title: The latest international survey of adult skills: What does PIAAC mean for us in New Zealand?

authors: Coben, Diana

abstract: • What can PIAAC tell us – and what can it not tell us?
• What kinds of shifts in adults skills in the population might we expect to see since the ALL Survey reported in 2006?
• What might PIAAC mean for adult literacy and numeracy educators, learners and the general public?
• What are the implications of PIAAC for educators?

text: The latest international survey of adult skills: What does PIAAC mean for us in New Zealand? • What can PIAAC tell us – and what can it not tell us?
• What kinds of shifts in adults skills in the population might we expect to see since the ALL Survey reported in 2006?
• What might PIAAC mean for adult literacy and numeracy educators, learners and the general public?
• What are the implications of PIAAC for educators?

year: 2014

title: Use of LA-ICP-MS to analyse dental enamel in order to locate the geographical origin of teeth

authors: Cameron, Nicola

subjects: enamel

abstract: The investigation reported here involved the analysis of possum tooth samples by Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to determine whether or not the data obtained from the elemental composition of the dental enamel was sufficient to differentiate samples according to their geographical origin. The possum jaws were processed, and the teeth removed and cleaned and mounted on slides before analyses could be carried out. A LA-ICP-MS method was developed in order to obtain data for the tooth enamel. This involved optimising specific laser parameters, such as laser spot size, laser power, and acquisition time. It was also essential to determine the best calibration standard for the project, which proved to be NIST 612. Data was collected from samples from across ten different regions. The data was statistically analysed by Principal component analysis (PCA) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). It was found that some regions overlapped in the PCA, meaning they could not be 100% separated however, many regions could be distinguished, and it was determined, by that using LDA, 75.75% of the samples could be correctly grouped into their regions of origin. A further analysis was conducted once several regions were removed (for historical or statistical reasons), which greatly improved the results. 82.9% of the samples could be placed into their region of origin.

text: Use of LA-ICP-MS to analyse dental enamel in order to locate the geographical origin of teeth The investigation reported here involved the analysis of possum tooth samples by Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to determine whether or not the data obtained from the elemental composition of the dental enamel was sufficient to differentiate samples according to their geographical origin. The possum jaws were processed, and the teeth removed and cleaned and mounted on slides before analyses could be carried out. A LA-ICP-MS method was developed in order to obtain data for the tooth enamel. This involved optimising specific laser parameters, such as laser spot size, laser power, and acquisition time. It was also essential to determine the best calibration standard for the project, which proved to be NIST 612. Data was collected from samples from across ten different regions. The data was statistically analysed by Principal component analysis (PCA) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). It was found that some regions overlapped in the PCA, meaning they could not be 100% separated however, many regions could be distinguished, and it was determined, by that using LDA, 75.75% of the samples could be correctly grouped into their regions of origin. A further analysis was conducted once several regions were removed (for historical or statistical reasons), which greatly improved the results. 82.9% of the samples could be placed into their region of origin.

year: 2011

title: Representations of diversity in the revised New Zealand PictureBook Collection

authors: Daly, Nicola

subjects: picturebooks

abstract: Collections of children’s literature are used for a range of reasons including preservation, record keeping, and more recently the encouragement of intercultural understanding. Both the signifi- cance of learning about other cultures and the importance of children seeing themselves reflected in the books that they read have been discussed extensively. In 2010, the New Zealand PictureBook Collection (NZPBC) was developed in order to create a resource that reflected New Zealand national identity. In 2015 the NZPBC was revised and this article presents a visual and textual analysis of the diversity present in the sixty books nomi- nated through the lens of critical multicultural analysis, using four variables. Findings indicate considerable diversity is present in the collection in terms of representations of ethnicity and family; less so for representations of disability and languages.

text: Representations of diversity in the revised New Zealand PictureBook Collection Collections of children’s literature are used for a range of reasons including preservation, record keeping, and more recently the encouragement of intercultural understanding. Both the signifi- cance of learning about other cultures and the importance of children seeing themselves reflected in the books that they read have been discussed extensively. In 2010, the New Zealand PictureBook Collection (NZPBC) was developed in order to create a resource that reflected New Zealand national identity. In 2015 the NZPBC was revised and this article presents a visual and textual analysis of the diversity present in the sixty books nomi- nated through the lens of critical multicultural analysis, using four variables. Findings indicate considerable diversity is present in the collection in terms of representations of ethnicity and family; less so for representations of disability and languages.

year: 2017