Bill MacIntyre

Mentoring is recommended as a strategy for addressing the learning and social-emotional needs of gifted and talented students (Ministry of Education, 2000). A mentorship is a purposeful relationship between a gifted and talented student and an experienced, older student or adult who shares similar interests and abilities. This article explains the development, implementation, and evaluation of the mentoring elements of the New Zealand Marine Studies Centre's Talent Development Initiative for secondary students. It details the selection, training, and support provided to mentors. It concludes by exploring the evolution of a symbiotic relationship between mentors and students, as evidenced in evaluation results which show growth and development for both the gifted and talented students and their expert scientists mentors.

A multidisciplinary team carried out research to help a New Zealand university understand how to better engage their learners in the sciences, particularly in transition from secondary schools to tertiary institutes in Aotearoa New Zealand. The aim of the research is to develop a ...

This paper describes the process of developing a generic model for integration across the curriculum. Authors have introduced PBL approach in order to design the course work for the integrated curriculum in Science and Technology Education in the Teacher Education Programme. In this research the authors have envisaged a conceptual framework for implementation of integrated curriculum. The PBL approach has been implemented in a teacher education course for both online and oncampus students. This is a work in progress the model is still being developed. In this paper the authors have presented the process of redefining the conceptual framework for the integrated curriculum design through implementation, evaluation and reflection. Curriculum Integration vis a vis Problem Based Learning Process Curriculum integration in schools and the professional development for curriculum integration has been introduced in schools and training institutions in New Zealand since 1999. The TKI (Te Kete ...

Although a broad and complex amalgam of environmental (extrinsic) and personal attribute (intrinsic) factors are known to influence elementary science delivery, the development of the intrinsic factors are of particular importance to pre-service science educators. This research paper, based on quantitative procedures, examines the influence of a variety of science and science pedagogy courses in a Bachelor of Education (Primary) program on the development of teacher candidate personal attribute factors. The study involved the participation of 126 teacher candidates and explored the development and relationships amongst professional science knowledge, science teaching self-efficacy and professional attitude and interest. Results from the study identified that students who had taken a variety of both science content and pedagogy courses, unlike those who had taken only science pedagogy or content courses, held consistently positive correlations between their science background knowled...

This research exercise explored evidence of student creativity in planning science investigations. The study involved 88 Year 3 to Year 6 (age eight to II) students in the written planning of eight fair-testing type investigations. On the basis of the student responses, evidence of student creativity was identified and themes generated as to common aspects of creative expression in planning fair-testing type scientific investigations. Based on these themes, a rubric for identifying and fostering the further development of creative capabilities in science investigations was developed This rubric was then applied to student responses to the eight investigations and the frequency and level of creativity was identified. Based on these data, general trends were identified regarding the expression of creativity amongst students. Finally, based on the findings of this study, implications for teachers in promoting creative processes in scientific investigations for students are considered.

There is a large body of existing research literature on students’ understandings of evaporation and condensation, including the Learning in Science Project (LISP) at Waikato University (Osborne & Freyberg, 1985) and Science Processes and Concept Exploration (SPACE) in Britain (Russell & Watt, 1990). This was our starting point for further research to inform the development of the Assessment Resource Banks (ARBs) and other New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) resources. The NZCER research comprises four related fields of enquiry: • Systems thinking. This investigation was part of the ongoing research that informs the design of science resources for the ARB, and was based on some work by Assaraf and Orion (2005). The context was waterways. From this research, four stages of systems thinking were identified: identifying the parts of a system; identifying links between parts of a system without explaining the relationship; describing direct relationships; and describing...

This research exercise explored evidence of student procedural understanding in planning science investigations. The study involved 88 Year 3 - 6 (age range 8 - 11 years) students in the planning of eight fair-test type investigations. Seven of the Diet Cola Test (DCT) criteria were used to analyze students' procedural skills in planning. Analysis indicated that students, across all age groups, showed very poor understanding of the procedural skills necessary to systematically plan investigations in six of the seven DCT criteria assessed. Implications and suggestions for teachers are given to assist in student development of procedural understanding in planning science investigations.

The New Zealand Marine Studies Centre has developed a programme for secondary gifted and talented students offering hands-on science in the real world. These programmes are designed to include elements of the Enrichment Triad Model (ETM), specifically the three types of enrichment, and, to a lesser degree, some aspects of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM). By applying the principles of the curricular models to the real-world context of marine studies, gifted and talented students are encouraged to know, think, act, and feel like a scientist working with a team. The transferability of the principles of enrichment teaching and learning in different settings, for different populations of students, and across different delivery models requires continual evaluation and dissemination.

This paper describes the process of developing a generic model for integration across the curriculum. Authors have introduced PBL approach in order to design the course work for the integrated curriculum in Science and Technology Education in the Teacher Education ...

This research explored evidence of student procedural understanding in planning science investigations. The study involved 86 Year 3-6 (age 8-11) students in the planning of eight fair test type investigations. The students' responses were assessed using the Diet Cola Test (DCT) criteria. Seven of the DCT criteria were used to analyse students' skills in planning. Analysis indicates that students, across all age groups, are lacking the understanding involved in planning investigations in six of the seven DCT criteria. Teacher implications and suggestions are given to help plan for the development of understanding in planning science investigations.

It is generally agreed that effective astronomy educators should be competent in subject knowledge pedagogical content knowledge educational practices and curricular knowledge. This session looks at an attempt by one teacher-training institute in New Zealand to prepare primary teachers as effective astronomy educators. Astronomy education at Massey University College of Education is offered at three different levels. The basic level

ABSTRACT A freeware editing tool, CHALLENGE FRAP, has been developed for use as both a guide and a reporting device for students undertaking an investigative, problem-solving task. This paper describes the tool, and presents two case studies from different subject domains, showing its use.

As many basic astronomical concepts are spatially oriented events one would expect teachers to use an appropriate pedagogical approach in the development of that spatial understanding. One approach to assist spatial understanding in astronomy is through the use of 3D models. One finds that this approach is seldom used when teaching astronomy in the classroom. Inadvertently the extensive literature base on the alternative notions (misconceptions) held by children and adults about the nature of astronomical events was collected almost entirely from oral and / or written answers of the participants and not through the use of 3D models. A key question is does the oral / written answers demonstrate an understanding of the astronomical event(s)? This session reports on the use of 3D models in teaching astronomical events as well as the use of 3D models by primary and tertiary students to demonstrate her / his astronomical understanding.

This paper details a model of teacher development that allows students to demonstrate their understanding of basic astronomy concepts as well as communicating that understanding in creative ways. Key features of the model include starting from students' initial understanding about astronomical concepts and providing time for students to assess first their mental models and then their astronomical understanding, in both cases using 3-­‐D models. These key features appear collectively to provide an appropriate creative environment for students. Two students adapted their original 3-­‐D models in order to communicate specific aspects of seasons – different solar inputs and varying lengths of day/night throughout the year. Interviews of the two students highlighted the thinking that led to the creation of the new components. The uptake by other students, during the modeling assessment task, demonstrated the effectiveness of the new components in communicating an astronomical understanding of seasons. The model of teacher development illustrates how teacher educators can teach for astronomy understanding as well as allow for creative ways to communicate that understanding to others – an essential aspect of being an effective astronomy educator in the classroom.