School development : a consultative approach : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Education at Massey University

This thesis uses a case study approach to show how a strategy of 'School Development' might be applied to New Zealand schools. It is argued that a policy of school based staff development and training will lead to greater school effectiveness. Such a policy uses a coordinated organizational approach rather than the more traditional reliance on withdrawing teachers from their classrooms for a time in order to concentrate on elements of the teaching-learning process. Support for this concept is derived from Organization Development theory and research. The term 'School Development' has been used to distinguish the particular New Zealand modifications which have been made to the more generic organization development theory. The notion of a consultant is central to the approach described and tasks and procedures which would be used by interventionists are discussed. School development assumes that schools have the capacity for self renewal. The consultant merely helps the school to realise this capacity. Components of teaching practice can be addressed within the framework of the school where they occur. Teachers can in this way increase their effectiveness with their present classes. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications of school development for teacher education generally

The Industry and Policy Context for Digital Games for Empowerment and Inclusion:Market Analysis, Future Prospects and Key Challenges in Videogames, Serious Games and Gamification

The effective use of digital games for empowerment and social inclusion (DGEI) of people and communities at risk of exclusion will be shaped by, and may influence the development of a range of sectors that supply products, services, technology and research. The principal industries that would appear to be implicated are the 'videogames' industry, and an emerging 'serious games' industry. The videogames industry is an ecosystem of developers, publishers and other service providers drawn from the interactive media, software and broader ICT industry that services the mainstream leisure market in games, The 'serious games' industry is a rather fragmented and growing network of firms, users, research and policy makers from a variety of sectors. This emerging industry is are trying to develop knowledge, products, services and a market for the use of digital games, and products inspired by digital games, for a range of non-leisure applications. This report provides a summary of the state of play of these industries, their trajectories and the challenges they face. It also analyses the contribution they could make to exploiting digital games for empowerment and social inclusion. Finally, it explores existing policy towards activities in these industries and markets, and draws conclusions as to the future policy relevance of engaging with them to support innovation and uptake of effective digital game-based approaches to empowerment and social inclusion.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Problems and Opportunities of Interdisciplinary Work involving Users in Speculative Research for Innovation of Novel ICT Applications

In this article we focus upon some challenges of multidisciplinary teams working interdisciplinary in research for innovation of novel ICT applications. We start by defining some general challenges of especially social scientists when working interdisciplinary. The formulated challenges are grounded in our personal experiences. In the next part of the article we focus upon research methods that are used when involving users in the research of novel ICT applications. We shortly describe the different methods and the value they have for social scientists, designers, marketing people and engineers. In the latest part of the article we argument why, from our opinion, using this speculative research methods involving users can help facilitating interdisciplinary work

Innate and discretionary accruals quality and corporate governance

This paper extends previous research on the association between corporate governance mechanisms and accruals quality. We derive measures of the discretionary and innate components of accruals quality and regress them against corporate governance characteristics. For discretionary accruals, we find use of a Big 4 audit firm and a larger audit committee as the primary governance mechanisms associated with higher accruals quality. For innate accruals quality, we find that higher quality is associated with an independent board of directors, a larger, more independent and more active audit committee, and use of a Big 4 audit firm. Our findings suggest a stronger relation between sound governance mechanisms and innate accruals quality than discretionary accruals quality.Full Tex

Invertebrate Fauna of Devils Den, a Sandstone Cave in Northwestern Arkansas

The same invertebrate fauna of 17 species was found in Devils Den Cave, Washington County, Arkansas, in 1969 and 1979. The fauna consists of 1 trogloxene, 14 troglophiles, and 2 troglobites, a spider, Porrhomma cavernicolum, and a collembolan, Pseudosinella dubia. Devils Den Cave has a well developed cavernicolous fauna, although it is in sandstone which generally supports a poor cave adapted fauna. The troglobites probably evolved in the vicinity of northwestern Arkansas in limestone caves or in deep forest soils of the Ozark region. They then dispersed overland, perhaps as recently as the late Wisconsinan, to occupy this sandstone cave

Chitosanase may enhance anti-fungal defense responses in transgenic tobacco

Chitosanase is an enzyme, similar to chitinase, capable of hydrolyzing the β-1,4-linkages between N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and D-glucosamine residues in partially acetylated chitosan polymers found in fungal cell walls. When attacked by pathogenic fungi, many plants exploit this hydrolytic action as a component of a larger post-attack defense response, but these enzymes may also play a role in the initial plant-pathogen interaction via the generation of elicitors resulting from the hydrolysis of fungal cell walls. To gain insight into these mechanisms, a Paenbacillus chitosanase was cloned, sequenced, and modified for plant expression. The modified gene was delivered to tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Xanthine) leaf disks via Agrobacterium tumenfaciensmediated transformation. Whole plants were regenerated from the transformed cells. The putative transformants were tested for transgene integration, transcription, and translation. Confirmed transformants were then screened for enhanced responses to a Rhizoctonia solani cellwall preparation by measuring time-course production of hydrogen peroxide, phenylalanine ammonia lyase, and peroxidase. These compounds play roles at different points in a pathogenesis-related signal transduction pathway and thus allow for an initial assessment of the global defense response. Preliminary data suggest that transgenic tobacco constitutively expressing a Paenbacillus chitosanase may activate pathogenesis-related defense responses more quickly than wild type tobacco