This thesis reports an evaluation of the Jordanian Education Reform Program (JERP) initiated in 1987. The thesis includes a review of the international literature on education reform culminating in a conclusion that the most widely accepted approach currently is a mixed-model one that is partly top-down and partly bottom-up. Both quantitative and qualitative types of data were gathered and analysed. The findings of the study were that some seven teacher roles, particularly those of technologist and social change agent, were being performed at comparatively low levels, while others, particularly those of developer of student’s cognitive growth and health educator, were being performed at comparatively high levels. Many problems in the implementation of the education reforms were revealed in the interviews, especially the failure to involve teachers in the process of planning the reforms. Implications for policy, practice and further research were suggested. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The purpose of this thesis was to capitalise upon information processing models to develop and test the impact of a question-answering intervention on Year 5 students' reading comprehension, question-answering and vocabulary performance. The study provides empirical evidence that question-answering instruction can lead to statistically significant comparisons in reading comprehension performance that favoured intervention participants compared to students completing regular classroom reading instruction. The current study involved a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest design that targeted 267 students enrolled in 10 regular Year 5 classes across three schools. Classroon teachers implemented the intervention over 10 weeks. The application of information processing models in extant research of effective instruction in literacy and numeracy has been documented. The current intervention is the first application of this theoretical framework to a complex skill in reading comprehension, namely question-answering. Potential future applications of this instructional technology to complex cognitive skills are discussed. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The study examines the use of automatic data processing in educational organisations for the purpose of determining the feasibility of using some ADP applications in the administration of a large urban ACT primary school. Educational managers working in primary schools are required to make decisions which draw upon information concerning the student population, school curriculum, school personnel and general school administration. An analysis of the decision making areas of Charnwood Primary School is undertaken and the information required for making each decision is identified. The concept of using a database to provide some of this information is explored and suggested as being an effective means of managing student data. Some equipment options which would enable a primary school to implement a database and provide word processing facilities are examined within a context of limited resources. The capacities and advantages of using computer equipment which is presently accessible to schools are outlined, along with the feasibility of employing the services of a data processing agency. The conclusion is reached that there are a number of ADP applications applicable for use at Charnwood Primary School, as well as a number of other computer based facilities, such as word processing and plant management, The downward price spiral of computer equipment will enable most primary schools to use computer facilities for school administration within the next five years.

A series of Guides to mathematical content, instructional strategies, appropriate materials and sources of further reading, in the form of booklets, was prepared for use in courses in Primary Mathematics Curriculum for undergraduate and Diploma in Education students. These booklets were intended to take the place of lectures in the course and act, when discussed in workshops, as initial input material for the course. The booklets were prepared also because there is no text currently available which is suitable for this course. Texts recommended for courses at other Colleges were examined and whilst many of them are useful, none is ideal. It is impossible to isolate the effect of the use of the Guides from the impact of the course as a whole. Actually, then, the effectiveness of the total course was assessed as it made use of these written materials. Teaching procedures for the course are described in the body of the study. Undergraduate students were tested, before and after the course, for mathematical concepts functional at the primary level, their beliefs about teaching mathematics, and their attitude towards mathematics. Twelve students were videotaped whilst presenting a number concept before and after the course and ten other students were interviewed at the conclusion of the course. A survey was sent to associates* to assess the effect of the course on each student's teaching of mathematics in the schools. Diploma in Education students undertook only the first two sets of tests because their course was very short. Analysis of the data indicates that the course, making use of these Guides in place of lectures, was effective. A significant gain in understanding was made on the test for mathematical concepts by both groups; a significant change in beliefs about teaching mathematics at the primary level was found in both groups; there was a significant gain with the undergraduate group in the ability to present a number concept; survey forms returned by associates for undergraduate students showed some increase in the use of concrete materials and the amount of mathematics taught in the second half of semester; and students who were interviewed showed that they had realized, at least, what theories and procedures were being advocated in the course. Suggestions for changes and improvements in the course are made as a result of this study.

Thesis (M.A.(Applied))--Victoria University of Wellington, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Study of Teachers¡¦ and Students¡¦ Thinking Styles and their Interactions in Instruction Abstract The purposes of this study were (1) to compare the relationship among teachers and students¡¦ thinking styles and their background. (2) to explore the relationship among teachers¡¦ background, teachers¡¦ thinking styles, and teaching behaviors. (3) to investigate the relationship among teaching behavior, students¡¦ thinking styles, learning perception satisfaction, and achievement. (4) to explore the influences of different matching of teachers¡¦ thinking styles and students¡¦ thinking styles on learning perception satisfaction and achievement. (5) to investigate the changing condition of students¡¦ thinking styles. (6) to explore the impact of teachers¡¦ thinking styles on students¡¦ thinking styles. Two groups of subjects were arranged: with one including 254 high school teachers in Taiwan area, and the other including 14 teachers and their 507 students in Koashuing. Teachers were asked to fill out Thinking Styles Questionnaire for Teacher (TSQT¡¨ and Teaching Behavior Scale (TBS), while students Thinking Styles Questionnaire (TSQ) and Learning Perception Satisfaction Check List (LPSCL). Qualitative research (Classroom observation) is applied to explore the interaction of teachers and students. The data were analyzed by Pearson¡¦s product-moment correlation, t-test, canonical correlation, Hotelling¡¦s T , one-way MANOVA, Repeat Measure Analysis, and Multivariate Analysis of Covariance. The conclusion were drawn as follows: 1. On teachers¡¦ background: (1) There were significant differences between male and female in judicial, and liberal styles. (2) There were no significant differences between high, mid and low years groups in thinking styles. (3) There were significant differences between high, mid and low age groups in executive thinking styles. (4) There were significant differences between high, mid and low father¡¥s education in conservative thinking styles. (5) There were significant differences between high, mid and low mother¡¦s education in conservative thinking styles. 2. On students¡¦ background: (1) There were significant differences between male and female in executive, judicial, and local thinking styles. (2) Birth orders, father¡¦s education, and mother¡¦s education have no significant differences with thinking styles. 3. Students¡¦ is more inclined to legislative, global, liberal, and conservative styles in pre-test than in post-test. 4. Teachers¡¦ background had no canonical correlation with teachers¡¦ thinking styles. Teachers¡¦ thinking styles had canonical correlation with teaching behavior. Three canonical factors of Teachers¡¦ thinking styles efficacy explained 43.4% of all teacher behavior. 5. Teachers¡¦ legislative, executive, and liberal thinking styles had significant effects on students¡¦ thinking styles. 6. Some teaching behavior had significant correlation with students¡¦ thinking styles. 7. Teaching behavior had significant correlation with learning perception satisfaction, but not achievement. 8. Teachers¡¦ thinking styles had significant correlation with students¡¦ thinking styles. 9. Matching of teacher-student¡¦s thinking styles had significant correlation with learning perception satisfaction and achievement.

Thesis (EdD)--Open University. BLDSC no. DXN095789.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [32]-35). Also available on the Internet.

Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 47-06, page: 3550. Adviser: Maria E. Fernandez. Includes bibliographical references.

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