The phrase "teachable moment" has a taken-for-granted connotation of readiness to learn, but has been rarely defined and researched in the literature of higher education. This study described faculty members' experiences of teachable moments in their undergraduate classrooms. This included the conditions in which they emerge, and the decision-making processes used by faculty members to determine if and how to pursue such moments. If professors have opportunities to clarify their understandings of such moments, the ability to capitalize on otherwise unplanned teaching opportunities may be enhanced. Seventeen experienced social science and humanities faculty members teaching undergraduate classes at a large research university participated in two semi-structured active interviews (Gubrium and Holstein, 2003). The interviews addressed their understandings of, experiences with, and decisions about teachable moments in the classroom. These interviews yielded descriptions of teachable moments as creating a heightened sense of engagement and interaction about a topic of shared interest. Teachable moments fall along a continuum of predictability, with some moments being intentionally designed by the professor and others emerging spontaneously during a class as a result of current events or student comments. When confronted with surprise moments professors consider a complex set of interacting elements to decide whether to pursue or postpone the exploration of the moment. They ask themselves several questions Is there time? How does this fit with goals for the class, course or program? Are the students and I ready to examine this? What impact will this have on classroom dynamics? Does this warrant in-class exploration, or should it be pursued outside of class? The set of considerations can be examined as manifestations of Schon's (1987) theory of reflection-in-action which describes how professionals make decisions in surprise situations when previously effective responses do not work, and more specifically of Steier and Ostrenko's (2000) adaptation of Schon's model, .reflection-in-interaction. Implications for theories and practices of teaching of college teaching as well as for opportunities for faculty development were described.

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published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

In the past two to three decades there has been tremendously increased interest from various sectors of society in the performance, effectiveness and social responsibility of higher education. As a result, an audit culture has evolved within which quality assurance has become an integral part of the politics of governance which assumes external regulation of academic activity to be the natural state of affairs. In Quebec, the Commission d'Evaluation de L'enseignement Collegial (CEEC) serves government instrumentally by institutionalizing accountability mechanisms, evaluation, and other quality assurance practices as technologies that transmit, as well as shape, particular values within the college-level sector. The underlying rationale for this study is to develop a deeper understanding of the institutional evaluation process. In order to attain this study's research objectives, a multidimensional theoretical framework is employed to analyze and interpret the ways by which the college of interest relates and responds to the institutional environment within which it is embedded. This framework draws upon neo-institutionalism theory in sociology and the emerging body of discourse literature within organizational studies. In answering the research question, a constructivist, qualitative interpretive case study of the college's self-evaluative experience is developed to clarify three specific aspects of the dynamics of quality assurance and the institutional evaluation process: how national policy regimes and organizations within their fields envision and approach quality assurance; which particular organizational strategies and procedures are adopted to achieve specific quality objectives in response to the organization's mission, vision and the institutional environment; and, how organizational interests are served in the process of implementing and complying with regulatory quality assurance procedures. / Three substantive findings emerge from this study. Firstly, quality assurance policy in Quebec focuses on strengthening and sustaining the quality and integrity of academic programs and institutional management, and on encouraging and enabling colleges to develop a culture of evaluation. Quebec's quality assurance agency has placed improvement, the enhancement of relevance, effectiveness, quality and accountability in the forefront. Secondly, the College's evaluative discourse claims alignment with institutional and social expectations and the attainment of organizational mission and goals, the primary goal being the successful preparation of students for university studies. In fact, the overarching thesis which emerges from the data is that Marianopolis is characterized by superior institutional and student success. The competencies and capabilities of the College may be attributed to its commitment to academic excellence, as well as to specific strategic decisions and organizational processes that manipulate and convert resources and assets into new value-creating services. Thirdly, the College uses discourse to solidify its identity, and to be self-defined and identified in relation to specific standards and practices in conformity to institutional norms, policy, and social expectations, and to claim legitimacy in light of such alignment. / The propositions that link the patterns, unifying themes and concepts within the data embody a coherent explanation of the organization's response to the management of the educational process in the context of accountability. These propositions have the potential to serve as a basis for transferability from the case of interest to the wider population of colleges. They also suggest avenues for future process-based research on the management and functioning of the colleges, and should inform models for holistic quality development in this regard.

This study explored the students' perceptions of active learning strategies in the Child and Youth Care Programme at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The key focus of the study was how the participants experienced independent study and in-class active learning strategies. Of interest, too were the participants' ideas of how the roles of their peers and educators could be improved to enhance the active learning process. Data was obtained from questionnaires and focus groups conducted with the third year students. The qualitative research design involved the collection and analysis of the data and a review of the findings in relation to current local and international literature. This research highlights the roles that peers and educators play in independent study and in-class active learning strategies. The findings indicated that students and educators play a number of roles. The roles of peers included enhancing understanding through explanation, providing alternative ways of understanding, increasing quantity of knowledge and providing support. The roles of the educator included providing guidance, feedback, structure, clarification and skills. Recommendations are made for future research as well as improvements of this active learning process within the Child and Youth Care programme. The recommendations for improvement within the programme include assessment of group learning, curriculum development, evaluation of pedagogy and infrastructural support for student learning. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

In 2005, the Lesotho Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy introduction prescribed that all educational institutions for formal learning must play a major role in the improvement of teaching and learning mechanisms that develop a society that is ICT literate and capable of producing ICT products and services. This policy is part of the motivation for this study. The study's focus is to explore the extent to which ICT has been integrated in teaching and learning in one of the Lesotho higher education institutions. Its fundamental aim is to understand the ways in which the Lesotho College of Education (LCE) integrates ICT in teaching and learning environments. My study adopted the mixed method approach which based fact on an interpretive paradigm, with lecturer's interpretations regarding ICT integration in the college collected through structured questionnaires which were hand-distributed to purposefully selected lecturers as study participants. These questionnaires served as the basis and guide for face-to-face individual interviews of lecturers from the Computer studies and Agricultural/Environmental studies departments who were interviewed at their respective offices. Two sessions of sixty minutes, non-participatory observation of thirty computer studies students were also conducted. This study was guided by the activity theory/model based on the construction of real social change for pedagogy in a college. The concepts of the theory/model have been used to analyse the findings of this research. The findings of this study indicate that ICT integration creates opportunities in teaching and learning, where learning is focused on learners, and educators are only facilitators. Despite the opportunities that ICT has in learning, obstacles such as lecturers' lack of skills and incompetence in ICT literacy, limited resources and the infrastructure were found to be major factors hindering ICT integration in the college of education in Lesotho. The recommendations are that staff development and financial support should be considered a priority in ICT integration in this context. Also that ICT integration should include internal and external partners who can donate funds that will help in the implementation of ICT in teaching and learning at Lesotho's institutions of higher education. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

This thesis focuses on how new college faculty learn to teach. It is a qualitative study involving four first year Ball State University college professors from different departments. The past research explores faculty beliefs, skills, and styles as well as graduate preparation for teaching. The literature also covers faculty development programs, university and administrator influence, and the future of college teaching. The researcher used observations and interviews in the research design and analyzed the data by coding it into themes. The findings are discussed within the following topics: teaching techniques, professor experience, faculty development, graduate preparation and teaching assistantships, formation of teaching style, and professors' personal theories. The conclusion includes a discussion of how past experiences have taught professors how to reflect on their teaching to make modifications and how there is a lack of emphasis placed on teaching in the graduate schools. The substitution of teaching techniques for a teaching style, as well as, the amount of training professors have in college student development is also explored. The discussion also includes how new professors form personal theories of teaching. There is also a section on some specific findings for Ball State University, as well as recommendations for future research. / Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Texas Christian University, 2008. / Title from dissertation title page (viewed May 12, 2008). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.