Thesis advisor: Henry I. Braun / Addressing the call to provide hard evidence on undergraduate student outcomes and make comparisons across higher education institutions for accountability purposes, this study extends current efforts in measuring higher education outcomes and explores the differences in three value-added methodologies. Using the CIRP freshman and senior survey data from 2002 and 2006, this study examines noncognitive higher education outcomes with a focus on civic engagement. The three value-added methodologies examined are: an OLS-based cross-sectional method, an HLM-based cross-sectional method, and an HLM-based longitudinal method. Rather than seek to establish which methodology is superior, this study intends to provide empirical evidence concerning the similarities and differences in estimating institutional effectiveness with regard to civic engagement. First, several student-level and institution-level covariates were found to be associated with a measure of civic engagement in the senior year after adjusting for their level of civic engagement as freshmen. The model comparison further revealed some advantages in the HLM-based longitudinal method over the other two methods, such as providing a more accurate institutional value-added estimate and the ability to account for a relatively large percent of the total variance in the civic engagement measure when using the same covariates. Next, among all pairs of model comparisons, results from the two HLM-based methods agreed the most (r=.80). However, institutional rankings fluctuate dramatically, even when comparing institutions within small peer groups. Finally, the findings highlighted great divergences among different value-added methodologies in identifying institutions that perform significantly differently from the average for accountability purposes. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation.

With increasing concern over the state of the education system in the United States, more and more emphasis is being placed on teaching methods. Internet related infrastructure has become cheaper and more powerful, and online learning environments are taking a stronger presence in most higher education institutions with more video content being sought for these environments. However, the effectiveness of using video as a teaching tool is still uncertain. Without additional research, video remains an expensive gamble for an already struggling system. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact on student learning outcomes of video content as a primary teaching method compared to more traditional lecture based classes.

Cette recherche vise à étudier et rendre-compte du fonctionnement des interactions orales entre pairs, en classe d’anglais L2, au niveau du collège en France. L’enjeu est donc, à partir d’une description détaillée de tâches (au sens didactique du terme) et de l’analyse des productions des apprenants, de documenter la notion de compétence d’interaction orale. L’approche retenue relève de la recherche-action et s’appuie sur des données empiriques recueillies dans des classes. Après avoir mené plusieurs études exploratoires sur des groupes d’apprenants, un protocole de recherche a été mis en place pour collecter des données longitudinales sur un échantillon 24 dyades, soit 48 élèves de 3ème. Les participants ont mené deux tâches d’interaction orale en début d’année puis en fin d’année scolaire, après avoir bénéficié, d’une formation spécifique à l’interaction orale. Leurs performances ont été filmées (18h) et transcrites sous CLAN pour être analysées. Au plan théorique, des liens sont tissés entre plusieurs cadres. Le premier est la didactique des langues qui retient la perspective actionnelle telle que décrite dans le CECRL (2001). Je m’appuie également sur la théorie socioculturelle, issue des travaux de Vygotsky (1978), puis de Lantolf (2000) qui avancent que l’interaction sociale ne se contente pas de faciliter l’apprentissage, mais est au cœur du processus de développement. Enfin les outils de l’analyse conversationnelle sent convoqués afin d’étudier la construction des échanges de manière systématique. Ce sont les questions de formation spécifique des apprenants à l’interaction orale, les résultats auxquels il est raisonnable de s’attendre dans ce contexte, et enfin les modalités d’évaluation de cette compétence en milieu institutionnel qui sont au cœur du sujet. / This research explores the potential of teenage peer spoken interactions in ESL classrooms in France. The focus here is on analysing task-based activities and learners’ performances, in order to improve our understanding of interactional competence. My approach is based on Action Research and a collection of empirical data from language classrooms. Several studies were conducted before setting up a protocol for a longitudinal corpus of video-recorded conversations between 24 dyads of peers. The 48 lower intermediate participants performed two tasks at the beginning and end of the school year. Specific training was offered in order to improve strategic spoken interaction. The 18 hours of verbal and non-verbal outcome was transcribed on CLAN and analysed according to the Conversational Analysis method. On a theoretical level, my approach brings together the European tradition of language didactics based on the CEFR (2001) and the sociocultural theory that takes its roots in Vygotsky’s (1978) work, followed by Lantolf (2000) who deals more specifically with SLA. According to these authors, social interaction not only promotes learning but is also at the core of a development process. This thesis examines the effects of training on communication strategies, the expectable outcomes and assessments of such a competence in an institutional environment.

This conceptual paper outlines the descriptive theoretical foundations or kernel theories for designing an information and communication technology (ICT) tool to assess professional competences in the Austrian trade and craft sector. Upon completion, the ICT-tool serves as a boundary object in which applicants and assessors can interact. While this paper consists of a literature review and conceptual discussion, the overall project is methodologically placed within a multidisciplinary design-science paradigm. Design science scaffolds and structures the development of a theoretical model, the generation of assessment-items and the ICT-tool itself. This paper discusses the necessary descriptive knowledge or kernel theories on which the design of the ICT-tool rests. First, we describe the validation of prior learning - a process advocated by the European Union to make professional competences visible. Second, we describe the process how professional competences come about: through formal, non-formal and informal learning. Subsequently, we outline a knowledge-driven discourse on professional competences and discuss how different definitions of professional competence afford different approaches for its assessment. By presenting a use-case, we outline how the ICT-tool may guide applicants and assessors through this process.

Long has been the charge by society for college and universities to produce more engaged citizenship. Institutional initiatives on civic engagement have focused on community service and service-learning initiatives to meet this demand. The existing literature, therefore, is reflective of these civic engagement involvements and outcomes. Little research is conducted on another form of civic engagement, activism. The existing literature on student activism focuses on the student activists of the 1960s. This study intends to address the gaps in the literature related to activism. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to identify the learning outcomes associated with student participation in activism Data from the Higher Education Research Institute's surveys, the 1999 Student Information Form (SIF) and the 2003 College Student Survey (CSS), were used in this study. Multiple regression, along with logistic regression, were used. The results of this study provide some noteworthy findings that improve our understanding of activism and its effect on the learning outcomes of undergraduate students. In addition, this study provides a number of implications for student affairs practice and future research. Student activism has a long and rich history in our colleges and universities and will continue to have a place in our institutions of higher learning. This study reveals that activism is an active part of students' learning experiences while in college. This study supports the notion that (a) learning outcomes are associated with involvement in college student activism, (b) involvements do make a difference, (c) faculty and peer relationships matter, (d) curricular and co-curricular experiences, and (d) gender and ethnicity in activism is worth exploring The examination of specific learning outcomes associated with activism provides student affairs professionals and higher education research and policy-makers a better understanding of what students gain from their activism. In addition, the results of this study contribute to the body of knowledge on the role of college involvements in developing an action-oriented citizen.

The purpose of this research endeavor was to identify and apply effective strategies to evaluate the efficacy of a university-level general education hybrid nutrition course offered to distance education and on-campus students. A review of relevant literature indicated that student engagement levels, student characteristics, and the use of instructional technology are important to consider when evaluating postsecondary learning environments. Furthermore, the balance of asynchronous and synchronous learning activities within hybrid learning environments should be deemed suitable for the subject matter as well as the receiving student population. Finally, student perceptions and learning outcomes should also be assessed by hybrid course evaluations. The study described in this work established that a standardized general education hybrid nutrition course offered by Utah State University can effectively facilitate learning while generating positive student perceptions from the majority of enrolled distance education and on-campus cohorts alike. All course materials were available online, and were supplemented with weekly, synchronous recitation sessions. Interestingly, the learning outcomes and satisfaction rates of the two student cohorts were similar. However, notable differences in learning preference and performance were identified based on student age alone. Modifications to subsequent versions of the evaluated hybrid course were made based on the findings of the study. Other instructors and course design teams involved in postsecondary nutrition education may view this project as an outline for their own hybrid course development and evaluation efforts, although, limitations did exist and should be acknowledged. An experimental design exhibiting more control over potential extraneous variables, such as instructor, could offer more concrete evidence than the observational nature of the present study. Also, it appears that students' success levels in a given learning environment are not only influenced by instructional measures, but also by the personal and contextual factors of each individual student. Future evaluative efforts should place a greater emphasis on exhibited learning patterns, educational background, and academic discipline of students within the hybrid learning environment. Ultimately, the primary challenge of a modern-day hybrid course is to offer a cohesive and effective blend of uniformity, customization, flexibility, and instructional guidance based on anticipated needs of students.

E-learning became the trend in view of the fact that computer technology and the rapidity of globalization had revolutionized the atmosphere of learning as well as education more than ever during the 21st century. The core intention of this study is to present the correlation between e-learning environment and learning outcome based on knowledge creation model from the view point of knowledge management. The SECI model suggested by Nonaka & Takuichi (1995) and Ba model suggested by Nonaka & Konno (1998) were used to divide e-learning environment into four divisions including original ba, dialoguing ba, systemizing ba, and exercising ba. Each diverse division supported a certain knowledge creation behavior counting socialization, externalization, combination, as well as internalization. Designed questionnaires were given to gather study information and further statistic data in order to observe whether knowledge creation behaviors related to learning outcomes. The results demonstrated that four e-learning environments facilitated the four knowledge creation behaviors; along with these knowledge creation behaviors kept up a correspondence with learning outcome. To conclude, the findings of this study supported both SECI model and Ba model. In addition, the final results also proved both theories worked in virtual along with the realistic world.

Social work practice requires that graduates be prepared to deal with complex, multifaceted problems which cannot be defined completely, do not have absolute, correct answers and can be approached from multiple perspectives. This study evaluated the influence of case-based instruction on MSW students' reflective judgment, an aspect of critical thinking associated with the ability to reason through ill-structured problems. (King, Wood, & Mines, 1990). The Reflective Judgment Model, which describes a developmental continuum based upon epistemic assumptions regarding the source and justification of knowledge claims, served as the theoretical framework for the assessment of reflective thinking in this mixed methods study. A quasi-experimental pre-post nonequivalent control group design was utilized to explore whether students who participated in a case method course demonstrated greater increases in reflective judgment than those who did not. MSW students enrolled in a case-based capstone course at a major metropolitan university in the southeast served as the intervention group, while foundation year students enrolled in a research methodology course served as the comparison group. Both groups completed the Reasoning about Current Issues Test (RCI), which is an online, standardized measure that has been widely used to assess reflective judgment (Wood, Kitchener, & Jensen, 2002) at pre and posttest. Content analysis procedures were used to facilitate assessment of students' initial and final case analysis papers for evidence of changes in the reflective thinking skills and problem-solving approaches utilized on initial and final case analysis papers. The case method participants' mean RCI scores remained unchanged between pre and posttest, while RCI posttest scores of participants in the control group decreased significantly. Pre and posttest comparison of students' case analysis papers using a customized rubric based on Wolcott's Steps for Better Thinking (2006) similarly indicated no mean changes in problem-solving approaches between pre and posttest. However, students who began the course using strategies associated with pre-reflective judgment increased their scores on the rubric significantly while those who exhibited higher levels of quasi-reflective judgment at pretest decreased at posttest. Strategies for designing a developmental curriculum to target the reflective judgment levels of MSW students are proposed.

Dažniausia šeimoje vaiko ugdymas ir priežiūra labiau tapatinama su vaiko motinos veikla. Tačiau tėvo įsitraukimas į savo vaiko ugdymo bei priežiūros procesą yra ne mažiau svarbus. Tik abu tėvai gali sudaryti palankias sąlygas augti vaikui šeimoje. Auginant vaiką, pas tėvą turi pasireikšti tėviškumo savybė. Ši savybė savo ruožtu pasižymi įvairiais požymiais. Šio magistrinio darbo tikslas - nustatyti tėviškumo ir vaiko mokymosi pasiekimų sąsajas. Empirinio tyrimo metu buvo apklausti Kauno miesto vidurinių mokyklų 14 – 18 metų amžiaus moksleiviai. Viso apklausta 370 moksleivių. Apklausos metu buvo sužinota respondentų nuomonė apie jų tėvų tėviškumo pasireiškimą bei gauti duomenys apie moksleivių mokymosi pasiekimus. Respondentų nuomonė buvo gauta pasitelkus Tėvo dalyvavimo skalę, kuri padeda nustatyti vyro tėviškumo požymių raišką. Darbe pateikti tėviškumo požymių raiškos ypatumai. Darbe taip pat buvo nustatyta, kad tėviškumas, kaip vyro savybė, siejasi su vaiko mokymosi pasiekimais. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, jog aštuoni iš devinių, tėviškumą nusakančių, požymių turi ryšį su vaiko mokymosi pasiekimais (pažymių vidurkiu). Taip pat nustatyta, kad visi devyni tėviškumo požymiai turi ryšį su moksleivių pamokų lankomumu, kaip veiksniu, kuris gali įtakoti mokymosi pasiekimus. / The education of child in a family is mostly comprehensible as a duty of a mother. But a father is also a very important person in process of child’s education. Only both parents can create a favourable situations to raise their child. While raising a child a man reveals father’s characteristic – fatherhood. This characteristic is characterized by various features. The purpose of these master thesis is to determine the connection between fatherhood and child’s learning outcomes. There were examined 370 (14 – 18 years old) schoolchildren from three middle schools in Kaunas. During the inquiry there was collected child‘s opinion obout their father‘s fatherhood characteristic and data about child‘s learning outcomes. The respondents were questioned with the help of "The Inventory of father involvement", which enables to determine the level of father‘s characteristic – fatherhood. In the research there were presented pecularities of fatherhood characteristic. There was estimated that fatherhood, as the characteristic of male, correlates with child‘s learning outcomes. It was also estimated that eight of nine father‘s fatherhood indications have a connection with child‘s learning outcomes and all nine indications have a connection with the attendance of lessons.

The purpose of this study was to measure the relationship between the motivation and learning outcomes of incoming exchange students at Queen’s University. The majority of research on study abroad programs measures the learning outcomes of U.S. students abroad in courses and programs designed exclusively for them. What is lacking is research on participants in exchange programs where incoming students study alongside, and are immersed in a similar living environment to, local students. The present study adds to the literature on study abroad by providing information about motivation and learning outcomes resulting from participating in an exchange. Using a pre-test/post-test research design, this study examines how both motivation and learning outcomes vary by gender, program of study, region of origin, duration of study and first language. The Study Abroad Goals Scale was used to measure motivation in the pre-test (n = 182) and the Global Perspectives Inventory (GPI) measured learning outcomes in both the pre- and post-test of incoming exchange students to Queen’s university in the 2009-2010 academic year (n = 98). Results indicate that the strongest motivation of the incoming exchange students was Cross-Cultural, followed by Academic and Personal/Social. Motivation differences were found in each independent variable except for gender indicating that motivation to study on exchange is not uniform among all participants. Findings from the measures of the GPI did not indicate any significant changes between the pre- and post-test. This suggests that participation in an exchange program does not necessarily lead to student development and that program administrators may need to implement proactive learning interventions to enhance the exchange experience for students. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2010-09-09 23:30:52.947