This thesis presents an analysis of 1996/97 survey research data regarding the relationship between three types of Teton Science School (TSS) programs and classroom teachers ' ability to teach about the environment. Based on observations by resident instructors and faculty at TSS, three research questions were developed. The primary objective of the research questions was to consider the relationship between TSS residential education programs and participating teachers' ability to teach about the environment. Analyses are based on comparing descriptive statistics of teachers who have participated in one of the three types ofTSS programs or a combination of the three types of programs. Where appropriate, first-order distributional comparisons are considered. Findings of the thesis include: 1) in general, teachers who participate in TSS programs reported doing a great deal of teaching about the environment and have a positive attitude toward environmental education (EE); 2) both TSS residential education programs and outreach programs, although specifically designed for students, help teachers to incorporate EE into their teaching; 3) specific components of TSS teacher workshops, TSS residential education programs, and TSS outreach programs, which include spending time outdoors and observing others teach, were rated very highly by participating teachers for teachers' ability to incorporate EE into their teaching. This thesis supports the idea that teacher training in environmental education can include programs that are designed for students, specifically participation in residential education programs. This thesis contributes to the future design of programs at TSS and similar centers and to the literature on long-term evaluation studies in EE, specifically teacher training in EE.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-104).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-104). Also available in print.

This study determined whether there was a relationship between the responses of teachers to teacher competency tests, measures of self-concept, and locus of control. The study was designed to investigate the issue of student and cooperating teachers responses toward testing. Fifty-five student teachers from Old Dominion University and Virginia Wesleyan College were paired with cooperating teachers from the school systems of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Chesapeake, Virginia. To determine their responses toward competency testing of teachers, a critiqued questionnaire was administered to this population. The Rotter Locus Of Control (1965) was given to determine if an individual viewed control of one's life from an internal or external perspective. In order to ascertain an individual's self-concept, the Tennessee Self Concept Scale was administered. The results from the instruments were analyzed using percentages and comparisons using the chi square test. Results indicated that there was no significant difference (< .05) in responses of teachers toward testing of teachers. No significant differences were found in how internals and externals viewed testing; nor were there significant differences found between those with high and low self concepts. Conclusions from the study indicate that student and cooperating teachers are not opposed to competency testing of teachers. The respondents felt that persons will not be encouraged or discouraged from entering the teaching profession because of their feelings about teacher testing or because of personality characteristics such as locus of control or self-concept. / Ed. D.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1984 T37 / Master of Science

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar o impacto da habilidade do professor sobre o desempenho escolar de seus alunos. Muitos estudos não encontram um efeito significativo para o \'professor\' em regressões de desempenho escolar. Uma possível explicação pode estar na fragilidade das variáveis que têm sido utilizadas para medir qualidade do professor - nível de escolaridade e experiência. Este estudo utilizou como proxy para identificar o traço latente ou habilidade do professor com o ensino, as questões da Prova Brasil de 2007 a respeito das características produtivas (investimento em capital humano) dos professores e das práticas didáticas adotadas em sala de aula para estimular a aprendizagem dos alunos. Com base em tais variáveis e utilizando a teoria de reposta ao item, foram construídos dois índices de habilidade do professor: um primeiro relativo às características de capital humano dos professores e um segundo relativo às práticas didáticas. A análise mostrou que os itens em geral utilizados neste exercício são itens fáceis, ou seja, um professor não precisa ter habilidade muito alta para ter 50% de chance de acertar o item. Embora alguns itens tenham mostrado bom poder de discriminação para professores com baixa habilidade, o reduzido grau de dificuldade e baixo poder de discriminação para a maior parte deles, geraram indicadores com baixa variabilidade em termos da habilidade dos professores. Tais resultados por sua vez implicaram em baixa correlação dos escores de habilidade identificados tanto com o perfil do professor (sexo, idade, raça, etc) quanto com o desempenho escolar dos alunos. / The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of the ability of the teacher on the academic performance of their students. Many studies find no significant effect for the \'teacher\' in regressions of scholar achievement. A possible explanation may lie in the fragility of the variables that have been used to measure the teachers quality - level of education and experience. This study used as a proxy to identify the latent trait or ability of the teacher with teaching, issues of race in Brazil in 2007 regarding their production (investment in human capital) of teachers and teaching practices adopted at the classroom to stimulate student learning. Based on these variables and using the Item Response Theory (IRT), we built two levels of skill of the teacher: a first on the characteristics of human resources for teachers and a second on teaching practices. The analysis showed that the items generally used in this exercise are items \'easy\', or a teacher does not need to have very high ability to have 50% chance of hitting the item. Although some items have shown good discriminatory power for teachers with low skill, the low degree of difficulty and low discrimination power for the most part, generated indicators with low variability in the ability of teachers. These results in turn led to low correlation of scores of ability identified both with the teacher\'s profile (gender, age, race, etc.) and with the performance of the students.

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar o impacto da habilidade do professor sobre o desempenho escolar de seus alunos. Muitos estudos não encontram um efeito significativo para o \'professor\' em regressões de desempenho escolar. Uma possível explicação pode estar na fragilidade das variáveis que têm sido utilizadas para medir qualidade do professor - nível de escolaridade e experiência. Este estudo utilizou como proxy para identificar o traço latente ou habilidade do professor com o ensino, as questões da Prova Brasil de 2007 a respeito das características produtivas (investimento em capital humano) dos professores e das práticas didáticas adotadas em sala de aula para estimular a aprendizagem dos alunos. Com base em tais variáveis e utilizando a teoria de reposta ao item, foram construídos dois índices de habilidade do professor: um primeiro relativo às características de capital humano dos professores e um segundo relativo às práticas didáticas. A análise mostrou que os itens em geral utilizados neste exercício são itens fáceis, ou seja, um professor não precisa ter habilidade muito alta para ter 50% de chance de acertar o item. Embora alguns itens tenham mostrado bom poder de discriminação para professores com baixa habilidade, o reduzido grau de dificuldade e baixo poder de discriminação para a maior parte deles, geraram indicadores com baixa variabilidade em termos da habilidade dos professores. Tais resultados por sua vez implicaram em baixa correlação dos escores de habilidade identificados tanto com o perfil do professor (sexo, idade, raça, etc) quanto com o desempenho escolar dos alunos. / The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of the ability of the teacher on the academic performance of their students. Many studies find no significant effect for the \'teacher\' in regressions of scholar achievement. A possible explanation may lie in the fragility of the variables that have been used to measure the teachers quality - level of education and experience. This study used as a proxy to identify the latent trait or ability of the teacher with teaching, issues of race in Brazil in 2007 regarding their production (investment in human capital) of teachers and teaching practices adopted at the classroom to stimulate student learning. Based on these variables and using the Item Response Theory (IRT), we built two levels of skill of the teacher: a first on the characteristics of human resources for teachers and a second on teaching practices. The analysis showed that the items generally used in this exercise are items \'easy\', or a teacher does not need to have very high ability to have 50% chance of hitting the item. Although some items have shown good discriminatory power for teachers with low skill, the low degree of difficulty and low discrimination power for the most part, generated indicators with low variability in the ability of teachers. These results in turn led to low correlation of scores of ability identified both with the teacher\'s profile (gender, age, race, etc.) and with the performance of the students.

Thesis (PhD (Education Policy Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The core question that is addressed in this dissertation is: “How can we think differently about education in order to transcend the predicament that outcomes-based assessment poses for teachers and the practice of teaching?” This question is addressed against the background of my own narrative and experience in education in South Africa and in dialogue with the ideas of a number of contemporary philosophers. I assume an internal link between the outcomes-based discourse and its attendant assessment system. I argue that although outcomes-based education is proclaimed to be a progressive pedagogy, an alternative argument can be made that characterises it as an old behaviourist, management theory, overlain by a new policy technology called performativity. Thereafter, I engage critically with outcomes-based assessment as a prime example of performativity. In the next step I explore the ways in which outcomes-based assessment poses a predicament to teachers and to the practice of teaching. I then construct an alternative view of education that, in my opinion, provides a way to transcend the predicament that outcomes-based assessment poses for teachers and the practice of teaching. I also compare my alternative view of education with a new notion of education as therapy and standing in need of therapy, which is also presented as an alternative to instrumental approaches to education. Thereafter I consider the implications of my alternative view of education for teachers and assessment. I consider potential critiques against my argument at various stages in this dissertation. In the final chapter, I anticipate five more potential critiques against the argument developed in this dissertation and give initial responses to these. At the end of this dissertation I extend an invitation to deliberation in the spirit of my alternative view of education. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die kernvraag wat in hierdie proefskrif aan bod kom, is: “Hoe kan ons anders dink oor onderwys sodat die penarie wat uitkomsgebaseerde assessering vir onderwysers en die onderwyspraktyk meebring, oorkom kan word? Die vraag word beredeneer teen die agtergrond van my eie narratief en ervaring in onderwys in Suid-Afrika en in dialoog met die idees van ’n aantal kontemporêre filosowe. Ek veronderstel ’n interne skakel tussen die uitkomsgebaseerde diskoers en die verbandhoudende assesseringstelsel. Ek voer aan dat hoewel uitkomsgebaseerde onderwys as ’n progressiewe pedagogie voorgehou word, ’n alternatiewe argument gemaak kan word wat dit as ’n ou, behavioristiese bestuursteorie beskryf, wat oordek is met ’n nuwe beleidstegnologie genaamd performatiwiteit. Daarna gaan ek krities om met uitkomsgebaseerde assessering as ’n primêre voorbeeld van performatiwiteit. In die volgende stap verken ek die maniere waarop uitkomsgebaseerde assessering ’n penarie vir onderwysers en die onderwyspraktyk voorhou. Ek ontwikkel dan ’n alternatiewe beskouing van opvoeding wat, na my mening, ’n manier verskaf om die penarie wat assessering vir onderwysers en die onderwyspraktyk veroorsaak, te oorkom. Ek vergelyk ook my alternatiewe beskouing van onderwys met ’n nuwe konsep van onderwys as terapie en as behoeftig aan terapie, wat ook as ’n alternatief vir instrumentele benaderings tot onderwys aangebied word. Daarna oorweeg ek die implikasies van my alternatiewe beskouing van onderwys vir onderwysers en assessering. Ek oorweeg op verskillende stadiums in hierdie proefskrif potensiële punte van kritiek teen my argument. In die laaste hoofstuk antisipeer ek vyf bykomende potensiële punte van kritiek teen die argument wat in hierdie proefskrif ontwikkel is en gee aanvanklike reaksies daarop. Teen die einde van hierdie proefskrif rig ek ’n uitnodiging tot beraadslaging in die gees van my alternatiewe beskouing van opvoeding.

Thesis (MEd (Curriculum Studies))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / The numerous changes to the South African education system since January 1998 have had far reaching effects on schools and the training of educators (Government Gazette, 31 May 2002:13). Changes in subject content have occurred in various subjects, and the General Science (now Natural Science) syllabus is no exception. The General Science syllabus previously catered mainly for Chemistry, Physics and Biology, but the Curriculum 2005 (C2005) Natural Science syllabus includes subject matter on Physical Geography (Climatology, Astronomy, and Geomorphology) (Department of Education, 2002b:6). The problem with this is that educators that previously taught General Science are not necessarily qualified to present the Physical Geography component of the new syllabus. This study investigates the impact of the changes in the new curriculum. The review of existing literature on curriculum development in Natural Science education in South Africa emphasises key changes made in the development and implementation of C2005 and the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS). It also explores the characteristic features of misconceptions, before considering specific misconceptions in Natural Sciences. The first part of the two-tiered empirical investigation is based on the results of questionnaires and interviews completed by different groups of Natural Sciences educators. The questionnaires, which drew in part on existing questionnaires used in similar studies, were based on information used for the literature review. The second part of the empirical investigation consisted of interviews conducted with Natural Sciences Departmental Heads at randomly selected schools. An attempt was made to determine how these senior educators experienced the implementation of C2005 and RNCS and what their attitude to the new curriculum were. The data obtained from the questionnaires and the subsequent interviews were categorised, interpreted and coded for statistical processing.