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Mr Tim Roberts Higher Education Division Hon/Adjunct Appoint / Higher Education Division

Adjunct Senior Lecturer

Mr Tim S Roberts

Office Location
Contact Details
Email: t.roberts@cqu.edu.au
Phone: (07) 4150 7057 - Ext: 7057
Consultancy Work

I run Maths Tuition Australia, an organisation devoted to helping kids and adults of all ages and backgrounds, and bringing the joy of mathematics to all.  I'm currently looking for tutors across Australia.  If you are interested in part-time work as a mathematics tutor, and love mathematics, please contact me!

Texts

Roberts T S (ed.) (2008), Student Plagiarism in an Online World: Problems and Solutions, Idea Group Reference, Hershey, Pennsylvania, ISBN 978-1-59904-801-7.  Cited by 22 in Google Scholar.  You can order this from amazon.com.

Published in: 2008

Roberts T S (ed.) (2006), Self, Peer, And Group Assessment In E-Learning, Information Science Publishing, Hershey, Pennsylvania, ISBN 1-59140-965-9 (hardback) 1-59140-966-7 (paperback). Cited by 25 in Google Scholar. You can order this from amazon.com or read the table of contents, preface, and other details here.  You can also read a review.  And another review.

Published in: 2006

Roberts T S (ed.) (2004), Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning in Higher Education, Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, Pennsylvania, ISBN 1-59140-408-8 (hardback) 1-59140-409-6 (paperback). Cited by 82 in Google Scholar.  You can order this from amazon.com or read the preface and other details here.

Published in: 2004

Roberts T S (ed.) (2003), Online Collaborative Learning: Theory and Practice, Information Science Publishing, Hershey, Pennsylvania, ISBN 1-59140-174-7 (hardback) 1-59140-227-1 (paperback). Cited by 101 in Google Scholar.  You can order this from amazon.com. You can also read a review. You can also read another review. And yet another review.

Published in: 2003
Works Completed

Roberts T S (2012), Solving the Dorabella Cipher, on the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation web site,at http://cryptologicfoundation.org/content/Educational-Programs/documents/Solving_the_Dorabella_Cipher_v2a.pdf

Published in: 2012

Roberts T S (2007), Student Plagiarism and the Internet, Educational Technology, 47 (2), 45-47, ISSN 0013-1962.

Published in: 2007

Roberts T S (2007), Study Schedule, in Shank P. (ed.), The Online Learning Idea Book, Pfeiffer, San Francisco, California, 16-19, ISBN 978-0-7879-8168-6.

Published in: 2007

McInnerney J and Roberts T S (2005), Implementing Online Learning: The Essence of Good Practice, i-Manager's Journal of Educational Technology, 2 (1), 29-40, ISSN 0973-0559.

Published in: 2005

Roberts T S (2004), What Interest Rate Are You Getting?, Learning Technology Newsletter, 6 (4), 84-85, ISSN 1438-0625.

Published in: 2004

Roberts T S (2004), A Ham Sandwich is Better Than Nothing: Some Thoughts about Transitivity, Australian Senior Mathematics Journal, 18 (2), 60-64, ISSN 0819-4564. Cited by 4 in Google Scholar.

Published in: 2004

Roberts T S (2004), Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning: An Introduction, in Roberts T.S. (ed.) Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning in Higher Education, Information Science Publishing, Hershey, Pennsylvania, ISBN 1-59140-409-6. 

Published in: 2004

Roberts T S (2004), Towards A New Learning Paradigm?, Distance Learning Link Newsletter, July-December 2004, 4-7.

Published in: 2004
Roberts T S (2003) A New 8x8 Magic Knight Tour, and Another New 8x8 Magic Knight Tour, both in Games & Puzzles Journal #25, March 2003.
Published in: 2003
Papers in Refereed Proceedings

O'Malley M and Roberts T S (2011), Plagiarism in Science Education: Preventing Cheating via Online Auctions, Proceedings of the Australian Conference on Science & Mathematics Education 2011, Melbourne, Australia, 28-30 September 2011.

Published in: 2011

Roberts T S (2006), The Use of Multiple Choice Tests for Formative and Summative Assessment, Australasian Computer Education Conference (ACE 2006), Hobart, Tasmania, 16-19 January 2006.  Cited by 19 in Google Scholar.


Published in: 2006

Roberts T S (2005), Don't Stand in the Doorway, Don't Block up the Hall, Association of Tertiary Education Management Queensland Branch Conference (ATEM 2005), Brisbane, Queensland, 11 March 2005.

Published in: 2005

Roberts T S (2004), Six Stages to a Revolution in Higher Education, International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE 2004), Melbourne, Victoria, 30 November - 3 December 2004.

Published in: 2004
Roberts T S (2003), Regional Universities and the Revolution in Higher Education, ITiRA 2003, Caloundra, Queensland, 15-17 December 2003.
Published in: 2003
McInnerney J, McNamee L, and Roberts T S (2003), Usability, Accessibility, and Equity: Understanding the Anomalies in Online Learning, AusWeb '03, Gold Coast, 5-9 July 2003.
Published in: 2003
Roberts T S (2002), Flexible Learning: How Can We Get There From Here?, ASCILITE 2002, Auckland, New Zealand, 8-11 December 2002. Cited by 6 in Google Scholar.
Published in: 2002
Williams S and Roberts T S (2002), Computer Supported Collaborative Learning: Strengths and Weaknesses, ICCE 2002, Auckland, New Zealand, 3-6 December 2002. Cited by 21 in Google Scholar.
Published in: 2002
McInnerney J and Roberts T S (2002), Online Collaborative Learning: Have We Overcome The Obstacles?, ICCE 2002, Auckland, New Zealand, 3-6 December 2002.
Published in: 2002
McInnerney J, McNamee L, and Roberts T S (2002), Access and Equity Issues in Regional Education, ITiRA 2002, Rockhampton, 27-29 August 2002.
Published in: 2002
McNamee L and Roberts T S (2002), Online Collaborative Learning in a Tertiary Environment, ASET 2002, Melbourne, 7-10 July 2002.
Published in: 2002
Roberts T S (2002), Learner Interaction and Current Practice in Asynchronous Delivery, ASET 2002, Melbourne, 7-10 July 2002.
Published in: 2002
Roberts T S (2001), A Classification Scheme for Flexible Learning, ITiRA Conference, Rockhampton, Queensland, 5-7 September 2001.
Published in: 2001
Refereed Articles

Roberts T S (2011), Combating the Free Rider, in Shank P. (ed.), The Online Learning Idea Book, Volume 2, 95 Proven Ways to Enhance Technology-Based and Blended Learning, Pfeiffer, San Francisco, California.

Published in: 2011
Roberts T S (2010), Some constraints on the existence of a perfect cuboid, Australian Mathematical Society Gazette, 37 (1), March 2010, 29-31, ISSN 1326-2297 (online) 0311-0729 (print).
Published in: 2010
Roberts T S (2008), Student Plagiarism in an Online World: an Introduction, in Roberts T S (ed.) Student Plagiarism in an Online World: Problems and Solutions, Idea Group Reference, Hershey, Pennsylvania, ISBN 978-1-59904-801-7.
Published in: 2008

Roberts T S (2008), On The Form of an Odd Perfect Number, Australian Mathematical Society Gazette, 35 (4), September 2008, 244, ISSN 1326-2297 (online) 0311-0729 (print).

Published in: 2008

Mogensen J and Roberts T S (2007), Some Pedagogical Considerations in Teaching First-Year Programming, International Journal of Learning, 14 (1), 247-254, ISSN 1447-9494.

Published in: 2007

Roberts T S and McInnerney J M (2007). Seven Problems of Online Group Learning (and Their Solutions). Educational Technology & Society, 10 (4), 257-268, ISSN 1436-4522. Cited by 57 in Google Scholar.

Published in: 2007

Roberts T S (2007), Magic Squares: from primary classroom to postgraduate research in ten simple exercises, Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, 12 (4), 10-13, ISSN 1326-0286.

Published in: 2007

Roberts T S and McInnerney J (2006), The Course Is Online: Why Aren’t The Students Learning?, International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning, 3 (9), ISSN 1550-6908. Cited by 7 in Google Scholar.

Published in: 2006

Roberts T S (2005), The Discovery of Two New Magic Knight's Tours, The Mathematical Gazette, 89 (1), 22-27, ISSN 0025-5572.

Published in: 2005

McInnerney J and Roberts T S (2005), Collaborative and Cooperative Learning, The Encyclopedia of Distance Learning, Volume 1: Online Learning and Technologies, Information Science Publishing, Hershey, Pennsylvania, 269-276, ISBN 1-59140-555-6.

Published in: 2005

Roberts T S (2004), Theory and Practice in Web-Based Delivery, Journal of Informatics Education Research, 6 (2), 1-7 ISSN 1526-4726.

Published in: 2004

McInnerney J and Roberts T S (2004), Online Learning: Social Interaction and the Creation of a Sense of Community, Educational Technology & Society, 7 (3), 73-81, ISSN 1436-4522. Cited by 130 in Google Scholar.

Published in: 2004

Oliver D, Dobele T, Greber M, and Roberts T S (2004), Comparing Course Assessments: When Lower is Higher and Higher, Lower, Computer Science Education, 14 (4), 321-341, ISSN 0889-3408.  Cited by 4 in Google Scholar.

Published in: 2004

Oliver D, Dobele T, Greber M, and Roberts T S (2004), This Course Has a Bloom Rating of 3.9, Australian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2004), Dunedin, New Zealand, 18-22 January 2004. Cited by 39 in Google Scholar.

Published in: 2004
Roberts T S (2003), The Use of Magic Knight's Tours for Illustrating Mathematical Concepts, The Australian Mathematics Teacher 59 (3):36-40, August 2003, ISSN 0045-0685.
Published in: 2003

Roberts T S (2003), The Gelosia Method for Simple Multiplication, Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom 8 (1):15-18, February 2003, ISSN 1326-0286.

Published in: 2003
McInnerney J and Roberts T S (2003), Collaborative or Cooperative Learning?, in Roberts T.S. (ed.) Online Collaborative Learning: Theory and Practice, Information Science Publishing, Hershey, Pennsylvania, ISBN 1-59140-174-7.  Cited by 40 in Google Scholar.
Published in: 2003
Roberts T S (2001), Some Thoughts about the Hardest Logic Puzzle Ever, Journal of Philosophical Logic, 30 (6): 609-612, December 2001, Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands, ISSN 0022-3611. Cited by 6 in Google Scholar.
Published in: 2001
Research Interests
My last foray into the world of scholarly book editing was a book on online student plagiarism - it was published in January 2008. Details are here, but please note that it's ridiculously expensive.

In 2003 I was fortunate enough to find two previously-unknown magic knight's tours, the first new tours found since 1988, and the first irregular tours found since 1936. The discovery was reported in the April, 2003 issue of Australasian Science. For background theory on the subject, and a comprehensive bibliography, the definitive web site is George Jelliss' History of Magic Knight's Tours.

I have recently solved the Dorabella Cipher, an encoded note sent by the composer Edward Elgar to Dora Penny in 1897, which had resisted all attempts at decryption for over a century. A paper detailing the decryption can be found on the web site of the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation.

I'm currently looking at the perfect cuboid problem, and attempting to find such a cuboid with a space diagonal larger than 2,000,000,000,000. The attempt will probably fail, as there may be no such cuboids. However, no-one has as yet managed to find a proof of their non-existence.

I am one of the recipients of the 21-page book "Being or Nothingness", by Joe K (pseudonym), which references Hofstadter (a lot), Conan Doyle (a lot), Adams, Einstein, Foucault, Hesse, and others. The book has been sent to various prominent scientists and philosophers around the world. Why it was sent to me, I don't know. What the book is about, I don't know. If anyone can shed any light on the mystery, please email me. In an email which Doug Hofstadter sent to me, he has denied any involvement whatsoever with the book (I don't think Conan Doyle, Adams, Einstein, Foucault, or Hesse had much to do with it, either).
MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
I have an interest in several areas of mathematics, one of which is  perhaps the oldest unsolved problem in mathematics, the existence (or otherwise) of an odd perfect number. In 2008 I obtained a minor but original result, that any odd perfect number (if such exists) must have the form 12m + 1 or 324m + 81 or 468m + 117.  This result was published in the Australian Mathematical Society Gazette.
I have recently solved the Dorabella Cipher, an encoded note sent by the composer Edward Elgar to Dora Penny in 1897, which had resisted all attempts at decryption for over a century. A paper detailing the decryption can be found on the web site of the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation.
I'm currently looking at the perfect cuboid problem, and attempting to find such a cuboid with a space diagonal larger than 2,000,000,000,000. The attempt will probably fail, as there may be no such cuboids.  However, no-one has as yet managed to find a proof of their non-existence.
In 2003 I was fortunate enough to find two previously-unknown magic knight's tours, the first new tours found since 1988, and the first irregular tours found since 1936. The discovery was reported in the April, 2003 issue of Australasian Science. For background theory on the subject, and a comprehensive bibliography, the definitive web site is George Jelliss' History of Magic Knight's Tours. 
EDUCATION
My last foray into the world of scholarly book editing was a book on online student plagiarism - it was published in January 2008. Details are here, but please note that it's ridiculously expensive.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES
I am one of the recipients of the 21-page book "Being or Nothingness", by Joe K (pseudonym), which references Hofstadter (a lot), Conan Doyle (a lot), Adams, Einstein, Foucault, Hesse, and others.  The book has been sent to various prominent scientists and philosophers around the world.  Why it was sent to me, I don't know.  What the book is about, I don't know.  If anyone can shed any light on the mystery, please email me.  In an email which Doug Hofstadter sent to me, he has denied any involvement whatsoever with the book (I don't think Conan Doyle, Adams, Einstein, Foucault, or Hesse had much to do with it, either).