The importance of developing learners’ self-regulated learning and critical thinking has captured the attention of researchers in recent decades. But interventions that are effective in developing such skills are scarce in the English school context. This study reports on the creation, design, implementation, piloting and evaluation of such an intervention - a four-week internet-based extra-curricular critical thinking course, Is this the right room for an argument? Designed by the researcher as a University of Oxford outreach course, it was provided, for the purposes of this study, to a group (N = 617) of eleven and twelve year old state-school students in England. Based upon self-regulated learning (SRL) and critical thinking (CT) research literature, the intervention comprised four elements which have been linked to progress in both SRL and CT: dialogic argumentation, written counterargumentation, self-reflection in a learning journal and critical thinking tests. The effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated by constructing three experimental conditions and one control condition, which isolated the effects of different combinations of the intervention activities. Structural equation modelling, regression techniques and repeated measures analysis of variance were used to detect main and experimental effects on change in SRL and CT over time, whilst autoregressive cross-lagged path analysis models were specified to explore the process of SRL in action over the course of four learning events. There was an anticipated overall main effect of the intervention, on change in aspects of SRL, with small and medium effect sizes, and on CT, with a medium effect size. It was hypothesised that the use of the learning journal would promote change in SRL and that participation in argumentation would promote progress in CT. Both hypotheses were supported. Participants who self-monitored their learning experience in a learning journal reported significantly more gains in aspects of their SRL, compared with those who did not, with small and medium effect sizes. The extent of participation in dialogic argumentation predicted change over time in CT, with a small effect size, in metacognitive knowledge, with a large effect size and in motivational beliefs and efficacy for learning, with medium effect sizes. Repeated measures analyses detected significant and positive trends over time in metacognitive activity (elaboration strategies, volitional strategies, critical thinking and metacognitive experiences), with effect sizes ranging from small (volitional strategies) to large (elaboration strategies). A process analysis tracked metacognitive activity over four learning events, detecting statistically significant reciprocal relationships between observed critical thinking and self-reported elaboration strategies, and between volitional strategies and metacognitive experiences. Findings suggest that this intervention had a positive effect on change in both self-regulated learning and critical thinking. Specifically, the more participants engaged in dialogic argumentation the more the change in both outcomes. The effects of the intervention, on change in self-regulated learning, were significantly enhanced when the critical thinking activity (argumentation) was accompanied by the self-regulatory activity (the learning journal).

In this dissertation, I report on the design, implementation, and evaluation of my intervention for the revision of physics in a mainstream public secondary school in Singapore. This intervention was conducted over a one-year period, and involved students who were taking their GCE 'O' level physics examination after immersion in the intervention, which was conducted as part of their regular physics revision curriculum. Based on sociocultural theory, the intervention changed the practice of how physics revision was conducted in a particular secondary physics classroom. The intervention consisted of a computer-mediated collaborative problem-solving (CMCPS) component and a teacher-led prescriptive tutoring (PT) component. The CMCPS portion of the intervention required the students to follow basic 'ground rules' for computer-mediated problem-solving of physics questions with other students, while the PT portion saw the teacher prescriptively addressing students' misconceptions, misunderstandings, and other problem-solving difficulties as captured by the discussion logs during the CMCPS session. The intervention was evaluated in two stages. First, a small-scale (pilot) study which utilised a control group (CG)/alternate intervention group (AG)/experimental group (XG) with pre- and post-test research design was conducted in order to evaluate whether the intervention was effective in promoting improved learning outcomes of a small group of students. Given the success of the pilot study, a main study involving the entire class of students was conducted. This main study was evaluated by comparing the cohort's actual GCE 'O' level physics results with their expected grades (as given by the Singapore Ministry of Education based on the students' primary school's results). Also, the students' 'O' level physics results were compared with the average physics results obtained by previous cohorts. The quantitative data indicated that the intervention for physics revision appears to be effective in helping the entire class of students revise physics concepts, resulting in improved test scores, while the qualitative data indicated that the students' interest in physics had increased over time. The physics teacher also reflected that the intervention had provided her with much deeper insights into her students' mental models.

yes / This paper considers the importance of applying sound instructional systems design to the development of a learning intervention aimed at developing skills for the effective deployment of an enhanced methodology for engineering systems design analysis within a Product Development context. The leading features of the learning intervention are summarised including the content and design of a training course for senior engineering management which is central to the intervention. The importance of promoting behavioural change by fostering meaningful learning as a collaborative process is discussed. Comparison is made between the instructional design of the corporate learning intervention being developed and the systems engineering based product design process which is the subject of the intervention.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the training given to Foundation Phase (FP) teachers in the implementation of Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), with the intention to develop an alternative professional development (PD) approach for this Phase. Literature indicates that the academic success of learners can be significantly affected by Foundation Phase teachers’ access and participation in quality PD activities. It also indicates that PD is much more than training. It includes on-going workshops, follow-up, study, reflections, observations and assessment which accommodates FP teachers as learners, recognises the long-term nature of learning, and utilises methods that are likely to lead teachers to improve their practice as professionals. In this study, mixed methods research approach was employed to collect empirical data. It includes questionnaires responded to by 84 FP teachers, three sets of interview questions, that is, one for 9 primary school principals, one for 3 subject advisors, and the last one for the Focus group made up of 10 FP teachers who were not included in questionnaires. Observation at training centre was also conducted. The study revealed that the responses from the five sets of data collection instruments seemed to agree on the following: - FP teachers were not involved in the design of their PD activities; - An appropriate time for FP teachers to engage in PD activities is during school holidays; - The length of the training was too short; - Training was not based on the teachers identified needs; and - It was not designed by teachers in cooperation with experts in the field. This study therefore recommends the use of mixed-models approach because the Cascade model that was used, is not addressing the needs of all FP teachers. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the training given to Foundation Phase (FP) teachers in the implementation of Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), with the intention to develop an alternative professional development (PD) approach for this Phase. Literature indicates that the academic success of learners can be significantly affected by Foundation Phase teachers’ access and participation in quality PD activities. It also indicates that PD is much more than training. It includes on-going workshops, follow-up, study, reflections, observations and assessment which accommodates FP teachers as learners, recognises the long-term nature of learning, and utilises methods that are likely to lead teachers to improve their practice as professionals. In this study, mixed methods research approach was employed to collect empirical data. It includes questionnaires responded to by 84 FP teachers, three sets of interview questions, that is, one for 9 primary school principals, one for 3 subject advisors, and the last one for the Focus group made up of 10 FP teachers who were not included in questionnaires. Observation at training centre was also conducted. The study revealed that the responses from the five sets of data collection instruments seemed to agree on the following: - FP teachers were not involved in the design of their PD activities; - An appropriate time for FP teachers to engage in PD activities is during school holidays; - The length of the training was too short; - Training was not based on the teachers identified needs; and - It was not designed by teachers in cooperation with experts in the field. This study therefore recommends the use of mixed-models approach because the Cascade model that was used, is not addressing the needs of all FP teachers. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)