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    Acquiring a new discourse : using action research and sociocultural pedagogies to explore how a study group is able to support mature-aged open entry students in their first semesters at university : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2017) Fry, Prudence Barclay
    This research explores how a study group concurrent with mature-aged open-entry students’ first semesters on the campus of a research university could support those students as they acquired an academic Discourse. It addresses a gap in both research and practice for such students who very often arrive at university without academic preparation and must find support for their transitions through generic provisions rather than from interventions designed for their own particular needs based on the findings of focused research. Many of these students struggle to engage with the ways of being and doing within higher education, particularly with its expectations for teaching and learning, its worldviews, specialised language, and approaches to writing. This study used action research to develop and trial an intervention informed by Gee’s concept of Discourse incorporating a sociocultural pedagogy. As writing is a core component of an academic Discourse, pedagogy also incorporated a scaffolded genre approach to teaching writing. In line with action research, the intervention was continually modified in response to emerging data which were gathered primarily from participant observation and transcripts of study group meetings, the researcher’s reflective journal, participant interviews, and student texts. Findings suggest that while a study group does not replace academic preparation, it may provide something necessary and complementary for mature-aged students. The group provided a space in which many participants were able to identify expectations for teaching and learning they held and, through the reflection that was a core of the action research process, adapt those to something more appropriate for an academic Discourse. In the study group, students learned and practised specific writing process skills they did not have on entry which they then applied in their writing beyond the bounds of the group. Students also began to recognise themselves as legitimate participants in higher education. This study concludes with the implication that transition for mature-aged students is a holistic process of acquiring a new Discourse by immersion in a social grouping. A study group such as the one in this research may provide an opportunity for acquiring a new Discourse.
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    Computer-based collaborative concept mapping : motivating Indian secondary students to learn science : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2016) Kaushik, Anil Kumar
    This is a study of the design, development, implementation and evaluation of a teaching and learning intervention. The overarching aim of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of the intervention ‘Computer-based Collaborative Concept Mapping’ (CCCM) on Indian secondary students’ conceptual learning and motivation towards science learning. CCCM was designed based on constructivist and cognitive theories of learning and reinforced by recent motivation theories. The study followed a Design-based research (DBR) methodology. CCCM was implemented in two selected Indian secondary grade 9 classrooms. A quasi-experimental Solomon Four-Group research design was adopted to carry out the teaching experiment and mixed methods of data collection were used to generate and collect data from 241 secondary students and the two science teachers. The intervention was designed and piloted to check the feasibility for further implementation. The actual implementation of CCCM followed the pilot testing for 10 weeks. Students studied science concepts in small groups using the computer software Inspiration. Students constructed concept maps on various topics after discussing the concepts in their groups. The achievement test ATS9 was designed and administered as a pre-post-test to examine the conceptual learning and science achievement. Students’ responses were analysed to examine their individual conceptual learning whereas group concept maps were analysed to assess group learning. The motivation questionnaire SMTSL was also administered as a pre-post-test to investigate students’ initial and final motivation to learn science. At the end of the teaching experiment, the science teachers and two groups of students were interviewed. Analyses of the quantitative data suggested a statistically significant enhancement of science achievement, conceptual learning and motivation towards science learning. The qualitative data findings revealed positive attitudes of students and teachers towards the CCCM use. Students and teachers believed that CCCM use could promote conceptual learning and motivate students to learn science. Both students and teachers preferred CCCM over on-going traditional didactic methods of teaching-learning. Some enablers and barriers identified by teachers and students in the Indian science classroom context are also explored and discussed. A framework for enhancing secondary school students’ motivation towards science learning and conceptual learning is proposed based on the findings. The findings of the study also contribute to addressing the prevailing learning crisis in Indian secondary school science classrooms by offering CCCM an active and participatory instructional strategy as envisioned by the Indian National Curriculum Framework 2005.
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    Cooperative learning : undergraduate students' perceptions of their learning : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2000) Kirk, P. K
    This study explores undergraduate students' perceptions of their learning when working in a cooperative and collaborative learning environment. Although the literature reports on the effectiveness of these approaches, there is little research available on how university students make sense and meaning of their experiences while learning in this environment. Forty-four participants were drawn from an Introduction to Research Methods course. They were asked to journal their perceptions, and send them electronically to the researcher. One hundred and ninety-seven journal entries were received over a twelve-week period. Major themes were extracted from the data drawing on a phenomenographic approach, which considers the interaction between the students, the content of the learning material, and the overall learning environment. The major findings were that cooperative and collaborative learning groups: • require students to shift their thinking from working independently to working interdependently; • require more emotional energy than traditional forms of learning; • require students to have a range of positive, interpersonal and problem-solving skills; and • require lecturers and students to have the appropriate skills, values and attitudes to achieve their academic tasks. This study has implications for teaching practice, in particular the development, design and planning of cooperative and collaborative course work.
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    The effectiveness of a small group intervention for struggling readers in Year 4 : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2015) Bisset, Arthur Gardner
    The purpose of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of a small group literacy intervention for low-achieving readers in Year 4. The present study set out to determine if an explicit and systematic reading programme will show accelerated gains in word reading skills that is superior to the conventional school approach to reading instruction based on the multiple-cues method. The teacher delivered this intervention as part of the group’s weekly reading instruction over a ten-week school term. The study employed a modified version of a five-step instructional programme originally designed by Blachman et al. (2004) during their intensive reading remediation study with second and third graders with a one year follow up. The intervention programme focused on the phonological and orthographic connections in words and text-based reading. The design of the study involved a whole class screening process using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills 6th Edition (Good & Kaminski, 2007). The intention of the screening process was to select the ten participants with the highest requirements for strategic teacher support. A pre-test-intervention-post-test design was used to compare the effects of the intervention programme using a set of word reading skills. Due to the small sample size of the present study a non-parametric test (The Mann-Whitney –U Test) and sets of pre-test and post-test difference scores were used to report statistically significant gains made by the intervention group. The key findings from the present study suggest that the intervention group gained significantly better results in terms of word reading measures in addition to some generalised word reading skills not included in the programme. The findings highlight the importance of differentiating reading instruction and using explicit teaching in word reading skills for older struggling readers.
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    Collaborative learning and peer-tutoring in mathematics : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Studies (Mathematics), Massey University
    (Massey University, 2002) Rowe, Kathryn Joy
    This study sought to promote learning by enhancing the level of higher order cognitive talk among collaborative groups engaged on mathematical tasks. An intervention, designed to utilise structures such as listening, multiple retelling, questioning, elaboration, and justification to promote high-level discourse, was trialled and refined using an action research classroom study. The collaborative skills training programme was based on Medcalf's peer-tutoring model (1997) and adapted to incorporate features of Lyman's Think-Pair-Share collaborative model (1992). The teacher's role was seen as crucial to the development of collaborative group practices which establish the structures for high-level discourse. Collaborative group practices were reinforced in follow-up class discussions where the teacher facilitated student reflection on the mathematical strategies and the collaborative group strategies. It was also seen as important for the teacher to select appropriately levelled tasks which maintained the learner in his/her Zone of Proximal Development. Findings indicated that the structured intervention enhanced the level of higher order discourse between students and that it was an effective procedure to mediate learning. Several patterns of discourse were also identified that could provide useful indicators of higher level discourse to teachers during daily classroom observations.
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    Innovation and identity in Web 2.0 environments : perspectives and experiences of Vietnamese university teachers and learners of English : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Second Language Teaching at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2014) Pham, Hong Anh
    This study explores perspectives and experiences of four Vietnamese university teachers of English and their students as they participated in innovation projects in Web 2.0 environments. Specifically, it investigated the relationship between the participants’ creation and implementation of the projects and how that induced on-going negotiation and construction of roles and identities as university teachers, learners, and users of English across three phases. Phase One concerned an initial experience of innovation in which three focal participants online collaboratively wrote and published entries on Wikipedia; Phase Two extended the initial experience of innovation by following the participants’ own trajectories in switched roles using wikis and blogging; Phase Three was a classroom-based innovation in wiki writing in three tertiary academic English writing classes. The research questions focused on participants’ identity negotiations in both initial and extended phases of innovation and in classroom-based settings for innovation. The main instruments for data gathering included observation of Web 2.0 and classroom environments, interviews, pre- and post-task online group discussions, participant reflective writings, questionnaires, and journals completed by the participants and the researcher. The Web 2.0 spaces themselves were important sites for data gathering as introduced and developed by the participants in the course of the enquiry. Results across the three phases reveal the participants’ construction and negotiation of roles and identities as they evolved in the innovation projects in different contexts, and in different roles, as learners, teachers/mentors, and users of English. Evident points of conflict in identity negotiations emerged as the participants switched from the role of peer learner to that of teacher or mentor, and as the participant teachers entered new environments while also being required to fulfil fixed teacher responsibilities within an institutionally-constrained context of classroom-based innovation. Key conclusions relate to the mutually constitutive relationship between innovation and identity prior to and during processes of innovation, the role of small-scale open-ended contexts in the initiation of innovations, and the importance of critically adaptive learning and ongoing mentoring in extending innovation.
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    Reading recovery as a small group intervention : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 1997) Iversen, Sandra
    A small scale pilot study and a larger experimental study were undertaken to determine whether the Reading Recovery procedures could be successfully adapted for small group instruction. The purpose of the pilot study was to determine effective ways of working and to make recommended changes, if necessary, to the standard Reading Recovery lesson format. The experimental study was designed to see if these modifications would be as effective as the standard one to one Reading Recovery program. Both studies involved a high percentage of children for whom English was a second or third language. Pilot study teachers, working with either two or three children, devised ways of working with children reading at the same instructional level and with children working at different instructional levels. The experimental study involved seventy five children. Fifty of these children were taught in a pair situation and twenty five were taught one to one. A wide battery of tests including the Observation Survey (Clay 1993), a word reading test and tests of phonological processing ability was administered to all children prior to commencing the program, at the end of their program, and at year end. The results from both studies suggest that one to one Reading Recovery can be successfully modified for small group instruction, the preferred group size being two. Results from both studies indicated that by investing at most 27% more instructional time, the teachers could service 100% more children.
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    The nature and dynamics of collaborative writing in a Malaysian tertiary ESL setting : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Linguistics at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2006) Yong, Mei Fung
    This classroom-based study provides insights into the nature of collaborative writing in a Malaysian tertiary ESL setting. It tracked the collaborative writing processes of three case study groups over one semester and elicited students' reflections on their collaborative experience. The study focussed on three case study groups formed by nine undergraduates who were enrolled in an academic writing course in a large public university in Malaysia. The individuals volunteered to be involved in the study and they self-selected their group members. Multiple research instruments were used for data collection. The primary data was comprised of audio and video-recordings of the case studies' collaborative writing sessions over three writing tasks. Interviews, journal entries, and a questionnaire supplemented the primary data. The use of various techniques ensured that data collection was sufficiently covered in breadth and in depth. Results showed that the collaborative writing process was a complex phenomenon. The nature of collaboration is influenced by group composition, role flexibility, and task complexity. The findings reveal that familiarity with group members is crucial for group cohesion; it provided a safe and comfortable working environment. Flexibility in role-taking also helped the groups to carry out their collaboration effectively. Leader, contributor, and gate-keeper roles were interchangeable across groups and across tasks except for the scribe role. It was found that as tasks increased in complexity, conflict also intensified. During negotiations and resolutions of conflicts, the students had considered cultural issues, such as sensitivity to face and group harmony. Other affective factors such as cooperation, willingness to share, team spirit, and tolerance aided the collaboration while apathy and domineering behaviour were detrimental. These multiple factors, which differed from one case study to another, shaped the distinctiveness of each group. Nonetheless, findings from the students' transcripts and personal reflections revealed that group collaboration changed and became more positive over time. This study provides a revised definition of collaborative writing. The three case study groups shared some common features, such as mutual interactions, sharing of expertise, conflict, and use of colloquial sentence particles. However, there were other features which were peculiar to each group, namely, self-questioning talk, use of local language, creative use of language, and humour. These features not only mediated the writing processes, but also expanded the students' knowledge construction and language acquisition. Based on the analyses, a number of implications have been drawn regarding the use of collaborative writing in the classroom. The study culminates with several recommendations for future research.