Keith A. Funnell

A team of equals: teaching writing in the sciences

Writing across the curriculum (WAC) is a way of integrating the teaching of writing into specific academic disciplines. A problem faced in the WAC literature is how to develop a process that integrates the skills of multi‐disciplinary teams. In this project, action research was used to develop a team comprising faculty from the applied sciences and a writing teacher which had been commissioned to integrate the teaching of writing into an undergraduate horticulture course. Five features of action research were of particular importance: the foci of change and collaboration, the rational, systematic process it provided, the locating of the research in a real as opposed to controlled context, and the dual foci of action and research. Action research provided a successful process and structure for the project: outcomes included changed attitudes to writing amongst students and a deeper understanding of how students value written assessment. Unexpected outcomes included spontaneous participation of students in the action research process, the provision of useful methods of reflection for teaching staff, and the development of professional trust amongst faculty from different disciplines.

Vegetative and floral shoot development of Zantedeschia 'Black Magic'

Abstract Vegetative and floral development at the apical meristem of Zantedeschia Spreng. ‘Black Magic’ aff. Z. pentlandii (Wats.) Wittm. [syn. Richardia pentlandii Wats.] was traced through multiple seasons of growth. The growth habit was sympodial. For vegetative shoots, seven new structures were laid down on the primary axis for each season to form the over-wintering bud, from which all of the subsequent season’s visible growth arose. When a previously vegetative shoot flowered, the flower (spathe and spadix) arose directly from the apical meristem of the over-wintering bud which, at the time of planting (September; spring), was vegetative. At planting this over-wintering bud comprised six cataphylls, two leaf initials, and the as yet undifferentiated apex. For floral shoots, the terminal inflorescence consumed the original vegetative axis and a continuation shoot arose in the axil of the first leaf, the oldest leaf on the primary axis. While only the first three or four leaves of this continuation shoot actually emerged during the current season, a total of 14 structures were formed on the axis by mid-March (autumn). In the continuation bud of flowering plants a 4 month period of endo-dormancy occurred from mid-January through to mid-May (summer to late autumn). There was an apparent overlap between the onset of endo-dormancy of the continuation bud (January/February), the period when new foliage had stopped appearing (February), and attainment of the maximum number of structures in the continuation bud (March). Growers are recommended to wait until dormancy is complete (June; winter) before replanting tubers for the purposes of early forcing.

Tuber dry-matter accumulation of Zantedeschia in response to temperature and photosynthetic photon flux

Summary Dry-matter accumulation and partitioning in plants of Zantedeschia ‘Best Gold’ were quantified under a range of temperature and photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) regimes using plant growth analysis. Initiation of tuber growth did not require an obligate environmental trigger. Under both PPF regimes, relative growth rate of the tuber (RGRt) increased linearly with increasing temperature (13 to 28°C) up to a maximum at 28°C, with a base temperature of 3.2 ± 1.1°C. Optimum temperature for tuber growth was found to be PPF dependent, but maximum tuber dry mass was calculated as occurring under low PPF (348 µmol m–2 s–1) at 24.5 ± 0.1°. Mechanisms of acclimation under both PPF regimes suggested that tuber growth was principally source limited. Source limitation was expressed either in terms of: 1) enhanced inter-sink competition for assimilates, as occurred under the low PPF regime, where leaf area development was in direct competition with tuber growth (RGRt) or, 2) efficiency of dry-matter accumulation by the leaf area present, as occurred under the high PPF regime, where large increases in RGRt were correlated with increased net assimilation rate (NAR). Use of the daily increment of dry matter into tuber tissue (TMP) provided a more sensitive measure of short-term changes in partitioning than the conventionally used term, harvest index.