title: Reconceptualising outdoor adventure education: Activity in search of an appropriate theory.

authors: Brown, Mike

subjects: outdoor adventure education

abstract: Experiential approaches to learning underpin teaching and learning strategies in outdoor adventure education (OAE). Recent critiques of experiential learning have problematised the individualistic and overly cognitive focus of this approach which creates binaries between experience-reflection and the learner-situation. This paper summarises these critiques and investigates the possibilities made available by understanding OAE from a socio-cultural perspective. Consideration of OAE students as participants in a highly orchestrated community of practice places learning, and observable change, within a socio-cultural frame rather than as primarily a function of cognitive processes within the individual. This position takes seriously the claims made by practitioners of ‘seeing evidence of change’ and researchers who raise questions about the validity of ‘generalised claims’ by placing greater emphasis on the situated nature of learning and acting. Moving beyond conceptions of the learner as an autonomous ‘processor’ of experiences, who is capable of generating context free knowledge, has implications for existing OAE theory and practice.

text: Reconceptualising outdoor adventure education: Activity in search of an appropriate theory. Experiential approaches to learning underpin teaching and learning strategies in outdoor adventure education (OAE). Recent critiques of experiential learning have problematised the individualistic and overly cognitive focus of this approach which creates binaries between experience-reflection and the learner-situation. This paper summarises these critiques and investigates the possibilities made available by understanding OAE from a socio-cultural perspective. Consideration of OAE students as participants in a highly orchestrated community of practice places learning, and observable change, within a socio-cultural frame rather than as primarily a function of cognitive processes within the individual. This position takes seriously the claims made by practitioners of ‘seeing evidence of change’ and researchers who raise questions about the validity of ‘generalised claims’ by placing greater emphasis on the situated nature of learning and acting. Moving beyond conceptions of the learner as an autonomous ‘processor’ of experiences, who is capable of generating context free knowledge, has implications for existing OAE theory and practice.

year: 2009

title: Temporal dynamics of geothermal microbial communities in Aotearoa-New Zealand

authors: Power, Jean Florence

abstract: Microbial biogeography studies, in particular for geothermal-associated habitats, have focused on spatial patterns and/or individual sites, which have limited ability to describe the dynamics of ecosystem behaviour. Here, we report the first comprehensive temporal study of bacterial and archaeal communities from an extensive range of geothermal features in Aotearoa-New Zealand. One hundred and fifteen water column samples from 31 geothermal ecosystems were taken over a 34-month period to ascertain microbial community stability (control sites), community response to both natural and anthropogenic disturbances in the local environment (disturbed sites) and temporal variation in spring diversity across different pH values (pH 3, 5, 7, 9) all at a similar temperature of 60–70°C (pH sites). Identical methodologies were employed to measure microbial diversity via 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, along with 44 physicochemical parameters from each feature, to ensure confidence in comparing samples across timeframes. Our results indicated temperature and associated groundwater physicochemistry were the most likely parameters to vary stochastically in these geothermal features, with community abundances rather than composition more readily affected by a changing environment. However, variation in pH (pH ±1) had a more significant effect on community structure than temperature (±20°C), with alpha diversity failing to adequately measure temporal microbial disparity in geothermal features outside of circumneutral conditions. While a substantial physicochemical disturbance was required to shift community structures at the phylum level, geothermal ecosystems were resilient at this broad taxonomic rank and returned to a pre-disturbed state if environmental conditions re-established. These findings highlight the diverse controls between different microbial communities within the same habitat-type, expanding our understanding of temporal dynamics in extreme ecosystems.

text: Temporal dynamics of geothermal microbial communities in Aotearoa-New Zealand Microbial biogeography studies, in particular for geothermal-associated habitats, have focused on spatial patterns and/or individual sites, which have limited ability to describe the dynamics of ecosystem behaviour. Here, we report the first comprehensive temporal study of bacterial and archaeal communities from an extensive range of geothermal features in Aotearoa-New Zealand. One hundred and fifteen water column samples from 31 geothermal ecosystems were taken over a 34-month period to ascertain microbial community stability (control sites), community response to both natural and anthropogenic disturbances in the local environment (disturbed sites) and temporal variation in spring diversity across different pH values (pH 3, 5, 7, 9) all at a similar temperature of 60–70°C (pH sites). Identical methodologies were employed to measure microbial diversity via 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, along with 44 physicochemical parameters from each feature, to ensure confidence in comparing samples across timeframes. Our results indicated temperature and associated groundwater physicochemistry were the most likely parameters to vary stochastically in these geothermal features, with community abundances rather than composition more readily affected by a changing environment. However, variation in pH (pH ±1) had a more significant effect on community structure than temperature (±20°C), with alpha diversity failing to adequately measure temporal microbial disparity in geothermal features outside of circumneutral conditions. While a substantial physicochemical disturbance was required to shift community structures at the phylum level, geothermal ecosystems were resilient at this broad taxonomic rank and returned to a pre-disturbed state if environmental conditions re-established. These findings highlight the diverse controls between different microbial communities within the same habitat-type, expanding our understanding of temporal dynamics in extreme ecosystems.

year: 2023-01-01

title: Editorial Introduction: The utility and futility of 'the nation' in histories of Aotearoa New Zealand.

authors: Coleborne, Catharine

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: An introduction is presented which discusses articles in the issue on New Zealand history, including one on interracial rape and sexual violence in the 1860s, one on postcolonial methodology and the historical concept of the British World, and one on Whanganui Māori claims to the Whanganui River.

text: Editorial Introduction: The utility and futility of 'the nation' in histories of Aotearoa New Zealand. An introduction is presented which discusses articles in the issue on New Zealand history, including one on interracial rape and sexual violence in the 1860s, one on postcolonial methodology and the historical concept of the British World, and one on Whanganui Māori claims to the Whanganui River.

year: 2011