Adams, NM ORCiD: 0000-0003-0014-244X“The fast evolution of learning technologies has multiplied t... more Adams, NM ORCiD: 0000-0003-0014-244X“The fast evolution of learning technologies has multiplied the number of decisions one must make to create an eLearning system” [1]. Tailored stimulating resources to facilitate and enhance eLearning are unique and critical to the learning experience. Resources must encourage, support and provide guidance, thus increasing engagement and motivating and inspiring students to learn. An understanding of the demographic of the student cohort specific to the individual course is critical.When creating mathematics courses for preparatory students enrolled in the Skills for Tertiary Education Preparatory Studies (STEPS) programme at CQUniversity Australia (CQU), staff must consider the diverse social and educational backgrounds of students. Additionally, CQU caters for students across the country and given the geographical vastness of Australia, remoteness is a significant issue that eLearning is able to overcome, if managed effectively. Unfortunately, d...
Theory and Practice: An Interface or A Great Divide?, 2019
In theory technology breaks down boundaries and allows us to more easily connect to our students.... more In theory technology breaks down boundaries and allows us to more easily connect to our students. But in practice despite all of the technology available mathematics instruction is still best given in a “talk and chalk” format. The use of instructional videos, where the student is able to watch handwritten instruction, has become standard. These are great in that they provide asynchronous instruction and allow the student to learn at a time that suits them. What these videos lack is the interactive component that makes face-toface teaching preferable. To overcome this online lectures are conducted using a combination of Zoom, PDF Annotator and a Tablet PC. Students are provided with an experience much closer to that of face-to-face.
Adams, NM ORCiD: 0000-0003-0014-244XArnold Sommerfeld, a German theoretical physicist, stated ‘If... more Adams, NM ORCiD: 0000-0003-0014-244XArnold Sommerfeld, a German theoretical physicist, stated ‘If you want to be a physicist, you must do three things—first, study mathematics, second, study more mathematics, and third, do the same’ (as cited in Kevles, 1995, p. 200). The importance of mathematics appears to be lost in a modern world of open universities with an emphasis on social inclusion. As governments encourage universities to increase their enrolments and admit greater numbers of non-traditional students, enabling (bridging) programmes are assisting students to gain the prerequisite knowledge required for successful undergraduate studies. This paper will present the preliminary results of a study examining students enrolled in an introductory physics course as part of an enabling programme in regional Australia. In particular the focus of the study is to determine the effect prior mathematics courses have on learning outcomes for these students. Students enrolled in the Introductory Physics course are required to have a very basic level of mathematics but mathematics and physics staff believe the level should be higher. Unfortunately, decisions are made at a higher level; as with many policy decisions made, they are made without discipline knowledge or input
Adams, NM ORCiD: 0000-0003-0014-244XA paradigm shift in higher education is occurring – internati... more Adams, NM ORCiD: 0000-0003-0014-244XA paradigm shift in higher education is occurring – internationally, universities are changing the focus of their undergraduate degrees, increasing enrolments and broadening participation. As a result, non-traditional students who would once have been excluded from university studies are now being accepted. Given the vast social and educational diversities of these students, how do we, as educators, prepare them for undergraduate study? Transformative learning is described as the process of changing the frame of reference that defines an adult’s world. Many students entering university through non-traditional means have decreased mathematical confidence and a diminished perception of mathematics and their mathematical ability. Previous studies have indicated that student confidence in their mathematical ability is important and has a direct impact on their grade. Preparatory mathematics courses that follow adult learning principles can both provide content knowledge and increase confidence whilst catering to the diverse social and educational backgrounds these students. A study conducted by CQUniversity Australia (CQU) examining students’ mathematical confidence prior to and after completing at least one Transition Mathematics course, found students reported a reduction in their fear of mathematics and increased mathematical confidence
Understanding of light-emitting diode lamp behaviour is essential to support the use of these dev... more Understanding of light-emitting diode lamp behaviour is essential to support the use of these devices as illumination sources in near infrared spectroscopy. Spectral variation in light-emitting diode peak output (680, 700, 720, 735, 760, 780, 850, 880 and 940 nm) was assessed over time from power up and with variation in environmental temperature. Initial light-emitting diode power up to full intensity occurred within a measurement cycle (12 ms), then intensity decreased exponentially over approximately 6 min, a result ascribed to an increase in junction temperature as current is passed through the light-emitting diode. Some light-emitting diodes displayed start-up output characteristics on their first use, indicating the need for a short light-emitting diode ‘burn in’ period, which was less than 24 h in all cases. Increasing the ambient temperature produced a logarithmic decrease in overall intensity of the light-emitting diodes and a linear shift to longer wavelength of the peak e...
Deterioration of lamp output quality over time and degradation of detector signal-to-noise ratio ... more Deterioration of lamp output quality over time and degradation of detector signal-to-noise ratio are issues associated with ageing of a spectrophotometer. To document the effect of instrument ageing on short wavelength near infrared spectroscopy-based assessment of internal attributes of fruit quality prediction (total soluble solids, TSS, of juice), an assessment was conducted of several handheld photodiode array-based spectrophotometers over several years, with repeated spectra of a reference Teflon (PTFE) tile and spectra of 20 apple fruit acquired at yearly intervals. The repeatability of each instrument was assessed as the standard deviation of absorbance of repeated measures of a reference, typically around 0.2 mAbs. Instrument changes were identified in performance and in principal components analysis plots, but performance (apple TSS model) was not related to instrument repeatability. A piecewise direct standardisation method is recommended to maintain a multivariate calibra...
Adams, NM ORCiD: 0000-0003-0014-244X“The fast evolution of learning technologies has multiplied t... more Adams, NM ORCiD: 0000-0003-0014-244X“The fast evolution of learning technologies has multiplied the number of decisions one must make to create an eLearning system” [1]. Tailored stimulating resources to facilitate and enhance eLearning are unique and critical to the learning experience. Resources must encourage, support and provide guidance, thus increasing engagement and motivating and inspiring students to learn. An understanding of the demographic of the student cohort specific to the individual course is critical.When creating mathematics courses for preparatory students enrolled in the Skills for Tertiary Education Preparatory Studies (STEPS) programme at CQUniversity Australia (CQU), staff must consider the diverse social and educational backgrounds of students. Additionally, CQU caters for students across the country and given the geographical vastness of Australia, remoteness is a significant issue that eLearning is able to overcome, if managed effectively. Unfortunately, d...
Theory and Practice: An Interface or A Great Divide?, 2019
In theory technology breaks down boundaries and allows us to more easily connect to our students.... more In theory technology breaks down boundaries and allows us to more easily connect to our students. But in practice despite all of the technology available mathematics instruction is still best given in a “talk and chalk” format. The use of instructional videos, where the student is able to watch handwritten instruction, has become standard. These are great in that they provide asynchronous instruction and allow the student to learn at a time that suits them. What these videos lack is the interactive component that makes face-toface teaching preferable. To overcome this online lectures are conducted using a combination of Zoom, PDF Annotator and a Tablet PC. Students are provided with an experience much closer to that of face-to-face.
Adams, NM ORCiD: 0000-0003-0014-244XArnold Sommerfeld, a German theoretical physicist, stated ‘If... more Adams, NM ORCiD: 0000-0003-0014-244XArnold Sommerfeld, a German theoretical physicist, stated ‘If you want to be a physicist, you must do three things—first, study mathematics, second, study more mathematics, and third, do the same’ (as cited in Kevles, 1995, p. 200). The importance of mathematics appears to be lost in a modern world of open universities with an emphasis on social inclusion. As governments encourage universities to increase their enrolments and admit greater numbers of non-traditional students, enabling (bridging) programmes are assisting students to gain the prerequisite knowledge required for successful undergraduate studies. This paper will present the preliminary results of a study examining students enrolled in an introductory physics course as part of an enabling programme in regional Australia. In particular the focus of the study is to determine the effect prior mathematics courses have on learning outcomes for these students. Students enrolled in the Introductory Physics course are required to have a very basic level of mathematics but mathematics and physics staff believe the level should be higher. Unfortunately, decisions are made at a higher level; as with many policy decisions made, they are made without discipline knowledge or input
Adams, NM ORCiD: 0000-0003-0014-244XA paradigm shift in higher education is occurring – internati... more Adams, NM ORCiD: 0000-0003-0014-244XA paradigm shift in higher education is occurring – internationally, universities are changing the focus of their undergraduate degrees, increasing enrolments and broadening participation. As a result, non-traditional students who would once have been excluded from university studies are now being accepted. Given the vast social and educational diversities of these students, how do we, as educators, prepare them for undergraduate study? Transformative learning is described as the process of changing the frame of reference that defines an adult’s world. Many students entering university through non-traditional means have decreased mathematical confidence and a diminished perception of mathematics and their mathematical ability. Previous studies have indicated that student confidence in their mathematical ability is important and has a direct impact on their grade. Preparatory mathematics courses that follow adult learning principles can both provide content knowledge and increase confidence whilst catering to the diverse social and educational backgrounds these students. A study conducted by CQUniversity Australia (CQU) examining students’ mathematical confidence prior to and after completing at least one Transition Mathematics course, found students reported a reduction in their fear of mathematics and increased mathematical confidence
Understanding of light-emitting diode lamp behaviour is essential to support the use of these dev... more Understanding of light-emitting diode lamp behaviour is essential to support the use of these devices as illumination sources in near infrared spectroscopy. Spectral variation in light-emitting diode peak output (680, 700, 720, 735, 760, 780, 850, 880 and 940 nm) was assessed over time from power up and with variation in environmental temperature. Initial light-emitting diode power up to full intensity occurred within a measurement cycle (12 ms), then intensity decreased exponentially over approximately 6 min, a result ascribed to an increase in junction temperature as current is passed through the light-emitting diode. Some light-emitting diodes displayed start-up output characteristics on their first use, indicating the need for a short light-emitting diode ‘burn in’ period, which was less than 24 h in all cases. Increasing the ambient temperature produced a logarithmic decrease in overall intensity of the light-emitting diodes and a linear shift to longer wavelength of the peak e...
Deterioration of lamp output quality over time and degradation of detector signal-to-noise ratio ... more Deterioration of lamp output quality over time and degradation of detector signal-to-noise ratio are issues associated with ageing of a spectrophotometer. To document the effect of instrument ageing on short wavelength near infrared spectroscopy-based assessment of internal attributes of fruit quality prediction (total soluble solids, TSS, of juice), an assessment was conducted of several handheld photodiode array-based spectrophotometers over several years, with repeated spectra of a reference Teflon (PTFE) tile and spectra of 20 apple fruit acquired at yearly intervals. The repeatability of each instrument was assessed as the standard deviation of absorbance of repeated measures of a reference, typically around 0.2 mAbs. Instrument changes were identified in performance and in principal components analysis plots, but performance (apple TSS model) was not related to instrument repeatability. A piecewise direct standardisation method is recommended to maintain a multivariate calibra...
Uploads