Thesis (MDistance Ed) -- University of South Australia

Thesis--Tübingen. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement inserted. Vita inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-128).

The purpose of this study was to create and examine the conceptual and psychometric properties of four components that comprise 'programme outcome' sought by distance educators, and to examine the extent to which student (socio-demographic) and programme (e.g. duration) variables related to them. This ex post facto study utilised the records of 773 correspondence students enrolled at The Chinese University of Hong Kong for the 1984 Summer session and who submitted one or more assignments. Four variables were derived from the data set - completion rate, deviation (lateness in submitting assignments), turnaround (time taken to return marked assignments) and grades. These variables were more conceptually defensible than the NUEA or other formulae typically used to measure 'outcomes'. It was hypothesized that when students had to wait longer for the return of their assignments in the first quarter of the course, completion rate would be lower, but this would not happen after the course was half over. When students were late submitting assignments, it was expected that their completion rate would be lower than those submitting on time. It was found that turnaround had a significant association with completion rate throughout the course. Deviation, that is, delays in submitting assignments, was also related to completion. Each of the four variables had significantly different associations with programme outcome. The measures employed here can be used elsewhere as the data that comprise them are found in the records of most distance education programmes. This should facilitate research in distance education and provide practitioners with a way to monitor programmes. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

No description available.

A national survey was conducted to assess student perceptions of the helpfulness of specific instructional development factors in a distance education print-based program. Participants were all students who had successfully completed at least one distance education correspondence course with Global University or were currently enrolled in their first course. Instructional development factors studied included lesson openers, lesson outlines, lesson artwork, written objectives, amount of information presented before a study question is asked, typographical features, graphic art, study questions, answers to study questions, self tests, and unit progress evaluations. Basic demographic information was collected and survey respondents located their perceptions of instructional development factor helpfulness both on a Likert scale and on a rank-order scale. Respondents also were asked for comments on the instructional development factors studied. Differences among respondent groups were examined. Major findings include a tiered ranking by all groups showing formative evaluation factors to be the most helpful, content organization and presentation factors next most helpful, and visual enhancement features (graphic art, typographical design) the least helpful. Overall, perceptions of the facilitative nature of the instructional development factors were similar among most groups. Older students seem to focus more on organization while younger students exhibit a balance between their perceptions of the facilitative nature of content and testing. Students enrolled in their first course perceive several of the formative evaluation factors to be less helpful than do more experienced students while at the same time perceiving content pacing to be more helpful than do more experienced students.

The purpose of the study was to identify problems associated with unaccredited private schools and home instruction programs and possible solutions to problems as perceived by State Education Officials in the Great Lakes States. The States were Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.Eleven State Education Officials having responsibility for unaccredited private schools and home instruction programs were interviewed by telephone to collect the data. An interview form was designed to elicit non-directed responses to major problems confronting the states, methods of handling problems, possible solutions to problems, and practices in the next five years.Major problems existed with state regulations regarding equivalent instruction, teacher qualifications, courses of study, and definition of a school. Lack of criteria for interpreting the terms and assuring compliance with requirements were reported. Local school superintendents were confronted with similar problems regarding state regulations. State Education Officials identified problems with lack of certified or qualified teachers in fundamentalist schools and home instruction programs, difficulty obtaining data from pastors and parents, and extent of state authority to regulate private schools. Also, student loss of services, materials, and diplomas was a concern.Solutions to the problems as perceived by State Education Officials included changes in statutes from compulsory school attendance to compulsory education with minimum standards and achievement testing, clarification of terms in state statutes, and separate state regulations for private education. Other recommendations were a separate accrediting agency, a national co-op agency, and communication and cooperation between public and private educators.State Education Officials projected no substantial changes in regulations or practices in the next five years. However, expanding interest and increasing enrollments in private schools were expected.

Eight home economics teachers and I took up the invitation of Coulter (1993) to explore the work of Mikhail Bakhtin as a way of making us more "wide awake" (Greene, 1978) and "answerable" (Clark & Holquist, 1984) for our teaching and researching practices. The study involved learning from our own experiences inquiring into global home economics education. We met as a group once a month, and I met periodically with each teacher, for one semester. Using action research, conceptualized as grounded ethical practice, the research methods were primarily dialogues as conversational inquiry, whereby greater emphasis was given to listening and hearing than ocularcentric methods of gathering data. The three research questions that guided the study related to learning from experience in: the substantive area, in this case developing curriculum for a global perspective in home economics; the action research process, in this case as a process to effect a specific educational change; and the self or personal growth, in this case primarily professional development (Reinharz, 1992). This research report includes narrative and reflective accounts from three forms of action research within the study: teachers cooperating with an outside researcher where the researcher defines the topic and purpose of the research; teachers collaborating with a researcher where the research is seen as mutually beneficial and the topics and purposes are jointly defined; and teachers defining and conducting their own research independently or in collaboration with one another. It captures the diversity and complexity of the teachers' and the researcher's experiences and explores some of the struggles, the tensions, and the inner turmoil associated with action research for educational change. As a result of this research, we have become more consciously intentional in our practices and more thoughtful and reflective of their consequences. The phrase theorizing practice/practicing theorizing captures this notion as the teachers and I turned/retumed to the ethical questions that hold us in education.

Thesis--Lund. / "Project Two-way communication in correspondence education." Includes bibliographical references (p. 116-123).

Eight home economics teachers and I took up the invitation of Coulter (1993) to explore the work of Mikhail Bakhtin as a way of making us more "wide awake" (Greene, 1978) and "answerable" (Clark & Holquist, 1984) for our teaching and researching practices. The study involved learning from our own experiences inquiring into global home economics education. We met as a group once a month, and I met periodically with each teacher, for one semester. Using action research, conceptualized as grounded ethical practice, the research methods were primarily dialogues as conversational inquiry, whereby greater emphasis was given to listening and hearing than ocularcentric methods of gathering data. The three research questions that guided the study related to learning from experience in: the substantive area, in this case developing curriculum for a global perspective in home economics; the action research process, in this case as a process to effect a specific educational change; and the self or personal growth, in this case primarily professional development (Reinharz, 1992). This research report includes narrative and reflective accounts from three forms of action research within the study: teachers cooperating with an outside researcher where the researcher defines the topic and purpose of the research; teachers collaborating with a researcher where the research is seen as mutually beneficial and the topics and purposes are jointly defined; and teachers defining and conducting their own research independently or in collaboration with one another. It captures the diversity and complexity of the teachers' and the researcher's experiences and explores some of the struggles, the tensions, and the inner turmoil associated with action research for educational change. As a result of this research, we have become more consciously intentional in our practices and more thoughtful and reflective of their consequences. The phrase theorizing practice/practicing theorizing captures this notion as the teachers and I turned/retumed to the ethical questions that hold us in education. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

Please read the abstract in the 00front part of this document / Thesis (D Mus)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Music / unrestricted