Our Open Textbook Catalogue

This edited collection, published in partnership between The University of Waikato and The University of Newcastle, explores inclusion and accessibility in Higher Education, with international authors sharing best practice in the face-to-face, blended, and online classroom. The collection draws on the 2023 partnership between The University of Waikato and The University of Newcastle in hosting the Te Puna Aurei/LearnFest symposium ‘Education Without Boundaries’. This is a biannual teaching and learning symposium hosted by Te Puna Ako – Centre for Tertiary Teaching & Learning at Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato | The University of Waikato in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand. Authors expand on their experiences in creating and facilitating inclusive and accessible learning experiences through teaching, course and curriculum design, and other aspects of teaching and learning to explore innovative teaching practices and pedagogies around inclusion. Key topics include the student experience, focussing on retention, support, experience or empowerment; equitable access, opportunities, and diversity; flexible modes of delivery; assessment design; physical and virtual learning spaces; and generative AI in higher education. The collection brings together a diverse range of experiences across Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, and beyond to provide opportunities for inclusive equitable, and accessible teaching and learning in higher education – and thus creating opportunities for education without boundaries.

Diagnosis: a Medical Education Game is an immersive serious game, where players navigate the hospital gathering crucial clinical information to successfully diagnose and hand over a patient. Diagnosis eases the transition from campus-based to placement-based learning, introducing productive failure opportunities in a low-stakes setting. Diagnosis also highlights the importance of managing resources and prioritising differentials, offering opportunities to reflect on multiple elements of the clinical reasoning process, supporting the development of adaptive expertise.

As you progress, you will interview and examine your patient, order tests and imaging scans. Use your judgement wisely, or you will run out of money before reaching a diagnosis. If you miss something, your patient’s condition may deteriorate, so be as thorough as you can! Collaborate with teammates, and challenge your knowledge on your way to solving medical mysteries. But beware of the ‘Spooky Consultant’ lurking around the corners, adding an extra layer of suspense and thrill. Bring out your inner doctor, hone your diagnostic skills, and experience the pulse-pounding excitement of healthcare education like never before!

This resource is primarily based on teaching material developed by the author over several years for courses (including CIVL4201/6201 Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, and CIVL4571/6571 Geotechnical Engineering Project) offered by the University of Newcastle, Australia. It builds upon fundamentals of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering introduced elsewhere, and it assumes that the reader has some familiarity with basic soil mechanics concepts. The resource is focused on application of fundamental soil mechanics concepts to practical Geotechnical Engineering tasks, such as: interpretation of geotechnical investigation results, design of shallow foundations under serviceability and ultimate limit state conditions, and analysis and design of deep foundations. In addition to the above, the resource includes a brief introduction to Geoenvironmental Engineering, concentrating on the problem of soil and groundwater contamination, the description of relevant remediation techniques and the demonstration of simple methods for the design of remediation facilities.

The analytical and empirical state-of-practice and state-of-the-art methodologies covered in this resource conform (or have been adapted by the author) to the pertinent Australian Standards, which are extensively referenced in the text, whereas normative design concepts such as the Load and Resistance Factor Design are demonstrated, via their application in numerous worked examples.

In parallel, the use of numerical methods in Geotechnical and Foundation Engineering is introduced, by means of several example problems treated with the industry-standard finite element code PLAXIS. Emphasis is not put on linear and non-linear finite element theory or advanced numerical modelling techniques and soil constitutive models, but rather on the use of numerical methods to tackle fundamental Geotechnical (and Geoenvironmental) Engineering problems, and on key modeling issues encountered in everyday practice. The concept of using simpler, analytical methods to validate numerical analysis results and guide the development of more complex, real-world models is underlined.

The Field Epidemiology in Action (FEiA)  team are a consortium of partners, with the core team based in Newcastle, Australia, at  the Hunter New England Local Health District and University of Newcastle. FEiA supports National Departments of Health in the Pacific to establish field epidemiology training programs focussed on public health impact. The reference guide has been developed specifically for students, faculty and alumni of the field epidemiology training programs in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, but is general enough for use in any intermediate level program. It contains definitions and worked examples of key field epidemiology concepts such as surveillance, outbreak investigation, and communicable disease control.