Supporting community engagement through teaching, student projects and research

The Education Acts statutory obligations for ITPs are not supported by the Crown funding model. Part of the statutory role of an ITP is “... promotes community learning and by research, particularly applied and technological research ...” [The education act 1989]. In relation to this a 2017 TEC report highlighted impaired business models and an excessive administrative burden as restrictive and impeding success. Further restrictions are seen when considering ITPs attract < 3 % of the available TEC funding for research, and ~ 20 % available TEC funding for teaching, despite having overall student efts of ~ 26 % nationally. An attempt to improve performance and engage through collaboration (community, industry, tertiary) at our institution is proving successful. The cross-disciplinary approach provides students high level experience and the technical stretch needed to be successful engineers, technologists and technicians. This study presents one of the methods we use to collaborate externally through teaching, student projects and research

Sometimes the Internet reads the question wrong: children’s search strategies & difficulties

When children search for information on a given topic, how do they go about searching for and retrieving information? What can their information seeking strategies tell us about the development of search interfaces for children's digital libraries, search engines and information repositories? We interviewed New Zealand (NZ) school children to seek insights into how they are conducting information searches during their education

How are science teachers using their TELA laptop?

The Digital Horizons: Laptops for teachers scheme provides teachers whose schools opt into the TELA scheme access to a laptop for their exclusive use. This paper reports on a three-year evaluation of the impact of the TELA laptops on teachers’ work. The findings of the evaluation suggest teachers are making substantial use of the laptop for tasks such as lesson planning and preparation, reporting to parents and communication with colleagues. Teachers are making some use of the laptop in the classroom for teaching and learning. Science teachers are amongst the most active users of the laptops and the paper details how ongoing access to a laptop changed the way a third year science teacher planned for teaching and subsequently his interactions with students during lessons. Colleagues and the science head of department noted that the teacher provided a role model for what was possible. This case study highlights the importance of leadership and collaboration in supporting the integration of ICT into science teaching and learning

Some gender issues in educational computer use: results of an international comparative survey

In the framework of the Computers in Education international study of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), data have been collected concerning the use of computers in 21 countries. This article examines some results regarding the involvement of women in the implementation and use of computers in the educational practice of elementary, lower secondary and upper secondary education in participating countries. The results show that in many countries computer use in schools is dominated by men. Female teachers have less regard for their skills and knowledge than their male colleagues have for their own skills and knowledge. In all countries (except for the French-speaking countries) less than half of the schools had a special policy for the promotion of equal opportunities for boys and girls with regard to computer use. This school policy mostly consists of retraining a female teacher to become a computer science teacher, or a female teacher being selected as computer coordinator

Science in the New Zealand Curriculum e-in-science

This milestone report explores some innovative possibilities for e-in-science practice to enhance teacher capability and increase student engagement and achievement. In particular, this report gives insights into how e-learning might be harnessed to help create a future-oriented science education programme. “Innovative” practices are considered to be those that integrate (or could integrate) digital technologies in science education in ways that are not yet commonplace. “Future-oriented education” refers to the type of education that students in the “knowledge age” are going to need. While it is not yet clear exactly what this type of education might look like, it is clear that it will be different from the current system. One framework used to differentiate between these kinds of education is the evolution of education from Education 1.0 to Education 2.0 and 3.0 (Keats & Schmidt, 2007). Education 1.0, like Web 1.0, is considered to be largely a one-way process. Students “get” knowledge from their teachers or other information sources. Education 2.0, as defined by Keats and Schmidt, happens when Web 2.0 technologies are used to enhance traditional approaches to education. New interactive media, such as blogs, social bookmarking, etc. are used, but the process of education itself does not differ significantly from Education 1.0. Education 3.0, by contrast, is characterised by rich, cross-institutional, cross-cultural educational opportunities. The learners themselves play a key role as creators of knowledge artefacts, and distinctions between artefacts, people and processes become blurred, as do distinctions of space and time. Across these three “generations”, the teacher’s role changes from one of knowledge source (Education 1.0) to guide and knowledge source (Education 2.0) to orchestrator of collaborative knowledge creation (Education 3.0). The nature of the learner’s participation in the learning also changes from being largely passive to becoming increasingly active: the learner co-creates resources and opportunities and has a strong sense of ownership of his or her own education. In addition, the participation by communities outside the traditional education system increases. Building from this framework, we offer our own “framework for future-oriented science education” (see Figure 1). In this framework, we present two continua: one reflects the nature of student participation (from minimal to transformative) and the other reflects the nature of community participation (also from minimal to transformative). Both continua stretch from minimal to transformative participation. Minimal participation reflects little or no input by the student/community into the direction of the learning—what is learned, how it is learned and how what is learned will be assessed. Transformative participation, in contrast, represents education where the student or community drives the direction of the learning, including making decisions about content, learning approaches and assessment

Will the teacher's laptop transform learning?

This article explores how Year to 3 teachers have made use of laptops for teaching and learning in their classroom, examining how they fit with current recommendations for effective teaching, and whether teachers' use of a laptop has lead to a transformation in teaching and learning. Findings show that there was an increasing degree of laptop integration into all areas of the curriculum over the three-year evaluation period. It appears that teachers are providing their students with the opportunity to experience transformative learning

Laptops for teachers: An evaluation of the TELA scheme in schools (Years 4 to 6)

The purpose of this evaluation was to investigate the impacts of the Laptops for Teachers Scheme (referred to from here as the TELA scheme) on Years 4 to 6 teachers’ work over a period of three years (2004-2006) and to record emerging changes in laptop use. The investigation focused on the Ministry of Education expectation (Ministry of Education, 2004) that teacher access to a laptop for their individual professional use would lead to gains in confidence and expertise in the use of ICTs, to efficiencies in administration, would contribute to teacher collaboration and support the preparation of high quality lesson resources. It was also anticipated that teacher would use their laptop in the classroom for teaching and learning

GPS analysis of a team competing at a national Under 18 field hockey tournament

The purpose of this study was to utilise global-positioning system (GPS) technology to quantify the running demands of national Under 18 field hockey players competing in a regional field hockey tournament. Ten male players (mean ± SD; age 17.2 ± 0.4 years; stature 178.1 ± 5.2 cm; body mass 78.8 ± 8.8 kg) wore GPS units while competing in six matches over seven days at the 2018 New Zealand national under 18 field hockey tournament. GPS enabled the measurement of total distance (TD), low-speed activity (LSA; 0 -14.9 km/hr), and high-speed running (HSR; ≥ 15 km/hr) distances. Differences in running demands (TD, LSA, HSR) between positions were assessed using effect size and percent difference ± 90% confidence intervals. Midfielders covered the most TD and LSA per game and strikers the most HSR during the 6 matches. There were “very large” differences between strikers and midfielders for TD and LSA, strikers and defenders for LSA and HSR, and defenders and midfielders for LSA. These results suggest that these playing positions are sufficiently different to warrant specialised position-specific conditioning training leading into a field hockey tournament

The effects of morning preconditioning protocols on testosterone, cortisol and afternoon sprint cycling performance [conference presentation]

Opportunities exist for athletes to undertake morning exercise protocols in an attempt to potentate afternoon performance. Four sub elite track sprint cyclists completed a morning cycling (Cyc) or weights-based protocol (WP) prior to an afternoon cycling time trial (500m) in a repeated measures, counterbalance crossover design. Measured variables included heart rate, blood lactate, cycling peak power, salivary testosterone (T) and cortisol levels along with time trial performance. Standardised differences in means via magnitude-based inferences were calculated using paired samples T-tests in SPSS version 24 with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. The WP produced significantly faster times in the final 250m in comparison to CycP. The anticipated circadian decline of T was observed after the CycP but was however mitigated following the WP. While slight decreases in 500m times were experienced during the WP, they were not significant and were considered within the normal variations experienced between performances by elite athletes. The effect of the WP on the circadian rhythm of T could be linked to a greater recruitment of muscle fibres. Results suggest a morning resistance protocol can positively affect testosterone levels for afternoon performance. Possible gender and individual responses from conducting a W over Cyc protocol were observed and require further investigation