Key Findings

Findings on citing and referencing

• All students must acknowledge their sources using citations and referencing.
• Teachers need to demonstrate good practice by correctly citing and referencing all the material used or referred to in the creation of the teaching materials.
• Teachers must understand accurate citing and referencing and be able to develop these skills in students.
• There are a number of citing and referencing styles.
• Librarians can teach people how to use each style.

Findings on effective presentations

• Presentations should be designed using the right visual layout, suitable software and set out using the right structure.
• They should be written to make sense by someone who hasn't attended the presentation.
• They should be designed for interaction and readability and to transition well.
• A presentation shouldn't be too cluttered, the layout should be consistent and should stand up to copyright scrutiny.

Findings on credit transfer

• Credit transfer and assessment of prior learning avoids duplication of study.
• Other benefits include making it easier for students to move between programmes and institutions, making it quicker for students to complete their qualifications and providing a pathway to higher qualifications.

Findings on educational technologies

• Educational technologies such as Web 2.0, social networking and video conferencing are becoming popular for delivering course information and classes to students in a variety of formats.
• The technologies allow tutors and education facilitators to teach in a variety of styles.
• Although the technologies are popular, some of the terms and jargon used in them can be difficult for academic staff to come to grips with.

Findings on embedding literacy

• Increasing the literacy, language and numeracy skills of the workforce is a key government priority.
• The benefits of higher literacy, language and numeracy skills, include improved health, housing and community participation.
• The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) is providing funding to polytechnics to assist with the development of literacy and numeracy resulting in better outcomes for learners.
• One strategy that is used is Embedded Literacy.
• Embedded Literacy is explained as 'concurrently developing language, literacy and numeracy and vocational competence as interrelated elements of one process' (Courtenay and Mawer, 1995).
• Approaches to embedding literacy and numeracy are more likely to be successful where the links between literacy, numeracy and vocational learning are identified clearly and explicitly.
• Research into effective embedded literacy and numeracy approaches emphasises the importance of the relative timing of literacy, numeracy and vocational instruction.

Findings on engaging Pasifika students

• The term Pasifika does not refer to a single nationality or ethnicity, but is a collective term for a diverse range of people from the Pacific region.
• Pasifika education success and retention rates are being monitored by the government.
• Interacting with Pasifika students and using Pasifika greetings and language can help engagement.

Findings on student study

• When students internalise and synthesise thoughts by putting notes into their own words, it makes those words more memorable.
• When students can fluently express an idea in their own words, they are more like to have really understood an idea.

Findings on the National Qualifications Framework

• The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) is administered by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.
• It is a collection of unit standards, achievement standards and qualifications.
• NQF is designed to provide nationally recognised, consistent standards and qualifications and recognition and credit for all learning of knowledge and skills
• The NQF is a three-pronged quality system of national standards, accredited organisations and a moderation system.

Findings on student workload

• To complete a programme of study successfully, students are required to engage in a number of teacher and/or self-directed learning activities.
• Student workload is the time taken by average students to complete the learning activities.
• Learning activities can be divided into instruction (teacher-directed activities, eg, lectures, practicals and laboratory work); learning activities (student-directed, eg, attending lectures and performing specific assignments); and assessments (eg, oral or written examinations and essays).

Findings on supporting Māori students

• Establishing relationships between tutors and the class are fundamental to learning.
• Many Māori students are uncomfortable sharing with or contributing to group activities when they are clustered with people they don’t know.

Findings on understanding students

• Understanding learners is vital to good teaching practice.
• To ensure students are successful, lessons created must meet their needs.
• A learner profile is a good way of establishing the needs of learners.
• There are many tools available to help teachers understand their learners and give them a profile of their learners.

Key Recommendations

Provide access to the guides | Make the findings and the guides written in response to the findings available in different formats to ensure they are accessible.

Ensure the guides can be used and adapted | Give people permission to use and adapt the guides (provided they attribute Weltec and Ako Aotearoa as outlined in the Creative Commons copyright statement).