The rapid growth of Information Communication Technology (ICT) has promoted the development of paperless assessment. Most of the e-Assessment systems available nowadays, whether as an independent system or as a built-in module of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), are fixed-form e-Assessment systems based on the Classical Test Theory (CTT). In the meantime, the development of psychometrics has also proven the potential for e-Assessment systems to benefit from adaptive assessment theories. This research focuses on the applicability of adaptive e-Assessment in daily teaching and attempts to create an extensible web-based framework to accommodate different adaptive assessment strategies for future research. Real-data simulation and Monte Carlo simulation were adopted in the study to examine the performance of adaptive e-Assessment in a real environment and an ideal environment respectively. The proposed framework employs a management service as the core module which manages the connection from distributed test services to coordinate the assessment. The results of this study indicate that adaptive e-Assessment can reduce test length compared to fixed-form e-Assessment, while maintaining the consistency of the psychometric properties of the test. However, for a precise ability measurement, even a simple adaptive assessment model would demand a sizable question bank with ideally over 200 questions on a single latent trait. The requirements of the two categories of stakeholders (pedagogical researchers and educational application developers), as well as the variety and complexity of adaptive models, call for a framework with good accessibility for users, considerable extensibility and flexibility for implementing different assessment models, and the ability to deliver excessive computational power in extreme cases. The designed framework employs a distributed architecture with cross-language support based on the Apache Thrift framework to allow flexible collaboration of users with different programming language skills. The framework also allows different functional components to be deployed distributedly and to collaborate over a network.

To keep pace with ubiquitous computing in all aspects of society, universities have invested heavily in off-the-shelf or in-house learning management systems, and teachers are being encouraged to seek ways in which to optimize the role of information and communication technology to support their teaching and learning activities; both on the campus and beyond campus borders. However, many students in residential universities are resistant to embracing CMC-mediated activities as an integral part of their coursework, and this attitude underscores the importance of understanding how these students are affected by the implementation of the new teaching and learning strategies associated with a 'blended learning' approach. This study explores a particular context in which discussion forums were deployed as a replacement to traditional face-to-face tutorial discussions. Research subjects (n=147), health psychology students at a South East Asian university, completed a Felder Soloman Index of Learning Styles (ILS) questionnaire before being assigned to online discussion forum groups of 8 or 9 students per group. During the 9 weeks of the tutorial assignment activity, student interactions in the discussion forums were monitored and transcripts of their postings and replies were analysed and coded. Quantitative data from attitude survey MCQs, grades, peer ratings and usage statistics, as well as qualitative data from attitude survey open-answer questions and one-to-one interviews, were also gathered and analysed. The findings identified a number of weaknesses and drawbacks of using discussion forums: notably that students who felt uncomfortable about expressing their opinions in discussion forums also had difficulty understanding what was being communicated in the postings and didn't trust their group members; students who were identified as having a moderate to strong 'Sequential' cognitive learning style preference were more likely to indicate that they had a difficult time working in the discussion forums; and students who were identified as having a moderate to strong 'Active' cognitive learning style preference tended to make fewer forum postings. Nevertheless, since the scope of the information quoted, and opinions generated, in the discussion forum postings was noticeably greater than what was generally brought up in face-to-face discussions, and because the majority of students worked independently and responsibly, this particular blended learning approach was deemed a success by the course instructor. However, the author puts forward a number of recommendations to instructional designers, practitioners and students for designing, setting up and running a similar but more flexible approach as an alternative to traditional large-class face-to-face tutorial discussions.

Total Quality Management (TQM) is both a philosophy of quality and a systematic approach to modern management. It is based on various principles such as problem solving and prevention, commitment to and involvement in quality by all employees and throughout the organisation, and a culture of continuous improvement geared towards the ultimate goal of customer satisfaction and delight. TQM implementation in Higher Education (HE) has, in the last decade, become a topic of great interest. The purpose of this thesis is to explain the characteristics and identifY the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for TQM implementation in HE for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) context. It reviews the literature on TQM in general. in services and in HE. It discusses the issues of the customer, teaching and learning. and measurement in HE based on the literature. Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) 2000 criteria for education are used as a framework. namely; the MBNQA seven categories: leadership, strategic planning, students and stakeholders focus. information and analysis. faculty and staff focus, educational and support process management. and organisational performance results. The research shows that TQM can be implemented in HE. the GCC universities are in the early stages of quality movement. and the universities leadership in the Gee have awareness of the importance of improving quality in their institutions. and the willingness to pursue it. The study concludes that MBNQA is a valid and reliable framework that can be used as a tool for TQM implementation in HE with some modification to suit the university environment. Other CSFs were found which could help the implementation in the Gee. These factors are government policy. academic traditions and values, culture. office for TQM. communication. which has three elements: training and promoting, benchmarking. quality teams: and continuous improvement. It then proposes a model for TQM implementation applicable to the GCC context. with recommendations that help in its application.

There has been a notable lack of research, reported teaching experience and standardisation of assessment procedures for dyslexic learners in Higher Education. This is endorsed by the findings of a National Survey on Dyslexia In Higher Education (Singleton, in press). This study investigates the nature of learning support, screening and diagnostic assessment procedures for dyslexic students at Higher Education level. This study necessitated the review of successive definitions of dyslexia, together with dispelling some of the myths that surround it and documenting the moves to make provision for special educational support at government level. A literature review of major publications in the field from 1895 to 1998, predominantly from the UK investigates information on the causes and features of dyslexia. A series of six individual case studies were drawn upon to examine students’ learning experiences and explore the effectiveness of a variety of study support methods, some of which have been developed by the researcher. In total, the research studies and experimental work on design and trialling of screening and diagnostic tests involved 2000 students across many subject disciplines, from the Universities of Kingston and Surrey, of whom 200 were dyslexic. Data was collected on student performance in cognitive and attainment tasks and analysed quantitatively to establish mean performance levels. Qualitative analysis was also employed to identify study skills difficulties and areas where dyslexic students showed differences in their responses to tasks compared to those of their non-dyslexic peers. The resultant wider approach to diagnosis is based on profiling areas of relative strength and weakness in study skills, and includes reporting on learning style preferences, in addition to the assessment of dyslexia. The final stage of the research was the development and production of a computerised screener, ‘QuickScan’, and additionally a computerised diagnostic assessment battery, ‘StudyScan’.

This thesis examines factors governing the shape ofNetworks ofPractice among fellow professionals in different organisations through a study ofweb production in UK Higher Education. It explores the character of two cross organisational spaces, an online community and a conference series, and then at the individual level examines the pattern and springs of participation within these spaces. There has been little research into web production as a professional activity, so capturing something of its rich culture of work expands our understanding of these information professions. Subject and genre analysis supported by observation, interview and questionnaire are the primary methods used to study the cross organisational spaces. The individual level is explored through qualitative interview data treated for analysis as discursive resources, as well as containing 'factual' data. The thesis uses community ofpractice theory as a starting point to provide a set of dimensions, terminology and predicted character ofNetworks of Practice, but also draws on themes from the theory of the professions. Although valued sources of information and support, both the online community and conference series have a strong technical slant and seem to exclude some important relevant professional perspectives, particularly that ofmarketing. At the individual level common information and support needs are pursued through cross organisational contacts, but the creation of a community is limited by the diversity of individuals' roles, aspirations and organisational location as well as differing involvement in technical innovation and different degrees of organisationalliminality and divergent organisational cultures. Gender is also an emergent factor, revealing that the freedom opened up by lack ofprofessionalisation also creates forms of vulnerability. The research suggests that the degree and pattern of participation in collective professional spaces, such as online communities, is governed by aspects of individuals' local contexts.

This study examines the processes of collaboration between universities and industry at the level of the organizations involved. In particular, it considers (1) the influence that certain characteristics of universities and companies have upon their willingness or ability to collaborate with each other; upon their objectives for collaboration; and upon their choices of specific forms of collaboration; (2) the relationship between forms of collaboration and objectives for collaboration; and (3) the process of collaboration and the relative success of such collaborations. Three different research instruments were used; a series of interviews with liaison officers in universities and companies; a survey of companies and universities ( the chemical and allied products industry and chemistry university departments in the UK); and detailed studies of research projects sponsored by companies. Willingness to collaborate, the nature of the objectives and preferences for certain forms of collaboration were found to depend upon overall size and size of R&D in the case of companies. However, the evidence suggests that although different university departments may have different objectives or prefer different forms of collaboration, the wiilingness to collaborate is common to all departments. Three factors emerge as important for the performance of collaborative projects; a good working atmosphere, collaboration in the definition of the project and joint planning. Some factors which have been frequently suggested in the literature (e.g. product 'champion') were not observed. Finally, underestimation of technical difficulties proved to be one of the main reasons for low performance.

This thesis investigates the provision of choice in viewing and interacting with open learner models. While considerable variety of presentation and interaction has been explored in open learner models to date, there are few examples of learners being offered a choice and little comparison of alternative presentations or methods of interaction. Several models of learning and cognitive style have been proposed, although this issue has not previously been investigated in the context of open learner models. This thesis presents Flexi-OLM, a flexible open learner model, developed in order to investigate learner preferences. Flexi-OLM consists of three key aspects: • multiple presentations ofthe model data. • the facility for learners to construct their own presentations of the model. • three methods for involving the learner in maintaining the content of the model. Learners appear to benefit form the provision of multiple representations, and have individual preferences for how the model should be presented (although not strongly linked to learning or cognitive style). Constructing their own views of the learner model data has the potential to be useful for some students, but may pose difficulties for others. Learners find it useful to be given influence over the content of the model, but differ in the level of control they are comfortable with.

The research study explored a sample of Post 16 students' experience of examination stress, coping, and study habits, in an inner city college, which includes a 6th Form College and a Vocational College. The sample size was a total of 80 students, 42 from the 6th Form College and 38 from the Vocational college; male students (29), female students( 5 1); divided into four ethnic groups, Asian, Black, White, Other. Students' college and personal pressures were also investigated. Although adopting primarily a quantitative approach this study was supplemented by a qualitative approach which explored, through student interviews, 'what's at stake T for students in taking important end of year examinations, their specific examination stressors, coping responses and study habits. Seminal and more recent research findings on examination stress and coping were confirmed. Personality variables, for example, trait anxiety or anxiety proneness, leads to increased examinations tress.E motion focused coping, particularly accepting responsibility,i .e ., self blame, and escape/avoidance leads to increased examination stress. In this study, poor study habits were not correlated with examination stress. Students utilise a range of coping responses both problem and emotion focused. Female students generally demonstrate more examination stress than male students. Analysis of the data indicated a marginally significant difference between the students following the academic route, i. e., the 6th Form College, and students following the vocational route, i. e., the Vocational College, on emotionality, with a tendency for the academic group to show more emotionality. There were no significant differences between the academic and vocational groups on test anxiety, worry, trait, or state anxiety (examination stress) or on problem focused ways of coping or study habits. Age was not associated with examination stress but had a moderate negative correlation with one coping dimension, accepting responsibility or self blame. There were no gender effects in ways of coping. Ethnicity differences were found, for example, the vocational group had a significantly higher number of Black students than the academic group. In the total student group, the White group showed significantly higher trait anxiety and the Asian group showed significantly more self controlling than the Other group. There were no gender or ethnicity differences with study habits. Unexpected findings indicated significant differences between the academic and the vocational groups on two emotion-focused ways of coping with a tendency for the academic group to show more accepting responsibility or self blame and the vocational group to show more distancing or cognitive efforts to detach themselves and minimise the significance of the examination. There was an association between test anxiety, emotionality, worry and state anxiety (examination stress), and between effective study habits and problem focused ways of coping. A number of specific college pressures and personal pressures, as well as pressures at the interface of college and home, were identified. Content analysis of student interviews indicated that the achievement of the appropriate grades for university was closely aligned to the maintenance of self esteem or psychological well being, that is, self worth and the achievement of the appropriate grades were intertwined. Students had a repertory of coping responses and study habits to address their specific examination pressures. Underpinning this activity was a strong sense of cognitive activity, that is, negative worry ruminations relating to feeling judged, pleasing others or not letting oneself or others down. The thesis concludes with recommendation for both educational psychology practice and mainstream educational practice.

Students in higher education, specially first-year students often need help to become more independent and self-directed learners. Previous research has shown that students benefit from training in learning skills and strategies to improve effective learning. Therefore a project within an Irish university was established to teach learning skills in context, based on aspects of theory and research on self-regulated learning and student approaches to learning. This study looked at the process of implementing the project, using a qualitative case study approach and explored how teachers in four academic departments tried to integrate the teaching of learning skills with their subject content. Data was collected from a variety of sources. Ninety-nine students completed inventories on learning skills at the beginning of the year; a summary of this information w as provided to their teachers. Students(N =17) and teachers(N =10) were interviewed about their experience of integrating the teaching of learning skills with subject content. Documents from the project provided another means for addressing the research questions. The study suggests that students engaged in self-regulated learning although they seemed to struggle to manage aspects of their learning as they moved from the more structured learning in secondary school to the more independent learning characteristic of higher education. The findings also indicate that the students' approaches to learning were not static but altered depending on the task and context. The study established that teachers provided learning skills instruction in context and that the departments approached the development of students learning skills in a variety of ways, from an adjunct study skills class to more fully embedded method. The teachers and students who participated in the research perceived the learning skills assistance to be beneficial, although potential student resistance and other barriers to integration of learning skills development were highlighted. The teachers identified training, resource material and a supportive organisational culture as positive factors to implementation. The study concluded with recommendations on how to further develop the project and to implement future attempts to teach learning skills to students in other academic departments.

Over the last decades, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have been undergoing a phase of transition existing in high velocity environments. HE reforms that include diverse phenomena - from world rankings to financial independence from the state, market dependence, increasing accountability, among others - throw HEIs into a "state of uncertainry", especially regarding strategies for survival and ensuring identity in an increasingly globalised and competitive higher education market. HEIs are looking for tactical solutions to manage these pressures and groupings are considered one of them. HEI groupings also need to survive in a market of other competing groupings, raising the question which groupings might it be best to belong to and what might be the implications of choices made. The dissertation provides a new and in-depth description and analysis of HEI groupings concerning identity as well as the importance of coherence on certain dimensions and properties. It also provides some practical advice on HEI grouping management regarding Survival criteria and maintaining identity in particular. The thesis explores critical factors for the survival of HEI groupings, such as a sufficient level of internal coherence in three dimensions (temporality, spatiality, sociality), the production of social externalities and private benefits, the establishment of a brand, and the maintenance of an identity. The research is founded on the theory of voluntary clubs (Potoski/Prakash) and organisational identity (Gioia). It also analyses the use of visualisation software to grasp the core problems or challenges of a grouping. To this end, a qualitative approach combining documents, interviews, statistical data and surveys has been used. The research findings suggest that there is no "best buy"; rather that each HEI has to analyse its reasons to enter a grouping critically, that groupings need to serve different needs, and not every grouping can cater for every need. However, there are factors critical for survival, most prominently the aspect of identity. Additionally, the thesis provides evidence for the usefulness of visualisation software to depict complex settings as well as the relevance of the theory of voluntary clubs and Gioia's organisational identity metaphor for describing, explaining and understanding HEI groupings, on the one hand, and critical aspects for possible failure, on the other.