The programme provision in a third of further education (FE) colleges in England is poorly designed, according to Ofsted which inspect colleges in England, and does not provide post-16-year-olds the skills needed for employment. The policy landscape shapes the complex FE college environment. Often programme decision-making at strategic level does not respond to stakeholders’ needs or achieve stability and sustainability of these institutions. The aim of this research was to analyse programme decision-making in FE colleges in England. It focused on how FE colleges use the opportunities and constraints presented by their locality and context to tailor their programme provision whilst under pressure to meet the local needs for the provision of education and training and the expectations of the Ofsted inspection framework. A review of literature on the theories and models of decision-making led to the formation of research questions and a framework for the analysis of programme decision-making in FE college environment. Empirical data was collected by means of college principals and other senior managers in three contrasting FE colleges in England. Documentary analysis provided stimulus for interview questions and corroboration of evidence. The research found that programme decision-making is influenced by the opportunities and constraints presented by the locality of the FE college and a number of internal and external factors. It shows that FE leaders and managers who prioritise leadership for learning, which is characterised by a strong focus on learners’ learning experience, implement management approaches to the organisation of programme provision. Such focus informs the strategic directions to achieve effectiveness of programme provision and accountability, increase engagement with stakeholders and improve the sustainability of the college. The study shows that effective programme decision-making requires a collaborative approach involving the participation of stakeholders to provide a solution-driven method to managing programme provision in FE colleges.

Magister Educationis (Adult Learning and Global Change) - MEd(AL) / Adult learners’ perception of factors that are internal to their perceived control of their lives can be challenging to overcome when making a decision to participate in learning. There are complex relationships between psychological, and social barriers to participation in adult learning. Psychosocial barriers can deter adults’ participation in learning programmes. Understanding the nature of such barriers can enable policymakers, educators and adult learners create strategies to reduce such barriers in order to increase adults’ participation in adult learning. This study investigated the research question: What are adult learners’ perceptions of psycho-social factors that undermine participation in adult education and learning? The psycho-social interaction model adopted as a conceptual framework allowed the study to contextualise and analyse the effects of socio-economic status on the adult learner’s decision and readiness to participate. The model provided the broad segments of the adult learners’ pre-adulthood and adulthood learning years and through a thematic analysis attempted to analyse psychosocial factors that emerged as barriers to participatory behaviour in learning. An interview guide was used during a semi-structured interview. The study investigated a group of adult learners attending a non-formal learning programme in Central Johannesburg, South Africa. The selection of participants included 6 males and 4 females between 21 years to 49 years of age. The study findings showed that the adult learners’ perceptions of family support as well as the learning environment support are key enabling factors, which assist the adult learner to develop learning capabilities. Negative experiences with prior schooling was also described as a psychosocial barrier to participation. Age was a socio-economic variable that influenced the type of stimuli participants identified as a psycho-social factor which influenced their decision to take up further learning. Adult learners felt confident to successfully complete their current and future studies however perceived their learning press as a motivating factor that impacted their decision to participate. Findings also suggested that experiences of adult learners are unique to their specific context and educational planning can integrate ways to address enhancement of learning experiences for a diverse learner audience in non-formal learning programmes. The study concluded that while adult learners acquire social competencies through accessing nonformal programmes, further learning support is necessary to overcome the social and psychological complexities needed to develop basic academic learning capabilities.

There has been a significant increase in the level of remote or distance learning using the Internet, often referred to as e-learning or online education. E-learning is often combined with classroom instruction and on-the-job training and this is referred to as blended learning. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact blended learning has in improving engineering training in the engineering field of industrial automation. This is especially in improving the reaction, achievement and return on investment of learners compared to that of only the traditional classroom or e-learning approaches. One of the gaps in current research is the examination of the impact of blended learning in improving engineering training. The research revealed significant growth in the use of e-learning for engineers and technicians. There would however appear to be a large number of engineers and technicians who were disappointed with their experiences of e-learning. Significant concerns were also identified in the efficacy of e-learning and the lack of hands-on experience in this form of training for engineers and technicians. Suggestions are made as a result of the research into addressing these issues.

This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a computer-based outreach programme that addresses one aspect of a national strategic recommendation in South Africa. This outreach programme, which started in 1982, was in its twentieth year of existence in 2001 and provided support in mathematics and physical science to Grade 12 students and teachers from historically disadvantaged schools. This study examined the role that the outreach programmes played at two schools during 2001 and endeavoured to provide an analysis of the intended, implemented, perceived and achieved programmes for this year. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of this outreach programme in providing support to both teachers and students in the teaching and learning of mathematics and physical science. The goals and objectives of the outreach programme (the intended programme) were identified from documentation of the Outreach Project and interviews with Outreach Project managers. In addressing the implementation of the outreach programme (the implemented programme), lessons at each of the two, Mini-Computer Supported Education Centres (MICSECs) were observed over a period of four months. At one centre (Centre A), the lessons consisted of a formal (talk-and-chalk) presentation followed by an informal part when students worked on the computer in the same period. At the second centre (Centre B), the MICSEC was used as an adjunct to the normal classroom lesson, that is, students were taught in their normal classrooms and then, at least once a week, taken by their teacher to the MICSEC to do problem-solving on the computers. The perceptions of students (the perceived programme) were examined by an actual and preferred version of the Computer-Assisted Learning Environment Questionnaire and by interviews conducted with both individual students and groups. / At Centre A, the students preferred more involvement, more open-endedness, more organisation and more learning assessment opportunities in their computer-assisted classes but also less integration of computers in their every day classes whilst desiring investigation procedures in their classes to remain the same. At Centre B, students preferred to be more involved, to have more open-ended activities in their classes, have more learning assessment opportunities and a greater level of integration of computers but a reduction in investigative activities. Findings from student interviews were summarised as reflecting three viewpoints with regard to the inclusion of computer-assistance in classes. Students holding one viewpoint considered the inclusion of computer-assisted learning as important to their learning and were convinced that their interaction with the computer, fellow-students and teacher, led to an improvement in their learning. Students holding the second viewpoint conveyed a message of insecurity in the use of computers for they were not sure whether their working with computers made any difference to their learning. Many students' views were somewhere between the first and the second viewpoints which left the impression that these students were not convinced that using the computers would guarantee them success in the final examination. The third viewpoint was strongly articulated by a group of three students at Centre A and to a lesser degree at Centre B (one student), who considered that the new computer-assisted classes played no role in their learning and that teacher-centred classes would produce better results. The extent to which the outreach programme met its objectives (the achieved programme) included improved student performance on the matriculation examinations. / Teachers and students were generally positive of the support that they received but indicated that more computer terminals were required to address students' individual needs. The mean achievement of students at both schools improved in both mathematics and physical science, but more so in physical science. The MICSECs mainly served as a resource to students at the school where the centres were based and provided limited computer skills to students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds. The findings of this study provided insight into the implementation of computer-assisted classes in two disadvantaged schools and the results can serve as baseline data for conducting research into computer-assisted learning environments in other secondary school grades in South Africa. However, it should be noted that students at the Grade 12 level also wanted a continuation of, indeed more of, teacher-centred teaching, in addition to the computer-assisted classes because of the perceived competency of teachers in helping them perform well in the matriculation examination.

<p>Denna uppsats belyser hur vi kan hantera etnisk och kulturell olikhet i svensk skola. Detta kan ske genom att det interkulturella perspektivet är utgångspunkt för lärandet och undervisningen. Syftet är således att beskriva och analysera begreppet interkulturalitet i anknytning till det integrativa arbetet i svensk skola. För att nå uppsatsens syfte har jag tre frågeställningar:</p><p> </p><ul type="disc"><li><p>Vad innebär ett interkulturellt perspektiv?</p></li><li><p>Hur kan interkulturalitet komma till uttryck i lärandet och undervisningen?</p></li><li><p>Hur kommer det interkulturella perspektivet till uttryck i några olika skolors verksamhetsplaner? </p></li></ul><p> </p><p>Jag har använt mig av en kvalitativ textanalys för att ta mig an de preciserade frågeställningarna ovan och uppsatsens syfte. Analysen är uppdelad i två delar – en litteraturgenomgång och en dokumentanalys. Litteraturgenomgången söker svar på de två förstnämnda frågeställningarna. Ur denna genomgång har åtta frågor växt fram som ligger till grund för analysen av olika skolors verksamhetsplaner.</p><p>Det finns mycket skrivet om det interkulturella lärandet och undervisningen. Resultatet visar att det går att hantera interkulturalitet i skolan oavsett om etnisk eller kulturell olikhet är rådande. Men skolans organisationsnivå med avgränsning till verksamhetsplanerna är uppenbart monokulturell i min undersökning. Vidare är det interkulturella perspektivet begränsat till skolor som har mycket hög andel elever med utländsk bakgrund. Det interkulturella perspektivet är därmed svårt att finna i de undersökta skolornas verksamhetsplaner.  Hanteringen av etnisk och kulturell olikhet måste utvecklas, då vi i ett samhälle är beroende av varandra. Det krävs också att skolan blir den sociala mötesplatsen för denna olikhet.</p> / <p>The essay will illustrate how we could handle the ethnic and cultural differences in the swedish school. This could be done by using un intercultural perspective as a starting point when teaching and educating. Therefore the purpose is to describe and analyze interculturality in association to the integrational work in the swedish school. To reach the purpose with this essay I have three questionings:</p><p> </p><p>What is the meaning of an intercultural perspective?</p><p>How can the interculturality be expressed within the teaching and education?</p><p>In what ways are the intercultural perspective expressed in local documents from schools in which they describe their aims, the purpose of them and how to go about it?</p><p> </p><p>I have used a qualitative way in which to analyze text regarding the questions above, and the purpose of this essay. The analysis is split into two parts.  The first part is concentrating on texts concerning literature which elaborates the first two research questions above.  In the second part I analyze documents from schools which elaborate what the schools aim to do, why and how.  This analysis will answer the third question above.</p><p> </p><p>There has been a lot written about the intercultural teaching and education. The result shows that it is possible to handle interculturality in the schools regardless of an ethnic or cultural difference. However, the organization levels, being restricted to the school planning documents, are obviously monocultural by large. The intercultural perspective is limited to schools with a high level of students with a foreign background. The intercultural perspective is therefore difficult to find in the examined. The handling of ethnic and cultural differences must be developed, as in a community we are dependant upon each other. That would also mean that the school would have to be the social gathering point for the differences in an increasingly intercultural world.</p><p> </p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request

Denna uppsats belyser hur vi kan hantera etnisk och kulturell olikhet i svensk skola. Detta kan ske genom att det interkulturella perspektivet är utgångspunkt för lärandet och undervisningen. Syftet är således att beskriva och analysera begreppet interkulturalitet i anknytning till det integrativa arbetet i svensk skola. För att nå uppsatsens syfte har jag tre frågeställningar:   <ul type="disc">Vad innebär ett interkulturellt perspektiv? Hur kan interkulturalitet komma till uttryck i lärandet och undervisningen? Hur kommer det interkulturella perspektivet till uttryck i några olika skolors verksamhetsplaner?    Jag har använt mig av en kvalitativ textanalys för att ta mig an de preciserade frågeställningarna ovan och uppsatsens syfte. Analysen är uppdelad i två delar – en litteraturgenomgång och en dokumentanalys. Litteraturgenomgången söker svar på de två förstnämnda frågeställningarna. Ur denna genomgång har åtta frågor växt fram som ligger till grund för analysen av olika skolors verksamhetsplaner. Det finns mycket skrivet om det interkulturella lärandet och undervisningen. Resultatet visar att det går att hantera interkulturalitet i skolan oavsett om etnisk eller kulturell olikhet är rådande. Men skolans organisationsnivå med avgränsning till verksamhetsplanerna är uppenbart monokulturell i min undersökning. Vidare är det interkulturella perspektivet begränsat till skolor som har mycket hög andel elever med utländsk bakgrund. Det interkulturella perspektivet är därmed svårt att finna i de undersökta skolornas verksamhetsplaner.  Hanteringen av etnisk och kulturell olikhet måste utvecklas, då vi i ett samhälle är beroende av varandra. Det krävs också att skolan blir den sociala mötesplatsen för denna olikhet. / The essay will illustrate how we could handle the ethnic and cultural differences in the swedish school. This could be done by using un intercultural perspective as a starting point when teaching and educating. Therefore the purpose is to describe and analyze interculturality in association to the integrational work in the swedish school. To reach the purpose with this essay I have three questionings:   What is the meaning of an intercultural perspective? How can the interculturality be expressed within the teaching and education? In what ways are the intercultural perspective expressed in local documents from schools in which they describe their aims, the purpose of them and how to go about it?   I have used a qualitative way in which to analyze text regarding the questions above, and the purpose of this essay. The analysis is split into two parts.  The first part is concentrating on texts concerning literature which elaborates the first two research questions above.  In the second part I analyze documents from schools which elaborate what the schools aim to do, why and how.  This analysis will answer the third question above.   There has been a lot written about the intercultural teaching and education. The result shows that it is possible to handle interculturality in the schools regardless of an ethnic or cultural difference. However, the organization levels, being restricted to the school planning documents, are obviously monocultural by large. The intercultural perspective is limited to schools with a high level of students with a foreign background. The intercultural perspective is therefore difficult to find in the examined. The handling of ethnic and cultural differences must be developed, as in a community we are dependant upon each other. That would also mean that the school would have to be the social gathering point for the differences in an increasingly intercultural world.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Robert Reiser, Florida State University, College of Education, Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Apr. 8, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Title from title page of PDF (University of Missouri--St. Louis, viewed February 22, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 300-314).

The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of a computer simulation program on the ability of students with LD to: a) communicate mathematically, b) estimate problem solutions, and c) solve applied story problems. Eight students with LD, ranging from 9 to 11 years of age, took part in the study. The students participated in a computer-presented interactive software program, which used contextualized problem solving to target the above skills. A multiple baseline research design was used to examine: (a) improvement, or lack thereof, of student skills in problem solving, estimation, and math communication abilities, (b) interactions among the three targeted components, (c) generalization of skills to more traditional (e. g., paper and pencil/teacher directed) formats, and (d) extended generalization of acquired skills. Implications of these findings are presented as well. / text