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: A Historical Analysis of the Status of Women in New Zealand: Has CEDAW had an Impact?

authors: Jones, Heidi

subjects: women

abstract: This thesis analyses the current and historical status of women in New Zealand for the purpose of discovering why full equality between men and women has not yet been achieved. This object will be accomplished by analysing, comparing and contrasting the international Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (“CEDAW”) with changes successive New Zealand Governments have made to the status of women so as to discover the degree of intent such Governments have had to implement equality.
This thesis is in chronological order, beginning from an analysis of the creation of the status of women dating pre 1300 B.C., detailing degradations, changes and improvements in the status up until 2012 A.D. The main divisions are based on general periods of importance for women; chapter one investigates how the secondary status of women originated and evolved in ancient eras. Chapter two examines the significant international and domestic women’s rights movements during the mid-twentieth century. Chapter three discusses the importance of an international instrument as a comparative tool; illustrated by CEDAW’s contrast to the New Zealand status of women during the mid-1980s. Chapter four analyses the Governmental changes made over the next quarter century to discover whether New Zealand was moving closer towards a reflection of the international instrument. Chapter five evaluates the contemporary status of women in New Zealand; and finally, chapter six details recommendations for the State with the intention of raising the status of women to full equality.
The conclusions reached are, first; that the current status of women in New Zealand is not one of equality with men because their original status was seen as secondary. Therefore the goal of attaining equal (formal) legal rights to gain equality is not appropriate as it merely gives women what were considered “men’s rights” without giving them the opportunity to practice them in full equality. Secondly; the use of CEDAW as a comparative instrument is shown to provide a more effective strategy of gaining equality that does not always involve giving women gender-neutral “men’s rights” but needs to be given greater power to be proved effective.
The comparison with an instrument that provides for perfect equality contributes to a thorough understanding of the status of women in New Zealand as the comparison provides a clear and objective view of why the original premise that formal rights would achieve substantive equality was an incorrect supposition. The thesis also contributes alternative action to be undertaken by the Government to effectively achieve equality for women.

text: A Historical Analysis of the Status of Women in New Zealand: Has CEDAW had an Impact? This thesis analyses the current and historical status of women in New Zealand for the purpose of discovering why full equality between men and women has not yet been achieved. This object will be accomplished by analysing, comparing and contrasting the international Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (“CEDAW”) with changes successive New Zealand Governments have made to the status of women so as to discover the degree of intent such Governments have had to implement equality.
This thesis is in chronological order, beginning from an analysis of the creation of the status of women dating pre 1300 B.C., detailing degradations, changes and improvements in the status up until 2012 A.D. The main divisions are based on general periods of importance for women; chapter one investigates how the secondary status of women originated and evolved in ancient eras. Chapter two examines the significant international and domestic women’s rights movements during the mid-twentieth century. Chapter three discusses the importance of an international instrument as a comparative tool; illustrated by CEDAW’s contrast to the New Zealand status of women during the mid-1980s. Chapter four analyses the Governmental changes made over the next quarter century to discover whether New Zealand was moving closer towards a reflection of the international instrument. Chapter five evaluates the contemporary status of women in New Zealand; and finally, chapter six details recommendations for the State with the intention of raising the status of women to full equality.
The conclusions reached are, first; that the current status of women in New Zealand is not one of equality with men because their original status was seen as secondary. Therefore the goal of attaining equal (formal) legal rights to gain equality is not appropriate as it merely gives women what were considered “men’s rights” without giving them the opportunity to practice them in full equality. Secondly; the use of CEDAW as a comparative instrument is shown to provide a more effective strategy of gaining equality that does not always involve giving women gender-neutral “men’s rights” but needs to be given greater power to be proved effective.
The comparison with an instrument that provides for perfect equality contributes to a thorough understanding of the status of women in New Zealand as the comparison provides a clear and objective view of why the original premise that formal rights would achieve substantive equality was an incorrect supposition. The thesis also contributes alternative action to be undertaken by the Government to effectively achieve equality for women.

year: 2013

title: The Unmet Legal, Social and Cultural Needs of Māori with Disabilities

authors: Hickey, Susan Jane

subjects: Māori

abstract: There is little work done in the area of indigenous disability identity issues and how they are recognised in domestic and international human rights laws. The discourse of disability has always been based on social constructionism and without it, there is no identity. I discuss its relevance to indigenous (Māori) with disabilities and how the multiplicitous nature of the identity of  other  has a particular impact when indigenous, gender and disability are all identified from marginalised groups. I also explore the impact of westernised thinking around impairment, in particular the models of disabilities on indigenous well-being. The issues of family (whānau), whakawhanaungatanga (family relationships), interdependence (community) and collectivity identities central to indigenous thinking are largely ignored by law and policy, yet central to indigenous identity. This ignorance in policy has led to the disparities that continue to remain for indigenous persons with disabilities, particularly those from within thematic identity groups.

text: The Unmet Legal, Social and Cultural Needs of Māori with Disabilities There is little work done in the area of indigenous disability identity issues and how they are recognised in domestic and international human rights laws. The discourse of disability has always been based on social constructionism and without it, there is no identity. I discuss its relevance to indigenous (Māori) with disabilities and how the multiplicitous nature of the identity of  other  has a particular impact when indigenous, gender and disability are all identified from marginalised groups. I also explore the impact of westernised thinking around impairment, in particular the models of disabilities on indigenous well-being. The issues of family (whānau), whakawhanaungatanga (family relationships), interdependence (community) and collectivity identities central to indigenous thinking are largely ignored by law and policy, yet central to indigenous identity. This ignorance in policy has led to the disparities that continue to remain for indigenous persons with disabilities, particularly those from within thematic identity groups.

year: 2008