title: Appreciating Learning: Children using Appreciative Inquiry as an approach to helping them to understand their learning

authors: Davies, Angelena

subjects: Appreciative Inquiry

abstract: Understanding one’s own learning (or meta-learning) is a topic of increasing interest in education in the 21st century. Children, who know how they learn, know themselves as learners. This is an important part of becoming a life-long learner in a world where the fast-pace of change creates the illusion that the future is one of greater unknown. Initiatives to help children to ‘learn how they learn’ often teach meta-cognition skills is isolation from the learning process; a strategy for learning that has been found to be ineffective. For children to come to see their role in their own learning, they need to learn about themselves and the unique strengths that they bring to their learning experiences. This is particularly so for children who struggle at school or those who do not believe they have the potential to learn.

This qualitative research examines Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a strengths-based approach to helping children understand their learning. Four 10-year-old children (in year 6) and I engaged together in action research to design and implement an AI intervention, and then evaluate its effectiveness as an approach to learn about their learning. Social constructivist theory is used to understand the children’s shifts in understandings and perceptions, prior to and following the AI intervention. Three key areas provided the conceptual framework for the thesis: social constructivist learning, meta-learning and AI.

The research project delivered new findings in several areas. The first main area of findings show that the children experienced significant shifts in their understandings of learning and perceptions of themselves as learners. The formal school context had a powerful influence on their understandings of learning and through the AI they came to view learning as taking place in a much wider context. The formal school context also influenced how they saw themselves as learners and some children believed they that, due to their low grades, they were ‘no good’ at learning. Participation in the AI process helped them to identify their strengths as learners and appreciate how their uniqueness actually benefits their learning. 

The second main area of findings identified four key factors that are pertinent to the children’s participation in AI: collaborative dialogue, agency in learning, experiential learning and children focus on their strengths as learners. Using AI with children is not as straightforward as using this with adults and, as such, requires that changes be made to the model, the aim being to shift its orientation from being one of a progressive approach to an experiential approach.

A key objective of this research was not to impose a learning theory on the children’s experience of learning, instead, through AI theory, the process allowed the children to discover their own learning theories for how they might use their strengths in their future learning. In this way, AI as an approach to meta-learning, was empowering because it worked from the ground up and from the inside out. Additionally, the ‘action’ aspect of the research provided a space for the children to actively make changes in their learning.

Children’s perspectives were sought in order that the children themselves could inform the formulation of my research questions. This approach not only respects the children’s capacity to contribute to research, but it provides authentic insights into the experiences of those who are directly influenced by the AI intervention; the children themselves. The children’s perspectives warrant special attention with respect to how they might best condition the design of the methodological approach used in this research to help them come to know their learning and themselves as learners.

text: Appreciating Learning: Children using Appreciative Inquiry as an approach to helping them to understand their learning Understanding one’s own learning (or meta-learning) is a topic of increasing interest in education in the 21st century. Children, who know how they learn, know themselves as learners. This is an important part of becoming a life-long learner in a world where the fast-pace of change creates the illusion that the future is one of greater unknown. Initiatives to help children to ‘learn how they learn’ often teach meta-cognition skills is isolation from the learning process; a strategy for learning that has been found to be ineffective. For children to come to see their role in their own learning, they need to learn about themselves and the unique strengths that they bring to their learning experiences. This is particularly so for children who struggle at school or those who do not believe they have the potential to learn.

This qualitative research examines Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a strengths-based approach to helping children understand their learning. Four 10-year-old children (in year 6) and I engaged together in action research to design and implement an AI intervention, and then evaluate its effectiveness as an approach to learn about their learning. Social constructivist theory is used to understand the children’s shifts in understandings and perceptions, prior to and following the AI intervention. Three key areas provided the conceptual framework for the thesis: social constructivist learning, meta-learning and AI.

The research project delivered new findings in several areas. The first main area of findings show that the children experienced significant shifts in their understandings of learning and perceptions of themselves as learners. The formal school context had a powerful influence on their understandings of learning and through the AI they came to view learning as taking place in a much wider context. The formal school context also influenced how they saw themselves as learners and some children believed they that, due to their low grades, they were ‘no good’ at learning. Participation in the AI process helped them to identify their strengths as learners and appreciate how their uniqueness actually benefits their learning. 

The second main area of findings identified four key factors that are pertinent to the children’s participation in AI: collaborative dialogue, agency in learning, experiential learning and children focus on their strengths as learners. Using AI with children is not as straightforward as using this with adults and, as such, requires that changes be made to the model, the aim being to shift its orientation from being one of a progressive approach to an experiential approach.

A key objective of this research was not to impose a learning theory on the children’s experience of learning, instead, through AI theory, the process allowed the children to discover their own learning theories for how they might use their strengths in their future learning. In this way, AI as an approach to meta-learning, was empowering because it worked from the ground up and from the inside out. Additionally, the ‘action’ aspect of the research provided a space for the children to actively make changes in their learning.

Children’s perspectives were sought in order that the children themselves could inform the formulation of my research questions. This approach not only respects the children’s capacity to contribute to research, but it provides authentic insights into the experiences of those who are directly influenced by the AI intervention; the children themselves. The children’s perspectives warrant special attention with respect to how they might best condition the design of the methodological approach used in this research to help them come to know their learning and themselves as learners.

year: 2013

title: Zooplankton Dynamics in Wastewater Treatment High Rate Algal Ponds and development of effective control methods

authors: Montemezzani, Valerio

subjects: Wastewater treatment High Rate Algal Pond

abstract: High Rate Algal Ponds (HRAPs) are effective and economical open pond to provide near tertiary-level wastewater (WW) treatment, with the nutrients recovered as algal biomass. However, WW treatment performance can be reduced by the establishment of zooplankton grazers which can consume much of the algal biomass within a few days. The high food availability and the near neutral pH in HRAPs offer optimal conditions for the establishment of zooplankton taxa including cladocerans and rotifers. The control of these zooplankton species is essential for the effective operation of HRAPs. This thesis research was aimed at designing cost-effective treatments to control zooplankton population densities applicable to full-scale HRAPs. In this thesis, I: 1) reviewed existing and potential methods for zooplankton control in HRAPs; 2) assessed environmental and biological parameters for two wastewater HRAPs with CO₂ addition using a 14 month large-scale field experiment; 3) assessed chemical CO₂ asphyxiation, biological control of rotifers using competitor species, mechanical disruption of zooplankton using hydrodynamic shear stress, and the mechanical removal of zooplankton using filtration, using controlled laboratory conditions; 4) validated chronic CO₂ asphyxiation of zooplankton, the biocontrol of rotifers using the cladoceran M. tenuicornis and the ostracod H. incongruens, the control of M. tenuicornis using filtration and the hydrodynamic disruption of zooplankton, using outdoor mesocosms with physicochemical and operational conditions similar to those of full scale HRAPs; 5) assessed night time CO₂ asphyxiation to control zooplankton densities in an 8 m³ HRAP over 14 months.
During the 14 months of the field experiment, zooplankton dynamics in paired 8 m³ HRAPs eight species of zooplankton established, with higher water temperatures and longer detention times promoting larger populations. Grazing pressure was associated with changes in the dominance of microalgal species; large and rapid reductions of productivity; reduced nutrient removal; increased colony size, number of cells in colonies and formation of protective spines in microalgae; and higher biomass settleability. Maintaining a dominance of colonial microalgae, operating HRAPs with short retention times, and facilitating competition among zooplankton species showed to potentially reduce grazer populations. Promising options for zooplankton control included physical methods such as filtration, hydrodynamic cavitation, shear, bead mills; chemical methods such as increase of HRAP night-time CO₂ concentration, promotion of the lethal un-ionized ammonia toxicity, use of biocides, and the chitinase inhibitor chitosan; biocontrol using competitor and predatory organisms. In the laboratory tests CO₂ asphyxiation caused acute mortality of all zooplankton species (t<10 min). Increasing the cladoceran Moina tenuicornis to densities >2,500 individuals/L was associated with a decrease in rotifer populations that were ~23% of the population in the control. The ostracod Heterocypris incongruens at densities >1,000 individuals/L were also associated with a decrease in rotifer densities that were ~27% of the population in the control. Hydrodynamic shear stress killed 100% of M. tenuicornis and ~80% of the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus after a single pass. In outdoor mesocosms a continuous CO₂ concentration of ~100 mg/L maintained low pond water zooplankton densities, while a continuous concentration of ~180 mg/L killed all microcrustaceans and rotifers present. As biocontrol agents, M. tenuicornis at ~2,000 individuals/L reduced average rotifer densities by 90%, and H. incongruens at ~1,000 individuals/L removed all rotifers. Mechanical filtration using 300 µm and 500 µm filters eradicated M. tenuicornis after one and four filtration periods, respectively. Mechanical hydrodynamic stress killed up to 100% of microcrustaceans, and ~50% of larger rotifers. Zooplankton control using night time CO₂ asphyxiation in an 8 m³ HRAP reduced the average population densities of some zooplankton species over the experimental period: M. tenuicornis (41.3%), the copepod Paracyclops fimbriatus (43.9%), the rotifer Filinia longiseta (59.8%), but was associated with higher average population densities of others: H. incongruens (174.4%), the rotifers Asplanchna sieboldi (177.8%), Cephalodella catellina (200.0%), and B. calyciflorus (234.9%). However, the population densities of B. calyciflorus and C. catellina were always reduced after CO₂ treatments with flow rates ≥2 L/min were applied. The cladoceran Daphnia thomsoni and the rotifer Brachionus urceolaris established only in the control HRAP. Zooplankton control by CO₂ asphyxiation improved the overall performance of the treated WW HRAP compared to the control in several ways, including increasing algal biomass (VSS) (150.8%), productivity (151.4%), chlorophyll-a concentration (161.8%), particle size (MCSA) (115.8%), and average settleability efficiency (189.2%). Furthermore, M. tenuicornis was concentrated in the upper 50 mm of a 300 mm deep water column using vertical migration induced by CO₂ concentrations of between 25-180 mg/L in laboratory experiments, and by phototaxis-induced migration in an 8 m³ HRAP. This suggested that mechanical treatments such as filtration and hydrodynamic stress could be performed to the upper layer of the pond water, reducing the amount of water processed and the overall treatment costs. Overall, CO₂ asphyxiation appeared to be the most reliable, versatile, and effective zooplankton control treatment. 
All treatments reduced or eradicated zooplankton populations and promoted higher productivity of microalgae cultures. However, the efficacy of treatments to control diverse zooplankton species differed, and the implementation of any control strategy in a given system requires a preliminary assessment of zooplankton succession to identify the species able to consume the dominant microalgae that could establish in the system. Treatments can be dosed and combined to selectively kill specific zooplankton species. Moreover, zooplankton at controlled densities could potentially be used as a bio tool to improve biomass settleability or to consume unwanted microalgal species.

text: Zooplankton Dynamics in Wastewater Treatment High Rate Algal Ponds and development of effective control methods High Rate Algal Ponds (HRAPs) are effective and economical open pond to provide near tertiary-level wastewater (WW) treatment, with the nutrients recovered as algal biomass. However, WW treatment performance can be reduced by the establishment of zooplankton grazers which can consume much of the algal biomass within a few days. The high food availability and the near neutral pH in HRAPs offer optimal conditions for the establishment of zooplankton taxa including cladocerans and rotifers. The control of these zooplankton species is essential for the effective operation of HRAPs. This thesis research was aimed at designing cost-effective treatments to control zooplankton population densities applicable to full-scale HRAPs. In this thesis, I: 1) reviewed existing and potential methods for zooplankton control in HRAPs; 2) assessed environmental and biological parameters for two wastewater HRAPs with CO₂ addition using a 14 month large-scale field experiment; 3) assessed chemical CO₂ asphyxiation, biological control of rotifers using competitor species, mechanical disruption of zooplankton using hydrodynamic shear stress, and the mechanical removal of zooplankton using filtration, using controlled laboratory conditions; 4) validated chronic CO₂ asphyxiation of zooplankton, the biocontrol of rotifers using the cladoceran M. tenuicornis and the ostracod H. incongruens, the control of M. tenuicornis using filtration and the hydrodynamic disruption of zooplankton, using outdoor mesocosms with physicochemical and operational conditions similar to those of full scale HRAPs; 5) assessed night time CO₂ asphyxiation to control zooplankton densities in an 8 m³ HRAP over 14 months.
During the 14 months of the field experiment, zooplankton dynamics in paired 8 m³ HRAPs eight species of zooplankton established, with higher water temperatures and longer detention times promoting larger populations. Grazing pressure was associated with changes in the dominance of microalgal species; large and rapid reductions of productivity; reduced nutrient removal; increased colony size, number of cells in colonies and formation of protective spines in microalgae; and higher biomass settleability. Maintaining a dominance of colonial microalgae, operating HRAPs with short retention times, and facilitating competition among zooplankton species showed to potentially reduce grazer populations. Promising options for zooplankton control included physical methods such as filtration, hydrodynamic cavitation, shear, bead mills; chemical methods such as increase of HRAP night-time CO₂ concentration, promotion of the lethal un-ionized ammonia toxicity, use of biocides, and the chitinase inhibitor chitosan; biocontrol using competitor and predatory organisms. In the laboratory tests CO₂ asphyxiation caused acute mortality of all zooplankton species (t<10 min). Increasing the cladoceran Moina tenuicornis to densities >2,500 individuals/L was associated with a decrease in rotifer populations that were ~23% of the population in the control. The ostracod Heterocypris incongruens at densities >1,000 individuals/L were also associated with a decrease in rotifer densities that were ~27% of the population in the control. Hydrodynamic shear stress killed 100% of M. tenuicornis and ~80% of the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus after a single pass. In outdoor mesocosms a continuous CO₂ concentration of ~100 mg/L maintained low pond water zooplankton densities, while a continuous concentration of ~180 mg/L killed all microcrustaceans and rotifers present. As biocontrol agents, M. tenuicornis at ~2,000 individuals/L reduced average rotifer densities by 90%, and H. incongruens at ~1,000 individuals/L removed all rotifers. Mechanical filtration using 300 µm and 500 µm filters eradicated M. tenuicornis after one and four filtration periods, respectively. Mechanical hydrodynamic stress killed up to 100% of microcrustaceans, and ~50% of larger rotifers. Zooplankton control using night time CO₂ asphyxiation in an 8 m³ HRAP reduced the average population densities of some zooplankton species over the experimental period: M. tenuicornis (41.3%), the copepod Paracyclops fimbriatus (43.9%), the rotifer Filinia longiseta (59.8%), but was associated with higher average population densities of others: H. incongruens (174.4%), the rotifers Asplanchna sieboldi (177.8%), Cephalodella catellina (200.0%), and B. calyciflorus (234.9%). However, the population densities of B. calyciflorus and C. catellina were always reduced after CO₂ treatments with flow rates ≥2 L/min were applied. The cladoceran Daphnia thomsoni and the rotifer Brachionus urceolaris established only in the control HRAP. Zooplankton control by CO₂ asphyxiation improved the overall performance of the treated WW HRAP compared to the control in several ways, including increasing algal biomass (VSS) (150.8%), productivity (151.4%), chlorophyll-a concentration (161.8%), particle size (MCSA) (115.8%), and average settleability efficiency (189.2%). Furthermore, M. tenuicornis was concentrated in the upper 50 mm of a 300 mm deep water column using vertical migration induced by CO₂ concentrations of between 25-180 mg/L in laboratory experiments, and by phototaxis-induced migration in an 8 m³ HRAP. This suggested that mechanical treatments such as filtration and hydrodynamic stress could be performed to the upper layer of the pond water, reducing the amount of water processed and the overall treatment costs. Overall, CO₂ asphyxiation appeared to be the most reliable, versatile, and effective zooplankton control treatment. 
All treatments reduced or eradicated zooplankton populations and promoted higher productivity of microalgae cultures. However, the efficacy of treatments to control diverse zooplankton species differed, and the implementation of any control strategy in a given system requires a preliminary assessment of zooplankton succession to identify the species able to consume the dominant microalgae that could establish in the system. Treatments can be dosed and combined to selectively kill specific zooplankton species. Moreover, zooplankton at controlled densities could potentially be used as a bio tool to improve biomass settleability or to consume unwanted microalgal species.

year: 2017

title: Discussing future directions in the Maori legal environment

authors: Te Aho, Linda

abstract: The next few years are likely to be exciting in terms of law changes, parliament getting ready for the next election cycle and the end of historical claims settlements. This presentation will look at the future of the Maori legal environment

text: Discussing future directions in the Maori legal environment The next few years are likely to be exciting in terms of law changes, parliament getting ready for the next election cycle and the end of historical claims settlements. This presentation will look at the future of the Maori legal environment

year: 2016