No description available.

No description available.

Evaluation of teacher training has been conducted primarily on pre-service contexts and has focussed almost exclusively on evidence of impact in terms of changes in teachers’ behaviour or beliefs. Using a responsive / constructivist methodology my research focuses on an in-service context and takes the participants as the starting point of the research in order to examine both the processes of teacher learning (i.e. how do teachers learn) as well as the product (what are their claims, concerns and issues) regarding the training programme. The emergent data is analysed with findings grounded in the literature of teacher learning and parallels made with my own reflections on the processes of learning through the research experience itself. The evaluation focuses on a Cambridge In Service Certificate of English Language Teaching (ICELT) training course which is designed as an internationally appropriate INSET programme that can satisfy the training needs of (both native and non-native) EFL teachers. The research is valuable because we do not know how teachers learn on a training course. Through a review of the literature and exploiting the imagery of a metaphorical journey of development, I formulate a framework for analysing teacher learning which distinguishes between practical (applied) knowledge, conceptual knowledge and knowledge of self. This theoretical framework provides a lens to analyse data emerging during the evaluation. The research advocates an alternative ‘constructivist – responsive’ method of evaluation for teacher education programmes that has the dual aim of learning through the evaluation (process) as well as from the evaluation (product). The research methods follow a Fourth Generation Evaluation model (Guba and Lincoln 1979). The results show that in terms of the evaluation outcomes (product) we can identify modes of learning that concern tasks (how), knowing (what) and awareness of self and socio-cultural context (why). Analysis of the teachers’ talk as collaborative interaction showed little evidence of learning taking place. There were no obvious sections of exploratory talk that is conducive to the construction of new meanings and learning. However by analysing teachers’ talk as a manifestation of individual modes of thinking we are able to identify modes of thinking that have clear parallels with the framework of teacher learning depicted above: techno-rationale thought (how), reflective thought (what) and critical thought (why).The descriptive framework therefore depicts the integration of levels for both the process of learning and the products of learning and as such is a powerful tool for teacher educators. Teachers need to operate on all three levels in their professional lives. The study challenges some well-established assumptions in teacher training evaluation. In terms of epistemology, teacher learning is life-long and individual. Human learning occurs on three levels: physical (body), mental (mind) and spiritual (soul) and these levels describe how we think as well as what we do. Evaluation of any training course needs to take into consideration the dimensions of learning, the influence of the socio-cultural context and recognise the interconnectedness of process and product (i.e. how the traveling and the journey interact).

In the academic year 2005/2006 the multidisciplinary bachelor's study field of Addictology began to be taught in the full-time form at the First Medical Faculty of Charles University in Prague for the first time. During its nearly ten years of existence it was taken and successfully completed already by several dosens of students, however, a complex feedback on the study design and work, have not yet been realized. The main idea of the presented thesis was to evaluate the full-time form of bachelor's study field of Addictology from the perspective of graduates, and develop recommendations to improve this study field. The main objective was achieved through the evaluation research consisting of the following three research lines: needs analysis, evaluation of satisfaction and process evaluation. Content analysis was used for this purpose and its research sample consisted of official documents concerning the conception of the bachelor's study field of Addictology, namely accreditation files of the bachelor's study field of Addictology from the years 2004, 2007 and 2011, as well as curricula and last syllabi. All documents have been selected by total sampling method. Additional research methods then included questionnaire together with semi-structured interview. The research sample in this case was...

Submitted by William Justo Figueiro (williamjf) on 2015-07-20T23:25:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 59c.pdf: 3385228 bytes, checksum: 22dee368d250fa1124cf6f8f80b8f3d4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-20T23:25:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 59c.pdf: 3385228 bytes, checksum: 22dee368d250fa1124cf6f8f80b8f3d4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-07-12 / Nenhuma / Perante o elevado número de obras e projetos em execução no Brasil, um estudo sobre a infraestrutura rodoviária de transportes, políticas públicas e a relação entre as duas se faz necessário. O presente estudo teve por objetivo avaliar as ações da política pública federal de transportes, relacionadas à infraestrutura rodoviária no estado do Rio Grande do Sul, no período compreendido entre os anos de 2007 e 2010, representadas pelo Plano Nacional de Logística de Transportes – PNLT e pelo Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento – PAC. Primeiramente foi realizada uma pesquisa sobre os principais conceitos, classificações e críticas concernentes à avaliação de políticas públicas. Em seguida foi realizado estudo sobre a infraestrutura rodoviária de transportes, incluindo o delineamento de sua atual situação no Brasil e no Rio Grande do Sul. Como forma de realizar a avaliação das ações da política de transporte, relativas à infraestrutura rodoviária foi efetuado o acompanhamento destas ações junto aos órgãos de governo relacionados ao tema, como o Ministério dos Transportes e o Departamento Nacional de Infraestrutura de Transportes. Além disso, foi realizada pesquisa de campo com o intuito de avaliar se as ações em questão vão ao encontro das necessidades de seus beneficiários representados pelos empresários do setor de transporte de cargas do Rio Grande do Sul. Esta pesquisa de campo foi realizada através de entrevistas e da remessa de questionários a vinte e nove transportadoras de cargas do referido estado, além da realização de entrevistas com integrantes das entidades representativas das empresas de transportes de cargas e das empresas industriais do estado. As pesquisas realizadas permitiram a conclusão de que as ações da política pública de transportes, relacionadas à infraestrutura rodoviária, desenvolvidas para o período de 2007 a 2010 para o estado do Rio Grande do Sul, estão com diversas obras em atraso e contemplam apenas em parte as necessidades das empresas de transportes de cargas do estado, devido à obsolescência das obras frente aos atuais volumes de tráfego. Esta obsolescência ocasiona aumento de custos e a consequente redução da competitividade, engessando o desenvolvimento e crescimento do setor. / Due to the high number of transport infrastructure projects in execution in Brazil, a study about transport infrastructure, mainly highways, public policies and the relation between them is needed. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the actions of public policies related to transport infrastructure, specially highways, developed in Rio Grande do Sul state between 2007 and 2010, represented by the National Transport Logistics Plan and the Growth Acceleration Program. Firstly, a research about the main concepts, classification and critics about public policies evaluation was made. Secondly, a study about transport infrastructure, mainly related to highways, including its actual situation in Brazil and in the state of Rio Grande do Sul was developed. In order to perform the evaluation, the actions related to highways` infrastructure were followed through government agencies related to the theme, as the Ministry of Transport and the National Transport Infrastructure Department. In addition, a field research was held, with the aim to evaluate if the related actions meet the necessities of its beneficiaries, represented by the entrepreneurs of load transport sector in Rio Grande do Sul. The field research was developed through interviews and transmition of questionnaires to twenty nine load transport companies situated in the previously referred state, besides the interviews with local members of load transport and industrial companies’ representative’s entities. The research performed enables to reach the conclusion that actions of transport public policy, related to highways infrastructure, developed to the period of 2007 to 2010 in Rio Grande do Sul state, contain several projects which are delayed and contain only part of the necessities of load transport companies situated in the state. This is a consequence of outdated projects comparing to the actual level of traffic volume. The obsolete projects increase costs, specially related to maintenance, consequently reducing competitiveness and plastering the sector´s development and growth.

<p>The essay discusses a process of change at probationservice office. The purpose of the change was to decrease specialisation and increase flexibility of the probation officers. The change encountered several problems where the correctional supervisor was percieved to act unsurely and indecisively whilst parts of the staff constructed and implimented several courses of action to prevent the process of change.</p> / <p>Uppsatsen behandlar en förändringsprocess på ett frivårdskontor. Förändringen syftade till att minska specialiseringen och öka flexibiliteten hos frivårdsinspektörerna. Förändringsprocessen stötte på flera problem där kriminalvårdsinspektören upplevdes agera osäkert och veligt samtidigt som delar av personalgruppen konstruerade och använde sig av flertalet handlingsstrategier för att motverka förändringen.</p>

<p>In this study a process evaluation of the action planning process of the HealthKick programme in disadvantaged primary school settings in the Western Cape was conducted. A qualitative methodology was adopted to best determine the experiences of the participants and the underlying factors involved. Four schools were randomly selected to participate. Four focus group discussions were conducted with educators, and four in-depth interviews were conducted with principals and champions at schools, (champions are either an educator or school governing body member selected to be the driver of the project at each school, as well as the liaison person between the school and the HealthKick project team). Semi-structured interview guides were used to steer the discussions. Interviews and focus groups were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. The data was thematically analysed with the assistance of Atlas ti computer software. The results of this study indicated that the action planning process did not take place as designed by the project team. Several challenges were identified and experienced by participants. The results further indicated that the challenges of time, workload and competing priorities were intrinsically linked. Positive experiences were also reported and various enablers to the process were identified, such as the facilitation process, the receipt of the resource toolkit as well as the complementary nature of the HealthKick curriculum to the normal academic curriculum.</p>

The essay discusses a process of change at probationservice office. The purpose of the change was to decrease specialisation and increase flexibility of the probation officers. The change encountered several problems where the correctional supervisor was percieved to act unsurely and indecisively whilst parts of the staff constructed and implimented several courses of action to prevent the process of change. / Uppsatsen behandlar en förändringsprocess på ett frivårdskontor. Förändringen syftade till att minska specialiseringen och öka flexibiliteten hos frivårdsinspektörerna. Förändringsprocessen stötte på flera problem där kriminalvårdsinspektören upplevdes agera osäkert och veligt samtidigt som delar av personalgruppen konstruerade och använde sig av flertalet handlingsstrategier för att motverka förändringen.

<p>In this study a process evaluation of the action planning process of the HealthKick programme in disadvantaged primary school settings in the Western Cape was conducted. A qualitative methodology was adopted to best determine the experiences of the participants and the underlying factors involved. Four schools were randomly selected to participate. Four focus group discussions were conducted with educators, and four in-depth interviews were conducted with principals and champions at schools, (champions are either an educator or school governing body member selected to be the driver of the project at each school, as well as the liaison person between the school and the HealthKick project team). Semi-structured interview guides were used to steer the discussions. Interviews and focus groups were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. The data was thematically analysed with the assistance of Atlas ti computer software. The results of this study indicated that the action planning process did not take place as designed by the project team. Several challenges were identified and experienced by participants. The results further indicated that the challenges of time, workload and competing priorities were intrinsically linked. Positive experiences were also reported and various enablers to the process were identified, such as the facilitation process, the receipt of the resource toolkit as well as the complementary nature of the HealthKick curriculum to the normal academic curriculum.</p>

The research was directed at assessing the strengths and weaknesses in the application-to-approval process of social grants up to the payment of social grants at pay-points in the South African Social Security Agency (hereafter SASSA). The general aim of the research project was to assess the application-to-approval process of grant administration in SASSA up to the payment of social grants at pay-points. The specific objectives of the study were therefore: * To describe the current application-to-approval process of grant administration; * To assess the strengths and weaknesses in the grant administration process of specified administrative procedures and structural issues as perceived by attesting officials (front-line staff responsible for taking down the grant applications), data-capturer officials (staff responsible for capturing the information on the application form onto the SOCPEN system, pay-point team members (staff responsible for rendering services at pay-points) and beneficiaries at pay-points; and * To provide a report on the strengths and weaknesses of the grant administration process from application to pay-out to the top management of SASSA. The study was conducted in two regions, namely the Northern Cape and the Western Cape. Various offices in the Northern Cape and the Western Cape were therefore part of the research. The grant administration process from application-to-approval includes various stages. The staff members include the screening official (step one) who checks the completeness of the required documentation, followed by attesting official (step two) who takes down the application and captures it on SOCPEN and then forwards it to the next level, namely quality control (step three). Thereafter a verifying official verifies the information captured on SOCPEN against documentation submitted and approves or rejects the application on SOCPEN (step four). Staff at pay-points (where beneficiaries receive their payments) and beneficiaries at pay-points were also part of the research focus. Four different data-collection instruments were therefore used during the research project. The first data-collection instrument was designed to collect data on the actual grant application process and problems and strengths in this regard (questionnaire front-line staff). The empirical investigation revealed the following with regard to the front-line staff: * The majority of front-line staff have considerable working experience (more than five years) in SASSA; * The majority of front-line staff have inadequate work space; * Training, supervision and mentoring support from supervisors and colleagues occurs haphazardly; * The majority of front-line staff receive between 11-29 applications per day and spent 30 minutes or less to take down an application; * Policy documents that regulate the implementation of new policy changes are not always available; * Grant application files get misplaced or lost after processing; * Staff carelessness is one of the main reasons why files get lost or misplaced and * Front-line staff experience technical difficulties with the computer on a regular basis and it takes one to three days to resolve technical difficulties. The second data-collection instrument was developed to collect data on the capturing of the application (questionnaire data-capturer) onto the SOCPEN system. The empirical investigation revealed the following with regard to data-capturers: * The majority of data-capturers have solid work experience as data-capturers in SASSA although some data-capturers have inadequate work space; * Training on the implementation of new policy changes occurs irregularly; * Supervision, mentoring and support from supervisors happen haphazardly; * Data-capturers receive between 20 and 29 applications per day and they capture all applications successfully; * Data-capturers receive support from colleagues on a more regular basis than from supervisors; * Documents or guidelines that regulate the implementation of policy changes are not always available in the work place; * Applications sometimes get misplaced or lost after capturing; * No proper mechanisms are in place to record the movement of files, staff carelessness and either lack of office space or filing space, are the main reasons why applications get lost or misplaced; * Data-capturers sometimes experience technical problems with computers and it takes one to less than five days to resolve technical difficulties; * Data-capturers receive sometimes incomplete applications from the attesting officials (those staff officials who are responsible for taking down the application) and they usually take such applications back to the first attesting officer; * Backlogs in the capturing and approving of normal applications exist and staff shortages and system-related problems are the main reasons why backlogs exist; * Backlogs exist with regard to the capturing and approving of review cases and * Staff shortages, a centralized review management approach, lack of office space and lack of connectivity points constitute the main reasons why review backlogs exist. The third data-collection instrument (questionnaire pay-point team member) was developed to measure services at pay-points and to determine the problems experienced at pay-points. The empirical investigation revealed the following with regard to this category as seen by pay-point team members: * Some pay-points are not disabled-friendly; * There are not always enough chairs, toilet facilities or drinking water available at pay-points; * Payment contractors and SASSA staff sometimes arrive late at pay-points; * Payments are usually delayed between 15 minutes to less than an hour, but beneficiaries are not always informed about delays; * There are sometimes broken machines at pay-points and this causes 15 to 45 minutes delay in payments; * There is not always enough money at pay-points and it takes an hour to just under two hours to get more money; * Grant recipients hardly ever receive wrong grant amounts; * Hawkers and vendors operate mainly outside the pay-point; * Security guards are available at pay-points and there is access control at pay-points (mainly driven by security guards from the payment contractor) * Not all pay-points are fenced all round and * First Aid kits are available at pay-points most of the time. The fourth data-collection instrument (questionnaire for beneficiaries) was developed to target the beneficiaries who receive grant payments at pay-points. The empirical investigation revealed the following: * Some pay-points are not disabled-friendly; * There are not always enough chairs, toilet facilities or drinking water available at pay-points; * Payment contractors and SASSA staff sometimes arrive late at pay-points; * Payments are usually delayed between 15 minutes to less than an hour, but beneficiaries are not always informed about delays; * There are sometimes broken machines at pay-points and this causes 15 to 45 minutes‟ delay in payments; * There is not always enough money at pay-points and it takes an hour to less than two hours to get more money; * Grant recipients rarely receive wrong grant amounts; * Hawkers and vendors operate mainly outside the pay-point, but there are exceptional cases where they operate inside the pay-points; * Beneficiaries do feel safe at pay-points most of the time; * Beneficiaries mostly live within walking distance from the pay-point; * Beneficiaries hardly experience problems at pay-points and if they do, their problems get resolved; * Not all pay-points provide shelter from the elements; * Beneficiaries are satisfied with the services SASSA renders and the grant has improved their quality of life. Grant administration processes in SASSA are labour-intensive and officials play a vital role in the correct administration of social grants. The study has revealed that although there is clearly some strength in the grant administration process from application-to-approval up the payment of social grants at pay-points, it is unfortunately true that the weaknesses are overwhelming. / Thesis (PhD (Social Work))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013