Yesterday, Te Pūkenga was launched as the offical neame for NZIST. All the polytechnics are currently operating as Ltd. until April 2022 and will merge into Te Pūkenga along with the ITOs (Industry Traiining Organisations).
The CE and DCEs are now all appointed with the CE, Stephen Towns starting in his role in July and all of the DCEs will be on board by November. We should see some movement by early next year, beyond the release of the interim planning documents.
There has been a large amount of energy poured into supporting the shift to online learning due to the closure of educational institutions as a consequence of the covid-19 pandemic.
Through Proffesor Mark Brown's LinkedIn post, comes this link to a large collection of resources.
The resources are largely from higher education, produced by universities to support their lecturers.
There is a useful list of research reports (see 5.7) of relevance for reference and this is followed by a section on the planning for the new future of education. In sum, these resources call for the need to have a longer term plan, strategy and vision, going forward beyond 2020.
A good site archiving contemporary material and the responses to the pandemic as things evolve.
Today's lunch time session, and the last of this year's 'kick-off' series of professional development workshops from Ara Institute of Canterbury, is on 'research informed teaching.
Dr. Michael Shone and I facilitate the session with four of our researcher lecturers presenting their take on how they integrate research into their teaching. Talei Howell-Price from events hosts the session.
After welcome and housekeeping from Talei, I run through an overview of the session. Michael then speaks on various ways research informed teaching may be defined, drawing from recommendations provided by the NZ Universities group. These are research-informed teaching, research-led teaching (which can be research-orientated, research-tutores or research-nased learning).
Then each of the presenters provide their examples:
- First up Dr. Hossein Askarinejad from the Department of Engineering and Architectural Studies sets the scene by rationalising the reasons for connecting research with teaching including the needs to develop higher order thinking and sense-making skills with students; the job market seeking people who have novel thinking and are adaptable; and the requirements to work with data etc. to inform practice. Provided a continuum between teacher and student focused ways to link research to learning (Turner & Wuetherick, 2006). Followed by examples from his own teaching practice. Problem-based learning and the use of BYOD to allow inquiry-based learning during sessions supported.
- Then Dr. Bronwyn Beatty from the Broadcasting School described how to engage students with the research aspects of a largely practice-based, applied learning programme through participation in authentic simulated and work-based learning environments. She detailed the concept of media ecology, and how this is introduced to students. Research teachers improves knowledge, allowing it to be brought into teaching. Of importance is the small amount of NZ research. Access by students to these provide better contextualisation and currency. Students conduct projects at each year of the three year degree, gradually increasing in complexity and work on individual and team projects. One good example is for students to replicate NZ studies, to update the data and findings as social/political factors evolve. This helps students realise the role of research and allows them to experience and learn research.
- Next, Dr. Peter Olson from the Department of Applied Sciences and Social Practice provided an overview of his research in sports sciences and how students are engaged through participation with projects.Described how he shifted from unversity type research to applied research by forming networks and relations with 'industry'. These create opportunities for teachers and students to apply theory to practice via participation in real world projects.
- Dr. Andrew Frost, who teaches in the Social Work programme then provided an example of a project with students Randolph Grace and Anthony McLean whereby students participated as research assistants. Presented on the context and details of the project, methodology and discussed findings.
Brief discussion on 'principles' for incorporating research into teaching at Ara then ensued.
Question and answer session followed with questions on scaffolding research and incorporating research at various levels of student study.
A good session showcasing the applied nature of research at Ara and the calibre of research undertaken.
Today's lunch time session was a workshop on supporting or supervising post-graduate students at Ara Insitute of Canterbury. Post-graduate programmes are relatively new at Ara and currently, three programmes are offered. One in Nursing, one in Creative Arts and one in Sustainability Practice.
Talei Howell-Price from events hosted the session. Dr. Michael Shone and myself facilitated the session with Michael providing the overview of definitions, models, guiding principles and Ara policies and resources.
Firstly, Michael shared some definitions post-grad student supervision.
We were supported by two lecturers who presented their perspectives.
- Dr. Tony McCaffrey - brought in his context as a lecturer on the Bachelor of Performing Arts and Post-Graduate Diploma and Master of Creative Practice. He summarised his approach as assisting students to find their voice and identity and to critique their own personality-derived creative performance/practice. It is important for students of creative arts to know where they are from , their turangawaewae (of where they belong) and this is central to their work. There is a balance between engaging the student in critical research and in helping their voice to be heard and articulated.
Explained there are many 'modalities to performance research. Provided a list of 26! Helping students make sense of all of this complexity is an important aspect given that performance research is also a team effort. Students bring their embedded practice, knowledge and experiences of colonialisation, their own cultures' expectations and assumptions. Empathy is an important aspect of supporting the students to 'ask the questions about performance' and not so much to 'find answers' but to enter into a discourse.
- Dr. Allen Hill - Teaches on the Master in Sustainable Practice. Drew on his experiences as research coordinator in his previous position at the University of Tasmania which had 120 post-grad students at a time. One of his roles was to assign supervisors to students and projects and another was to deal with stuff when things went wrong. He cautioned on just depending on one's experiences of being supervised and the need to be critically reflective of the process, and the need to be adequately trained for the role.
Apprenticeship model may not be the best approach as it depends on what students bring, the supervisory team's strengths and the type of project being undertaken. The important thing was to establish communication, and an alignment of expectations, assumptions and shared understanding early on. It is important to be humble, recognise and acknowledge the presence of power relationships, work respectfully and encourage collaborative and reciprocal relationships.
Shared that the supervisory role is one of the most enriching aspects of teaching at post-grad level.
Michael then went through the roles, characteristics, types, expertise required, guiding priciples and Ara policies. It is important to source instructions on the process and allow that the journey is not linear. Supervisor characteristics which are helpful include being available, interested, supportive, providing good and consistent communication, subject (or technical) expertise, career awareness and appropriate conflict resolution skills. A supervisor is a mix of manager, educator and supporter with each role coming up as required through the thesis journey.
Question and answer session closed off the session. All in, a good session to share practice.
This blog provides a good archive of Professor Stephen Billett's woork. It extends on the list provided in this previous post from 2017.
Stephen's university page is also another good place to find a list of his work.
An interactive session with Q & A underpinning the session.
Session hosted by Lynette Winter, faciliated by Jane Bates (educational developer) with Chris Habinshuti
(humanities), Anna Livingstone (sports) and
Adam Brasell (outdoor education).
Jane covered introductions and introduced the first
activity. Think of the time when you were a young learner and had a positive
experience and why this was positive. Break out groups formed up to share these
perspectives.
Group reconvened and progressed to discussing two themes communication and learning environment.
Chris talked about passion and how teachers who had passion for their work influenced and inspired their students. This helps learners see another side of learning, that interest in a topic can lead to other things. Passion is contagious :)
Anna shared her tips on communication. Setting expectations is important, including for behaviours, standards for work, communications, in-class relationships, activity participation etc.
Adam covered communications within learning environments. Important to realise not all 'chatter' is frivolous. Identifying relevant chatter adds to discussions and encourages learners to express curiosity, interest and contribute to their learning. Sometimes, extraneous chatter can be 'parked' for later and acknowledging the importance of contributions is helpful in building a participative learning environment.
Chris shared learning 'stepping stones' activity to help learners see the steps required to complete the course, used at the beginning of the course. Reference to this activity helps reassure students and provides them with a visual guide to progress through the course. The metaphor becomes a shared experience and reference point for each class.
Jane then asked participants to enter any items on communication type hints into the chat not already covered or if there are any questions.
Question on autism - Jane provided recommendation that information offered visually and aurally. Clear instructions and not too many items at one time.
Communication should also include lots of feedback and modelling of 'being a learner'. Learning is hard work and support required. The learning process may have to be 'explained' to learners and that results do not occur instantly but requires effort and time.
Positive learning environments then explored. Each presenter provided some ideas.
Adam maximises the advantages of using the outdoor environment to help create positive learning environments. Important to provide opportunities for curiosity, to be excited about their peers' success and then use these to further celebrate learning success.
Anna provided the example of getting students' names correct by checking with them during the first session. Therefore important to build relationships with students instead of just a focus on covering content. Through firm relationships with learners, there is better recipocal learning.
Chris covered the need to have respect for what the students bring with them into the course and to work with them to enhance their strengths. Listening to students also important and ensure everyone's ideas are valued. Learn from students - e.g. Maori from students so they are offering their expertise and sharing experience.
Last item was for each panelist to share challenges and how they were overcome.
A good session for sharing practice.
This workshop will look at the
question “From what we have learned from cognitive neuroscience, how do we
learn? How should we teach?”
Derek Chirnside, educational developer at Ara Institute of
Canterbury Ltd. Provides a consolidation on the various neuroscience concepts
introduced in previous kick off sessions.
Summarised insights around cognition and learning based on
cognitive neuroscience and to stimulate thinking on how to connect these to
teaching.
Used recent experience at ‘bagel school’ to provide examples
of what worked and what did not. Used Ausubel – the most important single
factor influencing learning is what the learner brings with them into the
learning. Revised how working memory works – how many items can be held in the
brain at once and how long the brain is able to engage with learning (perhaps
15 – 20 minutes).
Revised cognitive load theory. Extraneous load (noise,
distractions) is not useful. Intrinsic load is the items being processed – new learning,
linking to past learning etc. Germane load is the effort required to process
the learning. Therefore, do not talk to
long, chunk your delivery, take breaks.
The pause procedure is useful in reducing load. Breaks in
long lectures help with processing and later recall. Recommended to train your
students to take ‘thinking breaks’ and to ensure students know that learning is
not always easy (desirable difficulty is useful in progressing learning).
As a teacher plan transitions, instructions and have clear
goals.
Revised the information processing model – working memory
and long term memory with schema being the things that are formed by
individuals to represent concepts etc. (encoding)
Highlighting and just reading notes does not lead to deep
learning. Retrieval practice is more effective as it creates the neural
pathways required to achieve ‘fluency’.
The reason 3 exposures to concept etc. works because of the ‘forgetting
curve’. Interleaved practice is better than repetitive practice of a single
skill/concept. Instead of doing xxx.yyy.zzz. do xyz.zxy. yxz
Cramming not recommended by spaced learning more effective.
Elaboration also useful as it causes learner to have to re-interpret/re-explain
something they have learnt, leading to reinforcement.
Shared the work on cognitive overload from Sweller - worked example effect,, redundancy effect, Split attention effect, modality effect
One of the aspects of the shifts in educational direction and strategy cased by the pandemics, is the need for all to be more circumspect and develop deeper critical thinking skills.
Without 'looking outside the box' we are doomed to repeatedly rely on the known when the current situation may require new ways of doing and being.
Alan Hoskin introduced our educational developer team to the thinking routines toolbox developed by Harvard's Project Zero. These thinking routines arise from a series of projects run through the Harvard Graduate School of Education for sharing with the wider educational community.
Although many of the projects are focused on school contexts, the learning from the many projects are applicable across all educational sectors. The entire website is always worth a look through for updated resources.
In this session, Nathan Wallis shares his ideas on the teenagebrain. As per previous presentation (2015), Nathan provides a good overview.
Alan Hoskins facilitates the session. This time around Nathan
begins with the anatomy of the human brain, with the 4 brains. Re-emphasised
that 3 of the brains are presents in all mammals. Humans have a well evolved
brain 4 – the cortex with the frontal cortex the most relevant to today’s
presentation. The frontal cortex takes time to develop fully and is essential in
development of our emotions, conscience, empathy etc.
Explained the function of brain scans and how they are
useful in understanding how we tick. Large scale brain scan studies over the
last few years show frontal cortex maturity to be beyond the late twenties and
for some people, into the early thirties.
In general, female’s brain mature earlier (between 18 -24)
with males much later. The better the nurturing/’data’ during the first 1000
days of life = better language and interrelationship skills going into the
future. First born children have major advantages compared to their siblings,
due to focussed attention. Therefore, in general, first born females mature
earliest. Summarised balancing risks (single parent, parent in jail etc.) with
advantages/resilience (one parent at home during first year, two parents, active grandparents/extended family, bilingual, music
learning).
Returned to importance of brains 1, 2 and 3 which are
conduits to brain 4. Brain 1 referred to as the survival brain. Brain 2 controls
movements and brain 3 is the feeling/emotional brain.
Shared Perry’s neuro-sequential model (2002) as an overview.
Revealed the 4 brains using human development from birth to adolescents using
the neuro-sequential model. The frontal cortex tends to have to do a re-wiring
around 14 – 17 as it deals with the developments required to mature. Hence, the
teenage years are challenging. 10 year
olds often have better emotional control than 15 year olds! Adolescence
involves putting the frontal cortex onstream from 19% to 90%. Adults use 90%
and use this to logically think through impact, consequences etc. Teenagers
unable to engage the large frontal cortex input required and return to the
emotional/limbic brain.
Introduced the need for balance within brain activity. When
brain 1 is active, the cortex is less so and vice versa. To effectively use the
cortex, requires the brainstem to be calm. Therefore, if brainstem is
disturbed, learning is not supported. Explains why mindfulness is useful as it
helps relax the brainstem. Connecting new/challenging learning with learners’
context/interests/motivations helpful in getting the frontal cortex up. Accessing
cortex during exam is better if limbic system is relaxed. Recommended ‘boxed breathing’
as one way to calm down so the cortex is engaged to its maximum capacity when
required.
Recommended the following to help learners learn. Use
cognitive training to help learning occur – tell them what to do (not what not
to do!) – describe the learning that you want – as 25% of the cortex will
visualise it. Well-reinforced, this leads to changes in behaviour. Meet needs
of the brain stem by calming it down to prepare for learning.
A good overview using good examples to illustrate complex ideas.
As always, important to remember neuroscience is still on a journey to understand how the human brain works. As per understanding behaviour - see overview of book - behave - "things are complicated. We may understand some of the underlying biological basis for behaviour but there are many contributing factors beyond the biological. There is never one factor or cause, but a multitude of interactions, concurrent shifts, biological and social coevolution etc."
Read Wendy Cato's linked in post (written within the Australian context I think) this morning and it triggered a reflection on the status and use of micro-credentials.
In NZ, micro-credentials were piloted a couple of years ago. They are now 'mainstream' and the general rule is that they should be 'stakable' rather than strictly standalone.
Overseas, recent articles support the provision of micro-credentials. For example bbc posted an article on whether micro-credentials could compete with traditional degrees. And todayonline had an article on google courses which promise a shortcut into high paying jobs and what this means for skills training.
Examples on youtube and individuals' post indicate self-directed learners are able to leverage of microcredentials - possibly in the ICT discipline.
So there is a place for micro-credentials but they really need to be led by individual's learning needs, rather than be imposed. Going down the micro-credentials route may be productive in the short term. However, by the nature of their small size and deep specialisation, microcredentials have limited reach. They are good for just-in-time, keep up with tech/latest processes type learning outcomes. Used as a supplement to broader education, micro-credentials have a distinct niche.
However, saying micro-credentials will replace degrees may be too far reaching. A good general education is still something all should aspire to. The world needs broad and critical thinkers, to help deal with the large challenges posed by climate change, globalisation and the ongoing pandemic. Micro-credentials allow for quick and deep specialisation, required to solve wicked problems. However, the ability to look beyond the narrow confines of ones specialisation are key to creativity and innovation along with the many skills, knowledge an dispositions to understand and work collaborative with others - who may think very differently from ourselves.
So as with everything,there are pluses and minuses to micro-credentials. The important aspect is to ensure the completion of small components of learning, helps people achieve work outcomes. However, to also remember, that qualifications of any sort, must not lead to 'dead ends' given the speed at which the future of work is evolving.
Today's lunch time kick-off session was facilitated by Jane Bates, one of our team of educational developers at Ara and hosted by Marion Hale. The topic covered was on powerful and authentic assessments, in particular the transfer of learning to work.
Jane provided an overview before several lecturers (Michelle Thompson from nursing, Dr. David Weir from computing and Dennis Winter from architecture) provided examples of their assessment practices.
Jane began with key points towards ensuring assessments enhance students' learning and work readiness. Reviewed the concepts of 'work ready' vs 'work ready plus' graduates; and the Ara teaching and leanring framework. Work-ready plus draws from the work of Emeritus Professor Geoff Scott. Work readiness includes generic/transferable skills and role and discipline specific skills and knowledge required for effective practice. These could be thought of as competencies. Work ready plus also includes capabilties like personal (self awareness, decisiveness, commitment), interpersonal and cognitive skills and knowledge.
Summarised the Ara teaching and learning framework which takes us to 2022. Key attributes or capabilties include graduates being critical thinkers, able to act sustainably, communicate effectively, innovate, be cuturally intelligent and responsible. Provided link to access the framework.
Emphasised the need to ensure assessments are embedded into teaching and learning processes. Referred to presentation by Arun Pradhan who referred to 21st century requirements including digital fluency, learning to learn skills, problem solving, working collaboratively and empathy and the T shaped graduates with both disciplinary and broad soft and cross-functional skills.
Defined power assessments as high quality assessment practices that address key employment competencies and personal, interpersonal, and cognitive capabilities.
Assessments have to be authentic and demonstrate what people can do, are problem based and directly related to what is being learnt. Graduates need to have industry skills and knowledge but also the personal, interpersonal and cognitive capabilities to adapt to the challenges of the future of work.
Michelle shares her example, first year nursing students reinforcing communications skills as practiced within the health context. Used scenarios and students practice with each other to hone these skills. Used videos to assist with formative feedback and eventual completion of the summative assessment. Nursing have been refining this process for several years.
Dennis shared the architecture year 3 project. The projects are supported with a comprehensive brief as per architectural practice. Students present their project as it progresses with 'crits' from tutors, peers and industry, again reflecting industry practice. An exhibition of students' work and presentation along with portfolio of work also required to evidence their learning.
David shared the project-based year 3 capstone computing course objectives and results. Year 3 computing students work on an industry led project through a semester. Their results are reported through a report, poster and a presentation. Important to ensure computing students are provided the opportunity to learn key communication and presentation skills.
All the three examples use authentic assessments to elicit students' reflective learning on not only the core knowledge and skills of the discipline but also the occupationally specific dispositions required to be effective professionals. Lecturers model the industry ways of doing and thinking and provide important 'checks' as students progress through the curriculum.
Active discussions ensued after each example is presented.
Jane provided summary - a powerful asessment checklist and examples of powerful assessments- before thanking all presenters and closing the session.
