This thesis reports the results of a single site case study conducted in Barracks High School, a comprehensive High School in metropolitan Sydney. The focus of the study was the relationship between student participation and school context in Barracks High. Underpinning the study is the notion of 'meaningful' participation: that is, participation by students that has real meaning to them, to teachers, and for the real work of the school. This notion is explored in the review of related literature, and in the results of the study as they are presented in the thesis. The study involved persistent researcher engagement in school life, leading at times to forms of 'intervention research'.A highlight of the research was the identification and dissemination by the researcher of participant 'voices' within Barracks High as a means of drawing attention to participation issues in the school. The study found that contextual dimensions at Barracks High operated at a ratio of two to one against the achievement of meaningful forms of student participation. The thesis concludes by suggesting that complex problems require holistic solutions, and suggests a framework of principles and strategies for building meaningful participation in schools / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 121-125).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 121-125) Also available in print.

This thesis traces the evolution of learner participation in school governance in South Africa, identifies international trends in school governance, particularly learner participation, and then analyses the progress made in South Africa in moving from policy to praxis in this regard. I have discussed the contextual forces that have influenced the production of the policy text on learner participation in the South African Schools Act. This is followed by an analysis of how the policy text has been interpreted and implemented at provincial level in the Western Cape, taking provincial legislation, regulations, circulars, and the capacity building programme that was implemented into consideration. I also look at how the whole process was experienced at institutional (school) level, and how the policy was interpreted and implemented. I also evaluate the phenomenon of learner participation in school governance in terms of promoting the principles of transformation, placing particular emphasis on the promotion of democratic practices in South Africa.<br /> In conclusion I contend that the present policy of learner participation in school governance does reflect the resolve of the National Government to promote the principle of participation by all stakeholders in matters affecting them. However, the study has shown that the implementation of the policy at provincial and institutional level has not been as effective as it might have been and has hampered the development of praxis in learner participation. This has hindered learners from making meaningful contributions towards the attainment of the goals as set out in the constitution. Furthermore, present rumblings of curtailing the powers of the school governing bodies because of limited progress in attaining the above goals seem to be a retrogressive step. I strongly contend that given the support, training and encouragement as set out in Article 19(2) of SASA, learner participation in school governance can make a positive contribution towards attaining the goals of transformation in our country, particularly of advancing democratic practices in our society.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how learners work collaboratively during their astronomy quiz preparation. Research has been conducted extensively on cooperative and collaborative learning, however not much has been done to investigate learners preparations in quizzes. There has been very little research done on learners‟ interactions and behaviour but more on comparing learners‟ performance individually with when they work collaboratively. The subjects of this study were five schools from the Gauteng West district comprising of teams made up of four learners. These five teams were observed and two members per team interviewed. The teams were observed in order to understand how they interact with each other and the roles assumed by each member and the teacher. The use of interviews was to get more understanding of the benefits of the team and also find out if the quiz contributed in their astronomy content gain. The results show that all teams had an understanding of their roles and responsibilities as members, however only two teams displayed more commitment to attain the goal by advancing to further rounds of the astronomy quiz. In view of the findings I concluded that collaborative testing is an effective strategy for improving learning and potentially for the retention of content. Keywords Collaborative learning Collaborative testing Peer collaboration Astronomy quiz

The purpose of this study was to examine how students perceive the most common methods of recruitment for research participation, and whether these recruitment strategies are perceived by the participants to be coercive. Ethical research guidelines prohibit the use of coercion in recruiting participants. Previous studies in this area have either focused on the perceptions of the researchers, or have approached the concept of coercion in a limited way. This study treated coercion as a multidimensional construct and examined student perceptions. Additionally, participant responses indicated which recruitment practices resulted in a decision to participate in the research. Findings indicate that some of the most common research recruitment methods are perceived by students to be coercive.

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence why students attend or do not attend the fitness and recreation centers provided to them on campus. With the obesity epidemic growing substantially over the past several decades, it has consequentially affected a vast majority of the nation, including the college-age population. In response to this, the use of fitness and recreation centers on college campuses and universities has become a focal point for administrators and recreation center managers as a focus on student recruitment and retention. The study utilized an online questionnaire which was adapted and revised from a prior survey and corresponding research that assessed fitness and recreation center usage within the college population (Zizzi, Ayers, Watson & Keeler, 2004). The survey used for collection of data in this study assessed factors related to college students’ usage or non-usage of campus recreational facilities by college students. It was distributed to a random sample of 1,100 undergraduate students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania through their student e-mail account. Results from the data collected in this study revealed that users were more likely to be male, Caucasian, non-smokers, and have no health concerns, which is representative of prior research on fitness and recreation center participation. Factors related to usage of the recreational facilities included maintaining one’s current weight as well as weight loss. Factors that influenced occasional non-usage in the user group were lack of time and energy, too much schoolwork, and inadequate facility operational hours. A factor related to non-usage included proximity of the recreational facility in relation to the students’ living arrangements. University administrators and fitness and recreation center managers need to be conscious of the factors that influence usage for the purpose of encouraging student recruitment and retention. Higher levels of usage will increase physical activity and influence health and wellness in the college population. / Dr. Robert Kostelnik Dr. Robert Alman Dr. Joshua Castle

This study was designed to analyse university presidents' perceptions of the student role in university governance. A comparison of these perceptions was made with the written policies and with student perceptions of actual student participation in the governance process on the individual campuses. These comparisons were made to determine if the presidential responses were congruent with or divergent from the stated policies and the perceived practices. The areas of university governance that were investigated were: faculty concerns, student services, physical plant, academics, and administrative concerns. A review of literature was conducted to determine what areas should be considered when dealing with student participation in the university governance process. This information provided a basis from which a questionnaire was developed for the purpose of interviewing university presidents, student leaders, and student government advisors. Handbooks, policy manuals, and other documents stating policies were obtained from the sample institutions to ascertain what the written policies were for each campus. The interviews with the student leaders and advisors provided information that was used to determine the student-perceived practice of university governance on each campus. A content analysis was made of the presidential responses and then the comparisons were made and placed on tables to simplify recording the information. The findings of the study indicate that there are many varied perceptions among university presidents in regard to the student role in university governance. The highest rate of congruency with stated policy and with student-perceived practice on campus came in the area of student services. The lowest rates of congruency were found in both the academic concerns and the administrative concerns. There were no strong patterns shown in making comparisons based on the type of institution, state or private, or the size of the institution, the three largest institutions as compared to the three smallest institutions. In the beginning of the study two predictions were made in regard to the presidential responses. These predictions were stated as follows: (1) The presidents' perceptions of the student role in university governance of state institutions will be more divergent from the stated policies on the student role in university governance than the perceptions of presidents of private institutions. (2) The smaller the institution, the more congruent the presidential perceptions of the student role in university governance will be with the student-perceived practice of university governance. In the final analysis, that made by totaling all responses, it can be concluded that prediction number one is true. The final analysis proves prediction number two to be false. There is a higher rate of congruency among the larger institution presidents than among the smaller institution presidents.

No description available.

Denna studie handlar om barns inflytande och delaktighet och på vilket sätt lärare låter barn vara delaktiga i förskola och skola. Syftet med studien är att problematisera och visa på hur verksamma lärare i förskolan och grundskolan arbetar för att barn ska bli delaktiga och ha inflytande över sin egen vardag och om barn tillåts bestämma. Studien bygger på intervjuer med fem förskollärare och fyra grundskollärare. Resultatet visar att barn inflytande och delaktighet skiljer sig åt mellan förskolan och grundskolan och att innebörden av inflytande och delaktighet skiljer sig åt i verksamheterna. Våra intervjusvar pekar på att förskollärarna lägger fokus på barns idéer och initiativ och att barnen är delaktiga i de lärandeprocesser som sker i förskolan. Dock visar vår undersökning att pedagogerna har det yttersta ansvaret i att ta vara på dessa idéer och initiativ och utifrån dessa forma verksamheten. Intervjusvaren med grundskollärarna visar att barn inflytande och delaktighet i grundskolan är begränsat till att barn enbart kan påverka en mindre del av vardagens planering. Det vill säga att i resultatet synliggörs en mer lärarstyrd verksamhet i grundskolan än den som framträder i förskola.