Strategies for Teaching Maritime Archaeology in the Twenty First Century

Maritime archaeology is a multi-faceted discipline that requires both theoretical learning and practical skills training. In the past most universities have approached the teaching of maritime archaeology as a full-time on-campus activity designed for ‘traditional’ graduate students; primarily those in their early twenties who have recently come from full-time undergraduate study and who are able to study on-campus. The needs of mature-age and other students who work and live in different places (or countries) and therefore cannot attend lectures on a regular basis (or at all) have largely been ignored. This paper provides a case study in the teaching of maritime archaeology from Australia that, in addition to ‘traditional’ on-campus teaching, includes four main components: (1) learning field methods through field schools; (2) skills training through the AIMA/NAS avocational training program; (3) distance learning topics available through CD-ROM and using the Internet; and (4) practicums, internships and fellowships. The author argues that programs to teach maritime archaeology in the twenty first century need to be flexible and to address the diverse needs of students who do not fit the ‘traditional’ model. This involves collaborative partnerships with other universities as well as government underwater cultural heritage management agencies and museums, primarily through field schools, practicums and internships.     

Engaging with the (Un)familiar: Field Teaching in a Multi-Campus Teaching Environment

Field trips have long been central to geography, but have been subject to assessment of the role of the ‘field’ in teaching. At the same time, academics face barriers to running field trips. Distance education and enhanced educational access for non-metropolitan students represented such an obstacle at an Australian university. These obstacles were taken as an opportunity to draw on the regional nature of the students and staff to enhance teaching goals, run critically informed field trips by and manage academic workloads. We evaluate the field trips by conducting surveys and interviews with students and tutors, and as an example of innovation within constraints.     

Humanising the Technology Landscape through a Collaborative Pedagogy

A major shift in educational paradigms from a competitive model to a more collaborative model is now under way in higher education. Using collaborative theories espoused by Freire, Bruffee and other scholars working outside the discipline of geography, this paper presents an argument for integrating their collaborative approach into distance education courses at the postgraduate level. The Step Up to Geography Through Distance Learning project is used to provide one innovative model that integrates not only the collaborative method of instruction, but also the use of a multi-layered system of instructional technologies including use of desktop videoconferencing and the Internet.     

无边界学习、多媒体技术运用与远程教育

教学中社会与学校、教师与学生、课程与生活、知识与经验等二元结构是客观存在的,也是无法从根本上剔除的。一位优秀的教师是要承认二元的存在,同时又协调二元的关系,也就是我们时常讲的“对立统一”。借助信息技术（多媒体教学）做到“对立统一”是一个极好的方法。无论运用何种手段。只要能够打破教学中的时间、地点、人物、任务和结果的单一性,真正做到“社会即学校”、“以学生为师”、“生活即学习,学习即生活”,这就叫“无边界学习”。“多媒体技术运用”和“远程教育”都不能讲是“无边界学习”。     

Building a GIScience Community in Cyberspace: reflections on GIScOnline

In this paper, distance learning is defined not as the physical separation of students from a tutor but by the need to facilitate group learning, interaction and a sense of community amongst course participants. A critical review of an established distance-learning course is made reflecting on the team's experiences of building a learning community in cyberspace. The successes and failures are recorded, as are the barriers to engendering a sense of kinship on the course. A survey of students' own experiences with and feeling towards various communication technologies is also presented.     

Ground Motion Parameters for the 2011 Great Japan Tohoku Earthquake

The 2011 great Japan Tohoku earthquake is not only the most devastating but also, one of the best recorded earthquakes in the history of seismology. A thorough study of strong motion characteristics of this earthquake is conducted using 20 well established ground motion parameters (GMPs). The behaviour of these parameters with fault distance and average shear wave velocity is examined and attenuation relationships are developed using the 1172 surface level strong motion records. In addition, all GMPs are categorized on a statistical basis using principal component analysis, which is further used to rate the damage potential of ground motion records.     

Virtual Development and Virtual Geographies: Using the Internet to teach interactive distance courses in the global South

This paper evaluates the delivery and learning outcomes of an interactive postgraduate geography and development MSc programme taught partially over the Internet, to students living in some of the most connectivity-poor regions of the world. It focuses particularly on the experiences of course developers, tutors and students, with the distance strand of a Master's Programme pioneered by Royal Holloway, University of London, and IW:LEARN (International Waters Learning Exchange and Resource Network), a UNDP-implemented project of the Global Environment Facility. Issues of design and implementation are discussed, with particular reference to pedagogical and financial questions and the considerable technical and personnel difficulties encountered. Comparability of experience between distance and residential students forms a central concern.     

Arena symposium: equal opportunities

The Internet is a hospitable medium for distance learning. Some geography educators fear that distance education confronts the discipline with a moral dilemma, however. One, in particular, acknowledges some of the advantages of distance learning, but contends that it cannot convey the sense of place that is 'the essence of what it means to be a geographer'. This paper is concerned with the morality of distance learning. In particular, it considers educators' obligations to deliver quality education, and to make it as widely accessible as possible. The paper stresses that the key distinction between distance learning and traditional resident instruction is not the mode of delivery, nor is it the distances in time and space that separate students and teachers. Rather, it is that distance learners are a qualitatively different, older population, with different educational needs from traditional on-campus undergraduates and graduate students. The paper argues that geography educators have a moral obligation to serve lifelong learners, an obligation that should take precedence over our allegiance to conventional notions about what constitutes the essence of our field.     

Constant Ductility Energy Factors for the Near-Fault Pulse-Like Ground Motions

This study is focused on the constant ductility energy factors for bilinear system under the near-fault pulse-like ground motions. The variation of energy factors is studied in consideration of the earthquake magnitude, rupture distance, damping ratios, and post-yield stiffness ratios. The results indicate that the near-fault pulse-like ground motions would increase the energy dissipation of structures. The energy factors are significantly influenced by the earthquake magnitude. The damping ratios have more obvious influences on the energy factors than the post-yield stiffness ratios. A predictive model is proposed for the application of constant ductility energy factors for near-fault pulse-like ground motions.     

开展远程教育的必要性

开展现代远程教育是经济和社会发展的要求。现代远程教育将信息技术融于教育教程,可以全方位地为各类社会成员提供教育服务,填补传统教育的不足和空白,是提高国民素质促进经济发展和社会进步的重要推动力之一。本文针对开展远程教育的必要性和重要性提出了一些作者的看法。