BACKGROUND SUMMARY

Christine and Michael Fenton encourage students of all ages to develop a passion for learning and problem solving. They set up and managed the Nexus Research Group voluntarily, donating their time and expertise over many years, on top of work and family commitments. They have a wealth of teaching and research experience to draw upon, becoming known for their innovative approach in science & technology education and their experience with alternatives for educating gifted children.

Christine: After completing her Bachelors degree in Biochemistry, Christine joined the Microbiology and Genetics Dept at Massey University in 1989. She became the sole charge microbiologist of the Massey University Culture Collection, serving research and teaching institutions both nationally and overseas, and completed a post-graduate Diploma in Microbiology. She carried out her own research programme becoming New Zealand’s authority on Caulobacter, a non-pathogenic bacterium that appears to have a role in passing on antibiotic resistance genes to important human pathogens. From this she was awarded her Masters Degree in Science with Distinction. After a break at home raising her three daughters Chriistine returned to Tertiary teaching at the Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki (WITT). She became Head of Science and in this role accomplished a great deal providing schools with the opportunity to work in the labs. She developed courses for senior Biology NCEA classes local High Schools and Gifted Children extension programmes. With the closure of the Science Dept in 2006, Christine became Special Projects Manager/Head of Nursing at WITT. Her vision and aptitude in improving the quality of courses and meeting accreditation requirements was central to regaining accreditation in 2007. She is currently WITT's Quality Systems Advisor and is working on her Ph.D.

Michael: After completing his Bachelors degree and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Microbiology, Michael worked in the Chemistry and Microbiology sections of a dairy factory laboratory. He joined Christine at Massey in 1989, taking on teaching and research duties. Although a medical microbiologist, Michael took the opportunity to carry out some innovative work on environmental gene transfer in the agriculturally important organism Rhizobium. From this work he was awarded his Masters degree in 1994, and completed his Teaching Diploma at the Palmerston North College of Education in the same year. As if this busy lifestyle wasn’t enough, Christine and Michael were partners in a software development business, writing tailor-made accounting applications for local businesses. They volunteered their skills to write database applications for the International Committee on Systematic Bacteriology, the Massey University Giardia Research laboratory and the Microbiology and Genetics Department.

The start of Nexus: In 1994 Michael and Christine left the Tertiary sector and Massey University and Michael began to teach at High School in 1995. Realising that they possessed a number of skills they wanted to pass on, they founded the Nexus Research Group (NRG) in 1997. The NRG was a non-profit educational and research facility, the only High School based research organisation in New Zealand run by Christine and Michael on a voluntary basis in their "spare" time.This unique approach to education uses the principles of 'authentic learning' and provided students of all ages to make original discoveries. NRG associates and advisers have included some of the worlds leading authorities in their field, university professors from around the world, and various government and industrial advisers. The NRG reported its findings at conferences, in journals and on its website ( http:// www.nexusresearchgroup.com ). They are proud and honoured to have been associated with Dr Sir William Pickering, former head of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and widely recognised as responsible for America's success in exploring the planets, as patron of the Nexus Research Group.

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RECENT PROJECTS

Recognising that her daughter was an able and gifted student, Christine became the dynamo behind exploring ways of motivating and meeting the needs of such students who were still enrolled in State Primary schools. She paved the way for primary age students being permitted to sit Year 11 national examinations at the school her daughter attended. She continued to explore and initiate the dual-enrolment of primary students with the local Institute of Technology resulting in Jamie graduating from WITT at age 10. Initially employed as a lecturer at WITT, Christine ran the successful series of Crime Scene Investigation workshops with Michael at the end of 2002. In 2005, along with Michael, she organised the extremely popular "Science Big Day Out" to assist the Science Fair organising committee. Approximately 250 Science Fair students were busy for the entire morning, programming computer games, dissecting piglets, taking part in a light hearted quiz or one of the other great activities. Students of all ages reported that this was a valuable experience and was quite different from the usual practice of waiting at the venue while judging occurred. In general she places a great deal of importance and attention to detail to ensure course have an emphasis on high quality education, with worthwhile learning activities and meaningful assessment tasks. This has encouraged her on to write a number of articles examining the education system and reflecting on the consequences for the future of current policies and practices. Christine is the New Zealand Microbiolgical Society Education Special Interest Group Convenor. In this role she initiated and was the head of a review panel that looked at Level 1 NCEA Microbiology teaching resources. One susccessful outcome for 2006 was a significantly improved resource that is commonly used throughout New Zealand schools. Christine is looking forward to progressing a Ph.D. when she gets a chance to slow done a little!

For two years, 1998 and 1999, Michael was a marker for the Year 11 (Form Five) School Certificate examination. He gave this up when in 2000 Michael completed his first draft of Physics Interactive, an interactive multimedia physics CD-ROM published by World Interactive Software in 2002. He was a member of the regional Science and Technology Fair Organising Committee unitl 2007, and, as Head of Physics at Inglewood High School, developed the NCEA Year 12 Applied Physics