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Has files: YesSubject: search.filters.subject.390113 Science, technology and engineering curriculum and pedagogy

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    Dialogic activity : a study of learning dialogues and entanglements in a vocational tertiary setting : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate in Education at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2022) Simpson, Ann Middlebrook
    New Zealand’s economic growth continues to place major pressure on the trades sector. To meet future demand for qualified builders, plumbers, electricians, and engineers, trades education has become available at no cost to students for two years. To attract student interest further, tertiary institutions now offer courses in a range of delivery options. Blended learning (BL) is one of these delivery modes and involves a combination of traditional face-to-face and digitally mediated approaches. This research explored students’ dialogic activity in a BL environment, within a trades educational institution. The dialogues that emerged during trades training courses were examined in relation to a complex assemblage of elements, which included interactions between students and teachers, and the digital and materials artefacts in the BL environments. The research used an interdisciplinary lens, employing theories of socio-materialism and dialogism, to unpack forms of dialogic activity that emerged within the BL environment. That same lens was used to reveal the part that material and digital artefacts played in the emergent dialogic activity. Conducted as a multiple case study, the research involved observations of instructors and student participants from three Level 3 pre-apprentice trade programmes, which provided a wide range of data over the course of one semester. Datasets from Automotive Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, as the three cases involved, were analysed to explore the contextual meaning of the learning dialogues and activities in action. The findings revealed that learning dialogues occur in multiple contexts and environments. Artefacts and their properties, BL designs, open and flexible learning spaces, environmental conditions, health and safety considerations, embodiment, multiplicity, mediation, and class culture, all have a significant influence on dialogic activity. The findings offer important insights about the link between course design and learning and identify dialogic activity as an interdisciplinary phenomenon that warrants further investigation.
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    The impact of professional learning on science teaching efficacy : a case study of one New Zealand primary teacher : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Education (Teaching and Learning) at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Borthwick, Mairi Frances
    Despite the introduction of a new science curriculum in 2007, focused on developing scientific literacy, New Zealand primary school students have continued to lose interest in science, and perform poorly compared to other countries (Bolstad & Hipkins, 2008; Mullis et al, 2016). A lack of confidence in teaching science has been identified as a contributing factor to primary schools failing to deliver high quality science teaching and learning which may explain students' lack of interest and performance in science. This study focusses on exploring the impact of three concurrent, professional development programmes, on one primary teacher's nature of science teaching efficacy. This professional development includes a combination of a scientist-teacher partnership, enactive mastery experiences, in-class mentoring, and a professional learning community. A qualitative case study design was employed, with data collected using adapted forms of both the Nature of Science as Argument Questionnaire, and the Science Teaching Belief Instrument, semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. The thematic analysis revealed changes in the teacher's nature of science beliefs, classroom practice, and identity, as well as his leadership efficacy. Overall, the study found that the professional learning opportunities had promoted the teacher's developed personal efficacy and outcome expectancy for teaching the nature of science, with the support of instructional leadership within his school. The opportunity for critical reflection was found to be beneficial for developing the teacher's informed view of the nature of science. The study recommends that productive professional development needs to enable primary teachers to make connections to their personal and professional identities, what they know, and what they are interested in, in order to develop their nature of science pedagogical content knowledge.