title: Black inks give way to BLUE links

authors: McLeay, Colin

abstract: A recent e-mail from the Teaching Development Unit reminded me of one of the reasons why I am a fan of the online evaluation system - BLUE. I could select the standard evaluation form or even personalise it through a few clicks of the mouse. I did not have to request paper templates, wait for the documents to arrive, make 150 copies of a multiple page document for distribution to students in the 100-level paper I coordinate, carry the pile of papers to the final lecture, and get them distributed by student reps. And, I did not have to repeat this process for the other two papers on which I am teaching this semester.

text: Black inks give way to BLUE links A recent e-mail from the Teaching Development Unit reminded me of one of the reasons why I am a fan of the online evaluation system - BLUE. I could select the standard evaluation form or even personalise it through a few clicks of the mouse. I did not have to request paper templates, wait for the documents to arrive, make 150 copies of a multiple page document for distribution to students in the 100-level paper I coordinate, carry the pile of papers to the final lecture, and get them distributed by student reps. And, I did not have to repeat this process for the other two papers on which I am teaching this semester.

year: 2015

title: Sequencing the New Zealand dawn chorus: can song playback alter the timing of song initiation?

authors: MacDougall, Mark

subjects: Dawn chorus

abstract: The dawn chorus of songbirds is a behavioural phenomenon occurring prior to sunrise; birds of many different species sing simultaneously at rapid rates. Avian physiology, social behaviours and local environment all influence the onset of dawn song. The influence of social cues on dawn chorus singing is poorly delineated relative to the effect of environmental or physiological factors; in particular, our knowledge of the role of heterospecific cues is limited. In this study, I aimed to determine if New Zealand songbirds would chorus in a distinct order, like those seen in other countries. I investigated whether the timing of song onset relative to sunrise would change as the breeding season progressed. I also assessed if conspecific and heterospecific acoustic cues influence a species’ start time. Finally, I explored the influence of acoustic cues from an early singer, the Tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) and a late singer, the Riroriro (Grey Warbler; Gerygone igata) on start time. I recorded the dawn chorus at nine sites at the Maungatautari reserve between September and November 2016, using arrays of time-synchronised autonomous recording devices. I broadcast different playback stimuli at three arrays per morning; an early singer, a late singer, and noise.  My results suggest that New Zealand dawn choruses follow an order and that the timing of chorus start time changes over time as the breeding season progresses. Tui began singing earliest, and their start time shifted much earlier as the breeding season progressed. Most species joined the chorus in a highly interchangeable order within the same 12 minute window, while Pōpokatea (Whitehead; Mohoua albicilla) sang last. Start time was not found to shift in response to any playback stimuli for any species. The onset of Tui or Riroriro song is unlikely to be used as a cue by either con- or heterospecific neighbours to initiate their own dawn song.

text: Sequencing the New Zealand dawn chorus: can song playback alter the timing of song initiation? The dawn chorus of songbirds is a behavioural phenomenon occurring prior to sunrise; birds of many different species sing simultaneously at rapid rates. Avian physiology, social behaviours and local environment all influence the onset of dawn song. The influence of social cues on dawn chorus singing is poorly delineated relative to the effect of environmental or physiological factors; in particular, our knowledge of the role of heterospecific cues is limited. In this study, I aimed to determine if New Zealand songbirds would chorus in a distinct order, like those seen in other countries. I investigated whether the timing of song onset relative to sunrise would change as the breeding season progressed. I also assessed if conspecific and heterospecific acoustic cues influence a species’ start time. Finally, I explored the influence of acoustic cues from an early singer, the Tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) and a late singer, the Riroriro (Grey Warbler; Gerygone igata) on start time. I recorded the dawn chorus at nine sites at the Maungatautari reserve between September and November 2016, using arrays of time-synchronised autonomous recording devices. I broadcast different playback stimuli at three arrays per morning; an early singer, a late singer, and noise.  My results suggest that New Zealand dawn choruses follow an order and that the timing of chorus start time changes over time as the breeding season progresses. Tui began singing earliest, and their start time shifted much earlier as the breeding season progressed. Most species joined the chorus in a highly interchangeable order within the same 12 minute window, while Pōpokatea (Whitehead; Mohoua albicilla) sang last. Start time was not found to shift in response to any playback stimuli for any species. The onset of Tui or Riroriro song is unlikely to be used as a cue by either con- or heterospecific neighbours to initiate their own dawn song.

year: 2017

title: Sylvia’s place: Ashton-Warner as New Zealand educational theorist.

authors: Middleton, Sue

subjects: educational theorist

abstract: Sylvia Ashton-Warner’s New Zealand educational context has been – and continues to be – misrepresented as antithetical to her creative methods. Sue Middleton, a professor of education, locates Sylvia’s educational ideas within the national and international Progressive Education movement, indicating that key education officials in post-war New Zealand encouraged creativity and self-expression.

This chapter makes the case that, as a teacher, an educational writer and theorist, Sylvia Ashton-Warner grew in, and not in spite of New Zealand. My argument unfolds in two parts. The first reviews theoretical ideas in the local and international educational environment in which Sylvia lived and worked. Sylvia and Keith Henderson taught in what was referred to until 1946 as the Native School system (and from 1948 until its abolition in 1968 as the Maori Scholl system). They trained and began work as teachers during the Great Depression; and Sylvia began serious writing during World War Two. The war and the Native Scholl system interested in complex ways with the wider international Progressive Education movement and its promotion ‘from the top’ in New Zealand’s public schools. An overview of Progressive (or New ) Education, the changing theories of culture and race in the Native School system, and relations between these during World War Two, opens a wide-angled aperture through which to read Sylvia’s early writing.

text: Sylvia’s place: Ashton-Warner as New Zealand educational theorist. Sylvia Ashton-Warner’s New Zealand educational context has been – and continues to be – misrepresented as antithetical to her creative methods. Sue Middleton, a professor of education, locates Sylvia’s educational ideas within the national and international Progressive Education movement, indicating that key education officials in post-war New Zealand encouraged creativity and self-expression.

This chapter makes the case that, as a teacher, an educational writer and theorist, Sylvia Ashton-Warner grew in, and not in spite of New Zealand. My argument unfolds in two parts. The first reviews theoretical ideas in the local and international educational environment in which Sylvia lived and worked. Sylvia and Keith Henderson taught in what was referred to until 1946 as the Native School system (and from 1948 until its abolition in 1968 as the Maori Scholl system). They trained and began work as teachers during the Great Depression; and Sylvia began serious writing during World War Two. The war and the Native Scholl system interested in complex ways with the wider international Progressive Education movement and its promotion ‘from the top’ in New Zealand’s public schools. An overview of Progressive (or New ) Education, the changing theories of culture and race in the Native School system, and relations between these during World War Two, opens a wide-angled aperture through which to read Sylvia’s early writing.

year: 2009