The handwriting was on the wall when I arrived at the Defense Information School in December, 1977. I had been brought in after receiving a masters in management to redesign the public affairs supervisors course and the public affairs officer course stressing management rather than a skill orientation. During that process, which lasted two years, I became increasingly involved with the problem addressed in this creative project. The problem plagued Army schools throughout the Training and Doctrine Command.Under the ISD program, initially adopted in 1975, Army educators were forced to ask themselves three questions: What should be the role of the instructor in improving instruction; is there a better way to plan for effective instruction; and can education really be improved, within the limitations of available funds, personnel, and facilities?Working now as the organizational effectiveness consultant at DINFOS, I turned those questions around into positive statements which goal-directed educational administrators could deal with. Essentially I proposed that successful innovation in education requires at least three elements:(1) instructors who are deeply concerned about their teaching effectiveness and who are motivated by a desire for improvement, (2) administrators who willingly encourage and support those instructors, and (3) a carefully designed plan for developing improved instructional practices. Of these three elements, the greatest shortcoming at DINFOS was found in the third.Student evaluations and the North Central accrediting team underscored our instructors' concern. The school administration has demonstrated its willingness to innovate. TRADOC had provided the umbrella plan-ISD. The problem was instructor interface with the ISD process through our Directorate of Training Developments which is tasked to bring ISD to fruition at DIINIFOS.Many suggestions were tried. For example, this seemed to be a textbook case for Management by Objectives (MBO). It did not work because instructor time is at a premium. Finally, my recommendation was adopted and seems headed for success. This remedy is essentially two-fold. It makes, as a matter of policy, ISD the operant mode for all instruction and is outlined in the Operations Manual as such. Secondly, all newly-assigned instructors and other instructors without benefit of this training, must attend a class in ISD where they must demonstrate knowledge of the process and, in fact, write behavioral objectives before being certified to instruct at the school.

End-of-course student ratings of teaching are among the most frequently used methods of evaluating instruction in university courses. Experiential courses focus on knowledge application and performance, and tend to be taught and experienced differently as compared to lecture type courses. Traditional instruments used in universities to gather data about the effectiveness of instruction tend to focus on teaching behaviors relevant to lecture type courses, and have not captured a professional practice dimension one would expect to find in experiential courses. The Student Perception of Teaching Effectiveness in Experiential Courses Scale (ESPTE) was designed to measure effective teaching across a university, and includes items related to a professional practice dimension. The primary aim of the study was to further examine the dimensions of effective teaching in experiential courses using the ESPTE, and to explore the appropriateness of the ESPTE instrument for use across several different disciplines. Additionally, the student ratings were examined in terms of influence of certain characteristics of the course and student raters, including anticipated grade, class size, course level, and students’ prior interest in the course. ESPTE instruments completed by the students of 364 experiential courses were used in this study. Mean course ratings for the items of the ESPTE were used as the unit of analysis. Factor analyses were conducted for the entire data set (1998-2005) and two subgroup data sets (1998-2002 and 2003-2005) to identify and confirm the dimensions of effective teaching measured by the ESPTE. To determine whether adjustments would be needed for the ESPTE, additional correlations and one-way ANOVAs were performed using factor scores. The factor analyses identified and confirmed three dimensions of teaching in experiential courses including a dimension related to professional practice. A fourth dimension involving grading did not form in analysis of the 2003-2005 data. Of the additional analyses, a prior interest in the subject or course (a priori motivation) had considerable influence on the course ratings. With appropriate adjustment for a priori motivation, the findings of this study can be used to provide useful information to instructors and administrators related to the effectiveness of instruction in experientially-oriented courses. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Wichita State University, Dept. of Psychology. / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 57-66). / "July 2006."

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Thesis (MTech. degree in Education) -- Tshwane University of Technology, 2010. / Determines the impact of technical pre-vocational education programme which was piloted in 16 secondary schools secondary schools in Swaziland. It also looks at how the teachers and pupils responded to the pre-voational programme.

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There has always been a division between technical educators and technical students and the "so called" academic educators and academic students. In the apartheid days those who pursued a technical college education were shunned as those who could not cope with the rigors of academia. Technical college education was perceived as less desirable and for slow learners. Fundamental social changes have placed new demands on the Further Education and Training sector ( FET). It has become imperative to move away from the traditional divides between academic and applied learning, theory and practice and knowledge and skills. Through the National Curriculum Framework, South African Education has been given a historic opportunity to strategically shape and transform the current disparate education and training system into an integrated system that addresses the needs of the learners, the economy and the community. The new FET policy structure within which Technical Colleges operate will stimulate and empower learners to acquire knowledge and skills for employability and relevant values to respond to challenges confidently. The new curriculum moves towards a flexible access to further education, lifelong learning, higher education and facilitates the transition from school to work while ensuring that education and training is a quality provision aimed at equipping learners with competencies to find jobs. This study explored the curriculum experiences of haircare and cosmetology students at the Cato Manor Technical college. The study focused on the following critical question:- How do haircare and cosmetology students at Cato Manor Technical College, experience the theoretical and practical component of the curriculum? A case study technique was employed to explore the curriculum experiences of the haircare and cosmetology students at the Cato Manor Technical College. Data was collected by administering questionnaires to all second year and second semester students enrolled at the college during 2001. The findings of the study revealed both positive and negative aspects of student experiences of the curriculum. In the study the student profile revealed that the students enrolled at the college were matriculants and there was a wastage of time and duplication of efforts as the program was a Further Education and Training and not a Higher Education programme. The study of the curriculum issues showed that the students thoroughly enjoyed the programmes and were competent. They indicated, a preference for the practical component of the curriculum, and that the theory component should remain unaltered as it was necessary to have a knowledge of the theory to be applied in the practical component. Also evident was the personal experiences of the students that revealed excellent racial relationship and collegiality that existed amongst staff, students and management. The study revealed job opportunities and self-employment as some of the reasons for pursuing the programme. The negative aspects were the lack of counseling and student support services at the college and duplication and a wastage of time. Also evident was the lack of adequate resources that was impacting negatively on their work. The study concludes with recommendations some of which were:- The College in collaboration with the Department of Education must invest in career guidance and counseling, and student support services. The Haircare and Cosmetology department must devise and implement new strategies to assess the practical component of the programme. The college must invest in provision and up-grading of resources. Provide marketing strategies so that the student population will represent all race groups and not only Indian and African students. Despite the negative contributing factors, this department can maintain its growth pattern by addressing its weaknesses and maintaining its strengths and opportunities that exist. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Durban-Westville, 2001.

It will be generally accepted that teacher education is an important factor underpinning the quality and success of the schooling system in South Africa. Key agenda items in the debate and discourse on the provision of teacher education, in parliamentary and extra-parliamentary circles, include teacher empowerment and professionalization, and teacher education curricula, programmes and policies in the context of an apartheid society in transition to a future democracy. The present study is a contribution to that debate. It focuses on selected aspects of the pre-service teacher education curriculum at one university Faculty. Data de rived from questionnaire surveys and documentary research are analysed and interpreted within the parameters of the critical paradigm of curriculum inquiry as these are given operational definition by the transformative model of teacher education. The analyses of student and staff perceptions of the curriculum and of curriculum and instructional structures show that the dominant form of teacher education in the Faculty embodies a technocratic rationality that serves to encourage acquiescence and conformity to the status quo in both schooling and society. It is argued that such a curriculum is an anachronism, given the prospect of a "new South Africa" that has become apparent since February 1990. In that context, the dissertation makes an attempt to offer a conceptual basis for an alternative framework in the reconceptualization of teacher education. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Durban-Westville, 1991.

Many claims have been made in the literature about the motivational effects of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on learners, leading them to have a positive perception towards their work, spend longer periods on tasks and be more committed to their learning. The author of the present study has utilized their previous research evidence of motivation and the results of other previous projects to investigate the factors which motivate educators to use ICT. This project was initiated to investigate the educator's perception, which has contributed to the continued use of ICT, by educators experienced in using it for teaching. The evidence discussed in this paper was collected through a literature search, educator documents, educators' reports or observations and interviews. Weiner's analysis of motivation research and cognitivists theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour have been used as a basis for the analysis of the results. Research findings show that the motivational factors which correlated most positively with the use of ICT were: perceived ability to use Information Technology (IT); level of resources available and their satisfaction with IT; and whether using IT in teaching is considered to be interesting, valuable and enjoyable. The most significant negative factor was difficulties experienced in using IT. Researcher also found that a whole range of other perception factors attributed by the educators to using ICT. Such as: making the lessons more interesting for the educator, increasing learners' motivation, improving presentation of materials, making the teaching more enjoyable, improving the content of the lesson, and making the lessons more fun for the learners, were considered by the educator respondents to contribute to the learners' progress in learning. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.

This study explores the perceptions of the first formal cohort of Extended Curriculum Programme (ECP) students in the Somatology Department to determine the effects it has had on the social identity of these students. The Somatology ECP was one of the pioneer extended programmes offered in higher education in South Africa. The aim of the programme is to assist under-prepared students and to attend to the transformation of the programme. It is hoped that the insight gained from investigating how these ECP students perceive their situation, opportunities and experiences in relation to their full curriculum peers, can provide relevant awareness in future curriculum development of any programme using this type of extended curriculum model. In curriculum design, the focus is frequently on the academic sphere, with minimal attention to the social development of the student. In recent years there has been a movement in academia to understand the students’ experience holistically in order to develop curricula which successfully improve their academic performance. Although some research has been conducted into foundation provision offered predominantly to address the concern of low throughput rates, few studies have been conducted to determine the effects of these types of programmes on the students’ social identity. Thirteen students that were currently registered in the Somatology Extended Curriculum Programme were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, and content analysis was used to identify the main themes from the data. The two main themes that emerged were that students believed the ECP programme had assisted them with the transition from high school to University. They had also constructed and adopted a particular group identity but still become fully integrated with the Full Curriculum students in their second year. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.