Education: Conference Contributions
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Item Open Access Use of teaching and learning resources in geometry Year 5/6 classroom.(2024) Sharma , ShwetaTwo-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) shapes are crucial geometric concepts that children work with during their primary school years. Building an understanding of 2D and 3D shapes requires them to learn about the mathematical construct of dimension. Dimension is often described as length, breadth, and height for measurement purposes, and not necessarily as a geometric construct that allows children to see shapes as a plane or solid. This paper draws attention to how Year 5/6 children (9 to 11-year-old) use their language and gestures to communicate their understanding of dimension as they engage with physical and digital teaching and learning resources used during geometry lessons. Audiovisual data of six lessons was collected from a New Zealand primary classroom. The findings suggest physical teaching and learning resources such as play dough and sticks with adhesive may lead to quality differences in classroom interactions where some resources may allow opportunities for children to use their language and gestures to express their thinking about dimension and another set limit children’s responses to one or two words.Item Open Access Troubling the boundaries of traditional schooling for a rapidly changing future – Looking back and looking forward(Informa UK Limited, 2024) Teschers, Christoph; Neuhaus, T; Vogt, MRapid technological advancements, globalisation, environmental crises, and ongoing conflicts have contributed to an increasingly quickly changing social, cultural, and work environment for current and future generations. In this paper, we argue that the traditional schooling system and approaches to curriculum and pedagogy that are based on 19th century industrial age models might reach their limit to prepare students sufficiently for the expectations and challenges of life and work in future. While so-called 21st-century education has seen a nominal change in classroom layouts and increased use of teaching technology, we would argue that not much has changed in terms of the underlying structures of schools and the mostly pre-described curriculum schools and teachers must operate under. While current education systems struggle with many challenges from teacher burnouts to increasing student dis-engagement (e.g., rising truancy in New Zealand), we posit that new challenges lie ahead that will further disrupt, if not implode, current approaches to schooling and curriculum. Drawing on theories such as Biesta’s (2022) World-Centred Education and Pinar’s (2023) notion of Currere to reconceptualise curriculum, we would argue that schooling needs to move away from the traditional ‘static map’ of curriculum content to a more dynamic approach to schooling that allows teachers and schools to chart new territory, together with their students, for a rapidly changing future. As guiding compass of sorts for dynamically exploring an uncertain future with students, we propose Teschers’ (2018) educational approach to Schmid’s (2000a) Art of Living as a starting point.Item Open Access Leaping Forward Without Losing Sight of the Past: A Collective Reflection on the Future of Mobile Learning(2023) MacCallum, Kathryn; Koole M; Rusman E; Arnedillo-Sánchez I; Cristol D; Parsons D; Van Der Merwe H; Freysen J; van der Merwe HThis paper presents the viewpoints of six international scholars who reflect on how they see mobile learning (ML) becoming its future self by reflecting on its past. Each scholar reflects on ML learning into the future with an eye to the evolving nature of ML theory, alternative philosophical perspectives, associated pedagogy and practice, design and research practices and methods in ML, and emerging technologies relevant to ML. Along the way, they explore the potential impact - both positive and negative of adoption and non-adoption of ML in education and life-long learning settings.Item Open Access Using physical computing to crowdsource environmental data via the Internet of Things(2023) MacCallum, Kathryn; Parsons D; Freysen J; van der Merwe HItem Open Access Sustainable practices in education : Virtual Labs(ASCILITE Publications, 2023) Sharifkhani , Maryam; Davidson, Jonathan; MacCallum , Kathryn; Evans-Freeman , Jan; Brown , Cheryl; Bullsmith , Chris; Richards , Brodwyne; Cochrane T; Narayan V; Brown C; MacCallum K; Bone E; Deneen C; Vanderburg R; Hurren BThe adoption of Virtual Labs (VLs) as a pedagogical tool in higher education is rapidly increasing, especially with the recent shift towards remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. VLs offer a digital alternative to traditional laboratory settings, employing computer graphics, simulations, and interactive models to create immersive and interactive learning experiences. While the pedagogical benefits of VLs are well-established, their potential contribution to sustainability within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) remains ambiguous. This paper aims to address this ambiguity by conducting a literature review to examine the sustainability implications of adopting VLs in HEIs. This literature review reveals that VLs have the potential to enhance sustainability in HEIs across multiple dimensions. However, the literature highlights challenges and limitations associated with implementing VLs despite the positive indications. These include issues related to usability, technical challenges, and the potential costs associated with the adoption of VLs. This literature review suggests the need for further research on the adoption of VLs in HEIs, specifically in relation to achieving the SDGs. It emphasises the importance of considering pedagogical aspects and implementing innovative teaching practices to maximise the long-term effectiveness of VLs. By shedding light on the intersection of VLs and sustainability in HEIs, this research contributes to a broader understanding of how adoption of VLs, can foster a stronger connection between people, the environment, and pedagogy, creating the way for a more sustainable and inclusive future of education.Item Open Access Searching for sifting through and selecting curriculum materials for mathematics planning during practicum(MERGA, 2023) Wilson, Susanna; Reid-O' Connor B; Prierto-Rodriguez E; Holmes K; Hughes AThis paper describes results from a case study about how a primary pre-service teacher (PST) used curriculum materials (CMs) when planning for a mathematics lesson during her final practicum. The data is drawn from a doctoral study (in progress) and results show how the PST initiated an active process of searching for and sifting through CMs on a familiar website to make selections for a lesson. Selections were based on several aspects, including the mathematics focus of her lesson, curriculum connections, her chosen teaching approach and mathematical representation for teaching multiplication. Implications for mathematics Initial Teacher Educators (ITEs) are discussed.Item Open Access Using Mathematics Curriculum Material when Planning on Practicum: A Case Study of one Primary Year Three Pre-Service Teacher(MERGA, 2022) Wilson, Susanna; Fitzallen N; Murphy C; Vesife H; Maher NThis paper describes how one third and final year pre-service (PST) used curriculum materials when planning for primary mathematics teaching on practicum. The findings are drawn from a semi-structured focus group interview, where four PSTs recalled how they planned for primary teaching during a previous practicum. This case study shows how one PST used curriculum planning documents from the practicum setting, and a teacher’s guide when planning mathematics lessons. Planning processes are also identified, and implications for associate teachers (ATs), PSTs, and mathematics Initial Teacher Educators are discussed.Item Open Access Guidelines for designing effective English language teaching materials(2004) Howard , Jocelyn; Major, JaeItem Open Access Invoking community cultural capital to survive teacher education: Yolanda’s story(2013) Tolbert SThe purpose of this paper is to communicate the experiences of a bilingual/biracial Peruvian-Anglo European student teacher, Yolanda, enrolled in a “teacher education for diversity” program. Although the majority of the thirteen (mostly Anglo European) students in Yolanda’s cohort expressed satisfaction with the social justice focus of the program, Yolanda was frustrated by the mixed messages she received about social justice as teaching for change and teacher professionalism as deference to power. Yolanda was often vocal in her critique and, as a result, endured and negotiated cumulative microaggressions throughout her teacher education program. Despite these challenges, she drew on her community cultural capital to become a credentialed science teacher in an underserved urban middle school. Yolanda’s experiences compel us to think about how teacher educators might better support preservice teachers of color—particularly as we strive to more actively recruit teachers of color to our teacher education programs.Item Open Access Pedagogy, culture, content, and relationships: Investigating the culturally responsive practices of science teachers with Indigenous students(2014) Tolbert, SaraIn this paper, I share findings from a qualitative study of culturally responsive science instruction in Aotearoa New Zealand. Findings from teacher interviews, student focus group interviews, and classroom observations across 4 school sites reveal that culturally responsive science teachers of indigenous students attend to each of the following 4 domains: (1) honoring students’ cultural identities; (2) facilitating student engagement with rigorous content; (3) promoting responsive and student-centered pedagogy; and (4) building strong, affirming student-teacher relationships. While the first 3 domains are more often discussed in research on culturally responsive science instruction, the science teachers and Māori students in this study viewed the fourth domain, relationship-building, as the most important element of “good science teaching.”Item Open Access Item Open Access Mustering as method: Ethnographic impulses and actor-network theory in education(2022) Kamp, AnneliesItem Open Access Researching the use of virtual field trips as a flexible multipurpose teaching resource(2023) Kennedy B; Watson A; Engel K; Jolley A; Stahl T; Nichols A; Davidson, Jonathan; Brogt, ErikVirtual field trips (VFTs) are a means to give learners a genuine experience and feeling of what it would be like to participate in in-person fieldtrips but can also act as a teaching resource to meet other learning outcomes that are not necessarily related to fieldwork. These virtual experiences can provide greater accessibility for people that cannot participate in in-person field trips for reasons such as logistics, cost, or physical ability. Using internet browsers, we have been able to create online content that is interactive with mapping activities, communication exercises, animations, 360° videos, virtual rocks, detailed thin sections of rocks, and questions with automated feedback. These VFTs have been used as more than just a replica of an in-person field trip, they can be used in a variety of contexts. As an example, our research group has used them as: 1) flexible knowledge resources to replace lectures and supplement hands-on laboratory classes and tutorials; 2) fieldwork preparation resources that teach content and allow students to explore outcrops they will visit in person; and 3) a self-guided field trip when group field trips are impractical or impossible (e.g., student illness). We have found that VFTs allow educators to take students to places they would otherwise not be able to go, to familiarize students with field skills and content before going into the field to maximize learning on in-person field trips. Our research results from student interviews, focus groups and prepost measures of learning show that students enjoy and engage well with the digital content, although we are still far from an immersive in-person field experience. Looking to the future, we are continuing to develop new ways for students to genuinely explore and discover on a VFT, making use of mixed reality, which has the potential to provide students with an even more immersive experience. Such interactive VFTs can be suitable replacements for lecture content in a flipped classroom or as preparatory exercises for in-person fieldtrips, but they should only replace in-person fieldtrips after careful consideration.Item Open Access Locked out: Impact of Covid-19 on school relationships and staff wellbeing in Irish primary schools(Social Personal Health and Education (SPHE) Network Ireland, 2021) Collins B; Nohilly M; O'Toole, Veronica; Keating S; Morrisey B; Nohilly M; Maunsell CThe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was quickly felt in Ireland once cases began to be identified and rise in early 2020. While the impact on health services continues to be widely documented and researched, the effects on the education system received less attention initially. The priority in the early stages of the pandemic was to try to ensure that hospitals were not overwhelmed. School closures were one strategy used by the Irish Government to contain the spread of the virus. While the primary function of this move was to protect the health of both the school and general population, its impact on all aspects of school lives has become a focus for researchers. This chapter will outline the rationale, methodology and findings of a small-scale research project on staff wellbeing with school principals and teachers at primary level. Related literature will be outlined and key concepts defined. While the pandemic has abated, with restrictions lifted at the time of the writing of this chapter, its legacy will live on in schools for better or worse. This will be tentatively explored in the final section.Item Open Access Locked Out: Impact of Covid-19 on School Relationships and Staff Wellbeing in Irish Primary Schools(2021) Nohilly M; Collins B; O'Toole, VeronicaThe overall aim of the study was to provide an opportunity for both principals and teachers to reflect on how Covid-19 impacted on their wellbeing and, by inference, the impact of the increased emotional labour of teaching during a pandemic (O’Toole and Friesen 2016).Item Open Access The influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on primary and secondary schooling in Aotearoa(2021) Everatt J; Fletcher, JoItem Open Access Understanding tertiary educators’ perceptions and use of new learning and teaching spaces(2020) Brown C; Sharifkhani M; Ren XItem Open Access Buen vivir and the art of living. Comparing Western and Latin American perspectives on living a good life(2021) Nieto M; Teschers, ChristophItem Open Access Insights from an international, cross-cultural study of people’s Art of Living(2021) Nieto M; Teschers, ChristophItem Open Access Making sense of teacher leadership: Why it matters?(2019) Lovett S