Lindsey Conner

• PhD (Monash)
• Education Director Asia Pacific at Cognition Education

A syllabus is an arrangement of subjects and a plan for a course of study. It enables visualization of the big picture of the course structure. Syllabi play various valuable functions, including providing information about the communication mechanism between the teacher and students, a planning tool for instructors, a course plan for learners, a so...

Design researchers undertake continual refinement, based on findings from analysed data, to make iterative changes to educational research that is particularly concerned with improving the effectiveness of the educational design. This includes generating a range of artefacts that bridge educational theories with practice, resulting in new knowledge...

n higher education, integrating STEM subjects is still a fairly new concept and therefore has some implementation challenges. But Cognition’s Education Director, Asia Pacific, Dr. Lindsey Conner argues that technology can bridge this gap. In her latest webinar with the International Network for Outcome Based Education, Lindsey discusses how techn...

Teaching the Unemployed to Setup Online Business: An Educational Intervention (Video Presentation at Emerging Researchers Conference in European Conference on Educational Research ECER 2021). Abstract: http://www.AmelieHanna.net/files/2021-ECER-Geneva-Online.pdf Video Presentation: http://www.ameliehanna.net/ecer2021.php

The enthusiasm and “hype” about the benefits of STEM education have not necessarily examined research on more effective ways to design and implement STEM. The aim of this research was to elucidate effective approaches for integrating STEM. This can help students in higher education develop specialist knowledge, skills and capabilities simultaneousl...

This timely book addresses the increasing need for collaboration, innovation and solution-focussed skills by looking at examples of cutting-edge pedagogy that can inform future directions. Integrating STEM in Higher Education shows how applying digital innovations that can be generated through the implementation of deliberately designed STEM educat...

Engineering programs worldwide collect and report student learning outcomes data to conduct program evaluations for quality assurance and accreditation purposes. Accreditation agencies such as ABET typically mandate that at least two years of program evaluation data be provided and for institutions to show how this data has been used for continuous...

Engineering accreditation agencies and governmental educational bodies worldwide require programs to evaluate specific learning outcomes information for attainment of student learning and establish accountability. Ranking and accreditation have resulted in programs adopting shortcut approaches to collate cohort information with minimally acceptable...

Background: Arabic minority groups in Australia face language barriers and shortage of computer skills, which cause unemployment and/or an inability to establish their own businesses. The unemployment rate for this group is ~ 20.5%, which is 3-times higher than the average unemployment rate in Australia (~7%). The unemployment will get worse due to...

Due to a lack of available information about unemployment among Arabic-speaking residents, an estimation was needed to profile unemployment among this particular group. Data presented in the tables below come from different sources to provide an estimation about the unemployment among Arabic-speaking residents in Australia. This estimation is aroun...

This chapter presents a qualitative investigation of lecturers' perceptions of critical thinking and how this influenced how they taught. All of the participants taught the same first-year university chemistry course. This case study provides insights about how there may need to be fundamental shifts in lecturers' perceptions about learning and the...

Educational systems around the world are trying to grapple with the need forexperts in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM),who have expert knowledge and combined skills for working in collaborativeteams to find solutions to local and global issues. Employers seek disciplinaryexperts as well as people who can act as co...

China’s non-government Higher Education sector has experienced 40 years of growth but has faced a range of problems in recent years. There is an urgent need to think carefully about future directions and approaches that non-government universities might take. Internationalization is changing the world of education and has become important strategic...

This presentation discusses a proposed curriculum framework for implementing STEMM in higher education and some of the considerations, enablers and challenges.

Critical thinking in higher education

Forthcoming QPR Conference in 2021

Developing students’ CT (Critical Thinking) is fundamental for students to develop skills for future study and employment. To prepare students for evaluating the changing world, there needs to be planning, enactment and assessment of CT in all fields of study at universities. How well are lecturers incorporating learning experiences that support th...

Book Chapter Proposal for the Volume "School-University-Community Collaboration and the Immigrant Educational Experience", Information Age Press.

This study investigates factors that influenced the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subject enrolment decisions of Year 12 students in Australia. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to develop a model using Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) data...

Keynote presentation at the iSTEM conference Penang, Malaysia, 22 January 2019.

In this study, four New Zealand (NZ) physics teachers’ conceptions about teaching are compared in relation to their physics’ teaching practices. Case studies have been used to present the analysis of themes as well as a platform to discuss the system enablers and constraints that influenced their practices in action. The conceptions, beliefs, and/o...

Internationalization in higher education has shifted to focus on home initiatives that engage and benefit all students rather than cross-border mobility activities. The qualitative case study reported in this article employed Kahu’s model of student engagement (SE) to investigate SE in internationalization of the curriculum (IoC) from the perspecti...

This chapter examines the ways a creative and innovative principal in a Bangladeshi secondary school developed his teachers as leaders. The leadership practices that have developed in this school are significant because they offer a model of shared responsibility for engagement with students and community in the Bangladeshi context where authoritar...

“Recently professional learning and development has turned a corner. Teachers as leaders of learning have realized that they can be agents of change within their classrooms by focusing on quite specific teaching changes to improve outcomes for their learners” (Conner, 2015: p. 7). This paper provides examples of how teachers were challenged to link...

The contextual factors influencing teachers' use of technology as well as teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) levels were investigated through multiple embedded case studies of five science teachers who were regular users of technology in their teaching. The case studies reported in this chapter revealed that teachers used...

This paper reports on four New Zealand physics teachers' conceptions about teaching and how these related to their teaching practices. A case study method was employed. Interviews and observations provided data that was analysed using a cross-case thematic approach. The study identified and described each teacher's conceptions about teaching physic...

The promotion of STEM to advance economies and educational and vocational chances for people is high on the agenda of many governments. This chapter argues that, worldwide, we need to focus on how science education can enhance people’s lives through providing new solutions to general life, health, and environmental imperatives. Therefore, we need r...

This paper explores New Zealand (NZ) physics teachers ' and physics educators ' views about Initial Teacher Education (ITE). Perspectives of physics teachers nationally indicated that in general, teachers considered themselves not well-prepared in some content areas including electronics, modern physics, and atomic and nuclear physics. This may be...

This paper explores New Zealand (NZ) physics teachers’ and physics educators’ views about Initial Teacher Education (ITE). Perspectives of physics teachers nationally indicated that in general, teachers considered themselves not well-prepared in some content areas including electronics, modern physics, and atomic and nuclear physics. This may be be...

This chapter discusses how I used preservice teachers’ (PSTs) reflections in a Graduate Diploma biology class to inform my teaching of a senior biology curriculum course. I focussed on students’ reflections they wrote in their eportfolios. This involved categorising how often students reflected on ways to learn content knowledge, evaluated pedagogy...

School leadership in Bangladesh secondary schools largely draws on a hierarchical model. The principal is often seen as the person who makes a school successful and they also act as the gatekeepers to transform a school through change initiatives. While the rate of change in education can sometimes be overwhelming, school principals in Bangladesh s...

A book about teaching as inquiry has a special focus on how teachers can improve their practice to support priority learners. Teaching as inquiry, with a focus on priority learners is hot off the press from the New Zealand Council of Educational Research (NZCER), and addresses the question of how teachers might manage Teaching as Inquiry (TAI) as p...

In this study, we were interested in how approaches to teaching high school physics in New Zealand influenced students' perceptions of physics and their consequent desire to continue with physics. We also investigated the reasons participants became physics teachers to inform how more teachers might be attracted into the profession. The convergent...

Science teaching has come under scrutiny in the last three years in New Zealand as a result of disparities in participation and achievement of Māori and Pasifika learners, those from low socio-economic backgrounds, learners with special education needs and English language learners. This paper draws on professional learning and development (PLD) fo...

This paper explores New Zealand (NZ) physics teachers' assessments about their Initial Teacher Education (ITE), specifically, how well it prepared them for classroom practice and to become effective physics teachers. The data from a nationwide survey of physics teachers was analysed using frequency tables and inferential statistics. The teachers co...

The contextual factors influencing teachers' use of technology as well as teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) levels were investigated through multiple embedded case studies of five science teachers who were regular users of technology in their teaching. The case studies reported in this chapter revealed that teachers used...

Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) is the knowledge required for effective technology integration in teaching. In this study, New Zealand high school science teachers’ TPACK was assessed through an online survey. The data and its analysis revealed that New Zealand’s high school science teachers in general had a high perception of t...

In this study, we were interested in how approaches to teaching high school physics in New Zealand influenced students' perceptions of physics and their consequent desire to continue with physics. We also investigated the reasons participants became physics teachers to inform how more teachers might be attracted into the profession. The convergent...

Nested case studies within three schools indicate how prioritising Teaching as Inquiry (TAI) has led to changes in curriculum focus and pedagogy, and how these can be aligned with shifts in student outcomes. The cases were developed from interviews, observations, facilitator reports, success stories gained from the teachers and achievement data, to...

As a result of multi-disciplinary research on learning, a consistent and comprehensive body of knowledge on effective learning environments is currently emerging (OECD 2010). While this evidence is increasingly influencing the academic and policy discourse on the improvement and innovation of schools, its impact on the design principles of effectiv...

Evaluative constructivism is used to describe how students derived learning intentions and made choices about what they would do during a unit of work in a final-year high school biology class, as they conducted an inquiry into the social and ethical issues associated with cancer. The context of the study, theoretical background and overview of stu...

This paper uses the discourse of complexity thinking to envision curriculum as six partial and coupled facets that exist simultaneously: curriculum as structure, curriculum as process, curriculum as content, curriculum as teaching, curriculum as learning and curriculum as activity. Such a curriculum is emergent and self-organising. It is emergent i...

This paper provides contextual information and specific findings about how principals in Bangladesh lead their schools. While the rate of change in education can sometimes be overwhelming in Bangladesh, school leadership still largely follows a hierarchical model. The principal is often seen as the person who makes a school successful and they also...

One of the interesting features of New Zealand's education system is the greater level of students’ diversity, learning needs, and achievement levels within-school classrooms than what exists between different schools. Addressing these issues and differences poses significant challenges to teachers; however, potential solutions are emerging from ev...

Teachers are more than technicians, more than doers. The old saying that “those who can do, those who can’t teach” can no longer be applied to teachers in the twenty-first century. Those who engage in teaching, whatever their title (educator, carer, teacher, pedagogista), are required to understand why they do what they do at both the theoretical a...

Futures thinking involves a structured exploration into how society and its physical and cultural environment could be shaped in the future. In science education, an exploration of socio-scientific issues offers significant scope for including such futures thinking. Arguments for doing so include increasing student engagement, developing students’...

This paper describes results from an online survey of 26 women from 8 universities, describing times when work and non-work situations have helped or hindered their advancement in university leadership roles. From the 110 reported incidents, 5 categories of factors that make a difference to advancement as leaders have been identified. This research...

In this article, we outline a research project with adolescent-focused NGOs (non-government organisations) in Christchurch, New Zealand. This project involved 25 managers who used appreciative inquiry process methodology to explore their leadership practices, beliefs, and values. Throughout the article, we construct a conceptual leadership frame fo...

This article examines 110 reported incidents from an online survey of 26 women from each of the eight universities in New Zealand. They responded to questions asking them to describe times when work and non-work situations have helped or hindered their advancement in university leadership roles. Five key themes, incorporating a range of factors, em...

This article explores an approach to developing organisational and leadership capacity through the development of a professional learning community. The project involved 25 managers of adolescent-focused non-government organisations (NGOs) who participated in a 14-month collaborative development project that incorporated appreciative inquiry proces...

This paper outlines evidence emphasizing the importance of educational leaders prioritizing the development of "learning communities" within the staff and students at their schools. It suggests that although schools are most certainly institutes of learning in terms of the classroom processes they create for their students, that there is some quest...

Initial teacher education (ITE) programmes need to accommodate the contemporary demands of their education systems and pre-empt the qualities that teachers will require in the future. ITE programmes are currently in transition, facing changes in society and societal expectations, changing concepts about knowledge and its uses, changing roles for te...

This paper reports a project in which teachers used small action-research projects to investigate how they were responding to the diversity of their students in terms of planning and teaching. The project, funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Education through the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative fund (TLRI), involved teachers investigati...

This paper describes results from an online survey of 26 women from 8 universities, describing times when work and non-work situations have helped or hindered their advancement in university leadership roles. From the 110 reported incidents, 5 categories of factors that make a difference to advancement as leaders have been identified. This research...

This paper reports on degrees of awareness and use of specific metacognitive strategies by 16 students in a final-year high school biology class in New Zealand. The aims of the intervention were to broaden students' thinking about bioethical issues associated with cancer and to enhance students' use of metacognition. Cues and prompts were used in t...

This paper reports on how teachers used small action research projects to investigate how they were responding to the diversity of their students in terms of planning and teaching. It was funded by the NZ Ministry of Education Teaching and learning Research Initiative. This project involved teachers investigating self-chosen issues related to the d...

This paper reports on a qualitative case study investigation of the knowledge and use of learning strategies by 16 students in a final year high school biology class to expand their conscious knowledge of learning. Students were provided with opportunities to engage in purposeful inquiry into the biological, social and ethical aspects of cancer. A...

Abstract This paper discusses why facilitation is important as an approach to the teaching of values. In particular it uses the context of a unit of work designed to broaden students understanding of bioethical issues and fulfil the curriculum requirements of the final year high school biology curriculum in New Zealand. Classroom observations, and...

This research reports on a constructivist approach that was used in a unit of work with a final year high school biology class. The aim of the intervention was to promote students' awareness and communication of the biological, social, and ethnical issues associated with cancer. Students were encouraged to use an inquiry approach. They were also pr...

Chordospartium stevensonii Cheesem. seeds show dormancy and germination characteristics typical of many legumes. Seed dormancy is due to a water impermeable testa and seeds germinated very poorly without intentional seed scarification. However, both acid scarification (10–40 min in 18M H2SO4) and mechanical scarification (nicking the testa) permitt...

A period of 3-6 months of after-ripening is required after initiation of seed dispersal to alleviate an innate seed dormancy. Germination is more rapid at temperatures of 12-25°C, in darkness or low light intensity, and high water potential, but many seeds eventually germinate at temperatures from 5-30°C, under high light (295 μmol m-2sec-1) or ver...

The effects of temperature, light, and water availability on seed germination are examined in Acaena caesiiglauca, A. fissistipula, A. glabra, A. inermis, and A. profundeincisa. Germination requirements are quite specific with maximum germination usually below 60%. Seed predominantly germinates over a narrow temperature range (approximately 14–21°C...

Water loss from fully turgid leaves of Solanum laciniatum Ait. plants cultured in vitro was considerably greater than that from either acclimatized plants or the parent plants from which cultures were established. Microscopic examination of lower epidermal strips from detached leaves (initially fully turgid) of transplanted and parent plants reveal...

Species of benthic invertebrates collected from Freshwater Valley, Stewart Island are listed and their relative abundance is noted. Previously unpublished records of invertebrates from other freshwater habitats on the island are listed, and information is presented on the dominant vegetation of the area.

A case study in New Zealand raises issues for teachers in supporting students to develop the skills of self-questioning, independent enquiry, critical thinking and essay writin g ABSTRACT Some of the problems related to assessin g learning about social and ethical issues ar e discussed and exemplified through a case stud y intervention with a final...

Nature of science (NOS) is discussed as encapsulating the science education community's consensus on ‗what science is'. This is a fundamental component of science education. Document analysis of Science in the National Curriculum of Seychelles and Seychelles National Curriculum Framework reveals an under-representation of NOS. We argue that the nat...

A case study of a final year high school biology class in New Zealand is used to illustrate how the New Zealand assessment system allows students to demonstrate the knowledge, attributes and skills considered to be important in learning about bioethical issues. The New Zealand achievement standard system is briefly described. In this case, students...

Currently the New Zealand school system is undergoing changes as it introduces a new national curriculum. The New Zealand Curriculum is focussed on outcomes and provides the underlying philosophy, guidelines and framework for schools to design and review their curriculum. In addition, teachers need to incorporate several other Ministry initiatives...

Initial teacher education (ITE) programmes must take into account much more than just the current school curricula; they must also prepare student teachers for entry into a teaching environment that is likely to be very different from whence they came. At the same time, funding constraints, quality standards and potentially opposed stakeholder expe...

"Discusses students' learning in the context of researching and writing about bioethical issues associated with cancer. A unit of work was developed for a senior high school biology class in New Zealand to foster students' awareness of the bioethical issues and to help them to be more introspective about their learning"--P. iii. Typescript. Thesis...

At a time when student interest in science needs boosting and when a new school curriculum mandates a focus on the nature of science, we report on changes in teachers’ understanding of the nature of science following intervention workshops and experience of the science learning hub website. The qualitative and quantitative methods for the research...