Azra Moeed

The 2010 Canterbury earthquake: curriculum shockwaves

This paper reports data from an exploratory questionnaire designed to capture “curriculum P-waves” – those curriculum responses that were the fastest and therefore measured first – following a significant earthquake in New Zealand. As well as taking a professional interest in a major disaster in their backyard, it is assumed that social science and science teachers’ curricula responses are also influenced by the educational environments in which they work. Thus, it was of interest to chart the curriculum P-wave response to the Canterbury earthquake by teachers whose subject specialism is closely aligned to the study of extreme natural events. Analysis of data offered empirical support for curriculum P-waves across the country, with some evidence of refraction as the backwash effect of high-stakes assessment simultaneously constrained and facilitated teachers’ curriculum response. Overall, the findings indicate curriculum enactment commensurate with policy that encourages teachers to be responsive to student needs and interests.

Mindfulness Interventions in Classroom Learning Environments

The potential benefits of mindfulness – the cultivation of non-judgmental awareness and attention to the present moment – is an emerging field of inquiry for psychology and education researchers. Findings from a growing body of studies suggest that undertaking mindfulness-based breathing for a short time each day can mediate the impact of emotions in classroom events. We focus on ways in which two teachers and their students and the researchers developed emerging understandings of mindfulness during a three-month breathing intervention. Drawing on video data of the teachers leading classroom breathing sessions and associated conversations with teachers as well as a training session, we highlight some of the challenges encountered as teachers introduced mindfulness-based breathing in classroom settings.

Science Investigation in Secondary School: Changes to Teacher Practice

We have observed that just like the primary school teachers in the previous chapter, secondary school science teachers continually make changes to their practice to support student learning more effectively through a process of reflection and review. However, this process does not tend to be informed by published research. As in Chap. 5, our interest was to find out how access to published research evidence added to teachers’ reflection and the impacts it had on how they use science investigations in their classes. In this parallel chapter, we describe what happened when participating secondary school teachers made research evidence-based changes to their practice of science investigation.

Science Investigation in Secondary School

New Zealand aspires to be a country where science and technology play a vital role in its economic growth and the well-being of its citizens, and science education is an integral part of this vision. The educational curriculum requires students to engage with, explore and experience the natural and physical world with the aim of enabling them to ‘become critical, informed and responsible citizens’ (Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 17). Here, we draw upon case study research investigating the teaching and learning of science investigation in a secondary school with a focus on the complexity of teaching and learning science investigation to gain deeper insights into what teachers believe science investigation to be, how they teach it and what students learn from investigation.

Introduction: School Science Investigation—What Research Says?

It seems logical to include science investigation in school science education programmes, after all, it is through practical investigation that scientists have developed scientific theories and ideas about how the world works. However, what counts as science investigation? Are all hands-on practical activities investigation? How does school science investigation reflect investigation carried out by scientists? Why should science investigation be part of school science? What do we hope students will learn? And importantly, what is our current understanding of what students actually learn from investigation in school science? In this chapter, we review the recent literature relevant to these questions.

Enhancing Learning Through School Science Investigation

In this chapter, we reflect on our findings and their implications. We consider the nature of student learning that we observed and the teachers’ beliefs and practices that supported this learning. We discuss changes in practice and what is needed to support such change. We review the role of school science investigation and the potential it has for supporting/scaffolding/driving student learning, and present a model, developing further the thinking of others, that summarises teacher strategies which support different types of learning through science investigation.

Science Investigation in Primary School

In this chapter, we examine the beliefs about science investigation held by the two primary teachers who participated in the study and consider how these beliefs translated into their practice. A description of each teacher’s practice of science investigation during Phase 1 of the project is provided along with findings from analysis of observations. We identify strategies these teachers were already incorporating into their teaching in the three key areas that were the focus of the study: supporting students to investigate scientifically; connecting students’ practical experiences to key scientific concepts and making learning about the nature of science explicit. Finally, we consider how practices impacted student learning through an analysis of student interviews and work samples, discussing some of the challenges that were identified during each set of observations.

The New Zealand Context and Research Design

In this chapter, we describe the research project that forms the basis of this book. We begin by outlining the New Zealand educational context. We then present an overview of the New Zealand curriculum before moving on to describe the research design and methodology.

Theorizing Formative Assessment: Time for a Change in Thinking

Abstract Critics argue that formative assessment, an educational intervention that has been embraced globally and researched extensively, lacks a theoretical frame. In this essay, the author argues that because formative assessment is embedded in the learning that takes place in the classroom, the theory that underpins formative assessment would have to be a theory of learning and not of assessment.

Motivation to Learn Science Investigation

When, what and how students learn is influenced by motivation (Schunk 1991). Motivation is needed initially to get the students to engage in learning and it is needed throughout the knowledge construction process. Motivation is a much researched area in teaching and learning but little is known about motivation to learn through science investigation beyond teachers’ view that students enjoy it and students saying that it is a better alternative to written work. Findings reported here are the insights provided by the students through a survey, focus group interviews, conversations in the classroom and observations. Students’ engagement with the task was high during the practical part of the investigation. The findings suggest that motivation came from: the variety of task; finding out something ‘new’; having fun; getting good grades in assessment; and not having to write notes was motivational. Students found demotivating: repetition; lack of cognitive challenge; and investigating something where the answers were obvious.