2024 review

 A rather busy year, filled with leading an interesting project - supporting foundation/bridging learners using AI -, a flurry of work in curriculum/learning design as all of this returns back to us post Te Pūkenga disestablishment, and participation in a range of relevant and important professional development opportunities.

As I write this, there is no greater detail on what happens to the various polytechnics and industry training organisations (ITOs) post Te Pūkenga disestablishment, apart from the brief details from the consultation information provided in September. The government's budget going into the next few years provide some inkling of what may happen to the Workforce Development Councils (WDCs) and Centres for Vocational Education Excellence (CoVEs). WDCs funding ends 2026 but they will likely continue due to their essential role as standards setting bodies. However, their actual roles going into the future are unclear. The CoVeEs for construction ((ConCOVE) and FF CoVE (food and fibre) will likely cease to exist beyond 2025. Both the CoVEs have funded a range of important vocational education and training research projects and it is a shame that they will not be continuing on to act on the recommendations and findings.

AI has been prominent across the year. At my institute, we have run a number of department focused and institute-wide research tools or teaching and learning AI integration workshops. Our staff capability runs the usual gamut from utter rejection of AI to having several with high levels of understanding and application towards using AI to support research or teaching/learning. 

VET like all other education context, must make key decisions about the role of AI and how it should be/ or can be leveraged to support teaching and learning. The 'holy grail' of education, personalised learning for every learner' is availed if AI is used carefully to augment and support learning - see this summary, one of many models, that shift teaching and learning from 'factory - one-size fits all' to individualised mastery learning for each learner.

Hence, another busy year but looking forward to next year, when hopefully, we begin to have productive conversations in shifting the current way teaching and learning occurs, towards a more learner and learning-centred model.

ACDEVEG - day 2 notes

 The day begins with reflections on the last ten years of ACDEVEG conferences with Darryl South and Erica Smith. Shared the conference themes across the decade and data on number of presentations, panels etc. An overview of each conference then presented. A summary of similar conferences before the 2015 ACDEVEG from the 1990s. Convassed the participants for ideas for themes and venues for future conferences. 

A panel session chaired by Annette Foley follows. The panelists are John Tucker (CE of TAFE QLD), Angela Dean (AEU Federation TAFE secretary), Evelyne Goodwin (Manager Policy and Projects for Community Colleges Australia) and Andrew Shea (Director, ITECA). The panel works through a series of topical questions. First question is on the importance of teachers /trainers in VET, followed by the challenges posed to TAFE teachers to meet inclusive/equity directions, what is done to promote the career of VET teachers and the knowledge/skills required of VET educators. Questions then opened to the floor with robust conversation undertaken!

After morning tea, presentations collated into 2 streams commence.

I attend the following:

'Diploma of VET at William Angliss Institute: Four ways to make a difference' with Melissa Jennings. Reported on the projects used to support teachers to complete the Diploma. Projects included project-based learning, then application of training and assessment practice; professional practice, and instructional designer to work on resources for teaching (f2f and online). All the projects require portfolios and demonstration/observation. Porfolios include professional development plan, trainer and assessor competency evidence, annotated bibliography, sample learning activities, supervised teaching practice, peer partnership, training log, elearning strategy and session plans. Projects go for 12 to 18 months. The process helps develop cognitive and technical competencies with contemporary teaching and learning processes. 21st century skills rubric used to map their competencies attained. 

Shared challenges around the the progress of these projects. May be better next time to run projects consecutively rather than concurrently. Workshop ensued to work through personas and their experiences on a project.

'what makes VET teachers want to stay in the job?' with Erica Smith, Darryl South and Annette Foley. Overviewed the context and background which was presented at last year's conference. There is almost no literature on VET teacher retention, so this project seeks to develop a robust evidence base to inform policies going forward. In the presention covered the motivations for entry and factors affecting decisions to remain. Received 146 valid responses to a survey with 47 questions. 

Most respondents over 50, slightly more females, 1/3 new, 1/3 5-9 years and 1/2 over ten years in teaching. 2/3 employed full time. 73+ % have diploma qualification or higher. Routes in teaching included 28% directly into full-time, 20% started part-time. 

58.6% identified as VET teacher, 3.4% to discipline and 37.9% as both. Mostly committed to staying and teaching. if likely to leave, 2/3 said they would return to industry and 1/3 to a difference industry. Those who identified as VET teacher less likely to leave. 

Participants value seeing learners develop, enjoy engaging learners and making a difference. Factors encouraging people to leave include workload, dissatification with management, too much compliance, poor workplace culture, pay, on-going change. 

Pay mentioned but not actually a major issue. Conditions of work more important, with management and compliance seen to be major challenges. Recommendations on balancing compliance and to help increase status of VET teachers. From the data, more likely to leave if they identify with occupation,, have another position outside of teaching, under 30, males, regional areas and those who have been managers before. 

Shared future work including on how to attract people to the VET workforce, providing better early career support and reducing administration and compliance.

The conference continues but I leave to catch a train to the airport :) All in, good presentations on issues which are similar to NZ. 

Australian Council for Deans of Education - Vocational Education Group - 10th annual conference - notes DAY 1

 At the annual ACDEVEG conference today and tomorrow where I have been invited to give a keynote. This is the first time I have attended this conference but many who are attending, would be familiar faces from the NCVER no-frills and AVETRA conferences.

The ACDEVEG is an inportant lobbying and support group for educators who work towards educatiing VET teachers. As such, these VET educators, are the teachers that ensure good teaching is a key part of the Australian VET system. 

The conference begins with Darryl South, the convenor for the conference welcomes all the conference delegates.

My keynote 'the importance of VET teacher education at a time of rapid change: some learnings from Aotearoa New Zealand' is based on the book chapter, recently published - Chan, S. (2024). Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE) in Aotearoa New Zealand: Implication on educators of VET teachers. In T. Deißinger & O. Melnyk (Eds.). Partnership-based Governance and Standardization of Vocational Teacher Education in Ukraine pp.79-94). Germany: wbv Publikation. 

The book chapter argued for the importance of VET teacher education and the need for VET teacher educators to keep up with the play and to especially model bicultural practices, which are foundational in moving into Te Pūkenga. However, even as Te Pūkenga is being disestablishes, the principles and need for continual professional knowledge and skill development, are still important. The presentation covered a brief overview of the reasons for the strong bicultural focus in Aotearoa and the ways the intended, enacted and experienced curriculum have transformed or have to adapt to keep up and move with the current and future national and social aspirations of Aotearoa. 

Then, Annette Foley presents a preview of the second editions of the ACDEVEG text book on 'teaching in the vocational sector in Australia'. The first edition 2014 was edited by Roz Kemmis and Liz Atkins. A second edition is now being published with updated chapters and the addtion of 2 more chapters with chapters on contemporary VET pedagogy and VET the economy and society. Publication date planned for June 2025. 

After afternoon tea, two steams of presentations are provided. Sessions are 45 minutes long so the participants are able to drill deeper into the topic being discussed. Notes below:

First up, a workshop on 'teaching VET teachers academic writing and integrity through Gen AI with Anthony Pearce from Federation University. The workshop helped participants explore academic integrity; connect AI to academic integrity; and assessment design considerations/frameworks. Shared a worked example ( course on writing and analysis for study and work - using AI to help teachers write resources. Shift from detection to integration of AI into assessment strategies to enhance student learning. Introduced the AI assessment scale (leonfurze.com). No AI, AI planning, AI collaboration, full AI, AI exploration. Design assessments which are diffcult for AI to reolicate, focus on higher order thinking skills, solve problems and create. Assessment tasks that require students to work at the higher levels in Blooms taxonomy. 

3 assessment tasks for from the example - compare and contrast sources (choose a topic, find academic sources, generate AI essay, find quality source and compare); reference and plagirism (use citations in text, write a reference list, discuss the academic and ethical issues in adding citations to AI); academic essay (submit academic essay, own work, focus on argument and critical thinking). Shared feedback from learners on the course. 

Note, there is nothing out there on using AI in competency based learning. 

Then, presentation with Sweta Singh and Michael Cowling on the work by Ke (Kelly) Xu, their PhD student, on 'upskilling and reskilling vocational educators for VR--based training environments. Shared the background, research question and methodology. Literature review shows VR used mainly in medical, military and workforce training. Digital literacies are essential for using VR but not all VET teachers have the right levels. Therefore, important to find out how to equip VET educators with the  knowledge, skills, and attributes to be able to confidently leverage VR. Shared the research methodology and next steps. The context will be on VR training on tunnelling units of competency.

Last up for the day, a round table with Wendy de Luca and Marg Malloch on 'learning and teaching: Vocational educators for the twenty-first century'. Shared the plans for an up and coming book. Sought feedback on the proposed content to see if there are other possibilities. 

OPSITAra - day 2 - notes

 The day begins with a keynote from Dr. Mazharuddin Syed Ahmed who speaks on 'empowering through education:meaningful refugee participation in NZ society. Mazhar began overview of the various communities he is involved in including the joint research group on Islamic New Zealanders. He summarised his participation in the Royal Commission formed to look at what happened during and after the mosque shootings. Followed with his development of a deep sense of belonging to Aotearoa. 

Proposed that meaningful refugee participation in includes voice in policies and in education begins with lowering educational integration barriers. For many refugees, their host country also contributes to atrocities occurring in his home country. Shared the stories of Bariz Shah to illlustrate the challenges refugees faced before and after their arrival.

Discussed why people migrate and summarised history of immigration across the millenium. Refugees are displaced not through choice, making it more challenging as the move is not through choice. Refugee intake in Aotearoa is still very low. For refugees, it is a long journey to Aotearoa. When they arrive, there are many continuing challenges and stress etc. Summarised why NZ is seen to be a good country to settle in. 

Shared the Aroha project he initiated after the mosque shootings. Used the murmuration of starlings as an example of the contribution of individuals to the wider activities - they do not have a leader as such. After the mosque shootings, it was individuals' actions which made a difference for the people affected. 

As a small country, NZers have 2 degrees of separation. We are born to be kind and care about others. Hate comes because we are taught to hate! The role of teachers is one key towards shifting from hate to love. Important to help students understand cognitive biases and what to do to check their own biases. Arts of bias lead to a downward spiral towards attitudes which support genocide! hence important to create opportunities for learners to understand the influence of bias.

Therefore, encouraged the need to be kind as it is contagious and good for our well-being and contributes to a better society.

After morning tea, I follow the Education 1 stream.

First up, Jamie Vaughan (Institute of IT professionals), Samuel Mann and Henk Roodt from Otago Polytechnic present on their work 'Hiapo framework - weaving professional identity in IT'. Sam presented work from Jamie's Doctoral work. Ongoing challenge of AI as being 'cowboys in suits'. In Jamie's masters, he found a mismatch of IT professionals and what was required in organisation practice. A comparison between nursing - 90% describes nursing IT but SFIA IT skills international) focuses 90% on technical skills. Applied Porter's value chain to bridge the nursing approach and SFIA. How to layer identity and values associated to bicultural practices (for example) is a output of Jamie's work as it is not only adding more 'skills' to SFIA but looking at holistic ways to integrate professional identity. The Niuen Hiapo (tapa cloth) to weave in meaning and narratives of 'being'. 

Following on we have, 'winning, doing and finishing: an account of externally funded research, with pointers for colleagues' with Cath Fraser and Judith Honeyfield from Toi Ohomai. Began with the challenges represented through the aged care industry and the rationale for studying older adults and aging. Study participants were Māori and Chinese people. Study looks at how health care education is constituted and delivered to look at how aged care  curriculum is enacted and student perspectives of older people. Ako Aotearoa project about to be completed. Provided and discussed research methodology and some findings. Shared some of the narratives/video resources as part of reporting the project. 

Then, Graeme Harris from Ara shares his work 'looking at teaching practice to develop a new high interest course'. He introduced the topic 'engineering systems analysis motorsport flavour'' how the level 7 course was developed, reflected on and reviewed. Described the rationale and process of drawing on industry expertise and feedback to select the content for the course (that could be logistically possible with current lab /industry equipment). Course is 2 and and half week block course and 50-100 hours to complete a specific project. Block course is hands on to learn the principles of testing, use the equipment, CAD software etc, to solve a problem along with industry visits. Block course finishes with a test and the post project project to complete the course is progressed through the semester and worth 35% of the course. Course outcomes are good with many students obtaining jobs with the industry supporters. Shared improvements going into the future. 

After morning tea, the last group of presentations:

Faye Wilson-Hill and Niki Hannan (Ara) with Hemi Hoskins (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa) and Hēperi Harris (Hawaiki Hou) present their ongoing work on 'Māui te Pūkenga: the evolution of the expert kaiako. The project sought to understand the experiences of kaiako as they expereince Maori culture and integrate these into their teaching, Data was collected through collaborative narrative inquiry yielding over 50 narratives. These kaiako were always travelling in the direction of learning and developing their culturally responsive pedagogy. They were already engaged in creating culturally responsive teaching environments. A re-framing mindset was also crucial to continually recognising and understanding bias so that indigenising and normalising mātauranga Maori continued. Not knowing was ok, but the important approach was to be comfortable with not knowing. 

Narratives were read out for the audience to better understand the concepts discovered, recognised, and honoured. 

Then with the team from Otago Polytechnic for the last two sessions in Education 2 stream. 

Layered drivers framework with Samuel Mann, Ruth Meyers, Dave Guruge, Jamie Vaughan and Mawera Keretai (University of Otago). Shared data collected from two participants, with their stories of working through disconnections between their individual identities within a discipline and organisational practices. Introduced the concept of levers in practice from the work of Mawera. Using stories of people subjected to decolonisation and ask participants to redo these stories to remove biases participants already hold. From there, the values required for inclusion into a curriculum can be distilled. Shared website with the information on the project.

Genre prompts as reflective tools in professional practice with Samuel Mann, Dave Guruge, Ruth Meyers and Kylie Wright. Modelled how the prompts can be useful to help people tell the stories of their practice / reflections  / challenges etc. 

The conference closed and moved on to join the Ara 'Blues and Brews' end of year celebration. 

OPSITAra - Day one - notes

 Today, the OPSITAra conference begins at Ara Institute of Canterbury. The conference brings researchers from Ara, Otago Polytechnic, and Southern Institute of Technology predominantly and with other ITPs, to together to share their work.

The conference begins with a Powhiri (Māori welcome) followed by catch up networking with morning tea :) Darren Mitchel, the Ara CE  and currently also for Rohe 4 for Te Pūkenga, welcomes all conference participants. Dr; Jamie Smiler, research / rangahau director for Te Pūkenga reiterated the welcome and updated on the activities across the week with similar conferences at Unitec, the Pacific forum and a virtual conference yesterday. He encouraged research to be relevant to our communities and that research should not just live on a bookshelf, but be applied to supporting and improving the lives of many.

Scott Klenner, research manager for Otago Polytechnic and Ara introduces the first conference keynote Dr. Waikaremoana Waitoki, who discusses 'growing researcher practice and praxis' - He piko he taniwha, he taniwha rau -on every bend a chief. Began with a tribute to Professor Angus Macfarlane, who passed on last week and who shoulder tapped Moana to present this keynote. Moana summarised her whakapapa and her research objectives. She wanted to ensure the kaupapa of supporting research impact was followed through. What does it mean to conduct research that critically engages with the lived realities of communities?How can researchers ensure their work meaningfully contributes of societal transformation? and also covered some of the critical indigenous research methodologies emphasise relationality, reciprocity, cultural integrity and the co-creation of solutions, rooted in community values. Anchored work in 'the politics of distrction' - especially in the current political climate. Referred to the work of Smith (1999) - the indigenous research agenda - what are the factors that support self-determination? 

Posed the challenge to researchers to think through what is indigenous Māori? what is mātautanga Māori and how these inform ethics, funding proposals, student research, responses to complaints from lobby groups etc. Discussed racism and what happens when different groups of people, think of others as different and classify them. Used the example of the government's cutting humanities and social science research through the Marsden fund, to devalue Māori research. 

Shared a recent Marsden funded project on mātauranga Māori in psychology. Explained what was Mauri - as the energy that influences the emotional and spiritual aspects of life. Developed the concept of Mauri Ora Tai Pari - a awareness of how various influences from other people, environment etc. activates and arouses us and these cycles are now applied to mental health, alcohol/drug addictions etc. to inform care and support. The Mauri ora tako is a consolidation of the many frameworks to support wellbeing (Waitoki & McLauchlan, 2020) and applied to the work of psychologists. with a inter-relational and holistic approach. Application of the approach during the Waakari (White Island) eruption.

Then shared several other projects including raranga, raranga taku takapau: Hapū ora for tamariki and examples of implications. Recommended 3 books to follow up and the people we should be reading. Shared that Mauri books also available online and for tamariki - children. Shared current project and work. Encouraged researchers to ensure Te Tiriti is honored and the importance of making a submission to the current treaty principles bill submission.

After the keynote, I chair the first sessions in the Education 1 stream.

First up, John G. Mumford from Southern Institute of Technology on 'machine learning rules interpretability: critical perspectives for postgraduate IT students. Shared the research scope, background, focus of the presentation, implications and conclusion. Study explored the application of critical thinking to understand how cognitive biases play a role in hindering the interpretability of machine learning rules, some of the ways debiasing strategies can be used, the existence of the interpretability / accuracy trade off, and shed light on the black box of AI. key themes brought together through a scoping literature (2020 onwards) review. Key cognitive biases - awareness of selected cognitive biases, awareness of interpretability/accuracy trade off, debiasing strategies, clarifying ML rules and enhanced interpretability and the ML black box. Cognitive bias through primacy effect, information bias, and misinpretation, ambiguity aversion and insensitivity to sample size. Implications include helping students to navigate the black box, apply logic and statistical knowledge to Ml roles, navigate teachers and students biases and help learning techniques for debiasing. 

Then Robert Nelson, Sam Mann and Ruth Meyers from Otago Polytechnic  (OP) present in 'raging with the machine: Collaborating with AI in learning.' Sam presented on a chapter from Robert's Doctorate in Professional Practice thesis, studying collaborative project-based learning. Context is a one semester course where a project is formulated and 'solved'. The actual way the brief is formed, impinges on the context, collaborations and authenticity of the project. AI now pervasive and authenticity requires that AI is deployed. AI can be part of how the work is undertaken but AI can also be a collaborator with more that one AI possible in the project. Another option is to get AI to do the work and the human is the 'conductor' or the human could just be the observer of AI as they complete the project. Experimented with a project and found that the job tasks have accelerated! - from weeks to 2 hours. Raises the challenge of why we take a project across a whole semester. With AI, several projects can be undertaken in a semester! and is this desirable? 

Third presentation is with Bruno Balducci from OP who updates on his ongoing project with 'AI-safe: An assessment design tool for the safe use and against the misuse of Gen AI.' The focus of the project is about assessment validity and reliability but not about AI integrity. Information on the applied findings are at the aisafe site. This has a 'thinking tool' for use by vocational education teachers that was user-friendly, efficient and effective. AIsafe is not for or against AI in teaching, it provides a practical solution by focusing on non-exam assessments. Defined AI misuse and AI safe design. What is being assessed, how and why are the basic principles whether AI is used or not. Concepts include context-specific, authentic, collaborative, process driven or generative (as in new information being created). Provided examples of the importance of the concepts. 

After lunch, I continue in the Education stream.

I begin by presenting the outcomes of the many projects undertaken at Ara from mid-2023 to the present with 'AI in vocational education: pedagogical support vs academic literacies'. I overview the many projects taken - most drawing on the work of Sharples (2023) whereby AI plays a role to support socially constructivist learning. From the many projects, from foundation through to degree learning and across many disciplines, the main purposes of introducing and integrating AI include modelling industry practice, using AI to support pedagogy and/or to support academic literacies. However, there is a natural tension between pedagogy and academic literacy skill attainment as using AI to 'do the learning' may mean practicing academic writing skills is compromised. Therefore, important to have clear learning outcomes, with regard to using AI to support teaching and learning. 

Then Marie-Louise Barry (Ara but now at University of Canterbury) and Gus Walken (Ara) present their work 'reflection on using Gen AI in tertiary education: the case of a project management and marketing course. Summarised the learning activities using AI in project management and marketing. Project management level 6 needed to be updated, especially for currency. Used ChatGPT to develop new resources, templates etc. Learning how to prompt and fact checking required and subject expertise is imperative. Also used AI to create quizzes using XML for Moodle :) Gus described how he used ChatGPT to engage learners in a Level 6 customer engagement marketing. Asked ChatGPT to suggest 4 padlet active learning activities. Selected best, implemented and edited version. Ran this and recorded the class. Ask ChatGPT to identify any student misunderstandings from transcriptions of the recording. Then used ChatGPT to create a quiz for students to revise from analysis of the transcript. 

Following is Michelle Simbuland, Jaikaran Narula and Nick Cordery from Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) who share their work on 'teachers' perceptions on the validity, reliability, and fairness of assessed tutorial as an assessment method: addressing AI-related challenges in designing assessments.' Assessed tutorials used as classrooms unavailable due to closure of the campus from Cyclone Gabrielle. Proposed the used of assessed tutorials as an option to also meet the AI challenge. Assessed tutorials are an oral assessment. Students research the topics covered and share insights and understanding of the tutorial. Peers can also critique answers from others. Students given a list of questions a week before. For each question, there will be a first, second and third responder but the students will not know which questions will be asked and whether they will be first, second or third responder. Session is recorded for moderation. Assessor ask the question and selects the student responders. 

Semi structured interviews with kaiako to find out their perspectives of the validity, reliability and fairness of using assessed tutorials and thematically analysed the data. 79% agreed validity can be achieved but questioned if 3 questions sufficient to evidence. Ditto with reliability but requires carefully designed marking rubrics and active cross moderation. 87% agreed that the method is fair, oral assessment increases modality of assessments. Agreement that this method addresses AI related issues. Next step is to collect learner perspective.

The last presentation before afternoon tea is with Vanessa Scholes (Open Polytechnic), Rachel van Gorp (Otago), Jessica Tupou (Victoria University) and Grayson Orr (Otago). They share their work on 'can AI assist us to address cognitive load for neurodivergent online learners? starting our journey. Began by introducing AI, the concepts of cognitive load, neurodivergence and online learning. Tested the hypothesis if brief summaries of online course content could reduce cognitive load for neurodiverse learners. Summarised the key points from the literature review - cognitive load and neurodivergent learners and online learning. AI's potential role to support the challenge and the risks of of using AI. Approaches include learner led - but may be patchy as the learner has to find the tool, work out how to use it and may obtain poor quality outputs. Provider-led will provide tools but quality may still be inconsistent. Educator-led is a balance between but entails more time and work from teachers. 

Tested AI tools to see if feeding course content would yield useful summaries. ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and Brave's Leo AI. Both Leo AI and Copilot had some problems with large amounts of content. ChatGPT seems to produce succinct summaries and Claude also worked but more verbose. Next steps shared - ongoing testing and development, collaboration with learners, teachers and tech to test, more research and evaluation and advocacy and awareness of using AI to support neurodiverse learners. 

After afternoon tea, the last group of presentations for the day in the Education stream were presented.

First up, 'advancing pedagogical strategies in Chinese transnational education: lessons from Te Waipounamu with Jeremy Taylor from Otago. Introduced the concept of transnational education - international education delivered in a different country. Over 1200 programmes at degree level but 35 + joint programmes between NZ and China. Study occurred in China (Chengdu and Dalian) with interviews, 8 in each city. Comparison between what the UK does in this space as they have large numbers. Study investigated teaching practices and learner motivations in business management in Chengdu and mechanical engineering in Dalian. Participants were learners, teachers and programme managers. Push/pull factors established for how learners select/or have selected for them, the programmes they enrol in. 

Then John Howse from Toi Ohomai sharing an aspect of his PhD with 'exploring vocational education and training's role in just transitions: a practice-based approach to researching VET through a case study in apiculture. Began on the way 'transitions' fit into the vocational educational system. VET is couched as an economical requirement. However, VET's constant change, makes it difficult to keep to the fundamental objectives. Summarised how theory of practice architecture  applied to explore VET practices. Applied the theory beekeeping practice. Worked as a bee keeper and completed the studying of bee keeping in a formal institution. Compared his experiences with what was observed at work and what the qualifications required. Found qualifications can not encompass the nuances of practice, especially 'the affective dimension of care' which underpin bee keeping. Summarised plans to continue similar studies across other industries. Stressed the importance of connecting authentic practice to the qualifications. 

OP's Rachel McManamara, Amy Benians and Helen Mataiti share their work on 'planning a practice focused inquiry in Universal Design for Learning utilisation: questions we asked ourselves. UDL used mostly in the compulsory sector and there is a need to understand how UDL can be better aligned to VET. Project still in planning stage but as the conversations came about, the questions that arose became important to also analyse. Questions were looked at individually (thematic, linguistic and discourse) and to identify commonalities and differences. What does each know already? How to narrow the analysis tool? Where does UDL sit? What are the strengths in each researcher to see things differently? what is not being seen? A focus on this initial practice, has build relationships and shared values. 

Last session for the day is with Neeru Choudhary and Muhammad Arsian from Open Polytechnic with 'AI for higher education - trends, future challenges, and opportunities. Systematic literature review to identify gap to inform future research. AI is not new, perhaps since 1943 but Gen AI in 2023 has popularised the concept. AI in education used in profiling and prediction, intelligent tutor systems, assessment and evaluation and adaptive systems and personalisation. Rationalised the use of systematic review. Inclusion and exclusion criteria important - last 10 years, written in English and peer-reviewed in higher education. Used PRISMA methodology to refine to 246 papers. Current AI technologies include personalised leanring, administrative efficiency and language learning support. Future trends include, high precision education advanced learner tracking, collaborative learning environments and development of sophisticated educational platforms. Challenges are the ethics, data privacy/security and the digital divide. Opportunities to improve educational outcomes, personalised student support, reduced administrative burdens and transformin the educational landscape. Important to better understand student performance and engagement when AI is introduced. Quantitative study planned. 

A busy day with many good presentations to unpack. 

Toitū te Tiriti - Staying the course of Te Tiriti honouring - session notes

 Was unable to get to the presentation, from Allen+Clark yesterday. The webinar is provided free by Allen+Clark to help organisations upskill in cultural competencies

The recording was made available and here are the notes taken as I listened to the presentation from Dr. Kathie Irwin and Jen Margaret.

After a traditional welcome /karakia with Jacqui Taituha Ngawaka, the presentation began.

The presentation went through experiences and insights from Tangata Whenua (the people of the land) and Tangata Tiriti (people of the treaty) on organisational, tiriti honouring and practical strategies and actions to take to honour, commit and thrive with the Tiriti,

Allen+Clark staff undertook training and development across 2023 including in-house, online and workshops with Kathie and Jen.

Both Kathie and Jem introduced themselves (in Māori).

Katie begain with summarising the significance of the Tiriti for both Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti. There were 25  questions for the presenters to address. Katie summarised these.

Provided the background from the creation story to provide the foundation of how to better understand the Māori perspective which informed Te Tiriti as it was written in 1840. The creation story frames the previous and current actions around Te Tiriti, anchored in Māori epistomology and perspectives.

Aotearoatanga - how nation building occurs into the future, helps direct us in how the Tiriti is honoured into the future. Used the kohanga reo as a case study of the future focus and direction of how Māori vision is not limited to one stream, but how this is interwoven across many other initiatives, to develop and support te reo from birth, through to life span. 

Explained how decades of policies - the machinery of government - have been misaligned with the intents of Te Tiriti and even now, is work in progress. The current government's review of many of the alignments between Te Tiriti and public policies, is a step backwards, which may take many years to reverse :(  In essence, western perspectives' differences with Matauranga Māori, create many tensions, which require great effort  and co-operation, collaboration / partnership to shift. A braided river (Professor Angus MacFarlane, 2015) is one way to compromise but also to have each stream coalesce as they come together. Other ways include the Tiriti Whare decision making model by Professor Whataraingi Winiata and E tipu, e rea, with Sir Apirana Ngāta.

Jen continued with the work undertaken, as a Tiriti Tangata, to how she came to better understand her whakapapa and how this is drawn on to inform her ongoing journey to understand Te Tiriti. Explained how the relationships between the British Crown and Māori can be better understood. Stressed the important of all, to honour the treaty within the whanatanga sphere. In the past, the Crown/government has applied their power and in the present, finding a balance that respects both, is the important objective. 

Constitutional transformation is required (check Matike mai Aotearoa). At an organisational level, there are structures and processes than be followed (Check Ngā rerenga o Te Tiriti) to help shift from a monocultural to a pathway that recognises bicultural ways to practice.It is important to find a starting point and to travel the pathway. Tangata Whenua are allies (Haumi) with relationships. Self-determination is an important precept, so moving forward as an organisation requires good relationships and cooperation.

Important to have conversations not only in the professional sphere, but with family/friends etc. Use the current controversy presented by the Treat principles bill to open conversations and to help others understand the importance to Te Tiriti to Aotearoa future.

 Q & A / Patai followed. 

Cogniti mini symposium - notes from a few presentations and summaries from some recorded presentations

 Cogniti users and administrators organised a mini symposium, offered both online and f2f on 5th November 2024.

Three streams of presentations taking place over 2 1/2 hours. I could only get to a few in between meeting and facilitating workshops.

Notes taken from a few presentations.

- Personalised exam preparation using AI in large cohorts - Dr. Helen Mcquire and  Dr. Angela Sun (University of Sydney) context of microbiology/ immunology course. A bespoke AI agent was used to increase teacher presence with students. Went through the rationale and processes to build the chatbot. The important learning from this one, is how it is used by the lecturers, to identify knowledge gaps amongst their learners. Shared AI limitations - repetitive questions, Ai not providing direct exemplar responses. Invited potential collaborators to get in touch.

- Practice makes perfect: AI powered oral assessment preparation with Jim Ennion from Toi Ohomai. Presented on how a virtual client prepares students to become immigration advisers.Used Cogniti to help students prepare for an oral assessment. Cogniti was set up to act as a client. Prompts were set up with scenario information, set the tone to informal/not educated, have uncertain outcomes. Unfortunately, the agent hallucinated and provided incorrect information. However, student engagement was high with positive outcomes. assessment outcomes were marginally better for students who took the opportunity to use the agent.

- Always on teacher: AI brings business studies to life with James Cooper from Scots College, Sydney. Here the teacher formed an AI version of himself  (Cooper Jr.) to support students learning business at school (Year 11 and 12). The AI tutor could provide practice questions, mark student responses and help deepen content understanding. The curriculum is very prescribed, so that helped to ring fence the content. Main guide was to provide student support - replacing emails to students, generate revision questions and generate sample responses that are achievable by the students. Described process taken to built the agent. Student feedback was positive. Challenges around imprecision and working beyond the sylllabus scope. Short answers were 'double barrelled' and 'US style'. Shared the work currently to refine the agent, improve short-answer reliability, and mark essays and reports.

Last week, the various recordings of presentations was made available. Below are summaries of a few of relevance at present to my projects.

Notes from videos of presentations

- Reimagining research and writing learning through AI assistants with Dr. Lucy MacNaught and Dr. Kiri Hunter from Auckland University of Technology. Used Cogniti to help guide Masters of Nursing Science students to write research proposals. An intensive programme with many assessments. The view was that students did not have time to even look at feedback from one assessment to the next. Cogniti agents were used to encourage drafting and ongoing gradual improvement of their research proposal. Used Humphrey (2016) teaching and learning sequence to ground their work. Basically, used AI to provide feedback at each stage of the research proposal workflow. 

Christie Oldfield from Auckland University of Technology presented on 'enhancing subjective interview skills through AI role-play' in a physiotherapy context. Health care interviews are important to establish rapport with the patient but also to ensure that patient information is obtained to support the therapy sessions. Agent was created to monitor how student progressed through a patient interview. 

Plenary closed the symposium. This is presented by Danny Liu, Leitizia Wan, Sam Clarke, Minh Hubyn and Kria Coleman from the University of Sydney DVC (education).

Reflections from the symposium and work undertaken and ideas to take things into the future were covered. Overall, good examples of using Gen AI to support constructivist learning.