Louise Milne

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The LEOTC milieu as a setting for junior primary students learning in technology education.

This is an investigation into how best to structure the learning experiences of young children learning outside the classroom, and, how this relates to teaching and learning in technology education. By observing and analysing student behaviour I hope to identify aspects of planning that will impact on the effectiveness of working within the LEOTC genre. What and how young children learn in environments other than their usual classroom, and the degree to which novel experiences can detract or enhance the value of learning, may have implications for other educators working in this field.

John Lockley

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Curriculum and pedagogy development in education for sustainability in New Zealand schools

John's research is into the way teachers develop local curriculum and develop classroom practice to address national curriculum policy in the area of education for sustainability.

Wendy Fox-Turnbull

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Children’s stories in technology

Classroom conversations are core to establishing successful learning for children. This research explores the nature of conversation in technology education in primary classrooms and the implications for teaching and learning. It uses an ethnographic approach with participant observations, interviews, autophotography, and work samples, to develop rich description of classroom conversation while students undertook learning in technology education at Years 2 and 6. Over arching key elements to conversations are explored against a framework of concepts and types of talk and both levels. It is hoped that the study will contribute to understanding the importance of student conversation on learning in technology.

Michael Michie

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Cultural issues in science education

My research has been about western teachers working cross-culturally with indigenous students, particularly in indigenous communities. it's an international study focusing mainly on Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. It looks at the nature of border crossing as enhancing identity learning and considers the role of culture brokerage. It uses a qualitative methodology based on a series of interviews with an international group of successful western educationalists.

Franco Rodie

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Solomon Islands Year Nine Science Teachers’ Summative Assessment Practices

The purpose of this exploratory study is to investigate the perceptions, experiences and practices of six secondary science teachers concerning school-based assessments that serve a summative purpose. The study is divided into two parts. The first part involves a baseline study which explores the teachers’ existing summative assessment practices with the intent to identify their professional development needs. The second part involves an intervention study, which aims to build the science teachers’ summative assessment practices, so that they can play a significant part in all summative assessments of their students.

Nihra Haruzuan Bin Mohamad Said (Nihra Said)

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An Online Collaborative Learning in Pre-Service Teachers Programme in Malaysia

The study aims to understand the aspects of learning online effectively through the implementation of an online collaborative learning environment in facilitating teaching and learning in a Malaysian university. The study involves the use of extensive online discussions among pre-service teachers from Chemistry, Physics & Mathematics groups in carrying out their group work assignments.

Irene Barnett

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Improving the Teaching and Learning in Undergraduate Physics Laboratories

Many factors impact the success of laboratory learning. My thesis investigates a factor seldom discussed; the impact demonstrators have on possible student learning and how this is affected by their work environment. Using a first year laboratory course, I compare an environment dominated by reification to one similar in character to a professional learning community.

Vanwyk K.M. Chikasanda

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An investigation of the development of Teacher’s perceptions towards technology: A framework for restructuring technology education in Malawi

The technical education curriculum in Malawi has, since its establishment in schools in the early 1960s, emphasised craft skills development. In its current form there is little scope for developing student technological knowledge and capabilities so they could understand, create, control and manipulate technology. Recently there has been a call for schooling in Malawi to help students attain technological literacy (Malawi’s Vision 2020, 2002 Science and Technology Policy for Malawi). But there has been no full review of the technical education curriculum to incorporate learning that enhances such literacies. The need now is to establish technology education as a more comprehensive curriculum area than that promulgated in the technical curriculum. This study therefore, aimed to develop perceptions of teachers towards technology as an initial step in helping to create a more comprehensive view of technology education which would be necessary for restructuring the curriculum.

Fauziah Sulaiman

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Tertiary physics education

My research revolves on a new approach of teaching and learning especially in physics course. I am using constructivist epistemology which is teaching and learning using problem-based learning (PBL) approach. It is being hoping that it will integrate students’ creativity and critical thinking especially amongst undergraduate in Malaysia. The teaching and learning process delivered via e-learning as an alternative ways rather than using conventional approach using face-to-face instruction.

Nelson Lebo III

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Towards ecological literacy: A permaculture approach for junior secondary science

My research seeks to address the dual challenges of implementing high quality environmental education in secondary schools and the worldwide trend of students withdrawing from school science after the compulsory years. Building upon a theoretical framework which includes ecological literacy, transformative learning and permaculture, I have designed an intervention for a year ten science class in a New Zealand 'area school.' By making the teaching and learning of science more experiential, local and overtly focused on environmental problem-solving, the aim is to increase the relevance of science to students as well as it's applicability for human-scale, local, environmental problem-solving. Permaculture is an ecological design science, and permaculturists can be said to be working from a place of ecological literacy. As such, they can serve as examples of citizen scientists working in the community towards strong sustainability.

Asaku Openg

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Pre-service environmental education in PNG

My study is in the area of environment and sustainability education. Trying to find out current state of environment and sustainability education in Pre-service teachers colleges in PNG and find out how a course can be designed and implemented to: (1) reflect current ideas on environment and sustainability issues; (2) reflect current ideas about teaching and learning in primary teacher education; (3) reflect PNG indigenous perspectives about environment and sustainability; and improve teaching and learning in EEfS. In order to that, a baseline survey was conducted in 2008 to find out what environment and sustainability education concepts, skills and attitudes could be include in the revised course. Using the information from the literature review and survey a course was developed, implemented and evaluated in 2009. The data collected throughout the study will then be reported in the thesis and the revised course will be ready for implementation in 2012.

Denis Lajium

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Model-based chemistry learning

Past studies have noted that student’ mental models usually are not as close to the scientific model as we wanted them to be. Though it is mostly agreed among researchers that model-based teaching and learning in science education is promising, research in mental modelling approaches, especially in chemistry is still limited. This study is intended to determine whether model-based learning is able to improve or change student’s mental models, understanding of scientific models and its ontological status about chemistry concepts.

Claudio Aguayo

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Education for Sustainability (EfS) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT): Use of EfS websites for community education in Chile

Within a systems thinking and complexity theory approach, the purpose of my research is to address some of the current sustainability issues affecting Chile using ICT tools. The topic of my research is to investigate the use of education for sustainability (EfS) websites for community education at the nonformal level in Chile. The main goal of such websites is to promote both understanding and action towards sustainable living amongst community members.

Nhung Hong

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Enhancing flexible and constructivist learning by integrating information and communication technology

In recent years, the School of Education (SOE) of Can Tho University has had a very strong innovation in teaching methods. Learning and teaching processes are being changed from the teacher-centered to the students-centered approach. As one of the departments of SOE, the Physics Department follows the innovative stream of SOE. A large number of Physics courses are taught via new teaching methods. However, many other Physics courses are still being taught in the traditional ways. In those courses, instructors are the center of teaching and learning processes. They teach through traditional methods. In class, students sit in one place, listen to the teachers and write in their notebooks. They rarely have group discussion, group-work, and so on. The interaction between instructors – students and between students - students is missing. This thesis will explore and implement alternatives to traditional physics teaching.

Vicent Naano Anney

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Professional Development Approaches for Supporting Licensed Science and Mathematics Teachers (LSMT) in Tanzanian Community Secondary Schools: A Qualitative Investigation.

Secondary Education Development Plan (SEDP) reforms in Tanzania caused shortage science and mathematics teachers in communitity secondary schools. Local communiities in rural and peri-urban areas constructed many secondary schools than the available teachng resource and the capacity that teacher education institutions system can train. Government intervene the shortage of teachers by licensing high school graduate trained induction course for four weeks to teach in community schools in rural areas. Moreover, because of severe shortage the local community school boards through head of schools also employed unlicensed high school graduates to teach and parents pay their salaries.

This study will try to investigate the professional development interventions that are relevant at ward-based level to help the untrained licensed science and mathematics teachers in community secondary schools to acquire skills, knowledge and attitudes for teaching science and mathematics.

Alcuin Ivor Mwalongo

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Student teachers’ perceptions about learning management systems as tools for promoting critical thinking.

The study uses a pragmatist paradigm to examine student teachers’ perceptions about Moodle tools such as online asynchronous discussion forums, quizzes and wikis for promoting critical thinking.

Since previous research studies have measured the cognitive skills and dispositional components of critical thinking separately, and using different instruments; this study will develop an instrument to measure both components of critical thinking at the same time as the two components are inseparable. Finally, to give a balanced picture of an individual’s thinking, the study will measure both critical thinking and uncritical thinking as the latter has received less attention in studies related to online learning environments.

Dilani Pahala Gedera

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An Activity Theory analysis of mediational engagement with e-learning activities in tertiary level education in New Zealand.

Many universities and institutions are incorporating components of e-learning into their programs with the intention of offering distant learning courses or improving traditional mode of course delivery. In the integration of e-learning activities, there are several factors that should be taken into consideration. Some of these factors are the type of technology, the instructors’ competencies with technology, students’ motivation and their willingness to use the implemented technology, collaborative learning environment, and most importantly the ways that students engage with e-learning activities are significant. As such, this research aims to explore and examine the factors that affect mediational engagement with e-learning activities in tertiary level education in New Zealand.