Outcomes based education? Rethinking the provision of compulsory education in Western Australia

Outcomes based education (OBE), which emphasises a radical reinterpretation of the enterprise of education, is a phenomenon enveloping the Australian compulsory education sector. This paper examines the theoretical tenets of OBE as articulated by its chief exponent, William Spady. It then explores the effects that OBE implementation is having on the Western Australian educational fraternity, touching upon current tensions and emerging consequences. Implementation exigencies in one area of the WA curriculum (Mathematics) are then considered; and finally, possible future ‘outcomes’ are suggested should the identified concerns fail to receive due attention

Grouping & regrouping using Mixintools: An exploratory study

On a regular basis, teachers find it necessary to place children into groups for instruction. Random assignment is typically the norm when group composition is immaterial to the task. When member-sensitive groups need to be created, teachers might associate specific assignment with colours, numbers or other coding systems. Mixintools offers the teacher a strategy for creating groups in an enjoyable, expedient and variable fashion. Or does it? The purpose of this research was to determine whether the resource had any value from the perspective of both the teacher and the student. Data were sourced from three primary schools and one university teacher education class regarding the usefulness of Mixintools. Results indicated a mixed response. Reasons for this are reported

Citizen Science in Disaster and Conflict Resilience

*Background/Question/Methods*

Within the disaster and conflict response communities, concern about lack of effectiveness of outside responses has led to a debate about the role of local people in developing the capacity to prepare for a crisis and to respond after calamity has struck. Pelling (2007) points out the potential for participatory disaster risk assessment to build local capacity and for generating knowledge that, along with more expert-driven data collection, is used to identify and reduce the risk of disaster. Similarly, Weinstein and Tidball (2007) and Tidball et al. (2008) present an alternative model for post-crisis intervention based on local assets, including ongoing attempts of communities to manage their natural resources. For example, these authors suggest that civic ecology (CE) practices, including community forestry, watershed enhancement, community agriculture and gardening, and other participatory environmental restoration initiatives that emerge from the actions of local residents (Tidball and Krasny 2007), should be examined and perhaps leveraged by outsiders for their ability to mitigate post-crisis situations. The question is, how might CE relate to citizen science in applications post-disaster or conflict?

*Results/Conclusions*

CE practices emerge through the actions of people wanting to manage a local resource, and integrate both learning through small-scale experimentation and observations (adaptive management) and collaborative or participatory processes (co-management). They can be considered as an emergent form of adaptive co-management (Ruitenbeek and Cartier 2001; Armitage, Plummer et al. 2009). The local knowledge of individuals who initiate the practices is critical, although often linkages are made with scientists from universities, government, and non-profit organizations, so multiple forms of knowledge are incorporated into the stewardship activities. This learning shortens feedback times between management actions, such as participatory approaches for planting trees, and seeing the impact of tree planting on local ecological and social systems. CE practices embody attributes that may foster resilience both prior to and post-crisis, including multiple forms of knowledge and governance, self-organization, adaptive learning, shorter feedbacks, and ecosystem services (Folke, S. Carpenter et al. 2002; Walker and Salt 2006). We demonstrate that similar to CE, citizen science could build capacity to mitigate disaster and conflict through shortening feedbacks and through making available multiple forms of knowledge and data collection. Further, given the need for asset-based and participatory interventions post-crisis, and the paucity of existing mechanisms that address this need (Weinstein and Tidball 2007), we examine citizen science and its potential to become part of a tool kit of participatory responses that engage citizens in meaningful activity post-conflict

Maverick Examples Of Coset Conformal Field Theories

We present coset conformal field theories whose spectrum is not determined by the identification current method. In these ``maverick'' cosets there is a larger symmetry identifying primary fields than under the identification current. We find an A-D-E classification of these mavericks. }Comment: 16pages , reportSWAT-93-0

Periodic Euclidean Solutions of SU(2)-Higgs Theory

We examine periodic, spherically symmetric, classical solutions of SU(2)-Higgs theory in four-dimensional Euclidean space. Classical perturbation theory is used to construct periodic time-dependent solutions in the neighborhood of the static sphaleron. The behavior of the action, as a function of period, changes character depending on the value of the Higgs mass. The required pattern of bifurcations of solutions as a function of Higgs mass is examined, and implications for the temperature dependence of the baryon number violation rate in the Standard Model are discussed.Comment: Results in Figure 6, and following discussion, corrected. References added. Results recently confirmed by direct calculatio

Aerodynamic performance of flared fan nozzles used as inlets

Tests were conducted in a low speed wind tunnel to determine the aerodynamic performance of several flared fan nozzles. Each of the flared nozzles was a downstream-facing inlet to a model fan that was used to simulate a variable pitch fan during reverse thrust operation. The total pressure recovery of each of the flared nozzles as well as that of an unflared nozzle and a serrated flare nozzle was obtained for comparison. The aerodynamic performance of a selected flared nozzle was considered in further detail. The nozzle surface pressures for a flared nozzle were also determined. Results indicated that the differences in aerodynamic performance among the nozzles were most apparent at the wind-tunnel-off condition. A nonzero free stream velocity significantly reduced the perforamnce of all the nozzles, and crosswind flow (free stream flow perpendicular to the model axis) further reduced the performance of the nozzles. The unflared nozzle and the serrated flare nozzle had reduced aerodynamic performance compared to a solid surface flared nozzle

COMMODITY PROGRAMS AND RURAL REVITALIZATION

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Meta-analysis of death and myocardial infarction in the DEFINE-FLAIR and iFR-SWEDEHEART trials: a hypothesis generating note of caution

In patients with coronary heart disease, revascularization can improve symptoms and in certain high-risk subgroups may improve prognosis. Coronary angiography provides anatomical information and the physiological significance of a stenosis can be determined using fractional flow reserve (FFR). Decisions on the need for and mode of revascularization can be optimized using FFR, however this involves administering adenosine to induce hyperemia. Generally, this test is well tolerated, but in some healthcare systems adenosine is either not licensed, unavailable, or expensive, limiting the use of FFR-guided management