The study investigated the effects of different instructional methods and preinstructional backgrounds of the subjects upon the instructional effectiveness of Libyan high school teachers. The two measures of teaching effectiveness used in the study consisted of student learning as measured by the performance on a domain-referenced achievement test and the student ratings of course effectiveness. The sample for this study consisted of 15 tenth-grade classes in six public high schools located in the City of Tripoli, Libya. A total of 542 subjects participated in the study of whom 331 were male and the remaining 211 were female. The chronological ages of the subjects ranged from 13 1/4 to 28 1/6 years. Each of the selected participating teachers was randomly assigned two tenth-grade classes and was instructed to teach one class by lecture method and the other by discussion method. Thus, the same teachers each taught two different classes with varying instructional methodologies. Five classes taught by the other group of teachers called "non-participating teachers" served as the control group. The content of instruction was selected from a regular geography textbook and was divided into 12 units. Each unit represented a lesson. These lessons were delivered during 6 weeks of instruction at the rate of two lessons a week. Prior to the commencement of the study an achievement test, an ability measure, and an educational attitude scale were administered. At the termination of the study an alternate form of the achievement test and a course effectiveness scale were administered. The data collected were analyzed by using a factorial analysis of variance design. The ability, previous achievement, and educational attitude measures were used as indices of preinstructional backgrounds of the selected subjects. The obtained results indicated that the three instructional methods produced differential effects on subjects with varying aptitudes, especially when the overall previous achievement and ability test scores were used as indicators of learner aptitude. High-aptitude subjects showed the highest amount of learning gains and seemed to be the least affected by differences in the teaching methodologies. Subjects with medium aptitudes benefited most from the discussion method while subjects with low aptitudes profited most from the lecture method. These findings lend some support to the aptitude-treatment interaction phenomenon noted by other researchers. Similar aptitude-treatment interaction effects were not observed when educational attitudes, achievement in geography, and students' perceptions toward courses were used as measures of learner aptitude. The overall direction of the findings led to the conclusion that the effectiveness of different instructional procedures is related to individual characteristics of the learners, and that the aptitude-treatment interaction effects are observable only when global measures of ability and achievement are used as the indicators of the learner aptitudes.

No description available.

The recent increase in the number of reported incidents of political, domestic and criminal violence in the media, attests to the escalating violence in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), one of the nine provinces in South Africa. This situation highlights the desperate and urgent need for some sort of peace educational intervention which exposes people to alternative ways and methods of dealing with conflict, in socially acceptable, non-violent ways in an attempt to curb this cycle of violence. The training and development of peace educators is now more critical than ever. However, a review of relevant literature reveals that the field of peace education and peace educator development in the KZN and the broader South African context is marginal and seriously under-researched. This study focuses on the learning and development of peace educators, with a specific interest in how their participation in a network contributes to their learning and development as peace educators. This study is framed by Lave and Wenger's theory of Communities of Practice. It involves different data collection methods, namely document analysis, observation of network activities and in-depth interviews with six facilitators from the Alternatives to Violence Project-KwaZulu-Natal (AVP-KZN). The Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) network, which is the unit of analysis for this study, emerged as a space which facilitated opportunities for collaborative social learning where facilitators were able to share information, best practices, experiences, resources as well as the AVP's "organisational culture‟. This research explores the underlying motivations for participation in the AVP-KZN network, experiences encountered through participation in the network and the role of the network in terms of the learning and development of peace educators. In this study, the AVP-KZN network emerges as a rich site for the learning and development of both novice and experienced facilitators and a major contributor to acquisition of effective facilitation skills and techniques. The informal learning in the network appears to have concentrated on the pedagogy (facilitation styles, planning, flexibility, teamwork), self-development and identity development of the peace educator. The findings reveal the network as being a conducive environment for informal, social, experiential and transformative learning which involves the acquisition of increased knowledge and skills, changed practices, opportunities to observe, to be observed, plan, implement, review and write reports. The extent to which the peace educators were actively involved in their learning through their increased participation in a variety of network activities, was also evident in this study. Six distinct components of learning emerged from the analysis of the data: 1) learning from diversity; 2) learning through changes in community; 3) learning through changes in meaning; 4) learning through practice; 5) developing an identity as a peace educator; and 6) learning through the development of self. It is hoped that this study will contribute to the existing knowledge of peace education with a focus on the learning and development of peace educators in a community of practice.

No description available.

Orientador: Rita Luciana Berti Bredariolli / Banca: Valeria Alencar / Banca: Erick Orlosky / Resumo: Este trabalho surgiu pela necessidade de conciliar os desejos e necessidades da aluna rebelde, que ainda vive em mim, com as experiências e teóricos, que a atual professora que sou, enxerga. Neste intuito apresento algumas de minhas experiências como educanda e educadora em texto literário analógico e também em relato de história de vida para, a partir daí, apresentar uma proposta de aula de artes baseada na Pedagogia do Oprimido de Paulo Freire, na Abordagem Triangular de Ana Mae Barbosa e na Escola da Ponte com José Pacheco. / This work is done by the need to conciliate the wishes and needs of a rebel student who still lives inside me with the experiences and theories that the teacher of these days sees. Following this propourse, I introduce some of my experiences as a studant and as an educator in a analogic and literaly text and also in a story of life to introduce an art lessons proposal based in Paulo Freire's "Pedagogia do Oprimido", Ana Mes Barbosa's "Abordagem Triangular" and Jose Pacheco's "Escola da Ponte". / Mestre

M.Ed. / The dramatic increase in adult-learners coupled with pragmatic factors such as increasingly more expensive contact time, the rationalization of lecturers at a tertiary level, rapid expansion of knowledge as well as technological, economic and socia-political factors, have made the variant of distance-learning programmes a more preferable and popular option. However, it would seem that there is a shortage of lecturers who can succesfully integrate the combination of contact and distance education in their educational approach. It is therefore essential to train lecturers involved in adult-learning in the practice of adult-training by means of distance education. In this research, selfstudy modules were investigated. The aim of this study which forms part of a team project of six papers, was focused on the development of lecturers in compiling purposeful study guides for adult-learners. The changing role of the lecturer, which entails that he/she is expected to act as the manager of the learning activities of his/her learners, was examined. The characteristics of the adult-learner were subsequently discussed. In this regard, learning ability, experience, learning-readiness and self-concept were considered most important. The method of designing purposeful study guides was set out on the basis of a literature study. It became evident that the study guide should be designed in such a way that it would promote a problem-solving approach in adult-learners. It was also emphasized that the aim of a self-study module is not to expect adultlearners to cope on their own, but rather to create an opportunity for these learners to develop their potential. Consequently, the importance of the formulation of learning objectives for each module was discussed since well formulated learning objectives direct the study activities of learners and motivate them with regard to selfdirected learning. Attention was paid to self-study modules which consist of various components, including an introduction, aims, learning objectives, a rationale, learning content and self-evaluation tests with answers. Together, these components form an integrated unit of a self-study module, it is of crucial importance that the lecturer should know his/her target group in order to plan the learning activities effectively. It was also pointed out that the lecturer should evaluate the modules on a continuous basis. The formative evaluation process was indicated as an effective method of evaluating a self-study module. Subsequently, a self-study module was devised in order to guide lecturers to design purposeful study guides. Relevant examples which could be used as a framework for self-evaluation answers, were offered to lecturers on a continuous basis to enable them to constantly monitor their progress. In conclusion, the study was summarized and the primary findings were recorded. The most significant finding was that purposeful, structured study guides are an essential component of any training programme. The importance of training lecturers to design self-study modules to ensure that meaningful self-directed learning can take place, was emphasized.

M.Ed. (Didactics Training) / Since the Second World War due to the knowledge explosion curricula became over-loaded in order to meet the needs and demands of a fast developing western society. "The personal and particular needs of the child were brushed aside in favour of the needs of commerce and industry. Curriculum research became important in order to re-establish equilibrium in education. Because of the over-loading of curricula, a very general problem arose: Children became "memorising machines" in rapidly increasing numbers, while insight am. understanding of the world around them and of themselves was not regarded as a priority in this time-pressed century. It follows that such an educational system cannot produce balanced adults. A child will presumably only participate with full co-operation and with insight if and when he understands the adult and is understood by the adult. 'Ibis is an understanding of one another in the educational content. Understanding seems to be the motivating force behind the Participating child, because it leads to thought, action and exploration, insight and synthesis. A curriculum will have to be developmental in order to facilitate the emergence of above mentioned characteristics. An effort has been made to demonstrate that a model of curriculum can approximate a model of child development. The above mentioned motivation-characteristics are then compared with the curriculum model. It is found that these characteristics can be facilitated by and incorporated in the curriculum. These characteristics have to be made operational. It seems that to operationalise these characteristics in the lesson, the instruments to facilitate them are: interaction, intra-action and action, leading to reaction as a changed human being.

D.Ed. (Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The constant evolution of technology and the prevalent demands of the 21st century continue to put pressure on both the business and education sector. Business is ever looking for competent workers to meet these progressive demands, while the education sector continues to struggle to produce such competent workers to meet the heightened needs of the business sector. Universities and business schools have a greater role and responsibility in ensuring that these competent employees are produced. The use of virtual platforms like Second Life has gained significant popularity in the education sector. Therefore the objective of this study was to explore and examine some of the prevalent benefits associated with using Second life for teaching entrepreneurship. This study was also extended to cover the following areas: The benefits of Second Life for business and education sector; - The benefits of Second Life for teaching and learning environment. The study followed an exploratory research design in an attempt to answer the main research question and the respective sub-questions related to the study. Using a qualitative approach, student’s perceptions, opinions, assumptions, observations and experiences during their interaction with Second Life were identified and reflected in the study. The research discovered that the associated benefits of Second Life were coherent with the reviewed literature findings. The research study concluded that Second Life can be used as a support teaching methodology for entrepreneurship for third year MBA students at NMMU Business School. In addition, the research also highlighted some recommendations regarding the introduction and implementation of Second Life at NMMU Business School and future research opportunities.

This study was an attempt to better understand how law faculty search for and create linkages between subject matter being taught and law students’ existing (that is, prior) knowledge and experience. For faculty who do search for and create these linkages, the study can help them understand, and potentially give them access to, specific practices and resources that can support their teaching in this manner, while also helping them understand this approach to teaching. The study was informed and guided by three conceptual frames: pedagogical content knowledge, culturally framed theories of teaching and learning, and convergent teaching. The study included 14 faculty teaching first-year required classes at one of four law schools: two elite and two broad-access (two to four faculty members per campus). I collected data via a combination of interview, observation, and document analysis methods. The study’s findings are summarized as follows: First, a significant amount of participating faculty members’ first-year doctrinal teaching drew on students’ prior knowledge to support students in making connections to course material. It is possible, then, that teaching from students’ prior knowledge is common, at least in certain law schools, yet it is not acknowledged as such. Second, study participants described significant barriers to or stated concerns about the possibility of teaching in this way, including: hesitation to engage in sensitive or controversial discussions, limited instructional time, large class sizes, and a large amount of material to cover in a course. Third, teaching with attention to students’ prior knowledge is likely to be particularly challenging in subject matter areas that are distant from students’ everyday lives (though law school faculty can develop strategies for overcoming this challenge). Fourth, in study participants’ views, their institutions offered virtually no formal support for this kind of teaching to faculty wishing to engage in it. Fifth, virtually all participating faculty members identified as deeply committed to teaching in a way that draws on students’ prior knowledge worked at broad-access (non-elite) law schools, suggesting that these sites may be particularly amenable to such teaching. These faculty members also had certain characteristics in common—for example, possessing significant prior experience in full-time legal practice, being inclined to care for students and being attentive to their well-being, and having been educated themselves in non-elite law schools. The study concluded with discussion of the implications of these findings for law school institutional policy and leadership, faculty practice and professional development, future research, and theory. There was a particular focus on: (a) factors that encourage this type of teaching at broad access law schools and position such institutions as important leaders in this regard; and (b) the possibility that such teaching may help to democratize legal education in broad-access and elite institutions.