title: The developing field of technology education in New Zealand: The last twenty years

authors: Jones, Alister

abstract: In the last twenty years technology education in New Zealand has found a place in research, teacher education and classroom practice. This paper traces the development of technology education as a field of study in compulsory education over the last twenty years and explores the curriculum development in the 1990s, the emerging research field during that time as well as teacher pre and in-service development. Figure 1 outlines the key aspects of development of technology education in New Zealand and highlights key features of curriculum, research and teacher education and shows the links between these different aspects in a timeline from 1985 to 2005.

text: The developing field of technology education in New Zealand: The last twenty years In the last twenty years technology education in New Zealand has found a place in research, teacher education and classroom practice. This paper traces the development of technology education as a field of study in compulsory education over the last twenty years and explores the curriculum development in the 1990s, the emerging research field during that time as well as teacher pre and in-service development. Figure 1 outlines the key aspects of development of technology education in New Zealand and highlights key features of curriculum, research and teacher education and shows the links between these different aspects in a timeline from 1985 to 2005.

year: 2006

title: Comparing Wrong/Right with Right/Right Exemplars in Video Modelling to Teach Social Skills to Children with Autism

authors: Dekker, Anna Margaretha

subjects: autism

abstract: Research has shown that video modelling can improve social behaviours in children with ASD.  In addition, research in behaviour modelling training from the field of organisational psychology has shown that using a mix of positive and negative exemplars can assist in acquisition and generalisation of a skill.  The current study compared the use of one negative and one positive exemplar, with the use of two positive exemplars to determine which combination would result in faster acquisition and/or superior generalisation of a skill. No other studies have examined this with children diagnosed with ASD. Seven children, aged between 5 and 15 years, and diagnosed with ASD participated in a multiple baseline design across children; within child across two modelling conditions; and within each modelling condition across two tasks. In one condition, a participant watched a video containing one exemplar of a model (same sex and of similar age but with normal development) perform a task the wrong way, and one exemplar of the same model perform the same task the right way (wrong/right).  In another condition, the participant watched a video containing two different exemplars of the model perform a matched task the right way (right/right). During the intervention, 1 participant refused to watch the videos.  For 13 of the 16 tasks, where training was completed, participants either reached criterion or made some gains in acquisition of the social skills.  However, for seven of the tasks criterion was not reached.  Generally, neither modelling condition was superior in acquisition or generalisation of the targeted social skills.  Confounds occurring during the course of the study may have contributed to the equivocal results.  For some children with ASD, video modelling in combination with the delivery of preferred reinforcers may be required for successful skill acquisition.  Further implications, particularly the potential negative effects of vicarious reinforcement when an observer does not gain reinforcement for imitation are discussed, as are recommendations for future research.

text: Comparing Wrong/Right with Right/Right Exemplars in Video Modelling to Teach Social Skills to Children with Autism Research has shown that video modelling can improve social behaviours in children with ASD.  In addition, research in behaviour modelling training from the field of organisational psychology has shown that using a mix of positive and negative exemplars can assist in acquisition and generalisation of a skill.  The current study compared the use of one negative and one positive exemplar, with the use of two positive exemplars to determine which combination would result in faster acquisition and/or superior generalisation of a skill. No other studies have examined this with children diagnosed with ASD. Seven children, aged between 5 and 15 years, and diagnosed with ASD participated in a multiple baseline design across children; within child across two modelling conditions; and within each modelling condition across two tasks. In one condition, a participant watched a video containing one exemplar of a model (same sex and of similar age but with normal development) perform a task the wrong way, and one exemplar of the same model perform the same task the right way (wrong/right).  In another condition, the participant watched a video containing two different exemplars of the model perform a matched task the right way (right/right). During the intervention, 1 participant refused to watch the videos.  For 13 of the 16 tasks, where training was completed, participants either reached criterion or made some gains in acquisition of the social skills.  However, for seven of the tasks criterion was not reached.  Generally, neither modelling condition was superior in acquisition or generalisation of the targeted social skills.  Confounds occurring during the course of the study may have contributed to the equivocal results.  For some children with ASD, video modelling in combination with the delivery of preferred reinforcers may be required for successful skill acquisition.  Further implications, particularly the potential negative effects of vicarious reinforcement when an observer does not gain reinforcement for imitation are discussed, as are recommendations for future research.

year: 2008

title: Toitū Te Whānau, Toitū Te Iwi: A Community Approach to English Transition

authors: Berryman, Mere

subjects: Maori

abstract: The research project presented in this thesis documents and describes the outcomes of effective whānau (immediate and extended family), kura (school), student, and researcher collaboration. The researcher became part of a whānau-of-interest (Bishop, 1996b) in 1998 and 1999 when she was invited by this community to help develop a suitable programme to assist highly competent Māori immersion students in their transition to a bi-lingual secondary school (the only option available in their community). The whānau wanted students to begin their secondary schooling with an improved competence in reading and writing in English but without compromising their competency in Maori language. Prior to this programme few of the students had received any formal instruction in the English language.
After a ten-week intervention implemented mainly outside the classroom, the researcher found that whānau tutors had effectively implemented the programmes and that all Year 8 students were able to read stories (in English) and talk about them (in English) at age appropriate reading levels. They also displayed improved rates of writing in English while maintaining their high fluency in reading and writing in Māori. The 10-week programme and results were replicated over a further three terms with the Year 7 and again with the Year 6 students. The study employed a multiple baseline across groups, design. A collaborative story gathered from participants at the end of the programme, together with these process and outcome data, strongly support the successful outcomes of this "participant driven" (Bishop, 1996b) programme.

text: Toitū Te Whānau, Toitū Te Iwi: A Community Approach to English Transition The research project presented in this thesis documents and describes the outcomes of effective whānau (immediate and extended family), kura (school), student, and researcher collaboration. The researcher became part of a whānau-of-interest (Bishop, 1996b) in 1998 and 1999 when she was invited by this community to help develop a suitable programme to assist highly competent Māori immersion students in their transition to a bi-lingual secondary school (the only option available in their community). The whānau wanted students to begin their secondary schooling with an improved competence in reading and writing in English but without compromising their competency in Maori language. Prior to this programme few of the students had received any formal instruction in the English language.
After a ten-week intervention implemented mainly outside the classroom, the researcher found that whānau tutors had effectively implemented the programmes and that all Year 8 students were able to read stories (in English) and talk about them (in English) at age appropriate reading levels. They also displayed improved rates of writing in English while maintaining their high fluency in reading and writing in Māori. The 10-week programme and results were replicated over a further three terms with the Year 7 and again with the Year 6 students. The study employed a multiple baseline across groups, design. A collaborative story gathered from participants at the end of the programme, together with these process and outcome data, strongly support the successful outcomes of this "participant driven" (Bishop, 1996b) programme.

year: 2001