial benefits, based on which organizations are now focusing on increased energy efficiency. Since many of these approaches provide less financials benefits’ which are harder to implement but provides improved environmental performance. So the financial benefits and environmental performance should be the multiple objectives in the green IT study.
- Description: Master of Computing (by Research)
Injury epidemiology among Australian female cricketers
- Authors: Perera, Nirmala
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Cricket is a male-dominated sport; however, its popularity among females is increasing. Like other sports, participation in cricket poses the risk of injury to players. Injury problems for female cricketers are virtually unknown, as studies examining cricket injuries include almost exclusively male participants. In other sports, the types of injuries experienced by men and women are known to be different. Therefore, a clear understanding of the extent and types of injuries sustained by female cricket players is required, to underpin appropriately targeted injury prevention strategies. This thesis provides the first detailed epidemiological profile of cricket injuries sustained by women, by: 1. conducting a systematic review describing injuries in competitive team bat or stick sports in women, to enable cricket injuries to be viewed within the perspective of wider, but relevant, injury data, 2. evaluating existing data sources relating to hospital admissions from Victoria and Queensland and successful insurance claims across Australia, 3. examining the nature and incidence of cricket injuries in elite female players using Cricket Australia’s Athlete Management System, and 4. conducting a nationwide self-report survey of injuries during the 2014–15 season. This PhD research represents participants from different levels of play, across age groups and across Australia. The findings indicate that incidence of injuries for female cricketers were higher than expected based on previous findings in comparable sports, except when considered in relation to insurance claims. The cricket injury rate across hospital presentations, insurance claims, the AMS (Fair Play AMS 2016) and self-reported survey data, each of which represents different level of the sports injury pyramid, identified all-rounders and pace bowlers as having a higher incidence of injury than players in other positions. The highest frequency of reported injuries were in the head, hands, knees and ankles. The nature of the most common injuries were dislocations/sprains/strains, fractures, muscle injury, joint injury and gradual onset injuries. At the elite-level, lumber spine stress fractures accounted for a significant amount of time-loss from the sport. In this thesis, findings from the insurance claims, self-reported survey and AMS (Fair Play AMS 2016) data indicated that most injuries were of a low severity and were more likely to be treated outside of healthcare facilities such as hospitals. In summary, patterns of the most common injuries, in terms of anatomical location and nature of the injuries, were consistent throughout community-level players with some similarities to elite-level players. However, the injury mechanisms and risk factors may differ depending on the level of competition and player’s skill. Recommendations are that ongoing injury surveillance should be conducted at all levels of the sport, and surveillance methodology should be tailored to the specific setting, personnel and available resources. Therefore, before implementing an injury surveillance system at the community-level of the sport, more research is needed to fully understand what type of injury surveillance system might be feasible and suitable in this context.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Perera, Nirmala
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Cricket is a male-dominated sport; however, its popularity among females is increasing. Like other sports, participation in cricket poses the risk of injury to players. Injury problems for female cricketers are virtually unknown, as studies examining cricket injuries include almost exclusively male participants. In other sports, the types of injuries experienced by men and women are known to be different. Therefore, a clear understanding of the extent and types of injuries sustained by female cricket players is required, to underpin appropriately targeted injury prevention strategies. This thesis provides the first detailed epidemiological profile of cricket injuries sustained by women, by: 1. conducting a systematic review describing injuries in competitive team bat or stick sports in women, to enable cricket injuries to be viewed within the perspective of wider, but relevant, injury data, 2. evaluating existing data sources relating to hospital admissions from Victoria and Queensland and successful insurance claims across Australia, 3. examining the nature and incidence of cricket injuries in elite female players using Cricket Australia’s Athlete Management System, and 4. conducting a nationwide self-report survey of injuries during the 2014–15 season. This PhD research represents participants from different levels of play, across age groups and across Australia. The findings indicate that incidence of injuries for female cricketers were higher than expected based on previous findings in comparable sports, except when considered in relation to insurance claims. The cricket injury rate across hospital presentations, insurance claims, the AMS (Fair Play AMS 2016) and self-reported survey data, each of which represents different level of the sports injury pyramid, identified all-rounders and pace bowlers as having a higher incidence of injury than players in other positions. The highest frequency of reported injuries were in the head, hands, knees and ankles. The nature of the most common injuries were dislocations/sprains/strains, fractures, muscle injury, joint injury and gradual onset injuries. At the elite-level, lumber spine stress fractures accounted for a significant amount of time-loss from the sport. In this thesis, findings from the insurance claims, self-reported survey and AMS (Fair Play AMS 2016) data indicated that most injuries were of a low severity and were more likely to be treated outside of healthcare facilities such as hospitals. In summary, patterns of the most common injuries, in terms of anatomical location and nature of the injuries, were consistent throughout community-level players with some similarities to elite-level players. However, the injury mechanisms and risk factors may differ depending on the level of competition and player’s skill. Recommendations are that ongoing injury surveillance should be conducted at all levels of the sport, and surveillance methodology should be tailored to the specific setting, personnel and available resources. Therefore, before implementing an injury surveillance system at the community-level of the sport, more research is needed to fully understand what type of injury surveillance system might be feasible and suitable in this context.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Curry, Christina
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: With the movement to evolving classroom practices and pedagogies to enhance student-centered learning environments across all Key Learning Areas, there has been growing concern about how educators can produce high quality, intellectual learning experiences within physical education. To provide much-needed understanding of teachers' experiences of the implementation of a TGfU (Teaching Games for Understanding) teaching approach, this study aimed to identify the ways in which individual teachers, adopt, embrace or alternatively resist TGfU as an innovative pedagogy. - Taken from abstract.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Walking the trade route to a dead end? Exploring journey stories of early completers of Victorian School Vocational Programs
- Authors: Grinham, Fiona
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: In Victoria, there are some school students who, having completed Year 11, as Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) Intermediate students, leave school. They do not go on to complete Year 12 [or equivalent] either in other institutions or as part of an apprenticeship or traineeship. This group of students is quite a substantial proportion of the total VCAL student cohort, and their numbers are increasing every year. This behaviour is juxtaposed with government policy that is emphasizing youth participation in schools or vocational alternatives. The Compact with Young Australians (COAG, 2009) set a new target of 90% attainment of Year 12 or equivalent by 2015 and expects an additional 92,527 young people across Australia (23,500 in Victoria) to remain in school. A survey of the literature indicates that there is a significant gap in our knowledge of what behavioural intentions drive vocational students to leave school early. By using in-depth conversations with selected students, this study seeks to determine the factors that students see act as drivers in their decision to get to this level, and then to leave school. This study provides, in the words of the students, some of the reasons for their choice for their non-continuance of the secondary school programs that are available to them. This will enable education policy makers to understand these students’ perspectives and to examine the VCAL programs in a new light. As educators, they can then respond to the challenge to develop and sustain vocational programs and retention strategies that will engage young people and assist them to build work-ready skills.
- Description: Master of Business (Research)
- Authors: Grinham, Fiona
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: In Victoria, there are some school students who, having completed Year 11, as Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) Intermediate students, leave school. They do not go on to complete Year 12 [or equivalent] either in other institutions or as part of an apprenticeship or traineeship. This group of students is quite a substantial proportion of the total VCAL student cohort, and their numbers are increasing every year. This behaviour is juxtaposed with government policy that is emphasizing youth participation in schools or vocational alternatives. The Compact with Young Australians (COAG, 2009) set a new target of 90% attainment of Year 12 or equivalent by 2015 and expects an additional 92,527 young people across Australia (23,500 in Victoria) to remain in school. A survey of the literature indicates that there is a significant gap in our knowledge of what behavioural intentions drive vocational students to leave school early. By using in-depth conversations with selected students, this study seeks to determine the factors that students see act as drivers in their decision to get to this level, and then to leave school. This study provides, in the words of the students, some of the reasons for their choice for their non-continuance of the secondary school programs that are available to them. This will enable education policy makers to understand these students’ perspectives and to examine the VCAL programs in a new light. As educators, they can then respond to the challenge to develop and sustain vocational programs and retention strategies that will engage young people and assist them to build work-ready skills.
- Description: Master of Business (Research)
The development of the Malaysian vocational education and training system
- Ramanathan Chettiar, Palaniappan
- Authors: Ramanathan Chettiar, Palaniappan
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The vocational education and training (VET) sector in Malaysia has experienced significant change over the last 10 years. This thesis aimed to identify the challenges facing VET development in Malaysia and consider the lessons that can be learnt from Australian and Singaporean VET experiences. This research explored the challenges using a mixed methods approach (qualitative and quantitative) to answer the research question from a multiple stakeholder perspective. The 42 respondents included policymakers, chief executive officers (CEOs) from industry, CEOs from registered training organisations (RTOs), VET instructors and trainees. There were 34 respondents from Malaysia involved in the interviews. Two policymakers and two CEOs of RTOs from Singapore and Australia were also involved in the interviews. An online survey was answered by 209 Malaysian respondents. Significantly, the literature review, including literature from Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, focused on the development of VET policy and the ideas associated with vocational education theory, human capital theory, systems theory and threshold theory, program theory, employability theory, collective skills formation, stakeholder engagement and the capability approach. The literature review provided an overview of the motivations behind government initiates to expand skills development initiatives using different models, the shifting of responsibility for employability to the employee and promoting inclusivity within the nation. While VET objectives were overt, the need for socially inclusive results were not. There is a need to consider economic, social and education contexts when developing VET systems, given the diversity of Malaysian society. The argument is made within the thesis that the development of VET policy has been largely led by government and legislation, rather than industry. The thesis suggests that challenges inherent in the development of a VET system arise from the gaps between VET policy and practice, rhetoric and implementation. While the presence of policy mechanisms for system efficiency was acknowledged by stakeholders, VET policy was characterised by respondents as incremental rather than long term. Most stakeholders acknowledged the importance of lifelong learning and for the need for Malaysia to become a learning nation. The lack of a single agency to monitor skills development was considered an obstacle for effective skills development within the country. Accordingly, this thesis proposes a set of recommendations to address these challenges and provides directions for future research.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Ramanathan Chettiar, Palaniappan
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The vocational education and training (VET) sector in Malaysia has experienced significant change over the last 10 years. This thesis aimed to identify the challenges facing VET development in Malaysia and consider the lessons that can be learnt from Australian and Singaporean VET experiences. This research explored the challenges using a mixed methods approach (qualitative and quantitative) to answer the research question from a multiple stakeholder perspective. The 42 respondents included policymakers, chief executive officers (CEOs) from industry, CEOs from registered training organisations (RTOs), VET instructors and trainees. There were 34 respondents from Malaysia involved in the interviews. Two policymakers and two CEOs of RTOs from Singapore and Australia were also involved in the interviews. An online survey was answered by 209 Malaysian respondents. Significantly, the literature review, including literature from Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, focused on the development of VET policy and the ideas associated with vocational education theory, human capital theory, systems theory and threshold theory, program theory, employability theory, collective skills formation, stakeholder engagement and the capability approach. The literature review provided an overview of the motivations behind government initiates to expand skills development initiatives using different models, the shifting of responsibility for employability to the employee and promoting inclusivity within the nation. While VET objectives were overt, the need for socially inclusive results were not. There is a need to consider economic, social and education contexts when developing VET systems, given the diversity of Malaysian society. The argument is made within the thesis that the development of VET policy has been largely led by government and legislation, rather than industry. The thesis suggests that challenges inherent in the development of a VET system arise from the gaps between VET policy and practice, rhetoric and implementation. While the presence of policy mechanisms for system efficiency was acknowledged by stakeholders, VET policy was characterised by respondents as incremental rather than long term. Most stakeholders acknowledged the importance of lifelong learning and for the need for Malaysia to become a learning nation. The lack of a single agency to monitor skills development was considered an obstacle for effective skills development within the country. Accordingly, this thesis proposes a set of recommendations to address these challenges and provides directions for future research.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Efficient texture descriptors for image segmentation
- Authors: Tania, Sheikh
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Colour and texture are the most common features used in image processing and computer vision applications. Unlike colour, a local texture descriptor needs to express the unique variation pattern in the intensity differences of pixels in the neighbourhood of the pixel-of-interest (POI) so that it can sufficiently discriminate different textures. Since the descriptor needs spatial manipulation of all pixels in the neighbourhood of the POI, approximation of texture impacts not only the computational cost but also the performance of the applications. In this thesis, we aim to develop novel texture descriptors, especially for hierarchical image segmentation techniques that have recently gained popularity for their wide range of applications in medical imaging, video surveillance, autonomous navigation, and computer vision in general. To pursue the aim, we focus in reducing the length of the texture feature and directly modelling the distribution of intensity-variation in the parametric space of a probability density function (pdf). In the first contributory chapter, we enhance the state-of-the-art Weber local descriptor (WLD) by considering the mean value of neighbouring pixel intensities along radial directions instead of sampling pixels at three scales. Consequently, the proposed descriptor, named Radial Mean WLD (RM-WLD), is three-fold shorter than WLD and it performs slightly better than WLD in hierarchical image segmentation. The statistical distributions of pixel intensities in different image regions are diverse by nature. In the second contributory chapter, we propose a novel texture feature, called ‘joint scale,’ by directly modelling the probability distribution of intensity differences. The Weibull distribution, one of the extreme value distributions, is selected for this purpose as it can represent a wide range of probability distributions with a couple of parameters. In addition, gradient orientation feature is calculated from all pixels in the neighbourhood with an extended Sobel operator, instead of using only the vertical and horizontal neighbours as considered in WLD. The length of the texture descriptor combining joint scale and gradiet orientation features remains the same as RM-WLD, but it exhibits significantly improved discrimination capability for better image segmentation. Initial regions in hierarchical segmentation play an important role in approximating texture features. Traditional arbitrary-shaped initial regions maintain the uniform colour property and thus may not retain the texture pattern of the segment they belong to. In the final contributory chapter, we introduce regular-shaped initial regions by enhancing the cuboidal partitioning technique, which has recently gained popularity in image/video coding research. Since the regions (cuboids) of cuboidal partitioning are of rectangular shape, they do not follow the colour-based boundary adherence of traditional initial regions. Consequently, the cuboids retain sufficient texture pattern cues to provide better texture approximation and discriminating capability. We have used benchmark segmentation datasets and metrics to evaluate the proposed texture descriptors. Experimental results on benchmark metrics and computational time are promising when the proposed texture features are used in the state-of-the-art iterative contraction and merging (ICM) image segmentation technique.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Tania, Sheikh
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Colour and texture are the most common features used in image processing and computer vision applications. Unlike colour, a local texture descriptor needs to express the unique variation pattern in the intensity differences of pixels in the neighbourhood of the pixel-of-interest (POI) so that it can sufficiently discriminate different textures. Since the descriptor needs spatial manipulation of all pixels in the neighbourhood of the POI, approximation of texture impacts not only the computational cost but also the performance of the applications. In this thesis, we aim to develop novel texture descriptors, especially for hierarchical image segmentation techniques that have recently gained popularity for their wide range of applications in medical imaging, video surveillance, autonomous navigation, and computer vision in general. To pursue the aim, we focus in reducing the length of the texture feature and directly modelling the distribution of intensity-variation in the parametric space of a probability density function (pdf). In the first contributory chapter, we enhance the state-of-the-art Weber local descriptor (WLD) by considering the mean value of neighbouring pixel intensities along radial directions instead of sampling pixels at three scales. Consequently, the proposed descriptor, named Radial Mean WLD (RM-WLD), is three-fold shorter than WLD and it performs slightly better than WLD in hierarchical image segmentation. The statistical distributions of pixel intensities in different image regions are diverse by nature. In the second contributory chapter, we propose a novel texture feature, called ‘joint scale,’ by directly modelling the probability distribution of intensity differences. The Weibull distribution, one of the extreme value distributions, is selected for this purpose as it can represent a wide range of probability distributions with a couple of parameters. In addition, gradient orientation feature is calculated from all pixels in the neighbourhood with an extended Sobel operator, instead of using only the vertical and horizontal neighbours as considered in WLD. The length of the texture descriptor combining joint scale and gradiet orientation features remains the same as RM-WLD, but it exhibits significantly improved discrimination capability for better image segmentation. Initial regions in hierarchical segmentation play an important role in approximating texture features. Traditional arbitrary-shaped initial regions maintain the uniform colour property and thus may not retain the texture pattern of the segment they belong to. In the final contributory chapter, we introduce regular-shaped initial regions by enhancing the cuboidal partitioning technique, which has recently gained popularity in image/video coding research. Since the regions (cuboids) of cuboidal partitioning are of rectangular shape, they do not follow the colour-based boundary adherence of traditional initial regions. Consequently, the cuboids retain sufficient texture pattern cues to provide better texture approximation and discriminating capability. We have used benchmark segmentation datasets and metrics to evaluate the proposed texture descriptors. Experimental results on benchmark metrics and computational time are promising when the proposed texture features are used in the state-of-the-art iterative contraction and merging (ICM) image segmentation technique.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Spiritual awareness of professional nurses in the western region of Victoria: Investigation of a significant component of holistic heath care
- Authors: Lea, Dorothy
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: A desire to more fully understand the impact of altered states of spiritual health on the general health of patients has been a focus of recent research activity. Studies have explored the meaning of spirituality held by patients and nurses, the spiritual needs of patients, and methods of providing spiritual care in nursing. However, few studies have investigated nurses’ own spiritual health and the significance this may have on the provision of holistic nursing care. The aim of this study, therefore, was to inform nursing regarding the spiritual health of nurses and the influence that nurses’ own spiritual health has on their ability to provide holistic nursing care to their patients. The study was conducted in two phases using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Phase one consisted of a survey of Division 1 nurses currently employed in the Grampians region of Victoria to describe key dimensions of their spiritual health. This survey provided biographical data and, through the use of the “Shalom Measure of Spiritual Health”, discovered the ideal of spiritual health held by nurses as well as the nurses’ perception of patient needs pertaining to the achievement of spiritual health. Phase two utilised Naturalistic Inquiry to further explore the meaning of spirituality and spiritual health held by nurses, and the methods of achieving these for nurses and patients. The findings revealed that although nurses perceive the spiritual dimension of patient care to be important, they feel ill-equipped to provide this aspect of care. In addition, the major support for nurses, who themselves experience spiritual distress whilst at work, comes from colleagues. Further, prevailing health care systems in place do not always lend themselves to holistic approaches to care. This study identifies the need for nurse education to redress the clearly inadequate preparation nurses are given for this aspect of their role. Health care policy-makers and administrators also have a responsibility to consider all dimensions of care when designing and implementing health care guidelines and systems.
- Description: Master of Nursing
- Authors: Lea, Dorothy
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: A desire to more fully understand the impact of altered states of spiritual health on the general health of patients has been a focus of recent research activity. Studies have explored the meaning of spirituality held by patients and nurses, the spiritual needs of patients, and methods of providing spiritual care in nursing. However, few studies have investigated nurses’ own spiritual health and the significance this may have on the provision of holistic nursing care. The aim of this study, therefore, was to inform nursing regarding the spiritual health of nurses and the influence that nurses’ own spiritual health has on their ability to provide holistic nursing care to their patients. The study was conducted in two phases using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Phase one consisted of a survey of Division 1 nurses currently employed in the Grampians region of Victoria to describe key dimensions of their spiritual health. This survey provided biographical data and, through the use of the “Shalom Measure of Spiritual Health”, discovered the ideal of spiritual health held by nurses as well as the nurses’ perception of patient needs pertaining to the achievement of spiritual health. Phase two utilised Naturalistic Inquiry to further explore the meaning of spirituality and spiritual health held by nurses, and the methods of achieving these for nurses and patients. The findings revealed that although nurses perceive the spiritual dimension of patient care to be important, they feel ill-equipped to provide this aspect of care. In addition, the major support for nurses, who themselves experience spiritual distress whilst at work, comes from colleagues. Further, prevailing health care systems in place do not always lend themselves to holistic approaches to care. This study identifies the need for nurse education to redress the clearly inadequate preparation nurses are given for this aspect of their role. Health care policy-makers and administrators also have a responsibility to consider all dimensions of care when designing and implementing health care guidelines and systems.
- Description: Master of Nursing
Employer associations - poised to deliver a much improved OHS performance in Australian workplaces
- Authors: Mannes, Dave
- Date: 1999
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: "The broad objective of this study is to explore the role that employer associations can play in delivering an active and sustainable range of OHS services to industry and the potential for greater utilisation of this network by governments in delivering significant improvements in OHS performance in Australian workplaces."
- Description: Masters
- Authors: Mannes, Dave
- Date: 1999
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: "The broad objective of this study is to explore the role that employer associations can play in delivering an active and sustainable range of OHS services to industry and the potential for greater utilisation of this network by governments in delivering significant improvements in OHS performance in Australian workplaces."
- Description: Masters
Humour and laughter in children with autism spectrum disorders
- Authors: Jones, Errin
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Studying humour and laughter in children with ASDs can provide unique insights into their socio-communicative impairments, and aid in the development of effective interventions. The current study investigated humour and laughter in 16 school-aged children with autism and Asperger Syndrome (AS).
- Description: Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)
- Authors: Jones, Errin
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Studying humour and laughter in children with ASDs can provide unique insights into their socio-communicative impairments, and aid in the development of effective interventions. The current study investigated humour and laughter in 16 school-aged children with autism and Asperger Syndrome (AS).
- Description: Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)
Controlling Lachnagrostis filiformis (Fairy grass) on dry lake beds in western Victoria, Australia
- Authors: Warnock, Andrew
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The indigenous grass Lachnagrostis filiformis (Fairy grass) has colonised extensive areas of dry lakebeds in western Victoria, Australia during the current (1997-) drought. Large numbers of the plants' detached seed heads disperse in the wind and lodge against housing, fences, railway lines and other obstacles ... In this study, late season application of Glyphosate based herbicide, slashing, seed broadcasting of Atriplex australasica and Puccinellia perlaxa, grazing and burning were examined ... The results highlight how weed management aimed at achieving short-term goals, without controlling the ecological processes that promote weeds establishment and persistence, can be counter productive in the long-term.
- Description: Doctorate of Philosophy
- Authors: Warnock, Andrew
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The indigenous grass Lachnagrostis filiformis (Fairy grass) has colonised extensive areas of dry lakebeds in western Victoria, Australia during the current (1997-) drought. Large numbers of the plants' detached seed heads disperse in the wind and lodge against housing, fences, railway lines and other obstacles ... In this study, late season application of Glyphosate based herbicide, slashing, seed broadcasting of Atriplex australasica and Puccinellia perlaxa, grazing and burning were examined ... The results highlight how weed management aimed at achieving short-term goals, without controlling the ecological processes that promote weeds establishment and persistence, can be counter productive in the long-term.
- Description: Doctorate of Philosophy
Being a parent, but not : the role of foster and kinship carers in supporting children and young people
- Authors: Cooper, Kimberlea
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Home-based carers play an important role in the lives of children and young people. In Victoria, Australia, home-based care is now the most common form of alternative care, reflecting national and international trends. However, home-based care does currently face some challenges, such as shortages of carers. Therefore, strengthening this form of care through the training and support of foster and kinship carers is a key priority of Victoria’s reforms of child and family services. In the context of a university-industry collaboration, the current research drew upon the expertise of sixteen foster and kinship carers in the Central Highlands region of Victoria. Using constructivist grounded theory, the research sought to understand how carers support children and young people and how they see their role. In addition, the research sought carers’ perspectives on their interactions with the Out-of-Home Care (OOHC) system, including what they find supportive and challenging. The research revealed that home-based carers see some elements of their role as parenting, and others as going beyond parenting. The carers utilise principles of trauma-informed care to support children and young people, but do not experience trauma-informed support from the OOHC system. This discrepancy suggests that the implementation of trauma-informed care has the potential to increase pressure on home-based carers if it is only encouraged at the interpersonal level between carers and children and does not incorporate associated systems-level change. Therefore, this research proposes that whilst micro-level support and training for carers is necessary and useful, it is crucial to move beyond such initiatives to make macro-level reform. This research also raises doubts regarding the capacity of home-based care to become fully trauma-informed due to potential incompatibilities with the current risk-averse and deficit-oriented paradigm of the child protection system.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Cooper, Kimberlea
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Home-based carers play an important role in the lives of children and young people. In Victoria, Australia, home-based care is now the most common form of alternative care, reflecting national and international trends. However, home-based care does currently face some challenges, such as shortages of carers. Therefore, strengthening this form of care through the training and support of foster and kinship carers is a key priority of Victoria’s reforms of child and family services. In the context of a university-industry collaboration, the current research drew upon the expertise of sixteen foster and kinship carers in the Central Highlands region of Victoria. Using constructivist grounded theory, the research sought to understand how carers support children and young people and how they see their role. In addition, the research sought carers’ perspectives on their interactions with the Out-of-Home Care (OOHC) system, including what they find supportive and challenging. The research revealed that home-based carers see some elements of their role as parenting, and others as going beyond parenting. The carers utilise principles of trauma-informed care to support children and young people, but do not experience trauma-informed support from the OOHC system. This discrepancy suggests that the implementation of trauma-informed care has the potential to increase pressure on home-based carers if it is only encouraged at the interpersonal level between carers and children and does not incorporate associated systems-level change. Therefore, this research proposes that whilst micro-level support and training for carers is necessary and useful, it is crucial to move beyond such initiatives to make macro-level reform. This research also raises doubts regarding the capacity of home-based care to become fully trauma-informed due to potential incompatibilities with the current risk-averse and deficit-oriented paradigm of the child protection system.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Evoking the sacred : the artist as shaman
- Authors: Whitehand, Dawn
- Date: 2009
- Type: Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis examines, via a feminist theoretical framework, the systems in existence that permit the ongoing exploitation of the environment; and the appropriateness of ceramics as a medium to reinvigorate dormant insights. I argue that the organic nuances expressed through clay; the earthy, phenomenological and historic ritual connotations of clay; and the tactile textured surfaces and undulating form, allows ceramics to conjure responses within the viewer that reinvigorates a sense of embedment in the Earth.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Whitehand, Dawn
- Date: 2009
- Type: Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis examines, via a feminist theoretical framework, the systems in existence that permit the ongoing exploitation of the environment; and the appropriateness of ceramics as a medium to reinvigorate dormant insights. I argue that the organic nuances expressed through clay; the earthy, phenomenological and historic ritual connotations of clay; and the tactile textured surfaces and undulating form, allows ceramics to conjure responses within the viewer that reinvigorates a sense of embedment in the Earth.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
What is the perceived effectiveness of fully on-the-job training for carpentry apprenticeships?
- Authors: Wright, Barry
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: This study examined the training experiences of apprentices and employers who were involved in fully on-the-job training in the building and construction trades, specifically in carpentry. Fully on-the-job training, in apprenticeship, means that all training is delivered at the workplace rather than in an institution or training centre and must include structured training arrangements. The apprentice acquires competence through the performance of normal work duties, with some self-managed or facilitated training, as well as receiving support from the appointed Registered Training Organisation (RTO) trainer or trainers, which is all undertaken on the worksite. In the building and construction trades, carpentry apprentices in Australia must gain skills and knowledge over an extensive range of competencies to achieve their qualification. Traditional construction trade jobs have become more specialised over the past 20 years, which could limit the learning activities in terms of tasks and knowledge, resulting in a restricted range of skills. The project investigates this issue and other possible challenges of this delivery model. This qualitative research project involved individual apprentice and employer interviews together with key stakeholder focus group sessions. The research question was: What is the perceived effectiveness of fully on-the-job training for carpentry apprenticeships? Findings included people’s views regarding the advantages, disadvantages, the learning impacts and the outcomes of fully on-the-job training and ways of compensating for limited job roles.
- Description: Masters by Research
- Authors: Wright, Barry
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: This study examined the training experiences of apprentices and employers who were involved in fully on-the-job training in the building and construction trades, specifically in carpentry. Fully on-the-job training, in apprenticeship, means that all training is delivered at the workplace rather than in an institution or training centre and must include structured training arrangements. The apprentice acquires competence through the performance of normal work duties, with some self-managed or facilitated training, as well as receiving support from the appointed Registered Training Organisation (RTO) trainer or trainers, which is all undertaken on the worksite. In the building and construction trades, carpentry apprentices in Australia must gain skills and knowledge over an extensive range of competencies to achieve their qualification. Traditional construction trade jobs have become more specialised over the past 20 years, which could limit the learning activities in terms of tasks and knowledge, resulting in a restricted range of skills. The project investigates this issue and other possible challenges of this delivery model. This qualitative research project involved individual apprentice and employer interviews together with key stakeholder focus group sessions. The research question was: What is the perceived effectiveness of fully on-the-job training for carpentry apprenticeships? Findings included people’s views regarding the advantages, disadvantages, the learning impacts and the outcomes of fully on-the-job training and ways of compensating for limited job roles.
- Description: Masters by Research
The mechanisation of saddle reef stoping on the Bendigo goldfield
- Authors: Laidlaw, Noel
- Date: 1994
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of a group training program, based on cognitive behavioural theory and techniques, on the problem-solving skills of adolescents. Evidence of a link between suicidal ideation (engaging in suicidal thinking) and reported deficits in social problem-solving or coping competence levels in adolescents is an area of investigation that offers some hope for suicide primary prevention programs. The study tried to determine if teaching social problem solving skills in a school would better equip adolescents with coping with problematic situations. The work of Hawton (1997) Hawton and Kirk (1989), Lerner and Clum (1990) and McLeavey, Daly, Ludgate and Murray (1994) formed the basis of the training program design. The emphasis was on general problem-solving skills rather on a participant’s specific current problems. Included was training in listening skills, assistance in developing problem-solving skills rather on a participant’s specific current problems. Included was training in listening skills, assistance in developing appropriate problem-solving behaviours and role simulation through the use of structured video case scenarios. Seventy four male and female year 10 secondary school students were subjects in the study. They were randomly divided into two, approximately equal, groups. Thirty six subjects established the control group and the remaining thirty eight constituted the experimental group. The findings indicated that students exposed to the problem solving training program did not have significantly higher problem-solving ability, as measured by the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI) than those who were not exposed to the training. However, females in the experimental group were significantly more likely to make conscious decisions about when they would approach or avoid a problem when compared to control group females. It is suggested that the adaptation of training, designed for suicidal clients, needs to be explored further for application to Year 10 students in the general population. More research is needed into ways to provide school based preventative training programs that will assist in the development of coping skills.
- Description: School of Science & Engineering
- Authors: Laidlaw, Noel
- Date: 1994
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of a group training program, based on cognitive behavioural theory and techniques, on the problem-solving skills of adolescents. Evidence of a link between suicidal ideation (engaging in suicidal thinking) and reported deficits in social problem-solving or coping competence levels in adolescents is an area of investigation that offers some hope for suicide primary prevention programs. The study tried to determine if teaching social problem solving skills in a school would better equip adolescents with coping with problematic situations. The work of Hawton (1997) Hawton and Kirk (1989), Lerner and Clum (1990) and McLeavey, Daly, Ludgate and Murray (1994) formed the basis of the training program design. The emphasis was on general problem-solving skills rather on a participant’s specific current problems. Included was training in listening skills, assistance in developing problem-solving skills rather on a participant’s specific current problems. Included was training in listening skills, assistance in developing appropriate problem-solving behaviours and role simulation through the use of structured video case scenarios. Seventy four male and female year 10 secondary school students were subjects in the study. They were randomly divided into two, approximately equal, groups. Thirty six subjects established the control group and the remaining thirty eight constituted the experimental group. The findings indicated that students exposed to the problem solving training program did not have significantly higher problem-solving ability, as measured by the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI) than those who were not exposed to the training. However, females in the experimental group were significantly more likely to make conscious decisions about when they would approach or avoid a problem when compared to control group females. It is suggested that the adaptation of training, designed for suicidal clients, needs to be explored further for application to Year 10 students in the general population. More research is needed into ways to provide school based preventative training programs that will assist in the development of coping skills.
- Description: School of Science & Engineering
Derivative-free hybrid methods in global optimization and their applications
- Authors: Zhang, Jiapu
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: In recent years large-scale global optimization (GO) problems have drawn considerable attention. These problems have many applications, in particular in data mining and biochemistry. Numerical methods for GO are often very time consuming and could not be applied for high-dimensional non-convex and / or non-smooth optimization problems. The thesis explores reasons why we need to develop and study new algorithms for solving large-scale GO problems .... The thesis presents several derivative-free hybrid methods for large scale GO problems. These methods do not guarantee the calculation of a global solution; however, results of numerical experiments presented in this thesis demonstrate that they, as a rule, calculate a solution which is a global one or close to it. Their applications to data mining problems and the protein folding problem are demonstrated.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Zhang, Jiapu
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: In recent years large-scale global optimization (GO) problems have drawn considerable attention. These problems have many applications, in particular in data mining and biochemistry. Numerical methods for GO are often very time consuming and could not be applied for high-dimensional non-convex and / or non-smooth optimization problems. The thesis explores reasons why we need to develop and study new algorithms for solving large-scale GO problems .... The thesis presents several derivative-free hybrid methods for large scale GO problems. These methods do not guarantee the calculation of a global solution; however, results of numerical experiments presented in this thesis demonstrate that they, as a rule, calculate a solution which is a global one or close to it. Their applications to data mining problems and the protein folding problem are demonstrated.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
A comprehensive profile of elite tennis and strategies to enhance match play performance
- Authors: Hornery, Daniel
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: "This dissertation illustrates an interdisciplinary sport science approach to further understand the interaction between physiology and performance in tennis. An integral theme throughout the experimental phases was the emphasis on obtaining information from actual competitive scenarios or settings that simulated a match environment. [...] This study extended the work of similar investigations through the multifaceted methods in which performance was quantified. Overall the thesis provides unique insight into the physiological demands of professional tournament tennis and the constraints these impose on performance. Furthermore, evidence was accrued to support some of the common preparatory and in-match behaviours used by players to enhance performance."
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Hornery, Daniel
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: "This dissertation illustrates an interdisciplinary sport science approach to further understand the interaction between physiology and performance in tennis. An integral theme throughout the experimental phases was the emphasis on obtaining information from actual competitive scenarios or settings that simulated a match environment. [...] This study extended the work of similar investigations through the multifaceted methods in which performance was quantified. Overall the thesis provides unique insight into the physiological demands of professional tournament tennis and the constraints these impose on performance. Furthermore, evidence was accrued to support some of the common preparatory and in-match behaviours used by players to enhance performance."
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy