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Transitioning a Face-to-Face Criminal Justice Program in Aotearoa New Zealand to Online in a Post-COVID-19 World

Widening Participation in Higher Education

Abstract

Criminal justice educators in Aotearoa New Zealand, as around the world, are currently grappling with challenges posed by the post-pandemic realities of higher education, including declining lecture attendance. This chapter examines our proposed strategy for an ordered transition to a well-tailored blended learning approach for the Bachelor of Criminal Justice at Faculty of Law at the University of Canterbury in Aotearoa New Zealand. This strategy has developed in response to the need to future-proof education offerings to address the emerging needs of students, prepare for potential disruptions, while continuing to deliver high-quality programs that prepare graduates for employment. We argue that our strategy should be considered a widening participation initiative, which will increase the availability and effectiveness of learning opportunities, while enhancing our program’s reach, both for new students and for those staff within criminal justice agencies seeking professional development opportunities.

The chapter provides an overview of what is known about the common characteristics shared by criminal justice students, and an examination of the contemporary knowledge and abilities required to prepare criminal justice students for employment, which is then contextualizing within Aotearoa New Zealand – where indigenous Māori are over-represented in every part of the criminal justice system. Against this backdrop, we discuss how to teach this in the context of post-COVID-19 blended learning by providing an overview of the evidence regarding face-to-face and online effectiveness in general and differentiating this from the use of emergency use of remote learning during COVID-19 restrictions, before outlining what is known about teaching criminal justice online. Finally, we offer suggestions for the use of blended teaching approaches within the context of knowing who our students are and what we need to teach them.

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Correspondence to Jayson Ware .

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© 2023 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Ware, J., Farley, H., Spamers, M. (2023). Transitioning a Face-to-Face Criminal Justice Program in Aotearoa New Zealand to Online in a Post-COVID-19 World. In: Bull, D., Green, J., Padró, F.F. (eds) Widening Participation in Higher Education. University Development and Administration. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9553-8_13-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9553-8_13-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-19-9553-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-19-9553-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education

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  1. Latest

    Transitioning a Face-to-Face Criminal Justice Program in Aotearoa New Zealand to Online in a Post-COVID-19 World
    Published:
    18 September 2023

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9553-8_13-2

  2. Original

    Transitioning a Face-to-Face Criminal Justice Program in Aotearoa New Zealand to Online in a Post-COVID-19 World
    Published:
    30 July 2023

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9553-8_13-1