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Mind the Gap: Assessing Grade 6 Chinese language learning
No full textThe key problem for language study is the transition from primary to secondary school, when
students lose interest because language learning is not taken into account. This issue has been linked
to the decline of language study across North America and the UK, but even more so in Australia.
This study investigates what information primary schools can realistically provide to secondary
schools. The aim of this study is to explore teachers' current assessment experiences in Stage 3 in
NSW and their perceptions of the challenges in assessing the range of primary school learners of
Chinese. The data relies on an online survey. Participants included teachers across government,
non-government, community language schools and the Chinese test centre in NSW. The data
indicate the close relationship between assessment, teaching context, and educational background.
This research explores the current attitudes to assessment and assessment practices and suggests
the possible role of existing assessments in supporting teacher assessment of Stage 3 learners of
Chinese in their transition to secondary school
Examining differences among opioid agonist treatment clients in regional and metropolitan settings of New South Wales, Australia
No full textObjective: Whilst prior studies have examined characteristics and barriers for opioid agonist treatment (OAT) clients in regional settings, there are limited studies examining these differences in relation to metropolitan OAT clients. This study aimed to examine key characteristics, including sedating medication and substance use, transport and driving behaviours and differences between OAT clients within regional and metropolitan areas of New South Wales, Australia.
Design: Cross-sectional survey of OAT clients.
Setting: Fifteen public OAT clinics across New South Wales, Australia, between January 2020 and June 2021.
Participants: Survey was completed by 482 people currently receiving OAT.
Main outcome measures: Self-reported sample characteristics, self-reported sedating medication use and substance use, transportation and driving histories.
Results: Significant differences in OAT pharmacotherapies prescribed between regional and metropolitan participants were noted (aOR = 2.42, 95% CI = 1.42-4.11). Methadone was the most commonly prescribed OAT in both settings (74.1% and 54.4%, respectively). Nearly half (45.6%) of regional participants received OAT from a private dispensary compared to 4.7% in metropolitan areas. While few differences in past-month substance use were noted, reported heroin use was lower (aOR = 0.27; 95% CI = 0.09-0.78) in regional areas. Regional participants were more likely than metropolitan participants to drive a vehicle to dosing (aOR = 2.89, 95% CI = 1.12-7.46) and less likely to take public transport (aOR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.18-0.93) or active transport (aOR = 3.75, 95% CI = 1.50-9.40). Few differences regarding driving offences, based on geography, were noted.
Conclusions: Key differences with treatment, substance use, transport and driving were noted within this study. It is evident that regional OAT clients more often rely on motor vehicles to complete daily activities. Such challenges related to OAT should be addressed by informed policy and regulatory changes that ensure access and equity of treatment and safety, regardless of location
Expected decrease for derivative-free algorithms using random subspaces
No full textDerivative-free algorithms seek the minimum of a given function based only on function values queried at appropriate points. Although these methods are widely used in practice, their performance is known to worsen as the problem dimension increases. Recent advances in developing randomized derivative-free techniques have tackled this issue by working in low-dimensional subspaces that are drawn at random in an iterative fashion. The connection between the dimension of these random subspaces and the algorithmic guarantees has yet to be fully understood.
In this paper, we develop an analysis for derivative-free algorithms (both direct-search and model-based approaches) employing random subspaces. Our results leverage linear local approximations of smooth functions to obtain understanding of the expected decrease achieved per function evaluation. Although the quantities of interest involve multidimensional integrals with no closed-form expression, a relative comparison for different subspace dimensions suggest that low dimension is preferable. Numerical computation of the quantities of interest confirm the benefit of operating in low-dimensional subspaces
Evaluating the validity of the university lecturers’ formative assessment using digital technology
No full textFormative Assessment (FA) aided by digital technology, has become a significant research topic for improving the quality of university teaching in 21st century. There is limited discussion in the literature, however, on how to measure its validity, validate FA and align learning with the community demands for 21st century learning. In addition, there is little written about how lecturers use FA with technology in their teaching, and to what extent they validate their FA. Given these issues, there is a need to develop a framework for evaluating and improving FA for use in the digital environment that characterises contemporary teaching in higher education.
Based on the literature on the teachers’ assessment behaviour in FA, this thesis develops a model of FA assessment behaviour that consists of three key elements: the purpose of the assessment; the standard of the performance to achieve the purpose; and the actions to realise the purpose. This model of assessment behaviour, together with the conceptual framework for FA and Toulmin’s argument-based framework for validation adapted from the literature, collectively guide the research design, methodological procedures and data analysis in this thesis to: further our understanding of what purposes underpin lecturers’ design and employment of FA with digital technology and how students respond to this FA; explore how the lecturers can validate their judgment in FA with digital technology, with a focus on enhancing validity of the FA to meet the 21st century educational goals; and develop a framework (measurement rubric) on how to measure the validity of lecturers’ FA.
In conclusion, the research outcome encompasses a systematic review of FA with digital technology over the past two decades, a model of assessment behaviour, and measurement rubric to assess validity of the lecturers’ FA, etc. The limitations and implications for possible future research issues such as validity of purpose-setting are also discussed
Rapid Analysis: Character AI & Children
No full textThis rapid analysis examines Character AI, a multimodal chatbot platform that has rapidly grown to over 20 million monthly active users, many of whom are under 18. Unlike productivity-focused AI tools, Character AI frames itself as an "AI entertainment company," offering user-generated characters for a range of purposes: from creative assistants, to games, to emotional support characters, to fantasy role-playing and more. Our audit highlights the platform’s unique dynamics: weak age verification, evolving youth-driven use cases that are signals for innovation (i.e. roleplay and 'comfort bots'), and platform risks. While Character AI enables creative and expressive play, it also presents new regulatory challenges. We identify critical gaps in youth protections, explore opportunities for youth-centered co-design, and propose action starters for policymakers seeking to balance innovation with safety in this new digital landscape
Health Literacy among primary caregivers of Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC): findings from the Global LMIC CP Register
No full textHealth literacy is a critical determinant of health outcomes, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where caregivers of children with cerebral palsy face significant challenges in managing their child’s condition. This thesis investigates the health literacy of primary caregivers of children with cerebral palsy in low- and middle-income countries, focusing on key determinants, socio-cultural influences, and the potential for peer-led interventions.
The study is structured around three aims: (1) to describe the levels, characteristics, and key determinants of health literacy among primary caregivers in low- and middle-income countries; (2) to profile health literacy in Bangladesh, exploring socio-cultural, economic, and environmental influences; and (3) to evaluate a peer-led intervention to address gaps in health literacy and improve caregiving practices and child health outcomes.
A systematic review identified a major gap in the global literature, with no studies using validated health literacy tools or focusing on cerebral palsy. Maternal education and empowerment emerged as critical determinants. Fieldwork in Malawi and South Africa, along with data from the Bangladesh Cerebral Palsy Register, informed the design of mPower (Mother’s Power), a peer-led initiative aimed at improving health literacy through knowledge-sharing, skill-building, and community support.
Secondary data analysis demonstrated that mPower improved health literacy, caregiving behaviours, and health outcomes for children with cerebral palsy in Bangladesh. This thesis contributes to the growing understanding of health literacy in low- and middle-income countries and proposes a scalable, context-specific model to empower caregivers and improve child health.
The findings underscore the need for research and policy action to close health literacy gaps in resource-limited settings and offer a roadmap for integrating health literacy into public health strategies globally
SHaPED (Sydney Health Partners Emergency Department) dataset
No full textThis dataset includes data for 4,625 encounters (from 18 years old) of low back pain to emergency departments, from two local health districts in Sydney and Western New South Wales, Australia. Data includes demographics, emergency department presentation data, medication use and imaging referrals. Patient reported outcome data is available for a sub-sample of 416 participants (pain, function, and satisfaction with care). The file type is .XL
Gordon Elliott (Tim) Wall, 11 March 1925–13 July 2023
No full textG. E. (Tim) Wall was one of Australia’s leading algebraists, whose work intersected many of the important algebraic themes of his era (roughly 1960–95). This biographical memoir follows his life from his birth in 1925 in Adelaide, through his professional career, mostly at the University of Sydney, giving some details of his family, personal interactions and research
Task Offloading and Resource Allocation for 5G and Beyond Networks
No full textIn this thesis, we give a detailed analysis of the challenges encountered in the 5G and beyond networks in the field of resource allocation. To start with, we provide an introduction to the development of communication technologies and highlight the distinct features of 5G and beyond networks. This serves the purpose of providing the readers with a more general view of the cause behind the challenges encountered in current networks and understanding the importance of addressing these challenges.
To solve these challenges, we proposed three schemes in this thesis, with one focusing on the resource allocation in 5G radio access network (RAN) slicing and two on task offloading and resource allocation in space-air-ground integrated networks (SAGIN). Specifically, these schemes are proposed to satisfy the following requirements under different environment settings: low complexity, online decision-making ability, strong scalability, strong generalization ability, and ease of implementation. To achieve these goals, all schemes are formulated into a block structure where each block accomplishes a dedicated task. The design of each block depends on the function to be accomplished, and both optimization-based approaches and DRL-based approaches are utilized to formulate a block. Each block can be easily implemented into other schemes to achieve the same function as in our work, which greatly improves the generalization ability of our proposed schemes. Additionally, this block structure enables the scheme to have each block designed separately. Several blocks can also be trained in parallel to reduce the complexity of the scheme
Longitudinal study in autosomal recessive PROM1 Inherited Retinal Disease
No full textPROM1, encoding prominin-1, inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) result in significant phenotypic heterogeneity ranging from macular dystrophy to severe rod-cone dystrophy. This study examined a cohort of patients with autosomal recessive (AR) PROM1-associated IRD to determine important potential biomarkers of disease progression on multimodal imaging. Ophthalmic phenotyping included clinical examination, OCT, fundus autofluoresence and electrophysiology. The cohort included 6 patients with bi-allelic variants, including 2 novel variants, and a median of 11.8 years of follow-up. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was maintained until a steep decline around 15 years of age. This was preceded by contraction of the subfoveal ellipsoid zone length (EZL), measured on OCT. Review of the literature demonstrated that cone or cone-rod dystrophy was the most frequently identified clinical phenotype. Loss of function variants including nonsense, frameshift and splice variants were particularly common. This study provides detailed insights into the natural history of AR PROM1 IRD and current understanding in the published literature. Contraction of the subfoveal EZL appears to be a potential biomarker for disease progression and occurs earlier than reduction in BCVA