Thesis (Ed. Spec.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Fred T. Hofstetter, School of Education. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to explore the conceptions of academics at the NMMU concerning the nature and purpose of teaching portfolios in higher education. The study was guided by the following research question: What are the conceptions of academics concerning the nature and purpose of teaching portfolios in higher education? A case study, involving academics at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), was used to answer the research question. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods research design was employed to collect data from an electronic questionnaire consisting of Likert-scale type of responses and open-ended questions, followed by two focus group interviews with academics that had prior experience in the development of a teaching portfolio. Forty-five academics responded to the questionnaire sent to all the academics at the NMMU, providing a broad perspective on the conceptions of NMMU academics regarding the nature and purpose of teaching portfolios. The two focus group interviews were conducted with six and eight academics respectively who was purposively chosen for their prior experience with the development of teaching portfolios. The aim of the focus group interviews were to elaborate on the data generated by the questionnaire. The quantitative data gathered by the questionnaire was statistically analysed, generating descriptive statistics of the Likert type response statements. The transcripts of the focus group interviews were thematically analysed. The conceptual framework that initially guided the formulation of the sub-research questions was amended to include the themes that emerged from the thematic analysis of the data, namely: the portfolio development process, the uses of and purposes for developing teaching portfolios, the attitudes of academics towards teaching portfolios, and the benefits gained from the development of teaching portfolios. The findings of the study revealed that of the participants find work overload and additional responsibilities as major constraints and collaboration among peers as the most helpful factor in the development of a teaching portfolio. The findings further revealed that the majority of the participants identified items to be included in a teaching portfolio that would enable them to use the portfolio in the development of their teaching. A mixture of attitudes towards teaching portfolios was identified. Some academics (in particular those who have prior experience in the development of portfolios) displayed a positive attitude towards teaching portfolios, while participants reported a negative attitude towards teaching portfolios by most of their colleagues (mostly those who have not developed a portfolio yet). The negative attitudes do seem to overpower the positive attitudes towards teaching portfolios. The challenge to the NMMU would therefore be to get academics to make use of the initiatives provided by the NMMU to assist them with the teaching portfolio development process. Four recommendations that may serve as guidelines to assist in the successful implementation of teaching portfolios at the NMMU were made, based on the findings of the study. Although the results of this study cannot be generalized to other higher education institutions, they do provide insights in the conception of the academics regarding the nature and purpose of teaching portfolios at the NMMU that can be of benefit to other higher education institutions.

No description available.

The Sustained Investigation is a student-directed body of work completed as a requirement of the AP Studio Art (APSA) course. This work involves three audiences: students themselves, their teachers, and AP readers who evaluate their portfolios. Students must consider not only the personal meaning and relevance of their work, but the extent to which that significance can or should be communicated to these outside viewers. Teachers are faced with a related challenge: to guide students through work that is essentially self-defined. The purpose of this research was to document teacher, student, and reader descriptions of the pursuit of worthwhile ideas as they relate to the perceived goals and purposes of the Sustained Investigation. This research was undertaken as a collective case study involving interviews of APSA teachers and students across four school sites, as well as a selection of readers. Findings indicate that the term idea might describe a range of approaches to organizing a body of work, including themes, concepts, political stances, feelings, and other sources or motivations. Furthermore, this work often reflects multiple concurrent ideas, involving primary and secondary goals for one’s work. The development of ideas was often linked to a nonlinearity of practice; ideas were clarified through the process of making rather than beforehand. Respondents indicated that ideas should be meaningful to the creator, largely relating meaning to personal relevance. Meaning might be pursued by selecting topics of personal significance, developing individual creative processes, or reflecting on this experience as an opportunity to fully embody the role of artist. Meaningful ideas were differentiated from successful ones. Notions of success were defined in terms of the degree of internally and externally imposed challenge involved in this endeavor. Participants agreed that students should be considered the primary audience for their own work. For some students, awareness of readers motivated them to take on challenging work, but this awareness did not influence their choice of central ideas. The findings of this study, particularly the nuance in distinctions between idea, meaningful idea, and successful idea, may be useful in informing pedagogical and creative practice in the AP program and beyond.

No description available.

Technical writing teachers have always struggled with understanding how to best deal with pedagogical issues including rapidly changing technology, audience construction, and transposing an academic ethos into a professional one. The expanding online world complicates these issues by increasing the pace of digital change, making the potential audience both more diffuse and more remote, and creating a more complex online rhetorical situation. E-portfolios provide a vivid way to examine this complex technological situation, and in this study, the author examines four cases of students creating online portfolios in a technical communication classroom. The author looks at both their e-portfolio process as well as their product, interviewing them to get a sense of how they used rhetoric, identity, and technology in an attempt to form a coherent professional presentation through a technological medium. In addition, the author looks at some issues inherent in e-portfolios themselves that may be applicable to a technical communication classroom, as this medium becomes ever more popular as a way of assessing both programs and the students themselves.

Thesis (MCurr)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The support for portfolio-based learning as an authentic assessment method is increasing globally. However, there are no guidelines in South Africa for a clinical practice assessment portfolio (CPAP) for primary clinical practitioner training. The study set out to develop a CPAP for the Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment Treatment and Care programme. An exploratory, descriptive design was used that developed over three phases. In phase one, a CPAP was developed based on an extensive review of the literature. The CPAP was validated in phase two by experts and finally, student primary clinical practitioners assessed the possible contribution of the developed CPAP to their learning in phase three. The study sample for the three phases comprised of selected relevant studies published on portfolio development (n=15); experts in the field of primary health care and education in the Cape Metropole (n=11); and student primary clinical practitioners of one higher education institution in the Cape Metropole (n=45). Structured questionnaires were used for data collection from expert and student participants after they reviewed the CPAP. Ethical approval was obtained from the Health Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Health Sciences (N09/09/233), Stellenbosch University. Permission to conduct the research was obtained from the higher education institution. The content validity index for items (I-CVI) was used to determine the degree to which expert participants agreed with the content of the CPAP. Results identified an I-CVI of between 0.91 and 1.00, indicating that the contents and technical format of the CPAP constitute a suitable learning tool for student practitioners. Experts suggested minor revisions regarding the clarity of items, and those were included in the final CPAP. The data analysis of the student’s responses showed that adequate guidance was provided to complete the activities in the CPAP and that the CPAP would have a positive contribution to learning. Portfolio-based learning is an important teaching and learning strategy in the Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment Treatment and Care programme, whereby students can demonstrate their acquired clinical competencies. Recommendations include the use of a competency framework and consensus amongst stakeholders when developing the contents of a portfolio. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die ondersteuning vir portefeulje-gebaseerde leer as ’n outentieke assesseringsmetode is besig om globaal te verhoog. In Suid-Afrika is daar egter nie riglyne vir ’n kliniese praktyk-assesseringsportefeulje (KPAP) vir primêre kliniese praktisynsopleiding nie. Hierdie studie het ten doel om ’n kliniese praktyk-assesseringsportefeulje vir die Kliniese Verpleegkunde-, Gesondheidsassesseringbehandeling- en Sorgprogram te ontwikkel. ’n Verkennende, beskrywende ontwerp wat oor drie fases ontwikkel het, is gebruik. In fase een is ’n KPAP ontwikkel gebaseer op ’n ekstensiewe literatuurstudie. Die geldigheid van die KPAP is in fase twee deur kundiges verklaar en in fase drie is die moontlike bydrae van die KPAP tot die leerproses deur primêre kliniese praktisynstudente geassesseer. Die studiegroep vir die drie fases het bestaan uit geselekteerde relevante studies wat handel oor portefeulje ontwikkeling (n=15), kenners op die gebied van primêre gesondheidsorg en opvoeding in die Kaapse Metropool (n=11); en primêre gesondheidsorg studentpraktisyns van een van die tersiêre instansies in die Kaapse Metropool (n=45). Gestruktureerde vraelyste is gebruik vir data-insameling van kenners en studentedeelnemers nadat hulle die KPAP ondersoek het. Etiese toestemming is verkry van die Gesondheidsnavorsingsetiekkomitee van die Fakulteit Gesondheidswetenskappe (N09/09/233), Stellenbosch Universiteit. Toestemming om die navorsing uit te voer, is van die tersiêre instansie verkry. Die inhoud van die item-geldigheidsindeks is gebruik om die mate waarmee kenner-deelnemers met die inhoud van die KPAP saamstem, te bepaal. Resultate van die inhoud van die item-geldigheidsindeks van tussen 0.91 en 1.00 is geïdentifiseer, wat ’n aanduiding is dat die inhoud en tegniese formaat van die KPAP ’n toepaslike leerinstrument vir studentpraktisyns is. Kenners het klein veranderings vir die duidelikheid van items voorgestel en dit is ingesluit in die finale KPAP. Die data-analise van die studente se antwoorde het aangedui dat genoegsame leiding voorsien was om die aktiwiteite in die KPAP te voltooi en dat die bydrae van die KPAP positief is tot die bevordering van die leerproses. Portefeulje-gebaseerde leer is ’n belangrike onderrig- en leerinstrument vir die Kliniese Verpleegkunde-, Gesondheidsassesseringbehandeling- en Sorgprogram, waardeur studente kan demonstreer dat hulle die kliniese bevoegdhede bekom het. Aanbevelings sluit in die gebruik van ’n bevoegdheidsraamwerk en konsensus onder belanghebbendes wanneer die inhoud van ’n portefeulje ontwikkel word.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This qualitative study investigated parents' awareness of and involvement in their prekindergarten child's literacy development. In addition, the feasibility of parents using a home literacy portfolio for the purpose of exchanging literacy information with teachers at a parent/teacher conference was examined. Participants included six parent/child dyads, who qualified for a Texas public school prekindergarten program by meeting the requirements for either free or reduced lunches or for the English-as-a-Second Language program. Research tools included audiotaped interviews with parents and with teachers; observations at parent/child workshop sessions, which were also videotaped; and work samples, including a home literacy portfolio from each child. Findings indicate that parents are involved in their children's literacy development. Also, at home, children participate in both open-ended literacy activities and drill-oriented literacy activities, with most of the activities falling into the open-ended category. According to the findings, all of the parents were more aware of their child's literacy achievements after attending the parent/child workshop and developing a home literacy portfolio. In addition, the home literacy portfolio proved to be a useful tool for sharing information at parent/teacher conferences. Parents and teachers exchanged literacy information at the parent/teacher conference. In the process of explaining the portfolios, the parents shared information about their child's drawing development, writing development, and reading development. In contrast, the teachers shared some literacy information with the parents, but much of the information teachers shared reflected the child's participation in class or general information about the child. The findings suggest that the parent/child workshop is a cost-effective vehicle for directly involving parents in their child's education. Moreover, developing a home literacy portfolio provides a means of involving parents with their child and of helping parents' become more aware of their child's literacy development.