Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2008. / Title from title screen (site viewed Dec. 15, 2008). PDF text: 212 p.. UMI publication number: AAT 3297748. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

Thesis (D.Phil.(Comparative Education))--University of Pretoria, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (PhD(Kurrikulumstudies))--Universiteit van Pretoria, 2006. / Abstract in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

D.Ed. / The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which secondary school educators are coping with the implementation of outcomes-based education (OBE). This will be done by conducting research in secondary schools in the Richards Bay Circuit. Through this research, the aim of this study is to provide guiding principles for implementing OBE through investigation and analysis of classroom practices of grade 9 educators by using lesson observations, educator journals, learner portfolios and interviews with relevant school management members. Ever since outcomes-based education (OBE) was first introduced in grade one in 1998, it has been fraught with controversy. Initially, there was a lot of debate about introducing a system of education that has failed in other leading countries of the world. However, the Department of Education has remained firm in its decision that outcomes-based education is the ideal system of education to put in place in South Africa, given the historical background of education in this country. They feel that 2 it can adequately redress the imbalances of the past and develop citizens who are highly skilled and marketable. As outcomes-based education was slowly phased into primary schools, educators began to come to grips with this system and implementation was made easier. Another area of implementation that has received a lot of attention is the implementation of OBE in grade seven in the senior phase. Many educators and educational critics felt that isolating one grade for implementation interrupted the pattern of normal schooling. This meant that in 2000, OBE was implemented for the first time in grades three and seven. However, due to the support that was given to grade seven educators by foundation phase educators, they were able to partially overcome initial difficulties. One of the greatest challenges facing officials from the Department of Education was introducing OBE to secondary schools. Educators from secondary schools were in the past not directly involved in implementing OBE in their schools. In 2001, when OBE was introduced to secondary schools, educators were faced with similar uncertainties and confusion as grade one educators in 1998. Educators were finding that their learners knew more about OBE than they did because they had encountered it in grade seven in 2000. They were faced with administrative changes and restructuring of the school curriculum. As with any process of change, there is fear, denial, unacceptance, negative criticism and outright rejection. It is against this backdrop of OBE implementation that the researcher has developed an interest in this area. The researcher has previously conducted research into training in the foundation phase and has concluded that educators experience difficulties due to the lack of adequate training and various other contextual factors. As an OBE facilitator for the senior phase (1999 - 2001), the researcher has encountered a similar situation as experienced by foundation phase and grade seven educators. During facilitation, some of the observations made by the researcher include : educators from different schools are implementing OBE at varying levels , educators are confused 3 because they do not have clear guidelines or a step by step process of implementing OBE. After voluntarily visiting a few rural and urban schools in order to assist them with implementation, the researcher noticed that vast discrepancies exist between the theory presented in workshops, that the researcher has facilitated and the actual implementation in schools. Many schools have unique contexts and OBE has to be adapted to suit these contexts. Based on these observations, the researcher consulted with the Superintendent of Education Management (SEM) of the Richards Bay Circuit about problems experienced by educators with OBE implementation in secondary schools. He has acknowledged the need for further investigation and supported the proposal to investigate how educators are coping with implementation of OBE in secondary schools. He has also recognised the need for checks and balances to be put in place for effective implementation to take place. The fact that both educators and schools are experiencing problems with OBE implementation indicate that there is a problem that needs investigating. The researcher's interest in this field is motivated by two reasons. Firstly, the researcher feels that there is a need for research to be conducted in the Empangeni Region of Kwazulu-Natal due to the geographical extent of the region; its vast rural population and the lack of research in this field. Secondly, the researcher has a genuine interest in providing assistance to both the Department of Education and educators with practical guidelines for implementing OBE in secondary schools. Overcoming the initial hurdles of implementing any. new system is integral to the success of the entire approach. The researcher is of the opinion that educators are the most important factor in the success of implementing OBE in schools across South Africa. A motivated, resourceful and committed educator can overcome many of the obstacles facing schools, learners and the education system in general. Therefore, the researcher feels that assisting educators with problems and difficulties that they 4 may have with implementation of OBE will actually ensure the future success of OBE in the education system of South Africa.

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The CanMEDS 2015 Framework outlines many key competencies that must be addressed during residency training. The move towards the “Competency by Design” curriculum will require the use of simulation for assessment of these competencies. However, the use of simulation poses many challenges for residency programs including meeting the learning needs of multiple levels of learners, financial constraints, time constraints etc. We performed a program evaluation on an obstetrical emergencies simulation curriculum that involved Obstetrics and Gynecology residency trainees (PGY1-PGY5). Different levels of learners participated in various roles including; first responder (PGY2), second responder (PGY5), confederate roles including patient, nurse or family member (PGY1-3) and assessor (PGY4). This permitted assessment of the following CanMEDS competencies: medical expert and communicator (PGY2); communicator and leader (PGY5); communicator, collaborator and health advocate (PGY1-3) and scholar (PGY4). We were able to determine financial costs, faculty time, and resident time for our existing simulation curriculum and our new simulation curriculum. Residents were surveyed prior to the simulation regarding the learning environment in our pre-existing simulation curriculum and self-efficacy ratings for the competencies mentioned above. Faculty were also surveyed prior to the simulation regarding the residents’ competencies. Station scores were collected for all competencies. Focus groups allowed further exploration of the residents’ and faculty perceptions of the new simulation experience. Lastly, post-simulation surveys of both residents and faculty allowed comparison of pre- and post- learning environment assessment and self- efficacy/performance scores. We had limited station scores from our pre-existing simulation curriculum to allow direct comparison between the specific scenarios The program evaluation determined that this method of incorporating multiple levels of learners provided a feasible and acceptable method of assessing multiple CanMEDS competencies while minimizing financial costs and significantly reducing faculty time requirements. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / This study examined a simulation curriculum for obstetrical emergencies using multiple postgraduate learners in various roles, to provide a learning opportunity and assessment opportunity, for a number of skills required by the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada. It was found that involving learners in various roles, including responders; confederates acting as nurses, patients and family members; and assessors, enhanced learning in regards to patient management, communication, collaboration, assessment and health advocacy while reducing financial costs and faculty time requirements.

M.Phil. (Economics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

The thesis that emerges from the publications nominated for examination, is that a holistic or integrated competency based approach to vocational education and training (VET) and professional education (both initial and continuing) has many advantages over traditional approaches: * It provides a curriculum framework which links practice to theory in more coherent ways than currently exist; * It potentially provides a way of breaking the old dichotomy between 'knowing that' and 'knowing how' which has characterised Anglo-Saxon education and which has resulted in the belief that education which is practical is both different from and inferior to that which is abstract; * It provides the basis for teaching and learning approaches which could enhance students' adaptability and flexibility over their lives; * It has the potential for developing in occupational education more valid assessment strategies than those traditionally used and also for reducing the deleterious effects on learning of measurement-based assessment approaches. In summary, it is argued that the integrated approach to competency-based education provides a conceptual base for the competency movement and a promising direction for educational reform for all levels of occupational education. It is further argued that competency standards developed through an integrated approach can facilitate the implementation of a number of other areas of social and economic policy, such as the recognition of qualifications of overseas professionals in Australia, and the internationalisation of professional services. Overview of the publications The publications span a six-year period from 1990 to 1996. The first of them was written at a time when there was very little literature in the area (and virtually none in Australia) and when there was a great deal of confusion about the nature of competency, how to develop competency standards and the implications of the competency approach for education and training. What literature did exist, was mostly twenty years old and was largely a reaction against educational curricula which, it was felt, had failed to adequately prepare students for occupations or for life more generally. In place of a curriculum based on the acquisition of knowledge most of the critics suggested that curriculum should be based on an analysis of what people needed to do. Conceptually, as Wolf (1995) and others have pointed out, it was based on a niave reductionism arising out of behaviourist approaches to education. This approach was quite powerful for a brief period in the 1970s in teacher education programs in the United States. However the challenge to behaviourism from cognitive and humanist approaches to learning seemed to undermine the conceptual basis of the competency movement and very little was written about competency approaches until the late 1980s. As Raven (1996) has recently pointed out, the literature on competency-based education which has appeared recently is also a reaction against 'something that is sensed to be wrong' (p.74). But what this is, what needs to be achieved and how this could be done is not clear. He suggests that the contemporary competency literature lacks a conceptual and analytical base and that there is little recognition of the need for a research program which develops a better understanding of the nature of competence, how it might be developed in individuals, how it might be assessed and what impact this would have on individuals, organisations and society generally. It is these issues that the publications submitted for examination have addressed. They have attempted to provide a conceptual base for competency-based education and a framework for how competency might be developed and assessed. Much of the recent literature in Australia has built on the approach which the publications originated. The publications can be divided into those dealing with the nature of competency, particularly the integrated model, (a, b, d, e) those dealing with curriculum and teaching issues (b, j) and those dealing with assessment of competence (c, f, h, i, k). The theme which unites them, is the integrated approach to competency and its capacity to provide a coherent framework for improved educational practices in all occupational education. Another possible way of categorising the publications would be by educational level. For reasons associated with the traditional division of labour in our workforces we tend to think about the differences between educational levels rather than the similarities. It is usual to think about higher education for example, even when it prepares people for occupations, as substantially different from other occupational education. This is underlined by the fact that there is no term, in common usage, to encompass both what is currently referred to as middle level or vocational education, and education for the professions. Despite its specific nature, professional education is often identified with academic and general education, while vocational education is identified with practical education and is assumed to be devoid of substantial theoretical content. In fact much of higher education for the professions is practical and much vocational education is grounded in theory, even if it is not always made explicit. A conclusion which I believe can be drawn from these publications as a whole is that the difference between higher education for the professions and vocational education for middle level occupations is one of degree rather than one of kind. Obviously most professional work is more complex than work at, say, trades level. But it is better to conceptualise these levels on a continuum rather than to see them as essentially different. There will be many instances when professionals need to do things which are routine where simple competencies are used. Conversely many tradespeople will need to use complex combinations of competencies to solve challenging problems. Hence, it is not useful to divide the publications into those dealing specifically with the professions (of which there are six- a, b, c, d, g, i) and those dealing with issues relevant to all sectors of education (of which there are five- e, f, h, j, k). What the publications have to say about the nature of competency, how to develop competency through curricula and teaching and how to assess it, is broadly applicable to all occupational education irrespective of the context in which it is discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Ensuring that speech pathology students are sufficiently competent to practise their profession is of critical importance to the speech pathology profession, students, their future employers, and clients/patients. This thesis describes the development and validation of a competency based assessment of speech pathology students’ performance in the workplace and their readiness to enter the profession. Development involved an extensive literature review regarding the nature of competency and its relationship to professional practice, the purpose and nature of assessment, and the validation of performance assessments. An online and hard copy assessment tool (paper) was designed through integrating multiple sources of information regarding speech pathology and assessment of workplace performance. Sources included research, theory, expert opinion, current practice, and focus group consultations with clinical educators and speech pathology students. The resulting assessment tool and resource material included four generic components of competency (clinical reasoning, professional communication, lifelong learning, and professional role) and seven occupational competencies previously developed by the speech pathology profession. The tool comprised an assessment format, either in a booklet or online, for clinical educators to rate students’ performances on the competencies at mid and end placement using a visual analogue scale. Behavioural descriptors and an assessment resource booklet informed and supported clinical educators’ judgement. The validity of the assessment tool was evaluated through a national field trial and using Messick’s six interrelated validity criteria which address content, substantive, structural, generalisability, external, and consequential aspects of validity (Messick, 1996). The validity of the assessment tool and its use with speech pathology students was evaluated through Rasch analysis, parametric statistical evaluation of relationships existing between information yielded by the Rasch analysis and other factors, and student and clinical educator feedback. The assessment tool was found to have strong validity characteristics across all validity components. Item Fit statistics generated through Rasch analysis ranged from .81 to 1.17 strongly upholding that the assessment items sampled a unidimensional construct of workplace competency for speech pathology students and confirming that generic and occupational competencies are both necessary for competent practice of speech pathology. High Item and Person Reliabilities (analogous to Cronbach’s alpha) were found (.98 and .97 respectively) and a wide range of person measures (-14.2 to 13.1) were generated. This indicated that a large spread of ability and a clear hierarchy of development on the construct was identified and that the assessment tool was highly reliable. This was further confirmed by high Intra Class Correlation coefficients for a small group of paired clinical educators rating the same student in the same workplace (.87) or in different workplaces concurrently (.82). Rasch analysis of the visual analogue scale used to rate student performance on 11 items of competence identified that clinical educators were able to reliably discriminate 7 categories or levels of student performance. This, in combination with careful calibration procedures, has resulted in an assessment tool that Australian Speech Pathology pre-professional preparation programs can use with confidence to place their students’ level of workplace competence into 7 zones of competency, with the seventh representing sufficient competence to enter the profession. The assessment tool also showed strong potential for identifying marginal students and for future use in promoting quality teaching and learning of professional competence. Limitations to the research and the tool validity were discussed, and recommendations made regarding future research. First, the clinical educator, who has dual and possibly conflicting roles as facilitator and assessor of student learning, made the assessment. Second, situating the assessment in the real workplace limits the students’ opportunities to demonstrate competence to those that naturally arise in the workplace. Paradoxically, both these factors also contributed to the validity of the assessment tool. It was recommended that the assessment tool be revised on the basis of the information gathered from the field trial, that further data be collected to ensure a broader proportional representation of speech pathology programs, to investigate possible threats to validity as well as those areas for which the tool showed promise. This research developed the first prototype of a validated assessment of entry level speech pathology competence that is grounded in a unified theoretical conception of entry level competence to the profession of speech pathology and the developmental progression required to reach this competence. This research will assist the profession of speech pathology by ensuring that speech pathologists enter the workplace well equipped to provide quality care to their future clients, the ultimate goal of any professional preparation program. Messick, S. (1996). Validity of performance assessments. In G. W. Phillips (Ed.), Technical Issues in Large-Scale Performance Assessment (pp. 1-18). Washington: National Centre for Education Statistics.