title: Making masks for Maui: Keeping the macro task in mind

authors: Moreland, Judy

subjects: macro

abstract: New Zealand primary school children in technology lessons often design and create an artifact in response to a scenario that relates to their interests and experiences. Usually the task is undertaken over several days. In this paper we draw on data generated within the INSiTE study, a three-year study exploring the nature of effective student-teacher interactions around science and technology ideas. The teacher in this paper planned for her children to create a mask for their forthcoming school production: 'How Maui found the secret of fire'. As the children worked on the macro task, that of designing and making a mask, meso and micro tasks emerged. The teacher assisted the children to identity and resolve these, hearing in mind that the ultimate aim was their successful participation in the school production. When teachers assist children to maintain a focus on the overall or macro task goals their artifact fulfils the specifications of the scenario and children's technology understandings and skills are fostered.

text: Making masks for Maui: Keeping the macro task in mind New Zealand primary school children in technology lessons often design and create an artifact in response to a scenario that relates to their interests and experiences. Usually the task is undertaken over several days. In this paper we draw on data generated within the INSiTE study, a three-year study exploring the nature of effective student-teacher interactions around science and technology ideas. The teacher in this paper planned for her children to create a mask for their forthcoming school production: 'How Maui found the secret of fire'. As the children worked on the macro task, that of designing and making a mask, meso and micro tasks emerged. The teacher assisted the children to identity and resolve these, hearing in mind that the ultimate aim was their successful participation in the school production. When teachers assist children to maintain a focus on the overall or macro task goals their artifact fulfils the specifications of the scenario and children's technology understandings and skills are fostered.

year: 2007

title: Children’s knowledge and experience of compost/ing

authors: Tsang, Sophia WR

abstract: The Soilsafe Kids education and research programme conducted focus groups about compost/ing in eight primary school classes in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand in 2022 to understand what students learning at New Zealand Curriculum Level 2 (generally students aged 5-11 years old) know about compost/ing. Here, we present a qualitative content analysis of focus groups focusing on children’s knowledge about the process of composting and the resulting material. In general, children (n = 117) demonstrated a broad understanding of the typical process of composting and the materials that make up compost. Our findings contrast previous studies which have indicated children’s comprehension of composting was poor. Despite participating in composting activities in schools, respondents more commonly associated compost/ing activities with their home systems where they compost with their families. Although these results demonstrate a considerable baseline knowledge of compost/ing understood by children, they also had many questions about compost/ing, mainly focused on the timing necessary to biodegrade, the underlying processes, and why we compost. These encouraging findings mean educators have a strong base on which to build lessons, but educators should also be mindful of bridging gaps in retention for greatest pedagogical impact, given our findings suggest that students recall off-campus composting experiences more strongly than on-campus ones. This should be further explored to ensure children have equitable access to composting experiences and knowledge.

text: Children’s knowledge and experience of compost/ing The Soilsafe Kids education and research programme conducted focus groups about compost/ing in eight primary school classes in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand in 2022 to understand what students learning at New Zealand Curriculum Level 2 (generally students aged 5-11 years old) know about compost/ing. Here, we present a qualitative content analysis of focus groups focusing on children’s knowledge about the process of composting and the resulting material. In general, children (n = 117) demonstrated a broad understanding of the typical process of composting and the materials that make up compost. Our findings contrast previous studies which have indicated children’s comprehension of composting was poor. Despite participating in composting activities in schools, respondents more commonly associated compost/ing activities with their home systems where they compost with their families. Although these results demonstrate a considerable baseline knowledge of compost/ing understood by children, they also had many questions about compost/ing, mainly focused on the timing necessary to biodegrade, the underlying processes, and why we compost. These encouraging findings mean educators have a strong base on which to build lessons, but educators should also be mindful of bridging gaps in retention for greatest pedagogical impact, given our findings suggest that students recall off-campus composting experiences more strongly than on-campus ones. This should be further explored to ensure children have equitable access to composting experiences and knowledge.

year: 2025

title: He Pikinga Waiora Implementation Framework: A tool for chronic disease intervention effectiveness in Maori and other indigenous communities

authors: Oetzel, John G.

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: Introduction: Health outcomes for Māori are significantly worse than non-Maori in New Zealand; these inequities mirror those found in indigenous communities elsewhere. Evidence-based interventions with established efficacy may not be effective in indigenous communities without addressing specific implementation challenges. We present an implementation framework for chronic condition interventions for Māori.

Theory/Methods: The He Pikinga Waiora Implementation Framework has indigenous self-determination at its core and consists of four elements: cultural-centeredness, community engagement, systems thinking, and integrated knowledge translation.  All elements have demonstrated evidence of positive implementation outcomes.  A coding scheme derived from the Framework was applied to 13 studies of diabetes prevention in indigenous communities from a systematic review.

Results: Cross-tabulations demonstrated that culture-centeredness (p=.008) and community engagement (p=.009) explained differences in diabetes outcomes and community engagement (p=.098) explained difference in blood pressure outcomes.

Discussion and Conclusions: The He Pikinga Waiora Implementation Framework is well suited to advance implementation science for Māori and other indigenous communities. The framework has promise as a policy and planning tool to evaluate and design effective interventions for chronic disease prevention.

Lessons Learned: We needed to revise the coding framework in order to make the implication framework concrete.

Limitations: This study has a limitation in that we coded information about interventions from the published articles and not the interventions themselves. Additionally, the study only included 13 interventions.

Suggestions for Future Direction: Further research should provide stronger evidence of the usefulness of the framework particularly with Māori end-users. There will also be a need to understand the differential contribution of each of the four elements to health outcomes.

text: He Pikinga Waiora Implementation Framework: A tool for chronic disease intervention effectiveness in Maori and other indigenous communities Introduction: Health outcomes for Māori are significantly worse than non-Maori in New Zealand; these inequities mirror those found in indigenous communities elsewhere. Evidence-based interventions with established efficacy may not be effective in indigenous communities without addressing specific implementation challenges. We present an implementation framework for chronic condition interventions for Māori.

Theory/Methods: The He Pikinga Waiora Implementation Framework has indigenous self-determination at its core and consists of four elements: cultural-centeredness, community engagement, systems thinking, and integrated knowledge translation.  All elements have demonstrated evidence of positive implementation outcomes.  A coding scheme derived from the Framework was applied to 13 studies of diabetes prevention in indigenous communities from a systematic review.

Results: Cross-tabulations demonstrated that culture-centeredness (p=.008) and community engagement (p=.009) explained differences in diabetes outcomes and community engagement (p=.098) explained difference in blood pressure outcomes.

Discussion and Conclusions: The He Pikinga Waiora Implementation Framework is well suited to advance implementation science for Māori and other indigenous communities. The framework has promise as a policy and planning tool to evaluate and design effective interventions for chronic disease prevention.

Lessons Learned: We needed to revise the coding framework in order to make the implication framework concrete.

Limitations: This study has a limitation in that we coded information about interventions from the published articles and not the interventions themselves. Additionally, the study only included 13 interventions.

Suggestions for Future Direction: Further research should provide stronger evidence of the usefulness of the framework particularly with Māori end-users. There will also be a need to understand the differential contribution of each of the four elements to health outcomes.

year: 2018