title: Lessons learned from adapting a remote area health placement from physical to virtual: a COVID-19-driven innovation.

authors: Mak, Donna B.

subjects: community engagement

abstract: OBJECTIVES:  To investigate the acceptability and the effectiveness of a virtual adaptation of a well-established, mandatory, community-based pre-clinical remote area health placement in which medical students learn about the social and environmental determinants of health in remote Australia; and make recommendations to guide the delivery of future learning experiences. METHODS: A mixed-methods convergent design was used. All 99 students, 36 placement hosts and 10 staff were invited to complete an online survey and 27(27%), 12(33%) and 10(100%), respectively, contributed data.  Qualitative data were collected via semi-structured interviews from four students, four hosts and six staff. Survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage) and open-ended responses summarised to provide supporting contextual evidence. Interview transcripts were analysed and coded independently, then corroborated to identify and summarise common themes using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Survey and interview data indicated that the virtual placement was acceptable to students and hosts and enabled students to achieve intended learning objectives.   Virtual activities enabled students and hosts to develop authentic, genuine interpersonal relationships, which in turn were facilitated when hosts and students had practiced videoconferencing beforehand with good high-speed internet connections via mobile devices. Pastoral care and access to IT support were essential. CONCLUSIONS: Virtual placements can be used in combination with and are an option for students and hosts who cannot attend/courses that cannot fund physical placements. Careful design and further research is required to ensure that virtual placements enable "head, heart and hands" learning and do not create/reinforce inequities.

text: Lessons learned from adapting a remote area health placement from physical to virtual: a COVID-19-driven innovation. OBJECTIVES:  To investigate the acceptability and the effectiveness of a virtual adaptation of a well-established, mandatory, community-based pre-clinical remote area health placement in which medical students learn about the social and environmental determinants of health in remote Australia; and make recommendations to guide the delivery of future learning experiences. METHODS: A mixed-methods convergent design was used. All 99 students, 36 placement hosts and 10 staff were invited to complete an online survey and 27(27%), 12(33%) and 10(100%), respectively, contributed data.  Qualitative data were collected via semi-structured interviews from four students, four hosts and six staff. Survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage) and open-ended responses summarised to provide supporting contextual evidence. Interview transcripts were analysed and coded independently, then corroborated to identify and summarise common themes using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Survey and interview data indicated that the virtual placement was acceptable to students and hosts and enabled students to achieve intended learning objectives.   Virtual activities enabled students and hosts to develop authentic, genuine interpersonal relationships, which in turn were facilitated when hosts and students had practiced videoconferencing beforehand with good high-speed internet connections via mobile devices. Pastoral care and access to IT support were essential. CONCLUSIONS: Virtual placements can be used in combination with and are an option for students and hosts who cannot attend/courses that cannot fund physical placements. Careful design and further research is required to ensure that virtual placements enable "head, heart and hands" learning and do not create/reinforce inequities.

year: 2021

title: Implementing Internet topology analysis with emphasis on load balancers and using large numbers of vantage points

authors: Eichler, Stephen John

subjects: Internet measurement

abstract: This thesis describes a study of load balancing and topology discovery in the Internet. Topology data was collected using variants of Traceroute including Traceroute MDA which provides topology information about load balancers.

Optimised Traceroute MDA was applied to investigating or updating basic statistics describing the behaviour and performance of load balancers and their populations in the Internet. Simulation studies were then performed to optimise the efficiency of distributed topology discovery algorithms including an algorithm for discovering load balancers, as well as one based on classic Traceroute.

Initial optimisation of the load balancer discovery tool was based on refining the parameters used to decide when probing should stop at each hop along the Internet path under analysis (stopping values). Internet data was then collected using the tool to attempt to confirm the refined parameters in practice.

Large repeated analyses were performed to quantify load balancer population parameters and change over time. These results included changing prevalence, turnover, load balancer diamond structure including a new statistic called literal width, fields outside the classic five-tuple that control load balancing and flow ID selection factors that affect the efficiency of discovering load balancers. Data was also collected on the occurrence of black holes in load balancers.

The classic Traceroute based tool Doubletree was simulated to test and improve efficiency, as was our new load balancer topology discovery tool Megatree. Doubletree was simulated with both a simple and advanced simulator and a simple simulator was used for Megatree. These topology discovery tools store information within vantage points and communicate between vantage points to reduce traffic required for topology discovery. New approaches to using these tools helped improve efficiency when large numbers of vantage points were used.

text: Implementing Internet topology analysis with emphasis on load balancers and using large numbers of vantage points This thesis describes a study of load balancing and topology discovery in the Internet. Topology data was collected using variants of Traceroute including Traceroute MDA which provides topology information about load balancers.

Optimised Traceroute MDA was applied to investigating or updating basic statistics describing the behaviour and performance of load balancers and their populations in the Internet. Simulation studies were then performed to optimise the efficiency of distributed topology discovery algorithms including an algorithm for discovering load balancers, as well as one based on classic Traceroute.

Initial optimisation of the load balancer discovery tool was based on refining the parameters used to decide when probing should stop at each hop along the Internet path under analysis (stopping values). Internet data was then collected using the tool to attempt to confirm the refined parameters in practice.

Large repeated analyses were performed to quantify load balancer population parameters and change over time. These results included changing prevalence, turnover, load balancer diamond structure including a new statistic called literal width, fields outside the classic five-tuple that control load balancing and flow ID selection factors that affect the efficiency of discovering load balancers. Data was also collected on the occurrence of black holes in load balancers.

The classic Traceroute based tool Doubletree was simulated to test and improve efficiency, as was our new load balancer topology discovery tool Megatree. Doubletree was simulated with both a simple and advanced simulator and a simple simulator was used for Megatree. These topology discovery tools store information within vantage points and communicate between vantage points to reduce traffic required for topology discovery. New approaches to using these tools helped improve efficiency when large numbers of vantage points were used.

year: 2016

title: Researcher-teacher collaboration in Māori-medium education: Aspects of learning for a teacher and researchers in Aotearoa New Zealand when teaching mathematics

authors: Hawera, Ngārewa

subjects: teacher

abstract: This paper describes aspects of learning for a teacher in a Māori-medium Year 7–8 classroom and two mathematics education researchers from a university when they collaborated on a project supporting children to develop their ideas about transformation geometry. Key principles of kaupapa Māori (Māori ideology) methodology such as ako (reciprocal learning), manākitanga (showing care, respect and kindness) and whanaungatanga (family-like relationships) were integral to the initiation and facilitation of the research. Data presented is qualitative and derived largely from wānanga ā-kanohi (face-to-face discussion) between the participants. Results revealed that the collaborative partnership was conducive to developing insights into the complexities of learning mathematics in an indigenous setting. Issues of collegiality, learning mathematics in a second language, teacher mathematical knowledge and appropriate contexts for learning mathematics are analysed and discussed.

text: Researcher-teacher collaboration in Māori-medium education: Aspects of learning for a teacher and researchers in Aotearoa New Zealand when teaching mathematics This paper describes aspects of learning for a teacher in a Māori-medium Year 7–8 classroom and two mathematics education researchers from a university when they collaborated on a project supporting children to develop their ideas about transformation geometry. Key principles of kaupapa Māori (Māori ideology) methodology such as ako (reciprocal learning), manākitanga (showing care, respect and kindness) and whanaungatanga (family-like relationships) were integral to the initiation and facilitation of the research. Data presented is qualitative and derived largely from wānanga ā-kanohi (face-to-face discussion) between the participants. Results revealed that the collaborative partnership was conducive to developing insights into the complexities of learning mathematics in an indigenous setting. Issues of collegiality, learning mathematics in a second language, teacher mathematical knowledge and appropriate contexts for learning mathematics are analysed and discussed.

year: 2014