What's On at UWA

On Sunday 31 March we will have the pleasure of a lecture by one of the best-known experts on Roman Britain РGuy de la B̩doy̬re, well known for his appearences on the popular television show Time Team. All welcome, but please RSVP as venue capacity is limited. You will be issued with a ticket.

LMS for New Users will provide participants with an introductory overview of the Moodle powered LMS (Learning Management System) used as our online learning environment here at UWA. You will need to complete this workshop before being eligible to take part in any intermediate or advanced Moodle/LMS training. Moodle is an online learning environment that provides a variety of tools, features and interactions that can support your teaching (and students' learning) experiences at UWA.

The Humanist Society of WA is excited to invite you to a special lecture event from humanist and author Sean Faircloth on the Perth leg of his Australian book tour.

Sean Faircloth is author of the book 'Attack of the Theocrats: How the Religious Right Harms Us All - And What We Can Do About It.' (2012) ‘Reclaiming a Secular Australia’ will be an important engagement for any citizen, particularly educators and public thinkers concerned to keep Australia’s diverse multicultural society inclusive of all religions as well as non-believers.

“Religious groups are engaging in a coordinated effort,” Faircloth says, “to influence government, schools, and to spread an extremist agenda in the developing world,” “This is a wake up call. I challenge atheists and liberal-minded religious people to think beyond symbolic issues, smell the coffee and agree on a challenging and coordinated response.”

As an advocate for maintaining a separation of church and state, Faircloth's ‘Reclaiming a Secular Australia’ discusses the growing connection between religion and politics in the Australian context. He will draw on his global experiences to explain how citizens may regain and preserve Australia’s distinctive secular culture.

“Faircloth paints a sobering picture, but fortunately, as anyone who has heard his speeches knows, he also has an inspiring and invigorating vision to offer...a much needed plan for action.” Richard Dawkins

Tickets: 6448 2440 ($27 Adults/ $17 Students/Seniors)

Enquiries: Jaye Christie 0405 517 059/ Stevie Modern 0401 084 242

Expression of Interest for the first “Speed Networking” session in 2013 on

Gender Research

Greet new researchers Engage with others and share your gender research Network with researchers across UWA Diversify your research collaborations Enhance your profile in this field and Revitalise your research ideas

Date: Wednesday 3rd April, Time: 10 am to 12 pm (morning tea included) Venue: Monodelphous Integrated Learning Centre, Lycopodium Room 151 http://lostoncampus.com.au/4844

Format of the meeting may vary depending on the numbers These events have been very popular, so be sure to RSVP to your Faculty Research Development Adviser.

Expression of Interest

Name:

School:

Research interest:

Years since PhD:

RSVP to your Faculty Research Development Adviser: Science – [email protected] MDHS – [email protected] FECM – [email protected] FA – [email protected] FE – [email protected] FL – [email protected] Bus – [email protected]

Participants will explore the functionality of the Grades area (from both a staff and student perspective) and learn how to use it effectively for grade administration.

Quiet Day for UWA Staff – Friday 5th April 2013 Set on a lovely bush block these Quiet Day provides some space to 'be alone' in the company of other UWA academics and professional staff with the intention of marking out some good quality thinking/reflection time.

There is no formal 'content' to the day – no presentations or butcher's paper! Rather we seek to create an environment of quiet, trust and collegiality in which things become clearer and creative new ideas can emerge. This involves a combination of small group reflections on poetry (which helps slow down the pace and takes us into a deeper level of contemplation) and an extended period of silence, in which participants can rest and reflect. ‘We do less in order to achieve more’. This is not a ‘religious’ event.

The principles underpinning the Quiet Day are based on the work of Parker J Palmer (The Courage to Teach; The Heart of Higher Education), more of which can be found at: www.couragerenewal.org

Cost: $50 including lunch, morning and afternoon teas ($35 for PhD students)

A registration form can be obtained by emailing [email protected] or phone Michael for more information on 0435 065326

Registration and payment is needed by Wednesday 27th March 2013.

Previous participants have commented:

"this retreat provided a rare opportunity to quietly reflect on what's going on for me internally as a teacher, helped by excellent facilitators and a wonderful peaceful location"

"the benefits of this retreat to my personal and professional life have been immense"

“Thank you for the retreat - I found it really useful, have a sense of focus, realised I was missing an important work goal and came home and wrote a research paper that has been bugging me for some time” (from unsolicited email)

“it is good because it forces you to disengage in order to more fully engage – well done and many thanks”

“useful, health-giving and creative time”

“definitely go!”

“The best thing about the day was the space to think (but the whole deal was great) – yes, go. Important opportunity to reflect. Thank you to the organisers. I feel positively that UWA supported this”.

Abstract:

L. Redei has studied in a detailed way so-called "lacunary" polynomials over finite fields. One of the applications described is to investigate the number of values the difference quotient of a polynomial over a finite field can have. This result has a direct implication in the theory of blocking sets of finite Desarguesian projective planes, and this connection is the start of the use of "Redei-polynomials" in finite geometry. We will discuss some cases to explain the principle of using Redei-polynomials finite projective spaces and some particular generalized quadrangle. Then we discuss a problem on maximal partial ovoids, that has been partially solved using Redei-polynomials, but that can be expressed in terms of transitive subsets of the group SL(2,q).

Group work is continually being touted as a beneficial and necessary process for student learning and yet students often complain about it both from the point of view of distribution of work and fairness of assessment. How do you ensure students actually learn all that is intended and don't merely divide the content and work between them? How do you ensure even contribution by students towards their group task? International best practice in group work, that students enjoy and that enhances their learning, will be demonstrated. Case studies of methods being employed at UWA will be discussed.

Abstract:

For any class of graphs, the growth function h(n) of the class is defined to be the maximum number of edges in a graph in the class on n vertices. The Erdos-Stone Theorem remarkably states that, for any class of graphs that is closed under taking subgraphs, the asymptotic behaviour of h(n) can (almost) be precisely determined just by the minimum chromatic number of a graph not in the class. I will present a surprising version of this theorem for finite geometries, obtained in joint work with Jim Geelen. This result is a corollary of the famous Density Hales-Jewett Theorem of Furstenberg and Katznelson.

Principles for designing an effective, post-compulsory Music curriculum suitable for Western Australia.

A new post-compulsory Music course known as the West Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) Music course was recently introduced into Year 11 and 12 in Western Australian (WA) schools after a convoluted process of creation, and its implementation into classrooms has been problematic. Given criticism levelled at its process of creation and implementation, does the WACE Music course embody effective, recognised principles to support the effective teaching and learning of music? The aim of this study is to investigate the principles which should form the basis of an effective, post-compulsory music curriculum, suitable for WA. The study involved a literature review which seeks to produce a set of principles for teaching and learning frameworks based upon international best practice in music education, and applicable in the unique geographical, historical and multicultural WA context. In addition, the study employed a researcher-designed survey instrument to examine whether Western Australian music teachers perceived these principles to be evident in their practical experiences of the WACE music course. With the subsequent publishing of a draft Australian National Arts Curriculum, it is an appropriate time to review the principles which should underpin an effective Music curriculum for senior secondary students in the WA context.

A public lecture by Ole Pedersen, University of Copengagen and 2013 IAS Professor-at-Large.

Seagrasses suffer worldwide and we are not sure why. Should we care about it? This lecture will argue that we should indeed care, as seagrasses also protect against coastal erosion, they promote clear water and they host juveniles of several important fish species. In the lecture, Professor Pedersen will discuss two complementary processes causing diebacks of these crucial marine ecosystems – asphyxiation and poisoning. Both are related to human exploitation of the sea and also to global climate changes. Bookings: www.ias.uwa.edu.au/lectures/pedersen or RSVP to [email protected] or 6488 1340

Disposal of mining waste is becoming one of the key issues holding up permitting of some new mines; it contributes to the ‘social licence to operate’, a term that is used to characterise the concerns and resistance to mining from communities potentially affected by the mining process. The largest volumes of mining waste are often the tailings (crushed and processed ore), which are usually in a fluid state when pumped to the tailings storage facilities (TSFs). Failures of these facilities occur with monotonous regularity, plus many of them adversely impact the surrounding environment. Two methods of reducing this impact are discussed, and modelling requirements explained. The first topic deals with the placement of tailings back into the underground voids formed by mining, after adding small amounts of cement. This cemented paste backfill (CPB) hydrates and gains strength over time. The rate of gain of strength and stiffness, the amount of consolidation, and interaction with the adjacent rock mass are all components that require modelling. A particular topic that has been highlighted as contributing to the successful use of CPB is termed ‘self-desiccation’, which is the volume loss during the hydration process. This process and its impacts on stability of the CPB system are described. The second half of the talk focusses on the placement on surface of tailings that have been dewatered to an extent not previously possible, producing what is termed thickened tailings or paste tailings. When this non-Newtonian material is deposited from a pipeline, it forms a positive gradient as it flows on the natural ground. The slope of this ‘beach’ is a key input to design of these facilities, but to date the techniques used for predicting these ‘beach’ slopes are mainly empirical and not well proven. The techniques used to characterise these materials and some examples of their application are described, followed by a brief discussion of currently used methods for beach slope prediction and the need for development of a method based on fundamental understanding of the relevant processes.

All welcome

This workshop will focus on the criteria and evidence that can be included in a teaching portfolio and used for PDR and promotion. You will leave this session confident and eager to make a start on your own portfolio. This workshop is a good follow-up to the 'What counts as evidence of good teaching' workshop.

Dr Jadva will present data from a longitudinal study of families created using assisted reproduction, specifically egg donation, sperm donation and surrogacy. The children were born around the turn of the new millennium and families were visited when their child was aged 1, 2, 3, 7 and 10 years. Children’s views about their birth at ages 7 and 10 will also be provided.

This session is for all academic and sessional teaching staff at UWA, particularly those constructing teaching portfolios or teaching award submissions. This session will examine what constitutes robust evidence. This workshop is intended to provide the evidence basis for the workshop on Developing your Teaching Portfolio.

Abstract: New mining development in the central Pilbara region is expected to put considerable pressure on the environment, primarily through mine dewatering. While there are various options for managing the effects of dewatering, the challenge is to select options that are socially efficient and ensure an efficient sharing of responsibilities between multiple mining companies. The current regulatory approach in Western Australia, in which project proposals are assessed on a ‘first-in, first served’ basis, is not well equipped to deliver a socially efficient outcome. This paper examines the weaknesses of the current approach and proposes an alternative framework.

Biography: Martin is a leading resource and environmental economist with 15 years experience in consulting to government and private sector clients. He is a director of Aither, a national economics and policy firm that was founded in 2012. He previously held senior roles at PwC and the Allen Consulting Group. Martin works across a range of industry sectors, including water services, waste, agriculture, fisheries, mining, science and technology. He has specialist expertise in water policy and management, regulatory economics, pricing, cost-benefit analysis and strategic program reviews. Martin works with scientists, engineers and lawyers to deliver succinct policy advice to decision-makers. This has included the development of investment frameworks, prioritisation of options through cost-benefit and risk analysis, economic impact assessment, and the application of economic principles to complex policy and management problems. His work includes the preparation of submissions and strategies for corporate clients, R&D impact evaluation, and policy frameworks for government agencies in the areas of water and environment. Martin’s technical skills are complemented by his strong managerial and leadership expertise. He has managed many high-profile assignments and coordinated inter-disciplinary teams, often comprising staff located in several offices across Australia. His project work frequently involves stakeholder consultations on politically sensitive issues. Martin holds a PhD in environmental economics from the University of Western Australia (UWA) and a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree, also from UWA.

Abstract: We study the role of institutional development as a causal mechanism of history affecting current economic performance. Several indicators capturing different dimensions of early development in 1500 AD are used to remove the endogenous component of the variations in institutions. These indicators are adjusted with large-scale movements of people across international borders using the global migration matrix of Putterman and Weil (2010) to account for the fact that the ancestors of a population have facilitated the diffusion of knowledge when they migrate. The exogenous component of institutions due to historical development is found to be a significant determinant of current output. By demonstrating that the relationship between early development and current economic performance works through the channel of institutions and that better institutions can be traced back to historical factors, the results of this paper shed some light on how history has played a role in shaping long-run comparative development.

Researchers from the Optical + Biomedical Engineering Laboratory (OBEL) share their research findings related to the use of light as a medical diagnostic tool at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery on Friday 12 April 2013.

OBEL is based within the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics - campus partner of the current exhibition LUMINOUSFLUX, which explores the ways in which local and international artists harness the magical palette of light.

For more info on this and similar events, visit the Public Program schedule of the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery http://www.lwgallery.uwa.edu.au/publicprogram/

Abstract:

Matroids are combinatorial structures that generalize graphs as well as configurations of points in projective space. They consist of a finite ground set E and a set of subsets of E called B, such that B satisfies certain axioms. We consider the problem of bounding the number m_n of matroids on a fixed ground set of size n. In 1973, Piff showed that log log m_n < n- log n + O(log log n) In 1974, Knuth gave a lower bound of log log m_n > n- (3/2) log n + (1/2) log(2/pi) - o(1) In the talk, I will present a recent result with Nikhil Bansal and Jorn van der Pol, that log log m_n < n- (3/2) log n + (1/2) log(2/pi) + 1 + o(1)

The purpose of this day is to recognise the important role sessional teachers play in the delivery of a quality student experience and to thank them for their contribution.