Meeting Updates

The Leaf cluster meets every month. Follow this space for details on our upcoming meetings and resources/links to our past meetings.

The Nature Agents Meeting

The School of Teacher Education and Learning for Earth/Ako Futures (LEAF) joined up with Ara Institute and EOS Ecology to learn how the Nature Agents (EOS) program in Banks Peninsula engage ākonga in collecting and monitoring stream health data from their local streams (e.g., in schools).

We had an exciting morning collecting stream health data in the Waiutuutu (Okeover) stream on campus and enjoyed seeing multiple connections and new possibilities to our mahi with preservice teachers. In the spirit of kotahitanga, we look forward to future collaborations with Ara and EOS.

Past Meetings

October Talk

During October meeting Mel Tainui shared her work with the Tākapūneke management plan.

September Talks

The September zoom meeting was again a special event, where the Leaf group had discussions moderated by Carl Wieman around Educational research to drive teaching and learning change. Again, a wider group from around the university joined in on the discussion.

Emergent discussion points:

1. Different types of potential effects
2. The value of qualitative vs. quantitative research
3. Measures of impact on students
4. The level preparedness of incoming students and the effect on their learning throughout tertiary education.

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Special Session with Carl Wieman

The Leaf group hosted a special session where Carl Wieman of Stamford University gave an inspirational zoom talk and fielded questions from a wider university group around Teaching practices inventory and initiating changes in teaching  at University.

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August Lightning Talks

1. Cheryl Brown – digital education/digital citizenship
2. Kathryn MacCallum – digital education/STEAM
3. Sriparna Saha – digital storytelling and disaster resilience
4. Sam Hampton – Geopark in the Banks peninsula
5. Ed Challies – water governance and environmental justice

Links to the session will be posted soon.

Emergent discussion points:

1. Use of technology for storytelling around digital platforms.
2. Integrating stories of the land with technology.
3. Ecosystem (our land and waterways) well-being and social resilience can be linked.
4. Land as sites of learning.
5. How do we measure these changes?

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July Lightning Talks

During this Leaf meeting , we had a series of lightning talks given by Leaf members on various educational aspects. The talks are available as links to youtube videos.

1. Michelle LaRue – GIS/Satellite imagery
2. Travis Horton – Whale Tracking
3. Billy O’Stein– Community Engagement
4. Heide Lukosch – Gaming
5. Bronwyn Hayward – Ecological citizenship

Emergent discussion points:

1. Co-construction of projects that have multiple learning outcomes.
2. Towards learning experiences that empower students to create curiosity-driven online learning experiences.
3. Incorporating academic engagement, critical reflections, and citizenship within learning experiences.
4. Connected learning that can empower learners through engagement.

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