No description available.

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This study examined emotional reactions that occurred when participants compared the fairness of own outcomes to that of peer outcomes. The mediating role of emotions (pride, guilt, envy, or anger) on the fairness perceptions and the intention to engage in organizational citizenship (OCB) or counterproductive work behaviour (CWB) was assessed. Two hundred and sixty nine undergraduate business students participated in the main study. Peer evaluation vignettes were used to simulate four fairness conditions. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that perceived fairness to self interacted with perceived fairness to others, which led to emotional reactions, including pride, guilt, envy, and anger. Perceived fairness also directly influenced behaviour. However, only the negative emotions of anger and envy acted as mediators. As such, anger decreased OCB intention and increased CWB intention. Envy decreased the intention to engage in OCB. Implications of the results were discussed. / x, 128 leaves ; 29 cm

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This thesis examines the potential for pre-service teacher training of video portfolios of elementary students doing school tasks. Study 1 investigates pre-service teachers' use of such records to assess student progress. Ten undergraduate education students each viewed two video portfolios, one for mathematics and one for reading. Each portfolio consisted of four video records. Participants watched the four records in an incorrect order and attempted to put them in their original order. Their orders by-and-large were correct. Most ordered the records according to task characteristics and provided detail interpretations and justifications for their ordering. Since the usefulness of video portfolios in teacher training rests on their ability to highlight characteristics of student learning, Study 2 further analyzes eleven mathematics video records selected from Study 1 to investigate whether the task condition constructed in the adult-student interaction allows sufficient presentations of student achievement. Potential threats in task administrator's instructional behaviors to video quality were discussed.

<p><font face="ArialMT"> <p align="left">The study recommends that performance management has to be approached from an integrated perspective. The process of the design of performance management must include a thorough consultation with major stakeholders. The implementation of the system has to be supported and driven by top leadership and management. The change management process should be supported by a proactive communication strategy and it should be managed strategically and by competent staff. A reward system that distinguishes high from mediocre performance should be put in place. Programmes must be implemented to ensure high levels of staff motivation. Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms must be put in place to ensure implementation of sustainable performance management systems. These recommendations led to the design of an integrated performance management system. The study concludes that integrated performance management, as a multidisciplinary methodology related to organisational strategy, structure, culture, systems and processes, should be regarded as a critical tool for improving motivation and performance of individuals, teams, departments and the public service as a whole.</p> </font></p>

This research project aims to establish the predictive validity of a set of aptitude tests for the first year Biosciences programme at a merging South African University. The study aims to address the problem of selection and placement to higher education and also to suggest how the results of aptitude tests might be used to inform curriculum development at first year level. The Differential Aptitude Test (DAT-L) was conducted on the 2004 Biosciences student cohort (228 students). The instructions that were given to the students followed the instructions laid out in Owen and Vosloo (1999). Normally there are ten tests in this battery of tests, however only eight of the tests were given to the students. The tests included; Vocabulary, Verbal reasoning, Non-Verbal reasoning: Figures, Calculations, Reading Comprehension, Comparisons, Price Controlling and Memory. Exam results of the participating students were collected. These included; Final Biosciences101 mark, Class mark (Biosciences101), Practical exam mark (Biosciences101) and Theory exam mark (Biosciences101). The final marks for Physics (mixed modules), Mathematics (mixed modules) Computer Sciences (CSCI 103) and Chemistry (CHEM131) were also collected. The indicator for the concept of academic potential in the Biosciences was taken as the marks achieved during the course of the first semester. Biographical information from the Student Management System (SMS) was also recorded this included; Race, Gender, Home language and Matric points. These various categories were compared against the students' performance in DAT-L tests. The average for the stanine points for a student of university "quality' is seven, according to Owen et al. (2000), while the average of this cohort of students is 5.16. The correlation for the different DAT tests when compared with the final result for Biosciences shows that the best correlation is with test 1 at r = .47292 (Vocabulary) while the worst correlation is with test 6 at r=.24722 (Comparison). The sequence of correlation is from Vocabulary through Reading Comprehension, Verbal Reasoning, Calculation, Memory, Price Controlling, Non-Verbal Reasoning: Figures, and finally Comparisons. The correlation of the average of all tests and the final result is a reasonable r = .50396. The best correlation with DAT and other subjects is Computer Science with r = .41165, with a declining correlation between Physics and the mark of r = .34085 followed by extremely poor correlations for Chemistry and Mathematics of r = .20313 and r = .08700 respectively. The best correlation that was obtained during this research was with the correlation between matric points and the average of all the DAT tests. While the correlation with DAT and the Final mark for Biosciences is r = .50396 that for the matric points is r = .57150. Females attained a significantly higher average on the DAT tests but the difference between female and male on their final results in Biosciences is not significant. White students perform significantly better than the other race designations when it comes to the final result. Within the categories African, Indian and Coloured there is no significant difference. When it comes to the different DAT tests, Africans perform significantly worse than the other three groupings and the Indian grouping did significantly worse when compared to Whites. If we were to use the DAT as a means of selecting students it would be fairly effective for biology but not for the other basic science subjects. The fact that the test would have to be administered to all applicants applying to do first year in the Science and Agriculture Faculty makes the choice of this set of tests questionable. Should the Faculty require a means of determining election into biological subjects then the tests show great promise. The pursuit of greater fairness, validity and reliability in selection is an ongoing quest. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Performance of individual students in a course at a tertiary institution is usually reflected in a final mark that determines their progress and transfer to higher courses. Performance of students in a first year course, Bioscience at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg (UNP) was examined to determine if there were any patterns emerging in differential performance between students, particularly the performance of subgroups within the class. Of particular interest were English second language (ESL) students, and previous Science Foundation Programme (SFP) students. The latter are mainly previously disadvantaged Black students. Performance ofstudents was compared in Bioscience 110 for the years 1995-2000 using Repeated Measures ANOVA. All subgroups of students showed similar trends in performance in Bioscience assessment tasks and final marks. However, the SFP students ' final marks were lower than the other subgroups, and showed a decreased performance for the same period. Most students, excluding SFP students, fell in the 50-59% category for the final Bioscience 110 marks obtained for the period 1995-2000. There was no correlation between students' SFP final mark and their final mark in Bioscience 110. The final Bioscience 110 mark is a combination of a class mark, practical examination and a theory examination and performance in these was investigated and compared to determine any patterns. Students performed best in class marks. All students performed poorly in the theory examinations. Theory examinations were investigated further, and were analysed in their component parts, namely multiple choice (MCQ), short questions and essay. Students performed best and consistently in MCQ. In contrast, students performed poorly in the short question and essay sections. Although the different ethnic subgroupings showed similar trends in performance, the SFP students showed the poorest performance. In particular, they scored lowest in the theory examinations where they performed more poorly than the other subgroupings in short questions and essays that require higher order cognitive skills. As SFP students are the main source of Black students who enrol for Bioscience at UNP, the performance of these students in their SFP Biology was assessed across years (1995-2000). Assessment marks were analysed to determine if they showed trends in the mastery of the skills and knowledge tested. Given the trends found by the study, there needs to be ongoing curriculum development in both courses examined. In particular, the types of teaching and the assessment used to award a final grade need to be examined. For example, the contribution ofessay writing, how it is taught and assessed needs to be monitored. The quality of test questions and writing assignments needs to be examined as part of course design and development. In addition, development of higher order thinking skills and the levels of these need to be examined at both SFP Biology and Bioscience levels. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002. / National Research Foundation.

The Developmental Appraisal System (DAS) replaces an autocratic, judgemental and summative system which did not take into account the differing contextual factors that affect an educator's work. Often an inspector would arrive unannounced, observe a lesson, judge the educator and leave without offering any feedback. There was also very little understanding that ongoing professional development should be a part of all educators' lives. As a result educators feared and mistrusted the evaluation process. When this form of control was rejected, very little replaced it in the form of making sure that quality teaching and learning was taking place in the classroom. The post - apartheid government has put into place a number of policies and strategies to ensure that quality education takes place in our schools. One of the most important has been the developmental appraisal system. This system allows the educator to identify his own development needs through a democratic and formative process together with the participation of education managers, peers and experts. It is one of the tools that, if supported by the establishment of structure and systems, can have a major impact on our present education system. This case study is a qualitative study of the attitudes of the management members of Clairwood Secondary School towards the Developmental Appraisal System. The study aims to capture to some extent the views, feelings, attitudes and perceptions of the school's management towards DAS. The interviews with members of management has provided me with direct evidence of management's attitudes towards DAS. The overall impression gained from the study was that all members of management were favourably disposed towards DAS. DAS was found to be a good system and that it would definitely have a positive impact on whole school development. DAS allowed educators to talk about, review and reflect on their work, and to receive helpful and supportive advice and guidance. The DAS approach is developmental and it is important at the planning stage to build in time for reflection and for developing strategies for improvement. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Durban-Westville, 2002.

This study is an interpretive one which investigates the value attached to teaching qualifications by educators and other stakeholders, viz. learners, management and council at a FET College. The research focuses on the value of teaching qualifications for Further Education and Training (FET) educators. It suggests the need for professional development of FET educators in light of the new FET Act 16 of 2006 and the implementation of the National Curriculum Vocational (NCV) introduced in 2007. The study is informed by Shulman’s (1986) principles of teacher knowledge and the hypotheses of Kennedy Ahn & Choi (2008) on the value added by teacher education. The data was gathered using a questionnaire comprising three parts; close-ended questions to capture background information, a rating scale to capture the values attached to teaching qualifications and open-ended questions to capture additional data. The study concludes that values are attached to teaching qualifications mainly for the teaching of NC(V) programs and that practical expertise is necessary for skills training programs. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.