Afrikaans text / In hierdie studie is die ontwikkeling van 'n meetmiddel vir die evaluering van mondelinge taalvaardigheid ondersoek. Relevante literatuur is bestudeer om duidelikheid te verkry oor die begrip mondelinge taalvaardigheid en die belangrikheid daarvan as sleutel tot kommunikasie, oor die probleme random mondelinge taalvaardigheid, die onderrig daarvan, die evaluering daarvan en die probleme wat met die evaluering daarvan verband hou. Die vereistes waaraan meting in die algemeen en die evaluering van mondelinge taalvaardigheid in die besonder moet voldoen, asook die faktore wat dit kan bel'..nvloed, is ondersoek. Van die bestaande toetse en metodes vir die evaluering van mondelinge taalvaardigheid is ontleed. 'n Alternatiewe model vir die ontwikkeling van 'n toets of metode wat die evaluering van mondelinge taalvaardigheid so geldig en betroubaar moontlik behoort te maak, is ontleed. Die probleme wat met so 'n evalueringsmetode gepaard sou gaan, is ontleed en moontlike oplossings daarvoor is gevind. Riglyne vir die ontwikkeling en die standaardisering van toetse in die algemeen en van mondelinge taalvaardigheid in die besonder is verkry. Onderwerpe waaruit 'n toets vir die evaluering van mondelinge taalvaardigheid in Afrikaans saamgestel kon word, is geskryf, gekeur en volgens spesifieke voorskrifte eksperimenteel uitgetoets. Die mondelinge taaluitinge is op klankkasset opgeneem en volgens vaste riglyne geevalueer. Statistiese verwerkings is uitgevoer en op grand van die verkree resultate is agt toetsvorms saamgestel. Een van die toetsvorms is saam met 'n ongestandaardiseerde mondelinge taalvaardigheidstoets en 'n objektiewe taaltoets, wat as kriteria vir die geldigheidsbepaling daarvan moes dien, in die praktyk toegepas. Dieselfde vorm is daarna saam met 'n tweede vorm van die toets toegepas om ook die geldigheid daarvan te bepaal. Na aanleiding van die empiriese gegewens is gevolgtrekkings oor die geldigheid en ander statlstiese eienskappe van die toets gemaak. Op grand daarvan is spesifieke aanbevelings oor die gebruik van die toets as model vir die evaluering van mondelinge taalvaardigheid gemaak. / In this study the development of a measuring instrument for the evaluation of oral language proficiency was investigated. Relevant literature was studied to reach a better understanding of the term oral language proficiency and in particular, its relevance to effective communication, the problems underlying oral language proficiency, the teaching thereof and the problems inherent in its evaluation. The requirements for a measuring instrument in general, and for the evaluation of oral language proficiency in particular, and the factors which influence such measurement were also investigated. A number of existing tests and methods for the evaluation of oral language proficiency were analysed. An alternative model for the development of a method to improve reliability and validity in the evaluation of oral language proficiency was examined. The problems connected to such a method were analysed and possible solutions were suggested. Guide-lines for the development and standardization of tests in general, and of oral language proficiency tests in particular, were recommended. Suitable topics for inclusion in a test for the evaluation of oral language proficiency in Afrikaans were compiled, selected and applied on an experimental basis according to specified directions. The oral responses of the testees were recorded on sound cassettes and evaluated according to specified directions. Statistical calculations were executed and on the basis of the results, eight test forms were finalized. One of the test forms, together with a non-standardized oral language proficiency test and a standardized objective language proficiency test which served as criteria for the determination of the validity of the test, was applied officially. The same test form, together with a second form of the test, was subsequently applied to a different group of testees in order to determine the validity of the second test form as well. On the basis of the empirical data, conclusions about the validity and other statistical characteristics of the test could be made. This in turn led to specific recommendations concerning the use of the test to serve as a model for the evaluation of oral language proficiency. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Empiriese Opvoedkunde)

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts

我國辦理公務人員升等考試已有相當歷史，旨在鼓舞現職人員士氣，提供資深績優的現職人員升遷管道，以鼓勵久任、提振士氣；其通過考試者取得升等資格。但在公共行政文獻中對此則少有通盤討論者，本文嘗試以整合性觀點，對相關之升等（資）考試提供說明，列如中央暨地方機關公務人員升等考試、關務人員升等考試、警察人員升等考試、交通事業人員升資考試、台灣地區省（市）營事業機構人員升等考試、行政院所屬金融保險事業機構雇員升等考試…等。 / The Rank Promotion Examinations for Civil Service has been hold for a long time in the R.O.C. It means to boost the morale of public functionaries. It offers channels of advancement for the existing employees with excellent performances to keep them focused and to boost their morale. Public servants who pass the examination can acquire the status for promotion. But few of them have been investigated intergrated in public administration. Therefor, this article uses an integrated view on these relevant area.of Rank Promotion Examinations, Such examinations include the Rank Promotion Examinations for public functionaries of Central and Local Civil Service Organizations, Rank Promotion Examination for Customs Officers, Rank Promotion Examination for Police Personnel, Rank Promotion Examination for Transportation Enterprise Personnel, Rank Promotion Examination for Personnel of Province- and Special Municipality-Operated Businesses, Rank Promotion Examination for hired employees at Financial and Insurance Institutions under the Executive Yuan, etc.

The major purpose of the study was to determine whether science process achievement tests could be developed for administration to groups of primary grade students. Six Basic Science Process Tests (BSPT) were constructed as samples of the format proposed. Each BSPT was designed to assess one of the basic science processes taught in the first three parts of the 1967 edition of Science--A Process Approach (Sci-APA). The test items were projected 35 mm color slides with a tape recording which asked questions and controlled slide advancement. Pilot studies in kindergarten, and first and second grades with 320 students in Corvallis and Portland, Oregon during the spring of 1968 contributed to the development of general testing procedures and directions for training students to use BSPTs. Preliminary indications of item performance and time requirements were determined from administrations of groups of validated items to students just completing a year of Sci-APA study at the minimum expected grade levels. The sample BSPTs were assembled and synchronized for automatic administrations to students who had studied the 1967 edition of Sci-APA. Measuring and Classifying BSPTs were administered twice to classes of first, second and third graders in Park Falls, Phillips and Rhinelander, Wisconsin during September, 1968. The 850 students yielded more than 100 students who took each BSPT at the minimum expected grade level who had Sci-APA the previous year, and more than 100 students in the same grades who had no Sci-APA experience. Test-retest score pairs were correlated for each experience group to give reliability estimates for each BSPT. The major question was whether groups of primary grade students could be assessed with the tests developed concerning their science process achievements. The administrations of the standardized, synchronized BSPTs seemed acceptable with student groups. Two of the six BSPTs were accepted as reliable on the basis of test-retest correlations. Thus, it was concluded that successful educational measurement instruments can be constructed to assess science process achievement using this format. A second question considered whether there was a difference in BSPT results between students who had studied Sci.-APA for a year and those who had not. Three of the six BSPTs yielded significantly higher means for the Sci-APA trained groups. Both of the reliable BSPTs which assessed process achievements taught in Part A of Sci-APA produced significantly higher means for Sci-APA students. / Graduation date: 1970 / Supplemental material (tests, slides and audio tapes) can be accessed and used on-site at the Valley Library.

Several alternatives to the Kuder and Richardson formula number 20 (KR20) were compared for accuracy using simulated and actual data sets. Coefficients by Loevinger (1948), Horst (1954), Raju (1982), and Cliff (1984) as well as the Kuder and Richardson formulae numbers 8 and 14 were examined. These alternative reliability coefficients were compared by (1) simulation of tests with varying degrees of item difficulty dispersion, subject proficiency, reliability, and length, and (2) use of the norming samples of the Curriculum Referenced Tests of Mastery (Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., publisher) for grades four, six, and eight. Most of the coefficients examined proved no more accurate than the KR20 and several were decidedly worse. All coefficients, with the exception of Loevinger's, were affected by item difficulty dispersion. Two coefficients, the KR8 and Horst, were found to have potential as KR20 substitutes. These two coefficients are discussed with recommendations made as to the appropriate use of each one.

M. Ed. / Many higher education institutions face the loss of subsidy due to the high attrition rate of students. Despite the many advantages of alternate access programmes documented in literature, numerous Engineering Faculty members and members of the management of the University of Johannesburg believed that first time applicants with A and B symbols on their senior certificate were stronger students than those students who had completed an alternate access programme. Furthermore, they felt that the alternate access students took up the places which should have been given to those students with excellent senior certificate results. While many studies have been conducted on alternate access programmes there appears to be no evidence of the academic benefits that students derive from them. This generic qualitative study focused on what students perceive to be the academic benefits of alternate access programmes for their mainstream study. Purposeful sampling was used to select Engineering students from the 2005 and 2006 cohort to participate in focus group interviews and the data gathered during the interviews were analysed and interpreted using an Interpretivist lens. The themes that emerged from the study confirmed that students found the programmes to be beneficial but that they became aware of most of the academic benefits only once they joined the mainstream students in their second year of study. This study revealed the alternate access students were of the opinion that there are a number of academic benefits that they had derived from the alternate access programmes. They were in agreement that these benefits had helped to prepare them for mainstream study and they concluded that the benefits had contributed to their academic success in their mainstream studies. The findings of this study suggest that alternate access programmes have an important role to play in providing students with access, support and success in mainstream studies which in turn leads to the increased throughput of students and higher education institutions retaining subsidy.

Magister Educationis - MEd / Algebraic graphs are a difficult topic for most secondary school mathematics learners. My experience as a Mathematics teacher in the Further Education and Training Phase (FET) is that learners solve problems involving graphs with difficulty. Consequently, the purpose of this research was to investigate learners’ ways of working with algebraic graphs in high-stakes examinations including their errors and misconceptions in this respect. The investigation carried out to identify learners’ errors and misconceptions is based on the analysis of 444 scripts from the 2012 grade 12 final Mathematics examination. More specifically, the study aimed to investigate the ways learners used to solve questions related to graphs in this examination. The focus of the study was the algebraic graphs tested in Paper 1 of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination with an emphasis on the identification of errors exhibited in the learners’ scripts. The study adopted a qualitative approach using documentary analysis methodology. As data, the study used the scripts of the final grade 12 Mathematics examinations of schools participating in a project for the improvement of Mathematics based at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). The analysis of learners’ scripts reveals that learners make many errors when they work with algebraic graphs. These errors that have been found in this investigation were coordinate, intercept, domain and range, asymptote, identification, drawing and function errors. Additional errors which were identified are transformation and inverse errors.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

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