title: Adoption of in-paddock feeding of methane inhibitors in pasture-based dairy: An application of the ADOPT model and a farm-level cost-effectiveness analysis

authors: Marmont, Ben

subjects: Methane

abstract: Methane emissions represent over 40% of New Zealand’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Of these emissions, almost all are biogenic, meaning they come from living organisms such as ruminants. Given that methane has 27-30 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide, reducing methane emissions is an important part of addressing climate change. Many countries are beginning to legislate a reduction of methane emissions in a global effort to reduce the impact of climate change. In New Zealand, where livestock plays a large part in the economy, unique challenges have arisen around reducing biogenic methane emissions. One approach to mitigate methane in the dairy industry is the delivery of methane-inhibiting compounds, which, when added to the diet of ruminants, can reduce their methane emissions significantly. However, these compounds generally require frequent and precise delivery, a characteristic that is difficult to fulfil in New Zealand’s pasture-based sector. 
This thesis explores the potential adoption of a novel approach using emergent technology, in-paddock smart-feeders, and how they could deliver methane inhibitor compounds in a New Zealand dairy farming context. The research is conducted in two phases. Firstly, the likely adoption outcomes are assessed, which depends on how in-paddock smart-feeders fit into the range of New Zealand farm systems. In order to evaluate adoption outcomes, the Adoption Diffusion Outcome Prediction Tool (ADOPT) model is utilised in conjunction with a dairy expert consultation and farmer focus groups. After establishing a base case of adoption outcomes, the results are tested with a sensitivity analysis to determine those ADOPT variables impeding increased modelled adoption outcomes. Then, a scenario analysis is conducted to explore different technology performance levels. This chapter finds that the technology is unlikely to become widely adopted unless it is shown to be economically viable. The critical adoption factors are then shown to be trialability, ease and convenience and environmental performance.
The third chapter explores the economic properties of in-paddock smart-feeders by developing a farm-level cost-effectiveness model. This model takes average farm data, introduces the expected costs of the approach and then apportions the associated costs of the quantity of mitigated methane to estimate the breakeven methane price at which the approach becomes viable. The main output of this model is the breakeven methane price, that is, the methane price, where it becomes viable to adopt IPSFs. Similarly to the first chapter, these results hinge on technology performance which is currently relatively uncertain as there is not existing technology to base performance. Therefore the results are explored at length using sensitivity and then scenario analysis. The scenario analysis shows that the breakeven price is most favourable in Northland out of the regions assessed, and the technology was viable only in a best-case scenario. 
Ultimately for this novel approach to become economically viable and, therefore, widely adopted by the dairy farmers of New Zealand, the manufacturers of both in-paddock smart-feeders and methane inhibitors will need to make improvements to their products. If these improvements eventuate, a clear path to reducing methane emissions in pasture-based dairy may result.

text: Adoption of in-paddock feeding of methane inhibitors in pasture-based dairy: An application of the ADOPT model and a farm-level cost-effectiveness analysis Methane emissions represent over 40% of New Zealand’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Of these emissions, almost all are biogenic, meaning they come from living organisms such as ruminants. Given that methane has 27-30 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide, reducing methane emissions is an important part of addressing climate change. Many countries are beginning to legislate a reduction of methane emissions in a global effort to reduce the impact of climate change. In New Zealand, where livestock plays a large part in the economy, unique challenges have arisen around reducing biogenic methane emissions. One approach to mitigate methane in the dairy industry is the delivery of methane-inhibiting compounds, which, when added to the diet of ruminants, can reduce their methane emissions significantly. However, these compounds generally require frequent and precise delivery, a characteristic that is difficult to fulfil in New Zealand’s pasture-based sector. 
This thesis explores the potential adoption of a novel approach using emergent technology, in-paddock smart-feeders, and how they could deliver methane inhibitor compounds in a New Zealand dairy farming context. The research is conducted in two phases. Firstly, the likely adoption outcomes are assessed, which depends on how in-paddock smart-feeders fit into the range of New Zealand farm systems. In order to evaluate adoption outcomes, the Adoption Diffusion Outcome Prediction Tool (ADOPT) model is utilised in conjunction with a dairy expert consultation and farmer focus groups. After establishing a base case of adoption outcomes, the results are tested with a sensitivity analysis to determine those ADOPT variables impeding increased modelled adoption outcomes. Then, a scenario analysis is conducted to explore different technology performance levels. This chapter finds that the technology is unlikely to become widely adopted unless it is shown to be economically viable. The critical adoption factors are then shown to be trialability, ease and convenience and environmental performance.
The third chapter explores the economic properties of in-paddock smart-feeders by developing a farm-level cost-effectiveness model. This model takes average farm data, introduces the expected costs of the approach and then apportions the associated costs of the quantity of mitigated methane to estimate the breakeven methane price at which the approach becomes viable. The main output of this model is the breakeven methane price, that is, the methane price, where it becomes viable to adopt IPSFs. Similarly to the first chapter, these results hinge on technology performance which is currently relatively uncertain as there is not existing technology to base performance. Therefore the results are explored at length using sensitivity and then scenario analysis. The scenario analysis shows that the breakeven price is most favourable in Northland out of the regions assessed, and the technology was viable only in a best-case scenario. 
Ultimately for this novel approach to become economically viable and, therefore, widely adopted by the dairy farmers of New Zealand, the manufacturers of both in-paddock smart-feeders and methane inhibitors will need to make improvements to their products. If these improvements eventuate, a clear path to reducing methane emissions in pasture-based dairy may result.

year: 2022

title: Formative assessment in science classrooms

authors: Cowie, Bronwen

abstract: This study investigated how formative assessment was perceived, experienced and accomplished by teachers and students in ten Year 7 to 10 science classrooms. The study was undertaken within and built on the findings of the Learning in Science Project (Assessment). An interpretive methodology using interviews and participant observation was employed. The study consisted of two phases. During the first phase, the teachers and at least three students of each teacher were interviewed and three classroom observations undertaken to ascertain views of formative assessment. In phase 2, case studies were developed of the formative assessment in the different classrooms. In addition, the teachers participated in eleven teacher development days, which were audio-taped and analysed. 

While the literature provided a definition and discussion of formative assessment relatively little research had explored student perceptions and experiences of formative assessment as an aspect of their everyday classroom life. The links between formative assessment and views of learning had received very little attention. The study provides empirical evidence that formative assessment is accomplished through situated teacher and student actions and interactions that involve the exchange, interpretation and action on information about student learning. It seems teachers and students are active and intentional participants in the process of formative assessment but not necessarily for the same purposes. Student perceptions that interactions could enhance their learning and harm their relationships with others and their view of themselves led them to consider both the possible benefit and the potential harm of disclosing their ideas to others (teachers and peers). Moreover, students indicated that whether they pursued learning or performance goals and how they perceived teacher assessment purposes influenced their purposes for and willingness to participate in assessment interactions. Cognition, affect, conation and relationships with others were experienced by the students as inextricably intertwined with their learning and the formative assessment of it. Thus, the findings indicate that formative assessment contributes to the meaning of being a student, learner, knower and peer and of being a teacher in the classroom.

The findings of the study support the view that formative assessment is a sociocultural activity that may be described and is accomplished along three interdependent planes of the classroom, interpersonal and personal activity and meaning (Rogoff, 1995). On the classroom plane, formative assessment is accomplished through a process of apprenticeship and influences what it means to be a student (and a teacher). On the interpersonal plane, formative assessment is accomplished through a process of guided participation and influences what is taken and counts as school science and hence what it means to be a student (of science) in a particular classroom. It shapes how students view themselves and each other in the social milieu of the classroom. On the personal plane it shapes the language students use and how they feel about themselves as learners and knowers of school science.

text: Formative assessment in science classrooms This study investigated how formative assessment was perceived, experienced and accomplished by teachers and students in ten Year 7 to 10 science classrooms. The study was undertaken within and built on the findings of the Learning in Science Project (Assessment). An interpretive methodology using interviews and participant observation was employed. The study consisted of two phases. During the first phase, the teachers and at least three students of each teacher were interviewed and three classroom observations undertaken to ascertain views of formative assessment. In phase 2, case studies were developed of the formative assessment in the different classrooms. In addition, the teachers participated in eleven teacher development days, which were audio-taped and analysed. 

While the literature provided a definition and discussion of formative assessment relatively little research had explored student perceptions and experiences of formative assessment as an aspect of their everyday classroom life. The links between formative assessment and views of learning had received very little attention. The study provides empirical evidence that formative assessment is accomplished through situated teacher and student actions and interactions that involve the exchange, interpretation and action on information about student learning. It seems teachers and students are active and intentional participants in the process of formative assessment but not necessarily for the same purposes. Student perceptions that interactions could enhance their learning and harm their relationships with others and their view of themselves led them to consider both the possible benefit and the potential harm of disclosing their ideas to others (teachers and peers). Moreover, students indicated that whether they pursued learning or performance goals and how they perceived teacher assessment purposes influenced their purposes for and willingness to participate in assessment interactions. Cognition, affect, conation and relationships with others were experienced by the students as inextricably intertwined with their learning and the formative assessment of it. Thus, the findings indicate that formative assessment contributes to the meaning of being a student, learner, knower and peer and of being a teacher in the classroom.

The findings of the study support the view that formative assessment is a sociocultural activity that may be described and is accomplished along three interdependent planes of the classroom, interpersonal and personal activity and meaning (Rogoff, 1995). On the classroom plane, formative assessment is accomplished through a process of apprenticeship and influences what it means to be a student (and a teacher). On the interpersonal plane, formative assessment is accomplished through a process of guided participation and influences what is taken and counts as school science and hence what it means to be a student (of science) in a particular classroom. It shapes how students view themselves and each other in the social milieu of the classroom. On the personal plane it shapes the language students use and how they feel about themselves as learners and knowers of school science.

year: 2000

title: Place imaginaries: Photography and place-making at Te Awa River Ride

authors: Hill, Rodrigo

subjects: photography

abstract: Contemporary photographic practice has evolved into a field of possibilities, which includes a flux of representational modes that depict experiences, feelings and emotions. This PhD with Creative Practice Components investigates how photography is embedded within ways of knowing, experiencing and making places and the subsequent visual constructions of place imaginaries.  Drawing on contemporary photographic practice and theory, I position myself as a qualitative researcher engaged in creative practice, specifically lens-based approaches and modes of photographic representation. In contrast to photography’s dominant discourse centred on indexical and objective assumptions, I understand photographic practices and images as constructions of multiple meanings.

I use Te Awa River Ride as my research locale, a place where different practices and discourses entangle, forming a diverse set of dynamic and intersecting meanings. Te Awa River Ride is a shared pathway, with a planned total length of 70 kilometres, that edges the banks of the Waikato River from Ngāruawāhia to Cambridge, in the central North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. I understand Te Awa River Ride as a place-composite, layered by multiple place imaginaries, including indigenous Māori, Pākehā and European ways of meaning and place-making. In this thesis I draw upon place imaginaries as a way of expressing visual possibilities, constructions and affective responses to my own and others’ experiences at this unique research location. 

My photography practice aims to actualise particular place imaginaries through curation and sequencing of lens-based explorations of light, movement and water. This process and the compilation of imagery into curatorial products, such as photography installations, generate novel ways of perceiving the Waikato River and Te Awa River Ride, revealing the centrality of photography in place-making processes.

text: Place imaginaries: Photography and place-making at Te Awa River Ride Contemporary photographic practice has evolved into a field of possibilities, which includes a flux of representational modes that depict experiences, feelings and emotions. This PhD with Creative Practice Components investigates how photography is embedded within ways of knowing, experiencing and making places and the subsequent visual constructions of place imaginaries.  Drawing on contemporary photographic practice and theory, I position myself as a qualitative researcher engaged in creative practice, specifically lens-based approaches and modes of photographic representation. In contrast to photography’s dominant discourse centred on indexical and objective assumptions, I understand photographic practices and images as constructions of multiple meanings.

I use Te Awa River Ride as my research locale, a place where different practices and discourses entangle, forming a diverse set of dynamic and intersecting meanings. Te Awa River Ride is a shared pathway, with a planned total length of 70 kilometres, that edges the banks of the Waikato River from Ngāruawāhia to Cambridge, in the central North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. I understand Te Awa River Ride as a place-composite, layered by multiple place imaginaries, including indigenous Māori, Pākehā and European ways of meaning and place-making. In this thesis I draw upon place imaginaries as a way of expressing visual possibilities, constructions and affective responses to my own and others’ experiences at this unique research location. 

My photography practice aims to actualise particular place imaginaries through curation and sequencing of lens-based explorations of light, movement and water. This process and the compilation of imagery into curatorial products, such as photography installations, generate novel ways of perceiving the Waikato River and Te Awa River Ride, revealing the centrality of photography in place-making processes.

year: 2019