title: Communities of practice and professional development

authors: Chalmers, Lex

abstract: The Internet has had a transformative effect on many aspects of contemporary living. While there may be a tendency to overstate the impacts of this technology, workplaces and work practices in many societies have been greatly affected by almost instant access to massive amounts of information, delivered through broadening bandwidth. This paper embeds a discussion of professional development in this technological context, and comments on the emergence of a range of Internet‐based tools designed to assist with the delivery of professional development programs for secondary teachers. We argue that the tools by themselves are not enough to guarantee effective professional development and that building ‘communities of practice’ will become significant in lifelong learning models. We discuss some work undertaken in a professional development project with secondary school teachers distributed at a distance from the host institution.

text: Communities of practice and professional development The Internet has had a transformative effect on many aspects of contemporary living. While there may be a tendency to overstate the impacts of this technology, workplaces and work practices in many societies have been greatly affected by almost instant access to massive amounts of information, delivered through broadening bandwidth. This paper embeds a discussion of professional development in this technological context, and comments on the emergence of a range of Internet‐based tools designed to assist with the delivery of professional development programs for secondary teachers. We argue that the tools by themselves are not enough to guarantee effective professional development and that building ‘communities of practice’ will become significant in lifelong learning models. We discuss some work undertaken in a professional development project with secondary school teachers distributed at a distance from the host institution.

year: 2006

title: Detection of an invasive aquatic species by canine olfaction

authors: Quaife, Jesse Austin

subjects: Dogs

abstract: Invasive species represent a major concern for native flora and fauna in New Zealand waterways. Current surveying methods employed in the detection of these species typically rely on visually observing or catching fish and are often expensive and difficult to implement. Given that freshwater fish release organic materials into the water, and that some of these materials contain volatile elements that are then released into the air above the surface, it was hypothesised that domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) may be able to detect the presence of these species by smelling water samples that have contained them.
In this study, four experiments were conducted to determine the validity of this hypothesis. Five pet dogs were trained using a go/no-go procedure to operate an automated apparatus that presented individual water samples through an opening in the front panel. Dogs were presented with samples from aquaria that had or had not contained fish.
In Experiment 1, dogs were presented with water from aquaria containing koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) and aquaria containing no fish. In Experiment 2, koi carp samples were systematically diluted until concentrations similar to those found within the natural environment were reached. Experiment 3 sought to determine whether dogs could discriminate koi carp from a distantly-related fish (brown bullhead catfish, Ameiurus nebulosus). Experiment 4 replicated the previous experiment with a closely-related fish (goldfish, Carassius auratus).
In all four experiments, dogs were able to correctly identify water that had contained koi carp and largely ignore water samples that had contained either no fish or other species of fish at above 80% accuracy. The overall results of this research indicate that dogs are able to accurately detect the presence of koi carp from water samples at concentrations similar to those found within the natural environment, and to discriminate between at least three species of fish. These findings suggest that dogs may have an important role to play in waterway conservation and management.

text: Detection of an invasive aquatic species by canine olfaction Invasive species represent a major concern for native flora and fauna in New Zealand waterways. Current surveying methods employed in the detection of these species typically rely on visually observing or catching fish and are often expensive and difficult to implement. Given that freshwater fish release organic materials into the water, and that some of these materials contain volatile elements that are then released into the air above the surface, it was hypothesised that domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) may be able to detect the presence of these species by smelling water samples that have contained them.
In this study, four experiments were conducted to determine the validity of this hypothesis. Five pet dogs were trained using a go/no-go procedure to operate an automated apparatus that presented individual water samples through an opening in the front panel. Dogs were presented with samples from aquaria that had or had not contained fish.
In Experiment 1, dogs were presented with water from aquaria containing koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) and aquaria containing no fish. In Experiment 2, koi carp samples were systematically diluted until concentrations similar to those found within the natural environment were reached. Experiment 3 sought to determine whether dogs could discriminate koi carp from a distantly-related fish (brown bullhead catfish, Ameiurus nebulosus). Experiment 4 replicated the previous experiment with a closely-related fish (goldfish, Carassius auratus).
In all four experiments, dogs were able to correctly identify water that had contained koi carp and largely ignore water samples that had contained either no fish or other species of fish at above 80% accuracy. The overall results of this research indicate that dogs are able to accurately detect the presence of koi carp from water samples at concentrations similar to those found within the natural environment, and to discriminate between at least three species of fish. These findings suggest that dogs may have an important role to play in waterway conservation and management.

year: 2018

title: Maori perspectives of the environment: Summary document

authors: Whangapirita, Laura

subjects: Maori

abstract: The Community and Economy Programme at Environment Waikato has developed a partnership with the Maori and Psychology Research Unit of the University of Waikato to further assist in strengthening its commitment to cultural research and information work. This relationship facilitated the development of the Maori and Environment project, which was conducted in two stages and produced a number of significant research reports throughout 2003. This is the summary document.

text: Maori perspectives of the environment: Summary document The Community and Economy Programme at Environment Waikato has developed a partnership with the Maori and Psychology Research Unit of the University of Waikato to further assist in strengthening its commitment to cultural research and information work. This relationship facilitated the development of the Maori and Environment project, which was conducted in two stages and produced a number of significant research reports throughout 2003. This is the summary document.

year: 2003-12