No description available.

The use of cooperative learning as an instructional procedure for delivering instruction has become popular among many educators. Research in cooperative learning has provided positive indicators for improvement in academic achievement and attitudes towards self, peers, and school. Little research has been performed on the type of students that compose these groups. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of homogeneous and heterogeneous ability created groups on individual student performance. Through the use of two problem solving activities, students were exposed to cooperative learning experiences followed by individual performance assessments. The two cooperative exercises provided varying results. No significant interaction effects were found in either case. The first exercise showed a significant main effect for ability level. Students in high ability groups overall scored higher than both middle and low ability groups, (F=6.78, p<.01). The second exercise produced significant main effects for cooperative type, ability level, and teacher. Homogeneous groups performed on the average at a higher level than heterogeneous groups (F=6.88, p<.01). Both high and middle grouped students scored higher than low ability students (F=13.85, p<.01). Teacher differences were present for this exercise (F=4.67, p<.01). / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to identify possible variables that may contribute to a foster child's passing or failing of the California High School Exit Exam.

No description available.

No description available.

M.Ed. / The writers of the HSRC report on the provision of education in the RSA emphasize the necessity of the introduction of a selection programme which ought to be implemented by every educational authority as standard practice. This study forms part of a team research project of the BUE which deals with some of the factors which may have an influence on the academic achievement of degree-course first-year students in the Rand Afrikaans University. The aim of this study is to determine whether there is a connection between the psychometric variable stress and the academic achievement of degree-course first-year teacher trainees and possibly to make an indirect contribution to the development of a selection mechanism for teacher trainees in the RAU should such a mechanism become a reality. At the hand of a study of literature on the subject the psychometric concept of stress was scrutinised specifically with refence to the definition and measuring of the concept and the connection between stress and academic performance. The most important finding was that there is a slight inverse connection between stress and academic achievement - that is low stress is inclined to go hand in hand with better performance and high stress with poorer performance. In the course of the empirical investigation the post hoc approach was followed and use was made of the BUE data bank to supply the necessary information regarding the 1986 and 1987 degree-course first-year students. The statistical technique was used to determine which differences between successful and unsuccessful student groups may be said to be significant, with reference to the various factors of the IPAT stress scale. Although there were no significant differences in respect of the factors, the following did emerge: the stress levels of all the students in the research group may be said to vary between low and average. This points to a normal society. In respect of total stress counts, the following was found: B, A. (Ed, ) students: There are no statistically significant differences between successful and unsuccessful students in respect of conscious, unconscious or total stress. B. Com, (Ed. ) students: The difference between the successful and the unsuccessful student's experience of unconscious stress was found to be statistically significant, respect of conscious or regarded as significant stress was found to be statistically significant but the differences on the total stress cannot be be regarded as significant. B.Sc.(Ed.) students: The difference in successful and unsuccessful students experience of total stress was found to be statistically significant.

Identification and selection of a speech-language caseload in the school setting can be a challenging task. The initial stages of caseload selection are usually in the form of a screening procedure. Although speech-language information is gathered at that time, information about its relationship to each student's academic status is usually not obtained. Such information would be useful in a setting that requires the provision of special education services to be justified from a basis of academic need.

South African research into dynamic assessment has contributed to the growing body of international research which supports the efficacy of dynamic assessment in uncovering learning capacity in a variety of populations of learners with special needs. This study investigated the application of dynamic assessment to a sample of black children within a South African township clinic setting. Aged 9-15 years (mean age = 10.96) they had been referred to the clinic with learning difficulties. The experimental group (n=48) was exposed to a group dynamic assessment process, using certain tasks of the Learning Propensity Assessment Device (LPAD). Their performance was assessed prior to and following the mediated learning intervention. Using Analysis of Covariance, comparisons of pre and post-test scores combined with an innovative qualitative scoring method designed by Lurie and Kozulin (1996) yielded positive findings for the experimental group as compared with a control (n=24) not exposed to mediation. Results of the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM) and the Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure Test (ROCFT), suggest that the intervention yielded changes, not only in the scores attained, but also in the quality of the responses on the post-tests.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Changes in assessment practice in education are a global issue. Colleges of Education in Namibia also need to accommodate these changes in their training programs for student teachers, to model their practice of all modes of assessment in teaching and learning. Emphasis should be placed on assessment for learning, which is formative in nature. This qualitative case study investigated the following questions: How do teacher educators understand the principles and strategies of formative assessment and how do teacher educators implement formative assessment in their own teaching, which in turn serves as an example to their student teachers. I used three methods of collecting data: interviews, observation and document analysis. The data identify a range of findings in the teacher educators' professed understanding of formative assessment and how it is implemented in their own practice. The data also identify challenges facing the teacher educators in terms of setting a good example to their student teachers in the area of formative assessment. This study also offers suggestions for further studies on formative assessment. These include a suggestion for teacher educators to look at their own practice of formative assessment principles and strategies. A major cross department study could be conducted that includes teacher educators from different subject areas to see to how the implementation of formative assessment in the college varies from one department to another. A third possibility suggests a study involving student teachers from various areas of specialization in the college to see to what extent the implementation of formative assessment in the college affects their future assessment practices.