Learning perspectives: Implications for pedagogy in science education.

How we understand learning has implications for the learning outcomes we value and how we seek to achieve them particularly when we want to do something about learning. In this paper I outline, albeit briefly, the implications for the relations between teaching and learning,for teacher roles and responsibilities, and for the goals of education and curriculum-making of the cognitive-constructivist and situated-social views of learning. The proposal here is not that either of the views is right or better but rather that each foregrounds different aspects of the teaching-learning process and supports particular ways of acting and interacting and hence learning and teaching

Making masks for Maui: Keeping the macro task in mind

New Zealand primary school children in technology lessons often design and create an artifact in response to a scenario that relates to their interests and experiences. Usually the task is undertaken over several days. In this paper we draw on data generated within the INSiTE study, a three-year study exploring the nature of effective student-teacher interactions around science and technology ideas. The teacher in this paper planned for her children to create a mask for their forthcoming school production: 'How Maui found the secret of fire'. As the children worked on the macro task, that of designing and making a mask, meso and micro tasks emerged. The teacher assisted the children to identity and resolve these, hearing in mind that the ultimate aim was their successful participation in the school production. When teachers assist children to maintain a focus on the overall or macro task goals their artifact fulfils the specifications of the scenario and children's technology understandings and skills are fostered

Teacher development for formative assessment.

This article reports on the teacher development that occurred during a two-year research project on the formative assessment practices of primary and secondary school teachers of science. The teacher development involved the teachers' professional, personal and social development. The project focused on clarifying what it was that served as formative assessment in the classroom. Personal development focused upon appreciating the risks and uncertainties involved in responding to what students are learning and acknowledging the importance of teacher confidence. Social development involved a re-examination of the nature of student-teacher interactions and of the complex and often contradicting roles of the teacher in relation to teaching, learning and assessment

The context of contemporary curriculum change.

The aim of this paper is to provide an introduction to the broad field of curriculum change, with the focus being on school curriculum. The first part of the paper provides a brief overview of curriculum change in New Zealand at the national level. In the early years of a state system of schooling, curriculum revision was highly centralised, giving way in recent decades to a wider involvement of stakeholders. The second part examines how national curriculum implementation in schools involves input from the state and schools; in particular, reference is made to a greater emphasis upon school-based curriculum development. It is argued that to achieve greater teacher involvement in school-level decisions, ongoing professional development of teachers is necessary

Exploring the methods of autophotography and photointerviews: children taking pictures of science and technology.

In this paper we discuss the methods of auto-photography and photo-interviews. The benefits and disadvantages of using these methods with young children are examined in relation to a photographic study we conducted in a rural two-teacher primary school (years 1-8) to explore children's perceptions of science and technology (Moreland & Cowie, 2004). Combined, the photographs and the photo-interviews provided a unique insight into children's thinking about science and technology. They proved useful for accessing different viewpoints, as children took photographs at school, at home and in their communities. As methods, auto-photography and photo-interviews newly exposed the issues and challenges inherent in qualitative research, especially the need for the research process and the researcher to be open to the unexpected and surprising

Digital tools disrupting tertiary students’ notions of disciplinary knowledge: Cases in history and tourism

This paper reports on the findings from a two year research project that explored the potential of digital tools in support of teaching–learning across different disciplinary areas at a New Zealand university. Two courses (in History and Tourism) are case studied using data collected through interviews with lecturers, tutors and their students, and an online student survey. Findings from the research revealed that both lecturers and students were challenged in learning about the affordances and use of the lecturer selected digital tools as a mediational means. The tools were not initially transparent to them, nor were they able to be easily deployed to undertake their primary task—teaching for the lecturers, and, learning and demonstrating learning for the students completing assigned tasks. The process of learning and using the tools disrupted participants’ prior thinking and led to new understandings of both disciplines and of effective pedagogies for the two disciplines. The findings increase our understanding of the ways digital tools can develop, challenge and expand tertiary students learning and have implications for practice

Editorial: Assessment and ICT, innovative practices and future possibilities

The New Zealand Curriculum [NZC] document states that information and communication technology [ICT] and eLearning have considerable potential to support the teaching approaches recommended in the curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007). In this special issue, we explore the potential for ICTs to support innovative assessment practices that complement effective teaching approaches. Such innovations can enrich the opportunities students have to demonstrate their developing understandings and knowledge, and foster a sense of responsibility for their own and group/class learning. Designed thoughtfully, they can also promote positive student attitudes and motivation towards learning in curriculum learning areas, and towards learning in general

A framework for developing and implementing an online learning community

Developing online learning communities is a promising pedagogical approach in online learning contexts for adult tertiary learners, but it is no easy task. Understanding how learning communities are formed and evaluating their efficacy in supporting learning involves a complex set of issues that have a bearing on the design and facilitation of successful online learning experiences. This paper describes the development of a framework for understanding and developing an online learning community for adult tertiary learners in a New Zealand tertiary institution. In accord with sociocultural views of learning and practices, the framework depicts learning as a mediated, situated, distributed, goal-directed, and participatory activity within a socially and culturally determined learning community. Evidence for the value of the framework is grounded in the findings of a case study of a semester-long fully online asynchronous graduate course. The framework informs our understanding of appropriate conditions for the development and conduct of online learning communities. Implications are presented for the design and facilitation of learning in such contexts

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

Reading to learn about birds and their conservation.

The article discusses the importance of active reading concerning the various species of birds in New Zealand. It notes that this kind of activity will enhance the cognitive skills of students and will aid them in understanding the broader concepts of science. It mentions that students who are aiming to become future scientists must be able to investigate the causal factors behind the contingent extinction of birds in the country to determine the appropriate conservation methods