Examining the potential of critical and Kaupapa Māori approaches to leading education reform in New Zealand’s English-medium secondary schools

This paper discusses expectations, policies and practices that currently underpin education within the New Zealand context. It acknowledges the ongoing failure of this policy framework to positively influence reform for Indigenous Māori students in regular, state-funded schools and highlights the need for extensive change in the positioning and expectations of educators if Māori learners are to realize their true potential. The paper then considers leadership models to reimagine and lead a transformative educational reform that aims to include the aspirations and contributions of all members of the school’s communities, especially those who have historically been marginalized. Finally it considers the implications of this model for international application.     

Situational interest and academic achievement in the active-learning classroom

The aim of the present study was to investigate how situational interest develops over time and how it is related to academic achievement in an active-learning classroom. Five measures of situational interest were administered at critical points in time to 69 polytechnic students during a one-day, problem-based learning session. Results revealed that situational interest significantly increased after the problem stimulus was presented. Subsequently, situational interest gradually decreased but at the end of the day increased again. Testing a path model relating the situational interest measures showed strong (directional) interrelations. Moreover, situational interest was highly predictive for observed achievement-related classroom behaviors. The latter, in turn, proved to be a significant predictor of academic achievement. Aggregating situational interest over the day led to less accurate predictions of achievement-related classroom behaviors and academic achievement. Implications of these findings for situational interest research are discussed.     

Encouraging Knowledge Transfer in Food Science and Nutrition Education: Suggestions from Cognitive Research

For several decades, cognitive psychologists have been studying how we learn, and from this work it becomes possible to identify ways to help students learn in the classroom effectively. Importantly, this work does not just inform how to memorize facts, but also how to learn complex material in a way that allows students to apply what they are learning in future situations. The laboratory to classroom model used by many researchers to apply cognitive psychology to real educational situations, such as classroom learning and students’ independent studying, is described first. Then the focus turns to important issues within education, such as students’ ability to transfer knowledge to new situations and understand complex material. Finally, three learning strategies are discussed (concrete examples, elaborative interrogation, and retrieval practice) that instructors can implement to help students to both acquire knowledge and apply it to new situations, integrating examples from food science and nutrition.     

Learning habits of students with special needs in short‐term vocational education programmes

This research examined some characteristics of the learning habits of students with special needs and those without them in programmes of short‐term vocational education in five areas: motivation, learning and learning techniques, emotional, social and the area of self‐evaluation. The research sample consisted of 140 students from different secondary schools. The Questionnaire on the Learning Habits of Adolescents was used for the purpose of the study. The differences between the means from individual learning habit scales, between the students with special needs or without them, were discovered by one‐way analysis of variance. Basic findings of empirical research emphasise that there exist statistically significant differences between the students with special needs and the students without special needs in four areas of learning habits. Among the findings causing concern in connection with learning habits, we would like to underscore the fact that students with special needs are perceived as less efficient at and less competent in coping with learning and work tasks. These students are not familiar with effective methods and strategies for successful learning, which leads to the feelings of frustration and helplessness in case of failure. In order to cultivate an effective and supportive educational environment for students with special needs, short‐term vocational schools should develop learning/teaching models that provide a potentially powerful alternative to traditionally directed teaching approaches.     

Intelligent design: student perceptions of teaching and learning in large social work classes

Research into the effects of large classes demonstrates that students are disadvantaged in terms of higher order learning because interactions between teachers and students occur at lower cognitive levels. This has significance for social work education, with its emphasis on the development of critical thinking and problem solving, both higher order cognitive skills. This paper reports on quantitative and qualitative research that explored social work students’ perceptions of different teaching and learning strategies in a large mental health course designed with reference to principles of student‐centred learning and constructive alignment. Findings revealed that well‐integrated design, relevance to the real world and teacher enthusiasm were seen as most useful by students, rather than particular learning strategies per se. Higher satisfaction ratings and grades were also associated with this student‐centred course compared with an earlier traditional lecture‐style course. The paper concludes that design based on the interplay between diverse learning activities, including lecture input, strengthened the student‐centred orientation of learning and recommends further research that compares learning outcomes associated with these contrasting approaches to professional education.     

Motor schema theory after 27 years: reflections and implications for a new theory

The schema theory for discrete motor skill learning (Schmidt, 1975), originally published in 1975, has generated considerable interest and received strong challenges over its lifetime. In this paper, I focus on the findings generated since 1975 that bear on the theory and highlight those that produce difficulties for it and will be motivators for differing theoretical viewpoints in the future. At the same time, I examine other lines of evidence that seem to bolster the original lines of thinking. Finally, I provide some suggestions for a much needed new generation of motor learning theory, pointing out particular features from the schema theory that could be included and suggesting gaps and omissions that will need additional data and theorizing in future attempts.