title: Promoting higher levels of reflective writing in student journals

authors: Hume, Anne Christine

subjects: levels of reflective writing

abstract: This paper traces the development over several years of an initiative involving student journals that was introduced into a tertiary science education course for pre-service teachers to promote enhanced learning of how to teach science. Very soon after introducing the journals into course work the lecturer began engaging in 'unplanned' informal reflection (reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action) when she witnessed the shallow, often trivial nature of her students' reflective writing and the lack of pedagogical insights they were gaining from the exercise. Motivated by her own ongoing scholarship the lecturer introduced purposeful coaching of reflective skills into her pedagogy to scaffold students' learning and promote more useful reflection. The impact of these interventions on students' reflective capabilities and learning were investigated using a formal action research cycle. Findings indicate that student teachers' reflective skills improved and resulted in deeper and more focused thinking about how to teach science for learning.

text: Promoting higher levels of reflective writing in student journals This paper traces the development over several years of an initiative involving student journals that was introduced into a tertiary science education course for pre-service teachers to promote enhanced learning of how to teach science. Very soon after introducing the journals into course work the lecturer began engaging in 'unplanned' informal reflection (reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action) when she witnessed the shallow, often trivial nature of her students' reflective writing and the lack of pedagogical insights they were gaining from the exercise. Motivated by her own ongoing scholarship the lecturer introduced purposeful coaching of reflective skills into her pedagogy to scaffold students' learning and promote more useful reflection. The impact of these interventions on students' reflective capabilities and learning were investigated using a formal action research cycle. Findings indicate that student teachers' reflective skills improved and resulted in deeper and more focused thinking about how to teach science for learning.

year: 2009

title: Global patterns of insect herbivory in gap and understorey environments, and their implications for woody plant carbon storage

authors: Piper, Frida I.

subjects: shade tolerance

abstract: Insect herbivory is thought to favour carbon allocation to storage in juveniles of shade-tolerant trees. This argument assumes that insect herbivory in the understorey is sufficiently intense as to select for storage; however, understoreys might be less attractive to insect herbivores than canopy gaps, because of low resource availability and - at temperate latitudes - low temperatures. Although empirical studies show that shade-tolerant species in tropical forests do allocate more photosynthate to storage than their light-demanding associates, the same pattern has not been consistently observed in temperate forests. Does this reflect a latitudinal trend in the relative activity of insect herbivory in gap versus understorey environments? To date there has been no global review of the effect of light environment on insect herbivory in forests. We postulated that if temperature is the primary factor limiting insect herbivory, the effect of gaps on rates of insect herbivory should be more evident in temperate than in tropical forests; due to low growing season temperatures in the oceanic temperate forests of the Southern Hemisphere, the effect of gaps on insect herbivory rates should in turn be stronger there than in the more continental temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere. We examined global patterns of insect herbivory in gaps versus understories through meta-analysis of 87 conspecific comparisons of leaf damage in contrasting light environments. Overall, insect herbivory in gaps was significantly higher than in the understorey; insect herbivory was 50% higher in gaps than in understoreys of tropical forests but did not differ significantly between gaps and understories in temperate forests of either hemisphere. Results are consistent with the idea that low resource availability - and not temperature - limits insect herbivore activity in forest understoreys, especially in the tropics, and suggest the selective influence of insect herbivory on late-successional tree species may have been over-estimated.

text: Global patterns of insect herbivory in gap and understorey environments, and their implications for woody plant carbon storage Insect herbivory is thought to favour carbon allocation to storage in juveniles of shade-tolerant trees. This argument assumes that insect herbivory in the understorey is sufficiently intense as to select for storage; however, understoreys might be less attractive to insect herbivores than canopy gaps, because of low resource availability and - at temperate latitudes - low temperatures. Although empirical studies show that shade-tolerant species in tropical forests do allocate more photosynthate to storage than their light-demanding associates, the same pattern has not been consistently observed in temperate forests. Does this reflect a latitudinal trend in the relative activity of insect herbivory in gap versus understorey environments? To date there has been no global review of the effect of light environment on insect herbivory in forests. We postulated that if temperature is the primary factor limiting insect herbivory, the effect of gaps on rates of insect herbivory should be more evident in temperate than in tropical forests; due to low growing season temperatures in the oceanic temperate forests of the Southern Hemisphere, the effect of gaps on insect herbivory rates should in turn be stronger there than in the more continental temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere. We examined global patterns of insect herbivory in gaps versus understories through meta-analysis of 87 conspecific comparisons of leaf damage in contrasting light environments. Overall, insect herbivory in gaps was significantly higher than in the understorey; insect herbivory was 50% higher in gaps than in understoreys of tropical forests but did not differ significantly between gaps and understories in temperate forests of either hemisphere. Results are consistent with the idea that low resource availability - and not temperature - limits insect herbivore activity in forest understoreys, especially in the tropics, and suggest the selective influence of insect herbivory on late-successional tree species may have been over-estimated.

year: 2018

title: Re-designing the national imaginary: The development of Matariki as a contemporary festival

authors: Hardy, Ann

subjects: Aotearoa/New Zealand

abstract: This article considers the factors shaping the contemporary redevelopment in Aotearoa/ New Zealand of the indigenous commemoration of the rising of the constellation Matariki as a marker of seasonal change.  Through interviews with producers of media materials celebrating Matariki, it examines the ideological, cultural, and economic factors determining the encoding of the materials, investigating in particular the ways in which Matariki can resource a marketplace for spiritual commodities.

text: Re-designing the national imaginary: The development of Matariki as a contemporary festival This article considers the factors shaping the contemporary redevelopment in Aotearoa/ New Zealand of the indigenous commemoration of the rising of the constellation Matariki as a marker of seasonal change.  Through interviews with producers of media materials celebrating Matariki, it examines the ideological, cultural, and economic factors determining the encoding of the materials, investigating in particular the ways in which Matariki can resource a marketplace for spiritual commodities.

year: 2012