Matt Eliot

Bio: Matt Eliot is an academic researcher from Central Queensland University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Coastal management & Engineering education. The author has an hindex of 18, co-authored 52 publications receiving 1066 citations. Previous affiliations of Matt Eliot include University of Western Australia & University of Stirling.

Global influences of the 18.61 year nodal cycle and 8.85 year cycle of lunar perigee on high tidal levels

Abstract: [1] Periods of high astronomically generated tides contribute to the occurrence of extreme sea levels. Over interannual time scales, two precessions associated with the orbit of the Moon cause systematic variation of high tides. A global assessment of when these tidal modulations occur allows for the prediction of periods when the enhanced risk of coastal flooding is likely in different parts of the world. This paper uses modeled tides to assess the influence of the 18.61 year lunar nodal cycle and the 8.85 year cycle of lunar perigee (which affects high tidal levels as a quasi 4.4 year cycle) on high tidal levels on a global scale. Tidal constituents from the TPXO7.2 global tidal model are used, with satellite modulation corrections based on equilibrium tide expectations, to predict multidecadal hourly time series of tides on a one-quarter degree global grid. These time series are used to determine the amplitude and phase of tidal modulations using harmonic analysis fitted to 18.61, 9.305, 8.85, and 4.425 year sinusoidal signals. The spatial variations in the range and phase of the tidal modulations are related to the global distribution of the main tidal constituents and tidal characteristics (diurnal or semidiurnal and tidal range). Results indicate that the 18.61 year nodal cycle has the greatest influence in diurnal regions with tidal ranges of >4 m and that the 4.4 year cycle is largest in semidiurnal regions where the tidal range is >6 m. The phase of the interannual tidal modulations is shown to relate to the form of the tide.

Constructing Professional Portfolios: Sense-Making and Professional Identity Development for Engineering Undergraduates

Abstract: Background While previously researching the educational impacts of single-course and cross-curricular portfolios, investigators noted that student participants described their portfolio activities as positively impacting their growing identities as engineering professionals. These impacts were seen particularly in studies regarding cross-curricular portfolios. Purpose (Hypothesis) This study was designed to explicitly investigate identity-related impacts of cross-curricular portfolios and to explore the processes students employed during portfolio construction to identify themselves as budding engineers and as future professionals. Design/Mscethod Engineering undergraduate students attended four weekly workshops where they wrote a professional statement, selected artifacts that demonstrated their engineering abilities, and wrote annotations that explained how the artifacts served as concrete examples of their claims for professional standing. Online surveys were administered at each workshop asking participants about their ongoing experiences of creating their portfolios and sharing these portfolios with their peers. Results Analysis of the survey responses revealed that participants had two primary frames of reference for the construction of professional identity during portfolio creation. The external frame of reference focused on students' understanding of the expectations of potential employers and recruiters. The internal frame of reference, which accounted for twice as many responses as the external frame coding, focused on students' emerging realizations of their own values and interests as professional engineers. Conclusions As engineering educators, we often support the external frame of reference in terms of building professional identity. We need to provide students with opportunities to engage the internal frame of reference with which our participants were particularly concerned.

Sheltered sandy beaches of southwestern Australia

Abstract: Morphodynamic classifications of sandy beaches have been established for open-ocean, wave-dominated environments. However, many natural sandy beaches exist in embayments, or are landward of protective reefs, where they are sheltered from the full effects of ocean waves. It is therefore appropriate to question whether such low-energy beaches can be related to conceptual models of beach hierarchies, and to examine whether they have identifiable morphodynamic signatures. Surveys were conducted of the nearshore morphology and dynamics on over fifty beaches on the microtidal coast of Southwestern Australia, between Cape Arid on the South and Geraldton on the West Coast. In most instances, surveys were conducted on beaches that were sheltered by their aspect and/or the presence of offshore reefs. The remaining surveys were conducted on wave-dominated beaches in order to provide a link to the existing morphodynamic models. Descriptions of beach morphology, determined from the surveys, were subjected to a cluster analysis to establish groupings of similar morphologic types. This analysis provided a six-fold classification of beach morphologies and indicated a clear separation between the low- and high-energy beach morphologies on the basis of the overall scalp of the nearshore profiles. Four low-energy morphotypes were distinguished. These are essentially planar and characterized by the absence of either nearshore bars or other rhythmic features. However, the low-energy morphotypes may be discriminated by variations in beach slope and curvature. Canonical variate analysis was conducted to examine the discrimination of the six morphotypes on the basis of their sedimentary and dynamic characteristics. This analysis indicated consistent sedimentologic differences between the morphotypes, despite moderate overlapping between several of the beach forms. The variation accords with expectations that flatter beaches tend to have finer sediments. Discrimination between the morphotypes on the basis of their dynamic variables was less revealing. This raises questions of misfitting between form and process during the surveys and may indicate the importance of storm events in the formation of these low-energy morphotypes.

经验与教育 = Experience and education

Abstract: Experience and Educationis the best concise statement on education ever published by John Dewey, the man acknowledged to be the pre-eminent educational theorist of the twentieth century. Written more than two decades after Democracy and Education(Dewey's most comprehensive statement of his position in educational philosophy), this book demonstrates how Dewey reformulated his ideas as a result of his intervening experience with the progressive schools and in the light of the criticisms his theories had received. Analysing both "traditional" and "progressive" education, Dr. Dewey here insists that neither the old nor the new education is adequate and that each is miseducative because neither of them applies the principles of a carefully developed philosophy of experience. Many pages of this volume illustrate Dr. Dewey's ideas for a philosophy of experience and its relation to education. He particularly urges that all teachers and educators looking for a new movement in education should think in terms of the deeped and larger issues of education rather than in terms of some divisive "ism" about education, even such an "ism" as "progressivism." His philosophy, here expressed in its most essential, most readable form, predicates an American educational system that respects all sources of experience, on that offers a true learning situation that is both historical and social, both orderly and dynamic.

Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.

Abstract: Impatti, adattamento e vulnerabilita Le cause e le responsabilita dei cambiamenti climatici sono state trattate sul numero di ottobre della rivista Cda. Approfondiamo l’argomento presentando il documento: “Cambiamenti climatici 2007: impatti, adattamento e vulnerabilita” votato ad aprile 2007 dal secondo gruppo di lavoro del Comitato Intergovernativo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). Si tratta del secondo di tre documenti che compongono il quarto rapporto sui cambiamenti climatici.

Teaching for quality learning at university

Abstract: by J. Biggs and C. Tang, Maidenhead, England, Open University Press, 2007, 360 pp., £29.99, ISBN-13: 978-0-335-22126-4

A global perspective on wetland salinization: ecological consequences of a growing threat to freshwater wetlands

Abstract: Salinization, a widespread threat to the structure and ecological functioning of inland and coastal wetlands, is currently occurring at an unprecedented rate and geographic scale. The causes of salinization are diverse and include alterations to freshwater flows, land-clearance, irrigation, disposal of wastewater effluent, sea level rise, storm surges, and applications of de-icing salts. Climate change and anthropogenic modifications to the hydrologic cycle are expected to further increase the extent and severity of wetland salinization. Salinization alters the fundamental physicochemical nature of the soil-water environment, increasing ionic concentrations and altering chemical equilibria and mineral solubility. Increased concentrations of solutes, especially sulfate, alter the biogeochemical cycling of major elements including carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, iron, and silica. The effects of salinization on wetland biogeochemistry typically include decreased inorganic nitrogen removal (with implica...