title: Making connections in the teaching and learning of science and technology

authors: Cowie, Bronwen

subjects: education

abstract: Teachers are responsible for supporting their students’ learning in the moment, over the course of a unit, and throughout a school year. They also have a longer-term responsibility to develop students’ skills and dispositions as lifelong learners. These responsibilities extend to fostering students’ long-term interest in particular learning areas. Primary teachers face a number of challenges in promoting connections and a sense of continuity and coherence for students. This is especially difficult for subjects such as science and technology where primary students typically study science and technology topics only two or three times a year and then over a period of days. Connections and coherence are a fundamental aspect of learning experiences, which build cumulatively; students learn when they build on what they know and have experienced. However, students often experience school as a series of disconnected episodes (Rudduck, Harris, & Wallace, 1994) and may therefore fail to realise the linkages between lessons, tasks, and ideas. Teachers can help students to make connections. Teacher planning of nested and linked tasks in a manner that could support continuity and connection is described in a companion article in this issue of set (pp. 38-41).
The teachers in the InSiTE study (Cowie, Moreland, Jones, & Otrel-Cass, 2008) used a number of strategies to help students make connections and develop a sense of continuity. Some of these are illustrated in this article.

text: Making connections in the teaching and learning of science and technology Teachers are responsible for supporting their students’ learning in the moment, over the course of a unit, and throughout a school year. They also have a longer-term responsibility to develop students’ skills and dispositions as lifelong learners. These responsibilities extend to fostering students’ long-term interest in particular learning areas. Primary teachers face a number of challenges in promoting connections and a sense of continuity and coherence for students. This is especially difficult for subjects such as science and technology where primary students typically study science and technology topics only two or three times a year and then over a period of days. Connections and coherence are a fundamental aspect of learning experiences, which build cumulatively; students learn when they build on what they know and have experienced. However, students often experience school as a series of disconnected episodes (Rudduck, Harris, & Wallace, 1994) and may therefore fail to realise the linkages between lessons, tasks, and ideas. Teachers can help students to make connections. Teacher planning of nested and linked tasks in a manner that could support continuity and connection is described in a companion article in this issue of set (pp. 38-41).
The teachers in the InSiTE study (Cowie, Moreland, Jones, & Otrel-Cass, 2008) used a number of strategies to help students make connections and develop a sense of continuity. Some of these are illustrated in this article.

year: 2008

title: Matamata Piako District: Socio-Demographic Profile 1986-2031

authors: Jackson, Natalie

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: Matamata-Piako District has a larger proportion of those of European/New Zealand/Other ethnicity than either the Waikato Region or Total New Zealand, and a smaller proportion of both Maori and Pacific Island than the Waikato. Matamata-Piako also has substantially fewer people of Asian origin. In all cases, the number in each ethnic group has grown except for European/NZ/other. This group saw a small decline in its number in the 1996-2006 period, while Maori grew by 8 per cent, accounting for approximately 34 per cent of Matamata-Piako District’s growth, compared with 16 per cent of the Waikato’s.

text: Matamata Piako District: Socio-Demographic Profile 1986-2031 Matamata-Piako District has a larger proportion of those of European/New Zealand/Other ethnicity than either the Waikato Region or Total New Zealand, and a smaller proportion of both Maori and Pacific Island than the Waikato. Matamata-Piako also has substantially fewer people of Asian origin. In all cases, the number in each ethnic group has grown except for European/NZ/other. This group saw a small decline in its number in the 1996-2006 period, while Maori grew by 8 per cent, accounting for approximately 34 per cent of Matamata-Piako District’s growth, compared with 16 per cent of the Waikato’s.

year: 2013-03

title: Outdoor education: Opportunities provided by a place based approach

authors: Brown, Mike

subjects: place-based

abstract: This paper calls for educators to consider the role that ‘place’ has in outdoor education experiences. It is suggested that greater emphasis and acknowledgment be given to ‘place(s)’ and how they may help students make sense of both their personal and communal identity. The paper is interwoven with a narrative from the author’s experiences of working with Pākehā and Māori students on a course that consciously utilised a ‘place-based’ approach to teaching and learning. The paper challenges the conception that outdoor education requires ‘high-impact’ adventurous activities, instead suggesting that we seek to develop a modest pedagogy which acknowledges our relationships with place(s) as a way to understand who we are , how we connect to others and how we both give and take meanings from the places in which we live and learn. These issues have potential implications for educators and programme designers.

text: Outdoor education: Opportunities provided by a place based approach This paper calls for educators to consider the role that ‘place’ has in outdoor education experiences. It is suggested that greater emphasis and acknowledgment be given to ‘place(s)’ and how they may help students make sense of both their personal and communal identity. The paper is interwoven with a narrative from the author’s experiences of working with Pākehā and Māori students on a course that consciously utilised a ‘place-based’ approach to teaching and learning. The paper challenges the conception that outdoor education requires ‘high-impact’ adventurous activities, instead suggesting that we seek to develop a modest pedagogy which acknowledges our relationships with place(s) as a way to understand who we are , how we connect to others and how we both give and take meanings from the places in which we live and learn. These issues have potential implications for educators and programme designers.

year: 2008