Thesis Course Research Articles

Dumpster Dinners: An Ethnographic Study of Freeganism

Dumpster Dinners: An Ethnographic Study of Freeganism at Illinois State University dives into dumpsters with the freegan subculture of Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. Freeganism is a way of life based on limited participation in the conventional economy and has been gaining popularity in recent years. Freegans strive to spend little money, barter or trade for goods and services, and live off food that has been thrown away. The freegans in this study are three motivated and educated women who regularly dumpster dive behind local businesses for food and products. Additionally, the freegans barter for goods and services and exhibit a “make it do or do without” attitude that seems almost obsolete in today’s hyperconsuming America. This study explores where and why freegans exist, the process of turning garbage into groceries, why perfectly good groceries become garbage in the first place, and what can be learned from the freegan way of life. This study was conducted for an undergraduate senior thesis course in Anthropology at Illinois State University, spring of 2010.

CLPL: Providing software infrastructure for the systematic and effective construction of complex collaborative learning systems

Over the last decade, e-Learning and in particular Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) needs have been evolving accordingly with more and more demanding pedagogical and technological requirements. As a result, high customization and flexibility are a must in this context, meaning that collaborative learning practices need to be continuously adapted, adjusted, and personalized to each specific target learning group. These very demanding needs of the CSCL domain represent a great challenge for the research community on software development to satisfy. This contribution presents and evaluates a previous research effort in the form of a generic software infrastructure called Collaborative Learning Purpose Library (CLPL) with the aim of meeting the current and demanding needs found in the CSCL domain. To this end, we experiment with the CLPL in order to offer an advanced reuse-based service-oriented software engineering methodology for developing CSCL applications in an effective and timely fashion. A validation process is provided by reporting on the use of the CLPL platform as the primary resource for the Master's thesis courses at the Open University of Catalonia when developing complex software applications in the CSCL domain. The ultimate aim of the whole research is to yield effective CSCL software systems capable of supporting and enhancing the current on-line collaborative learning practices.

Finding a Reasonable Alternative: An Integrated Approach to Refugee Law, Relocation and the Internal Flight Alternative

This paper was prepared for the Honours Thesis course at the ANU College of Law, under the supervision of Matthew Zagor. A relatively recent inclusion in refugee status determinations, the Internal Flight Alternative (IFA) is applied inconsistently both within and between jurisdictions. This has serious consequences for asylum-seeker's to whom the IFA may apply. IFA cases have significant similarities with the application of the so-called ceased circumstances cessation clauses in Article 1C(5) and (6) of the Refugees Convention, with voluntary repatriation of refugees, and in situations of internal displacement. This paper examines these similarities in relation to the stability and durability of proposed relocation areas, the standard of human rights in that area, and who the agent of protection is. The paper suggests that using the cessation clauses, voluntary repatriation guidelines, internal displacement guidelines, and existing principles in the Refugees Convention would provide a more integrated approach to application of the IFA.

Three Models of the Place of Quantum Meruit in the Law of Obligations

This paper was prepared for the Honours Thesis course at the ANU College of Law, under the supervision of Pauline Ridge. This paper considers the place of quantum meruit, a cause of action allowing a plaintiff to recover reasonable remuneration for services rendered, within the law of obligations. Three models are used to represent different ways of classifying quantum meruit, with a focus on the relationship between quantum meruit and contract. Historically, quantum meruit has been classified as 'quasi-contractual', with recovery based on an implied contract. The author has termed this approach the 'integration model', where contract and quantum meruit are part of the same body of law. However, the High Court of Australia, along with many commentators has rejected this model, instead classifying quantum meruit as a distinct cause of action. This approach is termed 'the separation model'. The separation model does not represent a satisfactory way of classifying quantum meruit. Instead, the best approach is to classify quantum meruit according to a modified form of the integration model, dubbed the 'less than perfect contract model'. Some implications of this reclassification are then considered.

Obstacles to Achieving an Environmentally Sustainable Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme: Lessons from Previous Legislative Environmental Regimes

This paper was prepared for the Honours Thesis course at the ANU College of Law, under the supervision of Brad Jessup. Australia's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) will not exist in a vacuum, unaffected by existent regulatory shortcomings. This paper aims to identify obstacles to the achievement of a CPRS that promotes environmental sustainability. In particular this paper examines the proposed CPRS in light of past Australian and international experiences in creating and implementing environmental regulation. Past experiences demonstrate the detrimental impact non-compliance, non-enforcement, a lack of ambition and defective rules can have on an environmental regime's effectiveness in promoting environmental sustainability. Conversely, past experiences also demonstrate the combination of elements that can together combine to create an effective environmental regime. This paper analyses the proposed CPRS in terms of its likely ability to overcome the obstacles that have thwarted past Australian environmental regimes, particularly the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act regime and the NSW Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme. By looking abroad at the German Feed-in Law the paper also offers insight into those factors that could aid the achievement of an effective Australian CPRS.

Students’ expectations, concerns and comprehensions when writing theses as part of their nursing education

This study investigates students' expectations and apprehensions before starting writing their Bachelor thesis and their experiences after completion. The questionnaire, which consisted of open questions, was given to 171 students at the beginning of the thesis course; of these, 107 replied; at the end of the course a total of 150 students answered and returned the questionnaire. The answers were analysed according to content analysis. Seven themes describing expectations and apprehensions; and four themes describing experience after completion of the thesis emerged. The results show that students' experiences can be divided into two different groups. One group saw the thesis project as being an important preparation for future professional activities, and one group, consisting of only a few students, described the production of a thesis as being a nightmare. Nevertheless, all the students considered that their experience of learning and the insights gained, together with the learning skills acquired through writing would be of great value in their coming professional life, and that they had become aware of alternative ways of thinking. All the students were proud of the work they had completed, and some saw it as a form of recognition or a "craftsman's diploma".

Peer assessment in thesis oral presentation

Peer assessment has been studied in various situations and actively pursued as a means by which students are given more control over their learning and assessment achievement. This study investigated the reliability of staff and student assessments in two oral presentations with limited feedback for a school-based thesis course in engineering where the different disciplines ran their own assessment. Staff scores were generally found to be more reliable than student scores, but it was not consistent. The engineering disciplines displayed widely varying differences between the staff and student scores. A large variation in reliability was found for the different disciplines making it difficult to reconcile to a standard school-based overall grading scheme for the course when the reliability of marking was low. The results also showed that the average scores for oral presentations are generally much higher than for written examinations, based on the grade point average. Future research will need to investigate how best to develop a consistent assessment framework for oral presentations and moderation of scores for consistency, particularly for large classes where assessment are done by different groups of staff and students and collated into a single set of marks for the class.

Students' anxiety in a senior thesis course.

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was administered on Weeks 8, 12, and 15 of a semester to 16 students enrolled in a senior thesis course. State anxiety scores were elevated when oral presentations began and declined following the presentations. Trait anxiety scores remained constant across test administrations. The influence of situational variables on students' anxiety was discussed.

STUDENTS' ANXIETY IN A SENIOR THESIS COURSE

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was administered on Weeks 8, 12, and 15 of a semester to 16 students enrolled in a senior thesis course. State anxiety scores were elevated when oral presentations began and declined following the presentations. Trait anxiety scores remained constant across test administrations. The influence of situational variables on students' anxiety was discussed.