In the school political debate that is conducted in Sweden the question of grading is an ongoing topic of discussion. During the past year there has been a lively discussion about introducing grade from year four as suggested by the right wing parties. The purpose of this study is to set the teaching faculties’ view and arguments in relation to the politicians' opinion in the ongoing debate about the proposal of introducing grades from year four. Furthermore, the aim is to investigate how central the didactic arguments are in relation to other arguments in the current debate. To achieve the purpose of this study, the following questions was created: How do the teaching faculty and the politicians argue around the proposal of introducing grades from year four? Which beliefs about the functions of grades exist among these actors? Which learning models and didactic perspectives exist in the debate and how does these relate to the beliefs about the functions of grades? This study is based on a qualitative method in terms of a contextual idea analysis. The theoretical basis is composed of theories about the different functions of grades, didactic perspective and learning models. The focus consist of investigating how the teaching faculty and politicians discuss the proposal in different articles. The reason for choosing this focus is to highlight the teaching faculties’ point of view in the debate which commonly is overshadowed by the politicians. The results show that the teaching faculty is critical of the proposal of introducing grades from year four, whereas the opinions among the politicians varies. The main criticism is that the proposal would involve a further waste of the school's already inadequate resources. Further criticism is that grades from year four would not work beneficial to the pupils due to different reasons.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Curtin University of Technology, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 278-298).

nÃo hà / A pesquisa dirige seu foco de anÃlise para o trabalho docente na Universidade Estadual do CearÃ, com base na avaliaÃÃo das condiÃÃes de trabalho dos professores do Centro de Estudos Sociais Aplicados. Os objetivos especÃficos foram compreender as transformaÃÃes do trabalho docente no Ãmbito da âreformaâ do Estado e da universidade brasileira, compreender a polÃtica pÃblica estadual do ensino superior no Cearà e analisar a percepÃÃo dos professores do CESA acerca da condiÃÃo de trabalho na UECE. O percurso metodolÃgico foi realizado mediante pesquisa bibliogrÃfica, busca documental e investigaÃÃo empÃrica com aplicaÃÃo de questionÃrios com docentes do CESA. Verificou-se que as transformaÃÃes no mundo do trabalho repercutem sobremaneira no ensino superior e consequentemente no trabalho docente, tornando-o precÃrio. Isso tem relaÃÃo com as crises do capitalismo global, com as mudanÃas estruturais da educaÃÃo superior brasileira e com as estratÃgias realizadas pelos governos neoliberais. Seguindo as orientaÃÃes dos organismos internacionais, os governos brasileiros delegam para o setor privado responsabilidades de financiamento e fornecimento da educaÃÃo superior, por meio de estratÃgias privatizantes no setor pÃblico, ampliando o raio de aÃÃo do capital. A polÃtica educacional, arrimada nas propostas neoliberais, intensifica as privatizaÃÃes, a terceirizaÃÃo e a informalizaÃÃo, conduzindo o trabalho docente à precarizaÃÃo. O mercado de trabalho docente do ensino superior se reestruturou de forma substancial. A flexibilizaÃÃo dos regimes e contratos de trabalho se impÃs nas IES privadas e pÃblicas. à crescente a contrataÃÃo de professores substitutos, ocorre a intensificaÃÃo do trabalho nÃo somente no ambiente laboral, mas se estende tambÃm ao espaÃo familiar e pessoal; alÃm disso, nÃo hà condiÃÃes adequadas de trabalho, considerando que, na maioria das vezes, as condiÃÃes ergonÃmicas sÃo inapropriadas e os equipamentos sÃo inexistentes ou ineficazes. / The research concentrates the analysis on the faculty member work at âUniversidade Estadual do CearÃâ having as the basis the work conditions of the professors from the social study center and its applicabilites. The specif goals targeted the analyzis and understandin of the changes in the work of the faculty member considering the reformation of the State and the brasilian university and also to understand the state public policy and the teaching in the higler education system in Cearà and the analysis through the profesors perception of CESA about the work conditions at UECE. All the methodologic process was acyvired through bibliographe research, the documental research and the empiric search with the application of quizzes involuing faculty members from CESA. We verified that the transformations in the labor world has a strong impact on the hioher education system and consequently in the work of faculty members mahing it very weal. This has a oirect relation wizh the global capitalism crisis with the extauctural changes of brasilian hiohez educational system an with the estrategles applied by the neo-liberals governments following the instructions of the international institutions, the brasilian government has been delegating to the private sector the responsibilities of financing and applying the higlen education through different private estrategles in the public sector, expanding the rench of money to use. The education policy forms from the neo-liberals proposals intensifies the privatizations, the outsourcing work, the informal work, leanding the faculty work to be very weak. The faculty work area in the highen education has re-estructed in a substantial way. The flexibility of the hiring process has imposed itself in the private and publics IES. The hiring process of professors for substitution work has been increased and this forces a strong intensification of work hours not only in the environment but also affects the family and personal life furthermore there are no adequate working conditions, if we consider that, most of time the equipment and also the ergonomic conditions are inefficient and non-existent.

The purposes of this study were to determine (a) what teacher evaluation processes or instruments are used in the 45 independent schools of the Southwest, (b) what types of professional development activities or programs are provided for teachers in these schools, and (c) how the development and implementation of the teacher evaluation process and professional development programs are perceived by the teaching faculty in selected schools. Questionnaires were administered to chief administrators of the 45 member schools of the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest. From the 28 schools submitting completed questionnaires and evaluation instruments, it was found that: (a) 3 of the schools had a very informal process, (b) 7 of the schools had an informal process, (c) 12 of the schools had a formal process, and (d) 6 of the schools had a very formal process. Four generalizations emerged from factors evident at the 5 schools selected for on-site visitations which should be addressed by independent schools regardless of the type of evaluation process used: (a) each school should develop a teacher evaluation policy; (b) each school should develop evaluation criteria and procedures that relate to each teacher's classification; (c) each school should delineate the specific role of the chief administrator in the evaluation process, and (d) each school should design a program of preferred professional development activities for each teacher's classification and level of the school. Finally, the recommendation was made that further research on teacher evaluation in independent schools include the investigation of how and why schools select a particular teacher evaluation process.

PEREIRA, Alessandra da Silva. A condição docente: um estudo das condições de trabalho dos professores do Centro de Estudos Sociais Aplicados da Universidade Estadual do Ceará. 2013. 123f. – Dissertação (Mestrado) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Programa de Pós-graduação em Educação Brasileira, Fortaleza (CE), 2013. / Submitted by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2014-09-02T10:46:09Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2013_dis_aspereira.pdf: 1068570 bytes, checksum: c3eb9a2df104e8c49c504c7a41d270e5 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Márcia Araújo(marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2014-09-02T13:05:09Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2013_dis_aspereira.pdf: 1068570 bytes, checksum: c3eb9a2df104e8c49c504c7a41d270e5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-09-02T13:05:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2013_dis_aspereira.pdf: 1068570 bytes, checksum: c3eb9a2df104e8c49c504c7a41d270e5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / The research concentrates the analysis on the faculty member work at “Universidade Estadual do Ceará” having as the basis the work conditions of the professors from the social study center and its applicabilites. The specif goals targeted the analyzis and understandin of the changes in the work of the faculty member considering the reformation of the State and the brasilian university and also to understand the state public policy and the teaching in the higler education system in Ceará and the analysis through the profesors perception of CESA about the work conditions at UECE. All the methodologic process was acyvired through bibliographe research, the documental research and the empiric search with the application of quizzes involuing faculty members from CESA. We verified that the transformations in the labor world has a strong impact on the hioher education system and consequently in the work of faculty members mahing it very weal. This has a oirect relation wizh the global capitalism crisis with the extauctural changes of brasilian hiohez educational system an with the estrategles applied by the neo-liberals governments following the instructions of the international institutions, the brasilian government has been delegating to the private sector the responsibilities of financing and applying the higlen education through different private estrategles in the public sector, expanding the rench of money to use. The education policy forms from the neo-liberals proposals intensifies the privatizations, the outsourcing work, the informal work, leanding the faculty work to be very weak. The faculty work area in the highen education has re-estructed in a substantial way. The flexibility of the hiring process has imposed itself in the private and publics IES. The hiring process of professors for substitution work has been increased and this forces a strong intensification of work hours not only in the environment but also affects the family and personal life furthermore there are no adequate working conditions, if we consider that, most of time the equipment and also the ergonomic conditions are inefficient and non-existent. / A pesquisa dirige seu foco de análise para o trabalho docente na Universidade Estadual do Ceará, com base na avaliação das condições de trabalho dos professores do Centro de Estudos Sociais Aplicados. Os objetivos específicos foram compreender as transformações do trabalho docente no âmbito da “reforma” do Estado e da universidade brasileira, compreender a política pública estadual do ensino superior no Ceará e analisar a percepção dos professores do CESA acerca da condição de trabalho na UECE. O percurso metodológico foi realizado mediante pesquisa bibliográfica, busca documental e investigação empírica com aplicação de questionários com docentes do CESA. Verificou-se que as transformações no mundo do trabalho repercutem sobremaneira no ensino superior e consequentemente no trabalho docente, tornando-o precário. Isso tem relação com as crises do capitalismo global, com as mudanças estruturais da educação superior brasileira e com as estratégias realizadas pelos governos neoliberais. Seguindo as orientações dos organismos internacionais, os governos brasileiros delegam para o setor privado responsabilidades de financiamento e fornecimento da educação superior, por meio de estratégias privatizantes no setor público, ampliando o raio de ação do capital. A política educacional, arrimada nas propostas neoliberais, intensifica as privatizações, a terceirização e a informalização, conduzindo o trabalho docente à precarização. O mercado de trabalho docente do ensino superior se reestruturou de forma substancial. A flexibilização dos regimes e contratos de trabalho se impôs nas IES privadas e públicas. É crescente a contratação de professores substitutos, ocorre a intensificação do trabalho não somente no ambiente laboral, mas se estende também ao espaço familiar e pessoal; além disso, não há condições adequadas de trabalho, considerando que, na maioria das vezes, as condições ergonômicas são inapropriadas e os equipamentos são inexistentes ou ineficazes.

<p>Assessment of student learning is ubiquitous in higher education chemistry courses because it is the mechanism by which instructors can assign grades, alter teaching practice, and help their students to succeed. One type of assessment that is popular in general chemistry courses, yet difficult to create effectively, is the multiple-choice assessment. Despite its popularity, little is known about the extent that multiple-choice general chemistry exams adhere to accepted design practices or the processes that general chemistry instructors engage in while creating these assessments. Further understanding of multiple-choice assessment quality and the design practices of general chemistry instructors could inform efforts to improve the quality of multiple-choice assessment practice in the future. This work attempted to characterize multiple-choice assessment practices in undergraduate general chemistry classrooms by, 1) conducting a phenomenographic study of general chemistry instructor’s assessment practices and 2) designing an instrument that can detect violations of item writing guidelines in multiple-choice chemistry exams. </p> <p>The phenomenographic study of general chemistry instructors’ assessment practices included 13 instructors from the United States who participated in a three-phase interview. They were asked to describe how they create multiple-choice assessments, to evaluate six multiple-choice exam items, and to create two multiple-choice exam items using a think-aloud protocol. It was found that the participating instructors considered many appropriate assessment design practices yet did not utilize, or were not familiar with, all the appropriate assessment design practices available to them. </p> <p>Additionally, an instrument was developed that can be used to detect violations of item writing guidelines in multiple-choice exams. The instrument, known as the Item Writing Flaws Evaluation Instrument (IWFEI) was shown to be reliable between users of the instrument. Once developed, the IWFEI was used to analyze 1,019 general chemistry exam items. This instrument provides a tool for researchers to use to study item writing guideline adherence, as well as, a tool for instructors to use to evaluate their own multiple-choice exams. The use of the IWFEI is hoped to improve multiple-choice item writing practice and quality.</p> <p>The results of this work provide insight into the multiple-choice assessment design practices of general chemistry instructors and an instrument that can be used to evaluate multiple-choice exams for item writing guideline adherence. Conclusions, recommendations for professional development, and recommendations for future research are discussed.</p>