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The Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDDM), a growing field of study argued to be very useful in discovering knowledge hidden in large datasets are slowly finding application in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs). While literature shows that KDDM processes enable discovery of knowledge useful to improve performance of organisations, limitations surrounding them contradict this argument. While extending the usefulness of KDDM processes to support HEIs, challenges were encountered like the discovery of course taking patterns in educational datasets associated with contextual information. While literature argued that existing KDDM processes suffer from the limitations arising out of their inability to generate patterns associated with contextual information, this research tested this claim and developed an artefact that overcame the limitation. Design Science methodology was used to test and evaluate the KDDM artefact. The research used the CRISP-DM process model to test the educational dataset using attributes namely course taking pattern, course difficulty level, optimum CGPA and time-to-degree by applying clustering, association rule and classification techniques. The results showed that both clustering and association rules did not produce course taking patterns. Classification produced course taking patterns that were partially linked to CGPA and time-to-degree. But optimum CGPA and time-to-degree could not be linked with contextual information. Hence the CRISP-DM process was modified to include three new stages namely contextual data understanding, contextual data preparation and additional data preparation (merging) stage to see whether contextual dataset could be separately mined and associated with course taking pattern. The CRISP-DM model and the modified CRISP-DM model were tested as per the guidelines of Chapman et al. (2000). Process theory was used as basis for the modification of CRISP-DM process. Results showed that course taking pattern contextualised by course difficulty level pattern predicts optimum CGPA and time-to-degree. This research has contributed to knowledge by developing a new artefact (contextual factor mining in the CRISP-DM process) to predict optimum CGPA and optimum time-to-degree using course taking pattern and course difficulty level pattern. Contribution to theory was in extension of the application of a few theories to explain the development, testing and evaluation of the KDDM artefact. Enhancement of genetic algorithm (GA) to mine course difficulty level pattern along with course taking pattern is a contribution and a pseudocode to verify the presence of course difficulty level pattern. Contribution to practise was by demonstrating the usefulness of the modified CRISP-DM process for prediction and simulation of the course taking pattern to predict the optimum CGPA and time-to-degree thereby demonstrating that the artefact can be deployed in practise.

The purpose of this study was to identify leadership characteristics of highperforming Texas high school principals that positively affect student performance. A secondary purpose of the study was to determine the degree of agreement between conceptualizations of leadership presented in existing research and those of successful practitioners. A Delphi panel of sixteen high school principals participated in the study. Over the course of three rounds, the members of the expert panel provided feedback to both the researcher and other members of the panel as to which leadership characteristics they felt were of critical importance to student success. The characteristics presented in the questionnaire were based upon a sound theoretical framework resulting from a thorough review of existing research. At the completion of Round Three, it was decided that consensus had been reached among the members of the panel and the data collection period was ended. Each of the questionnaires used in the study, as well as the relevant statistical analysis and frequency distributions, can be found in the appendices of this document. The major findings of the study affirm the importance of leadership and its positive impact on student achievement. First, there seems to be agreement between the body of research on leadership and the viewpoint of successful practitioners as to which leadership characteristics are essential for student success. Second, vision for goal achievement, response to diversity, and ethical practice head the list of critical leadership attributes for high school principals. Third, leadership characteristics presented in the literature base are, at least in the opinion of the high-performing high school principals involved in this study, comprehensive and are not missing any major components for student success. The conclusions and recommendations of this study could affect the performance of high school principals’ leadership in school improvement. Its major significance can be found in its potential effect on the daily practice of individuals currently serving as school leaders, the professional growth plans of practicing administrators, and the components and focus of principal preparation programs.

School leadership provides a critical bridge between student success initiatives and their impact on students in Texas schools. This study, which was one of four cohort studies conducted concurrently in Region V Education Service Center (ESC), Texas, examined the relationship between student performance, as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), and leadership practices of elementary school principals in Region V ESC schools. The investigation procedures for this study involved an analysis of the responses from principals and site-based decision making (SBDM) committee members from their respective campuses to the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) developed by Kouzes and Posner (2003) which evaluates the use of five identified leadership practices: Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart. Student performance information for the participating elementary campuses was obtained from the Texas Education Agency Academic Excellence Indicator System database. This study found no linear relationship between perceived leadership practices of elementary principals and the academic success of students as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). However, a relationship between these variables is strongly supported by the literature. The data were an indication that Region V elementary principals embrace the leadership practices identified by Kouzes and Posner at least moderately (between the 30th and 69th percentile) or at a higher level (70th percentile or above). As a group, the principals in this study rated themselves higher overall in regard to perceived leadership practices than did their observers, but only significantly higher on three of the five individual practices. Principals and their observers agreed that the practice Enable Others to Act was the most frequently noted followed by the practices Model the Way and Encourage the Heart. The practices with the least reported frequency were Challenge the Process and Inspire a Shared Vision. Further analysis of the data showed that the demographic variables of gender, ethnicity, age, and years of experience in the field of education did not have an effect on survey responses of the study participants.

Among educational researchers, important questions are being asked about how to improve mathematics instruction for elementary students. This study, conducted in a north Texas public school with 294 third- through fifth-grade students, ten teachers and three coaches, examined the relationship between students’ achievement in mathematics and the mathematics teaching and coaching instruction they received. Student achievement was measured by the Computer Adaptive Instrument (CAT), which is administered three times a year in the district and is the main criterion for students’ performance/movement in the district’s response to intervention program for mathematics. The response to intervention model employs student data to guide instruction and learning in the classroom and in supplemental sessions. The theoretical framework of the concerns based adoption model (CBAM) was the basis to investigate the concerns that mathematics teachers and coaches had in using the CAT student data to inform their instruction. The CAT data, based on item response theory, was the innovation. Unique in this study was the paralleling of teachers’ and coaches’ concerns and profiles for their use of the data with student scores using an empirical approach. Data were collected at three intervals through the Stages of Concerns Questionnaire, the Levels of Use interviews, and the Innovation Configuration Components Matrix from teachers and at three intervals student CAT-scaled scores. Multiple regression analyses with the concerns and CAT scores and levels of use and CAT scores were conducted to determine if relationships existed between the variables. The findings indicated that, overall, the teachers and coaches who scored high in personal concerns at the three data points remained at low levels of use or non-use of CAT data in their instruction. Only two teachers indicated movement from high intense personal concerns to high concerns regarding the impact on students. This correlated with their increased use of CAT at the three-collection points. The regression analyses indicated no correlations between the teachers’ and coaches’ concerns and the CAT and no correlations between their levels of data use and the CAT. At the exit interviews, patterns suggested that the presence of a change facilitator might have made a difference in their understanding and use of the CAT data ultimately impacting student achievement. This study sets a new precedent in the use of CBAM data and offers insights into the necessity of providing support and training in a change process.

Mathematics plays a key role in bolstering a country’s knowledge economy. Australia’s knowledge economy is negatively affected by the underachievement of Australian school students in geometry. Research indicates a continuing decline in student performance in geometry and a distinct lack of geometrical knowledge and understanding on the part of students and teachers. To address this issue a theory of success in geometry that focussed on background variables and attitude, was developed. In the theory it was hypothesised that success in geometry can be understood in terms of predictor variables and that attitude mediates the effects of the variables on success in geometry. A model of success in geometry was developed to systematically determine the relationships of the variables. Trainee teachers from the University of Western Sydney (n = 224) participated in the survey. Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis the use of one or two attitude scales was determined as were the items in the scales. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) the relationships between the background factors (age, education, gender, left/right brain preference) on success in geometry (van Hiele level) mediated by attitude were determined. The evidence, however, suggests that attitude is not only correlated with the measures of success in geometry (van Hiele levels) but that it may also be a predictor of success in geometry. It was also hypothesised that attitude was composed of three analytically distinct factors (affective, cognitive and behavioural). The evidence suggests that this hypothesis cannot be rejected. This is an important finding as previous research has not been empirically able to distinguish these factors. In order to improve the success of Australian school students in geometry and assist teachers to succeed and consequently improve Australia’s knowledge economy, the present research indicates that: all trainee teachers should have their van Hiele level of geometry understanding determined; appropriate geometry courses should be a mandatory part of the curriculum for all pre-service teachers whose van Hiele level is less than three; all trainee teachers should have a van Hiele level of three or four before they commence teaching; appropriate changes to the curriculum of trainee teachers should be made so that their stored general evaluative process produces a positive attitude to geometry, especially in female students; school students who intend to pursue a teaching career should complete mathematics courses with a geometry content. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This investigation sought to determine the effects of composition instruction on student performance. Informants consisted of students and teachers. Students completed two surveys and participated in interviews. Teachers completed one survey. The findings suggest that student performance are influenced by confidence in writing ability and previous writing instruction. Further, teachers either teach composition actively or inactively, and these teacher stances influence both student confidence and ability to compose. Implications from these findings can be extended to teacher training, student instruction, and further research.

A professional practice instructor (PPI), as an evaluator of student performance in professional practice, makes important decisions as to whether nursing students are meeting course requirements. Several nursing education studies have reported that students whose performances are deemed unsatisfactory in professional practice courses nonetheless continue to receive passing grades. While this phenomenon, known as “failure to fail,” has been documented in studies involving nursing preceptors, it has yet to be the subject of an in-depth exploration among PPIs. Utilizing Gadamer’s (2011) philosophical hermeneutics and Fleming, Gaidys, and Robb’s (2003) hermeneutic methodology, this qualitative study sought to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of PPIs (n = 8) in evaluating unsatisfactory student performance within three educational institutions using a collaborative undergraduate nursing program (UNP) in Southern Ontario. This study revealed that evaluating unsatisfactory student performance is an emotionally draining experience for PPIs. The perception of an overwhelming workload and complex challenges can make it difficult for PPIs to assign a failing grade to a student, especially among novice PPIs. Furthermore, both assigning a failing grade and failing to fail students were found to have a negative impact on all participants in this study. Amid these difficulties, ongoing critical reflection and seeking collegial support and feedback were deemed helpful in validating a PPI’s decision-making, as well as alleviating the emotional aspects of grading experiences. While this study reinforces that stressors are inevitable when evaluating unsatisfactory student performance, they may be ameliorated through the creation of mandatory multi-modal orientation programs for all PPIs within educational nursing institutions. Furthermore, mentorship programs for novice PPIs might better prepare and support them in coping with the complex issues related to managing failing students. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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