Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Dr. Lois Wright Hawkes, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Computer Science. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 25, 2003). Includes bibliographical references.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1948 G64 / Master of Science

Instruction at a distance is rapidly becoming one of the most widely used modes for teaching post-secondary learners. One of the distinctive characteristics of distance education is the emphasis on course development and the models of course development which have evolved. To date, however, the literature offers little understanding of the knowledge bases upon which current practice in distance education course development is based. Expertise in course development has not been characterized in any systematic way, and it is not known how novice and expert DE course developers differ in the way they conceptualize and go about course development. Even less is known about how course developers move toward expertise and from where they draw their understanding. The primary purpose of this study is to begin the investigation of these questions, based on data collected from multiple sources and contexts. Qualitative methods were used to collect and analyze data on the reflections of the course design process by nine participants. Participants varied in their experience level, the level of course they designed, and their role in the design process. Participants took part in a semi-structured interview and were asked to provide written responses to a practical design critique exercise. Themes or issues were allowed to emerge from the data, and were characterized along three main topics: the learner, design decisions, and evaluation. Differences between novices and more experienced participants were observed in their depth of understanding about the learner, the influence of theoretical constructs on their making design decisions, and the influence of context on the design process.

The role of teaching experience has been acknowledged in the development of pedagogical expertise, however, past research has failed to specify the relationship between experience and expertise. The ill-defined nature of the teaching task has led researchers to inadequately define pedagogical expertise directly in terms of years of teaching experience. Moreover, the literature on pedagogical expertise is primarily based on data from school teachers, who typically are not subject matter experts in the topics they teach. This study attempted to establish the differences and similarities between experienced and inexperienced university professors in the planning and delivery of teaching and the extent to which these activities and processes resembled expert characteristics. Indices of teaching effectiveness were derived from both theoretical and empirical sources and applied to the practices of 11 university professors, ranging in experience from 1 to 30 years. After the conduction of a lecture, subjects were interviewed and asked to elaborate on planning decisions made prior to teaching and to trace the events of the class. Protocols were then analyzed for the presence of characteristics of pedagogical expertise as defined above. Important differences were revealed between the teaching practices of experienced and less experienced professors which involved: (1) automaticity of activities, (2) teaching a lecture as part of the global task of teaching, (3) knowledge integration, (4) flexibility of plan implementation, (5) use of planning notes, (6) time management, and (7) reflections. Important group similarities were also revealed. Implications for the development of pedagogical expertise are discussed.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xxv, 440 p. : ill. (some col.). Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 244-268).

M.Ed. (Curriculum Studies) / There is widespread public awareness that the Victorian age "chalk-and-talk" teaching in South African schools has failed to integrate education and training that incorporated the interrelation between the expected. outcomes and learner activities. With the implementation of the outcomes-based education and the introduction of the National Qualifications Framework's criteria of continuous assessment, the question of the interrelatedness between the intentionality of the lesson and learner activities is an issue at stake. The purpose of this study is to gather information having direct bearing on the interrelatedness between learning outcomes and learner activities and the educator learners roles in this regard. This is done by using a classical single group design experimental learning space method. The learner's ability to use participate approaches to learning between lessons video-taped before, immediately after and three months after the transformative approaches were introduced are shown in the form of a table which gives the mean scores for the pre-course and post-course tapes. The validity of the findings were further confirmed by the findings from the analysis of protocol materials as well as experts opinion given by educators and fellow researchers.

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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