Review of 2020

 

What a year! Due to the pandemic, all plans laid out at the beginning of the year, changed . It has been a year of being agile and responsive.

The beginning of the year began well, I picked up several programme development projects to support and work progressed well. At the end of January, a foretaste of what was to become the main themes of the year, was our institution’s work towards supporting international students who were unable to return to NZ for their studies. We reviewed external access protocols and set up a moodle help site for teachers, working towards supporting their students via distance.

Then by the end of February and into March, we worked on a ‘shifting to distance’ learning plan. Little would we know that this would become ‘The Plan’ from the end of March when NZ went into Level 4 lockdown and all educational institutes closed. In all, we were closed for the rest of the first semester, with courses returning in July. Some of our practice-based courses returned end of May but to strict guidelines on the size of practical classes.

Across the time, the Ara Whakapiki Ako (AWA) team, worked conscientiously to support our teachers as they moved their f2f teaching online. We ran workshops on ‘online teaching’ and upskilling with the digital tools required (zoom, moodle, Panopto etc.). It was such a busy time that the time flew by and before we knew it, we were back on campus!

The second semester has also been busy, with a catch up on programme development work, which had to be put on hold in the first semester.

In August, I signed a contract with Springer to write a book on ‘digitally-enabling ‘learning by doing’ for vocational education’. This book summarises many of the models/frameworks used by AWA to support our teachers as they shifted from mostly f2f practice-based teaching and learning in workshops, studios, labs etc. onto online distance delivery. The book is now almost complete and will be published early next year.

There have been no f2f conferences this year, but I have been able to ‘attend’ several online – including CRADLE and Ulearn and to present virtually at the NZ VET research forum and a keynote for the VDCconference. Also, a presentation last week, to the Vietnam World Bank who are funding a project to set up elearning within the Vietnamese TVET system.

A book chapter, written last year, also published. My research recognised with an Ara – excellence in research award – which is a nice ‘icing on the cake’. In November, I began co-editorship of the International Journalof Training Research (IJTR) with Professor Sarojni Choy from GriffithUniversity. I have been associate editor for some years so this new task will be a real step up! The journal, affiliated to the Australian VET research association (AVETRA), has increased in profile since being published through Taylor and Francis.

So, although a different sort of year, work and research progressed 😊

Visible learning a way to end exams

 Here is a good overview of the current focus on re-thinking the ways education 'measure' learning. The short blog also includes the video by Toby Morris 'on the plat' summarising the challenges for those with lower social capital to attain equity within the current educational system.

The above, reiterates the overall them of this year' s Ulearn coference - see the notes on the first keynote setting the tone of - success for all and how 'measurement' of success needs to be shifted. 

For over a decade, I have advocated removal of 'summative assessments' from our course descriptors, as a way to move emphasis to formative assessments. Due to the current NZ Qualification Authority guidelines, it is not possible to remove summative assessments as such. So we are still 'teaching to the assessment' in many courses, as student success relies to 'passing the course'. Regardless of where the learner starts on their learning, they still have to meet 'standards'.

When I was teaching, about 1/2 the class would 'pass' the assessment, given slight 'steering' to establish a contextualisation of what they already knew, to the topic to be 'taught' and assessed. These students, just needed a few deliberate practice sessions, to polish skills, review theory and had the 'right' dispositions to do well. For the 'other' 1/2, it would take much effort on their part, to step up and my job was to help them, often, to just get to the start point (i.e. to scrape through). Yet, if they were willing to put in the effort, they would succeed in work. So, in the long run, it is the formative and the attainment of individualised learning goals which are more important, than 'passing the exam'. Many, in the 'other' 1/2, gave up along the line, as they saw the 'exam' as too difficult :(  Yes, they were making some progress through formative assessments. Many, feared 'failure' as that had been their experience, throughout school. Yet, formative assessments were looked forward to, as the feedback, provided the guide to improving, little by little, their confidence and skill. As confidence increased, so did their attitudes to learning. Always a win-win, as far as I was concerned. 

Therefore, my long 'crusade' to remove summative assessments. They are next to meaningless for many learners, measuring performance within a very narrow bandwidth. A means to stratify people into the 'cans and the cannots' when society needs everyone to contribute towards solving the 'wicked' challenges of humanity. So, more work still on promoting a better understanding of the role of assessments, in a world which is not 'black/white', where there are no 'right/wrong' answers and where 'out of the box' thinking may be the only way to ensure our planet is still livable for my grandson's generation.