It is important to find strategies to assist learners who are taught in English especially as learners show different levels of English proficiency. English is taught as an Additional Language in many South African schools. Code switching is a well documented and researched strategy that teachers use in multilingual classrooms where the language of teaching and learning is not the learners’ home language. The study is concerned with and seeks to investigate the teaching strategies that Life Science teachers use in multilingual classes in addition to code switching. A case study of two Grade 11 Life Science teachers was conducted. The study adopts classroom observations and face-to-face interviews as qualitative data – gathering methods. The findings of this study, among other issues, reveal that in addition to code switching teachers use a variety of teaching strategies that include the use of textbooks, preparing notes for students, etc. Evidence available further suggests that the choice of teaching strategies is examination oriented rather than based on an understanding of current thinking on the ways of learning Life Sciences.

The education community agrees that correcting student errors is important for learning. They do not agree on the components that define successful error correcting. Some theories suggest that detailed feedback facilitates adult learning and some suggest that less detail is needed for these learners. Gilbert (1962) applied the scientifically derived methods of Behavior Analysis when designing instruction. This study attempted to develop an efficient error correction procedure for university teachers. Throughout the semester, error correction design efforts between the teachers and the experimenter became more collaborative. While error correction procedures never showed systematic effects on student grades, later versions were viewed more favorably by both teachers and students and were more likely to be implemented accurately. Decreased teacher practice opportunities, due to low student participation, may have decreased the procedure's effectiveness.

Instructional communication research clearly indicates that instructor immediacy contributes significantly to effective instruction. However, the majority of immediacy studies have been conducted in traditional (face-to-face) classroom environments. More recently, instructional communication research has focused on assessing the impact of immediacy in online classroom environments. Again, immediacy appears to significantly contribute to effective instruction. The challenge is that most recent immediacy studies use immediacy measurements developed to test immediacy behaviors in face-to-face settings. Considering the lack of nonverbal communication and limited or absent synchronous or verbal communication in online instructional settings, the behaviors contributing most significantly to perceived immediacy, researchers need to reassess the immediacy construct in online environments. The present research explores and identifies behaviors reported by instructors to establish psychological closeness (i.e., immediacy) in online learning environments and assesses to what extent these behaviors are similar to or different from face-to-face immediacy-producing behaviors.

MEd / Department of Curriculum Studies and Educational Management

DEd (Educational Management) / Department of Educational Management / There has been greater demand for more accountability, results-based culture and enhanced effectiveness of programmes and services globally. The education sector has not been spared by this wave either and hence teacher effectiveness and instructional quality have risen to the top of the educational policy agenda. It is important therefore that effective teaching must be assured and teacher evaluation is a key means of providing that assurance. To date, most studies on the teacher appraisal system in Zimbabwe have focused on the perceptions and attitudes of the teachers towards the evaluation process, and at the same time the implementation challenges. Little has so far been done to determine the effectiveness of the teacher performance evaluation system in Zimbabwe. This study consequently sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the teacher performance evaluation system in Kwekwe district of Zimbabwe. The study was premised on the pragmatic philosophical worldview and hence the mixed method approach was adopted. The convergent parallel mixed method design was used. Data was collected using individual face to face semi structured interviews and a 5 point Likert scale questionnaire. Documentary review was done prior to the development of the research instruments as a way of ensuring relevance of the data collection instruments. The study was underpinned by the self-developed RADPS conceptual framework on performance evaluation system effectiveness. Stratified purposive sampling technique was used to select ten secondary schools for the quantitative strand and four for the qualitative strand. The quantitative sample was composed of 292 teachers and the qualitative sample was composed of 12 participants constituting of 4 teachers, 4 heads of departments and 4 schools heads. Quantitative data was analysed using the SPSS version 25 while the qualitative data was analysed using ATLAS ti. 8. The key findings of the study were that: the performance evaluation system was imposed and accordingly there was no buy in; there was inadequate budgetary support thereby rendering the introduction of the system mistimed; teachers as key stakeholders were excluded from the design process and hence there was no ownership; and ultimately, relevance of the system was questioned. It was also revealed that the evaluation process is merely a compliance exercise with erratic and discontinuous monitoring and supervision through the evaluation cycle. The findings from the study imply the following: policy formulation should be participatory and inclusive; readiness assessment should be conducted before introducing a new programme; a programme should be pilot tested; evaluation process should be monitored by external officials; the process should be consequential and the system should be continuously monitored and reviewed for relevance and validity. / NRF

This study modeled changes in pre-service teacher efficacy in mathematics and science over the course of the final year of teacher preparation using latent transition analysis (LTA), a longitudinal form of analysis that builds on two modeling traditions (latent class analysis (LCA) and auto-regressive modeling). Data were collected using the STEBI-B, MTEBI-r, and the ABNTMS instruments. The findings suggest that LTA is a viable technique for use in teacher efficacy research. Teacher efficacy is modeled as a construct with two dimensions: personal teaching efficacy (PTE) and outcome expectancy (OE). Findings suggest that the mathematics and science teaching efficacy (PTE) of pre-service teachers is a multi-class phenomena. The analyses revealed a four-class model of PTE at the beginning and end of the final year of teacher training. Results indicate that when pre-service teachers transition between classes, they tend to move from a lower efficacy class into a higher efficacy class. In addition, the findings suggest that time-varying variables (attitudes and beliefs) and time-invariant variables (previous coursework, previous experiences, and teacher perceptions) are statistically significant predictors of efficacy class membership. Further, analyses suggest that the measures used to assess outcome expectancy are not suitable for LCA and LTA procedures.

Previous research indicates that former schooling is an important factor to shape teachers' beliefs about teaching; teachers change the way they teach when their beliefs about foreign language teaching change. However, little research has discovered direct evidence concerning the processes that effect change in teacher beliefs. This study investigated the relationship between teachers' pedagogical paradigms and practices in Chinese language classrooms. Specifically, a qualitative analysis of educated teachers born in China examined how early pedagogical frames were formed, and then transformed in the context of American classrooms. Results of this study indicate that early schooling, language learning, and initial teaching experiences have a powerful effect on Chinese teachers' epistemological beliefs and pedagogical practices. Indeed, embedded and unexamined beliefs can inhibit effective teaching of Chinese language and lead to traditional behaviorist-centered learning approaches. However, these data indicate that critical reflection on preconceptions, beliefs, values, principles, and practices can become a precursor for constructivist and transformational Chinese language teaching and learning. The Lin Transformational Teaching and Professional Development Model demonstrates how traditional Chinese language approaches can be transformed into more effective epistemological and pedagogical strategies through assessment and reframing, consideration of cultural contexts, incorporation of diversity, and inclusion of continual professional reflection. Implications of the Lin Model to increase teacher competence and learner proficiency are recommended in four areas (individual professional development, collaborative professional development, teacher training programs, and students of Chinese) and are applicable to three different types of departments: foreign languages and literatures, applied linguistics, and education.

The current study developed a comprehensive theoretical framework of joint multiple contextual influences (JMCI framework) to guide empirical investigation of combine influences of social contexts on children's academic outcomes. Drawn from several general frameworks, four models of joint social influences were proposed: Independent, Interactive, Differential, and Sequential. Using a motivational framework, all four models were tested empirically for joint effects of parents and teachers on children's self-perceptions (relatedness, competence, and autonomy) and classroom engagement. Overall, this study provided some empirical support for every category of models proposed in the JMCI framework. The joint influences of parents and teachers on children's self-perceptions were mostly independent and unique. Most joint influences were additive: one social context couldn't buffer or amplify the effects of the other context. Only joint effects of Non-Supportive parents and Supportive teachers interacted in their influences on children's competence: Supportive teachers were able to safeguard and counterbalance the negative influences of Non-Supportive parents. The study also indicated that self-system processes are possible pathways through which parents and teachers exert their influences on children's academic engagement and that this influence depends on the age of the developing child. The study also suggested that children's engagement may be a mechanism that mediates the relationship between parents' and teachers' contexts.

Disciplinary literacy is an approach to literacy in the content areas that helps students develop thinking and literacy skills that mimic experts in the field. The goal of this study was to explore the instructional practices of history teachers who have been nominated as exemplary and the role of disciplinary literacy in their instructional practices. Exemplary teachers were defined as those with strong content knowledge, experience teaching, and recognition for their teaching. This study used a qualitative multiple-case study research design. Data collection included interviews and classroom observations with nine participants across four school districts. Thematic data analysis was used as the method of analyzing data. In the cross-case synthesis portion of analysis, one of the strongest beliefs expressed by the participants was that teachers need to work to make history relevant for students. The observed teaching practices of exemplary teachers showed that exemplary teachers create strong classroom communities that focus on inquiry, discussion, and student-led learning opportunities. The findings from this study suggest that teachers need to have strong content knowledge (an in-depth knowledge of historical events) and discipline knowledge (understanding of how historians read, write, think, and discuss in their field) in order to build the pedagogical content knowledge (understanding of how to facilitate student growth in both content knowledge and discipline knowledge) needed to be able to facilitate a student-led classroom that engages in inquiry and disciplinary literacy skills.

Research has shown that the focus of mathematics student teaching programs is typically classroom management and non-mathematics specific teaching strategies. However, the redesigned BYU student teaching structure has proven to help facilitate a greater focus on mathematics-specific pedagogy and student mathematics during post-lesson reflection meeting conversations. This study analyzed what specific principles of NCTM’s standards of effective teaching were discussed in the reflection meetings of this redesigned structure. This study found that the student teachers extensively discussed seven of the eight principles NCTM considers to be necessary for effective mathematics teaching. Other pedagogical principles pertaining to student mathematical learning not included in NCTM’s standards of effecting teaching were also discussed, as well as the student teachers’ own understanding of mathematics. Behavior was discussed very little. This study also provides insights into how mathematics student teaching can be further restructured to assure that mathematics student teachers can leave their student teaching programs ready to implement the principles of effective teaching in their own classrooms.