No description available.

The objective of this research was to determine the factors that influence application of non-parametric analysis technique. The data emanated from research done by postgraduate students over a ten year period (1995-2004) and archived by the project in postgraduate education research (PPER). A survey of three South African universities was conducted. The classification of researches from chosen prominent universities were made by research title, research topic, target population, data collection method, and other diversity titles which were used to map the position of non-parametric analysis. The research amongst the three (3) universities included four hundred and twenty-one (421) sampled researches of which only twenty nine (29) were in Language and Race issues. The first finding indicated that the data of the sampled researches were all analysed using content analysis. Secondly, the findings suggested that there was a relationship between research title and data analysis technique. Lastly, the dominant theme amongst the sampled researches was Language although in many instances when language issues are being researched, race issues are inherently being researched either purposefully or coincidentally. There is a relationship between the history of the institutions and the kinds of research they produce. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

One key goal of Physics Education Research is providing research-based instructional techniques and tools to help assess the complex learning goals associated with a mature understanding of physics. Characterizing faculty expectations is important to produce a comprehensive understanding of knowledge students should acquire before and during a quantum mechanics course (QMC). Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with faculty members and students entering a QMC in the Physics Program at a Large Public Research University (LPRU) in the Southeast. The interviews examine perspectives of different evaluation techniques, ideal preparation, course content, and expected conceptual models of students. A post-course survey was offered to the students that took the QMC in the Fall of 2012 and to those who completed the course in the past three years. The survey addressed similar questions on evaluation, course content, and preparation. Using Classical Content Analysis and Key-Words-In-Context coding methods, contradictions and similarities within and between faculty and student populations are presented. These results are presented in an effort to highlight predictors for success in the QMC, identify “common-core” perceptions, and strengthen course evaluation. In all data, findings suggest that student perceptions shift towards those of faculty over the course of the QMC. Evaluation data indicate that on average the faculty members, like students, are open to a varied array of evaluation techniques, if it is within the goals of the course and does not interfere with other faculty responsibilities. In perceptions of preparation and course content, faculty have a uniform perspective of what should be prerequisite, and the student survey data strongly recommend that the second semester of Linear Algebra offered at the LPRU will help with the mathematical complexities of the QMC. Through triangulation of qualitative and quantitative results contradictions of preparation and content are exhibited through multiple media for the use course content such as the Hamiltonian.

No description available.

This study explores factors promoting academic resilience in learners from socio-economically disadvantaged families. It is a qualitative research located in the interpretive paradigm. Two theories namely The Resilience and Youth Development Module (RYDM) and The Asset-based Approach were used to frame the study. The objective of the study was to help schools to build academic resilience in learners especially those who are at risk of failure due to hardships they experience. A case study of a primary school in the rural area of the Quthing District in Lesotho was done. Four learners in grade six from socio-economically disadvantaged families were interviewed using semi-structured interviews combined with observations as data collection instruments. The learners were purposively selected with the assumption that they are knowledgeable about the phenomenon under investigation. The main finding from the study is hope for the future. The participants regard education as the only way out of poverty so they want to change their lives together with their families through educational excellence. The findings also revealed that support from parents, school, peers and the community play a significant role in building academic resilience in these learners. In conclusion, this study suggests collaborative efforts among stakeholders because school is not an isolated institution. Therefore there is a need for parents, teachers, peers and the community in which schools are situated to work hand in hand for the benefit of learners and the building of a stable nation. The study shows that support provided to the learners from poverty stricken families encourages them to persevere with their schooling and think positively and hope to prosper in the future. / M.Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2014.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1931. / Vita. Published also as Teachers College, Columbia University, Contributions to education, no. 461. Bibliography: p. 89-91. Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1931. / Vita. Published also as Teachers College, Columbia University, Contributions to education, no. 461. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: p. 89-91.

This study describes what higher education institutions (HEIs) that are known for their research excellence are doing to implement current student and teaching oriented higher education (HE) policies in England and Wales. Pressures to reach increasingly higher levels of excellence in both teaching and research challenge existing structures and mechanisms in these researchintensive universities (RIUs). Options for overcoming challenges are discussed by bringing together perspectives of different stakeholders. This thesis is based on analysis of documentary and empirical data to gain insight into perspectives and experiences of stakeholders of the implementation of current HE policies in England and Wales. Documentary data consisting of publicly available material about HE policies has been analysed by an interpretive analysis of policy, and papers about research have been systematically reviewed. The contents of interviews with academics in four RIUs have been analysed in case studies. This study contributes to existing research on ‘professionalism’ (see, for example, Kolsaker, 2008), ‘effective teaching’ (see, for example, Hunter & Back, 2011), and ‘evaluating teaching quality’ (see, for example, Dornan, Tan, Boshuizen, Gick, Isba, Mann, Scherpbier, Spencer, Timmins, 2014). This study also complements The UK Higher Education Academy’s (HEA) research in this area including Gibbs’ report on quality (2010) as well as earlier work on reward and recognition (2009). Key findings give insight into a troublesome relationship between teaching and research activities, which is at the core of many of the challenges RIUs are facing. Findings showing academics strong interest in their students, teaching, and research highlight their engagement in the development of these key activities. These support recommendations for development processes in RIUs involving organisation wide engagement to build parity of esteem between research and teaching to achieve aims to reach their full potential in terms of excellence in HE.

Organic synthesis problems are a common assessment tool in organic chemistry courses, as they give instructors the opportunity to determine students’ ability to integrate and apply their knowledge of reactions and skills learned in the course. However, students often tend to be unsuccessful in solving them, even if they appear to have a strong grasp on other course material. We hypothesized that part of the reasoning behind this issue is because it can be challenging to integrate learning activities into the curriculum that give students the opportunity to apply their knowledge to synthetic problem solving, while still giving students the opportunity to master the underlying concepts (knowledge of organic reactions and reaction mechanisms). In addition, there is a gap in our understanding of the mental models students construct while solving these problems, as there is no evidence that they approach these problems in the same manner that experts do (i.e., retrosynthetic analysis). The research described in this thesis was performed to address these issues in two ways. First, we designed learning activities for students that were meant to help them develop more systematic approaches (whose benefits are supported by evidence) to solving synthesis problems, and determining if those learning activities could produce significant learning gains. The learning activities we designed were made available to students through out-of-class learning workshops, where learning gains were primarily measured through the analysis of students’ synthetic problem-solving abilities, assessed immediately before and after the workshops. Second, we sought to obtain a better understanding of students’ mental models when solving synthesis problems; specifically, we wanted to see if they had well-defined strategies for approaching these problems, and if they had a canonical understanding of how these strategies were meant to be applied. To do so, we invited students to participate in semi-structured think-aloud interviews, where participants were asked to solve synthesis problems. We investigated both of these topics using a constructivist paradigm for learning, which states that knowledge is constructed in the mind of the learner rather than passively imparted. The process of knowledge construction is heavily influenced by the prior knowledge and experiences of the learner, and meaningful understanding of new knowledge is unlikely to occur if new knowledge cannot be accommodated by existing knowledge structures. Results from these studies indicated that the workshop-style intervention did not have any effect on students’ ability to successfully solve synthesis problems, but we did observe proficiency in the ability to use expert-like strategies, suggesting that more practice over time could lead to the ability to solve synthesis problems more effectively. Our analysis of the interview data showed that some students can proficiently use strategies in situations that are familiar to them, but do not appear to be able to apply those strategies to predict outcomes in unfamiliar situations; further, we observed a strong reliance on the use of reasoning that was based on memorized rules. Future work could further explore the mental models that students construct for solving synthesis problems; we recommend the incorporation of specific instruction on the use of synthesis problem-solving strategies, and research could explore the relationship between students’ abilities, and how synthesis is taught, practiced, and assessed in the organic chemistry curriculum.