title: Papua New Guinea Primary School Technology Teachers: The Impacts of Support Materials on Their Perceptions and Practices

authors: Hagunama, Eron

subjects: Papua New Guinea

abstract: This thesis explores the perceptions of technology and technology education held by
six primary school teachers in Papua New Guinea, and their views of the materials
developed to use as a support for teaching technology and the impacts on their
perceptions and their teaching practices of technology. Based on the interpretivist
paradigm, a case study approach and qualitative data collection methods were used to
explore the teachers' views of technology and technology education and how the support materials influenced these perceptions and practices. One to one, semistructured
interviews with the teachers, and an analysis of their planning documents were used to collect data.
As part of the curriculum reforms, technology education was introduced as a new
subject into primary education in PNG in 1994. However, no formal professional
development was provided for helping the primary teachers implement technology
education. Instead, curriculum materials were developed and distributed to teachers in
2005 as a support for their technology teaching.
This thesis supports the idea that teachers need support to help them learn. It is also
argues that teachers' beliefs about subject areas, teaching, their students, and
curriculum materials influence how they interact with these support materials. The
findings show that the support materials were very useful in enhancing the teachers'
knowledge of technology and effective teaching of technology.
There were changes to teachers' perceptions of technology and technological
practices when they began to use the support materials. Changes included the views of
technology as more than modern artefacts to include traditional technology, that
technology was more than just practical. It also has a knowledge base. However, not
all aspects of technology as advocated in the support materials have been taken up by
these teachers. Problem-solving and design aspects have received marginal attention.
Other factors were at play including subject subcultures, subject backgrounds, past
hands-on experiences and ownership of personal technological artefacts. To be even
more effective technology teachers, it is advocated that teacher professional
development is required for Papua New Guinean primary teachers to implement the
technology successfully.

text: Papua New Guinea Primary School Technology Teachers: The Impacts of Support Materials on Their Perceptions and Practices This thesis explores the perceptions of technology and technology education held by
six primary school teachers in Papua New Guinea, and their views of the materials
developed to use as a support for teaching technology and the impacts on their
perceptions and their teaching practices of technology. Based on the interpretivist
paradigm, a case study approach and qualitative data collection methods were used to
explore the teachers' views of technology and technology education and how the support materials influenced these perceptions and practices. One to one, semistructured
interviews with the teachers, and an analysis of their planning documents were used to collect data.
As part of the curriculum reforms, technology education was introduced as a new
subject into primary education in PNG in 1994. However, no formal professional
development was provided for helping the primary teachers implement technology
education. Instead, curriculum materials were developed and distributed to teachers in
2005 as a support for their technology teaching.
This thesis supports the idea that teachers need support to help them learn. It is also
argues that teachers' beliefs about subject areas, teaching, their students, and
curriculum materials influence how they interact with these support materials. The
findings show that the support materials were very useful in enhancing the teachers'
knowledge of technology and effective teaching of technology.
There were changes to teachers' perceptions of technology and technological
practices when they began to use the support materials. Changes included the views of
technology as more than modern artefacts to include traditional technology, that
technology was more than just practical. It also has a knowledge base. However, not
all aspects of technology as advocated in the support materials have been taken up by
these teachers. Problem-solving and design aspects have received marginal attention.
Other factors were at play including subject subcultures, subject backgrounds, past
hands-on experiences and ownership of personal technological artefacts. To be even
more effective technology teachers, it is advocated that teacher professional
development is required for Papua New Guinean primary teachers to implement the
technology successfully.

year: 2008

title: Comparative tolerances of non-indigenous bridled goby and native exquisite goby to salintiy, temperature and sediment

authors: Theobald, Kylie

subjects: non-indigenous

abstract: The Australian bridled goby (Arenigobius bifrenatus) has been in New Zealand since 1996, and has subsequently spread to thirteen estuaries and the coastal Otara Lake. The native exquisite goby (Favonigobius exquisitus) may be displaced or threatened by the bridled goby as they share estuarine habitat. The ecophysiological tolerances and sediment preferences for both goby species were examined to determine the potential for niche overlap and habitat selection. 

The results of acute salinity and temperature tolerance tests supported the hypotheses that bridled gobies are more tolerant than exquisite gobies to extremes of salinity and temperature. The incipient ten day LT50 values were 6.7 C and 11.8 C for bridled and exquisite gobies, respectively, however, both tolerated temperatures up to 35 C. Both species showed some mortality at low salinities, but mortality did not exceed 50% for either species at the lowest salinity tested (2.2 ppt) after 96 h. Bridled gobies displayed a strong preference for fine sediment (less than 63 um), whereas exquisite gobies were less selective, accepting a broad range of sediment grain sizes (63-250 um).

Bridled gobies have successfully established and dispersed in New Zealand, and their ecophysiological adaptations that allowed them to survive harsh conditions in ballast water, their presumed introduction vector, will likely aid their future spread throughout New Zealand. Their increasing abundance is likely to see them encounter and possibly encroach on the habitat of exquisite gobies. Bridled gobies may displace the smaller exquisite gobies from optimal habitats, as exquisite gobies are unlikely to survive competition from and predation by bridled gobies. However, exquisite gobies should be able to relocate to adjacent habitat with coarse sediment that is unsuitable for burrow construction by bridled gobies. Additionally, acclimatisation to local environmental conditions may extend the tolerance limits determined in this thesis, and may allow bridled gobies to spread to upstream zones in estuaries and occupy freshwater.

New Zealand presently has eight recognised gobiid species of which one is endemic, two are native, two are not recorded in mainland waters and three are proposed as non-indigenous. Additionally, several tropical and subtropical gobies exist in the aquarium trade. Similar ecophysiological tests of tolerance and preference may determine the possibility that these species could establish in the wild following accidental release.

text: Comparative tolerances of non-indigenous bridled goby and native exquisite goby to salintiy, temperature and sediment The Australian bridled goby (Arenigobius bifrenatus) has been in New Zealand since 1996, and has subsequently spread to thirteen estuaries and the coastal Otara Lake. The native exquisite goby (Favonigobius exquisitus) may be displaced or threatened by the bridled goby as they share estuarine habitat. The ecophysiological tolerances and sediment preferences for both goby species were examined to determine the potential for niche overlap and habitat selection. 

The results of acute salinity and temperature tolerance tests supported the hypotheses that bridled gobies are more tolerant than exquisite gobies to extremes of salinity and temperature. The incipient ten day LT50 values were 6.7 C and 11.8 C for bridled and exquisite gobies, respectively, however, both tolerated temperatures up to 35 C. Both species showed some mortality at low salinities, but mortality did not exceed 50% for either species at the lowest salinity tested (2.2 ppt) after 96 h. Bridled gobies displayed a strong preference for fine sediment (less than 63 um), whereas exquisite gobies were less selective, accepting a broad range of sediment grain sizes (63-250 um).

Bridled gobies have successfully established and dispersed in New Zealand, and their ecophysiological adaptations that allowed them to survive harsh conditions in ballast water, their presumed introduction vector, will likely aid their future spread throughout New Zealand. Their increasing abundance is likely to see them encounter and possibly encroach on the habitat of exquisite gobies. Bridled gobies may displace the smaller exquisite gobies from optimal habitats, as exquisite gobies are unlikely to survive competition from and predation by bridled gobies. However, exquisite gobies should be able to relocate to adjacent habitat with coarse sediment that is unsuitable for burrow construction by bridled gobies. Additionally, acclimatisation to local environmental conditions may extend the tolerance limits determined in this thesis, and may allow bridled gobies to spread to upstream zones in estuaries and occupy freshwater.

New Zealand presently has eight recognised gobiid species of which one is endemic, two are native, two are not recorded in mainland waters and three are proposed as non-indigenous. Additionally, several tropical and subtropical gobies exist in the aquarium trade. Similar ecophysiological tests of tolerance and preference may determine the possibility that these species could establish in the wild following accidental release.

year: 2007

title: Representations of diversity in the revised New Zealand PictureBook Collection

authors: Daly, Nicola

subjects: picturebooks

abstract: Collections of children’s literature are used for a range of reasons including preservation, record keeping, and more recently the encouragement of intercultural understanding. Both the signifi- cance of learning about other cultures and the importance of children seeing themselves reflected in the books that they read have been discussed extensively. In 2010, the New Zealand PictureBook Collection (NZPBC) was developed in order to create a resource that reflected New Zealand national identity. In 2015 the NZPBC was revised and this article presents a visual and textual analysis of the diversity present in the sixty books nomi- nated through the lens of critical multicultural analysis, using four variables. Findings indicate considerable diversity is present in the collection in terms of representations of ethnicity and family; less so for representations of disability and languages.

text: Representations of diversity in the revised New Zealand PictureBook Collection Collections of children’s literature are used for a range of reasons including preservation, record keeping, and more recently the encouragement of intercultural understanding. Both the signifi- cance of learning about other cultures and the importance of children seeing themselves reflected in the books that they read have been discussed extensively. In 2010, the New Zealand PictureBook Collection (NZPBC) was developed in order to create a resource that reflected New Zealand national identity. In 2015 the NZPBC was revised and this article presents a visual and textual analysis of the diversity present in the sixty books nomi- nated through the lens of critical multicultural analysis, using four variables. Findings indicate considerable diversity is present in the collection in terms of representations of ethnicity and family; less so for representations of disability and languages.

year: 2017