Oral food challenges are procedures conducted by allergists/immunologists to make an accurate diagnosis of immediate, and occasionally delayed, adverse reactions to foods. The timing of the challenge is carefully chosen based on the individual patient history and the results of skin prick tests and food specific serum IgE values. The type of the challenge is determined by the history, the age o...

We consider a problem where a set of objects possessing multiple attributes must be partitioned into a certain number of groups so that the groups are as balanced as possible with respect to the number of objects possessing each attribute. This multi-criteria decision problem arises in a variety of practical applications, ranging from assigning students to study groups to designing level schedu...

Collaborative assessed group work can create challenges for both students and tutors. Both the benefits and challenges of assessed group work are discussed with particular reference to the context of teacher education. The relevance of action research, the concept of living theory and the ethical nature of tutor practice in relation to group work are considered. The concept of 'role' is used to...

Controlling the development of di erent versions of a document can be a complex task, even for a single author to handle. This task is likely to become more complex as the number of authors increases, and more complex still if those authors are distributed geographically with only limited means of communication, such as electronic mail, to connect them. If this last situation makes version cont...

This paper seeks to show that virtual worlds provide a useful addition to the use of computer mediated learning tools. We discuss the underlying educational context and link this to the properties of virtual worlds and, in particular, that of Second Life. We report on the progress of a project for developing group work which seeks to link affordances in the environment to learning outcomes and ...

The concept of context can be used with advantage in the area of Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. For many years, the awareness term has been used in this area without explicit association to context. This paper attempts to clarify their relationship. In particular, a framework is proposed to understand context and awareness as connected to other concepts used in group work as well, such as...

Collaborative group project work in the classroom is common in many disciplines, because it teaches, encourages, and reinforces numerous skills and competencies that are desirable in the job market. However, group work brings with it a number of implementation challenges, one of the most important of which is varying contribution levels among group members. Peer evaluations, or assessments, all...

We show the special role that the concept of context plays in collaboration, specially on aspects of communication, interaction and knowledge sharing, reflecting on group work productivity, quality and satisfaction. In this work we address the representation and dynamics of context discussing its implications and opportunities to improving collaborative work support. (A full version of this pap...