title: Students' perceptions of a selected aspect of a computer mediated academic writing program: An activity theory analysis

authors: Brine, John

subjects: activity theory

abstract: The use of activity theory is considered in the evaluation of a web based academic writing course in a New Zealand university. Activity theory is an aspect of sociocultural theory and provides a model for the understanding of goal directed social activity. Like other recent developments in applied linguistics, research and evaluation in second language writing has been influenced by sociocultural theory, because it emphasises the social, rather than the individual, context of writing. The primary purpose in carrying out this study was to illuminate the use of activity theory as a formative evaluation technique for the improvement of large academic writing courses supported through the web conferencing features of a course management system, Web Crossing. Data were in the form of international student responses to prompts made in online diaries on a weekly basis throughout the course. An activity theory orientation guided the design of the prompts and the analysis of the data. Activity analysis allowed the researchers to appreciate the tensions and difficulties for students in managing the group processes that the web mediated instruction afforded or constrained. The study also suggests that the set of guiding questions derived from Jonassen and Rohrer-Murphy (1999) may be useful for future evaluations and research.

text: Students' perceptions of a selected aspect of a computer mediated academic writing program: An activity theory analysis The use of activity theory is considered in the evaluation of a web based academic writing course in a New Zealand university. Activity theory is an aspect of sociocultural theory and provides a model for the understanding of goal directed social activity. Like other recent developments in applied linguistics, research and evaluation in second language writing has been influenced by sociocultural theory, because it emphasises the social, rather than the individual, context of writing. The primary purpose in carrying out this study was to illuminate the use of activity theory as a formative evaluation technique for the improvement of large academic writing courses supported through the web conferencing features of a course management system, Web Crossing. Data were in the form of international student responses to prompts made in online diaries on a weekly basis throughout the course. An activity theory orientation guided the design of the prompts and the analysis of the data. Activity analysis allowed the researchers to appreciate the tensions and difficulties for students in managing the group processes that the web mediated instruction afforded or constrained. The study also suggests that the set of guiding questions derived from Jonassen and Rohrer-Murphy (1999) may be useful for future evaluations and research.

year: 2006

title: Monetary policy and its transmission mechanisms in Eritrea

authors: Mengesha, Lula G.

subjects: monetary policy

abstract: The main purpose of this study is to identify the best practices of monetary policy implementation in the Eritrean economy. As such, the paper examines what kind of monetary policy and transmission mechanisms are relevant to the Eritrean economy. It also addresses which channels are effective and which are not and why. Vector Autoregressive modelling is employed over the study period 1996Q1–2008Q4. This paper addresses the argument that the bank lending is the sole functioning channel in low income economies. We find that interest rate and official exchange rate channels are inoperative. However, effective exchange rate and credit channels exist through the black foreign exchange market and credit issued to the government sector. The main policy implication of this study is that the Bank of Eritrea might be able to control inflation through manipulating the reserve requirement ratio.

text: Monetary policy and its transmission mechanisms in Eritrea The main purpose of this study is to identify the best practices of monetary policy implementation in the Eritrean economy. As such, the paper examines what kind of monetary policy and transmission mechanisms are relevant to the Eritrean economy. It also addresses which channels are effective and which are not and why. Vector Autoregressive modelling is employed over the study period 1996Q1–2008Q4. This paper addresses the argument that the bank lending is the sole functioning channel in low income economies. We find that interest rate and official exchange rate channels are inoperative. However, effective exchange rate and credit channels exist through the black foreign exchange market and credit issued to the government sector. The main policy implication of this study is that the Bank of Eritrea might be able to control inflation through manipulating the reserve requirement ratio.

year: 2013

title: An Assessment of the Cognitive Ability and the Attitude to Rehabilitation of European and Maori Trainees at a Borstal Institution.

authors: Zimmerman, Malcolm Laird

subjects: Borstal Institution

abstract: The incidence of delinquency in New Zealand has risen and is a cause for serious concern for the future of the nation. "As in all fields of social inquiry it is much easier to specify the problem than it is to account for its occurrence ... In the case of delinquency, it is much easier to record what has occurred as opposed to why - it is even more difficult to prevent delinquency from occurring at all. Why should this be so?" (Blizard, 1967, p.i.)
There are no easy answers: there are no short cuts to understanding: there will never be an easily worked out, or easily administered programme for prevention. The road is hard, costly both in terms of men, money and time.

text: An Assessment of the Cognitive Ability and the Attitude to Rehabilitation of European and Maori Trainees at a Borstal Institution. The incidence of delinquency in New Zealand has risen and is a cause for serious concern for the future of the nation. "As in all fields of social inquiry it is much easier to specify the problem than it is to account for its occurrence ... In the case of delinquency, it is much easier to record what has occurred as opposed to why - it is even more difficult to prevent delinquency from occurring at all. Why should this be so?" (Blizard, 1967, p.i.)
There are no easy answers: there are no short cuts to understanding: there will never be an easily worked out, or easily administered programme for prevention. The road is hard, costly both in terms of men, money and time.

year: 1971