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Thesis (MTech (Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, 2007 / With the advent of implementing transformational outcomes-based education in South African schools, educators have had to adopt a standards-based assessment approach. Rubrics as an assessment scoring tool have been acclaimed as one of the most effective assessment tools with which standards-based assessment can be implemented and managed. This study explores the ways in which educators manage assessment in their classrooms whilst promoting the basic tenets of transformational outcomes-based education. The demand is on competencies that illustrate the ability to think and perform critically. Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain is put forward as an instrument to use in designing and using rubrics in order to achieve the desired learning outcomes. Effecting change is not an easy process and this study investigates the challenges educators are facing in implementing this aspect of educational reform.

The competition for scare resources in higher education has increased the pressure on administrators and educators to evaluate educational programs, and to demonstrate quality outcomes. Accreditation has been suggested as a useful tool for looking at accountability, but little research has been conducted to explore this issue, particularly in program accreditation. Little evidence exists to support the assumption that program accreditation adds value to the educational environment. This study explored the perceptions of program directors and administrators regarding the impact of accreditation on the quality of Canadian dental hygiene diploma programs. A 63% response rate was received from the 54 individuals surveyed, representing an 85% institutional response rate from the 27 accredited programs. Of these respondents, 21 individuals also participated in a semi-structured interview. Descriptive and inferential statistics including t-tests and ANOVAs were calculated for the usefulness of accreditation, the importance of accreditation requirements, and the value of accreditation phases. Accreditation as a stimulus for improvement was rated as extremely useful by 41% and very useful by 41%. As a tool for self-evaluation it was rated as extremely useful by 24% and very useful by 56%. While all the standards were rated as important, the following received the highest ratings: Clinical Outcomes Review Evaluation {extremely important 38%, and very important 35%), curriculum {extremely important 44% and very important 44%), preparation for clinical practice {extremely important 40% and very important 47%), and faculty and faculty development (extremely important 38% and very important 50%). While the site-visit and the report were valued, the self-study phase received the highest ratings in promoting program quality (great value 41% and much value 41%). The accreditation process appears to be the most important factor in understanding the relationship between accreditation and program quality. The process provides the catalyst for transforming accreditation standards into quality elements within programs. While accreditation influences program quality, educational institutions mainly seek accreditation to facilitate licensure and portability of graduates. If the link between licensure and accreditation decreases, the support of the educational institutions may wane. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Research asserts that learner performance in South African schools is in a state of crisis. While many more learners’ post-1994 in South Africa have physical access to education, very few have epistemological access. The quality of the education learners receive is polarised along socio economic lines. This crisis has its roots in the legacy of colonialism and apartheid, and as such, there is a need to transform the education system to ensure equal opportunity for all learners, and ultimately economic growth and security for the country. One of the explanations offered for the crisis in learner performance is the poor teacher education system. However, there is a paucity of research in teacher education generally in South Africa, and specifically in relation to pre-service teachers. Furthermore, little attention has been given to how initial teacher education could contribute to the promotion of a social justice agenda with the intention of transforming the South African schooling system. This research seeks to understand how the expectations, scaffolding and assessment of preservice teachers’ teaching practices can be utilised to promote social justice during the Teaching Practice (TP) component of initial teacher education. In answering the research question, I analyse data and literature to identify a set of key valued functionings of quality praxis that preservice teachers ought to be provided the capability to realise, at the level of achieved functioning. This is a qualitative case study located in the interpretive paradigm. The case under study is: quality teaching practices of pre-service teachers. This case is bound by context (initial teacher education in South Africa) and setting (the pre-service teacher in the classroom). Two South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were selected through purposive sampling and their respective Teaching Practice (TP) documentation was analysed. Focus group interviews were conducted with five lecturers involved in TP at one of the HEIs. The theoretical framework of the study used to guide the analysis of the data was underpinned by a social justice perspective on quality education. Given that a social justice perspective does not have analytic tools, I view quality pre-service teachers’ teaching practices as praxis and utilise the capability approach as a mechanism for identification and description of valued functionings and capabilities that contribute to quality praxis. There are four significant findings in my research. Firstly, there is consistency with regards to the valued functionings and capabilities across the TP documentation of the two participating HEIs. In other words, the conceptions of a capable pre-service teacher are similar. Secondly, if social justice goals are to be realised, greater clarity of the valued functionings needs to be evident in the TP documentation. Thirdly, the valued functionings can be categorised into those that are foundational and those that promote a social justice agenda. Finally, in promoting a social justice agenda, there are functionings that ought to be valued by the HEIs that are seemingly not currently valued.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / David S. Allen / Haijun Kang / Using technology effectively has been proven to enhance education. The status quo in Saudi Arabia reflects low-level usage of technology in K-12 classrooms. Preparing 21st Century teachers to integrate technology in their future classrooms for meaningful learning requires College of Education faculty to model using technology effectively. This study investigated the technology integration practices of faculty members in the College of Education at Taibah University, particularly to what extent these practices are aligned with ISTE NETS-T standards and what factors predict these practices. Based on the literature, the factors examined include attitudes towards technology use, pedagogical beliefs, technical skills, workload, professional development, technology access, technical support, and leadership support. The population of the study was the 257 faculty in the College of Education at Taibah University. The study used a web-based survey containing 66 closed-ended items to collect data, and 170 valid responses were obtained (66% response rate). Descriptive and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to analyze data. Findings from the first research question revealed that faculty members’ technology integration practices were well-matched with ISTE NETS-T standards since the overall mean of these items was (M= 4.25, SD= .64). This indicates that faculty members had awareness of using technology effectively based on these standards to engage students in meaningful learning. Results from the multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the overall model was significant as it explains 43% of the variability in faculty members’ technology integration practices. Three significant factors statistically predicted faculty members’ technology integration practices based on ISTE NETS standards. Faculty members’ attitude toward technology had a positive relationship with faculty members’ technology integration practices [β=.35, p=.00]. Faculty technical skills had also a statistically significant positive relationship with faculty members’ technology integration practices [β=.19, p=.00]. However, leadership support was found to have a statistically significant negative relationship with faculty members’ technology integration practices in teaching based on ISTE NETS-T standards [β=-.23, p=.00]. These results, in addition to the means of the independent variables, showed that the highly rated technology integration factors, including technology attitudes and technical skills, predict their high technology integration practices based on ISTE NET-T standards. However, faculty members still need more support in several technology integration factors including professional development, technology access, workload, and leadership support. The study recommends education faculty members to model the effective use of technology for pre-service teachers through providing them with opportunities to observe it in a variety of instructional models and practice the constructivist use of technology in lesson plan assignments and projects during the program, which helps in developing positive attitudes toward technology use among pre-service teachers. College of Education leaders are recommended to have a clear shared technology vision and offer the resources and support needed to make instructional technology integration successful. Recommendations for future studies are also discussed.

This research investigates the development and adoption of educational metadata standards for the widespread use of learning objects. Learning objects, metadata, the related IEEE standard and the various application profiles derived from the standard are discussed. A number of standards and specifications for educational metadata used to describe learning objects are explored, namely the Dublin Core, IMS, SCORM, ARIADNE, CanCore and the UK LOM Core. Three metadata editors and the experience with using one of them, RELOAD, is described. These educational metadata specifications are used in a practical metadata implementation scenario and the experiences are extrapolated to derive a localised instance of the generic IEEE standard. A new application profile is proposed, “RU LOM Core”, for the South African higher education context. Some existing results are confirmed about the complexity of using the IEEE standard and it is demonstrated that it is possible to instantiate the standard for South African conditions. The results are largely qualitative and based on practical experience. However, the results concur with results from related research. Although the development of an application profile is certainly not new, the development of RU LOM Core illustrates that the IEEE standard, developed largely within the northern hemisphere, can be adapted to work in the South African scenario. RU LOM Core has been developed for the South African higher education environment and takes linguistic and cultural diversity and the low rate of technological literacy into consideration. The lessons learned and the proposed LOM core can be built upon in further research and collaboration to use and support the use of such standards within South Africa.

This study addressed the controversy among academics in conventional universities over the credibility of distance education for degree credit. Faculty scepticism has slowed the development and expansion of distance education despite increased demands for it. Distance education is an educational method in which the teacher and learners are separated in time and space for the majority, if not all, of the teaching-learning process; two-way communication occurs primarily via print, postal service, and telecommunications (Keegan, 1990). There is little empirical evidence about the reasons for the antagonism between the supporters and opponents of distance education. The purpose of this research was to explain why some faculty support distance education while others do not. Support was defined as how faculty would speak about and vote for proposals to offer distance education courses for degree credit. The conceptual framework drew on studies of faculty attitudes towards university expansion and distance education, and literature on academic culture and change. An interpretive perspective and qualitative methods dominated the two-phase study. First, a mailed survey (n=487) investigated the extent of faculty familiarity with and support for distance education. Then faculty (n=50) were interviewed from three categories of support for distance education identified by the survey: supportive, divided support, and opposed. The interviews explored how faculty understood the compatibility and feasibility of distance education. Compatibility was defined as the congruence of distance education with faculty beliefs and values about the accessibility and quality of university education. Feasibility was the perceived ability to successfully implement distance education. In general, faculty were not very familiar with or supportive of distance education, except for undergraduate courses. There was very little support for a graduate program by distance education. There were significant differences in faculty support by discipline and gender. The reasons for variations in faculty support for distance education are best explained by the concept of compatibility. Faculty supported distance education if it was congruent with their beliefs and values about university education in general. Faculty thought about distance education as promoting social justice, as an educational method, or as the distribution of information. Faculty who were supportive held the beliefs and values Trow (1973) associated with mass education while those who were opposed tended to believe in an elite approach to university education. There was a substantial divided group who were in a conflict about the priority that should be given to the major values involved, the accessibility and quality of university education. The study contributes to the development of theory about different conceptions of university and distance education and provides insight into the study of disciplinary cultures. It presents a revised conceptual framework for further research on the topic. The results have implications for educational planning and for the development of distance education. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

It is established in this research project that recognition of competence does not begin when a person takes on employment. For reasons alluded to in this project, it begins when a candidate is selected for initial teacher education and training. However, recognition of competence is a model that applies different methods or modes of recognition. These methods have been identified, their differences are indicated and the variations used according to the level of competence are clarified as well. Recognition of competence represents a new way of managing human resources in education. It is a model which emerges from paradigm shifts and the need for quality service in education. This model includes mechanisms of managing quality and standards such as the South African Qualifications Authority, National Qualifications Framework, National Standards Bodies, Standard Generating Bodies and Education and Training Qualifications Authority. The researcher identified key areas of success in the present and erstwhile recognition systems. However, it was found that these systems were inadequate for the retention of teachers. In a bid to search for solutions, the research unravelled recognition systems used in the private sector. Literature study revealed, in this regard, that there are inadequacies as well. The system in the private sector was severely affected by policies of the past dispensation. Nevertheless, it seems recognition of competence is well on its early stages in the education sector. Consequently, there is an emphasis on competencies to advance South Africa in world markets. The challenge of raising standards so as to make South Africa competitive . begins with empowerment and capacity building. Empowerment and capacity . building are complementary approaches in recognition of competence. These approaches recognise the inadequacies and disparities of the past. It is from this consideration that the fundamentals of recognition of competence are refocused on levelling the playing fields. In each case, the approaches are evaluated by pointing out the advantages and disadvantages. In order to establish the basis from literature review, the researcher used empirical research. Consequently, the theories on recognition of competence, empowerment and capacity building were complemented and verified by unravelling the real situation. Interviews and surveys were conducted. The findings reveal that there are a myriad of challenges and problems that still plague education. The researcher suggested guidelines to overcome the challenges and problems. Finally, whilst it is acknowledged that there are some good initiatives from the Department of Education, much is still to be done with regard to recognition of competence. The researcher made conclusions, recommendations on how to navigate our way out of these problems, and pointed out areas that need further research. / Thesis (PhD (Education Management))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

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