bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Account(ing)/(ability): Democratising the Environmental Impact Assessment in Mongolian Mining
Authors:   , Vandangombo Danaasuren
Published: November 2021

This study examines sustainable development in practice, particularly in the context of mining and environmental management in a less developed country (LDC). It argues for sustainable and participatory mining in LDCs, such as Mongolia, by encouraging democratisation of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. The EIA, a major tool of environmental management, addresses the negative environmental and social impacts of development projects, such as mining, and has the capacity to mitigate such impacts by incorporating EIA recommendations into business practice. To ensure the inclusion of affected communities in the EIA process, public participation in EIAs is legislated in many countries. This is particularly important for mineral-rich LDCs, as they have experienced growing conflict among mining companies, local communities, and government authorities, due to a lack of dialogue among mining constituents and a lack of effective public policy and public engagement in the promotion of socially and environmentally accountable mining. This study applies Brown's (2009) dialogic accounting framework in the exploration and evaluation of current EIA practices. By using Mongolian EIA practices for illustrative purposes, this study seeks to contribute to debate in EIA and SEA literature, and to support calls for more participatory EIAs that can embed sustainable development into business practice. Furthermore, the current and potential engagement of NGOs in the EIAs of Mongolia is examined in order to explore their potential to foster dialogic accounting.
Marking Space and Making Place: Geographies of Graffiti in Wellington, New Zealand
Authors:   , Des Forges Michaela
Published: November 2021

Contemporary graffiti dates from the 1960s when hip-hop style graffiti grew in popularity amongst youth in Philadelphia and New York. It has since spread throughout the world and its various forms and styles are considered both art and vandalism. In Aotearoa New Zealand, graffiti is seen in most urban areas and is regarded as a major problem for local authorities. Despite this, research concerning graffiti in New Zealand is sparse. This research contributes to emerging work on graffiti in Wellington and New Zealand. It aims to provide an insight into the geographies of graffiti in Wellington by exploring the visual, spatial, and temporal aspects of graffiti, as well as the social dynamics informing its production and distribution. Using this information I investigate parallels between what is happening locally and what has been documented in international research. To carry out the research aims, I employed qualitative observations of selected sites around the city over time and used photographs to interpret and document graffiti. I also carried out semi-structured interviews with some graffitists, in addition to people involved in city safety and efforts to stop graffiti. In framing the research I specifically draw from critical geography writing on discourse, power, resistance, place, and space which are particularly salient in regards to graffiti. The research documents similarities with international research in regards to the motivations, rules, and visual, temporal, and spatial aspects. However, Wellington graffitists interact with, and utilise, the city’s space in unique and multifaceted ways which reflect and exhibit localised differences worthy of consideration internationally. For instance, graffitists use, view, and read the urban environment in ways that result in them having an intimacy with the urban environment. Additionally, graffitists think about where they place their graffiti with regards to property, location, intended audiences, and observance to subculture rules.
Effect of the Nutrient Microenvironment of an Ovarian Follicle on Gap Junction Activity in Cumulus-Oocyte Complexes in Post-Partum Cows
Authors:   , Hudson Norma Lorraine
Published: November 2021

For mammalian oocyte maturation it is important for the oocyte to communicate with the surrounding somatic cells in a bidirectional manner. In part, this is achieved through gap junction connections between cumulus cells and the oocyte. These gap junctions permit the transfer of essential metabolites, nucleotides, amino acids and ions from the cumulus cells to the oocyte in order for growth and development to occur. It is hypothesized that one reason for post-partum infertility in dairy cows is poor oocyte quality due to an inappropriate nutrient microenvironment in the developing antral follicle. In turn, this might compromise the nutrient and/or energy delivery by cumulus cells to the oocyte and thus affect oocyte quality. The objectives of this study were to: (1) -develop a reliable in vitro measure of gap junction activity for bovine cumulus–oocyte-complexes (COC) using a fluorescent (calcein) dye technique, and (2)- assess the effects of different amino acid compositions, cholesterol and fatty acid concentrations on gap junction activity in COC. The development and validation of the bovine COC gap junction assay was undertaken using a standard commercial medium (M199). Thereafter, media were prepared representing the amino acid concentrations in follicular fluid of both non-lactating and lactating dairy cows as measured in a NZ pastoral situation. These media formed the basis for subsequent measures of COC gap junction activity with differing concentrations of cholesterol and the essential fatty acids- oleic acid, stearic acid and palmitic acid. The major findings from this study were that the different amino acid concentrations typical of that in the follicular fluid of the non-lactating and lactating dairy cow and M199 do not significantly affect the gap junction activity in COC. Given that the amino acid compositions in lactating and non-lactating cows were approximately 50% of those in M199; this indicates that the amino acid concentrations within the ovarian follicle are not a critical factor affecting oocyte quality. However, high concentrations of cholesterol or of the essential fatty acids significantly compromised gap junction activity in bovine COC. High concentrations of the fatty acids were identified in a number of lactating dairy cows during the post-partum interval. In times of negative energy balance, which is common in pasture fed NZ dairy cows during the early post-partum interval and lactation, a significant mobilisation of fatty acids occurs. In turn, this is known to result in an increase in lipid concentrations within the ovarian follicle. The results from this study support the hypothesis that the nutrient environment of the ovarian follicle during early lactation is detrimental to the quality and developmental competence of the oocyte and thus may account for post-partum infertility in some animals.
Holocaust Consciousness in New Zealand 1980-2010: A Study
Authors:   , Caldwell Jessica
Published: November 2021

This thesis chronicles and examines the major New Zealand specific Holocaust-related issues of the last three decades, in the time period 1980 to 2010. The Holocaust has had a long reaching legacy worldwide since the end of the Second World War. There have been major news items and issues that have brought the Holocaust to the forefront of people's consciousness throughout the decades, the most prominent example being the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961. It was major news such as that trial, as well as Hollywood productions such as the TV miniseries Holocaust in the late 1970s, that brought about widespread consciousness of the Holocaust worldwide, in countries such as the United States and Australia. In New Zealand, but major Holocaust-related issues connected specifically to New Zealand did not begin to emerge until the 1980s. This thesis investigates, in three chapters, differing issues over the aforementioned time period that have had an impact on consciousness of the Holocaust in New Zealand. The issues investigated are respectively: the war criminals investigation of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the colonial 'holocaust' argument of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Holocaust denial controversies in New Zealand academia, and the growth and evolution of Holocaust commemoration and education. Although some issues, such as commemoration and education, began earlier, it was not until the 1980s that these issues developed in earnest and a greater number of people began to take notice of the connection of these issues, and in turn New Zealand, to the Holocaust. The main arguments made in this thesis are that New Zealand's consciousness of the Holocaust developed when it did and at the rate it did because of particular aspects of the Jewish community and New Zealand society as a whole, including the geographical isolation of the country, the size and assimilation of the Jewish and survivor communities here, and the overall attitudes and on occasion apathy and ignorance towards the Holocaust. All of these aspects have influenced, to varying degrees, consciousness of the Holocaust within New Zealand throughout the time period of 1980 to 2010.
Watch Over Me: A Pilot for a Television Drama Series
Authors:   , Bagshaw James
Published: November 2021

A screenplay
The Promotion of Learner Autonomy in Thailand Tertiary Education: Lecturers' Perspectives and Practices
Authors:   , Rungwaraphong Piyawan
Published: November 2021

The study seeks to describe the current state of the promotion of learner autonomy in Thailand, from the perspectives and practices of university language lecturers. The study employed a mixed method approach with emphasis on the qualitative phase. The research was conducted in two sequential phases, a quantitative survey followed by qualitative cases studies. The first phase aimed to investigate the extent to which learner autonomy has been valued by lecturers. The second phase aimed to describe how learner autonomy is currently practiced among Thai lecturers. In the first phase, the survey questionnaire was completed by 297 lecturers who taught foreign languages in universities in Bangkok and the south of Thailand. The survey findings suggest an inconsistency between the lecturers’ beliefs and practices. The lecturers reported strong beliefs in learner autonomy, but moderate practices. The lecturers also reported low levels of confidence in their students’ ability to be autonomous learners. Using the survey results, five lecturers were purposely selected to be included in the second, qualitative phase. Data in the second phase were collected through interviews, class observations, follow-up discussions and document analysis. Results show that the lecturers promoted learner autonomy in their class through communication strategies, teaching pedagogy and the learning atmosphere. The link from Phase 1 to Phase 2 reveals a pathway to the promotion of learner autonomy. The pathway begins with the lecturer beliefs in learner autonomy and ends with the practices of promoting learner autonomy. Along this pathway, the lecturers may experience four main factors that might support or prevent them from promoting learner autonomy. These factors include the lecturer’s understanding of the principles of learner autonomy; the organizational climate of their university; student attributes; and the social and educational elements of Thai society. Finally, the findings of both phases are used to develop a framework for ways to promote learner autonomy in Thailand. This framework includes activities that lead to dialogic teaching, shift of responsibility, and power symmetry between lecturers and students. The framework serves as a preliminary guideline for Thai lecturers to promote learner autonomy in their classes.
Residential Retrofit Policy in Chile and New Zealand: an Analysis Based on Energy Efficiency and Co-Benefits
Authors:   , Pérez Alejandra
Published: November 2021

Society’s unsustainable patterns of energy consumption mean that residential energy efficiency plays a significant role in building a more sustainable society. This research analyses the process that has shaped residential retrofit policies in New Zealand and Chile; the first, a developed country with a long history of residential energy efficiency; the second, a developing country that is in the first stages of the retrofit policy process. Different theoretical approaches to residential energy efficiency were used, specifically, approaches within economic and behavioural economics theory, such as barriers theory, the rebound effect theory and co-benefits theory. A particular emphasis was given to co-benefits theory. The research found that in both Chile and New Zealand the retrofit policy process depends on critical contextual factors (e.g. global oil shocks, global financial crisis, energy security issues, electricity sector reforms and climate change mitigation policy) which trigger a sense of political urgency to address these factors. Local entities and the academic world have also contributed to shape retrofit policies. The multiple co-benefits of residential retrofit lead to a more resilient policy when governments and political will change. In the future, the co-benefits of health, fuel-poverty, fuel affordability, energy security and thermal comfort are likely to provide resilience to retrofit policies in Chile and New Zealand.
Non-Compliance in WTO Dispute Settlement: Assessing the Effectiveness of WTO Retaliation from Its Purpose(s)
Authors:   , Limenta Michelle Engel
Published: November 2021

The issue of non-compliance with the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) recommendations and rulings emerges when the violator state fails to bring its inconsistent measures into conformity with its WTO obligations within a reasonable period of time. Compensation and suspension of concessions or other obligations (retaliation) are the only remedies provided under WTO law for cases of non-compliance. Many academic writings, as well as statements from WTO Members, have demonstrated pessimism concerning the effectiveness of these remedies, particularly retaliation. The central point of this thesis concerns three main issues: the problems of WTO retaliation, the question of the effectiveness of retaliation, and the purposes of retaliation. This thesis aims to provide another perspective, besides the common “harm-resulted” perspective, for assessing the effectiveness of WTO retaliation. Accordingly, it provides several approaches: (1) identification of the purpose of retaliation in order to assess its effectiveness; (2) analysis of the enquiry whether there are in fact several purposes of WTO retaliation; (3) examination of the question whether the presence of retaliation purposes other than that inducing compliance is within the ambit of WTO law; (4) consideration of retaliation as a way of inducing a mutually agreeable solution; and (5) consideration of the question whether any deviation from strict compliance would undermine the WTO dispute settlement system. On the basis of extensive research on the purposes of WTO retaliation, namely through interpreting Article 22 of the DSU, examining the design of WTO treaty, assessing the academic writings/debates as well as the statements of arbitrators; several conclusions are made, of which the main one is that inducing compliance is not the sole purpose that WTO retaliation can pursue. Therefore compliance is not the only benchmark by which the effectiveness of WTO retaliation should be measured.
A Poetics of Reciprocity: Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Ballads and Sonnets
Authors:   , Sneyd Rose Harriet
Published: November 2021

This thesis considers the way in which a selection of the poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (henceforth to be referred to as EBB) exhibits what I will refer to as a poetics of reciprocity. My focus is on EBB’s ballads of the 1830s and 40s, her amatory sonnet sequence Sonnets from the Portuguese, and those ballads found in Last Poems. Lyric poetry is, traditionally, said to be defined by a monologic lyric speaker. Mikhail Bakhtin, for instance, pronounced that the mono-stylistic and cohesive nature of poetic language distinguished it from novelistic prose. However, it was, in part, Bakhtin’s insistence that poetry was by definition monologic that triggered my dialogic investigation of EBB’s poetry. Despite the range of work, both formal and temporal, that I consider in these three chapters, the discussion is nevertheless united by a consideration of EBB’s fascination with language, and her concomitant departure from the conventions of the monologic lyric speaker. In her early ballads, I explore EBB’s presentation of unreliable speakers and protagonists. These figures prove elusive to read because of their use of duplicitous or untrustworthy language, or they falter in the act of interpretation themselves. In EBB’s Sonnets from the Portuguese, I consider the way in which the poet opts for the language of conversation to evoke, in a fresh and powerful manner, the love between her speaker and her beloved. I suggest that this strategy, in part, compensated for the way in which clichéd literary language used to describe the experience of loving had been drained of vigour. Finally, in Last Poems I consider EBB’s presentation of speech as a social act that is influenced by the speaker’s status in society. In these late ballads, women’s attempts to wield language in an effective way are demonstrated to be dependent upon various conditions that reduce or enhance the potency of their speech acts. While Bakhtin’s essay “Discourse in the Novel,” in addition to the work of critics such as E. Warwick Slinn and Marjorie Stone, has been vital to the formulation of my thesis, I have, largely, relied upon a formalist approach to EBB’s poetry. In my close readings I examine EBB’s interrogation of language in her ballads and sonnets in light of her conscientious use, in particular, of metre and rhyme.
From Family Albums to Global Search Engines: Translating Family Photographs for the Digital Age
Authors:   , Johnson Sophie
Published: November 2021

This thesis examines the ways digital photo-sharing platforms adopt, use and challenge the discourse of the material family album as a way of demonstrating the uses for new media within the private sphere. It analyses the digital photo-sharing platforms of Picasa and Shutterfly, platforms which often take contrasting approaches to negotiating the relationship between material and digital cultures. By examining these platforms in terms of the way they reference and use the discourse of the material family album, the ways they allow content to be used and accessed, and their relationship to commercial culture, this thesis explores how these platforms use the discourse to transform the way the family and the family album interact with one another, and with geography, time and commercial culture. It argues that the discourse of the material family album is translated by digital photo-sharing platforms in order to ensure the family participates in the digital sphere, drawing more of human communication into the online space where it can be mediatized, observed, and commodified. The thesis begins by defining the discourse of the material family album, drawing on the ways the family album is commonly described in academic literature. It identifies a common discourse in discussions of the family album which suggests a particular way of thinking about the album’s functions and practices. The second chapter explores the ways digital photo-sharing platforms adopt and translate this discourse, and give these social practices a visual, media form. These platforms draw the family into the digital sphere by abstracting these practices from the material world and rendering them visible in their interfaces. As a result of this, however, the practices become subject to an increasing degree of standardisation and control from outside the family. The third chapter addresses the issue of access to family albums in both the material and digital contexts. It argues that the benefits of using digital interfaces lie in how they enable a reinterpretation of the significance of geography and time to both the album and its viewers. The characteristics of new media therefore challenge how access to the album was granted and refused in the material world. The final chapter explores the relationship between the family album and commerce, and argues that the commodification of the family album and the practices involved in creating them are perhaps the strongest driving factor in the desire to connect the family with new media and the internet. When the discourse of the material family album is realised within digital photo-sharing platforms, the relationship between family albums and commodities is changed, meaning digital photo-sharing within the commercially owned platforms of Picasa and Shutterfly involve families and their leisure activities more and more strongly in the world of commerce.
Creating and Validating an Advanced Practical Word List
Authors:   , Wang Chen
Published: November 2021

This study aims to create and validate a list of highly practical words used in the daily lives of people living in an English-speaking environment. These words are known to most native speakers of English, but are unknown to most advanced non-native speakers. The resulting list will be of great value to advanced non-native users of English who may function well in their respective domains of work but encounter many embarrassments for not having the vocabulary for daily communications. Three contemporary dictionaries were used in the initial development of the Advanced Practical Word List (hereafter APWL). Seven native speakers were then asked to rate the usefulness of the initial word list. Sixty advanced non-native speakers and 40 native speakers of English were asked to identify the words that were known to them. Based on these criteria, 867 word families have been identified by all native speakers as of high practical value but were unknown to most of the advanced non-native speakers in this study. The APWL comprises words from a wide range of frequency levels, and includes both words that should have been known to the advanced learners, and those that are beyond their proficiency level. The APWL is divided into 25 categories, each representing a type of words useful in daily life scenarios. Additionally, the APWL is divided into two types of sublists, one based on the words' frequency levels and another based on the potential usefulness of the words. The APWL is an important aid for advanced learners in an English-speaking context. It helps them cope with words that are frequently used by native speakers in daily life. The APWL is also important, as it attempts to look for another type of vocabulary in addition to the four tiers of words identified by Nation (2001).
Discipline and Defence: The Military Influence on Policing and Imprisonment, c.1870-1913
Authors:   , Egarr Tristan
Published: November 2021

Discipline and Defence follows the influence of military discipline, tactics and personnel through New Zealand's police and prisons from the end of the New Zealand Wars until the eve of the Great War. At the beginning of this era, constables and prison guards were recruited almost entirely from the ranks of soldiers, and were used to "settle" Maori resistance to the growing Pakeha state by constructing infrastructure as well as wielding coercive force. As colonial society became increasingly settled by the 1890s, criticism of soldiers' drunken indiscipline coincided with an increasing separation between the police and military, although prisons remained under a military hand. However, the popularity of the Anglo-Boer War recreated the soldier as the epitome of virtuous manhood, and administrators once more sought former soldiers to fill the ranks of the police and prison service. Rising industrial strikes and labour's opposition to such popular militarism by 1913 brought an open conflict between these partially re-militarised institutions and strikers. Throughout the entire period, arguments over the correct form of discipline for New Zealand's men intersected with practical necessities to influence the ongoing role of the military in domestic policing and punishment.
Consumerization of Information Technology: Drivers, Benefits and Challenges for New Zealand Corporates
Authors:   , Sen Palash Kanti
Published: November 2021

Consumerization of Information Technology (IT) is a trend where people bring in personal technologies to work. This research reports on the state of this trend in corporate New Zealand (NZ) and concentrates on three areas, its drivers, benefits and challenges. In a qualitative approach, data was collected through interviews and a focus group discussion. The responses reveal that the corporate challenges of consumerization exceed the benefits, and not many complete and affordable solutions for the businesses are available. Most important risks identified are around protecting sensitive corporate information and meeting legal obligations. Recent economic downturn is a further contributory factor affecting the budgetary and resource decisions at the workplace. The research observed the trade and market-research journals, exhibitions, and seminars, are supporting and influencing IT decision makers on their constant lookout for latest developments in this area. As the responses were not bound by set questionnaires, a large number of unique viewpoints were elicited through the research, which does not appear in existing publications. The study also finds consumerization in NZ is at an early stage, and little research has been done on it.
Constructing Rome: the Politics of Public Building in Republican Rome
Authors:   , Hayes Tania
Published: November 2021

This thesis explores Rome’s built environment from its early republican foundation to the period of the late republic and demonstrates that monumental construction remained an embedded and integral element of Roman society throughout this period. Public buildings and civic space played a significant role in shaping the cultural and political identity of early republican Rome. As an outward manifestation of the unification and urbanization of the city-state, these monumental structures represented and advertised the civic superiority of the great city over the wider Mediterranean. For the city’s elite, this monumental domain provided the ideal venue to display their own civic superiority, advertising the dignitas, gloria, and honos of individual men through the medium of Rome’s built environment. The embedded nature of Roman religion and politics further augmented the importance of many of these public buildings. In particular, temple structures provided magistrates with the platform from which to express highly personal - yet legitimate - glorifying and propagandist messages through the use of inscriptions, architectural innovation, and divine representation. Increasing political competition in the late republic saw the significance of public construction, both temporary and permanent, increase dramatically as magistrates strove to outshine their peers through the provision of public works. By the close of the republic, the city’s built environment came to represent the individual power and superiority of a wealthy and select few, signalling a new direction for Rome the city-state. A closer look at the various building projects of individual men confirms the significance of monumentalization for Roman republican society. Caesar’s forum Iulium, for example, clearly illustrates the immense potential such spaces held for the self-aggrandizement and personal glorification of these elite individuals. Situated at the intersection between republican and imperial Rome, the Caesarian phase of the forum Iulium provides a valuable insight into this important period of Roman politics and cultural development. This thesis will also demonstrate that smaller individual building projects, such as temporary theatres and temple refurbishments, served to provide significant political utility for the less powerful, yet elite, men of Rome.
The Way of Steve Lacy: Finding Individuality through Musical Genealogy
Authors:   , Johnson Lucien
Published: November 2021

This research project traces Lacy’s life in music, looking at his long period of apprenticeship, the brief but important period in which he focussed exclusively on free improvisation, and the subsequent years spent formulating and creating his own music. It uses both musical analysis of his improvisations and his compositions and commentary on the path he chose, in an attempt to define his place in 20th century music and the legacy he leaves us.  The second part of the project involves my own compositions, which investigate areas similar to those which Lacy explored in his lifetime. These include finding a relationship between composition and improvisation in which both methods are given equal value. Their respective qualities, such as the collective interplay found in improvisation or the structure that composition supplies, are being cultivated. The point of these works is not to investigate methods of composition or conduction in which improvisation or semi-improvisation can be integrated. In this music the improvisers have as few limitations as possible, so that they are free to improvise. The works merely look to find a balance where these two methods can co-exist. The pieces are mostly idiomatic although they use genre as a point of departure rather than a fixed entity. They attempt to transcend, or in some cases to subvert, the idiom to which they are referring. They have been written intuitively and developed and refined through live performance. The compositions for the ensemble, The Troubles, were developed over a year of weekly live performances and there was a degree of autonomy and democracy for all the performers. A score in this music is perhaps akin to many of the practices to be found in the creation of contemporary theatre, where a text can be treated, elaborated upon, toyed with, where there are moments where things have been devised by the ensemble, rather than viewed as a sacred object. It is possible to imagine that Lacy too worked in this manner with his regular group. In these pieces I have tried to heed Braque’s lessons, and to avoid mimicry, yet in this work I hope to capture something of the spirit of Steve Lacy.
Innovation in Service Delivery: the Expansion of General Practice Services for People with Serious and Ongoing Mental Illness
Authors:   , Nelson Katherine M
Published: November 2021

Over the past 50 years there have been many innovations in New Zealand's mental health services. Using case study methodology this research examined two innovations involving general practice - the Newtown Union Health Service (NUHS) mental health programme and the Hawke's Bay (HB) shared care pilot - targeted at people with serious and ongoing mental illness (SOMI). The intent of the research was to inform service delivery arrangements and to provide new knowledge concerning the development of innovative services. Four sources of data - programme documentation, evaluation reports, utilisation data and stakeholders' experiences acquired through questionnaires and interviews - were used in developing the case studies. While the history of these innovations was traced to specific actions, these innovations emerged because of the national and clinical context. The NUHS programme was a bottom-up development the innovation occurring because NUHS needed to find a way of meeting the needs of the people with SOMI who were registered there. NUHS practitioners in consultation with the community made decisions concerning the programme's development The HB pilot was a top-down development that was purchased because new money became available. Primary and secondary service practitioners, managers, researchers and the purchaser made decisions concerning the pilot's initial development. The factors that shaped the innovations included: funding, staffing, clinical and financial risk management and time. Similarities in the innovations included the range of arrangements for mental health care for individual people (from GPs being the sole providers through to GPs providing only physical health care, with the mental health service providing the mental health care), issues of trust and poor communication between the primary and specialist services and the frequency and length of consultations. Differences included the payment arrangements, access issues, the formalisation of co-ordination arrangements and the role of the nurse. The research found that to be adopted for routine use these innovations needed to develop effective service delivery arrangements. The NUHS programme was more successful than the HB pilot at delivering accessible, acceptable, co-ordinated, comprehensive, efficient and effective services. The findings regarding targeting, funding mechanisms, practitioner roles and the time it takes for trust to develop so that innovative services can become established have implications for Primary Health Organisation development. Research is needed on other innovative services to establish whether evaluating the effectiveness of the service delivery arrangements provides a useful framework to monitor and guide the implementation of an innovation in service delivery.
Caught In-Between: The Impact of Different Forms of Mandated National Assessment for Qualifications on Teacher Decision-Making in Year 12 History in New Zealand, 1986-2005
Authors:   , Fountain Gregor James
Published: November 2021

This case study takes an historical perspective to explore the curriculum decision-making of History teachers in New Zealand. It is argued that between 1986 and 2005, Year 12 History teachers were caught in-between curriculum reform on one hand, which encouraged teacher autonomy, and on the other hand, assessment reform which reduced teacher autonomy. While teachers in this study utilised the autonomy provided by internal assessment to develop engaging class and assessment activities, they largely avoided topics in Māori, Pasifika and Women’s history which were promoted through the syllabus. Factors which contributed to teachers' decisions concerning curriculum topics included teachers' perceptions of the nature of disciplinary History, personal interest and resource availability. The primary focus on this thesis is an assessment of the impact of changes to national assessment for qualifications on Year 12 History programmes. It argues that mandated assessment for qualifications is the single-most determining factor on classroom practice. It is also argued that the assessment style which emerged for Year 12 History through the National Certificate of Educational Achievement disconnected History assessment from the intentions of its written curriculum which emphasised disciplinary History's underlying and interconnected process of gathering, analysing and presenting historical information. In some cases, the NCEA hindered rather than enhanced the development of a school-based curriculum at this level.
Inhabiting the Shifting Edge: Increasing the Adaptive Capacity of Coastal Sand Spit Communities in a Changing Climate
Authors:   , Bloomfield Sibyl Ella May
Published: November 2021

This masters thesis uses urban design and landscape architecture to investigate the role of open spaces in increasing the adaptive capacity of New Zealand's sand spit communities in the face of climate related change. In order to respond to potential climate related change, the design of open spaces should acknowledge the crucial role that natural processes and ecosystems play in protecting coastal environments. Urban design and landscape architecture have the potential to encourage interaction at the interface of the social and ecological systems within these coastal communities. The design of public open space can encourage more sensitive development patterns and increase the communities' awareness of coastal processes. These spaces can become the focus of social capital building while ensuring the environment has the capacity to absorb potential climate related changes. This research focuses on three sand spit resort communities on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. Through a series of design studies, a range of strategies are proposed and tested in response to the potential impacts of climate change and sea level rise. The exclusive and expensive coastal development trend is augmented to provide for all potential beach users. Diversification in both the users, and types of use, in these coastal areas will increase the social capital investment and awareness, further building the adaptive capacity of the spit system.
A Future for a Rural Past: An Investigation of Rural Communal Life in New Zealand, through an Architectural Analysis of Rural Halls
Authors:   , Morgan James Grosvenor
Published: November 2021

Since the early years of colonisation, rural settlements in New Zealand have undergone much change. The built infrastructure that once supported close-knit rural communities has become largely obsolete, degenerating into disrepair. Within this context of rural decline, my thesis explores the relation between rural buildings and communal living. In so doing, I offer a conceptualisation of a new rural facility, as an incubator for new communal experience, appropriate for bringing rural and urban dwellers together. My focus is specifically community centred on rural halls within Taranaki's Stratford District. In offering a critical analysis of their demise, I contend that rural halls in New Zealand have undergone this change through processes of urbanisation. Urban dwelling has given rise to a lack of agricultural knowledge, providing a disassociation between urban residents and their earlier ties to the landscape and farm practices. The development of new forms of social life has aided an increase in the degree of physical separation between individuals and their neighbors. The traditional physical sense of belonging to a close-knit rural community has been transformed if not destroyed. Belonging to a community is, I contend, a vital psychological requirement for humans. My theoretical stance is that buildings can and do support a sense of community. From a regenerative perspective, there is arguably a trend of moving back to rural environments as people seek out alternative ways of dealing with the overbearing issue of contemporary urban living. The built rural infrastructure may be of importance to New Zealand's current and future generations. This thesis explores the possibility for a reinterpretation/adaptation of rural New Zealand halls in expressing physical rural 'communal life' in a contemporary context. Critical Regionalist and Adaptive Reuse architecture theories are utilised to test this contention. The design ventures a new archetype, a new hub for a rural settlement that will include new facilities, whilst extending and reworking the traditional social roles of rural halls. Through fostering a renewed form of communal life and providing an environment that fuses rural and urban skill-sets, this facility is intended to breath new life into these former rural communities and in particular, the abandoned rural halls.
Shoe Box: An Analysis of the Concert Hall and its Adaption to Small-Scale Music Performance Space
Authors:   , Mauvan John
Published: November 2021

In the first 150 years after 1600, western music was traditionally performed in palace ballrooms which were mostly rectangular in shape. In the following two centuries a change in social conditions led to the first halls especially built for public concerts. Although the audience capacity of these halls had increased exponentially, those that derived from the rectangular plans and dimensions of the ballrooms in the century before proved to have particularly favourable acoustics. The proportions of which are roughly that of a double cube, 1:1:2. Today this rectangular form is widely ascribed throughout acoustic literature as the shoebox. Although the shoebox has proven a popular paradigm in all time periods, until the late nineteenth century little was known of the scientific reasoning for its acoustic success. Therefore much of the contemporary literature regarding the model has focused on the large-scale designs of the nineteenth and twentieth century. Comparatively, less is written about the adaption of these design concepts to smaller-scaled concert facilities with audience capacities up to 400 persons. This thesis analyses a number of highly celebrated large-scale concert halls, with audience capacities between 1,500-3,000, and tests the application of their design principles to small-scale concert spaces with capacities ranging between 100-350 persons. The aims of this thesis are applied to a design project, which seeks to adapt the traditional shoebox archetype to a series of small-scale concert spaces, initiated by a design brief for the New Zealand School of Music (NZSM). The design project relocates the NZSM to an existing building on a disused site in central Wellington. Acknowledging the programmatic need for acoustic performance in conjunction with the social component inherent to the occupation of an urban territory, this thesis investigates two strands of design logic: technical and contextual. One strand investigates the acoustic performance of the concert hall; the other investigates its response to site context. The findings from this thesis are substantiated through a method of proportionate variation whereby the acoustic principles of large-scale concert halls are adopted to small-scale music halls. In addition, the findings established from a site analysis of contemporary large-scale concert halls are then downscaled to inform the integration of the NZSM programme with the proposed inner city site.
Variation in the Persistence and Effects of Argentine Ants throughout Their Invaded Range in New Zealand
Authors:   , Cooling Meghan Dawn
Published: November 2021

Invasive ants are a serious ecological problem around the world. The Argentine ant has had devastating effects on resident ant communities and may negatively impact other invertebrates in its introduced range. First detected in Auckland in 1990, this invader has since spread widely around the country. The effect of Argentine ants on invertebrates in New Zealand was investigated by comparing ground-dwelling arthropod species richness and abundance between and among paired uninvaded and invaded sites in seven cities across this invader's New Zealand range. In order to study density-dependent effects, invaded sites were chosen so as to differ in Argentine ant population density. The effects of rainfall and mean maximum temperature on Argentine ant abundance and the species richness and abundance were also examined. Argentine ant population persistence in New Zealand was examined by re-surveying sites of past infestation across this species range. The influence of climate on population persistence was investigated, and how this effect may vary after climate change. Additionally, the potential of community recovery after invasion was also examined. Epigaeic (above ground foraging) ant species richness and abundance was negatively associated with Argentine ant abundance; however, no discernable impact was found on hypogaeic (below ground foraging) ant species. The effect of Argentine ant abundance on non-ant arthropod species richness and abundance was mixed, with most arthropod orders being unaffected. Diplopoda was negatively influenced by Argentine ant abundance while Hemiptera was positively influenced. Annual rainfall and mean maximum temperature were found to have no effect on Argentine ant abundance or resident ant species richness and abundance, though these variables did help explain the distribution of several non-ant arthropod orders. Argentine ant populations appear to be collapsing in New Zealand. Populations had a mean survival time of 14.1 years (95% CI= 12.9- 15.3 years). Climate change may prolong population survival, as survival time increased with increasing temperature and decreasing rainfall, but only by a few years. Formerly invaded Auckland ant communities were indistinguishable from those that had never been invaded, suggesting ant communities will recover after Argentine ant collapse.
Museum Leadership in Practice: A New Zealand Case Study
Authors:   , Luoni David
Published: November 2021

Museum leadership is an under investigated area of museum studies. This dissertation contributes to museum leadership research by applying leadership theory to a case study of the career of Jim Geddes, a museum director who works in the town of Gore in Southland, New Zealand. In 2008 Geddes won Museums Aotearoa's inaugural Individual Achievement Award for putting Gore on the national cultural map by establishing the Eastern Southland Gallery, the Hokonui Heritage Centre, the Croydon Aviation Museum and for expanding Gore's Historical Museum. How did Geddes achieve this successful cultural entrepreneurship in such an unlikely small rural town? The central research question asks how leadership has manifested itself in Gore's museums during Geddes' tenure from 1983 to the present. The theoretical framework draws on leadership theory, particularly the work of Suchy and others, who theorise leadership as a social practice rather than a set of management techniques. Several qualitative research methods are employed including interviews with Geddes and key museum stakeholders coupled with a review of how the media have presented Geddes' work. This research data is then compared against leadership theory, noting the convergences and divergences. The dissertation is the first in-depth New Zealand study to test the application of contemporary leadership theory to one museum leader's practice. The findings reveal that, while Geddes is not a conscious leader, his practice has a striking similarity to the engaging transformational leadership model in terms of stakeholder engagement and the inter-personal and emotional elements of leadership. This research provides a deeper understanding of the career of a successful local museum director, suggesting that a sense of place can function as a mechanism for museum leaders to profitably engage with stakeholders. It also presents the argument that successful leadership is a practice, a mode of operating and interacting with others that if consistently applied can spark a series of positive events for museums and their leaders. After considering the implications of this case study for museum practice, training and professional development, the dissertation concludes with five recommendations to improve museum leadership development in New Zealand.
Performance Variance Evaluation on Mozilla Firefox
Authors:   , Larres Jan
Published: November 2021

In order to evaluate software performance and find regressions, many developers use automated performance tests. However, the test results often contain a certain amount of noise that is not caused by actual performance changes in the programs. They are instead caused by external factors like operating system decisions or unexpected non-determinisms inside the programs. This makes interpreting the test results hard since results that differ from previous results cannot easily be attributed to either genuine changes or noise. In this thesis we use Mozilla Firefox as an example to try to find the causes for this performance variance, develop ways to reduce the noise and present a statistical technique that makes identifying genuine performance changes more reliable. Our results show that a significant amount of noise is caused by memory randomization and other external factors, that there is variance in Firefox internals that does not seem to be correlated with test result variance, and that our suggested statistical forecasting technique can give more reliable detection of genuine performance changes than the one currently in use by Mozilla.