title: Adaptive user interfaces for the Semantic Web

authors: Turner, Emmanuel King

subjects: Semantic Web

abstract: The Semantic Web aims to democratise data by making data open, shareable and recombinable (Berners-Lee, Hendler, & Lassila, 2001). To achieve these characteristics, Semantic Web data, different to data on the web, is structured. However, unlike traditional databases, the structure of Semantic Web data does not have to follow a single predefined schema. we believe that approaches for building user interfaces for data with a known structure are inadequate for the Semantic Web. In this thesis, we propose an adaptive user interface that categorises the Semantic Web data into groups and orders data according to user preference. Placing similar data items close together may make it easier for users to locate data items.

text: Adaptive user interfaces for the Semantic Web The Semantic Web aims to democratise data by making data open, shareable and recombinable (Berners-Lee, Hendler, & Lassila, 2001). To achieve these characteristics, Semantic Web data, different to data on the web, is structured. However, unlike traditional databases, the structure of Semantic Web data does not have to follow a single predefined schema. we believe that approaches for building user interfaces for data with a known structure are inadequate for the Semantic Web. In this thesis, we propose an adaptive user interface that categorises the Semantic Web data into groups and orders data according to user preference. Placing similar data items close together may make it easier for users to locate data items.

year: 2018

title: Enhancing teaching and learning of primary mathematics through the use of apps

authors: Calder, Nigel Stuart

abstract: The report begins with a brief traverse of the associated research field, leading to the specific aims and research design of the project. The outcomes are then discussed, with teacher decisions about their use of apps, and the framework and contributing themes, outlined initially. Discussion of the key themes, with exemplars and data from the project, are then considered, followed by the transitions in teacher practice and the ways that mathematical thinking emerged. The final section, the conclusions, considers the key findings, limitations, implications for practice, and suggestions for further research to further enrich the field. But first, the background literature that informed the project is examined.

text: Enhancing teaching and learning of primary mathematics through the use of apps The report begins with a brief traverse of the associated research field, leading to the specific aims and research design of the project. The outcomes are then discussed, with teacher decisions about their use of apps, and the framework and contributing themes, outlined initially. Discussion of the key themes, with exemplars and data from the project, are then considered, followed by the transitions in teacher practice and the ways that mathematical thinking emerged. The final section, the conclusions, considers the key findings, limitations, implications for practice, and suggestions for further research to further enrich the field. But first, the background literature that informed the project is examined.

year: 2017

title: Kia matatau ki te reo: Factors influencing the development of proficiency in te reo Māori with adult learners

authors: Rātima, Matiu Tai

subjects: te reo Māori

abstract: This thesis sought to answer the question: what factors help or hinder adult Māori second language learners to become proficient speakers of te reo Māori? I ask this question at a moment in history when te reo, like other indigenous languages, sits on the edge of a precipice in terms of its survival as a living language. Ambivalence and inaction will almost certainly constitute a push towards oblivion. Nothing less than concerted effort can pull te reo back from the brink. But what kind of concerted effort is needed and how can individual learners optimise their efforts to learn te reo?
Te reo must survive because, as Sir James Henare put it, ‘ko te reo te hā o te Māoritanga’, meaning ‘the language is the essence of Māori culture.’ Without te reo the very survival of Māori people as Māori is in doubt. My questions and the thesis occupy a multidisciplinary space, drawing on research from adult second language acquisition, teaching pedagogy and language revitalisation. The thesis makes an original contribution to all three bodies of literature by examining data from a previously untapped source; successful adult Māori language learners. 
I interviewed 17 participants. All highly proficient second language speakers of te reo. All learned te reo as adults.  Adult second language learning of endangered languages is broadly acknowledged in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) as essential to re-establishing Intergenerational Transmission of Language (ITL) in the home to ensure an endangered language is passed on to future generations.
The interview questionnaire was based loosely on 10 help/hinder factors I identified through a review of the literature from the three research fields (adult second language acquisition, teaching pedagogy and language revitalisation). The ten factors identified in the review were; language aptitude, age, learner attitudes and motivation, learning strategies, instruction, agency and anxiety, wairua (the spiritual dimension), demography, language status, and language planning.

text: Kia matatau ki te reo: Factors influencing the development of proficiency in te reo Māori with adult learners This thesis sought to answer the question: what factors help or hinder adult Māori second language learners to become proficient speakers of te reo Māori? I ask this question at a moment in history when te reo, like other indigenous languages, sits on the edge of a precipice in terms of its survival as a living language. Ambivalence and inaction will almost certainly constitute a push towards oblivion. Nothing less than concerted effort can pull te reo back from the brink. But what kind of concerted effort is needed and how can individual learners optimise their efforts to learn te reo?
Te reo must survive because, as Sir James Henare put it, ‘ko te reo te hā o te Māoritanga’, meaning ‘the language is the essence of Māori culture.’ Without te reo the very survival of Māori people as Māori is in doubt. My questions and the thesis occupy a multidisciplinary space, drawing on research from adult second language acquisition, teaching pedagogy and language revitalisation. The thesis makes an original contribution to all three bodies of literature by examining data from a previously untapped source; successful adult Māori language learners. 
I interviewed 17 participants. All highly proficient second language speakers of te reo. All learned te reo as adults.  Adult second language learning of endangered languages is broadly acknowledged in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) as essential to re-establishing Intergenerational Transmission of Language (ITL) in the home to ensure an endangered language is passed on to future generations.
The interview questionnaire was based loosely on 10 help/hinder factors I identified through a review of the literature from the three research fields (adult second language acquisition, teaching pedagogy and language revitalisation). The ten factors identified in the review were; language aptitude, age, learner attitudes and motivation, learning strategies, instruction, agency and anxiety, wairua (the spiritual dimension), demography, language status, and language planning.

year: 2013