This case study examined how senior exhibitions function in a progressive educational environment that employs traditional assessments. The researcher interviewed 18 students and three faculty members of The Crefeld School about the Creative Expression, one of the 14 exhibitions that students are required to complete for graduation. The researcher conducted a document analysis and content analysis of rubrics for two essays and the Creative Expression. The researcher conducted a survey of student participants and a questionnaire to assess students’ perceptions of authenticity. The researcher observed three students present their Creative Expression in front of faculty, students, and family. The researcher conducted a survey analysis based on Cooper’s (1976) and Whitney’s (1978) tests for polarity of sentiment and Hsu’s (1979) test for disagreement. The researcher used a program designed by Morris (1979) and transposed to Microsoft Excel by Liebermann and Morris (2015) in order to calculate p values and to determine the ES value based on the standard deviation. The researcher also attempted to conduct a point biserial Pearson Product Moment to determine if a relationship existed between results on a mathematics exam and results on the Creative Expression. The findings of the study revealed that students at The Crefeld School had a positive experience working on the Creative Expression; many of them identified how the project reflected their interests, prepared them for college and careers, and was a good representation of authentic assessment. Tests for polarity were used to measure participants’ perceptions of authenticity. The category of task had the least amount of disagreement, while the category of overall authenticity had the most disagreement. Document analysis and content analysis of rubrics showed how thorough the rubric descriptions were so students knew how they were being assessed; interviews with students and faculty revealed that the rubrics, while used as guidelines, were not followed strictly in any of the major assessments. Survey data revealed any disagreements in responses to survey questions, based on Cooper’s (1976) and Whitney’s (1978) tests for polarity. As no dichotomous variable existed, a point biserial test was unwarranted regarding results on a traditional assessments and on the Creative Expression. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This study deals with the problems of external examining, the inflexible demands of which dominate and dictate to literature teaching in South African schools today. The aims of teaching literature are discussed, and it is suggested that the negative attitudes among pupils resulting from the present examining system defeat many of these aims. The opportunities for the enjoyment of literature are minimised by the process of preparation for external examinations. Creative teaching methods are abandoned in favour of coaching for specific types of questions, which are determined and limited by the practical constraints of a mass external examination. In catering to the demands for admininstrative reliability and efficiency, the educational validity and efficiency of the examinations are sacrificed. In Britain the Newbolt and Bullock Reports, among others, have made forceful recommendations for alternative approaches to external examining. Subsequently, much experimentation with internal examining, course-work and open-book examining has followed, aspects of which are discussed in this study. There has been limited experimentation in these areas in South Africa. The TED conducted a successful internal examining experiment in English literature, the results of which are considered in this thesis. The national English Olympiad open-book examination is a further example of the success of an alternative approach. By contrast, a comparison of examination papers set by the JMB and CED over the last ten years, shows clearly that the stated syllabus aims of teaching literature and the aims of examining the subject were wholly incompatible. Recommendations are made for the adoption of alternative examining strategies in order to address the shortcomings identified

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Doctorat en sciences psychologiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Doctorat en sciences psychologiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The purpose of this research is three-folded. First, it aims to study the complex and organic interaction of SSE in the school contexts with reference to uniqueness of Policy, Place and People. Second, it intends to provide a new perspective for the theoretical debate between the managerialists and the critical performativists on the perceived effects of SSE on school improvement or managerial control. Third, it aims at providing an answer to the theoretical debate on the implementation approach of SSE from the top-down, bottom-up or hybrid approaches in policy studies. In this regard, this study presents three research questions: 1. From the perspective of teacher administrators and teachers, how was SSE implemented in the three sample schools? 2. From the perspective of teacher administrators and teachers, what were the perceived effects and/or consequences of SSE? 3. Given these implementation experiences and perceptions, how could the implementation of SSE be accounted for from the perspectives of policy implementation within the policy studies in education? This study was qualitative in nature. Only 3 selected secondary schools experiencing a complete cycle of External School Review (ESR) or Quality Assurance Inspection (QAI) and SSE were studied. The use of descriptive and exploratory approach was adopted. Qualitative design of the study provided a platform for closer exploration into their description of implementation process, perceived effects and implementation approaches of SSE. / The research has theoretical implications for the literature of policy implementation, literature of school administration, literature of perceived effects of SSE. Furthermore, this research has policy implications for policy instrumentalisations, policy alienation and instrumental rationalism and policy localisation at schools. Finally, this research ends with practical implications for school administrators. / The study investigates how teacher administrators and teachers in Hong Kong secondary schools experienced the implementation process of School Self-Evaluation (SSE), perceived the effects of SSE and described the implementation approach of SSE from the perspectives of policy implementation within the policy studies in education. Given that this area is under-researched in Hong Kong context, the study aims to add to the knowledge base of implementation process, perceived effects and implementation approach of SSE and inform policy administrators of SSE in the government and the schools. / There were three arguments made in this study. First, it argued that the implementation of SSE was an organic and complex interaction of the Policy to be implemented, Place where the policy embedded, and the People who implemented the policy. Second, this study argued that the debate between the managerialists and critical performativists might not be applicable to the Hong Kong context. Instead, it was found that the implementation situation of the school, the biographical and professional background of teachers in which they grew up and socialised and the position of a teacher shaped the perception lens of teachers, through which they perceived the effects of SSE on school improvement or managerial control. The last contribution of this study was to provide interpretations to account for the implementation of SSE. It was argued that the implementation of SSE was neither accounted by the top-down, bottom-up or hybrid approaches, but the complexity of the implementation context including the Policy to be implemented, the Place and the People who implemented the policy. / Wong, Wai Lun. / Advisers: Wing-kwong Tsang; Leslie Lo. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-02, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ed.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 393-433). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

在香港的中學教育，考試主導文化乃主流，相比學科學習，非學科學習一直處於次等位置，尤以高中為甚。自二零零九年開始，其他學習經歷實施成為新高中課程中一個正規的必修部分，它包羅了五個不同非學科學習範疇，所有高中學生必需參加每一範疇的活動。鼓吹全人發展的擁護者對其他學習經歷產生莫大希冀，期望學生能從中發展均衡人生，並培養出難以從書本中學習、卻需在真實的學習經歷上體會到的正確價值觀和態度。博士生研究員進行了這項質化個案研究，以了解香港學校實施了甚麼其他學習經歷、怎樣、並為何推行。當中審視兩間學校其他學習經歷實施情況，和其中因由的相互影響過程。在批判分析並綜合校長及教師訪問，加上檢視文件後，本研究對有效實施其他學習經歷或類似的教育計畫提出了建議。 / 以 Fullan (2001a) 和Leithwood (1981) 的理論為分析框架，是次研究結果顯示政府由上而下推出的其他學習經歷已改變了香港高中學生的非學科學習。學校實施其他學習經歷得到的主要成果，乃達致了教育局在五個範疇的學習時間要求，同時，當非學科學習以具結構、並規定的其他學習經歷課程出現時，校長、教師和學生便更願意投放時間及其他資源於其中，然而尚需有更多措施以提昇其他學習經歷的質素。在各因素之中，影響其他學習經歷實施最大的因素，是社會文化觀念認為非學科學習只附屬於學科學習，這因素更抵消了學校和教師推動其他學習經歷值得敬佩的努力。在三個要素類別中，本土要素包含最多影響因素，其中教師因素最有利課程。不過實施新高中課程，包括：其他學習經歷卻令教師工作量大幅增加，妨礙其他學習經歷進一步發展。 / 建基於 Fullan (2001a)的清單，並根據本研究結果，研究員提出了十一項影響香港教育改革的因素，作為日後參考。研究對政府促進學校實施其他學習經歷作出不少建議，包括：投放更多資源，並更積極游說大學和向公眾推廣其他學習經歷。同時，學校、公眾和政府亦需要有足夠耐性，讓一個新課程慢慢在學校制度化。 / In Hong Kong, Non-academic Learning (NAL) has long played a peripheral role to academic learning in secondary school education, especially the senior secondary, because of the predominantly examination-oriented culture. First implemented in 2009, Other Learning Experiences (OLE) is now a formal, compulsory component of the New Senior Secondary Curriculum (NSSC), requiring student participation in in five areas of NAL. It has brought hopes to advocates of Whole-person Development (WPD) that students could develop a balanced life and values and attitudes that could not be learnt in textbooks but through authentic learning experiences. To understand what, how and why the OLE has been implemented, the doctoral researcher has carried out a qualitative case study examining the implementation of OLE and the interplay of factors underlying the process at two schools. Based on a critical analysis of the interviews with the parties involved in OLE implementation, including the principals and teachers, alongside scrutiny of related documents, this study presents recommendations on how OLE and similar educational initiatives can be more effectively implemented. / Analyzed using a framework developed from Fullan (2001) and Leithwood (1981), results in this study indicate that the top-down OLE stipulated by the government has effectively initiated changes in NAL of senior secondary students in Hong Kong. OLE has achieved partial success mainly in terms of meeting time requirements for the five areas set by the Education Bureau (EDB). There has also been a rise in the status of NAL now required and structured as OLE, which heightened the willingness of the principals, teachers and students to inject time and other resources to OLE. However, measures in bolstering quality of OLE have yet to be intensified. Amid the many factors, cultural and societal perceptions of NAL as subsidiary to academic learning are the major factor that counteracts the praiseworthy effort made by schools and teachers. Local factors were the most influential among the three categories of factors, with factors of the teachers presenting the most favorable effects to the curriculum. Nevertheless, the large teachers’ workload incurred by NSSC implementation hindered further development of OLE. / From the findings of this study and Fullan’s (2001a) list, the researcher has proposed a list of 11 factors to be considered in Hong Kong-based education reform initiatives. There are many recommendations concerning how the government may facilitate OLE implementation in schools, for example, by allocating more resources to relieve teachers’ workload and by being more proactive in lobbying universities as well as promoting OLE to the public. Considerable patience is also suggested for the schools, the public and the government to allow gradual institutionalization of a new curriculum in schools. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Leung, Kwok Wai Masa. / Thesis (Ed.D) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 293-313). / Abstracts also in Chinese.