Thesis (D.Min.)--Liberty University, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the teacher education program in the Department of Elementary Education at Utah State University. The program has been in effect for only a few years and the department desired that an evaluation b e conducted to determine its present strengths and weaknesses. The procedure used to collect data for this study involved several instruments. Letters were sent to 150 universities in the United States to determine what they had done to evaluate their teacher education programs. Questionnaires were sent to 399 graduates from 1974, 1975, and 1976 to ask their opinions of the program. Questionnaires were also sent to 101 principals of these graduates asking them to evaluate the graduates as products of the program. Visits were made to a random sample of 20 graduates and principals. Recommendations for the program were requested of the graduates and principals on the questionnaires and during visits. The results of this study showed strengths in the program in the subject areas of language arts, math, and social studies. Weaknesses were found in the areas of art, music, physical education, reading, and science. In the teaching competencies major strengths were found in the areas of positive personality traits, capturing interest and attention, encouraging creative activity, collecting and using media and materials, and gaining trust and building student self-concept. Major weaknesses were found in the areas of helping students of varied ethnic backgrounds, correlating curriculum with that in the grades preceeding and following, making interest centers and learning stations, caring for health, safety, and muscle coordination, helping students to use inductive and deductive thinking, and helping students develop visual and auditory perception. It was also found that the principals feel differently about graduates' performance than the graduates do. The principals rated the majority of the graduates slightly above average compared to other beginning teachers, while the graduates rated themselves above or below their principals' ratings. The correlations of individual pairs of graduates and principals were, therefore, very low. The overall ratings of graduates and principals, obtained through the questionnaires and interviews, were similar. The college supervisors and cooperating teachers also showed agreement. However, the graduates and principals did not agree with the college supervisors and cooperating teachers in their ratings.

The legal drama episode from which this dialogue is taken depicts an impossible case: a Sudanese immigrant, who lost most of his family to the violence in Darfur, wants to sue the U.S. government for failing to intervene in the face of obvious genocide. The case is unwinnable. Lori Colson’s construction of a legal basis for the case is more than shaky. But neither the client nor his lawyers expect to win the case. Their proclaimed objective – to “make noise” – pinpoints a significant cultural potential of litigation, of its “real” practice in the courtroom and, even more importantly, in its various forms of mass-medialization and fictionalization: to raise public awareness about instances of injustice, to educate the public and encourage civic debate.

The legal drama episode from which this dialogue is taken depicts an impossible case: a Sudanese immigrant, who lost most of his family to the violence in Darfur, wants to sue the U.S. government for failing to intervene in the face of obvious genocide. The case is unwinnable. Lori Colson’s construction of a legal basis for the case is more than shaky. But neither the client nor his lawyers expect to win the case. Their proclaimed objective – to “make noise” – pinpoints a significant cultural potential of litigation, of its “real” practice in the courtroom and, even more importantly, in its various forms of mass-medialization and fictionalization: to raise public awareness about instances of injustice, to educate the public and encourage civic debate.

The landscape of learning spaces in academic libraries is undergoing continual change, re-adaptation and reconfiguration. These winds of change are ushered in by the very nature of the dynamic information economy. Globally, information needs of end-users in academic libraries have dictated the changing space trends as in this case study of the Research Commons of the Howard College Library at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The demands of the changing information economy have directed institutions of higher learning en route to tailoring their outcomes with the view to increasing research output and productivity. In view of this, Academic libraries are finding themselves increasingly becoming significantly involved in the process of research support. The Research Commons (RC) is one such research support initiative of UKZN Libraries. This RC opened its doors, offering research facilities to a designate cohort of Master’s, Doctoral students, Researchers and Academic staff on the 01st of October 2008. Three years to date, the facility has grown in its popularity and patronage. The study of the end-users of the RC emanated from an express interest of the researcher who supports EUs in the capacity of a Senior Librarian. Time spent in the RC further, piqued the interest of the researcher, who was particularly keen about how EUs interacted with the elements of this space and their experiences thereof. This study was conducted with the express aim of understanding, through a qualitative inquiry the experiences of the end-users of the (RC) situated at the Howard College Library of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. I the researcher in attempting to examine these experiences found myself having to address the following key research questions: What are the experiences of the end-users of the learning space? Who are the end-users of the Research Commons? With what elements of the Research Commons do the end-users interact? In what ways do the end-users interact with the different elements? The survey methodology approach was employed using the following instruments: Online and manual survey questionnaires Interviews Observations The different data collection techniques served to generate the richest data for the researcher to use in the interpretation of the results. An important element of this survey was an attempt to ascertain as deep an understanding of the experiences of the EUs in relation to their interaction with this designated space and its elements in their research journey. The findings of the survey demonstrated that the EUs of the RC did indeed encounter experiences that were precipitated by their interaction with the elements of this space. Significantly, it was revealed that EUs found that their time spent in the RC contributed positively to their research experiences. It was further established that interaction with the space and its elements influenced the way in which EUs work. In disclosing the desirability of the RC in meeting their research needs, the EUs were keen to render suggestions for changes and enhancements to the RC. Overall, it was verified that this study shed valuable evidence on how the EUs experienced the RC. Consequently, emanating through the interpretation of the data, the researcher was able to identify possible gaps in the provision of this research support unit which has perhaps added value to this study in providing library management with the necessary understanding in addressing the research needs of the EUs of the RC more than adequately. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.