The economic valuation of water from the Ashburton River : implications for allocation : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Agricultural Science in Resource Economics at Massey University

Recent legislative changes in New Zealand allow much greater flexibility in the procedures used by regional authorities to allocate water resources. In certain river catchments where competition for water in alternative uses is high, estimates of the economic value of water could prove useful in designing an allocation scheme. In this study two methods were used to value the water from the Ashburton River. First, a mathematical programming approach to estimate the value of water to farmers in the Ashburton catchment. This value is about $0.62 million. Second, a contingent valuation approach to estimate the value of in­ stream flows of the Ashburton to the residents of the Canterbury region. This value is estimated at between$2.47 million and $5.15 million. We assess the methods and the results for implications in allocating Ashburton water between irrigators and in-stream flows

Causation in Occupational Disease: Balancing Epidemiology, Law and Manufacturer Conduct

Drs. Lynch & Henefin examine evolution of disease causation theory and its impact on public health, as well as how these relate to the courtroom admissibility of expert opinion evidence

Assessing Students' Self-Efficacy for Learning at an International University in Thailand

Development of a commitment to lifelong learning among students has become a key objective of education throughout the world. This is particularly the case in university study at both the undergraduate and, more especially, at the graduate levels, where the students are expected to shoulder increasingly greater responsibility for their own learning in both classroom-based and online learning contexts. An important aspect of that responsibility lies in the acquisition of metacognitive self-regulatory skills whereby students are enabled to manage their own learning in a variety of environments. Social cognitive self-regulation theory posits that an individuals’ beliefs in their ability to manage their own learning will be predictive of their active participation in current learning which will in turn be predictive of their commitment to lifelong learning. This paper describes a small scale validation study – prelude to an intended large scale university-wide study - of a questionnaire to measure self-efficacy for university level learning. The original 10-item scale, composed of 2 sub-scales (self-efficacy for information processing and self-efficacy for information finding), was first developed by researchers in Italy in 2007. It was slightly modified for the current study (a further 2-item sub-scale being added to measure self-efficacy for English listening and reading comprehension) and completed by a convenience sample of graduate (M.Ed.) students (n = 38) at an English-medium international university in Thailand. Each of the 3 sub-scales attained satisfactory degrees of internal consistency reliability. As well, in line with selfefficacy theory, correlations between each of the 3 sub-scales as well as the total scale and the respondents’ self-reported expected grades were robust and statistically significant

A Follow-up Study to Determine Selected Characteristics and Perceptions Regarding the Academic Preparation of Master Degree Graduates who Majored in School Administration: Central Washington University 1976-1981

The purposes of this study were (1) to determine selected demographic characteristics of master degree graduates, who majored in school administration, and who graduated from the Graduate Division of Education since the 1976 Summer quarter through the 1981 Summer quarter; (2) to ascertain the extent to which these graduates perceived the courses of instruction in their academic preparationas being relevant to subsequent educational administration functions; and (3) to determine additional courses of instruction, not in the present curriculum, that these selected graduates perceived would be professionally relevant to current educational administrative functions

A Follow-up Study of Graduate Students Admitted to the Central Washington University Special Education Administrator Program

The purpose of this study was to determine characteristics of those candidates who had been admitted into the Central Washington University Special Education Administrator Program in order to draw conclusions concerning identifying profiles; ascertain the extent to which the respondents perceived the required courses of instruction as relevant to subsequent educational functions; and finally to determine specific reason(s) for non completion of program leading to Washington State Program Administrator Certification