The present study examines aspects of assessment and study skills at primary level through the production and evaluation of a set of project-based materials for 8 to 11 year olds. The materials, entitled The Prismaston File, were prepared for use in the Curriculum Provision in Small Primary Schools (PRISMS) Project, and represent an attempt to expand the curriculum coverage and range of assessment techniques available to primary teachers. In addition there was a need to extend study skills research into the primary age range and to provide a direct link between study behaviour and performance, thus avoiding past dependence on self-report methodology and examination results. The Prismaston File attempted to achieve these aims by adopting an integrating theme for a variety of multiple choice exercises and structured tasks and by permitting the study process to take place in normal classroom conditions. Acceptable levels of reliability and concurrent validity were achieved. Data was collected from 418 lower and 544 upper junior school children in nine LEAs. Study behaviour was examined through children's tabulated records of their use of resources, friend and teacher help. Over half of the children were able to make these records appropriately, and the results showed that the vast majority of these could use the materials independently, especially in the upper age range. Classroom observation supported this interpretation but revealed some difficulties amongst the younger age group in assimilating unanticipated information. Factor analysis of the multiple choice data revealed a wider range of factors than could be accounted for by tested achievement in basic skills alone. Four factors emerged from the analyses of both the upper and lower junior versions and were explained primarily in terms of study contexts. These factors represented different aspects of graphicacy and literacy, as well as different levels of task engagement. These results are discussed in terms of the importance of assessing children's performance in a wide range of topics, modes and curriculum areas, and of linking process and product by means of observation and children's own records. It is suggested that teacher-made project-based assessment linked to attainment targets can provide a vehicle for National Curriculum assessment in the primary classroom.

In a series of eight related experiments, the efficacy of first-letter mnemonics (acrostics) was tested against uninstructed and rote learning conditions in time-matched learning situations. Normal, factual curricular material was used to assess and compare performances of around 250 children drawn from two age-groups, (mode) 11.5 and 13.5. Gender differences were also compared. Additionally, a limited survey of teachers in seven state secondary schools was also undertaken to establish the range and extent to which mnemonics are used informally in regular teaching situations. Results are discussed in terms of the significant efficacy of first-letter mnemonics over the alternative learning methods studied, relative to classroom learning, performance and application.

This thesis explores the validity in principle of educational theory. Part One examines current controversy over its status. Via the Hirst/O'Connor debate, central issues are identified: the relation of theory to practice; the logical status of prescriptive theory; the epistemic foundations of normative statements; the validity of behavioural science; the putative discreteness of empirical and normative questions in education. The presumed potential validity of the former and the supposed arbitrariness of the latter are claimed to reflect acceptance of a positivist paradigm both mistaken and unfruitful in this context. Part Two disputes philosophers' disclaimers for their substantive role in prescription, which arise in reaction against illegitimate deductions from metaphysical positions, and in conformity with the tenets of analytic philosophy. Supporting claims - that conceptual analysis reveals truths both non-empirical and value-free, and that the normative regress leaves judgements unsupported - are questioned. Analysis simply clarifies conditions for conceptual revision whilst the normative regress similarly implies a coherence theory of truth only mistakenly equated with irrationality. Part Three disputes the corollary that empirical questions in education are discrete and logically unproblematic. After establishing the logical and methodological characteristics of behavioural enquiry, the assumptions, procedures and findings of a large-scale positivist research project are examined to show that this approach to empirical work in education is as necessarily distorting and supportive of theorists' ideology as is exclusive reliance on conceptual analysis in normative theorising. Increased validity in educational theory is argued to depend on rejection of positivist norms of rationality and on adoption of a more tentative, piecemeal approach which admits an anthropomorphic model of man, the relevance of practical knowledge and the functional interdependence of factual and normative enquiry.

The findings reported in this study are based on responses made to a postal questionnaire sent to 98 schools and colleges in the East Midland region and completed by 461 C.S.E. science teachers, 160 of whom were implementing some form of pupil project work as part of their C.S.E. science teaching programme. Supported by data from a series of formal interviews and school visits, three main types of project approach are identified and different patterns of project organisation and management are discussed. The role of project work in the acquisition of skills and the development of favourable attitudes towards learning and science is also examined. Arguments for and against the use of project work with the 'average' pupil are subsequently considered alongside a discussion of the attitudes of pupils towards it and their ability to benefit from it. Out of the discussion emerges the view that the project approach - although often useful as a means of increasing pupils' interest and co-operation - is not essential to the acquisition of skills and attitudes appropriate to the main objectives of existing C.S.E. science courses. The results show that what can be achieved through project work is dependent not only upon the type of project that is undertaken but also upon the planning and preparation put into it, the nature of guidance and the level of supervision given to pupils prior to and during its course, the availability of resources and teachers' confidence in it as a teaching/ learning strategy and method of assessment.

No description available.

The aim of this research is to explore the social mechanisms and processes of curriculum change in two secondary schools, an urban secondary modern and a rural high school. The implementation of the Geography for the Young School Leaver Project provided the initial impetus for the research but as the schools' response to innovation was explored, other Projects and school-based initiatives became an integral part of the study. A first assumption was that the teaching in any curriculum area is partly determined by the system characteristics or cultural norms of the school. The thesis examines the negotiations between the innovators and the various reality definers. Value conflicts which surround the idea of educational change are often treated superficially. This research examines some of the conflicts engendered by innovation at a personal and ideological level. The style of the research was in an anthropological and phenomenological mode. An open-ended illuminative stance allowed issues immediate to the life of the schools to be explored. The researcher adopted an observer role. In one school, the GYSL Project was seen as a pathfinder for curriculum development. For some staff in the other school, the Project was perceived as reactionary, resulting in a process/content debate becoming the central issue. The research indicated that while senior management within a school can encourage curricular initiatives and provide a supportive framework, micro-politics and above all the personal philosophy and values of teachers, are the major determinants of a school's response to change in the curriculum.

This thesis is inspired by the theory that a system of teacher appraisal can achieve maximum effectiveness only when there is harmony between its managers and other participants. Exploration of the theory is pursued in a study of the anticipatory concerns and relevant experience of a sample of Northamptoshire teachers about to become participants and/or managers. The findings are evaluated in the light particularly of experience of teacher appraisal in Canada and USA, where developments are very much further ahead than here. Government policy is analysed with reference to key considerations which currently determine how schools are managed in this country. A traditional dichotomy separating curriculum management from the management of staff relationships and which has created a style of teacher isolation is found to present problems. The risks of teacher appraisal simply becoming a celebration of the status quo are recognized. The probability emerges that the teachers will soon control the system, not government, nor the appraising bodies. Therefore, in anticipation of that outcome, certain key skills and knowledge are identified and commended in this thesis as governing the effectiveness of teacher appraisal, if it is to progress teaching and learning. The main conclusion of the research is that teachers are capable of initiating and supervising a robust system of teacher appraisal which can bring radical change to school management in the interest of school improvement. Their perspectives contrast with those of government most remarkably because the teachers' primary concern is to ensure that whatever the time and effort which is put in, the impact on pupils provides the justification. This thesis seeks to illustrate the potential value of teacher appraisal when used as an instrument of action learning rather than as an instrument of general management.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis deals with approaches to the evaluation of multimedia computer assisted learning in higher education. The thesis is presented in two parts. The first part consists mainly of a literature based review of the rationale and methods employed in the development of multimedia CAL systems focusing on the ability of such systems to deliver a variety of pedagogic aims and objectives which the literature on the subject generally attributes to them. This was done in order to identify and examine the important features which should be incorporated in the effective evaluation of such systems. • the pedagogical basis of multimedia learning environments with particular reference to the mechanism by which they claim to encourage an approach to learning which facilitates 'deep' rather than 'shallow' learning' (Chapters 3 and 4); • the basis on which multimedia CAL systems claim to provide interactive learning environments which allow the teaching materials to be tailored by learners to accommodate their own individual preferences for adopting particular learning strategies. In particular this focused on the importance of individual learning styles and learners' degree of computer confidence (Chapter 5) • the institutional/delivery factors which must be understood to explain fully the context in which evaluations are carried out and which may have important effects on the outcomes of evaluation (Chapter 6) This literature review, together with a practical survey of a range of existing CAL courseware and an e-mail survey of CAL developers provides the basis for presenting an approach to evaluation which differentiates systems on the basis of the pedagogic approach they adopt and the context in which they are implemented. Finally, a critical review of existing evaluation methods was undertaken and important elements within these methods were incorporated into a new framework for evaluation. The framework provides a tool for determining an evaluation strategy that encompasses all stages of development, formative and summative evaluation of CAL courseware. Evaluation is based on the explicit aims and objectives of the courseware being provided and is moderated by contextual factors that define the pedagogical approach being taken, any individual learner differences that must be taken into account, and the institutional/delivery context within which the courseware is used. An analysis of the implications of the framework when formulating an evaluation strategy demonstrates weaknesses in the assessment instruments currently being used in evaluation studies - particularly for providing reliable measures of 'learning effect' as part of summative evaluation and also with respect to accurate quantification of costs associated with development and use of CAL courseware. The second part of the thesis tests the framework. The approach taken was to develop and formatively and summatively assess a multimedia CAL system used to teach parts of a course on bibliographic classification to students at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. Qualitative and quantitative tests to accomplish this are described and the result of statistical analyses of learner performance when using the system are presented. This empirical study provides further insights into the practical problems involved in developing and evaluating a multimedia CAL system and in particular highlights: • the influence which individual learning style (as measured by the Gregorc Style Delineator) has on student performance in a context in which postgraduate students were required to use the CAL courseware rather than attend lectures. Results indicate that CAL does not serve all learners equally, and; • the importance of the delivery context in a study in which undergraduate students were provided with CAL materials to supplement the delivery of their course. The evaluation framework was found to be a robust framework for developing and testing didactic teaching packages which were developed in the context of improving the quality of the teaching and learning of bibliographic classification to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Recommendations are provided for future research based on using the framework to explore other contexts in which courseware is developed and implemented.