Dr Wayne Brookes

Koppi, T., Sheard, J., Naghdy, F., Edwards, S.L. & Brookes, W.C. 2010, 'Towards a Gender Inclusive Information and Communications Technology Curriculum: a Perspective from Graduates in the Workforce', Computer Science Education, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 265-282.
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An online survey was conducted of recent information and communications technology (ICT) graduates from 21 Australian universities. A range of abilities including personal/interpersonal, cognitive, business and technical were examined in relation to importance in the workplace and university preparation of those abilities. In addition, a set of six open-ended text-response questions concerned with the curriculum and other workplace preparation were asked. Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed a range of responses that were significantly different according to gender. Amongst the significant findings are that females are more concerned than males with interpersonal communication, the development of people-skills and the people side of ICT. Implications for the ICT curriculum are that it should have more than a narrow male-centred technological focus and include the involvement of people and the effects of ICT on society in general. This broad inclusive pedagogical approach would satisfy the needs expressed by all respondents and contribute to increasing the enrolments of both female and male students in ICT.

Koppi, T., Edwards, S.L., Sheard, J., Naghdy, F. & Brookes, W.C. 2010, 'The case for ICT work-integrated learning from graduates in the workplace', Australasian Computing Education Conference, Brisbane, Australia, January 2010 in Twelfth Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2010), ed Clear, T. and Hamer, J., Australian Computer Society, Sydney, Australia, pp. 107-116.
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An online survey of recent ICT graduates in the workplace was carried out as part of a recent project funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council. The survey was concerned with the ICT curriculum in relation to workplace job requirements and university preparation for these requirements. The survey contained quantitative and qualitative components and findings from the former have been published (Koppi et al., 2009). This paper reports on a quantitative comparison of responses from graduates who had workplace experience and those who did not, and a qualitative analysis of text responses from all ICT graduates to open-ended questions concerning the curriculum and their perceived university preparation for the workplace. The overwhelming response from ICT graduates in the workplace was for more industry related learning. These industry relationships included industry involvement, workplace learning and business experience, up-to-date teaching and technologies, practical applications, and real-world activities. A closer relationship of academia and industry was strongly advocated by ICT graduates in the workplace.

Koppi, T., Sheard, J., Naghdy, F., Chicharo, J.F., Edwards, S.L., Brookes, W.C. & Wilson, D.N. 2009, 'What Our ICT Graduates Really Need from Us: A Perspective from the Workplace', Australasian Computing Education Conference, Wellington, New Zealand, January 2009 in Proceedings of the Eleventh Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2009), Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology (CRPIT), Volume 95, ed Hamilton, M; Clear, T., Australian Computer Society Inc., Sydney, Australia, pp. 101-109.
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A national Discipline-Based Initiative (DBI) project for Information and Communications Technology (ICT), funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, has sought the opinions of recent graduates of ICT in the workplace to help inform the curriculum. An online survey was devised to question graduates on workplace requirements and university preparation for abilities categorized as: personal/interpersonal; cognitive; business and technical. The graduates in employment have highlighted broad mismatches between the requirements of their professional work in these categories and the preparation for employment they received from university. A regression analysis was used to determine influences on graduates+ opinions of the preparation they received at university.

Lawrence, E.M., Loke, L., Raban, R., Brookes, W.C. & Aubrey, T.A. 2009, 'Towards an Understanding of Collaboration in Teaching Technology Subjects in an Amalgamated Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology', International Conference on Mobile, Hybrid, and On-Line Learning, Cancun, Mexico, February 2009 in International Conference on Mobile, Hybrid, and On-line Learning EL & ML 2009, ed Lawrence, E; Loke, L; Raban, R; Brookes, W; Aubrey, T, IEEE Computer Society Conference Publications, Cancun, Mexico, pp. 47-52.
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The paper sets out a collaborative approach for teaching technology subjects. It Illustrates the benefits of this approach over the single academic owning a particular subject. The paper presents preliminary findings from interviews with academics in a newly combined Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. It concludes by pointing the way to the future of htis funded research project.

Steele, R.J., Secombe, C. & Brookes, W.C. 2007, 'Using Wireless Sensor Networks for Aged Care: The Patient's Perspective', International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare, Innsbruck, Austria, November 2006 in Pervasive Health Conference and Workshops, 2006, ed IEEE, IEEE Computer Society Press, USA, pp. 1-10.
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This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study on the perceptions and thoughts of elderly people on the use of current sensor network technology for assisted aged care. Focus groups of elderly people were presented with examples of current sensor nodes and example scenarios of their use, and then invited to provide input on a range of issues surrounding the design and use of the technology. The focus group findings were verified with a health care professional as a control measure. This study examines sensing based interaction, implementation methodologies and user acceptance issues specifically for the elderly, and from the elderly's perspective. A significant finding of the study is that the two most important factors for elderly acceptance of sensor technology are cost and control

Brookes, W.C. & Kanagasabai, L. 2004, 'A generic Architecture for SOAP Transaction Management', International Workshop on Web Services: Modeling, Architecture and Infrastructure, Porto, Portugal, April 2004 in Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Web Services: Modeling, Architecture and Infrastructure WSMAI 2004, ed Bevinakoppa,S; Hu,J., Insticc Press, Setubal, Portugal, pp. 95-102.
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Brookes, W.C. 2004, 'Computing Theory with Relevance', Australasian Conference on Computer Science Education, Dunedin, New Zealand, January 2004 in Proceedings of the 6th Australasian Computing Education Conference ACE2004, ed Lister,R; Young, A., Australian Computer Society Inc, Sydney, Australia, pp. 9-13.
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