The associations of student ratings of instruction and courses (SRIC) with noninstructional variables (e.g., class size, expected grade) were examined in three instructional delivery groups--on-campus , off-campus face-to-face , and distance education courses. Factor analysis of SRIC from a 20-item form yielded two highly correlated factors , which differed somewhat across the groups ("Course " and "Instruction"; "Course/Instruction" and "Interaction Opportunities /Instructor Availability"; "Course/Instruction" and "Interaction Opportunities/Helpfulness"). The only educationally significant(r2 > .05) zero-order correlations were between SRIC total scores and expected grade, and were positive in all three groups(r2 = .07, .08, .06). In multiple regression analyses, 9%, 11 %, and 15% of the variance in SRIC for the three groups was explained by the entire set of noninstructional variables. Unique indices were consistent with the finding that expected grade was the only noninstructional variable with an educationally significant relationship with SRIC. In a separate study, SRIC and the instructor's social presence in host- and remote-site groups were investigated. Remote-site students rated course management lower, on average, than host-site students did, and educationally significant, positive relationships were found between social presence scores and the ratings on four SRIC categories. In addition , remote-site students at smaller sites tended to rate instruction and course satisfaction, as well as the instructor's social presence, higher than students at larger sites. In an additional investigation, students' ratings of teacher immediacy and reports of teacher-student interaction in distance education courses were analyzed. Host-site students tended to rate teacher immediacy higher than remote-site students did, and the negative association of site size with nonverbal teacher immediacy scores was educationally significant for host sites. Host-site students also tended to report more interaction with their instructors than remote-site students did, and mean reported interaction with the instructor was associated positively with site size and ratings of teacher immediacy. Based on the differing SRIC factorial structures for on-campus and off-campus students, the identification of distance-education-specific noninstructional variables, problems with obtaining SRIC from students in on-line courses, and evidence on the noninstructional-variable-related theory of teacher immediacy, suggestions were made for future research on student satisfaction and perceptions of teaching effectiveness in distance education.

This is the first study done to ascertain which factors significantly determine graduation and non-graduation in the Diploma courses at Fiji Institute of Technology. It is a quantitative study and analyses of the effects of the variables sponsored/private, entry level, race, grade point average, course sex, age and rural/urban on graduation and non-graduation. The significance of this study lies in determining which improvements are necessary in order to increase the number of graduates and thus make more effective use of the physical and human resources. Resource utilisation gains added importance because of its national implications. The Diploma graduates are the main source of middle level technical manpower for Fiji; a developing country which since its independence in 1970, has made satisfactory social, political and economic progress. For the period under study, data analysis shows that the percentage of students graduating was 40.8. Furthermore, the major finding was that Government sponsored ethnic Indian male students with New Zealand University Entrance as entry level, belonging to the 24+ age group produced statistically significant results. It has been recommended that both the Fiji Institute of Technology and the Government of Fiji should increase and strengthen Government sponsorship of Diploma students. Fiji Institute of Technology in consultation with industry should work out effective strategies such as better supervision and the monitoring of sponsored students' progress throughout the course and provision of an increased variety of work experiences, in order to improve the weaker areas of practical experience during the course. Since this is the first such study, further research in areas such as the requirements of the Diploma curriculum and the availability of training facilities and equipment, is recommended.

The main purpose of this thesis was to clarify whether there would be difficulties in using constructivistic learning in distance education in which interactive video was used. Other purposes of the thesis were to study the quality of learning in distance education compared to conventional education, and to study the quality of learning in constructivistic education compared to traditional education. The thesis consists of five studies in which three treat distance education and constructivistic learning. The first study treats distance education on its own, and the last study treats constuctivistic learning in conventional study groups. The methods in all studies were questionnaires for all participans, complemented with interviews in three studies. In the studies about constructivistic learning, the questionnaire contained questions to measure the extent of the constructivistic learning environment. The questionnaire in the first study contained questions to find out the participants' opinions about the course. The main hypothesis was that it would be more difficult to introduce constructivistic learning in distance education using interactive media, compared to conventional education. The findings from the studies could by no means verify this hypothesis. All the findings showed that the difficulties in distance education did not influence the possibilities to introduce constructivistic learning negatively. As to the quality of the distance students' learning there were some conflicting results. One group when tested achieved lower results than its reference group and the other groups did just as well as their reference groups. In the questionnaire the students claimed that the use of interactive video did not mean that the quality of learning was affected in negative ways. The findings in the last study showed that the students' opinions about the quality was much higher for the constructivistic group than its reference group. When tested the constructivistic group achieved better results in three out of four tests, but the differences were too small to be of any significance. / digitalisering@umu

Texte remanié de: Thèse de doctorat--Histoire--Paris-Sorbonne, 1991. / Bibliogr. p. 358-366, vol. 2.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Environmental Sciences." Includes bibliographical references (p. 270-282).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Plant Biology." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-121). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-121). Also available on the Internet.

Advanced placement courses are designed to be innovative and rigorous and also encourage and promote critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. Currently, most high schools across the United States offer advanced placement courses with the intent that students enrolled in such courses will be prepared for entering and completing college courses. While advanced placement courses are intended to promote enriched learning experiences for all students, the enrollment of Latino students in high school advanced placement courses is low as compared to other student groups excluding African American students (College Board, 2010). Despite reports, studies, and literature surrounding equity and access in the advanced placement program, research and literature is limited with respect to identifying factors that influence the enrollment in advanced placement courses in high schools from the perspective of Latino students. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence Latino students in their decision to enroll and participate in advanced placement courses in high schools. Moreover, identifying factors that influence enrollment in advanced placement courses from the perspective of the Latino student was critical to analyzing current practice and informing future strategies for increasing enrollment in high school advanced placement courses. This qualitative case study provided rich, descriptive data drawn from student experiences and perceptions from individual interviews that allowed for flexibility and opportunities for further exploration of topics or ideas that emerged from the research to best identify the factors that influence enrollment in advanced placement courses. / text

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of concept map assessments in freshman level general chemistry courses. Two strategies were employed in this study. The first strategy involved the creation of a web based concept mapping program capable of scoring concept maps drawn by students. The second strategy involved comparing different methods of scoring concept maps. Students enrolled in web based general chemistry course drew concept maps using the web based Concept Map Assessment Tool, CMAT. The reliability of the automated scoring in the CMAT program was tested by scoring the concept maps created in the CMAT program by hand. The results of the study indicated that scoring concept maps by hand was the same as the automated scoring of concept maps in the CMAT program. Two characteristics of concept maps serve as the basis for scoring methods. The relational character of a concept map is defined as the correctness of the propositions in the concept map. The structural character of a concept map is defined as the key features of the map, such as branches, long chains or intersecting points. The scoring method used in the CMAT program scores the relational aspects of a concept map. In this study, a second relational scoring method was used to score the concept maps drawn by students using the CMAT program, and the two sets of scores were compared. A novel structural scoring method, the Structural Complexity Index (SCI), was developed compared to the relational scoring approach of the CMAT program. The results of this study found the two relational scoring methods to score concept maps similarly under certain conditions. The SCI was found to produce a different score for concept maps than the relational scoring method employed by CMAT. / text