The University of Pretoria offers the course <i.Use of the Internet in Education and Training (RBO 880) since 1997. This module is presented as an online course with minimum face to face interaction between facilitator and learners. The research documents and analyses the activities, cyber artefacts, documentation, interactions and challenges, constructed and designed by the facilitator and learners’ that formed part of this module. This literature review comprises an exploration into five different aspects of online learning under different headings specifically: learning theories, eLearning, virtual communities, adult Learning characteristics adult motivation and instructional design principles. This research reports only on one main research question: What can be learnt from the continuous presentation of the module Use of the Internet in Education and Training (RBO 880)? The research design and the methodology that will be followed during a properly development research approach is functional in this particular context (RBO 880) and enables the researcher to address the research question, that falls within the scope of this research study. The researcher explores multiple perceptions, to ensure trustworthiness of data and analyses of the module that is presented and analysed. The researcher analyses selected aspects of the design, development and implementation of the RBO 880 module from an exploration of a selection of its artefacts. As a prelude to each facet of this analysis, the researcher will present and explore a cyber artefact retrieved from the cyber archives. In this archive is stored a great variety of electronic source documents representative of the six years during which the module RBO 880 were presented. The substantive reflection combines the findings with the literature review. The researcher attempts to construct a balance by providing some critique against the presentation of the RBO 880 module as part of the conclusions. The conclusions reached in this research answers the research question and might prove useful in future research, for researchers’ organisational specialist, readers, online facilitators and curriculum designers, into training and learning that takes place through the medium of the Internet. / Dissertation (MEd (Computer Intergrated Education))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Curriculum Studies / MEd / unrestricted

The National Education Department of South Africa has mandated a policy of outcomes-based education for all learners and educators in this country. Two of the most important principles of outcomes-based education are collaborative work in groups and continuous assessment by the teacher and peers. In Computer Studies, taken on the higher grade, learners are expected to construct algorithms and programs by themselves. In the real world such algorithms and programs would be constructed by groups of people working together. The researcher’s purpose of conducting this study was to breach the gap that exists between what is done in accordance with the outcomes-based curriculum in schools - and what is expected in the real world where collaborative work is the norm. The researcher used Bloom’s high-order thinking skills as his point of departure for this study and examined the implications of how they contribute to real-world situations in the school environment. To evaluate the South African curriculum for Computer Studies on the higher grade, the researcher compared the South African curriculum was the curriculum used in Australia for learners of the same age group. The results led to an intervention in which South African learners were examined on high-order thinking skills and programming in the real world. / Dissertation (MEd (CIE))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

Skolverket har skrivit rapporter om förstelärare generellt. Syftet med denna studie var att exemplifiera vad försteläraren i matematik gör och vad det kan medföra, både för kollegor och elever. I studien genomfördes kvalitativa intervjuer med sju förstelärare i matematik vilket synliggjorde exempel på hur förstelärare i matematik arbetar och vad de upplever att det har för effekter. Studiens resultat visade bland annat att det förstelärarna i matematik gör i sitt uppdrag skiljer sig markant. En förstelärare gör i princip ingenting i sitt uppdrag mer än att ha en titel. En annan förstelärare arbetar aktivt med screening för att bedöma elevers kunskaper i matematik, möjliggör för undervisning av praktisk matematik och driver projekt för att kompetensutveckla lärarkollegor i kommunen. Förstelärarnas arbete sker på olika villkor. Villkoren handlar bland annat om vilken tid som finns avsatt för uppdraget, hur stort antal elever som går på skolan försteläraren arbetar på och vilka andra projekt som drivs parallellt på skolan. Något som är avgörande för hur förstelärarens insatser ser ut är dels hur engagerade huvudmännen i form av rektorer och skolchefer är och vilka krav de ställer, dels hur passionerad och drivande försteläraren själv är. / The Swedish national agency of education has written reports about what the first-teacher do in general. The purpose with this study is to exemplify what the first-teacher in mathematics do and what it possibly can result in, both for colleagues and pupils. By making qualitative interviews with seven first-teachers in mathematics the study illustrates how they work and what outcome they experience. The results show that the first-teacher assignments differs, for example, one teacher does nothing above her regular teaching in her assignment more than having a title. Another first-teacher actively work with screening to assess pupils’ knowledge in mathematics, enables teaching of practical mathematics and is responsible for different projects in developing competence for colleagues. The first-teachers work is done under different conditions, such as time assigned to the mission, number of pupils at the school they work at and other on-going projects. Something that is crucial for the first-teacher efforts is, in part, how committed principal and school leadersare, and what demands they make, partly how passionate and skilful the first-teacher is herself.

A avaliação é um componente curricular de fundamental importância para o sucesso pedagógico de qualquer curso e a avaliação de desempenho por provas individuais tem sido o método mais comumente utilizado para a aferição do conhecimento dos alunos. Este trabalho propõe uma visão sobre as provas realizadas em grupo e sua contribuição no processo de cognição, interação e engajamento dos alunos em um curso de Bioquímica Básica, de forma que as avaliações em grupo possam servir de instrumentos de avaliação e também instrução. Para a investigação, foram utilizadas disciplinas que têm uma estratégia de ensino do tipo aprendizado colaborativo. As notas das avaliações individuais e em grupo foram coletadas e tratadas estatisticamente. Foram utilizados também um questionário baseado no modelo de Likert, e entrevistas semiestruturadas para verificar as percepções dos alunos em relação ao processo. Os dados dos questionários que foram coletados sugerem eficiência das avaliações em grupo como método de instrução e de avaliação, com alto grau de concordância com afirmações favoráveis à hipótese de que as avaliações em grupo trazem grandes benefícios no ensino de Bioquímica. A análise das entrevistas semiestruturadas revelou resultados que concordam com aqueles obtidos nos questionários e sugerem que as avaliações em grupo trouxeram significativa melhora no aprendizado e no interesse pela Bioquímica. / Assessment is a curriculum component that plays an important role in the success of any educational course. Nowadays, the performance evaluation per individual exams is the most common method used to gauge students\' knowledge. This paper proposes an alternative view on exams conducted in groups and their contribution in the process of cognition, interaction and engagement of students in a course of Basic Biochemistry. According to this proposal, group evaluations can serve as an assessment tool as well as instructional. For this research, we selected disciplines that use a teaching strategy based on collaborative learning. The grades of individual and group assessments were collected and processed statistically. We also used a questionnaire based on Likert model, and semi-structured interviews to check the perceptions of the students regarding the process. The data collected from the questionnaires suggest the efficiency of group evaluations as a method of instruction and assessment, showing a great number of statements in favor of the hypothesis that the exams conducted in groups are beneficial in teaching of Biochemistry. The analysis of semi-structured interviews revealed results that concur with those obtained in the questionnaires and suggest that group evaluations have brought significant improvement in learning and interest in Biochemistry

Matematik i dagens undervisning präglas av matematikbokens användning, denna har en större roll i undervisningen. Detta sker trots att författare inom matematikdidaktik påpekar betydelsen av att matematiska samtal måste framgå i undervisningen för att elever ska ges möjlighet till att utveckla de olika förmågor och kunskaper som det matematiska ämnet berör. Målet med denna kunskapsöversikt blir att undersöka vad forskningen säger kring de matematiska samtalen och hur dessa kan påverka utvecklingen av elevers resonemang utifrån ett lärarperspektiv. Resultatet från denna kunskapsöversikt visar att samtal i matematik har en betydande roll i elevers utveckling av resonemang i ett kollaborativt lärande. För att samtalen ska ha en positiv effekt för utvecklingen av elevers resonemang krävs det att lärare aktivt arbetar med planeringen inför det kollaborativa lärandet. Lärare behöver även kunna delta i de kollaborativa samtalen som sker i undervisningen, där lärare bland annat agerar dirigent för att vägleda och guida elever i deras resonemang.

Matematik i dagens undervisning präglas av matematikbokens användning, denna har en större roll i undervisningen. Detta sker trots att författare inom matematikdidaktik påpekar betydelsen av att matematiska samtal måste framgå i undervisningen för att elever ska ges möjlighet till att utveckla de olika förmågor och kunskaper som det matematiska ämnet berör. Målet med denna kunskapsöversikt blir att undersöka vad forskningen säger kring de matematiska samtalen och hur dessa kan påverka utvecklingen av elevers resonemang utifrån ett lärarperspektiv. Resultatet från denna kunskapsöversikt visar att samtal i matematik har en betydande roll i elevers utveckling av resonemang i ett kollaborativt lärande. För att samtalen ska ha en positiv effekt för utvecklingen av elevers resonemang krävs det att lärare aktivt arbetar med planeringen inför det kollaborativa lärandet. Lärare behöver även kunna delta i de kollaborativa samtalen som sker i undervisningen, där lärare bland annat agerar dirigent för att vägleda och guida elever i deras resonemang.

Der vorliegende Beitrag wertet die aktuellen Erfahrungen eines internationalen Projektes zur Qualifizierung Studierender mit Hilfe kollaborativer Internet-Nutzung aus. Bevor wir auf die konkrete Struktur des Projektes (Kapitel 2) und seine Evaluation (Kapitel 3) eingehen, werden zunächst die besonderen Rahmenbedingungen, das Vorhaben und die dahinter stehende Motivation erläutert.

This paper presents an advanced – international – blended learning arrangement. It has been developed, implemented and reviewed regularly in the last 4 years at the authors’ institution. Instead of referring solely to traditional classroom teaching, we use and continually refine this arrangement in our every-day formal teaching and learning processes at Technische Universitaet Dresden. By this we take into regard the changes induced by the Bologna Roadmap and try better to support its “new” didactical objectives: more interactive and interdisciplinary modules with focus upon the (practical) integration of professional and methodical responsibility, decision-making and soft skills.

In recent years, Facebook has become a tool for practicing English. Language educators have been trying to integrate the social context of a community of practice into formal teaching, as a complement to classroom-based learning. However, social media platforms are used independently outside of the school context. For example, many English-language learners use the application Facebook Groups to choose a community of practice that shares the same purpose of language learning. With the aim of contributing to the understanding of English-language learners’ independent use of Facebook, this paper seeks to explore their online practices through non-participant observation and a qualitative analysis of the content shared and commented on the group wall. 858 posts (and related comments) shared by the members of an English language-learning group, open to the public, were analysed with the purpose of finding out which aspects of foreign language learning seem to be particularly relevant for the group and which of the four basic language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) are they trying to develop. Another important aspect is whether the interactions in the group are conducted in English as expected. The results show that reading skills tend to be promoted to a greater extent than the other skills. It was then observed that the group members use the English language consistently, with very few exceptions. In general, therefore, this study shows that the Facebook Groups contribution to learning English through participation in an English-language learning community such as the one observed here is rather limited and unbalanced.

Supplemental instruction (SI), a peer assisted learning model, improves course performance, retention, and graduation rates of post-secondary education students. Researchers have questioned if the success of SI is due to students becoming more aware of assessment demands or if SI also promotes construction of new knowledge. The purposes of this case study were to describe techniques utilized by SI peer leaders, explore how sociocognitive learning techniques are implemented, and explore the perceptions of supplemental instruction program stakeholders regarding sociocognitive learning techniques. The research questions focused on what techniques peer leaders are trained to implement and what peer leaders' perceptions of sociocognitive learning techniques are. Piaget's theories on cognitive conflict and construction of knowledge, Vygotsky's theories on zone of proximal development and sociocognitive learning, and Chi's framework on interactive learning provided the conceptual framework for the study. The case study was conducted at a Northeast United States community college, using interviews with SI administrators and peer leaders (n = 8), voice recordings of SI sessions, and review of training material. The constant comparative method analysis of findings suggest that peer leaders trained in traditional tutoring and sociocognitive learning techniques promote construction of knowledge, and while programmatic and peer leader goals align with sociocognitive learning techniques, student goals do not. One recommendation is to clarify the distinction of SI versus traditional tutoring. This study could lead to positive social change by contributing to expanded goals of SI resulting in enhanced quality of learning for student participants at higher education institutions.