The ʻōlelo noʻeau “I ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma hope” (The future is in the past) drives my teaching philosophy, centered around my belief that understanding historical events is integral to constructing an alahele (road) forward.

Table of Contents

• Teaching Philosophy
• Teaching Practice
• Impact
• Supplemental Material
  

Teaching Philosophy

The ʻōlelo noʻeau “I ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma hope” (The future is in the past) drives my teaching philosophy, centered around my belief that understanding historical events is integral to constructing an alahele (road) forward. The connections between past and present make history relevant and engaging for students, and prompt them to consider a wider view when forging ideas for the future.

“’A’ohe pau ka ‘ike i ka hālau ho’okahi” (All knowledge is not taught in the same school. One can learn from many sources) reflects my philosophy on learning material selection. Instead of using readings as exclusive didactic resources, digitized historical and current oral histories and presentations, newspapers, and government documents are utilized with online technologies to connect past and present issues, such as the Red Hill water crisis or the Lahaina wildfires. Doing this honors diverse learning styles and encourages engagement in online asynchronous courses.

He Aliʻi Ka ʻĀina: Place-Based Cultural Research Using Online Repositories

Teaching Practice

The final project in HWST 207 is called “He Aliʻi Ka ʻĀina I Nā Manawa Āpau: Place-Based Land Research Using Online Repositories and a Cultural Lens,” which is a unique research project focused on two ahupuaʻa (traditional Native Hawaiian land divisions) of the students’ choosing. Their research findings are utilized to create  Padlets, a digital communication board that allows diverse content, including text, videos, images, and other media. Using Padlet as the vehicle for their research project maintains high standards for research sources while delivering a product that students enjoy viewing and reviewing. 


HWST 207 is scaffolded to ensure success in the final project as the culmination of the course learning materials, assignments, discussions, and quizzes. Learning materials provided for students include not just readings, but all types of digital sources, including oral histories, historic newspaper articles, government documents, maps, community presentations, and more. While the types of sources are varied, they all utilize an Indigenous lens for data analysis. Careful selection of these materials models the kinds of research sources students will be locating for their selected final ahupuaʻa. This course’s asynchronous modality often poses a challenge to students, who may not have done in-depth ʻāina-based research online previously. I post video screencasts to address this, walking students through numerous online research repositories, including Ulukau, the Papakilo Database, OHA’s Kīpuka Database, AVA Konohiki, Hawaiʻi State Archives, Hawaiʻi State Property Tax Website, and others.

Varied learning materials also address the need for differentiated instruction among the diverse student base of Hawaiian Studies (HWST) 207, cross-listed as Sustainability (SUST) 217. This cross-listing adds another layer to the online teaching challenge, as students from different backgrounds and majors register for it. Knowledge and engagement are enhanced when the student base and learning materials are diverse, honoring students’ varied learning styles and points of view.

The scaffolding continues in the course assignments, discussions, and quizzes, which include open-ended questions that require thoughtful analysis. These open-ended questions donʻt have right or wrong answers, but do allow the safe sharing of ideas and facilitate dialogue, which is another common challenge in asynchronous courses. Students respond to one another by text or video, and include a question for the post’s author, which increases the discussion’s value. Many students answer these questions even though it is not required.

The assignments directly connected to the final project are also scaffolded, with
students learning what an ahupuaʻa is and how to determine if an area is, in fact, an ahupuaʻa in Unit One. Unit Two focuses on what place-based research is, and provides examples of video presentations, moʻolelo, and oral histories using a Native Hawaiian lens. Students learn about appropriate sources and annotated bibliographies, and select the two ahupuaʻa they will be researching in Unit Three. Their final project annotated bibliographies are due as part of Unit Four. The bibliographies are the heavy lift of the course, since many students don’t have much experience with including annotations, as most are taking this 200-level course at the beginning of their student journey. They then have three weeks to create their Padlet in Unit Five, which usually proves relatively easy since their sources have already been reviewed and revised if necessary. I provide individual feedback after each of these assignments, offer to meet with them, and allow for resubmission for a higher grade if desired. This process, while time-consuming, is integral to inclusivity, equity, and student understanding of the place-based research process. Their last assignment of the course is reviewing their colleagues’ projects, providing comments and questions to the authors.

Once completed, the course collective site that houses the final projects is a type of map around Hawaiʻi, with dozens of ahupuaʻa represented. I used to discourage more than one student researching the same ahupuaʻa, but have since changed my policy. The abundance of digital sources available, along with Padlet’s flexibility (there are nine different format options available), results in unique results. Often, students choose to react to a colleague who researched the same ahupuaʻa they did, noting comparisons in their comments. This result, too, is productive, as it points out different ways to approach place-based research and encourages individuality and creativity.

The main challenge of using this practice is the time commitment needed to select the learning materials and set up the course thoughtfully so that students understand expectations clearly. It is also imperative that the instructor has a working knowledge of the online repositories students will be utilizing (library guides and YouTube tutorials can help both instructors and students with that). Ultimately, this teaching practice instructs students how to conduct place-based, Indigenous-centered research online, fosters student-to-student learning, and reflects and recognizes diversity and inclusion. These are skills that can continue to be applied and honed, with students continuing to use and grow in their future academic and vocational journeys, making this teaching practice well worth the effort. 

Impact

I have taught a total of 145 students in HWST 207 over the last four terms, with an average of twenty students per class, making the impacts of my teaching practice far-reaching in terms of the number of students I’ve had the privilege of teaching.
Nearly 85% of the students who took HWST 207 over the last four terms earned an A or B, showing the value of providing feedback, student meetings, and allowing assignment resubmissions. It also provides evidence that the scaffolding of learning materials and all assignments is effective. 88.7% is the average grade of the assignments directly associated with the teaching practice (ahupuaʻa selection, annotated bibliography, Padlet creation, and reactions to colleagues), which shows that these assignments are also scaffolded beneficially.

Course evaluation data also supports the positive impacts of my learning materials and teaching practice. The student response to “Audio visual materials (or computers) used in this course contributed significantly to my learning” showed a substantial differential, with my course mean at 4.56 versus the university mean of 4.43. Additionally, responses to “The course is highly recommended if it were taught by this instructor” show my course mean at 4.40 compared to the university mean of 3.87. I am not the only professor who teaches this course, but I am the only one using this teaching practice. These figures show that students value my course, including the unique place-based online research practice I assign for their final project.

Supplemental Material

• HWST 207_SUST 217 Spring 2025 Syllabus