title: Task-Based Learning: An Opportunity for Focused Learning in Technology Education

authors: Doyle, Andrew

abstract: This chapter begins by outlining what is meant by Task-based Learning (TBL). The focus will be centred on the need to first define the content of the task. This is particularly important in Technology Education, because of the ideas of intentionality and establishing a shared goal in the TBL literature (Stelma, 2014). This is a challenge for the technology educator due to the ways in which content is conceived within the subject. The philosophy of technology invariably describes technological knowledge as action oriented, and resultantly, opposed to having a bespoke body of declarative knowledge that traditionally defined school subjects. Technology Education is necessarily more eclectic in its selection of what content is considered relevant. Ultimately this leaves the technology educator with more decisions surrounding the nature tasks to be used, the technological context of tasks, and how the task is framed to learners. Thus, although the focus of this chapter is pedagogical, it is first necessary to question the purpose behind tasks in Technology Education. This exploration of the organisation of teaching and learning within Technology Education leads to the question; why are you adopting Task-based Learning?

text: Task-Based Learning: An Opportunity for Focused Learning in Technology Education This chapter begins by outlining what is meant by Task-based Learning (TBL). The focus will be centred on the need to first define the content of the task. This is particularly important in Technology Education, because of the ideas of intentionality and establishing a shared goal in the TBL literature (Stelma, 2014). This is a challenge for the technology educator due to the ways in which content is conceived within the subject. The philosophy of technology invariably describes technological knowledge as action oriented, and resultantly, opposed to having a bespoke body of declarative knowledge that traditionally defined school subjects. Technology Education is necessarily more eclectic in its selection of what content is considered relevant. Ultimately this leaves the technology educator with more decisions surrounding the nature tasks to be used, the technological context of tasks, and how the task is framed to learners. Thus, although the focus of this chapter is pedagogical, it is first necessary to question the purpose behind tasks in Technology Education. This exploration of the organisation of teaching and learning within Technology Education leads to the question; why are you adopting Task-based Learning?

year: 2023-02-27

title: Abundance, behaviour and habitat requirements of the banded kokopu Galaxias fasciatus Gray (Pisces: Galaxiidae)

authors: McCullough, Cherie

subjects: Fisheries

abstract: The native freshwater banded kokopu (Galaxias fasciatus Gray) is generally regarded as a nocturnal predator of small native forest streams.  Current methods for determining absolute abundances of this species in these streams is usually by the expensive, labour intensive, and invasive method of electric fishing.  Spotlighting at night has previously been used to determine their presence and relative abundance, although the proportion seen (the bias of the method) was unknown.  This bias was quantified by determining the numbers of banded kokopu seen at night in 20 m reaches against population estimates made in the same reaches the following day by removal electric fishing.  This showed that, on average, only around 64% of fish of all sizes were being seen.  Counts made by spotlighting therefore should be multiplied by 1.57 to correct for this bias and to estimate for the actual number of fish present.  Spotlighting was found to be less efficient for smaller fish (approximately <60 mm total length), with only around 42% being observed.  Spotlight counts for smaller fish therefore needed to be multiplied by 2.41 to estimate the actual abundances of fish of this size.  Fish larger than this size, however, were more often seen (0.70) requiring their spotlight counts only to be multiplied by 1.42 to correct for their spotlight estimates.

	Banded kokopu diel activity was studied using time-lapse video recordings with a low-light sensitive camera placed above pools in natural streams.  Two major activity peaks were noted; one from 6:00 a.m. to around 8:00 a.m., the other from around 2:00 p.m. to around 7:30 p.m.  Foraging behaviour, intra- and interspecific behaviours, and mode of swimming were all also noted.

	Nocturnal habitat preferences and suitability functions were derived for all sizes of banded kokopu together, and then for the two aforementioned size classes separately.  The following variables were tested for; mean column water velocity, surface water velocity, column depth, substrate size, and cover type.  Used habitat data was collected at night by a colour filtered spotlight, with a small floating marker being placed at the focal point of the fish.  The particular characteristics of this point were then measured along with available habitat data the following day.  Fish were found to have a very narrow preference for very slow water velocities (around 0.05 m/s), with juveniles preferring slightly faster than adults when considered separately.  Preferred water depths for both sizes were around 0.8 m, and preferred substrate sizes were fine gravels, sand, and silt.  Preferred cover for all sizes was for tree and tree fern roots and undercut banks, as it also was for larger fish when considered separately.  Smaller fish did not use tree fern roots significantly, but instead preferred the cover of cobbles.  This smaller sized fish also made use of tree roots and undercut banks.

	These new banded kokopu habitat preference data were then applied to an IFIM situation in the Waitakere River (West Auckland), where Resource Consent for abstraction of 0.0041 m³/ s (total daily abstraction of 119 m³) was being requested for irrigation of the adjacent Waitakere Golf Course.  The headwaters of this river are situated in the pristine native forest of the Waitakere Ranges.  This river also contains a significant dam (the Waitakere Reservoir) a few kilometres upstream of the proposed site of abstraction which diverts 16, 000 m³ a day to out of stream uses.  This figure represents approximately 80% of water that would otherwise continue downstream and eventually to the ecologically significant freshwater Te Henga Wetland.  Changes in weighted useable area (WUA) as flow decreased as a result of this abstraction were modelled on the DOS program “RHYHABSIM” for fish and invertebrates known to be in this river.  A comparison was also made of this habitat flow method with the North American Tennant method; an historical flow method which determines the effects of flows by set proportions of the mean low flow.  No substantial reduction in WUA was noted for any of the species following abstraction from either a mean low flow (0.0200 m³/s), or a one-in-five-year low flow (0.0134 m³/s).  Endorsement was therefore given for the proposed abstraction to Receive Consent.  Recommendations on the time of day that the abstraction should take place, and other further methods to mitigate the ecological effects of this abstraction are also made.

text: Abundance, behaviour and habitat requirements of the banded kokopu Galaxias fasciatus Gray (Pisces: Galaxiidae) The native freshwater banded kokopu (Galaxias fasciatus Gray) is generally regarded as a nocturnal predator of small native forest streams.  Current methods for determining absolute abundances of this species in these streams is usually by the expensive, labour intensive, and invasive method of electric fishing.  Spotlighting at night has previously been used to determine their presence and relative abundance, although the proportion seen (the bias of the method) was unknown.  This bias was quantified by determining the numbers of banded kokopu seen at night in 20 m reaches against population estimates made in the same reaches the following day by removal electric fishing.  This showed that, on average, only around 64% of fish of all sizes were being seen.  Counts made by spotlighting therefore should be multiplied by 1.57 to correct for this bias and to estimate for the actual number of fish present.  Spotlighting was found to be less efficient for smaller fish (approximately <60 mm total length), with only around 42% being observed.  Spotlight counts for smaller fish therefore needed to be multiplied by 2.41 to estimate the actual abundances of fish of this size.  Fish larger than this size, however, were more often seen (0.70) requiring their spotlight counts only to be multiplied by 1.42 to correct for their spotlight estimates.

	Banded kokopu diel activity was studied using time-lapse video recordings with a low-light sensitive camera placed above pools in natural streams.  Two major activity peaks were noted; one from 6:00 a.m. to around 8:00 a.m., the other from around 2:00 p.m. to around 7:30 p.m.  Foraging behaviour, intra- and interspecific behaviours, and mode of swimming were all also noted.

	Nocturnal habitat preferences and suitability functions were derived for all sizes of banded kokopu together, and then for the two aforementioned size classes separately.  The following variables were tested for; mean column water velocity, surface water velocity, column depth, substrate size, and cover type.  Used habitat data was collected at night by a colour filtered spotlight, with a small floating marker being placed at the focal point of the fish.  The particular characteristics of this point were then measured along with available habitat data the following day.  Fish were found to have a very narrow preference for very slow water velocities (around 0.05 m/s), with juveniles preferring slightly faster than adults when considered separately.  Preferred water depths for both sizes were around 0.8 m, and preferred substrate sizes were fine gravels, sand, and silt.  Preferred cover for all sizes was for tree and tree fern roots and undercut banks, as it also was for larger fish when considered separately.  Smaller fish did not use tree fern roots significantly, but instead preferred the cover of cobbles.  This smaller sized fish also made use of tree roots and undercut banks.

	These new banded kokopu habitat preference data were then applied to an IFIM situation in the Waitakere River (West Auckland), where Resource Consent for abstraction of 0.0041 m³/ s (total daily abstraction of 119 m³) was being requested for irrigation of the adjacent Waitakere Golf Course.  The headwaters of this river are situated in the pristine native forest of the Waitakere Ranges.  This river also contains a significant dam (the Waitakere Reservoir) a few kilometres upstream of the proposed site of abstraction which diverts 16, 000 m³ a day to out of stream uses.  This figure represents approximately 80% of water that would otherwise continue downstream and eventually to the ecologically significant freshwater Te Henga Wetland.  Changes in weighted useable area (WUA) as flow decreased as a result of this abstraction were modelled on the DOS program “RHYHABSIM” for fish and invertebrates known to be in this river.  A comparison was also made of this habitat flow method with the North American Tennant method; an historical flow method which determines the effects of flows by set proportions of the mean low flow.  No substantial reduction in WUA was noted for any of the species following abstraction from either a mean low flow (0.0200 m³/s), or a one-in-five-year low flow (0.0134 m³/s).  Endorsement was therefore given for the proposed abstraction to Receive Consent.  Recommendations on the time of day that the abstraction should take place, and other further methods to mitigate the ecological effects of this abstraction are also made.

year: 1998

title: Military Settlement in the Middle Waikato Basin

authors: Allen, Peter D.H.

abstract: Military settlement formed a brief but distinctive phase in the European occupation of the Middle Waikato Basin. Prior to the 1863 - 1864 Waikato War, few Europeans, other than a small number of missionaries and traders, were settled in the region. The setting of the Middle Waikato Basin was largely unmodified by Man, except along the major rivers where a dense Maori population was settled. 
During the 1850's, the encroachment of European settlers upon Maori tribal lands in many North Island regions, including the Waikato, led to an increase in tension between the two populations and open conflict. This conflict slowed down the progress of colonization in the North Island. To enable colonization to continue in those regions disturbed by Maori unrest, a scheme of military settlement was devised. The aim of this scheme was the formation of compact, self-sufficient defensive settlements to act as a deterrent to Maori unrest. These settlements would also provide an assurance to settlers of security for their life and property.
 Military settlement in the Middle Waikato Basin consisted of two phases. In the first phase, the nodal points of the military settlements, the townships, were established and occupied by the military settlers. In the second phase, farm districts were surveyed around the nodal points and the military settlers moved out from the townships to occupy and develop the land they were allocated. A number of factors, relating to deficiencies in the scheme of military settlement and to the particular problems of settlement in the region, contributed to the failure of the military settlers to successfully establish farms on the land they were allocated. 
The scheme of military settlement largely failed as a method of colonization in the Middle Waikato Basin. However, the pattern of human occupation, established in the initial phase of military settlement, remained when the need for defensive settlements had gone, and forms the basis of the present pattern of settlement.

text: Military Settlement in the Middle Waikato Basin Military settlement formed a brief but distinctive phase in the European occupation of the Middle Waikato Basin. Prior to the 1863 - 1864 Waikato War, few Europeans, other than a small number of missionaries and traders, were settled in the region. The setting of the Middle Waikato Basin was largely unmodified by Man, except along the major rivers where a dense Maori population was settled. 
During the 1850's, the encroachment of European settlers upon Maori tribal lands in many North Island regions, including the Waikato, led to an increase in tension between the two populations and open conflict. This conflict slowed down the progress of colonization in the North Island. To enable colonization to continue in those regions disturbed by Maori unrest, a scheme of military settlement was devised. The aim of this scheme was the formation of compact, self-sufficient defensive settlements to act as a deterrent to Maori unrest. These settlements would also provide an assurance to settlers of security for their life and property.
 Military settlement in the Middle Waikato Basin consisted of two phases. In the first phase, the nodal points of the military settlements, the townships, were established and occupied by the military settlers. In the second phase, farm districts were surveyed around the nodal points and the military settlers moved out from the townships to occupy and develop the land they were allocated. A number of factors, relating to deficiencies in the scheme of military settlement and to the particular problems of settlement in the region, contributed to the failure of the military settlers to successfully establish farms on the land they were allocated. 
The scheme of military settlement largely failed as a method of colonization in the Middle Waikato Basin. However, the pattern of human occupation, established in the initial phase of military settlement, remained when the need for defensive settlements had gone, and forms the basis of the present pattern of settlement.

year: 1969