Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

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Musculoskeletal complaints account for 15-30% of all patient visits to primary care physicians, yet many providers express a lack of confidence in their ability to perform a satisfactory musculoskeletal exam (Day and Yeh, 2008). Deficiencies in knowledge often stem from inadequate training during medical school or residency and continue as physicians become immersed in practice. Numerous researchers have called for improvement in the musculoskeletal education of medical students and residents. We suggest a novel curriculum-based upon the family medicine milestones that will assist educators and clinicians in developing competence and confidence in their knee and shoulder examinations and enhance the training of students and residents. Upon completion of this session, participants should be able to: Perform a complete examination of the knee and shoulder joints Implement the knee and shoulder exam musculoskeletal milestones in their practices or programs Present the knee and shoulder exams using visual, auditory, read/write, and kinesthetic modes.

From 1983 until 2011 Grade 12 students in the Canadian province of British Columbia were required to write provincial exams in a wide variety of academic subjects, including Biology 12, Chemistry 12, and Physics 12. These government-administered exams may be considered “high stakes” in that they counted for 40% of a student’s mark, were used in part to determine post-secondary admissions and scholarships, and the publicly-available exam results were used in highly publicized school “ranking” systems. A large volume of research literature suggests high stakes exams of this nature dictate the manner in which courses are delivered as teachers feel obliged to “teach to the test” in order to maximize the grades students receive on these exams. A major gap in the literature appears to be an examination of the effects on teacher behaviours and practices when a long-standing high-stakes testing program is eliminated. The decision made by the British Columbia Ministry of Education to remove provincial exams in secondary science at the Grade 12 level in August of 2011 created a unique and original opportunity to examine teacher pedagogical practices following the removal of subject-specific exams. Specifically, the question considered in this investigation centred upon the effect(s) the elimination of provincial exams in Biology 12, Chemistry 12, and Physics 12 had on the pedagogy and work environment of teachers in one British Columbia school district. This investigation followed case study methodology. The primary source of data was interviews with teachers who had experience teaching the three aforementioned courses in both the time of mandatory exams and following exam elimination. Interviews were semi-structured and focussed on the effects of the removal of Grade 12 exams on teacher pedagogy and general practices, classroom resource and time allocation, relations with colleagues, perceived student responses to courses, and exam data usage. The findings from this research suggest that, contrary to popular discourse, exam-generated data is not a valuable pedagogical resource for teachers and a high-stakes exam is not required to ensure full curricular coverage by teachers. In fact, the results suggest the opposite: curricular coverage is enhanced in the absence of a high-stakes exam. Further, not having to spend classroom and external time preparing students for exams has allowed teachers to implement and explore a greater diversity of pedagogical avenues not utilized during the time of exams. Teachers also spoke of reduced pressures in the absence of an exam. Finally, findings of this investigation suggest the presence of an exam greatly affected the way teachers both assessed and motivated students, effects that continue to have repercussions following elimination of provincial exams. / Graduate

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Degree: Master of Arts Department: English / This study investigates how feedback from the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate (COSC) English language examinations marking board is transmitted to the teachers and other stakeholders for effective teaching and learning in Lesotho secondary schools. The aim was to discover teachers’ and other stakeholders’ views, feelings and reactions to examiners’ reports. The focus was also on the general information that comes from the marking board. In carrying out this study, interviews, questionnaires and documents were used to examine the extent to which teachers access and make use of this information in improving their pedagogical practices. End of year results, from selected schools, covering a period of five years, were analysed. The major findings of the research revealed that there was a correlation between the feedback and students’ results. Based on feedback from the marking board there were positive washback effects on teaching methods and on teachers’ perceptions, resulting in improved students’ scores. Nevertheless, there were contradicting views on the issue of washback effects and this situation simply highlighted the ambivalence of the concept of washback, especially on the high-stakes tests such as the COSC discussed here. One major discovery was in relation to the issue of full localization of COSC. An overwhelming majority of the respondents suggested that localized marking of the COSC has positive washback effects on teaching and learning of English language in the context of Lesotho, and more positive results are envisaged with full localization of such examinations and the curricula. It is hoped that the MOE, will make informed policy modifications using some of the findings in this report.

Ο χρονοπρογραμματισμός (scheduling) μπορεί να οριστεί ως το πρόβλημα εύρεσης μιας βέλτιστης σειράς για την εκτέλεση ενός πεπερασμένου συνόλου λειτουργιών, χωρίς να παραβιάζεται ένα συγκεκριμένο σύνολο κανόνων. Η παρουσα διπλωματική ασχολείται με την υλοποίηση γραφικού περιβάλλοντος για τη γραφική παρουσίαση των δεδομένων του προβλήματος χρονοπρογραμματισμου όπως αναπτύχθηκε για τον διαγώνισμό ITC07. Η διεπαφή παράγει έγκυρα (εφικτά) (για παράδειγμα δεν θα προγραμματίζονται διαφορετικές εξετάσεις στην ίδια περίοδο εφόσον έχουν κοινούς φοιτητές) προγράμματα εξεταστικής και σχεδιασμένα με γνώμονα την διευκόλυνση των φοιτητών (θα παρέχoνται δηλαδή επαρκή χρονικά διαστήματα μεταξύ των εξεταζόμενων μαθημάτων για όλους τους φοιτητές). Το κάθε πρόγραμμα που παράγεται λαμβάνει υπόψη τους εκάστοτε περιορισμούς και συγκροτεί ορθολογικά ένα κατά το δυνατόν βέλτιστο πρόγραμμα.Ο χρήστης μπορεί να τροποποιεί τα δεδομένα του προβλήματος και να ζητά την επαναϋπολογισμό του κόστους προσδοκώντας καλύτερη ποιότητα λύσης. / -

This investigation was designed to research the Islamic education curriculum (I. E. C.) for secondary schools in Kuwait. The investigation covered the major elements of the Islamic education curriculum, namely the aims, the textbooks, teaching methods, aids and activities and the styles of assessment. The methods which were used to collect the data for this research were the questionnaire and the interview. The research population included: teachers of the I. E. C., supervisors, students of the 10th grade secondary schools. The findings indicated that in theory the I. E. C.’s aims seem to be comprehensive, covering all the aspects of student development. But, unfortunately, there were no real applications for all those aims in the practical teaching of the I. E. C., whether one examined the textbook, teaching methods, or styles of assessment. The topics of the textbook generally focused on the theoretical aspects of the I. E. C. and some of those topics were repetitive. Teaching methods were traditional and focused on telling by the teacher, with a lack of modern teaching methods to encourage the student to take an active role in the learning process. In addition, there was a clear lack of modern educational aids like audio visual equipment. Finally, the style of assessment was traditional aimed at measuring the students' knowledge, without paying attention to measuring other aspects of student achievement. This thesis is divided into eight chapters. Chapter One, outlines the general approach for studying problems related to the Islamic education curriculum in Kuwaiti secondary schools. There are clear weaknesses in the Islamic education curriculum in secondary schools. One of the most important is the absence of any explanation of the way in which the I. E. C. deals with the negative changes that are taken place in Kuwaiti society after the Iraqi aggression in 1990 and this is the main focus of the chapter. In Chapter Two, the educational system in Kuwait is discussed in detail from Al-katatib to the modern schools. The aims of each stage of the Kuwaiti educational system are also discussed. Chapter Three examines the background of the Islamic education in general and its sources, examining in particular what is the general aim of Islamic education and how this relates to the Kuwaiti context. Chapter Four, identifies previous studies of the curriculum in general. It examines definitions of the curriculum in general, the aims and their classification, the content of the textbook, the types of teaching methods and their importance in the learning teaching process and finally the style of assessments and their role in the learning process. This material is then related to the learning process in Kuwait and particularly its connections to the I. E. C. In the second section of this chapter previous studies which evaluated the Islamic education curriculum in Kuwaiti schools (especially the I. E. C.’s role in confronting the negative changes taken place in the Kuwait society) are examined. Chapter Five critically discusses the methodology, which was used in this research. Chapter Six examines the statistical result of the research. Chapter Seven then discusses and analyses the research findings. Chapter Eight ends the thesis with make a series of recommendations and conclusions based on the research findings.