No description available.

With the introduction in 2006 of the school subject Mathematical Literacy (ML) in the further Education and Training band, there have been expectations that such a subject will develop responsible citizens, contributing workers and self-managing people. The extent to which the subject can meet these aims is dependent on the ways in which the subject is assessed which influences the focus of ML in the classrooms. With this in mind, this study set out to explore the ways in which a class of Grade 12 learners engaged with a preparatory examination designed and administered by the KZN Department of Education. This is a qualitative study carried out with seventy-three grade 12 mathematical literacy learners from an urban school in North Durban. The purpose of this research is to explore the learners’ engagement with the examination tasks, thereby identifying possible factors which influence learners’ success in these items. Data were gathered from a document analysis of the 2009 KZN Trial Examination question paper and marking memorandum; 73 learners’ written responses to the examination tasks, and interviews with ten of these learners. The purpose of the document analysis was to identify contexts in which learners performed well or poorly, as well as to assess the design of the instrument. Semi-structured interviews were conducted individually with ten learners and video recorded. The purpose of the interviews was to explore some of the factors which influenced their written responses. The findings revealed that the task design was problematic for learners in terms of the order of the questions and the placement of the crucial information necessary to answer the questions. Some tasks also contained errors. The complexity of the scenario in terms of the amount of information, the language used, and the presence of distracters further influenced the way in which learners responded to the task. Learners’ personal experience of the context also affected the way they interpreted and responded to the task. Factors that constrained learners’ success in the examination task included poor conceptual understanding, misconceptions and language-related misinterpretation. It was also found that learners did not consider it a priority to make sense of the context: they focused on identifying formulae or information that could be used to present answers with little concern about the reasonableness of their responses. Some strategies used by learners in responding to the task included number grabbing, guessing without checking, scanning for crucial information and assumption-making. The study recommends that provincial examination papers be subject to the same stringent moderation requirements of the national examinations. It also recommends that should diagrams be used, they must be relevant to the context and should not conflict with the subject matter. The use of contexts should cater for alternate answers and multiple approaches and the marking memorandum should be flexible to accommodate these multiple approaches. Care must be taken in the presentation and placement of crucial information, so that learners do not miss the information they need to answer the questions. When familiar contexts are being used, task designers should also consider whether learners’ everyday experiences may conflict with these scenarios. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.

This study examined the performance of the first cohort of learners writing Physical Science in the National Senior Certificate examinations. The critical question that the researcher addressed was: How can the results produced in Physical Science in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in the 2008 NSC examination be used to give an understanding of the academic performance of learners? Using the mixed method approach, two data cohorts, namely the results produced by learners in Physical Science and the interview data, were subjected to analysis through the lens of phenomenology and semiotics. Findings of the study reveal that the education system still carries with it the inequalities of the past, with quality Physical Science to a few learners who were fortunate enough to attend privileged schools, identified by their high quintile ranking (5), in the predominately urban areas. The results of learners in poor, predominately rural schools, ranked quintile 1 and quintile 2, reveal that the “cycle of mediocrity” (Khan, 1995, p.128) still prevails. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the construct validity of the Differential Ability Scales (DAS) with a mentally handicapped population. The DAS is an individually administered, standardized test of intelligence. The stated purposes of the DAS are to provide a composite measure of conceptual reasoning abilities for classification and placement decisions and to provide a reliable profile of relative strengths and weaknesses for diagnostic purposes. With these goals in mind, it follows that this cognitive measure would be used often with mentally handicapped students. The DAS was developed using an hierarchical model based upon exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The model assumes that ability measures or subtests will load on a general factor g and will form subfactors at a lower level. The model also assumes that as children get older, the number of subfactors will increase because of development and differentiation of abilities. How mentally handicapped children would fit into this model was the subject of the current research.Using a sample of 100 mildly and moderately handicapped children ages 8 years, 0 months to 17 years, 5 months, confirmatory factor analysis was used to explore the factor structure of the DAS with this population. Three separate models were investigated: Model I, in which a one factor solution was proposed, Model II, in which two factors, Verbal Ability and Nonverbal Ability, were proposed, and Model III, in which three factors, Verbal Ability, Nonverbal Reasoning Ability, and Spatial Ability, as proposed by the test's authors, were investigated. Results of the analyses support the use of a one factor interpretation when using the DAS with mentally handicapped students. In practice, only the broadest score, the General Conceptual Ability Score (GCA), can be interpreted with confidence. Further, case study investigation illustrates the inconsistencies encountered in scoring at the lower end of the norms, as well as in using the outof-level procedure proposed by the test's authors. / Department of Educational Psychology

In 1995, the Indiana General Assembly passed legislation that required a graduation exam be given to all Indiana high school students. This researcher examined the perceptions Indiana superintendents and high school principals hold toward the Indiana Graduation Qualifying Exam (GQE).The population of the study consisted of all public school superintendents and public school high school principals listed in the 2001 Indiana Division of School Finance and Education Information database. The entire population was sent the Indiana's Graduation Qualifying Exam Survey, which was developed by the researcher. The survey instrument consisted of demographic questions asking for personal and professional characteristics, 20 statements designed to generate respondent perceptions, and four open-ended questions.Findings indicated superintendents and high school principals perceived that the GQE was a valid indicator of minimum competency in English/language arts and mathematics and that the GQE encouraged students to reach minimum competency levels. The overall effect of the GQE was not perceived to be negative but superintendents and high school principals were unsure as to the GQE promoting the improvement of instruction or having a positive influence on student achievement. Superintendents and high school principals did not perceive the GQE was a valid measure of school effectiveness, school district effectiveness, or that it was a valid predictor of a student's future success. The study showed that changes were made by schools districts to align remediation programs, staff development and curriculum to state standards since the implementation of the GQE.Significant differences in perception were obtained between superintendents and principals, as well as among superintendents, and among principals when grouped by personal and professional characteristics. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study was to select, analyze, and revise test exercises in critical thinking. Specifically, the aim was to identify items that have power to discriminate in performance among children in grades one, two, and three.The research was planned to answer three questions:(1) Would sufficient items remain to form a critical thinking test after those items showing no discrimination were rejected through examination of the point-biserial index?(2) Would the relationships between the twenty types of problematic situations tested cluster into a reduced specified number of elements after elimination of those exercises that did not appear to be related to a given factor?(3) Would the factor loading structure remain constant after reading scores and grade levels were partialled out?

Statistics show that boys perform better in mathematics tests than girls. In order to make a refined assessment of the magnitude of gender differences in mathematics performance, a study was made of one thousand 16+ mathematics scripts to find the precise topics on which girls and boys differ significantly in performance. These concepts were found to be concerned with scale or ratio, spatial problems, space-time relationships and probability questions. Differences were found in performance between girls and boys at each ten-percentile level through the ability range. A longitudinal study also revealed differences in mathematics 'performance through the years of secondary education. There is no convincing evidence that the discrepancy can be accounted for by innate or genetic reasons. Intervention programmes have been found to improve the performance of girls in the weak areas of spatial awareness, proportionality and problem solving. In addition, a study was made of gender attitudes towards mathematics. Ten secondary schools were surveyed and the results revealed a marked decrease in the attitudes of third and fourth form girls. During these difficult adolescent years girls and boys are susceptible to strong internal and external pressures. Corresponding differences were also found across the ability range. These social pressures are concerned with teacher influence, social interaction, type of grouping, sex stereotyping, choices, teaching materials and careers advice.

This pragmatic study consists of four cross-sectional and two inter-linked longitudinal studies designed to review two classroom-based interventions aimed at modifying driving related attitudes and self-reported driving behaviour. Subjects, (N=451), were divided into three groups. Subjects in Group 1 (N=176), learned to drive, passed the driving test and completed a questionnaire schedule. Group 2 subjects, (N=123), in addition to the above, attended classroom-based predriver training course while learning to drive. The subjects in Group 3, (N= 152), after learning to drive, received a classroom-based post-driver training course \\ithin three months of passing the driving test. Questionnaires were issued as the subjects started driver training (Time I), on passing the driving test (Time 2), three months post-test (Time 3) and nine months post-test (Time 4). The ftrst study, Time I, tested the predictive ability of Ajzen's (1985, 1988) Theory of Planned Behaviour with regard to the intentions of new drivers to conform to the social and legal conventions of driving and was successful in explaining 34% of the variance. Study two, Time 2, tested for increased driving knowledge and additional driving motives between groups for effects of the pre-driving test intervention. No support for this type of intervention was found. Study three, Time 3, assessed the performance of a post-test intervention informed by the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, 1966) and Protection Motivation Theory (Rogers, 1975). Using the Drivers Skil1s Inventory (Lajunen and Summala, 1995), results revealed that subjects in Group 3 perceived themselves to be signiftcantly less skilled and less safe. Study four, Time 4, was designed to test for effects of both interventions at nine-months post-test The results revealed that only those subjects in Group 3 had better behavioural intentions with regard to speeding behaviour. Overall no support was found for pre-driver training. However, limited support was found for post-driver training in influencing self-reported driving behaviour.

This study aimed at finding out ENG 101 instructors&rsquo / perceptions of the common ENG 101 writing exam grading criteria used in the Faculty of Academic English at Bilkent University. The main purpose of the study was to see what the instructors perceive as the positive and negative attributes of the criteria. Fifty five instructors were involved in the study. The data were collected through quantitative and qualitative data collection instruments. In order to collect data, the instructors were asked to fill in a questionnaire which consisted of both closed-ended response items using a likert-type scale and open-ended response items. Close-response items provided quantitative data and the qualitative data were derived from open-response items and the second instrument was interviews held with six volunteered instructors. The results showed that the instructors were mostly satisfied with the criteria in terms of its overall effectiveness, bands, and match between the course writing objectives and the criteria. However, the main problem found was about the equal weighting of the categories and the participants&rsquo / lack of belief that the criteria were applied in a standard way across the Faculty of Academic English program. Based on the findings, suggestions were made taking into consideration the instructors&rsquo / comments and evaluations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-107). / Microfiche. / viii, 107 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm