scholarly journals Teaching Midwifery Face-to-Face or Via the Screen: The Impact of Flexible Delivery of Teaching on Student Engagement

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tania Dawn Milne

<p>The aim of this research was to describe how undergraduate midwifery students’ engagement with learning is impacted when they have teaching delivered by different methods of instruction. It asks the question: does flexible delivery of teaching impact on their ability to engage in their learning? This research describes the impact of different modes of flexible delivery of teaching within a new curriculum on students in a pre-registration midwifery undergraduate programme at Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), New Zealand. This new curriculum commenced in 2010 as a response to legislative and industry driven changes to midwifery education in New Zealand. The research used an on-line survey to ask students enrolled in years one and two of the programme and those who had exited the programme during the same timeframe, A range of questions about their learning experiences. Surveys were sent to 104 enrolled students and 15 students that had exited the BMid programme. Fifty two (50%) responses were received from the enrolled students and three (20%) from those that had exited the programme. There were three key findings of this research. Firstly the participants identified differences with their sense of belonging amongst their peers, tutors and the administration team outside of their regional learning hubs. The second key and unsurprising finding was that respondents across the board preferred face-to-face sessions to video conferencing sessions and thirdly that the demographic profile of the respondents from the regional learning hubs was different to those attending from the Hamilton city hub. The implications of these key findings are; · For tertiary institutions to acknowledge and consider the links between high quality learning, student engagement and outcomes. · To support the need for continuing training and education for both faculty and students with regards to flexible delivery of teaching and to provide professional development and relevant technology to support more interactive forms of learning if delivered via video conferencing or by online activities. · To further research the needs of Māori students and those who have exited the programme in order to discover what would need to change in order for them to continue with their studies.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tania Dawn Milne

<p>The aim of this research was to describe how undergraduate midwifery students’ engagement with learning is impacted when they have teaching delivered by different methods of instruction. It asks the question: does flexible delivery of teaching impact on their ability to engage in their learning? This research describes the impact of different modes of flexible delivery of teaching within a new curriculum on students in a pre-registration midwifery undergraduate programme at Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), New Zealand. This new curriculum commenced in 2010 as a response to legislative and industry driven changes to midwifery education in New Zealand. The research used an on-line survey to ask students enrolled in years one and two of the programme and those who had exited the programme during the same timeframe, A range of questions about their learning experiences. Surveys were sent to 104 enrolled students and 15 students that had exited the BMid programme. Fifty two (50%) responses were received from the enrolled students and three (20%) from those that had exited the programme. There were three key findings of this research. Firstly the participants identified differences with their sense of belonging amongst their peers, tutors and the administration team outside of their regional learning hubs. The second key and unsurprising finding was that respondents across the board preferred face-to-face sessions to video conferencing sessions and thirdly that the demographic profile of the respondents from the regional learning hubs was different to those attending from the Hamilton city hub. The implications of these key findings are; · For tertiary institutions to acknowledge and consider the links between high quality learning, student engagement and outcomes. · To support the need for continuing training and education for both faculty and students with regards to flexible delivery of teaching and to provide professional development and relevant technology to support more interactive forms of learning if delivered via video conferencing or by online activities. · To further research the needs of Māori students and those who have exited the programme in order to discover what would need to change in order for them to continue with their studies.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Brenda Mary Service

<p>A new school curriculum was implemented in all New Zealand schools during 2008 and 2009 and was mandated at the beginning of 2010. The changes signalled in the new curriculum required teachers to incorporate key competencies into their teaching and to move to student-centred practice which involves students in the decisions about their learning. It was possible that this social constructivist approach represented a change in teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning and to their practice.  Much of the literature on educational change appears to overlook the transformational nature of the learning needed to bring about changes in beliefs and practice and teachers’ personal motivation to engage with it. Unless change is of personal significance to individuals they are unlikely to be motivated to engage with it. Using Eisner’s (1998) method of educational criticism, this case study is an investigation into the personal significance of the new curriculum to the teachers’ reality. In the spirit of educational criticism, the lens of an educational connoisseur was used to first develop an understanding of the teachers’ reality followed by that of an educational critic to evaluate what occurred.  Over a two-year period the study involved semi-structured interviews with twelve secondary school teachers in three schools, observations of the classroom practice, and analysis of school documentation and societal messages. While all the participating teachers’ espoused beliefs that were congruent with the philosophy of the new curriculum, constructivist practices were observed in the practice of only two teachers. What prevented the other teachers’ wholehearted engagement in the implementation of the new curriculum was not their beliefs about teaching and learning but rather, the extent to which external pressures determined their priorities. These pressures included the misalignment of the school goals and cultural norms, the impact of NCEA assessment regime, time constraints, leadership issues, lack of conceptual understanding and the absence of professional learning to support transformative learning.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Paulsen ◽  
Alexander C. McCormick

Online learning is the fastest growing segment in U.S. higher education and is increasingly adopted in public and private not-for-profit institutions. While the impact of online learning on educational outcomes is becoming more clear, the literature on its connection with student engagement is sparse. Student engagement measures identify key aspects of the learning process that can improve learning and outcomes like retention and achievement. The few studies investigating the link between online learning and student engagement found positive benefits for online learners compared to face-to-face learners in terms of perceived academic challenge, learning gains, satisfaction, and better study habits. On the other hand, face-to-face learners reported higher levels of environment support, collaborative learning, and faculty interaction. However, these studies did not effectively account for the differences in background characteristics like age, time spent working or caring for dependents, and enrollment status. Further, they did not consider the increasingly large population of students who enroll in both online and face-to-face courses. In our study, we used propensity score matching on the 2015 National Survey of Student Engagement data to account for the disparities in these groups’ demographics variables. After matching, we found that some of the previous literature’s differences diminish or disappear entirely. This suggests differences in supportive environments and learning strategies have more to do with online student characteristics than learning mode. However, online learning still falls well below other modes in terms of collaborative learning and interaction with faculty.


2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney Weil ◽  
Tracy-Anne De Silva ◽  
Maurice Ward

Purpose – This paper aims to describe the implementation of a blended learning approach in a Stage 2 management accounting course at a university in New Zealand. The paper reports on student participation and engagement in the course and reflects on students’ learning experiences. The blended learning approach was implemented in response to low student attendance and poor preparation for face-to-face tutorial sessions, along with demand from students to be able to access learning resources off-campus. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from formal course evaluations, the learning management system and a student focus group, with particular emphasis on three of the online activities introduced – lessons, quizzes and chat rooms. Findings – The study finds that while learners value online activities, they are nevertheless still unwilling to forgo the opportunities which face-to-face contact with both peers and faculty members present. This finding provides support for the continuation of a blended learning approach in the course, as well as its implementation in others. Research limitations/implications – This paper has several limitations. These include the small sample size and the absence of reflection on the process and outcome(s) of implementation of the blended learning course by the responsible academic. Furthermore, the paper also did not consider the impact of blended learning on students’ soft, or generic, skills. These are topics for future research. Practical implications – The findings highlight the importance of offering not only a mixture of online activities, but also a blend of face-to-face and online activities. Originality/value – This study focuses on student participation and engagement in a blended learning accounting course.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Jo Perry

The 2020 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns came as a shock nationally and internationally. As a result, the change in approaches to teaching for many was fast and absolute. One minute the face-to-face ethos was humming along as 'normal', the next it was fully on line and taking teachers and students into a story many would never have considered. This brought with it the challenge of continuing to build and maintain relationships with the students in order to support their road to success. Storytelling has always been an important part of my practice in developing relationships through sharing my own experiences and encouraging the students to share theirs. In this way, we co-construct understanding of the class content and get to know each other. Going into fully online teaching would potentially change this.   Given the speed of the changes required, this project was never meant to be overtly innovative but was designed to allow me to continue using narratives of content and practice to build communities of learning in the online environment.  As a teacher, Power Point was familiar, so I started there and simply changed to saving them as mp4 files.    The presentation plots this journey as a teacher taking storytelling from a face-to-face classroom across the lockdown in a way that continued supporting relationships and learning. The first attempts showed me that online stories are not the same as class power points where I physically created the narrative that linked the slides together.  As I viewed my first attempt, it became clear that I was trying to tell a story that was in my head but not translated to the screen and I needed to adopt an approach that clearly spoke to a listener/audience i.e. my community of learning.  I learned that, up to this point, I had used power point as a guide as I wove a story around the weekly content in a face-to-face classroom. In other words, the whole thing was heavily dependent on me.  In this new environment, the story had to be told in a different way.  It had to stand as a discrete artefact on its own, speaking to anyone that logged on, enabling me to reach out to that other human being without the unique connection that develops between story-teller and listener in the face to face world. Through three more cycles of research, I found that this new kind of story depended on a delicate balance between visual and oral, the context, content and the affective and how each was portrayed. Ultimately, the focus had to remain on the relationships I could build and the impact they could have. Therefore, this project came to be about keeping storytelling, whether face-to-face or online, “a uniquely human experience through which people make sense of past experience, convey emotions and ultimately connect with each other” (Christianson, 2011, p. 289).


Author(s):  
Jodyanne Kirkwood ◽  
Kirsty Dwyer ◽  
Sara Walton

Purpose This paper aims to examine the experiences of an ecopreneurial venture that was operating before, during and after the 2010-2011 series of earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand. The aim is to elucidate on the tension existing between an ecopreneur’s personal green values/ethics and his need to be resilient and do what was necessary to ensure his business’s survival, which was operating before, during and after an extreme event – the 2010-2011 series of earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand. Design/methodology/approach The data are gathered from a longitudinal case study of Just Organic Ltd (an organic fruit and vegetable delivery service) over a five-year period which covers time before and after the earthquakes. Data were gathered via two in-depth face-to-face interviews with the ecopreneur, along with a number of email and telephone follow-ups. Findings Findings indicate that an extreme event such as an earthquake will inhibit the green values of an ecopreneur as the ecopreneur works to ensure business survival. To continue to operate successfully, the ecopreneur developed a resilient and hardy nature and adapted operational processes to run in a more entrepreneurial fashion. It would seem that holding firmly to green values irrespective of a changed business environment is detrimental to business viability and survivability. The ecopreneur bounced forward, rather than bouncing back from the disaster. Research limitations/implications The implications for research, policy makers and ecopreneurs and entrepreneurs in general are discussed. There are lessons to be learned from the experiences of the ecopreneur who is operating Just Organic Limited. Originality/value This paper is one of the few that has examined the impact the Christchurch earthquakes had on an existing eco-business. The longitudinal data enable a unique insight into the operational aspects of an eco-business before and after a series of earthquakes.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Missy Wolfman

<p>Questioning techniques in forensic interviews make a critical contribution to the amount and quality of children’s testimony (Lamb, La Rooy, Malloy, & Katz, 2011). Best practice recommendations advise that interviewers ask predominantly broad open-ended prompts (invitations and cued-invitations), minimise focused (direct) and closed-ended (option-posing) prompts, and avoid suggestive questions (Orbach & Pipe, 2011). Deviation from these recommendations is common, and deterioration in interviewing practice over time is typical unless interviewers received regular practice focused supervision and feedback (Lamb, Sternberg, Orbach, Esplin, & Mitchell, 2002). However, interviewers’ access to supervision is often limited (La Rooy, Lamb, & Memon, 2011). Guided self-review may be an effective method to complement traditional face-to-face supervision. This thesis examined: 1) forensic interviewing practice with children in New Zealand, 2) factors that influenced practice, 3) forensic interviewers’ perceptions of supervision, and 4) the effectiveness of a self-review tool designed to increase the use of invitations and cued-invitations.  The first study was divided into two parts (Study 1a and Study 1b). In Study 1a, we evaluated the extent to which forensic interviewers in New Zealand adhered to best-practice recommendations, and examined factors (child, interviewer, allegation characteristics) that influenced practice. We examined 93 interviews with children (6-16 years old) about sexual abuse allegations that were conducted by 27 interviewers. Interviewers utilised more direct (57%), and option-posing prompts (20%), and fewer invitations and cued-invitations (22% combined) than stipulated by best practice recommendations, although very few suggestive questions were posed. A number of child, interviewer and allegation characteristics influenced questioning techniques. In Study 1b, we examined whether limited use of invitations and cued-invitations (in a larger sample of 103 interviews) was associated with decreased responsiveness from children, and failure to follow recommended practice of using such questions following any direct or option-posing questions (termed pairing). Although invitations were more likely to elicit responses (83%) than non-responses (17%) from children, non-responding was more highly associated with this type of prompt than expected by chance. Furthermore, interviewers did not adhere to the pairing principle, even though this practice was positively associated with higher proportion of invitations and cued-invitations.  In the second study, we surveyed 39 forensic interviewers about their engagement in, and beliefs about supervision. Two-thirds of the interviewers indicated that they engage in practice-focused supervision. Out of these interviewers, over half (57.7%) received supervision regularly and were satisfied with the content of their supervision, and approximately half (53.9%) were satisfied with their supervision opportunities. Nonetheless, interviewers varied in terms of how satisfying they found their access to, and the content of supervision. Finally, a number of individual and organisational barriers (e.g., financial, time constraint and limited availability of supervisors) to accessing face-to-face supervision were identified.  In the final study, we explored the impact of a self-review tool specifically designed to increase invitations and cued-invitations and adherence to the pairing principle. This pilot study used an AB design (baseline vs. intervention) with six interviewers (n=54 interviews with 4-16 year old children for alleged physical or sexual abuse). Interviews conducted during the self-review phase had a significantly higher proportion of invitations, and a lower proportion of direct prompts, and higher adherence to the pairing principle than interviews at baseline.  Overall, our evaluation of forensic interviewing practice with children in New Zealand has highlighted areas of strengths as well as areas for improvement. In particular, consistent with international evaluations, an increase in the use of invitations and cued-invitations is recommended, and our results suggest that one way this may be achieved is by a greater focus in training and practice on the use of the pairing principle. Undoubtedly, forensic interviewing is a challenging task that requires highly specialised skills. Without regular supervision and feedback, it is difficult to maintain consistent and high standards of interviewing. Given the challenges that may limit forensic interviewers’ access to regular feedback and supervision, guided self-review may offer an accessible and low-cost complementary method to improve the conduct of forensic interviews with children. Better quality interviews increase the chance of investigations progressing when maltreatment has occurred, thereby protecting vulnerable children from further abuse, and innocent adults from the consequences of false allegations.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masha Smallhorn

A decrease in student attendance at lectures both nationally and internationally, has prompted educators to re-evaluate their teaching methods and investigate strategies which promote student engagement. The flipped classroom model, grounded in active learning pedagogy, transforms the face-to-face classroom. Students prepare for the flipped classroom in their own time by watching short online videos and completing readings. Face-to-face time is used to apply learning through problem-solving with peers. To improve the engagement and learning outcomes of our second year cohort, lectures were replaced with short online videos and face-to-face time was spent in a flipped classroom. The impact of the flipped classroom was analysed through surveys, attendance records, learning analytics and exam data before and after the implementation of the flipped classroom. Results suggest an increase in student engagement and a positive attitude towards the learning method. However, there were no measurable increases in student learning outcomes.


Author(s):  
G. J. Cooper

This chapter outlines the approach to mental health care developed and currently being implemented by Pathways New Zealand for reducing disease risk factors in patients treated for mental health problems. Pathways New Zealand was formed in 1989 following the closure of the major mental service facility for the Waikato-Hauraki Region of New Zealand, Tokonui Hospital. Since that time Pathways has grown to a national level service offering services to its clients ranging from 24-hour supported accommodation, through healthy lifestyles programs, to outcomes based services including patient access to and involvement in the management of their medical and personal history data (ICAN). Gavin Cooper, Pathways Housing Management Coordinator for the Waikato-Hauraki Region, in conjunction with the Waikato Institute of Technology (WINTEC) has developed a holistic system for the treatment of environmentally induced mental illness that includes chemical treatment, exercise programs, self-help training and community support. The results of a two year program of research into the impact of this program are reported on in this chapter, and its suitability for wider adoption discussed. These comments are partly based on research statistics provided by the Centre for Sports Exercise Science (WINTEC) and Mike Dove, Team Leader Residential, Pathways.


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