The focus of this study is students' written reports of mathematical investigations carried out for examination at 16+. These coursework texts are produced within a discourse of 'investigation' that involves the students, their teachers and an official, practical and professional literature. This discourse has been examined through analysis of written and oral texts produced by the different groups. A method of analysis of mathematical texts has been developed, based on Halliday's functional grammar, using techniques of critical discourse analysis. This takes into account the ways in which mathematics, mathematical activity and the relationships between writer, reader and subject matter are constructed in the texts. The method was applied to a set of students' written reports of investigations, revealing some variety in the types of text and in the ideational and interpersonal functions served by the texts. The fact that coursework texts are examined by the student's teacher is a significant aspect of the context of their production. The assessment process was therefore investigated through interviews with mathematics teachers reading and assessing student texts. Tensions were identified between the stated aims of investigative work, the values of the assessment process and those of the traditional practices of mathematics and school mathematics. These tensions were manifested in the teachers' readings and assessments of the student texts and were resolved in various ways by different teachers. Textual features significant to the teachers' readings were identified and described although the teachers themselves generally appeared unable to describe explicitly the forms they would value highly. Teachers' responses to unusual or erroneous aspects were also explored. Variations in teachers' readings indicated that students' texts cannot be taken as transparent representations of their thinking.

With the fast growth of online education, factors influential to course completion need to be examined. Statistically, this study explored the relationship between five course status factors identified in the literature and the completion of previously incomplete online courses in a course-based approach. The five factors were about the curricular and completion status of an online course with an initially assigned "Incomplete" grade, including credit hours, required assignments, initially submitted assignments, initially earned points, and duration of incomplete status. The extent of coursework completion was measured by the subsequently completed assignments and subsequently earned points. Online courses (n = 933) offered with the 15 different course titles in an online graduate degree program and assigned an "Incomplete" grade in their registration terms between fall 2001 and fall 2005 were used as the units of data analysis. Multiple regression, logistic regression, descriptive statistics analyses, Chi-square tests, and independent t-tests were used for the statistical analysis. The results showed that there were significant differences (a = .05) in the required assignments, initially submitted assignments, initially earned points, and duration of incomplete status between the courses that were completed eventually and those that remained incomplete. According to the statistically significant results, the set of the five course status variables could explain 93.6% of the variance in the completion measured by the subsequently completed assignments and account for 87% of the variance in the completion measured by the subsequently earned points. The statistically significant results also indicated that the set of the five variables could be used to predict the probability of the coursework completion. Regarding the individual variables, the statistically significant results identified the required assignments and initially submitted assignments as the factors contributing to the explanation of the variance in the coursework completion measured by the subsequently completed assignments; the credit hours, required assignments, initially earned points, and duration of incomplete status as the factors contributing to the explanation of the variance in the coursework completion measured by the subsequently earned points. The required assignments and duration of incomplete status were identified as significant predictors of the completion. / Ph. D.

The promotion of creative culture in the higher education classroom holds the potential to prepare students for their contemporary roles in an increasingly diverse and demanding modern world. A premise of this work is that education should strive to encourage creativity with process-oriented curricula that actively engage students in (a) tasks that are collaborative and novel, (b) the interpretation of new and meaningful experiences, and (c) the synthesis and critical evaluation of ideas at individual, collective, and global levels. This dissertation study identifies aspects of pedagogical design and teaching practice that enable the building of students’ creative capacities. These enhanced capacities, in turn, can lead to transformative experiences that inspire and shape participants’ personal and professional lives. I adopted a dual role as researcher and student to conduct an exploratory study in the context of a PhD level Education course, Contemporary Curriculum Theory. Findings from this exploratory study informed a multiple-case study that involved the observation of two graduate level courses, Professionals in Rural Practice and The Lived Experience of Disability, which together form the unit of analysis for the study. Data sources included: (a) a Learning Activities Survey, modified from King’s (2009) original work; (b) a Creativity Checklist, modified from Munro’s (n.d.) instrument; (c) field observations and field notes; and (d) individual interviews with students and instructors from each course. Data were analyzed by three creative drivers that enabled transformation: (a) multiple ways of knowing, (b) adult conversation, and (c) the storied self. Through this examination of university-level courses of varied disciplines, this research study addresses creativity as a catalyst for transforming the ways in which teachers and students experience knowledge-making in post-secondary education. / Thesis (Ph.D, Education) -- Queen's University, 2013-12-05 12:37:25.474

In this country little research has been undertaken into the vast array of difficulties faced by students and the stressors that contribute to them, particularly in the professions allied to medicine. A pilot study of 40 students revealed that the major difficulty was completion of coursework and the emotional state of students gave cause for concern too. Finance was also a recurring problem. In the main study, 210 students were given a Problem Questionnaire, the General Health Questionnaire 30 and the Glasgow Symptom Checklist. Emotional lability was a significant finding. This was often accompanied by self-destructive thoughts. Anxiety appeared to be a prime manifestation of unresolved stress. A considerable number of students found the burden of coursework more difficult than anticipated which led to serious consideration of dropping out. Financial suffering was evident, confirming earlier findings. Highly stressed students had closer affiliation to the psychiatric than the normal population. 45 students from the main study were able and willing to continue with the research. An unexpected discovery was that many of these students suffered deeply but the severity of psychological manifestations had little bearing on the final academic results. Of the 45, indepth case studies of sixteen Honours degree students were carried out to illustrate the degree of stress among students, identify particular stressors and look at the outcomes. Personality and coping mechanisms' questionnaires were administered together with the health and problem questionnaires. Findings showed a similar pattern to the sample of 45. Coping resources on their own did not supply a satisfactory answer. A more pertinent explanation appears to lie in a theory of activation incorporating the ascending reticular activating system. This was allied to motivational concepts and closely related to Eysenck's personality dimensions. Conclusions are that students need more specialised and prolonged help for their psychological difficulties.

Investigated in this study was whether a university education course that covers the topics of diversity and cultural responsiveness would change teacher candidates\' existing prejudicial attitudes.  The major variables reported in this study were exposure to diversity coursework which served as the independent variable and teacher candidates\' prejudicial attitudes, which served as the dependent variable. Using the Yoder-Hartman Survey of Beliefs Scale, three research questions were addressed: (a) Are there differences in prejudice level between preservice teachers who have taken a diversity course and those who have not taken a diversity course? (b) Are there differences in prejudice level in preservice teachers before and after taking a diversity course? and (c) Do preservice teachers who have taken a diversity course and those who have not taken a diversity course display different pre/post levels of assessed prejudice? No differences were found between students who had taken a diversity course and those who had not. The current study suggests that one diversity course is not sufficient to have a significant effect on prejudice reduction among preservice teachers. Analyses of the current study results suggest that the coursework designed to reduce prejudicial attitudes was ineffective. Continued investigation will be required to: (1) refine and develop a program that will reduce prejudicial attitudes among teacher candidates and (2) refine and develop measures of prejudice reduction. / Ph. D.

Despite years of attention, gender inequity persists in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Female STEM faculty, positive social interactions, and enrollment in advanced STEM secondary coursework are supportive factors in promoting female students' persistence in STEM fields. To address the gap in understanding these factors, this study employed a sequential mixed method design using a framework of social cognitive theory. Research questions focused on how levels of self-efficacy and perception of personal and social factors among female secondary students related to their enrollment in advanced STEM coursework and extracurricular activities in a rural New England school where gender parity exists. All 18-year-old female students (N = 82) were invited to complete the self-efficacy subsection of the Science Motivation Questionnaire II (SMQII). Self-efficacy and enrollment in advanced STEM courses and extracurricular activities were analyzed using a Pearson correlation (N=35). Self-efficacy levels did not correlate with the participants' enrollment in advanced STEM courses and extracurricular activities. In addition, a purposeful sample of participants (N = 7) who completed the SMQII was used to conduct individual interviews investigating how the community of practice contributed to female students' decisions to pursue advanced STEM coursework. Two themes emerged: the roles of the personal landscape (e.g., resilient mindset) and the social landscape (e.g., peer interactions). Professional development materials to support staff in implementing a cognitive apprenticeship were created in response to the emergent themes. In addressing the lack of understanding of female secondary students' engagement in advanced STEM coursework, positive social change may be achieved by supporting a greater percentage of women who can pursue STEM career opportunities.

Students with a wide array of disabilities are graduating from high school but are unprepared for community college literacy courses. The lack of preparation has caused many students who attend community colleges to be unsuccessful in literacy courses. This problem has led many community colleges to provide developmental courses, but mixed results on the effectiveness have occurred. My purpose in this quantitative causal-comparative study was to examine whether a developmental literacy course had a significant effect on the success of students with disabilities who took English 110 compared with students with disabilities who did not participate in the developmental course. The behaviorist, constructivism, and cognitivism theories served as a foundation for this study because they were used as a framework for the development of the remedial literacy course. The research question focused on the mean difference between two groups of students' grades in English 110. One group of students with disabilities participated in a developmental course, and the other group did not. The study included 166 participants. The participants were all students with disabilities who took the Accuplacer college placement exam, scored below 55, and were advised to take a developmental literacy course. Archived final grades from 2013 to 2017 were analyzed using an independent-sample t-test. Statistically significant results (p = .021) indicated that students with disabilities who took the developmental literacy course before taking an entry-level credit-bearing English earned lower mean scores than those who did not take the developmental literacy course. Potential positive change implications of this study would be to influence community college stakeholders regarding the continuance, revision, or removal of developmental literacy courses for students with disabilities.

D.Phil. / In 2000, the incumbent Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal, mandated the inclusion of school based assessment (SBA) as a component of Senior Certificate (Grade 12) assessment across all examining bodies in the country. Prior to this, the Senior Certificate (Grade 12) examination was a “once off” terminal examination at the end of twelve years of schooling. The rationale for the inclusion of SBA as a component of the Senior Certificate (Grade 12) was to remove the focus from a high stakes examination to a more continuous form of assessment, that is school based, and one that assesses skills beyond the domains of an examination. Since SBA is implemented by teachers, it appears that the management of the moderation process at school level in not being done with the required diligence and thoroughness. This observation is based on various anecdotal reports, district reports and statistical moderation reports. This results in this assessment being questioned in terms of its reliability and validity. Therefore, this study attempts to review the current form of moderation of SBA as it is implemented in the Gauteng province, so as to develop an improved model for the management of moderation of SBA.

Limited existing research indicates that high school department chairs may not be prepared to fulfill their duties because of varying role descriptions and training. This qualitative comparative layered case study examined the alignment of high school department chairs' contextual intelligence in an eastern seaboard region of the United States from 3 perspectives: (a) school districts' role descriptions, (b) local universities' leadership courses, and (c) a state's education department's licensure requirements. Sternberg's contextual intelligence, the learned skill of decision-making based on past experiences, present settings, and future ideals, conceptually framed this study. The primary research question explored the extent to which conceptual similarities existed amongst those perspectives. Purposeful, chain, and stratified sampling techniques were used. Institutions' public email addresses were used to request participation from 10 education professors, 21 high school department chairs, and 41 school departments. Three education professors and 4 department chairs participated in semistructured interviews. The education department's website and 6 school districts provided artifact data. Inductive and deductive content analysis strategies were used to identify, compare, and triangulate themes. Findings suggest that state department's licensure requirements for supervisor/director align with local universities' leadership courses but may not align with local school districts' department chair role descriptions. Thus, participating school districts may need to revisit role descriptions. These findings may promote positive social change by influencing school districts, universities, and a state's education department to continue to recognize and develop high school department chairs' contextual intelligence.

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