Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / "July 1994." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 365-396).

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the last two decades, the deteriorating academic performance of first-year university students has led to the implementation of teaching and learning interventions, such as tutorial programmes, in various subjects at universities world-wide, including in South Africa. The changing nature of higher education has also led to the incorporation of more student-centred teaching approaches (such as tutorials) along with the traditional teacher-centred approaches (such as lectures). Consequently, tutorial programmes have become the topic of many research projects aimed at describing the function or operation of these programmes, or assessing their efficacy. As a compulsory or potentially compulsory subject for at least seven courses in three faculties at Stellenbosch University, English 178 has one of the highest annual student intakes at the institution. Considering the important role the subject is generally perceived to play in equipping all manner of students for the professional environment, it was imperative that the English 178 course’s primary learning intervention – its tutorial programme – be thoroughly evaluated in order to ensure its usefulness and the accomplishment of its purposes. This study investigated the role of tutors in the achievement of the English 178 course outcomes as perceived by students and tutors respectively. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed to effect this assessment. The study found that when students arrive at English 178, they are underprepared for academic writing. According to the results, the course then equips students for the more basic aspects of this skill, such as formulating and developing an argument, and structuring an academic essay. However, advanced skills such as independent research and referencing are still problematic for many students by the end of English 178. In supporting students to acquire these academic skills, tutors have four roles, according to student and tutor perceptions: expositor, chairperson, teacher, and scaffolder. Based on these results, the English 178 course can be seen as an example of facilitated textual enquiry (FTE), a teaching and learning model introduced by this study, which constitutes a selective application of problem-based learning (PBL) principles to literary studies. FTE entails the scaffolded, partially-guided instruction of close reading, critical thinking and academic writing skills by a tutor-facilitator. The study posits that this type of model is indispensable in the achievement of course outcomes in the 21st-century academic landscape. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In die afgelope twee dekades het eerstejaar-universiteitstudente se verswakkende akademiese prestasie gelei tot die implementering van onderrig- en leerintervensies, soos tutoriaalprogramme, in verskeie vakke aan universiteite wêreldwyd, insluitend in Suid-Afrika. Die veranderende aard van hoër opvoeding het ook gelei tot die inlywing van meer studentgesentreerde onderrigbenaderings (soos tutoriale) by tradisionele dosentgesentreerde benaderings (soos lesings). Gevolglik het tutoriaalprogramme die onderwerp van vele navorsingsprojekte geword wat daarop gemik is om die funksie of werking van hierdie programme te beskryf, of die doeltreffendheid daarvan te assesseer. As ’n verpligte of potensieel verpligte vak vir ten minste sewe kursusse in drie fakulteite by die Universiteit Stellenbosch het Engels 178 een van die hoogste jaarlikse studente-innames aan die instelling. Gegewe die belangrike rol wat die vak volgens algemene persepsie speel in die toerusting van allerlei studente vir die professionele omgewing, was dit noodsaaklik dat die Engels 178-kursus se primêre leerintervensie – die tutoriaalprogram – deeglik geëvalueer word om die dienstigheid en die vervulling van die doelwitte daarvan te verseker. Hierdie studie het die rol van tutors in die bereiking van die Engels 178-kursusuitkomste ondersoek vanuit die oogpunt van onderskeidelik studente en tutors. ’n Kombinasie van kwalitatiewe en kwantitatiewe navorsingsmetodes is gebruik om hierdie assessering te doen. Die studie het gevind dat wanneer studente by Engels 178 aankom, hulle ondervoorbereid is vir akademiese skryf. Volgens die resultate rus die kursus hulle dan toe vir die meer basiese aspekte van hierdie vaardigheid, soos om ’n argument te formuleer en ontwikkel, en om ’n akademiese opstel te struktureer. Gevorderde vaardighede, soos onafhanklike navorsing en verwysings, is egter teen die einde van Engels 178 steeds vir baie studente problematies. Wanneer tutors studente ondersteun om hierdie akademiese vaardighede aan te leer, het hulle volgens studente en tutors se persepsies vier rolle: uitlêer (expositor), voorsitter (chairperson), leermeester (teacher), en steieraar (scaffolder). Gegrond op hierdie resultate kan die Engels 178-kursus gesien word as ’n voorbeeld van gefasiliteerde tekstuele ondersoek (facilitated textual enquiry of FTE), ’n onderrig- en leermodel wat deur hierdie studie bekendgestel word en wat bestaan uit ’n selektiewe toepassing van probleemgebaseerde leerbeginsels op letterkundestudie. FTE behels die gesteierde (scaffolded), gedeeltelik geleide onderrig van stiplees (close reading), kritiese denke en akademiese skryfvaardighede deur ’n tutor-fasiliteerder. Die studie voer aan dat hierdie soort model onontbeerlik is in die bereiking van kursusuitkomste in die 21ste-eeuse akademiese landskap.

M. Tech. (Information Technology, Faculty of Applied and Computer Sciences) Vaal University of Technology / The majority of research studies completed on podcasting technology focused on the acceptance of podcasting technology in the educational settings and the challenges that it poses for higher education institutions and instructors. Very little interest has been accorded to the effect that podcasting could have on the learners‟ academic performance. Utilizing a quasi-experimental non-equivalent group posttest, a wide used research method in the education discipline, the relationship between podcasting technology and academic performance, is investigated. The quasi-experimental was performed based on data collected over a period of 12 months, in which a non-random sample of 150 learners was taken from a population group of 350 management and entrepreneurship undergraduate learners at the Tshwane University of Technology. The sample was separated into two groups, namely the experimental group of 75 students, and the control group of 75 students. Both groups were offered the same subject by the same instructor. Control group learners are learners who have already completed the subject in the first semester before the podcasting technology was introduced in the subject. The experimental group learners are learners who have completed the subject through the support of podcasting technology. The assessment marks for four formal tests of the two groups were compared by means of a t-test to determine the effect of the intervention. The outcomes of the study showed an increase in the overall mean score of the experimental group in comparison to the mean score of the control group. The number of students obtaining distinctions also increased, compared to the control group. These considerations possibly indicate a positive relationship between the availability of podcast lectures and academic performance.

Using the World Bank Public Expenditure Tracking Survey (PETS) 2004 data, propensity score matching is utilized to infer a causal impact of private tutoring on the numeracy, literacy, and total outcomes for fourth grade public school students. This research finds that students who self-report that they participate in private tutoring everyday as compared to their peers who never participate in private tutoring scored higher in literacy, numeracy, and total scores. A small Matthew Effect was found as the statistically significant variables used as predictors aligned with socio-economic status. This alignment depicts that the rich become academically richer while the poor become academically poorer. The hybrid public-private education system in Cambodia may be exacerbating inequity for the most marginalized populations.

Writing Fellows Programs (WFP) are in effect among college campuses across the country, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Nova Southeastern University; however, Florida Atlantic University has yet to establish a peer tutoring program that is tied to writing-intensive courses that would enable disciplines across campus to share the responsibility of improving student writing instead of delegating the task to the English Department or college writing center. There is also an apparent disconnect between the writing skills being taught within the non-English Department courses and the work being done within the University Center for Excellence in Writing (UCEW) to teach the effectiveness of strong, academic writing to students. This disconnect can be eliminated with the help of peer tutors acting as the bridge connecting the faculty across the disciplines to the UCEW. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 75-84). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Youngstown State University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-107). Also available via the World Wide Web in PDF format.

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Dr. David Pargman, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Feb. 18, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

In view of the popularity and continuous expansion in the scale of shadow education (private supplementary tutoring) all over the world, research in this field has recently received more attention. However, the study of English language learning in this context has been rather limited although it is the subject having the greatest demand in Hong Kong. This study aimed to fill part of the research gap by focusing on the experience of learners of English under shadow education in Hong Kong. It investigated, from the learners’ perspective, why they received English tutoring, the strategies tutors used and how their motivations and attitudes were influenced. It also explored what learners ‘wanted’ and ‘needed’ in English learning under shadow education, and whether their ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ were satisfied. A qualitative study was carried out. Data were collected using background questionnaires and one-to-one semi-structured interviews. Fourteen Year One university undergraduates were recruited as interviewees to narrate their experience of English learning through tuition in their whole life before they were admitted to university. The data showed that learners participated in four types of tutoring, namely one-to-one, small-group, large-group and star-tutoring. The frequency, duration, costs, learners’ attitudes, motivation and reasons for receiving tutoring changed in different periods. A theoretical framework was developed to investigate how learners were motivated under shadow education. The data also suggested that learners’ ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ overlapped to various degrees in different periods. The study has indicated that shadow education has had a significant impact on the mainstream education system. While shadow education seems to be developing in an opposite direction to the current education reform, there is clearly something that mainstream schoolteachers and curriculum developers can learn from it. It would be wise to look at the issue seriously instead of ignoring it. / published_or_final_version / Applied English Studies / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

Liberal Studies was introduced to the Hong Kong Senior Secondary Curriculum as a compulsory subject in 2009. Liberal Studies lays strong emphasis on students’ self-learning abilities and critical thinking skills, and reduces rote memorization or cramming of knowledge. However, the large-scale tutorial schools – also known as cram schools - which are notorious for teaching students to focus on examination materials instead of genuine learning have ironically been successful in attracting student-consumers for the subject. This dissertation describes elements students receive from tutorial schools and reasons why the elements can successfully retain student-customers, followed by a discussion on the possible impacts of tutorial school learning which may have on students’ learning and on their formal schooling. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is employed in the analysis. It is found that tutorial business have made use of a lot marketing strategies for the promotion. Not only that they employ a lot of tactics to satisfy students’ needs, but they also create and stimulate demand by boosting students’ anxiety levels and by devaluing the day school education that they are receiving. On one hand, the extent to which the so-called ‘examination techniques’ or ‘skills’ is useful to students’ learning is doubted; on the other hand, it is found that tutorial schools’ unethical business practices and their business-driven ways of teaching would impose hidden yet serious long-term impacts on students’ learning and whole-person development. Moreover, tutorial schools’ marketing strategies would hinder the education reform which is in progress. All in all, tutorial school’s hindrance to successful schooling deserves immediate attention from educational policy makers. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education