Major reform of the undergraduate degree program in the Faculty of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences at Massey University has resulted in greater emphasis being placed on developing attributes of lifelong learning in our students. Translating this particular goal into transparent educational practice in the horticulture courses required us to overturn the existing teaching paradigm. The traditional content-focused, principles first, integration second strategy of the existing horticulture curriculum was replaced at the 100 level by a new course that melded the discipline of horticulture with attributes needed for lifelong learning. Using action learning strategies, principles of horticulture were presented in context, with students encouraged to apply and analyze them in the wholeness of the discipline. Students critically reflected on their experiences through writing-to-learn exercises, class or group discussion, oral presentations, and experientially through their laboratories. By incorporating our students' experiences with these strategies, we successfully achieved our goal of the students' learning and relating theprinciples of horticulture to the whole discipline. Although the students understood our goals in engaging them in writing-to-learn and group activities, they did not appear to recognize the educational processes in which they participated throughout the course. It seems that in forming the foundation for lifelong learning in applied science, greater attention must be given to making our mental models of the education process more transparent to the students.

Animals under human care interact with their caretakers, potentially resulting in human–animal bonds (HABs), which can enhance wellbeing for both. Previous research has suggested that keepers perceive bonds with their animals, but investigation of a different zoo role working with one species has not yet been completed. Here, we investigate the animal trainers’ perception of HABs with captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). A modified Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS) was used to measure the strength of perceived HABs between trainers and both dolphins and companion animals in their care. LAPS questionnaires were completed by 128 trainers from 35 different collections worldwide. Most respondents perceived themselves to have a bond with a dolphin, although LAPS scores for attachment to dolphins (DA) were significantly lower than for companion animals (CA). Female LAPS scores were significantly higher than males for both DA and CA. Multiple regression demonstrated that the facility and trainer gender were significant predictors of CA. LAPS scores for trainers were comparable to those for zoo animals, which reflects a strong attachment to the dolphins they work with. However, this attachment was not as strong as for their companion animals, and was influenced by the collection they worked for.

Millions of people visit zoos and aquariums globally each year, with a smaller number choosing to participate in animal interaction programmes which allows visitors closer contact with individual animals. These are reportedly having mixed effects in increasing conservation-related behaviors. Human-animal interactions (HAIs) during these programmes are generally positive experiences for the human participants, however are there behavioral implications for the animals involved?The Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is the most widely used cetacean for dolphin interactions, known as "swim with dolphin" (SWD) programmes. This study investigated visitor attachment to the dolphins they interacted with, whilst assessing behavioral implications of the dolphins. A total of 41 visitors to a Spanish dolphinarium, who participated in a SWD were surveyed using a modified version of the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale. Alongside this, 15-min continuous focal samples monitored three female dolphins (D1, D2, and D3) aged 22-40, split into pre (n = 96), during (n = 96) and post (n = 96) SWD. 80% of visitors reported a sense of attachment to the dolphin they interacted with. An exploratory factor analysis extracted three factors from the survey, these were "relationships," "emotional attachment," and "non-attachment." A Friedmans two-way analysis of variance produced significant results for some behavior categories for each individual, including locomotory (D1: F 2 = 9.556, p < .01), rest (D2: F 2 = 14, p < .01, D3: F 2 = 10.889, p < .01) and individual play (D1: F 2 = 11.677, p < .01 D2: F 2 = 6.353, p < .05) however, pairwise comparison showed no differences pre-post SWD. In this context it can be implied that participating in the SWD was neither enriching nor aversive for the individual animals, although due to the small sample size further research is required. As visitors reported a sense of attachment post HAI, this can have applications in improving conservation education during SWD. This study has provided scope for further research into methods that facilities can use to utilize the emotional attachment developed to individual animals to facilitate learning about conservation issues.