title: Nurturing spirituality in secular classrooms

authors: Fraser, Deborah

subjects: Spiritual experiences

abstract: Since 1999 the New Zealand secular school curriculum has included a statement on fostering children's spirituality in classrooms. This statement defines spirituality in a broad fashion and includes reference to Maori (indigenous New Zealander) views on spirituality. The implications of this for classroom teachers have not been researched in this country and therefore this paper reports on a study that examined teachers' views on spirituality and the implications for the children they teach. The methodology focused on the experiences of nine teachers in two multicultural secular primary schools. The classroom experiences of a spiritual nature that the teachers recounted, while many and varied, revealed some common themes that related to the climate of the classrooms. Such classrooms were characterized as being non-judgmental and non-self-conscious and as places where a community of spiritual discourse was encouraged and where deeply meaningful activities and events occurred. The findings suggest that while teachers cannot plan and predict precisely what will foster spirituality in classrooms, teachers can cultivate a climate that enhances children's spirituality.

text: Nurturing spirituality in secular classrooms Since 1999 the New Zealand secular school curriculum has included a statement on fostering children's spirituality in classrooms. This statement defines spirituality in a broad fashion and includes reference to Maori (indigenous New Zealander) views on spirituality. The implications of this for classroom teachers have not been researched in this country and therefore this paper reports on a study that examined teachers' views on spirituality and the implications for the children they teach. The methodology focused on the experiences of nine teachers in two multicultural secular primary schools. The classroom experiences of a spiritual nature that the teachers recounted, while many and varied, revealed some common themes that related to the climate of the classrooms. Such classrooms were characterized as being non-judgmental and non-self-conscious and as places where a community of spiritual discourse was encouraged and where deeply meaningful activities and events occurred. The findings suggest that while teachers cannot plan and predict precisely what will foster spirituality in classrooms, teachers can cultivate a climate that enhances children's spirituality.

year: 2004

title: Educational issues in introductory tertiary biology

authors: Buntting, Catherine Michelle

subjects: undergraduate

abstract: The work presented in this thesis focuses on educational issues in first-year biology courses at university. First-year courses are important because they have the potential to influence student retention and subsequent subject selection choices, as well as learning at higher levels. Further, biology is considered to be an important enabling subject in New Zealand because of the Government's drive towards a biotechnology-based knowledge economy.

Specifically, the work in this thesis explores the educational implications of the increasingly diverse academic backgrounds of students entering first-year biology courses on teaching and learning in these courses. A social constructivist view of learning is adopted, in which prior knowledge of the learners is considered to have a significant influence on their learning. The social context of learning interactions also is considered to be important.  The research involved three phases: identification of prior knowledge assumed by faculty; identification of actual prior knowledge of students; and the implementation and evaluation of an intervention programme based on concept mapping.

In order to investigate faculty assumptions of student prior knowledge, 35 faculty from six New Zealand universities were interviewed. Document analysis and classroom observations provided data triangulation.  The findings for this phase of the research suggest that faculty were aware of the diverse prior knowledge of students, and reported a tension between teaching  from scratch  in order to accommodate those with very limited prior knowledge; and the risk of boring those with more extensive relevant backgrounds.  A range of concepts that are not explained during teaching (i.e., concepts it is assumed students understand) were identified, including biology-specific concepts and relevant chemical and mathematical concepts.

In the second phase, research findings from phase one were used to develop a prior knowledge questionnaire administered in two successive years to all students enrolled in first-year biology courses at one New Zealand university.  Data analysis for this phase suggests that although students with more extensive prior biology study were more likely to have a scientifically acceptable understanding of some key concepts, this was not true of all the concepts that were investigated, including chemical and mathematical concepts. The data also point to differences between what faculty expect students to know, and what students actually know. Furthermore, few students, regardless of the extent of prior biology study, were able to demonstrate understanding of the relationships between important biological concepts.  

In the third phase of the research, an intervention based on concept mapping was implemented and evaluated. Two of the six weekly tutorial classes associated with two first-year biology courses were used for the purposes of the intervention. The intervention differed from the other concept mapping studies reported in the literature in that its implementation was of long duration, viz., a period of 11 weeks.  

Students who participated in the intervention reported in 'tutorial experience questionnaires' and subsequent interviews that concept mapping helped them to learn the biology content covered during lectures, and to identify links between concepts. A large proportion of participants indicated that they used concept mapping for biology study outside of the intervention tutorial classes, and in some cases in other courses of study.  Classroom management strategies appeared to contribute to the positive views about the use of concept mapping during tutorials. Specifically, the tutor modelled the use of concept mapping, but students were also given opportunities to construct their own maps.  The role of the tutor in guiding discussions with students and providing feedback was also viewed as being important. Detailed analysis of course assessment tasks suggests that concept mapping enhanced learning for test questions that require understanding of links between concepts. Where tasks require only the recall of facts, concept mapping does not appear to make a statistically significant difference to student performance.

The findings from the concept mapping intervention thus suggest that although concept mapping is a strategy that can be used effectively in tertiary biology tutorial classes, it is more worthwhile if the type of deep learning that is encouraged by the use of concept mapping is also the type of learning required to successfully complete assessment tasks. This raises the issue of whether the type of learning faculty specify in course objectives is the type of learning they actually seek to develop in course delivery and associated assessment regimes.

text: Educational issues in introductory tertiary biology The work presented in this thesis focuses on educational issues in first-year biology courses at university. First-year courses are important because they have the potential to influence student retention and subsequent subject selection choices, as well as learning at higher levels. Further, biology is considered to be an important enabling subject in New Zealand because of the Government's drive towards a biotechnology-based knowledge economy.

Specifically, the work in this thesis explores the educational implications of the increasingly diverse academic backgrounds of students entering first-year biology courses on teaching and learning in these courses. A social constructivist view of learning is adopted, in which prior knowledge of the learners is considered to have a significant influence on their learning. The social context of learning interactions also is considered to be important.  The research involved three phases: identification of prior knowledge assumed by faculty; identification of actual prior knowledge of students; and the implementation and evaluation of an intervention programme based on concept mapping.

In order to investigate faculty assumptions of student prior knowledge, 35 faculty from six New Zealand universities were interviewed. Document analysis and classroom observations provided data triangulation.  The findings for this phase of the research suggest that faculty were aware of the diverse prior knowledge of students, and reported a tension between teaching  from scratch  in order to accommodate those with very limited prior knowledge; and the risk of boring those with more extensive relevant backgrounds.  A range of concepts that are not explained during teaching (i.e., concepts it is assumed students understand) were identified, including biology-specific concepts and relevant chemical and mathematical concepts.

In the second phase, research findings from phase one were used to develop a prior knowledge questionnaire administered in two successive years to all students enrolled in first-year biology courses at one New Zealand university.  Data analysis for this phase suggests that although students with more extensive prior biology study were more likely to have a scientifically acceptable understanding of some key concepts, this was not true of all the concepts that were investigated, including chemical and mathematical concepts. The data also point to differences between what faculty expect students to know, and what students actually know. Furthermore, few students, regardless of the extent of prior biology study, were able to demonstrate understanding of the relationships between important biological concepts.  

In the third phase of the research, an intervention based on concept mapping was implemented and evaluated. Two of the six weekly tutorial classes associated with two first-year biology courses were used for the purposes of the intervention. The intervention differed from the other concept mapping studies reported in the literature in that its implementation was of long duration, viz., a period of 11 weeks.  

Students who participated in the intervention reported in 'tutorial experience questionnaires' and subsequent interviews that concept mapping helped them to learn the biology content covered during lectures, and to identify links between concepts. A large proportion of participants indicated that they used concept mapping for biology study outside of the intervention tutorial classes, and in some cases in other courses of study.  Classroom management strategies appeared to contribute to the positive views about the use of concept mapping during tutorials. Specifically, the tutor modelled the use of concept mapping, but students were also given opportunities to construct their own maps.  The role of the tutor in guiding discussions with students and providing feedback was also viewed as being important. Detailed analysis of course assessment tasks suggests that concept mapping enhanced learning for test questions that require understanding of links between concepts. Where tasks require only the recall of facts, concept mapping does not appear to make a statistically significant difference to student performance.

The findings from the concept mapping intervention thus suggest that although concept mapping is a strategy that can be used effectively in tertiary biology tutorial classes, it is more worthwhile if the type of deep learning that is encouraged by the use of concept mapping is also the type of learning required to successfully complete assessment tasks. This raises the issue of whether the type of learning faculty specify in course objectives is the type of learning they actually seek to develop in course delivery and associated assessment regimes.

year: 2006

title: Geographical and ethnic differences of osteoarthritis-associated hip and knee replacement surgeries in New Zealand: a population-based cross-sectional study

authors: Lao, Chunhuan

abstract: Objectives To (1) explore the regional and ethnic differences in rates of publicly funded osteoarthritis-associated hip and knee replacement surgeries and (2) investigate the mortality after surgery.

Design Population-based, retrospective, cross-sectional study.

Setting General population in New Zealand.

Participants Patients with osteoarthritis who underwent publicly funded primary hip and knee replacement surgeries in 2005–2017. Patients aged 14–99 years were included.

Primary and secondary outcome measures Age-standardised rate, standardised mortality ratio (SMR) and 30 days, 90 days and 1 year mortality.

Results We identified 53 439 primary hip replacements and 50 072 primary knee replacements with a diagnosis of osteoarthritis. The number and age-standardised rates of hip and knee replacements increased over time. Māori had the highest age-standardised rate of hip replacements, followed by European/others and Pacific, and Asian had the lowest rate. Pacific had the highest age-standardised rate of knee replacements, followed by Māori and European/others, and Asian had the lowest rate. The Northern Health Network had the lowest rate of hip surgeries, and the Southern Health Network had the lowest rate of knee surgeries. The SMRs of patients undergoing hip and knee replacements were lower than the general population: 0.92 (95% CI 0.89 to 0.95) for hip and 0.79 (95% CI 0.76 to 0.82) for knee. The SMRs were decreasing over time. The patterns of 30 days, 90 days and 1 year mortality were similar to the SMR.

Conclusions The numbers of publicly funded osteoarthritis-associated primary hip and knee replacements are steadily increasing. Māori people had the highest age-standardised rate of hip replacements and Pacific people had the highest rate of knee replacements. The Northern Health Network had the lowest rate of hip surgeries, and the Southern Health Network had the lowest rate of knee surgeries. Compared with the general population, patients who had hip and knee replacements have a better life expectancy.

text: Geographical and ethnic differences of osteoarthritis-associated hip and knee replacement surgeries in New Zealand: a population-based cross-sectional study Objectives To (1) explore the regional and ethnic differences in rates of publicly funded osteoarthritis-associated hip and knee replacement surgeries and (2) investigate the mortality after surgery.

Design Population-based, retrospective, cross-sectional study.

Setting General population in New Zealand.

Participants Patients with osteoarthritis who underwent publicly funded primary hip and knee replacement surgeries in 2005–2017. Patients aged 14–99 years were included.

Primary and secondary outcome measures Age-standardised rate, standardised mortality ratio (SMR) and 30 days, 90 days and 1 year mortality.

Results We identified 53 439 primary hip replacements and 50 072 primary knee replacements with a diagnosis of osteoarthritis. The number and age-standardised rates of hip and knee replacements increased over time. Māori had the highest age-standardised rate of hip replacements, followed by European/others and Pacific, and Asian had the lowest rate. Pacific had the highest age-standardised rate of knee replacements, followed by Māori and European/others, and Asian had the lowest rate. The Northern Health Network had the lowest rate of hip surgeries, and the Southern Health Network had the lowest rate of knee surgeries. The SMRs of patients undergoing hip and knee replacements were lower than the general population: 0.92 (95% CI 0.89 to 0.95) for hip and 0.79 (95% CI 0.76 to 0.82) for knee. The SMRs were decreasing over time. The patterns of 30 days, 90 days and 1 year mortality were similar to the SMR.

Conclusions The numbers of publicly funded osteoarthritis-associated primary hip and knee replacements are steadily increasing. Māori people had the highest age-standardised rate of hip replacements and Pacific people had the highest rate of knee replacements. The Northern Health Network had the lowest rate of hip surgeries, and the Southern Health Network had the lowest rate of knee surgeries. Compared with the general population, patients who had hip and knee replacements have a better life expectancy.

year: 2019