Trends in LN-embedding practices at Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) in 2019

In this report, we describe the trends in literacy-embedding practices of level-2 and level-3 tutors who worked in vocational contexts at Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), and who completed the New Zealand Certificate in Adult Literacy and Numeracy Education (NZCALNE[Voc]) in 2019. We analysed 19 observations, following constructivist grounded theory methodology (Charmaz, 2014), to produce 1302 descriptive labels that highlight literacy and numeracy practices integrated into tutors’ teaching intentionally pursued in a collaborative and mentored training process. Of the initial 12 categories, we conflated the mapping of LN course demands and identifying learners’ LN needs to arrive at a final 11. We then used these categories in an axial analysis (Saldaňa, 2013), categorising the 1302 labels as binaries (i.e. if the label was related to the category, 1 was coded; if not 0 [zero]). The matrix of 14322 ratings of 1s and 0s was then analysed. We calculated the frequency of 1s by category. We argued that the axial analysis allowed us to develop a more holistic perspective which showed how the 1302 labels were configured in relation to the 11 categories of analysis. We concluded that the 11 categories represented key aspects of vocational teaching and training emphasising that LN-embedding practices have to be seamlessly integrated into general pedagogical approaches. A key construct for new tutors is to shape their understanding of seamlessly integrated versus bolted-on LN practices. Our recommendations remain within the whole-of-organisation perspective proposed in the 2017-2018 report (Greyling, 2019)

Cost-Benefit Analysis of the protection of Malleefowl in the Lachlan Catchment

A cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of an investment in the protection of malleefowl and associated native vegetation in the Lachlan Catchment’s central-west yielded a benefit-cost ratio of 1.4. The CBA is based on project expenditures over the past four years coupled with benefit estimates from a recent Choice Modelling study in the Lachlan Catchment. The project targets the protection of malleefowl on private land which has not yet been surveyed but where the species is known to be present. The CBA is subject to significant uncertainty due to a lack of available data. Nonetheless, sensitivity analysis indicates that the BCR is consistently larger than unity, if marginal in some cases. This suggests that the project is a worthwhile investment at this early stage. Furthermore, greater gains may be achieved by addressing the numerous threats facing the species and its habitat. The increased cost of such an investment may be more than offset by the gains in benefits due to relatively conservative assumptions associated with the benefit calculations in the BCA.Cost-benefit analysis, Benefit-cost ratio, Choice modelling, Malleefowl, Lachlan Catchment, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Revegetation of Regent Honeyeater habitat in the Capertee Valley: a Cost-Benefit Analysis

This study considers the costs and benefit of the Regent Honeyeater Project in the Capertee Valley over the past 10 years. The benefits are estimated using choice modelling and the costs are based on project expenditure and forgone agricultural production. A comparison of the benefits and costs yields a benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 4.45, which implies that the benefits outweigh the costs. However, variation in the underlying assumptions reveal significant sensitivity to the uncertainty associated with the maturation of native tree plantings and the successful establishment of a significant population of birds within the native vegetation. The Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) is dominated by the benefit derived from protection of the native species (i.e. the Regent Honeyeater) which in turn depends on these two uncertainties. By expanding the total area of land being revegetated and reducing the fragmentation amongst individual plantings these uncertainties can be reduced. This should deliver larger benefits and further improve the BCR.Cost-benefit analysis, Benefit-cost ratio, Choice modelling, Regent Honeyeater, Capertee Valley, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Analysing learners’ literacy and numeracy (LN) progress at Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) for the period 2012-2014 (Two-page summary)

Burgeoning literacy and numeracy assessment tool (LNAT) data: The LNAT has allowed the tertiary sector to amass significant LN assessment data since 2010. National and local LN trends and profiles: Ministry of Education reports (Lane, 2012, 2014) serve as points of orientation, providing the sector with national findings for target populations’ LN performance, while tertiary providers manage and analyse LN data at local level. LNAT data-extraction file layout as a barrier: LNAT data-extraction file layout, we concluded, was a significant barrier in managing and tracking learners’ LN performance at tertiary provider level. Main aim of this project: The main aim was to explore ways of managing and analyzing LNAT assessment data generated at the institute, developing processes to track, analyse and interpret learners’ LN performance, with specific reference to Māori, Pasifika, New Zealand Pākeha and other ethnicities

A composite index of quality of life for the Gauteng city-region: a principal component analysis approach

November 2013GCRO's 'Quality of Life' survey and outputs are increasingly part of the research landscape, with both policy and academic uptake. However, to ensure that the results are as accurate as possible, we commission external reviews using alternative analytic methods, to see if they generate similar or very different findings, in addition to the in-house quality control measures in place. In this way, all spheres of government - and GCRO ourselves - can be reassured that rigorous peer review and critique is an integral part of our work. In this paper, UJ economist Talita Dalton-Greyling uses PCA (Principal Component Analysis) to re-run the 2011 Quality of life data and see if her outcomes are similar to ours - which they were. The paper also provides an interesting overview of the global move away from GDP and other economistic measurements of growth to more quality of life and/or well-being measures, and locates her and our work in a broader global context.Commissioned by the Gauteng City-Region Observatory - written by Talita Greyling, Department of Economics and Econometrics, University of Johannesbur

Analysing learners’ literacy and numeracy progress at Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) for the period 2012-2014: Summary of results (pp.1-22)

This report, supported by the Tertiary Education (TEC), captures the findings of four separate sub-reports on Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) literacy and numeracy assessment tool (LNAT) data collected from 2011 to 2014. We outline the research questions, research methods, main findings, conclusions and recommendations. First, we argue a case for TEC to adopt a multivariate layout for the LNAT data-extraction file, and to implement appropriate naming conventions for assessments. Second, we show the impact of a time factor on the TEC's gain calculation algorithm, with the so-obtained results far more positive than would otherwise be the case. Next, we report on the level of association between LN scores and module completions. Last, we report our tentative findings on a multivariate statistical model for predicting learner success

Dispelling e-myths and pre-empting disappointment: Exploring incongruities between instructors’ intentions and reality in asynchronous online discussions.

Provided that effective practices in online instructional design are met and e-myths regarding online learning are contested, asynchronous online sharing, knowledge construction, and knowledge creation or hybrids of these discourses. Within a naturalistic higher education setting, the authors revisited lingual data analysed in a previous study, employing Booth and Hultén’s (2003) taxonomy of pivotal contributions to online discussions to describe students’‘talk’ during text-based AODs. The taxonomy constituted a more comprehensive model of productive online discussion than that used in the earlier study. Contrary to the authors’ initial assumptions as novice e-instructors that students would not only share knowledge, but also co-construct knowledge, there was little evidence of the latter. In terms of Booth and Hultén’s (2003) analytic framework, functional moves were predominantly factual, while reflective contributions were uncommon. In other words, knowledge-sharing discourse rather than knowledge-construction discourse was the norm. In addition, participatory contributions were rare. The findings indicated that there was a mismatch between the authors’ expectations about students’ levels of cognitive engagement during their discussions and the instructional design. Thus, the authors interrogate their assumptions and identify design considerations that should underpin online pedagogy as it pertains to meaningful online discussion

Reflecting on a vocational educator's theory of practice: A co-constructed account

In this article, we report on how we used personal construct theory (PCT) methods in reflecting on the second author’s (SA’s) practices in vocational training for at-risk pre-apprenticeship youth in the electrical engineering and supply field. Our main aim is to describe the reflective process, especially how we raised SA’s awareness of his pedagogical constructs and some of the implicative dilemmas in his pedagogical meaning-making. We provide a brief outline of a constructs-based approach, and what we mean by implicative dilemmas. Our method involves a case study to show how we used two PCT methods, constructs elicitation and repertory grids, in SA’s reflective work. We found that SA was able to make explicit both his constructs and the conflicts in his meaning-making. His experiment with small-group learning and role definitions assisted him in resolving these dilemmas and diversifying his constructs. We concluded that PCT methods were useful in providing very specific prompts for reflective practice in this educational context. First author’s (FA’s) broader interest was to develop a constructs-based reflective approach for educators at a tertiary institute of technology

Protecting the Booroolong Frog in the Namoi Catchment: A Cost-Benefit Analysis

The Booroolong frog project in the Namoi Catchment represents an environmental investment to protect the species and around 10.7 kilometres of its habitat in the catchment. The project’s benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 8.6 indicates that the benefits outweigh the costs by a significant margin. The measures introduced by landholders, at relatively low cost, should therefore result in a significant return on investment upon project completion in 10 years time. The benefits are estimated using a choice modelling study which was recently developed for the valuation of investment in natural resource management in the Namoi Catchment. As this is a largely ex ante cost-benefit analysis, the BCR is subject to uncertainty associated with assumptions which had to be made for some variables. However, sensitivity analysis indicates that the project benefits outweigh the costs by a significant margin even under conservative conditions.Cost-benefit analysis, Benefit-cost ratio, Choice modelling, Booroolong Frog, Namoi Catchment, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,