The home environments and mother-child interactions of a language-delayed group and a matched control group of normal preschool children were assessed using the Caldwell Inventory of Home Stimulation. Twenty language-delayed children were defined by a discrepancy between their Stanford-Binet, language-based, IQ score and their Leiter, non-language-based, IQ score, and by a language evaluation. Children in both groups were distributed across all socioeconomic strata. The languagedelayed group had significantly lower scores in five of the six subcategories of the Caldwell. Greatest differences were found in the involvement and responsiveness of the mother and in her avoidance of restriction and punishment. Low Caldwell scores were found through the socioeconomic strata, indicating that language delay had a stronger influence on mother-child relationship than did socioeconomic factors.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore undergraduate international students’ experiences in a flipped classroom environment in an Australian university. Design/methodology/approach In total, 32 in-depth interviews were conducted with undergraduate international students at one Australian university by three researchers. Findings The learning experiences of international students in a flipped classroom environment include increased flexibility in learning; enhanced engagement with content and; more confident participation in face-to-face workshops. In addition, the analysis further illustrates that international students intrinsically develop soft skills (e.g. increased confidence and communication skills), learning skills (e.g. research and critical thinking) and employability skills (e.g. time management and accountability). Research limitations/implications These findings focus only on the positive learning experiences of undergraduate international students in one Australian university. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature by identifying learning experiences of undergraduate international students in a flipped classroom environment and the connection with their development of soft skills, learning skills and employability skills.

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To achieve change in the Australian red meat processing industry it is necessary to address the tyranny of distance in a dispersed industry, a culture of “firefighting” rather than root cause problem solving and a low investment in staff training and development. Internet‐based learning offers potential where off‐the‐job training is not feasible or efficient. Hence our decision to design a management development initiative for the industry. $LAM (pronounced “slam” – may be viewed at URL: http://www.bus.qut.edu.au/$lam/) is the name coined for the learning process that uses interactive Internet‐based decision support systems. $LAM integrates high quality content, state‐of‐the‐art instructional design principles and motivational strategies. The goal was the delivery of an industry specific cost of quality tutorial and activity based projects able to promote learners’ ability to formulate conceptual generalisations and promote change in developing new responses to industry issues.

The Australian red meat processing industry is struggling to improve its competitive advantage, manage with diminishing profit margins and increase its range of valueadded products to meet consumer demands. The export industry position, product prices and product concerns are major issues confronting industry managers in today's slowing world economic climate. To achieve change in the industry it was necessary to address the tyranny of distance in a dispersed industry, a culture of 'firefighting' rather than root cause problem solving and a low investment in staff training and development. Internet-based learning offers potential where off-the-job training is not feasible or efficient. Hence the decision to develop an Internet-based interactive decision support model. The approach described integrates high quality content, state-of-the-art instructional design principles and motivational strategies. The goal was the delivery of an industry specific cost of quality tutorial and activity based projects able to promote learners' ability to formulate conceptual generalisations and promote change in developing new responses to industry issues. The cost of quality approach proposes solutions to reduce failure costs through identifying and reducing 'hidden' costs. In general terms, studies have indicated !hat total quality costs consume between 20% and 30% of sales revenue in manufacturing companies (Ittner, 1992). However, simply calculating and reporting quality costs does not solve quality problems. A mechanism for bridging the gap between the identification of the problem and developing the means by which the problems can be rectified is provided. The process coaches managers through a diagnosis of cost of quality issues to produce presentation data and graphics. The model is used to identify the occurrence of chronic problems, and the financial impact of these problems in a given process using cost of quality techniques. The nature of the problem is then assessed to determine the real causes. Process improvement methods are presented as options to address real causes and cost of quality information is used to assess the outcome. Strategies for implementation of subsequent change innovations are incorporated in the package to break the crisis management cycle typical of the industry. To extend opportunities for improvement initiatives an interactive database stores the predefined and thus comparable projects from multiple sites across time periods. Analysis and integration of projects allows case data to aggregated and presented anonymously for benchmarking indicators and to track industry changes in cost of quality activities. 74