title: Second language learning in the context of MOOCs

authors: Wu, Shaoqun

subjects: second Language Learning

abstract: Massive Open Online Courses are becoming popular educational vehicles through which universities reach out to non-traditional audiences. Many enrolees hail from other countries and cultures, and struggle to cope with the English language in which these courses are invariably offered. Moreover, most such learners have a strong desire and motivation to extend their knowledge of academic English, particularly in the specific area addressed by the course.	Online courses provide a compelling opportunity for domain-specific language learning. They supply a large corpus of interesting linguistic material relevant to a particular area, including supplementary images (slides), audio and video. We contend that this corpus can be automatically analysed, enriched, and transformed into a resource that learners can browse and query in order to extend their ability to understand the language used, and help them express themselves more fluently and eloquently in that domain.	To illustrate this idea, an existing online corpus-based language learning tool (FLAX) is applied to a Coursera MOOC entitled Virology 1: How Viruses Work, offered by Columbia University.

text: Second language learning in the context of MOOCs Massive Open Online Courses are becoming popular educational vehicles through which universities reach out to non-traditional audiences. Many enrolees hail from other countries and cultures, and struggle to cope with the English language in which these courses are invariably offered. Moreover, most such learners have a strong desire and motivation to extend their knowledge of academic English, particularly in the specific area addressed by the course.	Online courses provide a compelling opportunity for domain-specific language learning. They supply a large corpus of interesting linguistic material relevant to a particular area, including supplementary images (slides), audio and video. We contend that this corpus can be automatically analysed, enriched, and transformed into a resource that learners can browse and query in order to extend their ability to understand the language used, and help them express themselves more fluently and eloquently in that domain.	To illustrate this idea, an existing online corpus-based language learning tool (FLAX) is applied to a Coursera MOOC entitled Virology 1: How Viruses Work, offered by Columbia University.

year: 2014

title: The microbiome of perennial ryegrass Lolium perenne L.

authors: Prout, Bernadette

subjects: Perennial ryegrass

abstract: Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is the most critical agricultural plant supporting New Zealand’s intensive pasture-based dairy industry. A substantial body of research exists on the physiology, genetics, and management of perennial ryegrass; however, the perennial ryegrass microbiome has not yet been investigated in detail. Poor persisting perennial ryegrass pastures are ongoing in some areas of the country. Microbiome research has already targeted one pasture persistence problem by applying Epichloë endophytes to combat invertebrate pest herbivory. The success of Epichloë encourages future research to explore additional microorganism applications to mitigate other significant contributors to poor pasture persistence, such as drought and water stress. This study explores the bacterial and fungal communities associated with the perennial ryegrass cultivar/Epichloë combination, One50 AR37. In total, 80 samples were collected from plots across four different New Zealand farming regions during April/May 2021 and examined alongside spatial, environmental, and host-plant-related metadata. Cultivation-independent methods, including DNA extraction, 16S and ITS rRNA gene PCR amplicon sequencing analysis (via amplicon sequence variants - ASVs), were used to characterise the perennial ryegrass bacterial and fungal communities. The below-ground (bulk soil, rhizosphere, and root endosphere) compared to the aboveground (shoot endosphere and phyllosphere) perennial ryegrass microbiome habitats represented significantly different ecological niches, correlating to differences in ASV richness, alpha and beta diversity, and the relative abundance of dominant genera. This study demonstrated evidence that the perennial ryegrass microbiome is strongly influenced by farming location and management practices. The large proportion of unique, site-specific taxa found at each farming location holds the potential to explain differences in pasture productivity and persistence. Location differences indicate that future microbiome research should compare ryegrass pastures on a regional basis rather than extrapolating the results to all New Zealand farming locations. A core microbiome was not identified in the current study; however, there is evidence for a wider functional selection of taxa across the individual microbiome habitats. Future studies should incorporate metagenomic sequencing to better understand the functional microbiome trends rather than solely focusing on taxa composition. This study provides the foundation for future perennial ryegrass research as it confirms the general trends and common taxa associated with the five microbiome habitats of this important pasture plant. Future pasture persistence research should compare the microbiome of high producing / persistent ryegrass pastures with low-producing ryegrass pastures whilst controlling as many variables as possible. Bacteria of interest, such as Bacillus and Pseudomonas, should be explored in greater detail at the species level and isolated and applied in manipulative trials to assess the effects on ryegrass production and persistence.

text: The microbiome of perennial ryegrass Lolium perenne L. Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is the most critical agricultural plant supporting New Zealand’s intensive pasture-based dairy industry. A substantial body of research exists on the physiology, genetics, and management of perennial ryegrass; however, the perennial ryegrass microbiome has not yet been investigated in detail. Poor persisting perennial ryegrass pastures are ongoing in some areas of the country. Microbiome research has already targeted one pasture persistence problem by applying Epichloë endophytes to combat invertebrate pest herbivory. The success of Epichloë encourages future research to explore additional microorganism applications to mitigate other significant contributors to poor pasture persistence, such as drought and water stress. This study explores the bacterial and fungal communities associated with the perennial ryegrass cultivar/Epichloë combination, One50 AR37. In total, 80 samples were collected from plots across four different New Zealand farming regions during April/May 2021 and examined alongside spatial, environmental, and host-plant-related metadata. Cultivation-independent methods, including DNA extraction, 16S and ITS rRNA gene PCR amplicon sequencing analysis (via amplicon sequence variants - ASVs), were used to characterise the perennial ryegrass bacterial and fungal communities. The below-ground (bulk soil, rhizosphere, and root endosphere) compared to the aboveground (shoot endosphere and phyllosphere) perennial ryegrass microbiome habitats represented significantly different ecological niches, correlating to differences in ASV richness, alpha and beta diversity, and the relative abundance of dominant genera. This study demonstrated evidence that the perennial ryegrass microbiome is strongly influenced by farming location and management practices. The large proportion of unique, site-specific taxa found at each farming location holds the potential to explain differences in pasture productivity and persistence. Location differences indicate that future microbiome research should compare ryegrass pastures on a regional basis rather than extrapolating the results to all New Zealand farming locations. A core microbiome was not identified in the current study; however, there is evidence for a wider functional selection of taxa across the individual microbiome habitats. Future studies should incorporate metagenomic sequencing to better understand the functional microbiome trends rather than solely focusing on taxa composition. This study provides the foundation for future perennial ryegrass research as it confirms the general trends and common taxa associated with the five microbiome habitats of this important pasture plant. Future pasture persistence research should compare the microbiome of high producing / persistent ryegrass pastures with low-producing ryegrass pastures whilst controlling as many variables as possible. Bacteria of interest, such as Bacillus and Pseudomonas, should be explored in greater detail at the species level and isolated and applied in manipulative trials to assess the effects on ryegrass production and persistence.

year: 2022

title: Toi tu te whenua, toi tu te tangata: A holistic Māori approach to flood management in Pawarenga

authors: Proctor, Elizabeth-Mary

subjects: flood management

abstract: This thesis is a study of how tikanga Māori principles could be used in practice in the management of natural hazards and in particular flooding in a rural area, Pawarenga. The aim was to investigate and document Te Uri O Tai Hapū preferred strategies for reducing flood risk in Pawarenga and to consider opportunities to use tikanga Māori principles and values in emergency response. The identification of key concepts and principles of tikanga Māori customs and their connections to whānau and hapū of Te Uri O Tai is key to this study. I used kaupapa Māori research methodologies as a guiding framework since researching in my own community required me to manage accountability both to its members and to the university. In particular it was important to obtain permission from the community before beginning, to ensure my research processes were acceptable, and to return my findings to the community. Qualitative data was gathered from a series of hui and interviews with local community members. Data was analysed inductively and organised into thematic networks. Two major organising themes were identified: resilience and vulnerability. Participants described a broad range of strengths inherent in the community that enabled them to respond to crises such as flood events. A number of cultural, social, physical, economic and political vulnerabilities were also identified; most of these were fundamental aspects of people‘s daily lives and did not prevent them from responding positively when floods occurred, but may have limited the scope of their responses. Tikanga was not a subject that participants felt comfortable talking about, but from the descriptions of how people actually responded during floods I was able to see examples of how tikanga was used. The resilience of the Pawarenga community is taken for granted by residents. When disasters such as floods occur, their resiliencies and strengths are brought into play to ensure the safety of all in the community. Tikanga Māori is an inherent part of this resiliency, and marae structures and protocols already in place provide a vital framework for flood response. I conclude that tikanga already has enormous value in flood response, and for Māori communities is an obvious choice as a foundation for a flood emergency management strategy. Furthermore, the value of tikanga as a flood emergency management strategy should be more explicitly recognised and supported by all authorities involved in disaster response and management. It was also clear that multiple dimensions of vulnerability (physical, cultural, social, economic and political) affect the Pawarenga community, and to some extent limit their capacity to respond. In particular political processes that exclude them from participating in decision-making and planning around environmental management generally have left people feeling marginalised, since they are unable to fulfil their kaitiaki role. With civil defence emergency management policies explicitly focused around resilience, participation of Te Uri O Tai Hapū in planning for emergency management should allow for their existing resilience, which stems from the upholding of tikanga, to be recognised and strengthened. However, this will only happen if relationships with the various authorities involved in emergency and natural hazard response are fostered, full participation in decision-making and in responding to natural hazard events is facilitated, and resources are available to support the community with their endeavours.

text: Toi tu te whenua, toi tu te tangata: A holistic Māori approach to flood management in Pawarenga This thesis is a study of how tikanga Māori principles could be used in practice in the management of natural hazards and in particular flooding in a rural area, Pawarenga. The aim was to investigate and document Te Uri O Tai Hapū preferred strategies for reducing flood risk in Pawarenga and to consider opportunities to use tikanga Māori principles and values in emergency response. The identification of key concepts and principles of tikanga Māori customs and their connections to whānau and hapū of Te Uri O Tai is key to this study. I used kaupapa Māori research methodologies as a guiding framework since researching in my own community required me to manage accountability both to its members and to the university. In particular it was important to obtain permission from the community before beginning, to ensure my research processes were acceptable, and to return my findings to the community. Qualitative data was gathered from a series of hui and interviews with local community members. Data was analysed inductively and organised into thematic networks. Two major organising themes were identified: resilience and vulnerability. Participants described a broad range of strengths inherent in the community that enabled them to respond to crises such as flood events. A number of cultural, social, physical, economic and political vulnerabilities were also identified; most of these were fundamental aspects of people‘s daily lives and did not prevent them from responding positively when floods occurred, but may have limited the scope of their responses. Tikanga was not a subject that participants felt comfortable talking about, but from the descriptions of how people actually responded during floods I was able to see examples of how tikanga was used. The resilience of the Pawarenga community is taken for granted by residents. When disasters such as floods occur, their resiliencies and strengths are brought into play to ensure the safety of all in the community. Tikanga Māori is an inherent part of this resiliency, and marae structures and protocols already in place provide a vital framework for flood response. I conclude that tikanga already has enormous value in flood response, and for Māori communities is an obvious choice as a foundation for a flood emergency management strategy. Furthermore, the value of tikanga as a flood emergency management strategy should be more explicitly recognised and supported by all authorities involved in disaster response and management. It was also clear that multiple dimensions of vulnerability (physical, cultural, social, economic and political) affect the Pawarenga community, and to some extent limit their capacity to respond. In particular political processes that exclude them from participating in decision-making and planning around environmental management generally have left people feeling marginalised, since they are unable to fulfil their kaitiaki role. With civil defence emergency management policies explicitly focused around resilience, participation of Te Uri O Tai Hapū in planning for emergency management should allow for their existing resilience, which stems from the upholding of tikanga, to be recognised and strengthened. However, this will only happen if relationships with the various authorities involved in emergency and natural hazard response are fostered, full participation in decision-making and in responding to natural hazard events is facilitated, and resources are available to support the community with their endeavours.

year: 2010