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The Namibian curriculum is premised on the view that there is a need for a holistic development and preparation of learners for a knowledge-based society. The draft National Environmental Education policy, the basic education policy and curriculum development processes in Namibia devolved the power and responsibility to implement environmental learning practice to schools. This research focus on the extent to which schools coordinate environmental education (EE) activities, educators’ perception of their environment, knowledge of EE processes, assessment approaches, the out-door activities, learning support materials, community involvement and EE school policy issues. Wickenburg (2000:56) affirms that “for substantial learning to take place, stakeholders should work actively and establish local supportive structures for EE in Schools”. Educators are expected to deal with practical issues which create opportunities for learners to develop environmentally responsive knowledge, skills and attitudes. The research design is a mixed methods research approach, which includes aspects of the quantitative and qualitative approach. The methodology involved data collection methods such as interviews with educators and a local EE officer, focus group discussions with learners and a self-assessment questionnaire for educators. The data was then analysed and interpreted in relation to a set of theoretical perspectives. The research concluded that educators have knowledge of factual information about environmental learning topics such as population, biodiversity and environmental degradation. Educators have the comprehension of indigenous knowledge and continuously assess learners. Educators however, seldom communicated the way people’s cultural activities affect the environment and did not value cultural practice and indigenous knowledge. Many educators did not use the local environments to do practical activities with learners. Schools did not have EE school policy, rarely practised outdoor activities and local communities are not involved school EE activities. Learners are knowledgeable of their local environmental issues. Based on the finding of the research I came up with a list of recommendations to guide the process of implementation of environmental learning at schools. / (M. Ed. (Environmental Education))

The Namibian curriculum is premised on the view that there is a need for a holistic development and preparation of learners for a knowledge-based society. The draft National Environmental Education policy, the basic education policy and curriculum development processes in Namibia devolved the power and responsibility to implement environmental learning practice to schools. This research focus on the extent to which schools coordinate environmental education (EE) activities, educators’ perception of their environment, knowledge of EE processes, assessment approaches, the out-door activities, learning support materials, community involvement and EE school policy issues. Wickenburg (2000:56) affirms that “for substantial learning to take place, stakeholders should work actively and establish local supportive structures for EE in Schools”. Educators are expected to deal with practical issues which create opportunities for learners to develop environmentally responsive knowledge, skills and attitudes. The research design is a mixed methods research approach, which includes aspects of the quantitative and qualitative approach. The methodology involved data collection methods such as interviews with educators and a local EE officer, focus group discussions with learners and a self-assessment questionnaire for educators. The data was then analysed and interpreted in relation to a set of theoretical perspectives. The research concluded that educators have knowledge of factual information about environmental learning topics such as population, biodiversity and environmental degradation. Educators have the comprehension of indigenous knowledge and continuously assess learners. Educators however, seldom communicated the way people’s cultural activities affect the environment and did not value cultural practice and indigenous knowledge. Many educators did not use the local environments to do practical activities with learners. Schools did not have EE school policy, rarely practised outdoor activities and local communities are not involved school EE activities. Learners are knowledgeable of their local environmental issues. Based on the finding of the research I came up with a list of recommendations to guide the process of implementation of environmental learning at schools. / Environmental Education / (M. Ed. (Environmental Education))

Pour rester concurrentiel et faire face à la complexité du développement des systèmes complexes, il est nécessaire d’avoir de bons ingénieurs système expérimentés sur le marché. De ce fait, Les ingénieurs système ainsi que les enseignants-chercheurs doivent mettre en place des stratégies et des méthodologies didactiques pour préparer les futurs ingénieurs systèmes. L’idée est d’assurer aux étudiants ingénieurs une préparation approfondie à l’ingénierie système (IS) et un savoir-faire quasi-professionnel fondés sur des expériences pratiques. Cette thèse répond à la nécessité de l’évaluation des étudiants, dans l’optique de vérifier leur maîtrise des processus du développement d’un système complexe tout le long de son cycle de vie. Nous nous intéressons particulièrement au problème de l’évaluation des connaissances acquises des apprenants lors de l’apprentissage actif de l’IS dans un environnement E-learning collaboratif en se fondant sur l’approche d’acquisition de connaissances. Pour cela, nous avons élaboré et mis en œuvre nos travaux de recherche dans le cadre d’une démarche d’E-apprentissage par projet, approche pédagogique qui facilite l’apprentissage en ligne de l’IS basé sur des projets. Dans ce contexte, nous avons décidé de piloter notre environnement Eapprentissage par des projets initiés à partir des processus normalisés en IS. Nous avons également guidé la formalisation de ces processus standardisés par l’intégration des modèles de compétences d’IS afin de soutenir le développement professionnel d’un système. Lors de la phase d’apprentissage, différents étudiants collaborent à distance. Ce partage d’information est fondé généralement sur des échanges formels ou informels. L’intérêt de l’acquisition de ces connaissances, issues des compte-rendus écrits, des retours d’expérience et des erreurs rectifiées, est d’aider à étudier et évaluer les expériences et les activités des étudiants pour favoriser l’apprentissage actif et collaboratif de l’IS. Notre proposition est une solution permettant l’évaluation des connaissances acquises fondée sur des outils sémantiques. La solution s’adresse aux étudiants et aux enseignants de la plateforme. D’une part, elle permet le suivi et l’évaluation des étudiants d’une manière intelligente et d’autre part, elle permet l’accompagnement de l’enseignant lors de la définition de son projet. Tout d’abord, nous présentons une méthode d’évaluation mixte qui combine le raisonnement à partir de cas et le processmining afin de fournir des représentations visuelles qui aident l’enseignant dans son processus d’évaluation ainsi que la définition de son scénario d’apprentissage. Nous exploitons des techniques d’analyse de réseaux sociaux pour étudier les interactions des apprenants. Ensuite, nous proposons un processus d’annotation sémantique des travaux des étudiants. Le processus a pour but de guider l’enseignant dans son processus d’évaluation. De plus, afin d’enrichir la mise en œuvre de l’évaluation des connaissances, nous introduisons le concept d’évaluation par les pairs afin de promouvoir la réflexivité et la confiance en soi de l’apprenant. Enfin, les différentes contributions sont illustrées au moyen d’une étude de cas. A la lumière de cette étude de cas, nous avons montré que les hypothèses de recherche sont valides. / To remain competitive and to deal with the complexities of developing complex systems, it is necessary to have skilled and experienced system engineers on the labor market. As a result, system engineers, teachers and researchers must put in place strategies and didactic methodologies to prepare future systems engineers. The idea is to ensure engineering students with depth preparation for system engineering (SE) and a quasiprofessional expertise based on practical experiences. This thesis meets the need for student evaluation, to verify their knowledge of the processes of developing a complex system throughout its lifecycle. We are particularly interested in the problem of evaluating the knowledge acquired by learners during the active learning of the SE in a collaborative Elearning environment based on the knowledge acquisition approach. For this, we have developed and implemented our research as part of an E-learning project approach. This is a pedagogical approach that facilitates online learning of SE based on projects. We decided to pilot our E-learning environment with projects initiated from standard SE processes. We also conducted a formalization of these standardized processes by integrating SE competencies models to support the professional development of a system. During the learning phase, different students collaborate remotely. This sharing of information is generally based on formal or informal exchanges. The interest of the acquisition of this knowledge, resulting from written reports, feedback and rectified errors, is to help study and evaluate the experiences and activities of students to promote active learning and collaboration of the SE. Our proposal is a solution for the evaluation of acquired knowledge based on semantic tools. The solution is addressed to students and teachers of the platform. On the one side, it allows the monitoring and evaluation of students in an intelligent way. On the other side, it allows to support the teacher during the definition of his project. First, we present a mixed assessment method that combines reasoning from cases and process-mining to provide visual representations that help the teacher in his assessment process as well as the definition of his learning scenario. We use social network analysis techniques to study learner interactions. Then, we propose a semantic annotation process of student works. The purpose of this process is to guide the teacher in his assessment process. Furthermore, we introduce the concept of peer review in order to promote the reflexivity and self-confidence of learner. Finally, the different contributions are illustrated by a case study. Based on this case study, we show that the research hypotheses are valid.

This study reports the development of an instrument intended to measure mathematics teachers' knowledge of Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI). CGI is a mathematics professional development framework based on how students think about and solve problems and how that knowledge guides instruction for developing mathematical understanding. The purpose of this study was to (a) analyze and revise the original CGI Teacher Knowledge Assessment (CGI TKA), (b) administer the revised CGI TKA, and (c) analyze the results from the revised CGI TKA. As part of the revision of the original CGI TKA, distractor analysis identified distractors that could be improved. Experts in CGI content were interviewed to identify ways in which the content of the CGI TKA could be improved, and some new items were created based on their feedback. Formatting changes were also made to administer the assessment electronically.After the original CGI TKA was revised, the revised CGI TKA was administered to teachers who had been trained in CGI. Two hundred thirteen examinees completed the revised CGI TKA and the results were analyzed. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed 21 of the items loaded adequately onto one factor, considered to be overall knowledge of CGI. The Rasch model was used to estimate item difficulty and person abilities as well as to compare models using dichotomous and partial credit scoring. Advantages and disadvantages of using partial credit scoring as compared to dichotomous scoring are discussed. Except under special circumstances, the dichotomous scoring produced better fitting models and more reliable scores than the partial credit scoring. The reliability of the scores was estimated using Raykov's rho coefficient. Overall, the revised CGI TKA appears to validly and reliably measure teachers' CGI knowledge.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how knowledge retention may be enhanced at the University of Zambia (UNZA). A mixed research methodology was employed in the case study design. Data was collected using interviews and questionnaires. Purposive sampling was used to determine participants for the interviews while stratified random sampling was employed for the questionnaire respondents. Out of a population of 435 a sample of 205 was surveyed. The response rate was 60 %. Findings indicate that UNZA lacked a number of knowledge retention practices that can enable it to retain operational relevant knowledge. In view of these findings, the study concluded by recommending guidelines for the adoption of various knowledge retention practices that could be embedded into UNZA's knowledge management policy. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Science)

The purpose of this study was to investigate how knowledge retention may be enhanced at the University of Zambia (UNZA). A mixed research methodology was employed in the case study design. Data was collected using interviews and questionnaires. Purposive sampling was used to determine participants for the interviews while stratified random sampling was employed for the questionnaire respondents. Out of a population of 435 a sample of 205 was surveyed. The response rate was 60 %. Findings indicate that UNZA lacked a number of knowledge retention practices that can enable it to retain operational relevant knowledge. In view of these findings, the study concluded by recommending guidelines for the adoption of various knowledge retention practices that could be embedded into UNZA's knowledge management policy. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Science)

Denna studies syfte är att beskriva hur lärare i grundsärskolan ser på sitt bedömningsuppdrag isamband med att nya elever tas emot i verksamheten. I grundsärskolan undervisas elever som pågrund av en intellektuell funktionsnedsättning (IF) inte bedöms ha förutsättningar att uppnågrundskolans kunskapskrav. I vår studie använde vi oss av en kvalitativ metod och genomfördeelva kvalitativa intervjuer med lärare i grundsärskolan. Schiros (2013) undervisningsideologiskaperspektiv användes som teoretiskt perspektiv i analysen. Vi har utgått från fyra olikaforskningsfrågor under arbetets gång. Första frågan var vilka strategier lärarna beskriver att deanvänder för att samla information om elever som kommer nya till grundsärskolan. Här visar ettav resultaten att relationsskapande med eleven får gå före kunskapsbedömning när elever kommernya. På frågan om lärarnas syn på bedömningens plats och funktion i verksamheten får vivarierande svar, men gemensamt beskriver de att ett sökande efter elevens förmågor att kunna visakunskaper liknar ett “detektivjobb” (informant L9). Resultat visar också att lärarna ser olika på hurmeningsfullt det är för eleven att själva vara delaktiga i sin egen kunskapsbedömning. Nästaforskningsfråga handlar om vilka utmaningar som framstår i uppdraget att bedöma kunskaper hoselever som kommer nya till grundsärskolan. Här visar resultatet att samtliga lärare uttrycker attelever med IF är svårbedömda eftersom allt beror på elevens förmåga och dagsform. Vår fjärdeforskningsfråga handlar om vilka undervisningsideologier som blir synliga. Här visar resultatet atten elevcentrerad undervisnings ideologi är framträdande i lärarnas svar. Lärarna upplever till vissdel en konflikt i sitt bedömningsuppdrag, främst i relation till tolkningen av styrdokumentensformuleringar. Studiens resultat visade också att lärarna är i behov av att reflektera överbedömnings uppdraget, här får specialläraren en viktig roll som kvalificerad samtalspartner. / The purpose of this study is to describe how teachers in the special school view their assessmentassignments in connection with new pupils starting in school. The special school is a compulsoryschool for children with intellectual disabilities who are not considered to have the prerequisites tomeet the mainstream school’s knowledge requirements. In our study, we used a qualitative methodand conducted eleven qualitative interviews with teachers in special school. Schiro's (2013)Curriculum Ideological perspectives were used as theoretical perspectives in the analysis. We havestarted from four different research questions during the course of the work. The first question waswhat strategies the teachers describe that they use to inform themselves about students who arenew in school. Here, one of the results shows that creating relationships with the student may gobefore During the question how teachers view the significance of assessment for students'knowledge development, results of the study vary, but the common feature is that a search for thestudent's ability to show knowledge is similar to a “detective job” (informant L9). The study showsthat the teachers consider that assessment has a certain importance for the pupil's knowledgedevelopment but especially for the adaptation of the teaching. The results also show that teacherslook at how meaningful it is for the pupil to be involved in their own knowledge assessment. Thenext research question was about the challenges presented in the assignment to assess theknowledge of students who are newly admitted to special school. Here, the result shows that allteachers express that students with intellectual disabilities are difficult to assess because everythingdepends on the student's ability and form overall state. Our fourth resurge questions is about whichCurriculum Ideologies become visible. Here the result shows that a Learner centred Ideology isprominent in the teachers' responses. To some extent, teachers experience a conflict in theirassessment assignments, mainly in relation to the interpretation of the wording of the steeringdocuments. The study's results also showed that the teachers need to reflect on the assessmentassignment, here the special teacher can be ascribed an important role as a qualified interlocutor.