title: Acoustic Vector Network Analyser

authors: Pennington, Kyle

subjects: Acoustic

abstract: This research aims at increasing the accuracy and precision of characterising acoustic materials by adapting well-known techniques developed for the radio-frequency domain to the acoustic domain. 
Two novel methods are developed with different approaches for determining the reflectivity of materials: computationally and physically. 
The first method is a advancement of the current “industry standard”, the impedance tube, by using additional microphones and error correcting methods. A vector network analyser (VNA) is used as the data acquisition component with the aim of developing a module to allow the device to measure in the acoustic domain. The multi-microphone method employs the use of a mathematical model of the acoustics with the impedance tube to computationally solve for the unknown acoustic properties. The method is found to contain multiple sources of error at each stage of the process which makes reliable calibration and measurement difficult. The advantage of using a VNA is lost due to the inclusion of non-systematic error. 
The second method uses wave superposition to form directional couplers to determine the reflectivity. This method allows for a more robust calibration routine as the error is systematic and can be corrected using intelligent procedures and measurement standards. The measurement accuracy was found to be ± 1.5 dB over a frequency range from 800 to 2200 Hz . The device is used to characterise the acoustic properties of pasture in order to aid the development of pasture meters. Pasture was found to reflect a relatively small amount and absorb the majority of the incident acoustic energy.

text: Acoustic Vector Network Analyser This research aims at increasing the accuracy and precision of characterising acoustic materials by adapting well-known techniques developed for the radio-frequency domain to the acoustic domain. 
Two novel methods are developed with different approaches for determining the reflectivity of materials: computationally and physically. 
The first method is a advancement of the current “industry standard”, the impedance tube, by using additional microphones and error correcting methods. A vector network analyser (VNA) is used as the data acquisition component with the aim of developing a module to allow the device to measure in the acoustic domain. The multi-microphone method employs the use of a mathematical model of the acoustics with the impedance tube to computationally solve for the unknown acoustic properties. The method is found to contain multiple sources of error at each stage of the process which makes reliable calibration and measurement difficult. The advantage of using a VNA is lost due to the inclusion of non-systematic error. 
The second method uses wave superposition to form directional couplers to determine the reflectivity. This method allows for a more robust calibration routine as the error is systematic and can be corrected using intelligent procedures and measurement standards. The measurement accuracy was found to be ± 1.5 dB over a frequency range from 800 to 2200 Hz . The device is used to characterise the acoustic properties of pasture in order to aid the development of pasture meters. Pasture was found to reflect a relatively small amount and absorb the majority of the incident acoustic energy.

year: 2017

title: Managerialism and the neoliberal university: Prospects for new forms of "open management" in higher education

authors: Peters, Michael A.

subjects: Contracting-out

abstract: The restructuring of state education systems in many OECD countries during the last two decades has involved a significant shift away from an emphasis on administration and policy to an emphasis on management. The "new managerialism" has drawn theoretically, on the one hand, on the model of corporate managerialism and private sector management styles, and, on public choice theory and new institutional economics (NIE), most notably, agency theory and transaction cost analysis, on the other. A specific constellation of these theories is sometimes called "New Public Management," which has been very influential in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. These theories and models have been used both as the legitimation for policies that redesigning state educational bureaucracies, educational institutions and even the public policy process. Most importantly, there has been a decentralization of management control away from the center to the individual institution through a "new contractualism" - often referred to as the "doctrine of self-management" - coupled with new accountability and competitive funding regimes. This shift has often been accompanied by a disaggregation of large state bureaucracies into autonomous agencies, a clarification of organizational objectives, and a separation between policy advice and policy implementation functions, together with a privatization of service and support functions through "contracting out". The "new managerialism" has also involved a shift from input controls to quantifiable output measures and performance targets, along with an emphasis on short-term performance contracts, especially for CEOs and senior managers. In the interests of so-called "productive efficiency," the provision of educational serviceshas been made contestable; and, in the interests of so-called allocative efficiency state education has been progressively marketized and privatized. In this paper I analyze the main underlying elements of this theoretical development that led to the establishment of the neoliberal university in the 1980s and 1990s before entertaining and reviewing claims that new public management is dead. At the end of the paper I focus on proposals for new forms of "the public" in higher education as a means of promoting "radical openness" consonant with the development of Web 2.0 technologies and new research infrastructures in the global knowledge economy.

text: Managerialism and the neoliberal university: Prospects for new forms of "open management" in higher education The restructuring of state education systems in many OECD countries during the last two decades has involved a significant shift away from an emphasis on administration and policy to an emphasis on management. The "new managerialism" has drawn theoretically, on the one hand, on the model of corporate managerialism and private sector management styles, and, on public choice theory and new institutional economics (NIE), most notably, agency theory and transaction cost analysis, on the other. A specific constellation of these theories is sometimes called "New Public Management," which has been very influential in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. These theories and models have been used both as the legitimation for policies that redesigning state educational bureaucracies, educational institutions and even the public policy process. Most importantly, there has been a decentralization of management control away from the center to the individual institution through a "new contractualism" - often referred to as the "doctrine of self-management" - coupled with new accountability and competitive funding regimes. This shift has often been accompanied by a disaggregation of large state bureaucracies into autonomous agencies, a clarification of organizational objectives, and a separation between policy advice and policy implementation functions, together with a privatization of service and support functions through "contracting out". The "new managerialism" has also involved a shift from input controls to quantifiable output measures and performance targets, along with an emphasis on short-term performance contracts, especially for CEOs and senior managers. In the interests of so-called "productive efficiency," the provision of educational serviceshas been made contestable; and, in the interests of so-called allocative efficiency state education has been progressively marketized and privatized. In this paper I analyze the main underlying elements of this theoretical development that led to the establishment of the neoliberal university in the 1980s and 1990s before entertaining and reviewing claims that new public management is dead. At the end of the paper I focus on proposals for new forms of "the public" in higher education as a means of promoting "radical openness" consonant with the development of Web 2.0 technologies and new research infrastructures in the global knowledge economy.

year: 2013

title: Toitū Te Whānau, Toitū Te Iwi: A Community Approach to English Transition

authors: Berryman, Mere

subjects: Maori

abstract: The research project presented in this thesis documents and describes the outcomes of effective whānau (immediate and extended family), kura (school), student, and researcher collaboration. The researcher became part of a whānau-of-interest (Bishop, 1996b) in 1998 and 1999 when she was invited by this community to help develop a suitable programme to assist highly competent Māori immersion students in their transition to a bi-lingual secondary school (the only option available in their community). The whānau wanted students to begin their secondary schooling with an improved competence in reading and writing in English but without compromising their competency in Maori language. Prior to this programme few of the students had received any formal instruction in the English language.
After a ten-week intervention implemented mainly outside the classroom, the researcher found that whānau tutors had effectively implemented the programmes and that all Year 8 students were able to read stories (in English) and talk about them (in English) at age appropriate reading levels. They also displayed improved rates of writing in English while maintaining their high fluency in reading and writing in Māori. The 10-week programme and results were replicated over a further three terms with the Year 7 and again with the Year 6 students. The study employed a multiple baseline across groups, design. A collaborative story gathered from participants at the end of the programme, together with these process and outcome data, strongly support the successful outcomes of this "participant driven" (Bishop, 1996b) programme.

text: Toitū Te Whānau, Toitū Te Iwi: A Community Approach to English Transition The research project presented in this thesis documents and describes the outcomes of effective whānau (immediate and extended family), kura (school), student, and researcher collaboration. The researcher became part of a whānau-of-interest (Bishop, 1996b) in 1998 and 1999 when she was invited by this community to help develop a suitable programme to assist highly competent Māori immersion students in their transition to a bi-lingual secondary school (the only option available in their community). The whānau wanted students to begin their secondary schooling with an improved competence in reading and writing in English but without compromising their competency in Maori language. Prior to this programme few of the students had received any formal instruction in the English language.
After a ten-week intervention implemented mainly outside the classroom, the researcher found that whānau tutors had effectively implemented the programmes and that all Year 8 students were able to read stories (in English) and talk about them (in English) at age appropriate reading levels. They also displayed improved rates of writing in English while maintaining their high fluency in reading and writing in Māori. The 10-week programme and results were replicated over a further three terms with the Year 7 and again with the Year 6 students. The study employed a multiple baseline across groups, design. A collaborative story gathered from participants at the end of the programme, together with these process and outcome data, strongly support the successful outcomes of this "participant driven" (Bishop, 1996b) programme.

year: 2001