Kirsty Farrant

Citation

Thesis Title
Teaching socioscientific issues and ethical decision-making: a self study

Read article at Massey Research Online:

Critical reflection is an important aspect of attempting to improve teaching practice. Ms Farrant used self-study as a methodology for reflecting on her teaching practice. She investigated whether changes could be made to the way she taught ethical decision-making on socioscientific issues. Changes to her teaching could improve the students’ ability to justify ethical decisions they made as part of an assessment. Ms Farrant gathered and analysed data from a range of sources, including a professional journal and interviews with students. She found that assumptions had been made within her teaching, but that by having discussions with the students much of the tension arising from such assumptions was dissipated. Ms Farrant developed a framework that combined the principles of self-study with analytical techniques for her classroom practice. Use of her framework could be extended to other classroom practitioners wishing to reflect on their own practice.

Supervisors
Professor Margaret Walshaw
Dr Alison Campbell
Associate Professor Nick Zepke