Showing papers by "University of South Australia published in 1990"

Teacher Effectiveness Research: Towards Describing User Friendly Classroom Instruction.

Abstract: In this article we examine the teacher's role as a mediator of knowledge and cognitive learning in the classroom. We cite findings from the research areas of teacher effectiveness, teacher expertise, and curriculum knowledge. These data strongly support user‐friendly explicit methods of classroom teaching. We also discuss issues raised in conjunction with alternative conceptions of the teaching process. Finally, we note the importance of incorporating teacher effectiveness research findings into teacher education programmes, and of identifying the various misconceptions that have been used to criticise this body of information.

Social theory and liberal adult education perspectives on work training and human resource development: towards a balanced relationship

Abstract: This paper attempts to relate the process of restructuring the Australian political economy, in particular the emphasis upon micro reform at the workplace through industrial relations and training, to the conceptual fields of social systems theory and human resource development. The point is made that the underlying value assumptions of the human resource development mission and policy to practice agendas comes from a social theory perspective that treats as unproblematic the nature of work in a capitalist economy. This bias is criticised for representing an imbalanced view of the ‘real world’ complexities of human resource development and other strategies for changing thebehaviour of theworkforce. The paper then takes issue with the rather mechanistic thinking that seems to dominate the work training agenda and argues fora more organic or holistic approach derived from the values and practices of liberal adult education.

Aids, Sexually Transmitted Diseases and the Criminal Law

Abstract: This paper, whilst it will address some specific issues arising out of the Crimes Bill 1989, is concerned with a wider range of questions. First, I will outline briefly the "problem" of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (hereinafter STDs) in their medical and epidemiological contexts. It does not require much intelligence to acknowledge the consequential impact of the AIDS and STD problem on legal theory in general.Difficulties exist in relation to criminal law because the problem throws up again in a highly sensitive and emotionally charged context the debates about the proper limits of coercive state action, about the interrelation between law and morality in terms reminiscent of the famous and, some thought, dated Hart-Devlin dialogue, and about the interrelation between criminal law and public health law. The second section of the paper will concern itself with some of these issues, and will seek to establish workable guidelines for a practical theory. In the third section I shall examine the existing criminal and quasi-criminal (or public health) provisions relevant to the problem. Fourthly, I shall examine how the Crimes Bill alters or confirms the position.

Judicial Technique in Takeover Litigation in Australia

Abstract: Prior to the establishment of the non-judicial Australian Takeovers Panel in 2001, takeover litigation before the courts rarely led to an appeal to a higher court; for commercial reasons, many cases were settled before a final judicial resolution was reached. Before the introduction of the Takeovers Panel procedure in Australia, takeover litigation could not be adequately understood without reference to the commercial context in which the cases arose and for this reason, the backgrounds of judges and the level of commercial experience of judges were important and influential in achieving commercially sensible results from the courts. This paper by Roman Tomasic and Brendon Pentony reviews findings from an Australian Research Council funded national empirical study led to the reform of the old court-based system of takeover dispute handling in Australia which now effectively by-passes the courts.

A Review of the Cannabis Expiation Notice Scheme in South Australia—Research Note

Abstract: The South Australian government in 1987 made widespread changes to the law concerning the possession and use of small amounts of cannabis. The implications of these changes are reviewed in a report of the Office of Crime Statistics entitled ‘Cannabis: The Expiation Notice Approach’.1 It is my intention in this paper to provide an overview of this report for the purpose of introducing readers to its major findings.

Optimal collecting can spacings in irrigation sprinkler testing.

Abstract: A procedure in irrigation sprinkler testing is recommended in which collecting cans are ‘optimally’ spaced in contrast to the general practice of ‘even’ spacing. In optimal spacing, cans are located at radial distances from a sprinkler such that the experimental plotted ‘points’ of collected water mass per unit time versus radial distance have equal spacings between adjacent points around the distribution ‘curve’. It is shown that overall errors in data plotting are always less for optimal compared with even spacings for recordings over equal time intervals. Recording times with optimal spacings can therefore be shorter than with even spacings to produce the same accuracy. A procedure for computing and applying optimal spacings is given. An outline of a cost-benefit analysis is suggested. Future testing of the optimal system is recommended to confirm its practical benefit particularly with more automated recording techniques.