Inquiry-based learning in community health education: Examining place-based,experiential learning in Aotearoa New Zealand

Inquiry-based learning

Inquiry-based learning serves as the central pedagogical foundation for the course, offering a dynamic alternative to conventional content-delivery models. Rather than beginning with established theories or prescribed content, inquiry-based learning starts with questions or problems, prompting students to explore, investigate, and construct meaning through active engagement (Septiani and Baharuddin, 2024). Grounded in constructivist learning theory, this approach supports knowledge development as a process of investigation, reflection, and critical thinking (Daniel and Urke, 2022). Students undertake self-directed inquiry within a structured framework that provides scaffolding for their learning journey.

In the wider context of health promotion education, inquiry-based learning offers several advantages. First, it enables students to apply practice skills to real-world issues, enhancing their understanding through practice rather than abstraction. As a final-year course, this represents capstone learning, building on previous coursework in epidemiology, biostatistics, research methods, and health promotion theories that students have encountered throughout their programme. Second, it reflects the multifaceted nature of health promotion by encouraging students to confront interconnections between social, environmental, and structural factors rather than isolating these into discrete topics. Third, it supports the development of professional judgement by requiring students to identify relevant areas of inquiry, make methodological choices, and interpret findings within community-specific contexts.

Anderson et al. (2022) describe authentic assessment as requiring the application of knowledge to new situations, allowing students the freedom to demonstrate their competence. Students in public health programmes report deeper learning when theoretical concepts are explored through experiential and innovative pedagogies (Daniel and Urke, 2022; Hickman et al., 2022). The success of inquiry-based learning depends on balancing autonomy with support. Progressive assessment strengthens this model by supporting evaluative judgement, enabling students to reflect on feedback and apply insights to improve subsequent work.

Place-based education

Place-based education grounds learning in the geographic, social, cultural, and ecological contexts in which students and communities are located.

Yemini et al. (2025) described place-based education as a pedagogical approach that emphasises the connection between learning process and the physical places in which teachers and students are situated, incorporating the meanings and experiences of place beyond the classroom. Place-based education provides a useful framework for health promotion education because it enables students to examine how health is produced in local environments. This contextual approach fosters a deeper understanding of social determinants by encouraging students to move beyond abstract theory and engage with observable phenomena (Allen et al., 2022). Learning in place, rather than about place, helps challenge students’ assumptions about community health needs and sharpens their awareness of how local factors influence health equity.

Applied to health promotion, place-based education offers several benefits. First, it counters the abstraction often found in health education by anchoring learning in specific settings with distinct histories, demographics, and infrastructures. Second, it supports recognition of the “neighbourhood effect” – the influence of local contexts on health outcomes beyond individual-level factors. Third, it draws attention to the structural determinants of health, such as transport systems, food environments, and housing conditions, thereby reinforcing the systems-oriented thinking required in health promotion. When students investigate communities they inhabit and care about, the experience is enriched by a sense of personal connection and relevance (Anderson et al., 2022; Severinsen et al., 2020).

Experiential learning

Experiential learning theory offers a powerful pedagogical foundation for health promotion education, enabling students to develop competencies through direct engagement with real-world complexity. This theory posits that meaningful learning occurs through a cycle of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation, and active experimentation (Kolb, 2015). Within the context of health promotion education, such an approach encourages students to make sense of complex environments by linking lived experiences with theoretical and conceptual frameworks.

To be effective, experiential learning must be deliberately structured to include guided reflection and conceptual integration. These reflective processes are essential to transform fragmented observations into coherent insights grounded in theory and supported by relevant literature (Blackford et al., 2022b; Daniel and Urk, 2022). This aligns closely with constructivist models of learning, which emphasise the active construction of knowledge through inquiry, reflection, and application in authentic settings (Daniel and Urke, 2022). As Allen et al. (2022) observe, experiential learning cultivates the capacity to appraise complex situations critically, develop reflective practice, and apply new concepts in real time. Similarly, Anderson et al. (2022, p 28) define experiential learning as a process in which students engage directly with the realities they are studying, thereby acquiring a broad range of competencies through purposeful practice-based activities.

This kind of approach is particularly effective in supporting the development of tacit professional knowledge – insight and intuition that cannot be easily taught through didactic methods. When students work within community contexts, they begin to identify patterns, make informed judgements, and respond with sensitivity to the diverse realities of population health. However, these learning moments require skilled facilitation to help students connect their experiences to theory and evidence. Through structured reflection and conceptual scaffolding, students move beyond surface-level descriptions towards analytical thinking and evidence-informed decision-making. As Chong et al. (2022) note, experiential learning provides a safe environment for students to test ideas, apply theoretical knowledge, and actively develop the skills needed for effective health promotion practice.

Aotearoa New Zealand context

Health promotion education in Aotearoa New Zealand must situate pedagogical approaches within the country’s specific historical, political, and cultural context. Health in Aotearoa New Zealand is inseparable from settler colonial history and from Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the treaty signed in 1840 between Indigenous Māori and the British Crown. Te Tiriti is a foundational framework for understanding health equity, institutional responsibility, and relationships between Māori and the Crown. For students undertaking community health assessment, this means that place-based inquiry cannot be treated as culturally or historically neutral. It requires attention to how settler colonialism, Māori rights, relationships, place, power, and equity shape the conditions through which community health is produced and understood.

In the course we focus on here, Te Tiriti o Waitangi informs the conceptual framing of health promotion by requiring students in Aotearoa New Zealand to consider local Māori knowledge, language, relationships, and the limits of observational approaches in fully engaging with Indigenous perspectives. Severinsen et al. (2020) demonstrate how educational institutions can advance Māori student success through culturally responsive practices that correct historical inaccuracies and honour te reo Māori, describing this as an “affirmative action to restore Māori identity and mana” (p. 443). Came and Kewene (2022) similarly challenge health promotion educators to “meaningfully engage with the First Nations/Indigenous people of the whenua (land) where we teach, practise and nurture the next generation of health promoters” (p. 310).

At the same time, the course does not enact a kaupapa Māori (Māori approach), decolonising or fully Te Tiriti-based pedagogy. Place-based learning enables students to engage with local Indigenous histories relevant to their communities, with students located in Aotearoa New Zealand encouraged to reflect on how mana whenua (local tribes) are acknowledged within their area. Decolonisation is used as a critical reflective lens through which students consider local Indigenous histories, knowledges, relationships, and language. Students are primarily learning about Te Tiriti responsibilities in community health assessment, not practising Te Tiriti-led health promotion. Such practice would require sustained relationships with Māori, shared authority, and partnership arrangements that sit beyond the scope of the current course design.

Ethical considerations

This article takes the form of a discussion paper and does not report on research involving human participants. It draws on curriculum materials, assessment design, educator reflection, and published pedagogical literature and does not include student evaluation data, assessment submissions, identifiable student information, or analysis of students as research participants. Under the Massey University Code of Ethical Conduct for Research, Teaching and Evaluations involving Human Participants, formal human ethics approval was therefore not sought.

Assessment 1: Community profile and planning

The first assessment establishes the foundation for subsequent inquiry by asking students to define their community boundaries, create a visual profile, and plan their investigation. Students complete six interconnected tasks:

This assessment operationalises inquiry-based learning by balancing student agency in research direction with appropriate structural support. The PhotoVoice methodology embodies experiential learning principles as students actively observe their environments – creating the “concrete experience” phase of the learning cycle. By requiring geographic specificity in community boundary definition, the assessment grounds learning in distinct locations with unique characteristics, embodying place-based education principles. The student-directed selection and justification of specialised CATs demonstrate the centrality of student-generated research questions to inquiry-based approaches. The project management component also cultivates professional competencies essential for health promotion practice while supporting the scaffolded independence that characterises effective inquiry-based learning. This first assessment serves several pedagogical purposes: it establishes a methodical approach to community observation, exposes students to diverse data sources and collection methods, and necessitates the integration of visual, quantitative, and qualitative information. Through the development of personalised presentations and research plans, students exercise agency in determining which aspects of community health warrant further investigation.

Assessment 2: Community assessment and literature review

The second assessment deepens students’ investigation through systematic community observation and engagement with relevant literature. Key tasks include:

This assessment phase exemplifies experiential learning by moving students beyond initial observation into more systematic data collection – continuing the “concrete experience” phase while introducing “reflective observation” as students document patterns and significant features in their communities. The literature review component facilitates “abstract conceptualisation” as students connect their local observations with broader health promotion concepts and evidence. The structured observational tools align with place-based education principles by directing attention to specific environmental features that influence health outcomes. The Windshield survey enables the documentation of place characteristics central to place-based education. This phase also advances the structured inquiry process characteristic of inquiry-based learning, moving from initial exploration towards systematic investigation. The requirement to document methodological details develops research skills essential for health promotion practice.

This assessment phase moves students beyond the initial observation into more systematic data collection and analysis. Students learn to connect their local observations with broader health promotion concepts and evidence by implementing standardised tools while engaging with published literature. The assessment requires students to navigate between different types of evidence – observational, statistical, and published research – and synthesise these into a coherent understanding of community health.

Assessment 3: Research report

The final assessment challenges students to integrate all the previous elements into a comprehensive community health research report formatted according to standard research conventions. The required structure includes:

This culminating assessment completes the experiential learning cycle by guiding students through deeper “reflective observation” (analysing findings) and “active experimentation” (developing recommendations for stakeholders). The requirement to integrate and analyse multiple data sources mirrors the complexity of real-world health promotion practice, aligning with inquiry-based learning principles that emphasise engagement with authentic problems. This final phase of the structured inquiry process moves students towards evidence-based analysis and recommendations, completing the progressive research journey from exploration to systematic data collection to analysis. The report format introduces students to professional communication conventions while providing a structured framework for synthesising diverse information sources. The requirement to identify both community strengths and develop contextualised recommendations reflects both place-based education principles and contemporary health promotion values, grounding recommendations in the specific local community context documented throughout the assessment sequence. This culminating assessment requires students to move beyond description into analysis and recommendation, demonstrating their ability to interpret evidence and consider practical implications. The report format introduces students to conventions of health research communication while also providing a structured framework for synthesising diverse information sources. Students must identify strengths and assets within their community and avoid developing top-down, expert-led recommendations that fail to consider community perspectives.

Progressive knowledge construction

This assessment sequence employs a scaffolded approach that mirrors authentic research processes in health promotion education. The three interconnected assessments create a progressive learning journey that reflects how knowledge is constructed iteratively rather than delivered as completed products. Students begin with exploration and observation in assessment 1, advance to systematic data collection and engagement with the literature in assessment 2, and culminate in analysis and recommendation development in assessment 3. Each assessment deliberately builds on previous work, with the first establishing the foundations for the second and both informing the third assessment’s analytical outcomes. This integrated structure reinforces the cumulative nature of knowledge construction, where each research phase extends and deepens prior understanding. The scaffolded design aligns with evidence-based practices in health promotion education, in which competency development occurs through progressively complex, interconnected tasks across the curriculum (Blackford et al., 2022a; Daniel and Urke, 2022). By experiencing this structured progression, students develop research capabilities incrementally while gaining insight into the methodical, iterative processes that underpin rigorous knowledge development in the field.

Authentic assessment

Community-based learning provides students with authentic assessment experiences that directly prepare them for professional practice in public health. By researching their own communities, students engage in contextually relevant tasks that cannot be replicated through simulated classroom scenarios. This fieldwork approach intentionally positions students within the complexity of real communities, requiring them to develop critical judgements about significant factors and their interrelationships. Unlike simplified case studies, community-based learning requires students to navigate the inherent messiness of actual public health contexts, synthesising multiple data sources – demographic, observational, and statistical – to comprehensively assess community needs. This pedagogical approach aligns with Blackford’s et al. (2022a, 2022b) assertion that authentic learning experiences establish a solid foundation for post-graduation professional practice. Furthermore, as Hickman et al. (2022) note, these authentic assessment tasks facilitate professional identity development while transforming students into “confident, inquisitive and engaged health promotion practitioners, but also active citizens and advocates” (p. 24), highlighting the dual benefit of community-based learning for both professional competence and civic engagement.

Integration of theory and practice

The integration of theory and practice through authentic community-based learning stands as a cornerstone in developing competent health promotion practitioners equipped to address complex health challenges (Blackford et al., 2022b). This educational approach deliberately interweaves theoretical engagement with practical application, requiring students to connect their field observations with published literature, health statistics, and conceptual frameworks such as the social determinants of health. By explicitly directing students to establish links between observed phenomena and theoretical constructs, educators ensure that practice becomes theory-informed while simultaneously grounding abstract concepts in observable community realities. This bidirectional relationship effectively addresses the potential theory-practice gap that often plagues professional education. Rocha et al. (2022) reinforce this pedagogical imperative, noting that bringing theory and practice into closer alignment provides students “contact with realities that are different from what is presented in the classroom” while “challenging students to translate health promotion principles into concrete actions” (p. 364). This integrated approach ultimately cultivates practitioners who can navigate the complexity of real-world health promotion with both theoretical sophistication and practical efficacy.

Development of professional skills

The development of professional competencies represents a fundamental dimension of this course that extends well beyond content acquisition. Students cultivate a comprehensive skillset essential to effective health promotion practice – including systematic observation, methodical data collection, rigorous analysis, structured project management, and clear communication – all of which align with internationally recognised health promotion competency frameworks. Through managing independent research timelines and producing diverse communication deliverables, students acquire transferable professional abilities with direct application to their future careers. The project management component receives particular emphasis as students learn to develop and implement Gantt charts to organise their work systematically. This deliberate focus on project management methodology prepares students for the complex realities of public health practice, where professionals routinely coordinate multifaceted initiatives involving numerous components and concurrent deadlines.

Teaching reflections on student learning

Routine teaching reflections and course-evaluation processes have indicated that students often experience the inquiry-based and community-focused learning approach as practically relevant and professionally useful. In particular, students value the opportunity to investigate familiar communities, connect local observations with broader determinants of health, and develop applied skills in observation, evidence synthesis, project management, and report writing. These observations are consistent with the pedagogical literature on experiential and authentic assessment, which suggests that applied, contextually grounded tasks can support deeper engagement and professional capability development (Anderson et al., 2022; Blackford et al., 2022b).

As educators, we recognise one of the strengths of the course lies in enabling students to encounter the social determinants of health as visible, material, and situated features of everyday environments. This allows learning to move beyond abstract concepts presented through lectures or readings. Students often begin with descriptive accounts of community features, but the scaffolded assessment structure creates opportunities to support them towards more analytical engagement with place, evidence, inequity, and health promotion theory.

Teaching this course has also highlighted the importance of careful pedagogical guidance. Students require support to avoid deficit-based interpretations of communities, to distinguish their observation from assumption, and to recognise the limits of what can be known through external community assessment. This is particularly important in Aotearoa New Zealand, where local places are shaped by settler colonial histories, relationships with local Māori, Te Tiriti o Waitangi responsibilities, and ongoing inequities. We have increasingly understood the course to be both a way of teaching community health assessment methods and as a means of developing students’ critical judgement about knowledge, place, power, and representation.

Limited community engagement

Despite pedagogical strengths, the course approach also contains inherent tensions and limitations warranting acknowledgement

A significant constraint in community-based education is the restriction against direct community interaction. This limitation, while necessary due to ethics approval processes and course timelines, creates a fundamental tension: students acquire knowledge about communities without directly learning from community members. This methodological restriction raises important questions about perspective and representation in community assessment.

Without community input, student interpretations inevitably privilege external observations over the lived experiences of community members. This tension is particularly pronounced in the Aotearoa New Zealand context, where a meaningful partnership with mana whenua and respect for Māori tino rangatiratanga (authority, self-determination) under Te Tiriti o Waitangi necessitate authentic relationships with tāngata whenua (people of the land). Although students engage with cultural characteristics and Māori place names, the absence of direct engagement with Māori community members constrains the full realisation of partnership principles. An encouraging recent development has seen a small number of Māori students choosing to foreground knowledge of their whenua (land), enabling them to provide unique insights into colonisation, tikanga (custom, protocol), place-based identity, equity, and community representation.

The course design acknowledges this limitation by requiring students to critically reflect on the absence of community consultation and co-design in their final assessment, encouraging recognition of both the specific boundaries of their work and the broader implications of external analysis. This pedagogical challenge – balancing structured assessment requirements with authentic inquiry – exemplifies tensions documented in health promotion education literature, where educators must navigate practical constraints while fostering participatory approaches to learning (Rocha et al., 2022). The course positions learning as preparation for future ethical responsibility, supporting students to recognise when health promotion practice requires relationship-building, shared decision-making, and accountability to the communities.

Complexity with constraints

Community health education presents inherent tensions between theoretical complexity and practical pedagogical constraints. While an inquiry-based approach appropriately acknowledges the multifaceted social, political, economic, and environmental dimensions of community health, it must necessarily operate within semester timelines and assessment frameworks. This creates a fundamental pedagogical challenge: balancing open exploration with sufficient structure for student success. The highly prescribed nature of assessment instruments – such as the 15-slide Community Presentation and 1000-word literature review with their explicit formatting requirements and content specifications – provides the necessary evaluative scaffolding but potentially restricts the intellectual discovery process central to authentic inquiry-based learning. When students encounter unexpected insights or compelling connections during community observation, these rigid assessment parameters may inhibit their ability to fully develop and articulate these emergent understandings.

Ethics, data accessibility, and interpretation challenges

Community health assessment requires students to access and interpret multiple data sources, including census statistics, deprivation indices, and regional health information. However, these sources present significant methodological limitations when applied to specific communities. Census Area Unit identification is problematic for some students due to boundary changes, while regional health profiles lack census area unit-level specificity, necessitating inference-based approaches to community assessment. These data constraints create analytical challenges, as students must extrapolate from broader regional health metrics to understand localised community health issues based on the demographic characteristics of their area unit. Although this situation authentically mirrors the imperfect data environment of professional public health practice, it demands sophisticated critical analysis skills that undergraduate students may not possess without supplementary instruction in statistical interpretation and understanding data limitations.

A further limitation derives from the fact that this discussion paper does not report formal student evaluation data or analyse student assessment submissions. Although routine teaching reflections have informed our understanding of the course, the paper is primarily a pedagogical analysis of curriculum design, assessment structure, and educator experience. This limits the claims that can be made about student learning outcomes. Future research could include ethics-approved analysis of student feedback, assessment artefacts, or graduate reflections to examine how students experience inquiry-based and place-based learning in community health education.