Open Textbooks @ UQ Catalogue

The Language of Relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples - Introductory Guide was created to support the UQ community to build stronger relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples across the University. The Language of Relationships Guide aims to inform students and staff of appropriate language and provide tools for non-Indigenous peoples in the context of formal, academic communication and everyday conversations that will build and enhance those relationships.

An introduction to the history of The University of Queensland as it relates to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, cultures and communities. Learn about the significant events, movements and activities that took place at The University of Queensland and the ongoing cultural connections and contributions that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and staff make.

"Quality in Healthcare: Assessing What We Do" is an open educational resource specifically designed to enhance the knowledge of undergraduate nursing and midwifery students in research, clinical improvement, and clinical audit processes. Recognising the pivotal role nurses and midwives play in elevating the quality of care provided to patients, women, and families, this textbook offers a foundational understanding that bridges theory with practical application.

This book equips students with the skills to apply research to clinical practice, comprehend the ethical principles associated with research, and develop frameworks for formulating research questions. Additionally, it guides students in quality care enhancement and the analysis of findings from quality improvement activities.

Serving as a comprehensive companion, "Quality in Healthcare: Assessing What We Do" supports students in completing quality improvement and clinical audit processes. The inclusion of interactive learning activities fosters an appreciation for the significant contributions nurses and midwives can make to advancing healthcare quality.

Key Features:

• Foundational Knowledge: Build a solid understanding of research and its application to clinical practice.
• Ethical Principles: Learn the ethical considerations essential to conducting research.Practical Frameworks: Develop research questions and improve quality care through practical frameworks.
• Interactive Learning: Engage with interactive activities that reinforce learning and practical application.
• Quality Improvement: Analyse findings from quality improvement initiatives to enhance clinical practice.

This book provides detailed foundational tools to assess and evaluate the costs and benefits associated with public or private decision making through a cost-benefit analysis (CBA). This book is targeted at students with preliminary foundations in economics. The content and activities have been developed to support learning in ECON2101 Cost Benefit Analysis offered as a course at UQ.

Are you interested in the field of reinforcement learning? This cutting-edge area has driven numerous high-profile breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, including AlphaFold, which revolutionized protein structure prediction, and AlphaZero, which mastered complex games like chess and Go from scratch. It has been pivotal in fine-tuning large language models. To grasp the current advancements in this rapidly evolving domain, it's essential to build a solid foundation. 'Mastering Reinforcement Learning’ guides readers from the fundamental concepts to the latest techniques, seamlessly blending theory, practice, and code. This book is designed for both beginners and those with some experience in reinforcement learning who wish to elevate their skills and apply them to real-world scenarios.

‘What an amazing resource for students. The mixture of accessible and informative text, case studies, interactive activities, and more make this such an engaging read.’  Professor Kelly Fielding, University of Queensland

‘This book is an excellent resource for students, practitioners, and community organisations among others, which provides a comprehensive overview and deeper insights situating public interest communication in society.’ Assistant Professor Michele Clark, Bond University

‘Students will find Johnston and Gulliver’s book an excellent introduction to the theoretical debates around the concept of the ‘public interest’, an idea which is of central importance in ethics, democratic government, the law, and the notion of a ‘free press’.’ Dr Ian Somerville, University of Leicester

‘This is a fabulous introduction to key concepts in public interest communication. It untangles the notion of ‘publics’ and shows how theories of the public interest, the public sphere, and discourse arenas, among others, intersect with communication practice.’  Dr Skye Doherty, University of Queensland

‘This book shines a spotlight on the strategic value and purpose of communication by showing its centrality to finding solutions. While addressing action as well as theory, it goes beyond the usual tactical-level discussion to focus on the context in which communication contributes to society.’ Dr Leanne Glenny, University of South Australia

JUNTXS is an open access educational resource which can be used in conjunction with a variety of approaches to support beginning learners of Spanish. This media-rich learning resource is designed to guide learners in their Spanish language learning journey through a critical and intercultural lens and to provide regular opportunities to explore, practise and improve their ability to read, speak, and understand this language as it is used across the Spanish-speaking world.

Early clinical placements in dentistry occur in year 3 for BDSc hons students at the University of Queensland. Currently these are all in a Queensland Health facility. The students have traditionally found the initial weeks confronting as they are often managing complex medically compromised patients. Whilst ideally the students should manage medically fit patients for simple examinations and routine dental work, the reality of clinical placements is that often the public health setting will mean the inexperienced early clinical student will be managing routine dental work for complex patients. This resource is an introduction to communication essentials for novice student dental practitioners experiencing, initial clinical placements involving medically complex patients. It covers the basics of communication, elements of effective patient dentist interactions, tips for building rapport and fostering relationships to elicit detailed medical information, introduction to consent and record keeping, communicating with dental and inter professional teams, the principles of prescription writing, and an overview of specific medical conditions that routinely affect dental management of the patient. The learning material is complimented by case studies that explore the interactions expected, dental implications and a brief introduction to clinical management of these patients.

This book has been written to provide a friendly introduction to data analysis and statistical modelling. It covers all the material in a standard introductory course at university, as well as more advanced topics such as multiple and logistic regression. It is also intended to be a useful guide for secondary teachers in science and mathematics, showing the role that experimental design and data analysis play in a range of scientific areas.

The updated 2024 edition of this guide is designed to support students undertaking legal studies and contribute to the development of research skills in Australian law schools.