title: Research, Analysis and Insight into National Standards (RAINS) Project. Second Report: Understanding New Zealand’s Very Local National Standards

authors: Thrupp, Martin

subjects: Education

abstract: This is the second report of the Research, Analysis and Insight into National Standards (RAINS) project, a three-year study of the introduction of National Standards into New Zealand primary and intermediate schools.

text: Research, Analysis and Insight into National Standards (RAINS) Project. Second Report: Understanding New Zealand’s Very Local National Standards This is the second report of the Research, Analysis and Insight into National Standards (RAINS) project, a three-year study of the introduction of National Standards into New Zealand primary and intermediate schools.

year: 2013-04

title: Realistic electronic books

authors: Liesaputra, Veronica

subjects: Electronic book

abstract: People like books. They are convenient and can be accessed easily and enjoyably. In contrast, many view the experience of accessing and exploring electronic documents as dull, cumbersome and disorientating. This thesis claims that modelling digital documents as physical books can significantly improve reading performance. To investigate this claim, a realistic electronic book model was developed and evaluated. In this model, a range of properties associated with physical books---analogue page turning, bookmarks and annotations---are emulated. Advantage is also taken of the digital environment by supporting hyperlinks, multimedia, full-text search over terms and synonyms, automatically cross referencing documents with an online encyclopaedia, and producing a back-of-the-book index. The main technical challenge of simulating physical books is finding a suitable technique for page turning that is sufficiently realistic, yet lightweight, responsive, scalable and accessible. Several techniques were surveyed, implemented and evaluated. The chosen technique allows realistic books to be presented in the Adobe Flash Player, the most widely used browser plug-in on the Web. A series of usability studies were conducted to compare reading performance while performing various tasks with HTML, PDF, physical books, and simulated books. They revealed that participants not only preferred the new interface, but completed the tasks more efficiently, without any loss in accuracy.

text: Realistic electronic books People like books. They are convenient and can be accessed easily and enjoyably. In contrast, many view the experience of accessing and exploring electronic documents as dull, cumbersome and disorientating. This thesis claims that modelling digital documents as physical books can significantly improve reading performance. To investigate this claim, a realistic electronic book model was developed and evaluated. In this model, a range of properties associated with physical books---analogue page turning, bookmarks and annotations---are emulated. Advantage is also taken of the digital environment by supporting hyperlinks, multimedia, full-text search over terms and synonyms, automatically cross referencing documents with an online encyclopaedia, and producing a back-of-the-book index. The main technical challenge of simulating physical books is finding a suitable technique for page turning that is sufficiently realistic, yet lightweight, responsive, scalable and accessible. Several techniques were surveyed, implemented and evaluated. The chosen technique allows realistic books to be presented in the Adobe Flash Player, the most widely used browser plug-in on the Web. A series of usability studies were conducted to compare reading performance while performing various tasks with HTML, PDF, physical books, and simulated books. They revealed that participants not only preferred the new interface, but completed the tasks more efficiently, without any loss in accuracy.

year: 2010

title: A socio-demographic profile of Māori living in Australia

authors: Kukutai, Tahu

subjects: demography

abstract: This report provides a comprehensive demographic and socio-economic profile of the Māori population in Australia using data from the 2011 Australia Census of Population and Housing. The purpose is to provide an evidence base with which to inform future policy approaches with respect to Māori in Australia. It focuses on five key areas: 

Population size and composition; 
Identity and culture; 
Year of arrival and citizenship; 
Education and work; 
Lone parenting and unpaid childcare. 

Comparisons are undertaken with Māori in the 2006 Australia Census, as well as with two reference groups: the total Australia population and migrant non-Māori New Zealanders. Where appropriate, we also distinguish Māori migrants born in New Zealand and Māori born in Australia. This captures important differences within the Māori population in Australia that have been under-examined in previous studies.

text: A socio-demographic profile of Māori living in Australia This report provides a comprehensive demographic and socio-economic profile of the Māori population in Australia using data from the 2011 Australia Census of Population and Housing. The purpose is to provide an evidence base with which to inform future policy approaches with respect to Māori in Australia. It focuses on five key areas: 

Population size and composition; 
Identity and culture; 
Year of arrival and citizenship; 
Education and work; 
Lone parenting and unpaid childcare. 

Comparisons are undertaken with Māori in the 2006 Australia Census, as well as with two reference groups: the total Australia population and migrant non-Māori New Zealanders. Where appropriate, we also distinguish Māori migrants born in New Zealand and Māori born in Australia. This captures important differences within the Māori population in Australia that have been under-examined in previous studies.

year: 2013-06