<p> The purpose of this research was to determine if the effectiveness of technology education can be significantly increased through use of team-based activities including both real-time team encounters and results-driven team assignments. The research addresses this purpose by examining perceptions regarding effectiveness of team-based learning in several degree programs in Information Technology education. Survey data was gathered from adult students about their experience with recent team assignments. All participants were enrolled at a large private non-profile university on the west coast within the School of Engineering, Technology and Media. The Team Work Survey was administered and hosted on the Survey Monkey website and released to about 200 courses in programs for a Bachelor of Science or a Master of Science degree. Over four periods, survey responses were returned for 96 learners enrolled in undergraduate courses and 126 learners enrolled in graduate courses. The researcher was granted permission by DiFonzo (2010) to use a survey instrument adapted and piloted that was based on an earlier Team Performance Survey originated by Peters (1997) who developed, validated and determined its reliability. Several comparisons were made using statistical analysis to determine the interesting patterns relevant to this research. The interpretation of findings included evidence that team effectiveness was indeed positively aligned with team members' perceptions about ability to learn, with their interest in the topic and the motivation of individual members to commit time and energy to the team assignments.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to identify and prioritize a list of implementation risk factors and suggested mitigation measures for the development team of the California Community Colleges (CCC) Online Education Initiative (OEI) to improve the probability of successful implementation. This study led to the development of an authoritative and comprehensive prioritized list of risk factors and user-recommended mitigation strategies for the risks of a large-scale shared learning management system (LMS) implementation. The data collected and the conclusions derived from surveying college administrators and faculty are intended to augment the literature as well as advance the understanding of how to successfully implement a new shared LMS of this scale successfully. The participants in the policy Delphi study were 10 administrators, 10 full-time faculty members, and 7 adjunct faculty members from the cohort of the first colleges accepted to adopt the OEI. Two rounds of questionnaires were administered using the online electronic survey program SurveyMonkey. The first round asked participants to prioritize software implementation risk factors and make mitigation suggestions for the highest priority risks. The second round asked participants to rank the mitigation suggestions for the top 10 risks identified in the first round. Only 2 of the top 10 risk factors were statistically significant: underfunding of maintenance and support, and lack of faculty and staff responsibility, ownership, and buy-in for the project. There were no statistically significant differences in risk factor assessments based on job type, length of time in job, legacy LMS, legacy LMS experience, or size of college. OEI leadership and colleges should evaluate and implement the top mitigation suggestions for at least the first 2 risk factors and preferably all of the top 10. Engaging the early adopters in assessing potential implementation risks, prioritizing them, brainstorming mitigation measures, and prioritizing those measures yielded an actionable list the team can use to reduce implementation risks and improve the probability of success of the new OEI system.</p>

Various research studies show that the language ability and Mathematics performance of primary school learners are closely related. In South Africa, as is elsewhere, the language issue at schools has always been shifted from the academic battlefield into the political battlefield. The Minister of Education has always been a politician and therefore the current curriculum in SA is politically inspired and do not always address the needs of learners, according to Sedibe (2003). Many primary school learners with an African background are taught in a second language and not in their mother tongue due to the policy of the National Education Department. It is mostly these learners who find it difficult to relate to the language of instruction and the meaning-making of that language in a Mathematical context. The Annual National Assessment (ANA), an initiative of the National Education Department, shows that most of the primary school learners in South Africa are still not on track concerning Numeracy and Literacy skills. Language barriers for learners who are not taught in their mother tongue lead to misunderstanding regarding Mathematical word problems. The interpretation of word problems has throughout the years been a concern of Mathematics teachers, even if the learners were taught in their mother tongue. The purpose of this study was to investigate, by means of a case study, the barriers primary school learners experience with the translation of mathematical word sums into number sentences. Qualitative research was conducted. The study was grounded in the interpretivist paradigm, hence the reasons for the learnersâ problems in converting word problems into number sentences and perations were investigated in real-life situations. Data was collected through observations. Audio-visual material was used. Activities of Grade four learners, from a primary school in the Motheo teaching district of the Free State Province, was recorded audio visually, while being busy with group work. The group work was done in the form of a worksheet, which contained two word problems. The learners had to discuss the word problems in order to compile number sentences. The learners could use any language during their discussions. A Sotho translator translated the discussions into English for analysis purposes. The research findings support the research problem, as it was clear that although learners were presented with word problems in a language other than their mother tongue, they preferred to discuss the content of the word problems in their mother tongue. The main recommendations emerging from this study is that teachers should become more aware of the linguistic issues in learning and teaching Mathematics and must develop tools for talking about language in ways that enable them to engage productively with learners in constructing mathematical knowledge. Teachers in culturally diverse school settings need to develop âtoolsâ to enable learners to understand the mathematical vocabulary better via the language of instruction. The following recommendations regarding these tools can be made. Teachers who teach Mathematics in the foundation phase should compile a Mathematics dictionary as part of their literature studies. These teachers must consult language interpreters in order to find mother tongue words for words that explain mathematical concepts. These words should be repeated regularly throughout their contact time with the learners, even if it is not the Mathematics period. The Mathematical concepts and content must be carried over to non-mother tongue learners in such a way that they can identify the context of their everyday lives in it. Only then will the learners make meaning of word problems and will they be able to compile numbers sentences from the word problem in order to carry out the correct Mathematical operations.

<p> Today's economy is driven by information technology (IT). Education and business should come to an agreement that functional technology skills should be integrated with core academic courses to create an educational system that truly prepares workers for the 21st Century. The business realm theoretical foundation for this study laid on the match/mismatch established between technology&mdash;math education and business' readiness&mdash;[math] skills. The level of education and skills of workers needed by business and industry has increased. Nonetheless, scholars underlined the belief that the skills workers possess are generally not sufficient for the demands of the more sophisticated jobs in today's economy. With this study this researcher pretended to fill the gap in the literature by examining the hypothesis that poor education results in low skills is hampering U.S. businesses and the disparity between what employers need and what workers offer is getting serious enough. Within this investigation the researcher tested for first time three theories: the AST/TML theory, the TAM theory, and the Constructivist theory, whereas having behind scenes K-12's mathematics arena. This study found that "there is no statistically significant relationship between the degree to which teachers accept new technologies and technology usage in mathematics instruction" and that "teachers' individual affective reactions to technology toward integrating computers and technology into math instruction are not related to readiness skills." However, a Post Hoc analysis demonstrated that at least for one of the individual predictors, problem solving construct scores, the null hypothesis was rejected. It means in a long path to academic success, small waves of effectiveness in education are penetrating the sandy beaches of skills. Additionally, this researcher confirmed some scholars' assertion about Confirmatory Factor Analysis, which described that sample sizes smaller than 100 as dangerous and recommended using sample sizes larger than 200 for safe conclusions. Finally, the researcher tested and validated the Technology-Mediated Learning (TML) theory while adding his research positive conclusion(s) to the body of knowledge.</p>

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Georgia Southern University, 2007. / "A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education." Under the direction of John A. Weaver. ETD. Electronic version approved: May 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-172) and appendices.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction, School of Education, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-09, Section: A, page: 3712. Adviser: David Flinders. Title from dissertation home page (viewed May 7, 2008).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2007. / Title from title screen (site viewed Oct. 21, 2008). PDF text: ix, 145 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 3 Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3321124. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Education, 2005. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Nov. 11, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-01, Section: A, page: 0148. Chair: Charles M. Reigeluth.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction, Mathematics Education, 2005. / Adviser: Peter Kloosterman.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-05, Section: A, page: 1743. Adviser: Bertram C. Bruce. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-159) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.