Student perceptions of effective lecturers: the need to recognise the role of ethnicity and choice of discipline

ABSTRACT

University student perceptions of effective teaching have been explored in previous studies, however, research is lacking regarding how perceptions of teaching efficacy vary by ethnicity and programme of study. In this study, student perceptions of effective teaching are explored between STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and non-STEM major students of four ethnic groups: Europeans, Asians, Māori, and Pasifika. The study sample comprised 2073 students from a New Zealand university who completed a survey in 2016. Firstly, the findings indicated that non-STEM major students were more likely to report culturally knowledgeable as an important characteristic compared to STEM major students. Secondly, the distribution referring to content knowledgeable, creative, culturally knowledgeable, and passionate as characteristics of effective teaching was different between the four ethnic groups. In detail, Europeans and Māori were more likely to refer to content knowledgeable than Pasifika students, while Pasifika students were more likely to refer to culturally knowledgeable compared to Europeans. Furthermore, the highest percentage of referring to creative as a characteristic of effective teaching was for Asians, and the highest percentage of referring to passionate was for Māori students. The findings imply that lecturers should be well informed about these differences to be able to improve the quality of their teaching and student learning.     

Identification of historical plant material using micro-computed tomography

Abstract

This work investigates the use of micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) for identification of New Zealand plant leaf material from artefacts. Micro-CT was explored as a result of difficulties in preparing transverse sections from aged plant material artefacts to compare with reference slides for microscopic identification of plant species. Plant names in te reo Māori (Māori language) are followed by the English name and botanic name, and are subsequently referred to by Māori names. The three plants investigated (harakeke, New Zealand flax, Phormium tenax, J. R. Forst & G. Forst; tī kōuka, cabbage tree, Cordyline australis, (Forst.f.) Endl,; kiekie, Frecinetia banksii A.Cunn.) were/are commonly used by Māori for the manufacture of objects often found in cultural institutions. Contemporary and historical specimens (from artefacts) of plant leaf material were investigated. Contemporary specimens were viewed using micro-CT and showed identifiable features compared with micrographs of transverse sections from reference material. Diagnostic features of each plant species were then named and measured, providing the basis for development of an identification key using both visual and objective criteria. Positive identification of historical specimens using this key varied across plant species and according to level of ageing and processing. Despite this, micro-CT had several advantages over traditional transverse sections: samples were not prepared for, or altered by, analysis, and numerous cross sections across the entire sample could be easily viewed to locate identifiable characteristics. Although measurable criteria supplied apply only to the three named New Zealand plant species, this paper provides methods that could be applied to the identification of other aged plant leaf material. Knowledge of plant anatomy at the level of major cell and tissue types (e.g. mesophyll, sclerenchyma, vascular tissue, and epidermis) is sufficient for the level of analysis carried out in this study.     

莫高窟天王堂图像辨识

主要对天王堂上部穹隆体壁画进行了考证,结果表明其内容是依据法贤译《佛说瑜伽大教王经》的同本梵文原典《幻化网大怛特罗王》所绘的。天王堂下半部主要表现的是以胎藏大日为中心与八大菩萨、四天王像。图像的传入很可能与天息灾（法贤）、施护在曹延禄执政时期“从北天竺国诣中国,至敦煌,其王固留不遣数月”之事件相关。天王堂图像的释读对敦煌乃至中原宋代后期密教的研究有着极其重要的作用。     

西藏西部东嘎1号窟法界语自在曼荼罗图像与文本

以东嘎1号窟法界语自在曼荼罗壁画为对象,梳理与该曼荼罗相关的藏文文献,并结合该窟法界语自在曼荼罗图像作对比研究,理清11世纪初至12世纪中晚期在西藏西部流行的以四面八臂白色文殊菩萨为主尊的法界语自在曼荼罗图像与所据文本之间的关系。     

禅学与文学意趣的会通——“游戏三昧”与苏轼诗歌

“游戏三昧”本身是一个禅学意象,它所指涉的是一种获得禅定或者禅悦之后精神上自在欢愉的圆融境界。东坡诗作被形容为“游戏三昧”,是对其灵活技法和禅学意味的概括。东坡诗作中体现出了对禅味的体会,其人本身又了知般若空义,深悟实相,这将助益他到达“游戏三昧”的境界。“游戏三昧”对自在性的突出,使得自在成为法则之一。同时在宗教层面上,内化的戒律成为其规范法度。相似的,东坡诗在自在无碍之外,也因“致道”与“以意摄文”观念的约束,而没有产生芜秽的弊病。自在与法度,是“游戏三昧”意会通禅学与文学之处。     

Muslim Persecution of Heretics during the Marwānid Period (64–132/684–750)

This article traces the emergence of a systematic approach to combating heresy during the Umayyad period. It argues that the Umayyads sought to silence religious dissent by labelling it as heresy and that the doctrinal boundaries of “orthodoxy” narrowed as the Umayyad period progressed. The article also asserts that Umayyad efforts to impose their vision of orthodoxy were an important precedent for the mi?na under the ?Abbāsids.     

Tarjomān or Interpreter,the first satirical newspaper and the emergence of modern satire in Afghanistan

With the ratification of a new constitution in Afghanistan in 1964, freedom of expression was allowed and a number of independent newspapers emerged, among them the first satirical periodical, Tarjomān or Interpreter. This paper explores Tarjomān's contribution to satire in Afghanistan, a critical genre in a closed society. Tarjomān not only published satirical pieces in traditional forms, but also introduced new forms, especially political cartoons and satirical fiction. It transformed old forms for new sociopolitical needs, changing the status of satire from mere mockery to high art and making it a political tool. This was mainly due to the artistic and political skills of its founders, Nawin and Bashir. As well, satire found its closest connection with politics in modern times in Tarjomān.     

维吾尔语和田方言中保留的中古突厥语词法特征--以《突厥语大辞典》为例

维吾尔语和田方言是维吾尔语的三大方言之一。由于特殊的地理位置、历史背景等原因,它较多保留了在《突厥语大辞典》语言中反映的中古突厥语的词法特征。本文以《突厥语大辞典》为依据,论述在维吾尔语和田方言中保留的中古突厥语词法特征。     

Ki te Tika te Hanga,Ka Pakari te Kete: With the Right Structure We Weave a Strong Basket

Two Indigenous frameworks were successfully applied to a significant collection of junior Māori language material at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Ngā Kete Kōrero Framework is used to assign levels to readers designed for structured literacy development and formed the basis of a new classification system. Ngā ūpoko Tukutuku is an Indigenous subject headings schema developed to empower and enrich records using Māori knowledge systems and terminology. Library staff worked collaboratively with Māori language literacy experts to transform access to the material. The Indigenous frameworks, their application for reclassification and record enhancement, and associated benefits of the project are described.     

Bring on the Dancing-Girls! (a Gadibus usque auroram)1

In Greece and Rome, Ionic rhythm appears to have been associated with erotic dances. A tune-type going with this rhythm is found in several of Alfonso's Cantigas (second half of the thirteenth century) and in folk music from around the Mediterranean, recorded from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Could these tune-types (and their associated ground-basses) go back as far as Martial's Dancing-girls of Cádiz – and indeed to Euripides and Aristophanes? There is also a possible link with the kharjas of the Andalusian muwashsha.(h)āt, and a substantial connexion with the dance known from later sources as the Canaries. Not only is there evidence of a rhythm and associated melodic motive stretching over more than two millennia, but we can discern, even hear, parts of an unwritten tradition of improvised instrumental music and discover a harmonic vocabulary which mostly emerges on the written page only in the Renaissance.