title: The effect of the "lens of the teacher" on teacher summative assessment literacy and practice

authors: Edwards, Frances

abstract: Teachers’ summative assessment literacy is vital in the current educational environment in New Zealand, given the importance of teachers’ summative judgements in all levels of compulsory education. Through initial teacher education programmes, and inservice professional development and learning, beginner teachers are able to develop assessment knowledge and skills. However, their practice may not reflect what they have learnt.
This paper reports on a qualitative study which aimed to explore the characteristics of summative assessment literacy for secondary beginner teachers, and the contributors to this development. Teachers were interviewed five times over an 18 month period through their initial teacher education programme, and in their first year of employment. The transcripts were analysed by using the model for science teachers’ assessment literacy proposed by Abell and Siegel (2011) as an initial framework. This deductive coding was followed by and merged with subsequent deductive coding as new codes emerged progressively during data analysis.

Summative assessment literacy was found to be an amalgam of knowledges and skills that informed the teachers’ assessment decision making. However, teachers’ assessment decisions were not found to necessarily reflect their knowledge. Teacher commentary indicated that personal and contextual factors acted as amplifiers and/or filters as knowledge became personalised and as the teacher decided how to use it. Personal factors included teacher prior knowledge, experience and beliefs about assessment, teaching, learning, and science; beliefs about ethical matters and, emotional responses to assessment. Contextual factors included beginner teachers’ interactions and experiences with influential others, as well as wider influences such as school policy and practice, and national policy. These factors were found to mediate the translation of teacher professional knowledge to classroom practice, affecting assessment decisions, and sometimes leading to surprising outcomes.
This study provides an alternative view from which to consider teacher development for those working within the partnerships of teacher education and schools. By understanding the effect of teachers’ amplifiers and filters, those working with beginner teachers may be able to make the ‘lens of the teacher’ more explicit with regard to assessment. This in turn may facilitate summative assessment literacy development and assessment decisions that are more likely to be in accord with the principles of good assessment.

text: The effect of the "lens of the teacher" on teacher summative assessment literacy and practice Teachers’ summative assessment literacy is vital in the current educational environment in New Zealand, given the importance of teachers’ summative judgements in all levels of compulsory education. Through initial teacher education programmes, and inservice professional development and learning, beginner teachers are able to develop assessment knowledge and skills. However, their practice may not reflect what they have learnt.
This paper reports on a qualitative study which aimed to explore the characteristics of summative assessment literacy for secondary beginner teachers, and the contributors to this development. Teachers were interviewed five times over an 18 month period through their initial teacher education programme, and in their first year of employment. The transcripts were analysed by using the model for science teachers’ assessment literacy proposed by Abell and Siegel (2011) as an initial framework. This deductive coding was followed by and merged with subsequent deductive coding as new codes emerged progressively during data analysis.

Summative assessment literacy was found to be an amalgam of knowledges and skills that informed the teachers’ assessment decision making. However, teachers’ assessment decisions were not found to necessarily reflect their knowledge. Teacher commentary indicated that personal and contextual factors acted as amplifiers and/or filters as knowledge became personalised and as the teacher decided how to use it. Personal factors included teacher prior knowledge, experience and beliefs about assessment, teaching, learning, and science; beliefs about ethical matters and, emotional responses to assessment. Contextual factors included beginner teachers’ interactions and experiences with influential others, as well as wider influences such as school policy and practice, and national policy. These factors were found to mediate the translation of teacher professional knowledge to classroom practice, affecting assessment decisions, and sometimes leading to surprising outcomes.
This study provides an alternative view from which to consider teacher development for those working within the partnerships of teacher education and schools. By understanding the effect of teachers’ amplifiers and filters, those working with beginner teachers may be able to make the ‘lens of the teacher’ more explicit with regard to assessment. This in turn may facilitate summative assessment literacy development and assessment decisions that are more likely to be in accord with the principles of good assessment.

year: 2017

title: Heegner cycles and congruences between anticyclotomic p-adic L-functions over CM-extensions

authors: Delbourgo, Daniel

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: Let E be a CM-field, and suppose that f, g are two primitive Hilbert cusp forms over E⁺ of weight 2 satisfying a congruence modulo λʳ. Under appropriate hypotheses, we show that the complex L-values of f and g twisted by a ring class character over E, and divided by the motivic periods, also satisfy a congruence relation mod λʳ (after removing some Euler factors). We treat both the even and odd cases for the sign in the functional equation – this generalizes classical work of Vatsal [23] on congruences between elliptic modular forms twisted by Dirichlet characters. In the odd case, we also show that the p-adic logarithms of Heegner points attached to f and g satisfy a congruence relation modulo λʳ, thus extending recent work of Kriz and Li [17] concerning elliptic modular forms.

text: Heegner cycles and congruences between anticyclotomic p-adic L-functions over CM-extensions Let E be a CM-field, and suppose that f, g are two primitive Hilbert cusp forms over E⁺ of weight 2 satisfying a congruence modulo λʳ. Under appropriate hypotheses, we show that the complex L-values of f and g twisted by a ring class character over E, and divided by the motivic periods, also satisfy a congruence relation mod λʳ (after removing some Euler factors). We treat both the even and odd cases for the sign in the functional equation – this generalizes classical work of Vatsal [23] on congruences between elliptic modular forms twisted by Dirichlet characters. In the odd case, we also show that the p-adic logarithms of Heegner points attached to f and g satisfy a congruence relation modulo λʳ, thus extending recent work of Kriz and Li [17] concerning elliptic modular forms.

year: 2020

title: Māori tourism geographies: Values, morals and diverse economies

authors: Ringham, Sandra Lee

subjects: Māori tourism

abstract: Māori working in tourism negotiate moral terrains of their own world and those of visiting tourists, all of which are layered with colonial and capitalist values of Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond. We draw on research with Māori tourism providers in the North Island’s central, coastal and northern regions to address the question: How and in what ways do Māori working in tourism (re)construct their places and identities through practising Māori values in Aotearoa New Zealand’s tourism spaces? It is argued, using empirical material from interviews and par­ticipant sensing—a more-than-seeing form of participant observation—that diverse Māori values and practices shape tourism terrains and vice versa. The participants, who work with or for Māori tourism providers, practise and integrate Māori values into their lived geographies, and in doing so challenge dominant understandings of tourism, many of which are based on colonial and capitalist values. In this way, the participants reclaim and perform self-determination within Aotearoa New Zealand’s tourism spaces. This article focuses on two key themes. First, we look back at how past experiences of colonisation shape contemporary tourism. Second, we discuss the diverse and powerful ways Māori values reshape tourism geographies with a view to the potentialities of Māori tourism’s diverse economies.

text: Māori tourism geographies: Values, morals and diverse economies Māori working in tourism negotiate moral terrains of their own world and those of visiting tourists, all of which are layered with colonial and capitalist values of Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond. We draw on research with Māori tourism providers in the North Island’s central, coastal and northern regions to address the question: How and in what ways do Māori working in tourism (re)construct their places and identities through practising Māori values in Aotearoa New Zealand’s tourism spaces? It is argued, using empirical material from interviews and par­ticipant sensing—a more-than-seeing form of participant observation—that diverse Māori values and practices shape tourism terrains and vice versa. The participants, who work with or for Māori tourism providers, practise and integrate Māori values into their lived geographies, and in doing so challenge dominant understandings of tourism, many of which are based on colonial and capitalist values. In this way, the participants reclaim and perform self-determination within Aotearoa New Zealand’s tourism spaces. This article focuses on two key themes. First, we look back at how past experiences of colonisation shape contemporary tourism. Second, we discuss the diverse and powerful ways Māori values reshape tourism geographies with a view to the potentialities of Māori tourism’s diverse economies.

year: 2016