title: Carrying Out a Practical Investigation:The Student-Experienced Curriculum

authors: Hume, Anne Christine

subjects: authentic scientific inquiry/investigation

abstract: Assessment of student learning for qualifications has long been contentious, particularly the reliability and validity of various assessment methods and the impact of assessment on the nature of student learning.  There is, for example, controversy about norm-referencing versus standards-based assessment of student learning with different stakeholders holding different political agenda.  In this study these issues are investigated by research into a recently implemented qualification for secondary school students in New Zealand - the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA).  Proponents of NCEA suggest this regime acknowledges a wider range of student achievements than previous qualifications.  Opponents of NCEA lament the 'fragmented', 'atomistic' approach to learning, and the lack of incentive for students to compete and strive for excellence.  While other New Zealand research reports on national trends in the way school programmes are responding to the changes associated with the implementation of NCEA, little is known about the classroom curriculum students are actually achieving.

This interpretive study presents findings from classroom-based case studies investigating the nature of the student-experienced curriculum for the NCEA Science Achievement Standard 1.1 Carrying out a practical investigation with direction.  These findings indicate that the achievement standard is exerting a strong influence over the nature of student learning, with students experiencing purposeful and focused learning within a structured teaching programme.  The emphasis in the standard on fair testing has implications for students' understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry by limiting their exposure to the range of methods that scientists use in practice.  Student learning tends to be mechanistic and superficial rather than creative, critical and life-long.

The findings have important implications for writers of national curriculum and assessment policy and for teachers of science.  Suggestions are offered for ways of enhancing the learning of science under the NCEA qualification.

text: Carrying Out a Practical Investigation:The Student-Experienced Curriculum Assessment of student learning for qualifications has long been contentious, particularly the reliability and validity of various assessment methods and the impact of assessment on the nature of student learning.  There is, for example, controversy about norm-referencing versus standards-based assessment of student learning with different stakeholders holding different political agenda.  In this study these issues are investigated by research into a recently implemented qualification for secondary school students in New Zealand - the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA).  Proponents of NCEA suggest this regime acknowledges a wider range of student achievements than previous qualifications.  Opponents of NCEA lament the 'fragmented', 'atomistic' approach to learning, and the lack of incentive for students to compete and strive for excellence.  While other New Zealand research reports on national trends in the way school programmes are responding to the changes associated with the implementation of NCEA, little is known about the classroom curriculum students are actually achieving.

This interpretive study presents findings from classroom-based case studies investigating the nature of the student-experienced curriculum for the NCEA Science Achievement Standard 1.1 Carrying out a practical investigation with direction.  These findings indicate that the achievement standard is exerting a strong influence over the nature of student learning, with students experiencing purposeful and focused learning within a structured teaching programme.  The emphasis in the standard on fair testing has implications for students' understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry by limiting their exposure to the range of methods that scientists use in practice.  Student learning tends to be mechanistic and superficial rather than creative, critical and life-long.

The findings have important implications for writers of national curriculum and assessment policy and for teachers of science.  Suggestions are offered for ways of enhancing the learning of science under the NCEA qualification.

year: 2006

title: Understanding and ameliorating non-linear phase and amplitude responses in AMCW Lidar

authors: Godbaz, John Peter

subjects: phase linearity

abstract: Amplitude modulated continuous wave (AMCW) lidar systems commonly suffer from non-linear phase and amplitude responses due to a number of known factors such as aliasing and multipath inteference. In order to produce useful range and intensity information it is necessary to remove these perturbations from the measurements. We review the known causes of non-linearity, namely aliasing, temporal variation in correlation waveform shape and mixed pixels/multipath inteference. We also introduce other sources of non-linearity, including crosstalk, modulation waveform envelope decay and non-circularly symmetric noise statistics, that have been ignored in the literature. An experimental study is conducted to evaluate techniques for mitigation of non-linearity, and it is found that harmonic cancellation provides a significant improvement in phase and amplitude linearity.

text: Understanding and ameliorating non-linear phase and amplitude responses in AMCW Lidar Amplitude modulated continuous wave (AMCW) lidar systems commonly suffer from non-linear phase and amplitude responses due to a number of known factors such as aliasing and multipath inteference. In order to produce useful range and intensity information it is necessary to remove these perturbations from the measurements. We review the known causes of non-linearity, namely aliasing, temporal variation in correlation waveform shape and mixed pixels/multipath inteference. We also introduce other sources of non-linearity, including crosstalk, modulation waveform envelope decay and non-circularly symmetric noise statistics, that have been ignored in the literature. An experimental study is conducted to evaluate techniques for mitigation of non-linearity, and it is found that harmonic cancellation provides a significant improvement in phase and amplitude linearity.

year: 2012

title: E Whakatipuranga o te Tāpoi Māori - Māori Indigenous Tourism Development: A Whānau based Māori Tourism development

authors: Puriri, Ashley Reed

subjects: Maori Tourism

abstract: This Doctoral thesis uses a Kaupapa Māori research methodology, which is culturally grounded to identify the indigenous Māori underpinnings and processes that a Whānau (Māori family) experience when developing their Māori tourism business. The thesis discusses the following four issues, which are addressed using a Kaupapa Māori research methodology:
1. The gap in the current literature for Māori tourism development and authenticity from a Māori perspective.
2. The cultural underpinnings and processes of a Whānau (Māori family) tourism business.
3. Identification of the Māori cultural values that inform Māori tourism development
4. Development of a cultural framework that positions Māori values on levels of significance from a Māori perspective.
A cultural tourism experience is investigated, involving a Whānau Māori tourism business developed from a conceptual stage in preparation for financial investment. Using a Kaupapa Māori research methodology this research contributes to a gap in the academic literature relating to Whānau (Māori family) tourism development. The research contributes new academic literature to support the notion that the Whānau unit is at the core of social and economic development for Māori tourism. This thesis captures and describes the various stages, developed over a year, of Whānau Hui (family meetings), of a Whānau tourism business. As a Māori researcher, I gained emancipated access to a Whānau using Kaupapa Māori methods, applying a cultural set of protocols and values to unlock access to a Māori worldview of how a Whānau navigates the processes of developing their Whānau tourism experience in New Zealand. The engagement of a Kaupapa Māori research methodology enabled me to apply my personal skills of a lifetime of knowledge of Te Ao Māori (a Māori worldview) and Te Reo Māori (Māori language) combined with over 20 years of global advancement of indigenous tourism in the cruise industry. As a Tohunga Whakairo (master carver) I applied seven distinctive steps of a master carver’s processes in carving a Pou Tokomanawa (the main centre post of a Tipuna Whare orancestralmeeting house), providing a unique cultural process that frames the chapters of this dissertation. The research data provided an enriched flow of cultural information, which was analysed using a cultural analytical process to validate the key themes that emerged from the research findings. The cultural analyses are completed in two stages; the processes of Whakapapa and Whanaungatanga (cultural relationships), which are culturally-grounded methods for analysing research data using a Māori worldview, and the validation of cultural significance by Kaumātua (elders) of the Whānau. The thesis is imbued with cultural paradigms that frame and identify the cultural underpinnings and processes of a Whānau tourism development. The study expands on two cultural models,‘Te Tāpoi Poutama’ and Te Matua Poutama (Māori tourism frameworks for identifying cultural levels of significance) and these cultural paradigms are applied to demonstrate cultural levels of significance that a Whānau place on their proposed Māori tourism business.

text: E Whakatipuranga o te Tāpoi Māori - Māori Indigenous Tourism Development: A Whānau based Māori Tourism development This Doctoral thesis uses a Kaupapa Māori research methodology, which is culturally grounded to identify the indigenous Māori underpinnings and processes that a Whānau (Māori family) experience when developing their Māori tourism business. The thesis discusses the following four issues, which are addressed using a Kaupapa Māori research methodology:
1. The gap in the current literature for Māori tourism development and authenticity from a Māori perspective.
2. The cultural underpinnings and processes of a Whānau (Māori family) tourism business.
3. Identification of the Māori cultural values that inform Māori tourism development
4. Development of a cultural framework that positions Māori values on levels of significance from a Māori perspective.
A cultural tourism experience is investigated, involving a Whānau Māori tourism business developed from a conceptual stage in preparation for financial investment. Using a Kaupapa Māori research methodology this research contributes to a gap in the academic literature relating to Whānau (Māori family) tourism development. The research contributes new academic literature to support the notion that the Whānau unit is at the core of social and economic development for Māori tourism. This thesis captures and describes the various stages, developed over a year, of Whānau Hui (family meetings), of a Whānau tourism business. As a Māori researcher, I gained emancipated access to a Whānau using Kaupapa Māori methods, applying a cultural set of protocols and values to unlock access to a Māori worldview of how a Whānau navigates the processes of developing their Whānau tourism experience in New Zealand. The engagement of a Kaupapa Māori research methodology enabled me to apply my personal skills of a lifetime of knowledge of Te Ao Māori (a Māori worldview) and Te Reo Māori (Māori language) combined with over 20 years of global advancement of indigenous tourism in the cruise industry. As a Tohunga Whakairo (master carver) I applied seven distinctive steps of a master carver’s processes in carving a Pou Tokomanawa (the main centre post of a Tipuna Whare orancestralmeeting house), providing a unique cultural process that frames the chapters of this dissertation. The research data provided an enriched flow of cultural information, which was analysed using a cultural analytical process to validate the key themes that emerged from the research findings. The cultural analyses are completed in two stages; the processes of Whakapapa and Whanaungatanga (cultural relationships), which are culturally-grounded methods for analysing research data using a Māori worldview, and the validation of cultural significance by Kaumātua (elders) of the Whānau. The thesis is imbued with cultural paradigms that frame and identify the cultural underpinnings and processes of a Whānau tourism development. The study expands on two cultural models,‘Te Tāpoi Poutama’ and Te Matua Poutama (Māori tourism frameworks for identifying cultural levels of significance) and these cultural paradigms are applied to demonstrate cultural levels of significance that a Whānau place on their proposed Māori tourism business.

year: 2017