title: Ethical explorations: a tale of preparing a conference paper

authors: Bruce, Toni

subjects: emotions

abstract: In this article, the author explores the ethical tensions that emerged when she attempted to write autoethnographically about her ongoing experience of early menopause. It brings to life the journey that resulted from the acceptance of a conference abstract which promised to reveal the lived experience of this unexpected bodily “betrayal.” The abstract included the promise to illuminate the intense physical and emotional effects of this (in)visible transition. However, in the process of writing and considering the ethical dimensions of such storytelling, the author ended up constructing something completely different which, in its own way, led to new understandings of her past and present.

text: Ethical explorations: a tale of preparing a conference paper In this article, the author explores the ethical tensions that emerged when she attempted to write autoethnographically about her ongoing experience of early menopause. It brings to life the journey that resulted from the acceptance of a conference abstract which promised to reveal the lived experience of this unexpected bodily “betrayal.” The abstract included the promise to illuminate the intense physical and emotional effects of this (in)visible transition. However, in the process of writing and considering the ethical dimensions of such storytelling, the author ended up constructing something completely different which, in its own way, led to new understandings of her past and present.

year: 2010

title: Student engagement and empowerment in a flipped engineering dynamics classroom

authors: Zaka, Pinelopi A.

subjects: flipped classroom

abstract: The flipped classroom model is increasingly used in tertiary education. Opportunities for active learning, col-laboration and interaction with the lecturer are some of the reported benefits associated with the use of flipped ap-proaches. These opportunities improve engagement and empowerment of students. This paper presents the results of a study on student experiences in a first year engineering dynamics Sum-mer semester course that used a flipped approach. This research used focus group interviews to determine the students’ sense of empowerment and engagement in the flipped classroom. The students’ ability to control the pace of their learning and the collaborative nature of in-class active learn-ing led to empowerment and an increase in confidence about their learning. Some students’ felt that they lacked suf-ficient discipline to succeed in self-directed learning. However, reassuring students that their out-of-class learning was beneficial was found to be a potential enabler to their confidence. Student engagement was also positively af-fected by the ability to control the pace of their learning, their increased flexibility in study timing and location, and active learning during the scheduled classes. Some students noted that their self-directed learning skills combined with workload issues presented unique challenges due to the flipped approach and negatively impacted their en-gagement. The paper concludes with recommendations for practice to further facilitate students’ sense of empowerment and engagement and may be of particular interest to engineering or other threshold technical subject pedagogy.

text: Student engagement and empowerment in a flipped engineering dynamics classroom The flipped classroom model is increasingly used in tertiary education. Opportunities for active learning, col-laboration and interaction with the lecturer are some of the reported benefits associated with the use of flipped ap-proaches. These opportunities improve engagement and empowerment of students. This paper presents the results of a study on student experiences in a first year engineering dynamics Sum-mer semester course that used a flipped approach. This research used focus group interviews to determine the students’ sense of empowerment and engagement in the flipped classroom. The students’ ability to control the pace of their learning and the collaborative nature of in-class active learn-ing led to empowerment and an increase in confidence about their learning. Some students’ felt that they lacked suf-ficient discipline to succeed in self-directed learning. However, reassuring students that their out-of-class learning was beneficial was found to be a potential enabler to their confidence. Student engagement was also positively af-fected by the ability to control the pace of their learning, their increased flexibility in study timing and location, and active learning during the scheduled classes. Some students noted that their self-directed learning skills combined with workload issues presented unique challenges due to the flipped approach and negatively impacted their en-gagement. The paper concludes with recommendations for practice to further facilitate students’ sense of empowerment and engagement and may be of particular interest to engineering or other threshold technical subject pedagogy.

year: 2018

title: Te Whanake Online: An interactive resource for Māori language learning

authors: Ka'ai, Tānia M.

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: The promotion of the Māori language is regarded by Māori as essential to the survival of Māori culture, arts, history and identity. The goal of the Te Whanake Online project is to develop a series of online interactive modules to complement an established Māori language learning set of texts and related resources, called Te Whanake. Te Whanake Online supports an immersion or game-style approach to language learning. Currently the fifteen modules for the first book in the series, Te Whanake 1 Te Kākano, have been completed. Each module begins with an animated movie introducing the new language of the module. Between nine and sixteen activities in each module provide practice in a wide range of spoken and written language skills, including listening with comprehension, speaking, reading with comprehension, writing and activities to help learn grammatical structures and vocabulary. The project means that Māori language learners will have access to an online resource which is at the forefront of current thinking and practice in language learning online and firmly grounded in a successful and well-established Māori language series of texts, study guides, audio-visual resources, a dictionary-index, and teachers' manuals. This article outlines the project background, its design, evaluation and the outcomes.

text: Te Whanake Online: An interactive resource for Māori language learning The promotion of the Māori language is regarded by Māori as essential to the survival of Māori culture, arts, history and identity. The goal of the Te Whanake Online project is to develop a series of online interactive modules to complement an established Māori language learning set of texts and related resources, called Te Whanake. Te Whanake Online supports an immersion or game-style approach to language learning. Currently the fifteen modules for the first book in the series, Te Whanake 1 Te Kākano, have been completed. Each module begins with an animated movie introducing the new language of the module. Between nine and sixteen activities in each module provide practice in a wide range of spoken and written language skills, including listening with comprehension, speaking, reading with comprehension, writing and activities to help learn grammatical structures and vocabulary. The project means that Māori language learners will have access to an online resource which is at the forefront of current thinking and practice in language learning online and firmly grounded in a successful and well-established Māori language series of texts, study guides, audio-visual resources, a dictionary-index, and teachers' manuals. This article outlines the project background, its design, evaluation and the outcomes.

year: 2006-09