The thesis reports on the evaluation of a digital information literacy program (DILP) to determine the program’s effectiveness in enhancing students’ digital information literacy skills. The program was originally designed and developed for the South African student, as member of Generation Y, but was adapted to suit the demographics and characteristics of Generation Z. New learning technologies were incorporated to enhance students’ learning experience. One of the characteristics of information literacy programs that illustrate best practice is the evaluation of the program itself to judge it’s effectiveness and validate the program as a learning tool. A review of the literature confirmed the paucity of the evaluation of such programs using assessment of student learning through outcomes assessment instruments, based on information literacy competency standards, designed with proven validity and reliability. The literature review found no evidence of the evaluation of the effectiveness of such programs through meaningful assessment of student learning using outcomes assessment in South Africa. For these reasons, the evaluation of the DILP was undertaken. To evaluate the effectiveness of the DILP, a non-randomised quasi-experimental research design, focusing on a single-group pre-test/post-test design which incorporated a combined quantitative and qualitative research approach was used. The primary research instrument was a pre- and post-test. A group of students, belonging to Generation Y and Z, completed a pre-test, worked through the DILP and completed a post-test. Telephonic and e-mail interviews were used to collect further data. The statistical analysis is presented by using descriptive statistics (stacked bar charts for the quantitative data and pie charts for the qualitative data). Inferential statistics were used to reach conclusions beyond the immediate data presented in the charts. The final step was to judge the overall effectiveness of the DILP. The difference between the means was statistically significant, indicating that the DILP was effective in enhancing the digital information literacy skills of students. Based on this research, additional research could be the evaluation of a DILP designed specifically for “digital natives”; the development of online outcomes assessment instruments for web-based tutorials with proven validity and reliability and research in the area of integrating emerging learning technologies with such programs, evaluating their effectiveness. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The purpose of this study was therefore to address the following primary research question: ‘What effect would a specially designed, developed, implemented and evaluated Material Science (MS) course have on serving teachers in terms of their perceptions and knowledge/understanding regarding content in MS and instructional practice in D&T?’

The doctoral thesis has primarily a theoretical character and outcomes. The focus of interest is formed by a detailed investigation of the actor concept in key theoretical approaches to contemporary public policy; the results are subsequently applied on the example of education policy, particularly on teachers as a specific actor category. The goals of this thesis are: 1) to describe how the words "actor", "agent" and "stakeholder" (which all translate as "aktér" in the Czech language) are used in public policy articles; 2) to introduce and compare selected public policy approaches working with actors; 3) to model how these approaches are used in the case of teachers (as actors) and the policy of tracking; 4) to create a comprehensive conceptual framework for the public policy research on actors. The analytical part of the doctoral thesis is based on a summative content analysis of public policy texts published in four extensive handbooks of public policy.

The presented diploma thesis deals with the use of formative assessment in the educational area Man and His World. Its outcome offers a possible way of solving the shortcomings of the area in question which negatively affects pupils' attitudes towards the school subjects of this educational area. The theoretical part presents findings about the assessment in general, namely its definition, presentation of functions, types and forms of assessment. It also emphasizes the relationship between the objectives and assessment which will be a pivotal one in the educational area in question. It also discusses the specifics of this educational area in relation to the impact on pupils' attitudes. Findings about formative assessment are focused on the definition, analysis of advantages and methods of implementation into teaching. The empirical part is based on the findings from the theoretical part and is carried out by a mixed research design. Questionnaire, interview and observation was used as methods to conduct the research. The aim was to find out whether the pupils who are assessed formatively have a more positive attitude than the pupils, who are assessed only summatively. The established hypothesis assumes that the pupils who are assessed formatively would have a better attitude towards the subject,...

This study explored the views and experiences of School Management Teams (SMTs) when implementing Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) in three primary schools in the Nkangala Region of the Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. A qualitative research approach was adopted and the data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews and document retrieval in schools. The data were then analysed by the constant comparative method. All the participants in this study expressed the view that IQMS is a teacher appraisal system with a potential to develop educators in schools provided both evaluators and evaluatees are honest with the evaluation process and are able to identify their areas of development. However the experience of the principals and deputy principals with the implementation of IQMS in schools reveals that educators inflate their scores and do not identify areas where they need development. The Development Support Groups (DSGs) do not conduct authentic evaluation since they serve the purpose of helping educators to qualify for salary progression. Participants recommended external evaluation as a solution to subjective ratings since external evaluators have a potential to provide objective and credible evaluation because they are unfamiliar with educators and do not experience the pressure to maintain collegiality in schools. A key recommendation is that the Department of Education should conduct effective training for the stakeholders involved with the implementation of IQMS in schools. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

Resultat av forskningsstudier som visar på att formativ bedömning har positiva effekter på elevers lärande har fått stor spridning i världen och inte minst i Sverige. Kunskapsbedömningar i skolan görs med olika syften. När bedömningar görs för att stötta och utveckla elevers lärande talas det om formativ bedömning och när bedömning görs för att stämma av elevers kunskaper mot betygskriterier benämns det som summativ bedömning. Båda typerna av bedömning behövs men forskningsstudier har gjorts som indikerar att betygsfokus och digitala lärplattformar kan utgöra hinder för en formativ bedömningspraxis. Forskning som undersöker hur elever och lärare uppfattar och använder sig av formativ bedömning i ämnet samhällskunskap på gymnasiet har gjorts i begränsad omfattning. Så är det även vad gäller forskning som undersöker hur formativ bedömning uppfattas av elever och lärare i samhällskunskap under ett läsår präglat av en blandning av när- och distansundervisning under en pandemi.  Syftet med undersökningen är att ta reda på hur elever och lärare uppfattar formativ bedömning i samhällskunskap. Syftet är också att undersöka hur de uppfattar formativ bedömning under ett läsår präglat av en blandning av när- och distansundervisning.   De frågeställningar som formulerades för att uppnå syftet besvarades genom att kvalitativa intervjuer genomfördes med elever som studerar Samhällskunskap 1b med olika lång erfarenhet av gymnasiestudier samt med deras lärare. Resultatet av intervjuerna analyserades med hjälp av fem nyckelstrategier som Paul Black och Dylan Wiliam utformat utifrån sin forskning om lärande och bedömning. Dessa strategier beskrivs som användbara verktyg i undervisningen för att kunna besvara frågor om var eleven befinner sig i lärandeprocessen, vart eleven är på väg och hur eleven ska ta sig dit.   Resultatet av undersökningen visar att den digitala lärplattform som elever och lärare använder sig av är ett gynnsamt verktyg för att synliggöra för eleverna och för läraren var eleverna befinner sig inlärningsmässigt i förhållande till målen. Undersökningen visar också på att eleverna uppfattar lärarens återkoppling som användbar för att ta sig vidare i lärandeprocessen. Den skriftliga återkopplingen eleverna får tillsammans med ett betygsliknande omdöme uppfattas av eleverna som en indikation om var eleven befinner sig, vart den är på väg och hur den ska ta sig vidare, vilket uppskattas av eleverna. Följaktligen visar resultatet av den här undersökningen att de formativa och summativa kunskapsbedömningarna harmonierar väl med varandra. Kamraters återkoppling värderas inte lika högt som lärarens då kamraten inte uppfattas som lika kompetent i ämnet som läraren. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att eleverna tränas i att kunna göra självbedömningar men att de uppfattar sig olika mycket som ägare av sitt eget lärande beroende på om de är första- eller andraårselever.   Resultatet visar att läraren upplevt att muntlig återkoppling blivit svårare att ge under de förutsättningar som ges under pandemin och att träning i kamratbedömning inte är något som prioriterats i någon större utsträckning under dessa ovanliga omständigheter. Avslutningsvis visar resultatet av undersökningen på den potential de digitala verktygen har för en formativ bedömningspraxis då undervisningen kombineras av när- och distansundervisning. / Results from research studies showing the positive effects of formative assessment on students’ learning have spread across the world and in Sweden. Assessment of student achievement has two different functions depending on why the assessment is made. When the goal is to monitor learning the assessment is formative and when the goal is to evaluate what the student has learnt at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it to some standards it is summative. Both types of assessments are needed but some research studies indicate that formative assessment practices may be impeded by excessive focus on grades and by the design of digital learning platforms. Not many research studies have been made examining formative assessment practices in social studies at upper secondary school. Nor have many research studies been made that examine formative assessment practices and how they are perceived by students and teachers a school year during a pandemic.   The aim of the study is to find out how formative assessment in social studies is perceived by students and teachers at upper secondary school. The aim is also to examine how they perceive formative assessment practices a school year during a pandemic with a mix of on-site and distance learning.   A qualitative method was used to answer the research questions. Two groups of students from different grades studying the same core course “Samhällskunskap 1b” and their teacher were interviewed. The data gathered from the interviews were analyzed with Paul Black’s and Dylan Wiliam’s five strategies formed on the basis of their research on learning and assessment. These strategies are described as useful tools in education to answer questions about where the student is in his/her learning process, where the student is going and how to get there.   The result of the study shows that the digital learning platform that the students and their teacher use is a beneficial tool for them to visualize where the student is in the learning process in relation to the learning goals. Furthermore, the result shows us that the students perceive the feedback that they receive from their teacher as useful in guiding the student where to go next and how to get there. The written feedback combined with a summative-like assessment helps the students taking the next step in the learning process. Consequently, this study shows that formative and summative assessments harmonize. Peer assessment is not as much valued by the students as the formative assessment they receive from their teacher, since they do not regard their peers being sufficiently qualified to give feedback. The result of the study shows that students do get training in making self-assessments. However, students in second grade consider themselves as owners of their own learning to a greater extent when compared with students in first grade.   The result shows us that the teacher perceives that opportunities to give students oral feedback have diminished during the pandemic and that the practice of peer assessment has been given less priority during these extraordinary circumstances. Finally, the result shows us the potential of digital tools being used for formative assessment practices when education is a combination of learning at school and online.

The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to analyse chosen factors involved in foreign language acquisition, compare three types of assessment strategies of foreign language knowledge and skills to look for correlations between students' outcomes, their school and out-of-school background and time factors. In this mixed research study the data collected from documents, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were analysed. State language examination candidates and upper- secondary students who were to take the new state school-leaving examination are involved in the study. The results show statistically significant relationship between the formal assessment by the teachers, through standardised examinations and by self-evaluation and factors as age when the learners started the foreign language learning, learning materials used and teachers' background. These findings may be used to provide feedback for strategic changes in study achievements to students, teachers and examiners.

Doctor Educationis / Three questions are central to this thesis: First, can the practice of teaching be made safe from luck through the controlling power of knowledge and reason? Second, even if it can be made safe from luck, should it be? Third, if it is neither possible nor desirable to exclude luck from teaching, what knowledge and personal qualities will put practitioners in the strongest position to face the contingencies of luck and, more especially, to face those conflicts which arise as a consequence of circumstances beyond the practitioner's control? Martha Nussbaum's account of luck and ethics in Greek philosophy and tragedy prompts the questions and provides, with Aristotle, many of the conceptual tools for answering them; Thomas Nagel's work on moral luck provides the categories for a more refined account of luck and its place in teaching. With respect to the first two questions, I argue that as a human practice teaching is open to the vicissitudes of fortune and cannot be made safe from luck, except at the expense of its vitality. Like other human practices, teaching is mutable, indeterminate and particular. Both its primary and secondary agents (teachers and pupils) and the practice itself are vulnerable to luck in four categories: constitutive, circumstantial, causal and consequential. But teaching is not just a matter of luck; it is a public practice in which some people are put into the hands of others for specific purposes, usually at public expense. If we have no way of holding practitioners accountable for their actions, the practice loses credibility. Any money or trust put into it is simply a gamble. For these and other reasons, the drive to exclude luck from practice is strong. Yet strong luck-diminishment projects are themselves a threat to the vitality of the practice. During the twentieth century two strong luck-diminishment projects have been especially detrimental to teaching: one rooted in the science of management, the other in the empirical sciences. Both have resulted in a proliferation of unfruitful and often trivial research projects, to misconceived programmers of teacher education, to distorted notions of knowledge and excellence in teaching, and to self-defeating and impoverished practice. Luck-diminishment projects rooted in logic are more or less threatening to vital practice, depending on how far they are committed to instrumental reasoning and a science of measurement. These are blunt and controversial claims. A central task of the thesis is to refine and defend them. The refinement proceeds by way of a contrastive analysis of strong luck-diminishment projects and others which are more responsive to the indeterminacy of practice. With respect to the final question, I argue that there are at least three sets of necessary conditions for a flourishing practice in the face of luck. One concerns what Aristotle calls the virtues of intellect and character. Central among these are practical rationality (conceived non-instrumentally), situational appreciation, and the knowledge required for an intelligent pursuit of the definitive ends of teaching. A second set concerns enabling institutions. A third concerns the kind of community best able to nurture those qualities necessary for vital and excellent practice. All three sets are themselves vulnerable to reversal. Keeping the practice of teaching alive and ensuring that it remains true to its definitive ends is thus a matter of sustained struggle.

This paper examines the impact of teachers' formative feedback on intermediate drafts on student writing development and its interrelationship with summative assessment. Formative feedback is advocated for its benefits on learners writing development; however, its usage in writing instruction at the upper-secondary level is met with frustrations from teachers and students alike. This paper endeavors to draw upon international research on the topic, synthesize the results and correlate it to the educational context of ESL teaching of writing in Swedish upper-secondary schools to elucidate what formative feedback practices are beneficial and how summative aspects can impact them. Research shows that feedback that is encouraging, investigative, and deals with global and local issues alike is more beneficial for facilitating writing development in a new genre. However, teachers should be mindful of overusing imperatives as they can act as demotivators, and they should also be mindful of the toll engaging with feedback takes on learners. Furthermore, teachers should not use grades to motivate feedback uptake, as it does not incentivize learners to do meaningful revisions. Lastly, more research should examine how formative feedback can illustrate students' writing standards without impeding benefits to writing development.

This explorative research paper looks at the attitudes and experiences of four EFL teachers towards assessment of English as a foreign language. The study was carried out using qualitative research with semi-structured interviews. The paper discusses factors that impact attitudes towards assessment. Our findings show that assessment is affected by a variety of factors, including colleagues, the head teacher and guiding documents. Furthermore, this paper identifies the need for more teacher education regarding the process of assessment, specifically formative assessment.