abstract: Participatory approaches to policy-making and research are thought to “open up” technical decision-making to broader considerations, empower diverse public audiences, and inform policies that address pluralistic public goods. Many studies of participatory efforts focus on specific features or outcomes of those efforts, such as the format of a participatory event or the opinions of participants. While valuable, such research has not resolved conceptual problems and critiques of participatory efforts regarding, for example, their reinforcement of expert perspectives or their inability to impact policy- and decision-making. I studied two participatory efforts using survey data collected from participants, interviews with policy makers and experts associated with each project, and an analysis of project notes, meeting minutes, and my own personal reflections about each project. Both projects were based one type of participatory effort called Participatory Technology Assessment (pTA). I examined how project goals, materials, and the values, past experiences, and judgments of practitioners influenced decisions that shaped two participatory efforts to better understand how practitioners approached the challenges associated with participatory efforts. I found four major themes that influenced decisions about these projects: Promoting learning; building capacity to host pTA events; fostering good deliberation; and policy relevance. Project organizers engaged in iterative discussions to negotiate how learning goals related to dominant ideas from policy and expert communities and frequently reflected on the impact of participatory efforts on participants and on broader socio-political systems. Practitioners chose to emphasize criteria for deliberation that were flexible and encompassing. They relied heavily on internal discussions about materials and format, and on feedback collected from participants, policy makers, and other stakeholders, to shape both projects, though some decisions resulted in unexpected and undesirable outcomes for participant discussions and policy relevance. Past experience played a heavy role in many decisions about participatory format and concerns about deliberative or participatory theory were only nominally present. My emphasis on understanding the practice of participatory efforts offers a way to reframe research on participatory efforts away from studying ‘moments’ of participation to studying the larger role participatory efforts play in socio-political systems. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Sustainability 2019

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / Personality assessments are useful measures for identifying an individual's characteristics and how he/she interacts with the world. The 15 factor Questionnaire Plus (15Q+) is an adapted personality assessment measure used in industry to determine the likely behavioral responses an individual will display in a particular setting. It can be used during the selection process to assess the suitability of candidates for a particular position at a company. As a result of unfair practices when using psychometric instruments, it is now imperative that these instruments meet the scientific principles of validity and reliability before it can be used. This is in line with the legistlation pertaining to discrimination and supported by the Health professions Council of South Africa. They encourage a plethora of research to confirm the utility of these measures. The present study was conducted at a South African financial services company where the 15FQ+ is used to identify suitable candidates for financial adviser positions. Through data mining techniques, predictive and criterion data were extracted for 125 financial advisers. The study explored the validity of the 15FQ+ when correlated with the perforkance Indices of the financial advisers. The study also determined whether there were race differences in the responses of the financial advisers to the 15FQ+ as well as their work performance. / South Africa

In 21st century education, assessment is considered a crucial role as it bridges the gap between teaching and learning. This study aimed to determine the possible effects of an intervention for Botswana Standard 4 mathematics use of formative assessment (FA) strategies in the classroom to enhance pupils’ higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). There is a recurrent educational debate in Botswana centred on pupils’ poor achievement in basic numeracy, literacy, and life skills. Specifically, Standard 4 pupils who progress to Standard 5 and 6 were perceived to be unable to handle mathematical HOTS tasks. They were considered to be weak when measured on the common achievement in large-scale assessments such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015. With this backdrop in mind, the current study took a sequential embedded mixed, single-group, pre-test, intervention (training) and post-test design as a methodological strategy to investigate assessment practices related to higher-order thinking skills. The findings from the baseline survey (Phase I) revealed that teachers had some challenges in FA practices, including integration of HOTS tasks. The lesson from this phase’s research data is how to assist the teacher in implementing FA effectively to enhance mathematics teaching. Post-intervention classroom observation showed that teachers practised the integration and implementation of some FA strategies (Phase II). The findings in Phase III also revealed that the pupils’ post-interventional results in HOTS tasks significantly improved compared to their pre-assessment results. Additionally, the teachers’ experience and reflections were found to be favourably inclined to support formative assessment higher-order thinking skills as a strategy to enhance mathematics teaching. Throughout the phases of the study, Kivunja’s assessment feedback loop (AFL) model was underpinned as a theoretical point of departure to determine the classroom FA practice and integration of teaching HOTS in mathematics. The current study provides evidence of strategies to improve achievement levels in mathematics higher-order thinking skills in primary education in Botswana. / Thesis (PhD (Assessment and Quality Assurance))--University of Pretoria, 2021. / University of Pretoria Postgraduate scholarship / Educational Psychology / PhD (Assessment and Quality Assurance) / Unrestricted

No description available.

Student Number : 8607167P - MSc research report - School of Education - Faculty of Science / This small-scale case study researches the importance of analysing the mathematics competencies assessed by a selection of tasks developed for a portfolio in Grade 9 during 2003. The tasks are analysed according to the cognitive demand placed on the learners, plus their open-ended versus closed nature. This research reveals that the weaker ability learners experience a greater apparent benefit, compared to the stronger ability mathematics learners. Although there are other mathematical competencies assessed in this research report, those of ‘thinking and reasoning mathematically’ and ‘representing and explaining mathematical entities’ are most problematic, compared to the more traditional competencies of ‘memorisation’ and ‘manipulation of mathematical symbols and formalisms’. Assessing the tasks from the perspective of mathematical competencies, may serve to provide an alternative framework for analysing the appropriateness or not of tasks used in the development of portfolios and thus improve the practises of mathematics teachers in general.

ABSTRACT Scholars in the field of assessment recognize its key role in teaching and learning (Knight 1998, Brown and Knight 1996, Gipps 1994, Glaser 1990, Van Rooyen and Prinsloo 2003). According to Knight, assessment is ‘the most significant prompt for learning’ (1998:37). This study aimed to understand the role and the nature of assessment in academic literacy modules offered in two very different teaching and learning contexts. The focus of the research is ‘Foundation in English Language’ at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and ‘Writing English I’ at the National University of Rwanda (NUR). To conduct the investigation, three lecturers teaching on the Foundation module at Wits and, two lecturers teaching Writing English I at the NUR were interviewed individually and six students from each lecturer’s group participated in a focus group interview. In addition to the interviews, all the assignment and examination tasks, as well as students’ marked assignments and examination scripts were analysed. Although the study reveals many differences in both attitudes and practices in the two institutions, it also shows some similarities, especially in relation to students’ negative response to participation in one on one consultation with a lecturer. The most important difference noticed is in the role of assessment in the two modules. It was found that in the Writing English I module at NUR, assessment is considered separate from the teaching and learning process, whereas at Wits it is an integral part of the process. This difference in orientation to assessment influenced much of the planning and assessment of the two modules. In the Foundation module at Wits, assessment was planned into the course. Consequently, assignments were carefully scaffolded to promote students’ learning in regard to academic writing, with feedback given on essay drafts. At NUR where assessment was not planned into the course there was no clear focus on some important aspects of academic writing such as referencing and writing from sources without plagiarizing and there was no scaffolding of the assignments or feedback on drafts. The study concludes with some recommendations to lecturers and students and also to the leadership of the institutions, given that some of the recommendations have resource implications.

The objective of this thesis is to update the Mori-Butterworth (2006) model of the krill-predator dynamics of the Antarctic ecosystem. Their analysis aimed to determine whether predator-prey interactions alone could broadly explain the observed population trends of the species considered in their model. In this thesis, the Antarctic ecosystem is outlined brie y and details are given of the main krill-eating predators including whales, seals, fish and penguins, together with an historical record of the human harvesting in the region. The abundances and per capita krill consumption of the krill-predators are calculated and used to determine the main krill-predators to be used in the updated model developed. These predators are found to be the blue, fin, humpback and minke whales and crabeater and Antarctic fur seals. The three main ship surveys (IDCR/SOWER, JARPA and JSV) used to estimate whale abundance, and the abundance estimation method itself (called distance sampling), are summarised. Updated estimates of abundance and trends are listed for the main krill-predators. Updated estimates for the biological parameters needed for the ecosystem model are also reported, and include some differences in approaches to those adopted for the Mori-Butterworth model. The background to the hypothesis of a krill-surplus during the mid-20th century is discussed as well as the effects of environmental change in the context of possible causes of the population changes of the main krill-feeding predators over the last century. Key features of the results of the updated model are the inclusion of a depensatory effect for Antarctic fur seals in the krill and predator dynamics, and the imposition of bounds on Ka (the carrying capacity of krill in Region a, in the absence of its predators); these lead to a better fit overall. A particular difference in results compared to those from the Mori-Butterworth model is more oscillatory behaviour in the trajectories for krill and some of its main predators. This likely results from the different approach to modelling natural mortality for krill and warrants further investigation. That may in turn resolve a key mismatch in the model which predicts minke oscillations in the Indo-Pacific region to be out of phase with results from a SCAA assessment of these whales. A number of other areas for suggested future research are listed. The updated model presented in this thesis requires further development before it might be considered sufficiently reliable for providing advice for the regulation and implementation of suitable conservation and harvesting strategies in the Antarctic.

No description available.

No description available.

The postsecondary acts of violence at Virginia Technical University (VT) and Northern Illinois University (NIU) forced Illinois legislators to approve the Campus Security Enhancement Act in 2008 (110 ILCS 12/20). The Act requires all private and public postsecondary education institutions to develop a Campus Violence Prevention Plan (CVPP), as well as two multi-disciplinary groups to implement the plan and address behaviors of concern, a Campus Violence Prevention Committee (CVPC) and Threat Assessment Team (TAT) (CESA, 2008). Recent research has uncovered that several institutions within the state have not completed their CVPP and the Act has left some institutions unsure of which agency to report to and how to effectively develop and implement their CVPP (Gregory, 2012; Pawlowski & Manetti, 2011). This research study is the first investigation into the groundbreaking Illinois legislation. Utilizing a case study design, the purpose of the research study is to explore how three Illinois postsecondary institutions of similar Carnegie classifications created, implemented, assessed, and addressed challenges in developing their CVPP's. One-on-one interviews and document analysis were used to gather data. With-in case analysis and cross-case analysis were performed to generated research themes to answer the research questions. Four cross-case analysis themes were created to answer the corresponding research questions. Conclusions from this study may assist other Illinois postsecondary institutions in developing their CVPP's and decrease the likelihood of violence occurring in the postsecondary environment.