The purpose of this thesis paper is to explore the elements of effective teaching. The main research questions that are dealt with regard how teachers can establish themselves as authentic authorities in the classroom and what strategies are conducive to effective teaching. The thesis paper aims to identify specific strategies and techniques that can be employed to increase teachers’ authority and provide a learning environment conducive to cooperative, on-task learning.This investigation will be in the form of a case study of an eighth grade English teacher at a secondary school in southern Sweden. The case study consists of two parts: an in-class observation of six English lessons forms the basis for a follow-up semi-structured interview.This thesis highlights the importance of teachers’ ability to establish referent and expert authority in their teaching role.

The purpose of this study was to identify teaching techniques that could be used in college classrooms for effectively teaching two different age cohorts: Baby Boomers and Generation X students. Baby Boomers are those people born between 1946 and 1964. The subsequent generation, known as Generation X, was born between 1965 and 1981. A multi-case qualitative study was designed to include interviews with faculty, focus groups with students, and classroom observations at three different community colleges in east Tennessee. Thirty-one faculty, ranging in age from 29 to 65, comprised the faculty panel. There were 48 student participants. Half of the 24 female students were Generation Xers. Of 22 male participants, 16 were Generation Xers. Classroom observations of nine different sections were conducted. These observations included traditional lecture classes, lab classes, and a couple of multimedia classrooms. Interviews with the faculty panel revealed almost diametrically opposite classroom behaviors between Baby Boomers and Generation X students. While older students are generally more motivated, focused, and come to class prepared to learn; younger students were reported to exhibit behaviors that are antithetical to these. Some younger students indicated that they preferred to work on teams with older students for these reasons. Additionally, effective teaching techniques for the two age cohorts were also discovered to be different. While both Boomers and Xers preferred real world examples to illustrate classroom theories, what was a relevant example for one generation was not always relevant for the other. Therefore, many instructors need to ascertain what is relevant in the Xers' world as constituted by the media, the Internet, and popular culture. The modern classroom needs a variety of teaching techniques to cater to different types of learners. Perhaps a model whereby older students mentor professional behavior for the younger, and the younger teach older students how to use computer technologies would be a better learning environment. Additionally, a third of the instructors interviewed have found that they need to be entertaining to hold the shorter attention spans of the younger student. Some type of visual component is becoming the norm in most classrooms, but there was not always agreement on which visuals were most effective for the two age groups. Baby Boomers generally preferred the board for transparency viewing or note taking in outline form Conversely, while some young students liked these methods, a greater number preferred watching videos. However, the videos had to be engaging and usually no longer than 20 minutes to be effective. Furthermore, 43% of the younger students value individual attention from their instructors, indicating that it can often make the difference between passing and failing a course. A third of the faculty also noted the younger students' hunger for attention. For instance, the eldest faculty member indicated, “So many Generation Xers are needy in terms of needing lots and lots of attention [because] a lot of my Generation X students are separated from their families.” Whatever the reasons, today's college instructors have a difficult task in assimilating the many learning styles and generational differences of age cohorts present in their classrooms. Not only do they have to stay informed in their academic domains and adapt their courses to multimedia and distance learning technologies, but they have to be entertaining for younger students to make the class interesting.

This study was designed to examine the ideal and actual teaching practices of sixth through eighth grade teachers in the Rankin County School District whose students take the Mississippi Curriculum Test in an effort to raise student achievement whose students take the Mississippi Curriculum Test. It was also designed to examine whether ideal or actual teaching practices align with constructivist or behaviorist teaching practices. Eighty nine sixth, seventh, and eighth grade teachers whose students took the Mississippi Curriculum in the Spring 2006 semester participated in the study. Teachers responded to two surveys whose questions were identical but from two different frames of reference: one with high stakes testing and one without high stakes testing. Teachers also responded to a third survey that asked for their perceptions of the Mississippi Curriculum Test. A two-way Measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), supported by a tukey post hoc comparison on the scale scores of the questionnaires were used to determine if there was a statistically significant difference between teachers? ideal and actual teaching practices to improve student achievement on the Mississippi Curriculum Test. Further findings from the study did conclude that there was a statistically significant difference in teachers use of behaviorist and constructivist instructional practices. Data obtained from the study indicated that there are significant differences in teachers actual and ideal instructional practices in relation to their behaviorist and constructivist instructional practices. Data obtained from the participants indicated that they use favor constructivist practices to raise student achievement on the Mississippi Curriculum Test.

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This dissertation presents a quantitative study of the effects of multiple aspects of working conditions on teacher effectiveness as measured by value-added scores and student perceptions of teaching. The data were derived from the 2009-2010 Teacher Working Condition Survey and Student Perception Survey in Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) Project. Using the structural equation modeling and other related methods, several models of teacher effectiveness were estimated. The results supported that instruction and classroom related working conditions at school played important role in effective teaching and student achievement gains in English language arts and mathematics. It was found that, after controlling for teachers' education degree and experience, instructional practice support had significant effect on teachers' value-added scores. Moreover, Classroom autonomy and support for student conduct management were found to have indirect effect on teacher value-added score mediated through the students' perceptions of teaching. In addition, student perceptions of teaching was found to be significantly worse in high-need schools than schools serving fewer minority students or students from low-incoming families, but teacher value-added score was not significantly different between the high versus low needs schools. The findings of the study significantly contributed to a better understanding of the effects of working environment and how these are related to teacher performance. The study has both theoretical and practical significance; it provided critical evidence that can be used by policy makers to promote teachers' performance, especially in high-needs schools. / Ph. D.

The Virginia Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers represented a significant overhaul of conventional teacher evaluation criteria in Virginia. The policy outlined seven performance standards by which all Virginia teachers would be evaluated. This study explored the application of cognitive diagnostic modeling to measure teachers' perceptions of intra-organizational mechanisms available to support educational professionals in implementing this policy. It was found that a coarse-grained, four-attribute compensatory, re-parameterized unified model (C-RUM) fit teacher perception data better and had lower standard errors than the competing finer-grained models. The Q-matrix accounted for the complex loadings of items to the four theoretically and empirically driven mechanisms of implementation support including characteristics of the policy, teachers, leadership, and the organization. The mechanisms were positively, significantly, and moderately correlated which suggested that each mechanism captured a different, yet related, component of policy implementation support. The diagnostic profile estimates indicated that the majority of teachers perceived support on items relating to "characteristics of teachers." Moreover, almost 60% of teachers were estimated to belong to profiles with perceived support on "characteristics of the policy." Finally, multiple group multinomial log-linear models (Xu and Von Davier, 2008) were used to analyze the data across subjects, grade levels, and career status. There was lower perceived support by STEM teachers than non-STEM teachers who have the same profile, suggesting that STEM teachers required differential support than non-STEM teachers. The precise diagnostic feedback on the implementation process provided by this application of diagnostic models will be beneficial to policy makers and educational leaders. Specifically, they will be better prepared to identify strengths and weaknesses and target resources for a more efficient, and potentially more effective, policy implementation process. It is assumed that when equipped with more precise diagnostic feedback, policy makers and school leaders may be able to more confidently engage in empirical decision making, especially in regards to targeting resources for short-term and long-term organizational goals subsumed within the policy implementation initiative. / Ph. D.

Yick Doi Pei. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-66). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Raw score approach --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2 --- Residual approach --- p.4 / Chapter 1.3 --- Indicator approach --- p.5 / Chapter 1.4 --- Overview --- p.5 / Chapter 2 --- Application --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1 --- Data --- p.7 / Chapter 3 --- Modeling --- p.10 / Chapter 3.1 --- Linear Regression at Individual Level --- p.13 / Chapter 3.2 --- Linear Regression at Group Level --- p.21 / Chapter 3.3 --- Polytomous Logistic Model --- p.28 / Chapter 3.4 --- Mixed Effect Model --- p.35 / Chapter 3.5 --- Discrete Response Multilevel Model --- p.41 / Chapter 4 --- Conclusion --- p.51 / Appendix --- p.55 / Reference --- p.63

This research was a qualitative study of 10 elementary school teachers working with predominantly African American students in a large urban school district. The primary focus of this study was to analyze the perceptions of effective teachers of African American students. The hope is that the data presented in this study will initiate trends that assist in effectively preparing teachers to attain successful outcomes with African American students. Through document analysis and interviews with selected university faculty, this interpretive qualitative study also examined the multicultural education training component that targets African American students in the undergraduate elementary teacher preparation program at a highly selective public university in Texas. The data were collected through interviews and document analysis. The themes that emerged from data collected with the 10 elementary school teachers included (a) perceptions of culture, (b) beliefs about teaching, (c) academic accountability, (d) teacher preparation, and (e) contributions to success. This study utilized Ladson-Billings' (1995a, 2001) theoretical framework of culturally relevant pedagogy to examine teachers' perspectives. Supplemented with interviews of selected university faculty, this study also utilized document analysis of relevant teacher preparation programs and educational policies. Along with uncovering areas of further research, an examination of the various components of this study identifies recommendations for reform of educational practice, teacher preparation programs, and educational policy. / text

The study examined Accounting teachers’ pedagogical communicative practices and the academic achievement Accounting students, focusing on the extent of its occurrence. Teachers’ pedagogical communicative practices are the language behaviours and discourse strategies employed by teachers in their instructional delivery. The study employed an embedded concurrent mixed methods design. A questionnaire, Accounting achievement test for students, interview and observation guides were used to collect data from 481 respondents (made up of two heads of schools, 54 teachers, and 425 students) selected from 34 senior high schools in the Ahafo, Bono and Bono East Regions of Ghana. The quantitative data were analysed into descriptive and inferential statistics by using the SPSS software while the qualitative data were analysed thematically in accordance with the research questions. The findings from the study revealed that the Accounting teachers use appropriate pedagogical communicative practices (which include speaking loudly and boldly enough and making close eye contacts with students during class contributions) to help students to assimilate concepts better in Accounting, and to promote a stimulating learning environment. The study also revealed that teachers considered their students’ maturity level, needs, motivation and readiness to learn in deciding which methodology to use for a lesson. The study further revealed that there is no significant influence of pedagogical communicative practices on student academic achievement. Pedagogical communicative practices need to form part of the training of teachers for the senior high schools in order to prepare the teachers adequately for their assignments. Finally, the conceptual framework proposed is characterised by a synthesis of pedagogy and instructional communication, and the influence that such a combination has on the academic achievement of Senior High School Accounting students. To date, there is paucity of information in the extant literature regarding this practice in Africa, specifically, Ghana and hence the need for the current research to fill the gap. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Phil. (Curriculum and Instructional Studies)