title: Notional

authors: Soo, Chin-En Keith

abstract: Everyone is unique, especially their face. Even twins have more or less different faces. Faces are the most critical way for people to remember each other in their daily lives, so a face can be regarded as a unique ID of a person.
Notional aims to generate a unique pattern by collecting facial data of a person, such as face length and forehead width, to show that each person is unique. The final pattern can even be used as a form of identity in the context of the metaverse.

text: Notional Everyone is unique, especially their face. Even twins have more or less different faces. Faces are the most critical way for people to remember each other in their daily lives, so a face can be regarded as a unique ID of a person.
Notional aims to generate a unique pattern by collecting facial data of a person, such as face length and forehead width, to show that each person is unique. The final pattern can even be used as a form of identity in the context of the metaverse.

year: 2023

title: Correlation between engineering students’ perceptions of sustainability and their understanding of the threshold concepts in their disciplines

authors: Enteshari, Sina

subjects: sustainability

abstract: CONTEXT 
Sustainability is an important concept in engineering education. Although it is not a new idea in engineering education, its implementation presents a number of obstacles. To support curriculum development, we looked into the fundamental and transformative learning in sustainability, known as 'threshold concepts’. A series of concepts that has the ability to transform the way students perceive sustainability in their disciplines. In this study, we attempt to answer the question, how do engineering students perceive and understand sustainability within the context of their discipline's core concepts?

PURPOSE OR GOAL
Using threshold concept theory, we investigated how students in various engineering disciplines perceive sustainability and identified what they thought to be the crucial sustainability principle in their disciplines. We hoped to improve sustainability engineering education initiatives and promote the incorporation of sustainability concepts into various engineering disciplines' curricula by changing students' and educators' perceptions of sustainability.

APPROACH OR METHODOLOGY/METHODS 
The study used a mixed-methods approach, which included both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques. A structured survey was distributed to students from a variety of disciplines, including civil, software, electronics, mechanical, chemical, and material processing engineering. In addition to the survey, qualitative data were gathered through interviews with a subset of these students, allowing for a more in-depth exploration of individual perspectives. The analysis also included a review of first-year engineering students' reflective essays and reports, which provided additional qualitative insights into their perspectives on sustainability.

OUTCOMES 
Our research found that the content of sustainability courses significantly shapes students' overall understanding of sustainability and its relevance to their specific discipline. A key hurdle in integrating sustainability into engineering education is its perceived irrelevance. Students favoured content that's tailored to their discipline, aligning with their existing discipline specific threshold concepts. For instance, software engineering students felt that general sustainability courses didn't apply to them, preferring courses that incorporate sustainability in a way that's directly relevant to them. They aimed to gain knowledge that would complement and expand upon their prior studies.

CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS/SUMMARY 
Our study revealed that sustainability-related threshold concepts are distinct for each discipline, highlighting the need for customised approaches to foster engagement and understanding. These insights can help educators craft teaching strategies that enhance students' grasp of these concepts and promote the application of sustainable practices within their disciplines. A major difficulty in integrating sustainability into engineering education was the lack of discipline-specific content, leading many students to overlook sustainability concepts that didn't directly relate to their studies.

text: Correlation between engineering students’ perceptions of sustainability and their understanding of the threshold concepts in their disciplines CONTEXT 
Sustainability is an important concept in engineering education. Although it is not a new idea in engineering education, its implementation presents a number of obstacles. To support curriculum development, we looked into the fundamental and transformative learning in sustainability, known as 'threshold concepts’. A series of concepts that has the ability to transform the way students perceive sustainability in their disciplines. In this study, we attempt to answer the question, how do engineering students perceive and understand sustainability within the context of their discipline's core concepts?

PURPOSE OR GOAL
Using threshold concept theory, we investigated how students in various engineering disciplines perceive sustainability and identified what they thought to be the crucial sustainability principle in their disciplines. We hoped to improve sustainability engineering education initiatives and promote the incorporation of sustainability concepts into various engineering disciplines' curricula by changing students' and educators' perceptions of sustainability.

APPROACH OR METHODOLOGY/METHODS 
The study used a mixed-methods approach, which included both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques. A structured survey was distributed to students from a variety of disciplines, including civil, software, electronics, mechanical, chemical, and material processing engineering. In addition to the survey, qualitative data were gathered through interviews with a subset of these students, allowing for a more in-depth exploration of individual perspectives. The analysis also included a review of first-year engineering students' reflective essays and reports, which provided additional qualitative insights into their perspectives on sustainability.

OUTCOMES 
Our research found that the content of sustainability courses significantly shapes students' overall understanding of sustainability and its relevance to their specific discipline. A key hurdle in integrating sustainability into engineering education is its perceived irrelevance. Students favoured content that's tailored to their discipline, aligning with their existing discipline specific threshold concepts. For instance, software engineering students felt that general sustainability courses didn't apply to them, preferring courses that incorporate sustainability in a way that's directly relevant to them. They aimed to gain knowledge that would complement and expand upon their prior studies.

CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS/SUMMARY 
Our study revealed that sustainability-related threshold concepts are distinct for each discipline, highlighting the need for customised approaches to foster engagement and understanding. These insights can help educators craft teaching strategies that enhance students' grasp of these concepts and promote the application of sustainable practices within their disciplines. A major difficulty in integrating sustainability into engineering education was the lack of discipline-specific content, leading many students to overlook sustainability concepts that didn't directly relate to their studies.

year: 2024

title: Where to from here: Charting a way forward for language and education policy in Aotearoa/New Zealand

authors: May, Stephen

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: The principle of cultural and linguistic homogeneity, upon which the organization of modern nation-states is predicated, is becoming increasingly hard to defend and maintain.  At the demographic level, nation-states comprise (indeed, have always comprised) a variety of different cultural and linguistic groups.  These include, alongside majority populations, indigenous peoples and other national minorities, as well as migrant communities.  This long-standing demographic diversity has also increased markedly in modern times, particularly with patterns of increased migration and the forced relocation of refugees.  These demographic changes have, in turn, placed increasing pressure on the public policies of nation-states which have historically been inimical or formal recognition of cultural and linguistic diversity.  As a result, nation-states are having to address more seriously the 'politics of multiculturalism' - that is, the degree to which the languages and cultures of so called 'minority' groups can be (or should be) accorded recognition in the public domain.  This also necessarily involves addressing directly issues of bilingualism and multilingualism and their implications for language and education policy and practice.

This paper explores these broader debates in specific relation to Aotearoa/New Zealand which itself has seen a marked increase in migration, and attendant cultural and linguistic diversity, over the last ten years.  Debates on multiculturalism, and their implications for public policy, are contentious enough in themselves, but are further complicated in Aotearoa/New Zealand by prior bicultural commitments to Maori.  Can multicultural/multilingual commitments be extended without compromising, or undermining biculturalism?  What are the specific implications of this potential dialectic between biculturalism and multiculturalism for the further development of language and education policy in Aotearoa/New Zealand?  The paper will attempt to develop a set of general principles as a basis for moving these debates forward, drawing on discussions of language rights, and language planning and policy, as well as recent developments in international law.  Specific implications for language education will also be discussed.

text: Where to from here: Charting a way forward for language and education policy in Aotearoa/New Zealand The principle of cultural and linguistic homogeneity, upon which the organization of modern nation-states is predicated, is becoming increasingly hard to defend and maintain.  At the demographic level, nation-states comprise (indeed, have always comprised) a variety of different cultural and linguistic groups.  These include, alongside majority populations, indigenous peoples and other national minorities, as well as migrant communities.  This long-standing demographic diversity has also increased markedly in modern times, particularly with patterns of increased migration and the forced relocation of refugees.  These demographic changes have, in turn, placed increasing pressure on the public policies of nation-states which have historically been inimical or formal recognition of cultural and linguistic diversity.  As a result, nation-states are having to address more seriously the 'politics of multiculturalism' - that is, the degree to which the languages and cultures of so called 'minority' groups can be (or should be) accorded recognition in the public domain.  This also necessarily involves addressing directly issues of bilingualism and multilingualism and their implications for language and education policy and practice.

This paper explores these broader debates in specific relation to Aotearoa/New Zealand which itself has seen a marked increase in migration, and attendant cultural and linguistic diversity, over the last ten years.  Debates on multiculturalism, and their implications for public policy, are contentious enough in themselves, but are further complicated in Aotearoa/New Zealand by prior bicultural commitments to Maori.  Can multicultural/multilingual commitments be extended without compromising, or undermining biculturalism?  What are the specific implications of this potential dialectic between biculturalism and multiculturalism for the further development of language and education policy in Aotearoa/New Zealand?  The paper will attempt to develop a set of general principles as a basis for moving these debates forward, drawing on discussions of language rights, and language planning and policy, as well as recent developments in international law.  Specific implications for language education will also be discussed.

year: 2002-01-01