The purpose of this study was to determine what choices directors of selected teaching and learning centres in universities made with respect to the design of the homepages of their centre Websites. This was a study to explore how selected directors approach the use and design of their sites, a study to specifically examine what design elements these directors consider in conceptualizing the homepage. The themes of visibility, engagement, and sustainability were used as a framework for the study.<p> The study used the case study research methodology, examining the perspectives of four directors who were responsible for managing the teaching and learning centres in their respective universities. The study was an opportunity to explore how directors conceptualized the design of the homepages of their centre Websites and what design elements were used.<p> It was clear that the directors regarded the scholarship of teaching and learning in their own specific ways and that each particular view guided choices regarding homepage design. The directors interviewed regarded the homepage as an important and powerful communication tool and each dedicated resources to its development and ongoing scrutiny.<p> Directors recognized the variety of user needs they faced and they admitted that the homepage design choices they made was a balancing of constituent needs, institutional priorities, and their professional stance within the scholarship of teaching and learning field. Directors were keen on building internal and external communities. Directors continually asked themselves the question, What is the user looking for? Directors spoke of the increasing use they made of technology in the choices regarding the use and design of the homepage. They recognized that building momentum and advocacy within the scholarship of teaching and learning using the homepage was a difficult task.<p> Directors demonstrated a heightened level of commitment to the scholarship of teaching and learning and to the development and enhancement of teaching practice. They were aware that they made decisions about the tone of the homepage through their management of the use and demand of homepage space. They were continually challenged to stay abreast of the evolving scholarship of the teaching and learning landscape and their style of decision-making was flexible.<p> Directors play many roles in the administration and management of teaching and learning centres (Cook & Sorcinelli, 2005; Wright, 1999). As a result of this study and the use of the case study method, it is apparent, in the examination of the four cases, that the design of the homepage evolved from the director role as design researcher (Laurel, 2003). Directors epitomized the type of self-reflection that characterizes scholarship generally (Kreber, 2007); these directors were reflective practitioners and researchers in the design of their homepages.<p> Directors identified the need for increased interactivity on the site and the prominence they believed the site will have in the role of desktop professional training and development of faculty. Examining the implications for future homepage design as the critical mass of scholars in teaching and learning moves through the professional education ranks within and among universities would be an intriguing research topic.

The purpose of this study is to uncover the principles that inform a teacher’s dialogic behaviour, and shape her feelings, and to understand the implications of these principles for multiple aspects of pedagogic practice. I investigate the principles that underpin an emotional practice for two teachers, Julia and Lydia, and their Year 10 science lower band learners. Towards this goal, I approach the theory and empirical data in this study in ways that create opportunities for researching teachers’ emotions that other approaches do not: I examine patterns, commonality and relationships across conditions and over time to reveal within-person differences, and differences between persons, for Julia and Lydia’s emotional practice. In addition, I outline discursive models of analysis that open up the space for investigating the role of teachers’ emotions in ways that other conceptual and methodological frameworks do not: I expand models of analysis to different descriptive and classificatory systems to maintain the integrity of the object. I bring together multiple theoretical perspectives to build a multilevel theory that provides comprehensive insight into teachers’ emotions. I also specify the nature of interactions between levels, for the multilevel theory, to enable cross-validation and cumulative evidence building. The research findings for this study coincide with and expand upon the findings for previous studies on teachers’ emotions. Julia’s emotions interact with her science teaching in powerful ways and realize an emotional practice of strong feelings, and ‘grand’ narratives. In contrast, Lydia’s emotions interact with her science teaching in ways that promote solidarity and realize an emotional practice of graded feelings, and multiple narratives. I extend upon the language of description in this study to take into account the teachers’ meaning-making relevant to their appraisal processes and emotions. The potential for research into teachers’ emotions is expanded in this study through the synthesis of different descriptive and classificatory systems, and categories. In addition, the research findings provide insight into the relative costs and benefits of different models of emotion for multiple levels of pedagogic practice.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Oct. 30, 2007). Includes bibliographical references.

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Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Master’s Degree in Education in the Department of Foundations of Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 2019. / Conditions in rural schools regarding learner academic performance are still categorized as below the expected level of performance based on national and international standards. Learners and teachers continue to underperform as evidenced by poor results in schools. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which teachers are professionally developed to promote teaching and learning in rural primary schools. The study was conducted through mixed methods approach. Simple random sampling was used to select teachers from twenty-four public primary schools. Purposive sampling procedure was followed to select participants who were interviewed face-to-face. Results showed that teachers find that teacher’s professional development programmes are too demanding. The training of teachers who are at work should be conducted during school holidays to avoid disruption of classes. The study concludes that if teachers are well developed, teaching and learning would be effective. The study recommends that the department should organise workshops for teachers in rural areas and train them taking into consideration the conditions in the rural areas. / National Research Foundation of South Africa

This work is focused on the measurement and prevention of procrastination behavior among college level introductory physics students completing online assignments in the form of mastery-based online learning modules. The research is conducted in two studies. The first study evaluates the effectiveness of offering students the opportunity to earn a small amount of extra credit for completing portions of their homework early. Unsupervised machine learning is used to identify an optimum cutoff duration which differentiates taking a short break during a continuous study session from a long break between two different study sessions. Using this cutoff, the study shows that the extra credit encouraged students to complete assignments earlier. The second study examines the impact of adding a planning-prompt survey prior to a string of assignments. In the survey, students were asked to write a plan for when and where they would work on their online homework assignments. Using a difference in differences method, a multilinear modeling technique adopted from economics research, the study shows that the survey led to students completing their homework on average 18 hours earlier and spreading their efforts on the homework over time significantly more. On the other hand, behaviors associated with disengagement, such as guessing or answer-copying, were not impacted by the introduction of the planning prompt. These studies showcase novel methods for measurement of procrastination behavior, as well as evaluating the effectiveness of the designed interventions to help students avoid waiting until the last minute to make progress on assigned tasks.

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Published Article / Reflection and reflective practice as a method to inform facilitators' teaching and learning practices has been in use for a long time. It was first introduced by Dewy in 1933. The methodology consisted of a qualitative approach supported by a quantitative analysis and was prompted by a number of questions pertaining to reflective teaching. This article communicates how reflective teaching was embedded in the Radiographic Pathology module for undergraduates in 2007 as well as the outcomes of the process.

This study examined the impact of animation interactivity on novices’ learning of introductory statistics. The interactive animation program used in this study was created with Adobe Flash following Mayer’s multimedia design principles as well as Kristof and Satran’s interactivity theory. The research was guided by three main questions: 1) Is there any difference in achievement improvement among students who use different interactive levels of an animation program? 2) Is there any difference in confidence improvement among students who use different interactive levels of an animation program? 3) Is there any difference in program perception among students who use different interactive levels of an animation program? This study was a one-way design where the independent variable was animation interactivity. In addition to a control group (Static Group) provided with only static materials, there were three groups with different levels of animation interactivity: 1) Animation with simple interactivity (Simple Animation Group), 2) animation with input manipulation (Input Group), and 3) animation with practice and feedback (Practice Group). A sample of 123 college students participated in the study and was randomly assigned into groups. They gathered in the computer lab to work with the animation program and then took online surveys and tests for evaluation. Students were expected to learn Principles of Hypothesis Testing (concepts of type I error, type II error and p-value). The data collected in this study included 1) student learning attitudes, 2) achievement and confidence pre-test scores, 3) achievement and confidence post-test scores, and 4) program perception. Also, student manipulation of the animation program was recorded as Web log data. The data were analyzed by using multivariate analysis (MANOVA), univariate analysis (ANOVA), regression analysis, regression tree analysis and case analysis. The findings were as follows: 1) Animation interactivity impacted students’ improvement in understanding (p=.006) and lower-level applying (p=.042), 2) animation interactivity did not impact student confidence and program perception, 3) the regression analysis indicated that student prior knowledge and interest were the most important predictors on student achievement post-test scores instead of program manipulation, and 4) the regression tree showed that there were interactions among student interest, prior knowledge, and program manipulation on the achievement post-test scores. The case analysis showed that not all students manipulated the interactive animation program as expected due to a lack of motivation and cognitive skills, and this could decrease the effect of the interactive animation. This study hoped to broaden theories on interactive learning and serve as a reference for future statistics curriculum designers and textbook publishers. / text

Leading and managing teaching and learning is the core purpose of every school, especially where learner achievement is concerned. Therefore, this study explores the role of principals in managing teaching and learning in relation to learner performance. The study looks at how principals plan for the academic year, how quality of teaching and learning is assured as well as how provision and management of learning material is done. It points towards the school contexts, structures and cultures within which principals operate. The study considers the challenges faced with principals who get promoted because of experience and seniority without training, but it does not aim at pinning down the importance of experience in executing a task The study concludes by suggesting that principals have a major responsibility for the creation and development as well as implementation of plans, policies and procedures that enable the school to translate its vision and mission into achievable action and outcomes. The study also recommends that courses and programmes to enhance professionalism in carrying out principal duties be made available and accessible. This should be done so that principals can have a better understanding of their role in instructional management above other general roles. It was noticed in this study, particularly in the literature review chapter, that many principals do not have a clear understanding of their role in instructional management and consequently confuse it.. Principals often perform other tasks other than the task of managing teaching and learning, hence they often confuse their role with the general role of principalship; which is a broad task performed by principals in general.