title: Understanding how an audio-visual introduction engaged GATE students in technology activity

authors: Smith, Thomas William

subjects: GATE

abstract: As a technology education provider working in a technology education centre contracted to fourteen client schools, my aim is to provide experiences of quality learning for all students visiting the centre. One of the challenges to fulfilling this aim is the limited time available to work with visiting students and the accompanying need to engage students as quickly as possible in the learning activities 
  
This study is an investigation into how the use of an audio-visual introduction to technology class activities might meet this challenge when used in a series of three technology classes with gifted and talented (GATE) students.

A qualitative, interpretive methodology was employed to gain insights into the effectiveness of this type of introduction in quickly motivating and engaging students in technological challenges in the study. Data gathering methods included classroom observations, video recording of class sessions, interviews with students and teacher, and analysis of student work.

The study's findings indicate that carefully selected audio-visual material can provide an effective introduction to technology activities that quickly engage and motivate students to work together to find solutions to technological problems. The audio-visual introductions provided a shared experience and focus for students from different classes and schools to come together and work collaboratively towards a negotiated solution.

text: Understanding how an audio-visual introduction engaged GATE students in technology activity As a technology education provider working in a technology education centre contracted to fourteen client schools, my aim is to provide experiences of quality learning for all students visiting the centre. One of the challenges to fulfilling this aim is the limited time available to work with visiting students and the accompanying need to engage students as quickly as possible in the learning activities 
  
This study is an investigation into how the use of an audio-visual introduction to technology class activities might meet this challenge when used in a series of three technology classes with gifted and talented (GATE) students.

A qualitative, interpretive methodology was employed to gain insights into the effectiveness of this type of introduction in quickly motivating and engaging students in technological challenges in the study. Data gathering methods included classroom observations, video recording of class sessions, interviews with students and teacher, and analysis of student work.

The study's findings indicate that carefully selected audio-visual material can provide an effective introduction to technology activities that quickly engage and motivate students to work together to find solutions to technological problems. The audio-visual introductions provided a shared experience and focus for students from different classes and schools to come together and work collaboratively towards a negotiated solution.

year: 2010

title: Contraceptive use in lesbian and bisexual women: Findings from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health

authors: Ellis, Sonja J.

abstract: Contraceptive use is a key part of sexual and reproductive health for women, yet few studies have explored contraceptive use patterns in lesbian and bisexual women born between 1989 and 1995. Analysing data from an existing cohort study of reproductive-aged women this study explores contraceptive use among lesbian and bisexual women in Australia. Findings of the study showed that lesbians were least likely to use contraceptives compared to heterosexual women and that bisexual women used short-acting hormonal methods at lower rates and long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs) such as IUDs and implants at higher rates than their heterosexual peers. There was also a range of changes in contraceptive use across time including a decrease in use of both short-acting hormonal contraception and LARCs in combination with condoms while the use of LARCs on their own increased. The findings of this study also indicate that young lesbian and bisexual women are not only likely to use more than one type of contraception, but that their choice of contraception is dynamic and likely to change over time. This paper highlights the need for research that specifically explores the underlying reasons for patterns of, and changes in, contraceptive use among lesbian and bisexual women to better understand the contraceptive counselling needs of this group.

text: Contraceptive use in lesbian and bisexual women: Findings from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health Contraceptive use is a key part of sexual and reproductive health for women, yet few studies have explored contraceptive use patterns in lesbian and bisexual women born between 1989 and 1995. Analysing data from an existing cohort study of reproductive-aged women this study explores contraceptive use among lesbian and bisexual women in Australia. Findings of the study showed that lesbians were least likely to use contraceptives compared to heterosexual women and that bisexual women used short-acting hormonal methods at lower rates and long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs) such as IUDs and implants at higher rates than their heterosexual peers. There was also a range of changes in contraceptive use across time including a decrease in use of both short-acting hormonal contraception and LARCs in combination with condoms while the use of LARCs on their own increased. The findings of this study also indicate that young lesbian and bisexual women are not only likely to use more than one type of contraception, but that their choice of contraception is dynamic and likely to change over time. This paper highlights the need for research that specifically explores the underlying reasons for patterns of, and changes in, contraceptive use among lesbian and bisexual women to better understand the contraceptive counselling needs of this group.

year: 2026

title: Contextualising Māori writing: a study of prose fiction written in English by Witi Ihimaera, Patricia Grace, Keri Hulme and Alan Duff

authors: Calvert, Julia Helen

abstract: All prose fiction written in English by Māori is political on one level or another. The authors considered in this thesis, Witi Ihimaera, Patricia Grace, Keri Hulme and Alan Duff, choose to identify as Māori, but for each writer exactly what this entails implies something different. The diverse range of Māori characters represented in their work illustrates the heterogeneity of contemporary Māori identity. Whilst bearing in mind that there is no fixed Māori identity, this thesis proposes that all fiction written in English by Māori is motivated by a belief that Māori are a disadvantaged group within New Zealand society. 

Three of the four writers, Ihimaera, Grace and Hulme, write against a background of colonisation. Their fiction confronts grievances based on perceived injustices committed against Māori in the past by European colonists and is concerned with the restoration of Māori rights pertaining to land, language, identity and political voice. While all three engage with these issues in their fiction, this thesis specifically considers the way in which Ihimaera treats the theme of land, Grace focuses on issues of education and Hulme explores Māori mythology.

Alan Duff stands apart from the other three writers in his belief that colonisation is not to blame for contemporary Māori disadvantage. Rather, Duff considers the situation to be the result of inherent flaws within Māori society. Through his often didactic writing he proposes that improved Māori socioeconomic levels can only be achieved through a radical structural and economic re-evaluation of Māori culture.

This thesis contextualises the work of the four authors and explores the ways in which their fiction engages with historical and contemporary issues of “race relations” and cultural identity in New Zealand. A sociological approach has been applied to the texts. This approach derives from the Māori writers’ own insistent reading of contemporary Māori identity as the product of historical encounter between Māori and Pākehā. The authors work in a dialectical relationship to previous Pākehā representations of Māori in literature, are historically revisionist, and are frequently adversarial. 

Despite the differences in personal and political perspectives held by the authors, their fictions share a common goal in their search for Māori pathways to empowerment. This thesis argues that prose fiction written in English by Māori writers contributes to the political activism of the Māori people and helps to foster an environment in which new perspectives on Māori culture and bicultural relations can be articulated.

text: Contextualising Māori writing: a study of prose fiction written in English by Witi Ihimaera, Patricia Grace, Keri Hulme and Alan Duff All prose fiction written in English by Māori is political on one level or another. The authors considered in this thesis, Witi Ihimaera, Patricia Grace, Keri Hulme and Alan Duff, choose to identify as Māori, but for each writer exactly what this entails implies something different. The diverse range of Māori characters represented in their work illustrates the heterogeneity of contemporary Māori identity. Whilst bearing in mind that there is no fixed Māori identity, this thesis proposes that all fiction written in English by Māori is motivated by a belief that Māori are a disadvantaged group within New Zealand society. 

Three of the four writers, Ihimaera, Grace and Hulme, write against a background of colonisation. Their fiction confronts grievances based on perceived injustices committed against Māori in the past by European colonists and is concerned with the restoration of Māori rights pertaining to land, language, identity and political voice. While all three engage with these issues in their fiction, this thesis specifically considers the way in which Ihimaera treats the theme of land, Grace focuses on issues of education and Hulme explores Māori mythology.

Alan Duff stands apart from the other three writers in his belief that colonisation is not to blame for contemporary Māori disadvantage. Rather, Duff considers the situation to be the result of inherent flaws within Māori society. Through his often didactic writing he proposes that improved Māori socioeconomic levels can only be achieved through a radical structural and economic re-evaluation of Māori culture.

This thesis contextualises the work of the four authors and explores the ways in which their fiction engages with historical and contemporary issues of “race relations” and cultural identity in New Zealand. A sociological approach has been applied to the texts. This approach derives from the Māori writers’ own insistent reading of contemporary Māori identity as the product of historical encounter between Māori and Pākehā. The authors work in a dialectical relationship to previous Pākehā representations of Māori in literature, are historically revisionist, and are frequently adversarial. 

Despite the differences in personal and political perspectives held by the authors, their fictions share a common goal in their search for Māori pathways to empowerment. This thesis argues that prose fiction written in English by Māori writers contributes to the political activism of the Māori people and helps to foster an environment in which new perspectives on Māori culture and bicultural relations can be articulated.

year: 2002