This thesis deals with the quality of e-learning from the perspective of employees in Czech companies. The aim of the study was to detect the most common shortcomings of current solutions and see which properties, methods, and practices improve the quality and efficiency. Based on these findings, the author makes recommendations to suppliers and creates e-learning courses that address these shortfalls. In the theoretical part, the concept of e-learning is defined, its forms, types, advantages, disadvantages, standards and development methods, such as ADDIE and Rapid e-learning are desribed. Research in the practical section showed that the quality, which has been calculated as mean of evaluated criteria, is 3.7 points out of 5. Potential improvement was observed especially in organisation-wide training (eg workflows) supplied as ready-made solutions. The author created a course for Microsoft Project 2013 in Articulate Storyline that demonstrates best practices and solutions to the problems revealed in the questionnaire.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in partial fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Education in the Department Educational Planning & Administration at the University of Zululand, 2017 / This investigation studied the challenges faced by the School Management Teams in promoting quality teaching and learning. The outcry of unsatisfied and demotivated educators and the poor academic performance of learners that is experienced as a result of challenges faced by SMTs in their daily function of school management, administration and leadership prompted me to conduct this investigation. Most South African schools, particularly the state schools perform poorly. It is believed that this study will alert the stakeholders in the education fraternity about challenges encountered and contributions each stakeholder has to make to help remedy the situation. The interpretive paradigm was used and the research design was qualitative. I generated data by means of literature reviewed and empirical research. The multi-case or multiple collective case study method was used for data collection. Data gathering techniques used were the semi-structured interviews for both individuals (school principals) and Focus Groups (all other SMTs excluding the principal), observation, documents and artefacts. Three data gathering techniques were used in order to ascertain credibility and trustworthiness of the results. The tools used were the Interview Schedule, Observation Checklist, Field Notes Pads, and the Voice Recorder. The research covers areas which include problems encountered by SMTs that result in poor academic performance, the role of the SMTs in promoting quality teaching and learning, and measures to employ in solving problems encountered. The findings indicated that some practices and policies of the department of education, uncommitted employees and the lack of full involvement of stakeholders, particularly parents and learners, affect academic results. Urban, township and rural schools are all challenged, but the complexity of problems encountered varied, as did the performance standard. Recommendations made include reviewing departmental policies and practices, giving incentives to hardworking employees, and the need for stakeholders to join hands in supporting teaching and learning in South Africa.

This study investigated why professional development courses that are taken by educators at the Research and Curriculum Unit (RCU) of Mississippi State University (MSU) were or were not completed. By considering the results from this investigation, the course developers for future online courses can improve the courses offered to help increase participant retention. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> There were 4 research questions investigated for this study to help understand how to improve future course offerings: style='mso-spacerun:yes'> style='msoareastontamily:"Times New Roman"'>1. style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> Why did the participants of online professional development enroll initially? style='msoareastontamily:"Times New Roman"'>2. style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> Why did the completers finish the online professional development? style='msoareastontamily:"Times New Roman"'>3. style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> Why did the non-completers not finish the online professional development? style='msoareastontamily:"Times New Roman"'>4. style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> What does the facilitator perceive as the reasons completers complete and non-completers do not complete the course? Data for this study were from 10 online professional development courses taken by educators through the RCU. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The participants agreeing to participate were asked to complete a beginning and ending survey and an end-of-course evaluation. They were also asked to participate in an interview when the online professional course was finished. Facilitators of the online professional development courses completed a beginning survey and participated in interviews. Recommendations were made for future researchers and online course developers. style='msoareastontamily:"Times New Roman"'>1. style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>Participants pay for the online professional development course before the course begins. style='msoareastontamily:"Times New Roman"'>2. style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> All courses have posted technical requirements for participants to have a successful course completion. style='msoareastontamily:"Times New Roman"'>3. style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> Courses should have multiple modes of delivery of information to participants – email, discussion boards, wikis, blogs, and virtual classrooms to name only a few options. style='msoareastontamily:"Times New Roman"'>4. style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> Ways to increase completion rates should be investigated. style='msoareastontamily:"Times New Roman"'>5. style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>The RCU should institute a research policy for every course where enrollees are tracked. style='msoareastontamily:"Times New Roman"'>6. style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>As part of RCU quality assurance, the format of the surveys should be investigated. style='msoareastontamily:"Times New Roman"'>7. style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> Future studies include courses from other entities over a longer time frame. style='msoareastontamily:"Times New Roman"'>8. style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> Future studies should investigate payment options of other entities offering online professional development. style='msoareastontamily:"Times New Roman"'>9. style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> Facilitator differences should be analyzed in future studies. style='msoareastontamily:"Times New Roman"'>10. style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> Future studies should investigate other entities’ facilr practices.

In data science, machine learning methods, such as deep learning and other AI algorithms, have been widely used in many applications. These machine learning methods often have complicated model structures with a large number of model parameters and a set of hyperparameters. Moreover, these machine learning methods are data-driven in nature. Thus, it is not easy to provide a comprehensive evaluation on the performance of these machine learning methods with respect to the data quality and hyper-parameters of the algorithms. In the statistical literature, design of experiments (DoE) is a set of systematical methods to effectively investigate the effects of input factors for the complex systems. There are few works focusing on the use of DoE methodology for evaluating the quality assurance of AI algorithms, while an AI algorithm is naturally a complex system. An understanding of the quality of Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms is important for confidently deploying them in real applications such as cybersecurity, healthcare, and autonomous driving. In this proposal, I aim to develop a set of novel methods on the interface between experimental design and machine learning, providing a systematical framework of using DoE methodology for AI algorithms. This proposal contains six chapters. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction of design of experiments, machine learning, and surrogate modeling. Chapter 2 focuses on investigating the robustness of AI classification algorithms by conducting a comprehensive set of mixture experiments. Chapter 3 proposes a so-called Do-AIQ framework of using DoE for evaluating the AI algorithm’s quality assurance. I establish a design-of-experiment framework to construct an efficient space-filling design in a high-dimensional constraint space and develop an effective surrogate model using additive Gaussian process to enable the quality assessment of AI algorithms. Chapter 4 introduces a framework to generate continual learning (CL) datsets for cybersecurity applications. Chapter 5 presents a variable selection method under cumulative exposure model for time-to-event data with time-varying covariates. Chapter 6 provides the summary of the entire dissertation. / Doctor of Philosophy / Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, including machine learning and deep learning algorithms, are widely used in various applications in the era of big data. While these algorithms have impressed the public with their remarkable performance, their underlying mechanisms are often highly complex and difficult to interpret. As a result, it becomes challenging to comprehensively evaluate the overall performance and quality of these algorithms. The Design of Experiments (DoE) offers a valuable set of tools for studying and understanding the underlying mechanisms of complex systems, thereby facilitating improvements. DoE has been successfully applied in diverse areas such as manufacturing, agriculture, and healthcare. The use of DoE has played a crucial role in enhancing processes and ensuring high quality. However, there are few works focusing on the use of DoE methodology for evaluating the quality assurance of AI algorithms, where an AI algorithm can be naturally considered as a complex system. This dissertation aims to develop innovative methodologies on the interface between experimental design and machine learning. The research conducted in this dissertation can serve as practical tools to use DoE methodology in the context of AI algorithms.

<p>The aim with this master thesis is to analyze a scientific material concerning the context between learning and child/student development, and factors which controls process of learning, to create an image with quality account and teaching in mathematics, which then can raise the mathematical knowledge among students.</p><p>The phenomena which stand in focus for the investigation is: <em>why there is a negative tendency for development of knowledge in mathematics, among the Swedish students that TIMSSs investigations showed </em>in intercultural comparison within the years 1993, 1999, 2003 and 2007.</p><p>The method is the ethnographical method, which is based on: analyzing scientific theories about learning child/student development, factors which controls process of learning, and factors which controls process of learning the most and qualitative empiric investigation with qualitatively analyzes the questionnaires, which is about factors which are controlling the process of learning and factors which are controlling the process of learning the most.</p><p>Result of the theoretical and empiric analyzes shows that factors as school environment, attitude for subjects and teaching, controls and influence the learning. To end a unenthusiastic tendency as a negative development of mathematical knowledge among students that is shown in TIMSS investigation and to elevate the students' performance in mathematics, an elevated qualitative account and teaching in mathematics, by the factors named. Safe school environments as the intercultural meeting place, the teachers influence part to the students' subjects' attitude in mathematics and goal related grading criteria in teaching, is all required for e qualitative teaching in mathematics.</p>

The aim with this master thesis is to analyze a scientific material concerning the context between learning and child/student development, and factors which controls process of learning, to create an image with quality account and teaching in mathematics, which then can raise the mathematical knowledge among students. The phenomena which stand in focus for the investigation is: why there is a negative tendency for development of knowledge in mathematics, among the Swedish students that TIMSSs investigations showed in intercultural comparison within the years 1993, 1999, 2003 and 2007. The method is the ethnographical method, which is based on: analyzing scientific theories about learning child/student development, factors which controls process of learning, and factors which controls process of learning the most and qualitative empiric investigation with qualitatively analyzes the questionnaires, which is about factors which are controlling the process of learning and factors which are controlling the process of learning the most. Result of the theoretical and empiric analyzes shows that factors as school environment, attitude for subjects and teaching, controls and influence the learning. To end a unenthusiastic tendency as a negative development of mathematical knowledge among students that is shown in TIMSS investigation and to elevate the students' performance in mathematics, an elevated qualitative account and teaching in mathematics, by the factors named. Safe school environments as the intercultural meeting place, the teachers influence part to the students' subjects' attitude in mathematics and goal related grading criteria in teaching, is all required for e qualitative teaching in mathematics.

In an increasingly digitised world, the pedagogy of education is at risk of being dictated by technological advancement. As fragments of teaching practice left over from previous curricula are adapted and amalgamated into new curricula, the educational landscape becomes a sea of learning terminologies used interchangeably. In many cases these terminologies are then disconnected from an underlying understanding of what learning is and how the best possible form and quality of learning can be brought about. Two recent technological advancements in the field of education is Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) and the MakerSpace movement. However, these fields need to be engaged with as avenues of investigation in the pursuit of the highest possible learning quality outcome required by a world that is super-complex. Through comprehensive literature research, the researcher first presented an in-depth argument detailing what learning is, what the highest quality of learning is and how this learning quality can be measured. The literature revealed a particular professional practice of “facilitating lifelong authentic learning” of which the sole purpose is achieving exactly that. In this mixed method research project, an attempt was made to re-connect the technological advancement of online learning with the theoretical framework of the learning process as laid down by Vygotsky, particularly through the Zone of Proximal Development. Within the context of a MakerSpace subject, the researcher attempted to determine how the identified practice of facilitating lifelong authentic learning would ensure the increase in the quality of learning in online groups where MakerSpace learners were required to resolve a real-life challenge. An experiment then followed where a professional facilitator of learning was present in the experimental groups, while the control groups attempted to resolve the challenge un-facilitated. A comparison of the analysis of chat transcriptions indicated that on average the quality of learning was higher in facilitated groups. Interview data collected after the experiment shed light on this finding and suggested that the quality of learning in an online group increases when a facilitator of learning increases the level of difficulty of the real-life challenge as perceived by the group’s dominant participant (the person who contributes the most to the group dialogue). This not only indicated the value of Facilitating Learning in an online learning evnvironment, but also highlighted its necessity in terms of improving the quality of the learning. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Humanities Education / PhD / Unrestricted

Temos aktualumas. Lietuvai tapus Europos Sąjungos nare, užsienio kalbų mokėjimas tapo labai aktualus ir svarbus veiksnys, kuris leistų gyventojams efektingai dalyvauti Europos švietimo, ekonominėje, socialinėje, kultūrinėje erdvėje. Tai skatina aiškintis anglų kalbos mokymo(si) problemas ir ieškoti būdų, kurie užtikrintų galimybes sėkmingai mokytis užsienio kalbos. Taigi labai svarbu išsiaiškinti veiksnius, kurie turi įtakos mokymosi kokybei. Aktualūs yra psichologiniai, pedagoginiai, socialiniai veiksniai, kurie įtakoja ne tik mokymąsi mokykloje, bet ir mokymąsi namuose. Vaiko gebėjimą mokytis nulemia asmeninės savybės, jį supanti aplinka ( mokyklos bei namų ), pačio mokinio ir tėvų bei mokytojų požiūris į mokymąsi. Gerų rezultatų siekimas mokymosi procese susijęs su demokratiškumo ir formaliojo ugdymo derinimu. Tuomet galima pasiekti gerų ugdymo rezultatų bei išugdyti visavertę, įvairiapusišką, daugiaplanę asmenybę. Todėl šiame darbe kalbama apie vaikų ugdymą demokratinėje kultūroje, ugdymą gerumu ir meile, patirtimi grįstą mokymą; lyginamas tradicinis užsienio kalbos mokymas ir mokymas orientuotas į vaiko patyrimą Anot V. Lepeškienės (1996), daugiausia išmoksta atviras naujam patyrimui vaikas. Problema. Mokykloje mokymas labiau orientuotas į dalyką, o ne į vaiko patyrimą. Formalus ugdymas ne visuomet susijęs su vaiko patirtimi, todėl vaikams trūksta neformalaus mokymosi patirties, įgytos žinios neformalioje aplinkoje nėra taikomos mokykloje. Anot Ralfo Weskampo (1999)... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The relevance of the topic nowadays. Knowledge of the foreign languages is a relevant and an important factor, which lets for people to take part in European education, economic, social and cultural expansion. It encourages us to find out the problems of learning English language and to find the ways, which ensure possibilities of successful English language learning. So it is very important to find out the factors, which influence quality of the learning. Relevant factors are: psychological, pedagogical and social. These factors influence not only learning at school, but learning at home too. Pupil’s ability to learn determines personal characteristic, surroundings (of school and home), student’s, his parents’ and teacher’s attitude to the learning. Seeking of good education results is concerned with combine of democracy and formal education. Then it can be achieved good education results and acquired fully-fledged, well-rounded, manifold personality. That’s why in this work it is written about child’s education in democracy culture, about education based on love and goodness, about experiential learning; traditional English teaching and teaching based on child’s experience is compared. According A. Lepeskiene (1996), child, who is open to new experience, learns mostly. The problem. Teaching is based on a subject at school, not on child’s experience. Formal education nor always is concerned with child’s experience, so children are lack of informal learning experience, the... [to full text]

<p>There have been calls both from the government and private sector for Higher Education institutions to introduce programmes that produce employable graduates whilst at the same time contributing to the growing economy of the country by addressing the skills shortage. Transformation and intervention committees have since been introduced to follow the extent to which the challenges are being addressed (DOE, 1996 / 1997 / Luescher and Symes, 2003 / Forbes, 2007). Amongst the list of issues that needed urgent address were the skills shortage and underperformance of students particularly university entering students (Daniels, 2007 / De Klerk, 2006 / Cooper, 2001). Research particularly in the South African context, has revealed that contributing to the underperformance of university entering students and shortage of skills are: the legacy of apartheid (forcing certain racial groups to focus on selected areas such as teaching and nursing), the schooling system (resulting in university entering students to struggle), the home language and academic language. Barrell (1998), places stress on language as a contributing factor towards the performance of students. Although not much research has been done on skills shortage, most of the areas with skills shortage require Mathematics, either on a minimum or comprehensive scale. Students who have a strong Mathematics background have proved to perform better compared to students who have a limited or no Mathematics background at all in Grade 12 (Hahn, 1988 / Conners, McCown &amp / Roskos-Ewoldsen, 1998 / Nolan, 2002).The department of Statistics offers an Introductory Statistics (IS) course at first year level. Resources available to enhance student learning include: a problem-solving component with web-based tutorials and students attending lectures three hours per week. The course material and all the necessary information regarding the course including teach yourself problems, useful web-sites and links students can make use of, are all stored under the Knowledge- Environment for Web-based learning (KEWL). Despite all the available information, the students were not performing well and they were not interested in the course. The department regards statistical numeracy as a life skill. The desire of the department is to break down the fear of Statistics and to bring about a perspective change in students&rsquo / mindsets. The study was part of a contribution to ensuring that the department has the best first year students in Statistics in the Western Cape achieving a success rate comparable to the national norm.</p>

<p>There have been calls both from the government and private sector for Higher Education institutions to introduce programmes that produce employable graduates whilst at the same time contributing to the growing economy of the country by addressing the skills shortage. Transformation and intervention committees have since been introduced to follow the extent to which the challenges are being addressed (DOE, 1996 / 1997 / Luescher and Symes, 2003 / Forbes, 2007). Amongst the list of issues that needed urgent address were the skills shortage and underperformance of students particularly university entering students (Daniels, 2007 / De Klerk, 2006 / Cooper, 2001). Research particularly in the South African context, has revealed that contributing to the underperformance of university entering students and shortage of skills are: the legacy of apartheid (forcing certain racial groups to focus on selected areas such as teaching and nursing), the schooling system (resulting in university entering students to struggle), the home language and academic language. Barrell (1998), places stress on language as a contributing factor towards the performance of students. Although not much research has been done on skills shortage, most of the areas with skills shortage require Mathematics, either on a minimum or comprehensive scale. Students who have a strong Mathematics background have proved to perform better compared to students who have a limited or no Mathematics background at all in Grade 12 (Hahn, 1988 / Conners, McCown &amp / Roskos-Ewoldsen, 1998 / Nolan, 2002).The department of Statistics offers an Introductory Statistics (IS) course at first year level. Resources available to enhance student learning include: a problem-solving component with web-based tutorials and students attending lectures three hours per week. The course material and all the necessary information regarding the course including teach yourself problems, useful web-sites and links students can make use of, are all stored under the Knowledge- Environment for Web-based learning (KEWL). Despite all the available information, the students were not performing well and they were not interested in the course. The department regards statistical numeracy as a life skill. The desire of the department is to break down the fear of Statistics and to bring about a perspective change in students&rsquo / mindsets. The study was part of a contribution to ensuring that the department has the best first year students in Statistics in the Western Cape achieving a success rate comparable to the national norm.</p>