title: Partners in problem solving children collaborating in pairs

authors: Fraser, Deborah

abstract: The extent to which children’s collaborations with their peers affects their learning is an area which merits scrutiny due to the complexities of such collaborations, the nature of the tasks children focus on, and the dynamics of peer discourse.

This study focuses specifically upon pairs of children of similar ability during problem solving in mathematics. Current research on collaborative peer dyads (children working in pairs) indicates that these small groups are relatively non-threatening and provide the opportunity for a child to elaborate his or her ideas with a peer. Debate surrounds the quality of collaborations within dyads and the extent to which these interactions influence children’s learning.

This qualitative study closely examined the processes of collaboration between children in peer dyads as they engaged in problem solving. The 16 children in the study ranged in age from seven to 10 years. The problems they investigated varied in type from closed (with one “correct” solution) to ill-defined (with a range of possible solutions and strategies). The methodology draws upon grounded theory and incorporates a number of central grounded theory methods. These methods were used to analyse the data and build a conceptual basis for this analysis, rather than to build a grounded theory. Methods of data collection included observation, interviews, video-recording, audio-recording, children’s work samples, recourse to relevant documents and discussions with teachers.

The findings suggest that the notion of a problem “type” in enhancing collaboration is less relevant than the cognitive demand of the problem. The cognitive demand of problems was crucial for encouraging children's engagement with each other. The presence of a partner appeared to maintain persistence with problems which were challenging. This persistence was quite subtle, yet effective, in that one child did not overtly encourage another to stay on task but merely continued with a line of reasoning or exploration. Often, this was all that was required to re-engage a reluctant or discouraged child.

Collaboration was not a constant feature of any dyad during any one problem. The children often moved from individual musing to peer collaboration in an iterative fashion. The roles that the children assumed within a dyad did not remain static. This appeared to be a corollary of similar ability dyads wherein the power relationship is relatively mutual and reciprocal. There was evidence to suggest that children would often borrow each other’s strategies, language and ideas to pursue the problem solving.

While the children’s talk was utilised as the prime focus for analysing the data it is acknowledged that any study which examines talk is limited by the imperfect and incomplete way that spoken language represents thought. A further limitation is determining the extent to which children learnt from each other and the residue that any learning may have left for children’s future problem solving.

The implications of this study include the potential of collaborative peer dyads for developing children’s persistence in problem solving. Such persistence can encourage children to persevere when experiencing difficulty and consult with a peer rather than abandon a problem or rely upon a teacher’s intervention. Such a finding does not assume that teachers should relinquish their role as challengers, facilitators and supporters of children’s learning. Children’s misinterpretations should not be left unchallenged and dyads are not always sufficient for clarifying such confusions. Teachers’ decisions about curriculum and pedagogy could, however, consider the potential for collaborative peer dyads in developing persistence in problem solving when a problem is sufficiently challenging and engaging for children.

text: Partners in problem solving children collaborating in pairs The extent to which children’s collaborations with their peers affects their learning is an area which merits scrutiny due to the complexities of such collaborations, the nature of the tasks children focus on, and the dynamics of peer discourse.

This study focuses specifically upon pairs of children of similar ability during problem solving in mathematics. Current research on collaborative peer dyads (children working in pairs) indicates that these small groups are relatively non-threatening and provide the opportunity for a child to elaborate his or her ideas with a peer. Debate surrounds the quality of collaborations within dyads and the extent to which these interactions influence children’s learning.

This qualitative study closely examined the processes of collaboration between children in peer dyads as they engaged in problem solving. The 16 children in the study ranged in age from seven to 10 years. The problems they investigated varied in type from closed (with one “correct” solution) to ill-defined (with a range of possible solutions and strategies). The methodology draws upon grounded theory and incorporates a number of central grounded theory methods. These methods were used to analyse the data and build a conceptual basis for this analysis, rather than to build a grounded theory. Methods of data collection included observation, interviews, video-recording, audio-recording, children’s work samples, recourse to relevant documents and discussions with teachers.

The findings suggest that the notion of a problem “type” in enhancing collaboration is less relevant than the cognitive demand of the problem. The cognitive demand of problems was crucial for encouraging children's engagement with each other. The presence of a partner appeared to maintain persistence with problems which were challenging. This persistence was quite subtle, yet effective, in that one child did not overtly encourage another to stay on task but merely continued with a line of reasoning or exploration. Often, this was all that was required to re-engage a reluctant or discouraged child.

Collaboration was not a constant feature of any dyad during any one problem. The children often moved from individual musing to peer collaboration in an iterative fashion. The roles that the children assumed within a dyad did not remain static. This appeared to be a corollary of similar ability dyads wherein the power relationship is relatively mutual and reciprocal. There was evidence to suggest that children would often borrow each other’s strategies, language and ideas to pursue the problem solving.

While the children’s talk was utilised as the prime focus for analysing the data it is acknowledged that any study which examines talk is limited by the imperfect and incomplete way that spoken language represents thought. A further limitation is determining the extent to which children learnt from each other and the residue that any learning may have left for children’s future problem solving.

The implications of this study include the potential of collaborative peer dyads for developing children’s persistence in problem solving. Such persistence can encourage children to persevere when experiencing difficulty and consult with a peer rather than abandon a problem or rely upon a teacher’s intervention. Such a finding does not assume that teachers should relinquish their role as challengers, facilitators and supporters of children’s learning. Children’s misinterpretations should not be left unchallenged and dyads are not always sufficient for clarifying such confusions. Teachers’ decisions about curriculum and pedagogy could, however, consider the potential for collaborative peer dyads in developing persistence in problem solving when a problem is sufficiently challenging and engaging for children.

year: 1998

title: Investigating Indonesian Teachers' Experience, Motivation, and Confidence in English-Medium Content Teaching through a Professional Development Blended Learning Environment

authors: Aritonang, Mangasa

subjects: Blended learning

abstract: A blended learning approach has been adopted in many English language learning environments in secondary and higher education because it is seen as having the potential to maximise the benefits of both face-to-face and online learning. This research investigated a blended learning approach for the professional development of teachers working at Indonesian vocational schools who learned English so they could teach their subject in that language. This research was prompted by the lack of preparedness and confidence among Indonesian teachers in vocational high schools to use English as a medium of instruction in the classroom, even though they had attended training courses in a face-to-face mode. The face-to-face training programme was a one-off brief course with limited capacity, able to accommodate only one teacher from one school. After the training programme was concluded, teachers returned to their home schools; were isolated from their peers in the training course; and consequently the learning interaction was not maintained.
To understand the teachers’ learning and thinking in the blended learning programme, the conceptual framework for the research was developed based on social constructivist and adult learning theories that were applied in the blended learning course.  The development of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in an English-medium teaching environment, the quality principles of a blended learning approach, and the concepts of motivation and confidence were considered to better understand the complexities involved in the blended learning model. 
As this research sought to discover the subjective experiences and multiple perspectives perceived by the teacher participants undertaking a blended learning course, a qualitative case study approach was adopted. A case study method allowed me to work closely with the teacher participants to obtain their perspectives and was helpful to understand complex phenomena such as motivation and confidence. Sixteen teachers from three Indonesian vocational schools participated in an English language learning course using a blended learning approach. Data were collected through pre- and post-surveys, semi-structured interviews, teachers’ reflective journals, classroom observations, and documents, and analysed using thematic data analysis and an inductive approach. 
The findings of the research were categorized according to the research questions. Teacher participants reported that peer interaction and collaboration both in face-to-face and online sections of the blended learning course were the technology-mediated learning activities that contributed to the enhancement of their teaching skills in an English-medium content teaching environment. Teacher participants also reported that their motivation to learn and confidence to use English for content teaching increased. The teachers’ self-reports were consistent with observation data. Factors that contributed to the increased motivation and confidence were reported, including the learning experiences of the teacher participants, peers feedback, and positive responses from students subsequently taught by teachers who undertook the course. Online cohort-based interaction was reported as having contributed to the gradual increase of using English for content teaching. The learning experience in the blended learning course inspired the teachers to integrate social networking sites such as Facebook and Edmodo in their teaching practice. 
This discussion of blended learning practice is structured around several key themes and topics. The first looks at how mediated interaction occurred in the blended learning course, including social mediation, self-mediation, and artefact mediation. The second examines factors that made collaboration occur in the blended learning course. A third theme is that of the increased confidence of the teachers involved. The transformation of instrumental into integrative motivation through factors such as social interaction is a fourth topic of interest. The fifth is how teachers developed their PCK in an English-medium content teaching environment. How English language learning was sustained through online interaction, in relation to important issues of behavioural change and social presence, constituted the sixth topic. Lastly, the research will discuss the social constructivist perspectives involved in the blended learning course. 
The research suggests a blended learning design has the potential to enhance the teaching skills, motivation, and confidence of Indonesian teachers in an English-medium content teaching environment. The design of a blended learning course should promote peer interaction and collaboration and lead to meaning-making and knowledge co-construction.

text: Investigating Indonesian Teachers' Experience, Motivation, and Confidence in English-Medium Content Teaching through a Professional Development Blended Learning Environment A blended learning approach has been adopted in many English language learning environments in secondary and higher education because it is seen as having the potential to maximise the benefits of both face-to-face and online learning. This research investigated a blended learning approach for the professional development of teachers working at Indonesian vocational schools who learned English so they could teach their subject in that language. This research was prompted by the lack of preparedness and confidence among Indonesian teachers in vocational high schools to use English as a medium of instruction in the classroom, even though they had attended training courses in a face-to-face mode. The face-to-face training programme was a one-off brief course with limited capacity, able to accommodate only one teacher from one school. After the training programme was concluded, teachers returned to their home schools; were isolated from their peers in the training course; and consequently the learning interaction was not maintained.
To understand the teachers’ learning and thinking in the blended learning programme, the conceptual framework for the research was developed based on social constructivist and adult learning theories that were applied in the blended learning course.  The development of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in an English-medium teaching environment, the quality principles of a blended learning approach, and the concepts of motivation and confidence were considered to better understand the complexities involved in the blended learning model. 
As this research sought to discover the subjective experiences and multiple perspectives perceived by the teacher participants undertaking a blended learning course, a qualitative case study approach was adopted. A case study method allowed me to work closely with the teacher participants to obtain their perspectives and was helpful to understand complex phenomena such as motivation and confidence. Sixteen teachers from three Indonesian vocational schools participated in an English language learning course using a blended learning approach. Data were collected through pre- and post-surveys, semi-structured interviews, teachers’ reflective journals, classroom observations, and documents, and analysed using thematic data analysis and an inductive approach. 
The findings of the research were categorized according to the research questions. Teacher participants reported that peer interaction and collaboration both in face-to-face and online sections of the blended learning course were the technology-mediated learning activities that contributed to the enhancement of their teaching skills in an English-medium content teaching environment. Teacher participants also reported that their motivation to learn and confidence to use English for content teaching increased. The teachers’ self-reports were consistent with observation data. Factors that contributed to the increased motivation and confidence were reported, including the learning experiences of the teacher participants, peers feedback, and positive responses from students subsequently taught by teachers who undertook the course. Online cohort-based interaction was reported as having contributed to the gradual increase of using English for content teaching. The learning experience in the blended learning course inspired the teachers to integrate social networking sites such as Facebook and Edmodo in their teaching practice. 
This discussion of blended learning practice is structured around several key themes and topics. The first looks at how mediated interaction occurred in the blended learning course, including social mediation, self-mediation, and artefact mediation. The second examines factors that made collaboration occur in the blended learning course. A third theme is that of the increased confidence of the teachers involved. The transformation of instrumental into integrative motivation through factors such as social interaction is a fourth topic of interest. The fifth is how teachers developed their PCK in an English-medium content teaching environment. How English language learning was sustained through online interaction, in relation to important issues of behavioural change and social presence, constituted the sixth topic. Lastly, the research will discuss the social constructivist perspectives involved in the blended learning course. 
The research suggests a blended learning design has the potential to enhance the teaching skills, motivation, and confidence of Indonesian teachers in an English-medium content teaching environment. The design of a blended learning course should promote peer interaction and collaboration and lead to meaning-making and knowledge co-construction.

year: 2016

title: Te Tarata

authors: Maxwell, Te Kahautu

abstract: This composition placed second in the Haka Composition Section. Te Tarata this composition commemorates the battle of Te Tarata in Te Whakatōhea 15 October 1865. This was the aftermath of the killing of the missionary Rev Carl Sylvius Volkner on the 2 March 1865. At the battle of Te Tarata it is recorded as the only calvary charge in the New Zealand Land Wars. Te Whakatōhea ingeniously wove around the palisade walls tī kouka (Cordyline australis) or cabbage tree. When the canon ball hit the palisades the tī kouka absorbed the force of the canon ball and rebounded the ball. 20 Te Whakatohea were killed and a number of others were wounded. This composition was performed by Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti at the Te Matatini World Championship Kapa Haka Competition 2015.

text: Te Tarata This composition placed second in the Haka Composition Section. Te Tarata this composition commemorates the battle of Te Tarata in Te Whakatōhea 15 October 1865. This was the aftermath of the killing of the missionary Rev Carl Sylvius Volkner on the 2 March 1865. At the battle of Te Tarata it is recorded as the only calvary charge in the New Zealand Land Wars. Te Whakatōhea ingeniously wove around the palisade walls tī kouka (Cordyline australis) or cabbage tree. When the canon ball hit the palisades the tī kouka absorbed the force of the canon ball and rebounded the ball. 20 Te Whakatohea were killed and a number of others were wounded. This composition was performed by Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti at the Te Matatini World Championship Kapa Haka Competition 2015.

year: 2014-10-10