Education Commons^™

School Connections : Using Ict To Engage Students In Learning, Hamish Coates, Tim Friedman

Dr Tim Friedman

In 2006, one school team from each of the ten NSW Department of Education regions were nominated to participate in the Microsoft Partners in Learning (PiL) Connected Learning Schools Project. With reference to their unique context, each school developed and implemented a project that involved teachers using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in their teaching and learning to engage middle-year students in their education, and to connect more authentically with students’ learning experiences outside of school. The NSW Partners in Learning project was a research and development project. The aim was to investigate how children in the middle years (Years …

Vet Leadership For The Future : Characteristics, Contexts And Capabilities, Hamish Coates, Lynn Meek, Justin Brown, Tim Friedman, Peter Noonan, John Mitchell

Dr Tim Friedman

This paper examines leadership in Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) sector. VET leaders make a vital and growing contribution to learners, industry and society, yet research on their work is limited. This has direct implications for ensuring leadership is most effective, and for framing evidence-based capacity development. The current research draws together reviews of complex and often competing contexts, analyses of prior research, and results from a national survey of 327 practising VET leaders. Analysis of what VET leaders report doing in their jobs suggests that while they are attuned to the education-focused demands of their roles, they now …

Student Aptitude Test For Tertiary Admission (Satta) Pilot Program: Evaluation Report For The Department Of Education, Employment And Workplace Relations (Deewr), Hamish Bennett Coates, Daniel Edwards, Tim Friedman

Dr Tim Friedman

Since 2007 the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) has funded the Student Aptitude Test for Tertiary Admission (SATTA) pilot program. SATTA involves the supply, management and evaluation of uniTEST, and the evaluation of the Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT). This report documents the evaluation phase of the program, focusing in particular on various aspects of uniTEST. Seven recommendations are made. Significant policy change is planned for Australian higher education over the next few years, with both government and institutions seeking new ways to make the system larger, more inclusive and more productive. In this context, …

Vet Leadership For The Future: Contexts, Characteristics And Capabilities, Hamish Coates, V Meek, Justin Brown, Tim Friedman, Peter Noonan, John Mitchell

Dr Tim Friedman

This study examines leadership in Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) sector. VET leaders make a vital and growing contribution to learners, industry and society, yet research on their work is limited. This has direct implications for ensuring leadership is most effective, and for framing evidence-based capacity development. To assist the sector, and in particular the people who find themselves running large and complex training organisations, this study paints a picture of what VET leaders do, and of how they can do it best.

Vet Leadership For The Future: Contexts, Characteristics And Capabilities : Research Briefing., Hamish Coates, V Meek, Justin Brown, Tim Friedman, Peter Noonan, John Mitchell

Dr Tim Friedman

Key insights: Leadership is about managing change and guiding growth in fluid environments. Leadership requires a ‘change capable culture’ that gives space to lead. VET needs strategies for managing the looming succession crisis. Too little is known about leaders and their work. Leaders’ roles and work focus are not clearly defined. Markers of effective performance are not clearly defined and deployed. Produce a framework of key capabilities and competencies. Effective leadership education must be current and shaped by understanding of effective practice.

The Role Of Civic Participation In National And School Curricula, John Ainley, Tim Friedman

Dr Tim Friedman

Civic and citizenship education is increasingly conceptualized in national curricula within a lifelong learning perspective that encompasses formal curricula (that specify content and approaches in a subject or set of subjects), non-formal curricula (through co-curricular activities in schools) and informal curricula (through a school and classroom ethos that embodies citizenship values). One review of education policies in Europe documents attempts to encourage ‘active citizenship’ supported by ‘democratic schools’ offering a ‘participatory school culture’. However, there is evidence of a gap between declarations of principle and the implementation of these principles in schools as well as between policies and practices. This …

Creating Opportunities Or Building Barriers: Framing Policy For Placement Testing As An Impactful Part Of The First-Year Experience, Megan Beach, Karin Ann Lewis

Kentucky Journal of Higher Education Policy and Practice

Placement tests are an integral aspect of the first-year experience. As policymakers seek to raise high school standards and ensure that more students graduate prepared for the academic rigor of college, placement tests are being called upon to serve new purposes. Placement tests are touted for their ability to predict college success, but do these tests really measure student attainment of specific college readiness skills? How can they fit with or contribute to institutional initiatives?

University Of Michigan Bar Passage 2004-2006: A Failure To Replicate Professor Sander's Results, With Implications For Affirmative Action, Richard O. Lempert

Law & Economics Working Papers

In a recent issue of the Denver Law Review, Professor Richard Sander presents data on race-based affirmative action that purportedly support his theory that any benefits African Americans enjoy from affirmative action are more than offset by detrimental effects of academic mismatch. Specifically, he references a yet unpublished study in which he claims to have found that for the years 2004-2006 the bar passage rate of African-American graduates of the University of Michigan Law School is 62 percent for first time takers rising to only 76 percent after multiple takes. This paper shows that these results are quite implausible given …

Work In Progress - Using Video And Self-Reflection To Enhance Undergraduate Teams, Nick Tatar, Debbie Chachra, Yevgeniya Zastavker, Jonathan Stolk

Yevgeniya V. Zastavker

Engineers today must be able to communicate and collaborate in teams. They also must be comfortable making adjustments within the team to maintain flow and progress toward project goals. With these goals in mind, students in a first-semester engineering seminar course were asked to videotape a team meeting in their design course and to write a self-reflection paper after viewing their video. After analyzing the video, students were asked to provide clear suggestions in their self-reflection paper for improving their own and their team's performance. Our preliminary analysis showed that video-supported reflections: 1) may be more effective than memory for …

Work In Progress - A Provisional Competency Assessment System, Mark Somerville, Debbie Chachra, Jonathan Chambers, Ellen Cooney, Kristen Dorsey, John Geddes, Gill Pratt, Kathryn Rivard, Ann Schaffner, Lynn Stein, Jonathan Stolk, Stephen Westwood, Yevgeniya Zastavker

Yevgeniya V. Zastavker

Over the last two years Olin College has been defining and implementing a provisional system to develop and assess student competency levels. The system particularly emphasizes the importance of creating a community of practice that includes not only faculty but also staff and students. In this paper we provide an overview of the design process, and comment on the results of our first year of implementing the system.

Work In Progress - Using Video And Self-Reflection To Enhance Undergraduate Teams, Nick Tatar, Debbie Chachra, Yevgeniya Zastavker, Jonathan Stolk

Jonathan Stolk

Engineers today must be able to communicate and collaborate in teams. They also must be comfortable making adjustments within the team to maintain flow and progress toward project goals. With these goals in mind, students in a first-semester engineering seminar course were asked to videotape a team meeting in their design course and to write a self-reflection paper after viewing their video. After analyzing the video, students were asked to provide clear suggestions in their self-reflection paper for improving their own and their team's performance. Our preliminary analysis showed that video-supported reflections: 1) may be more effective than memory for …

Work In Progress - A Provisional Competency Assessment System, Mark Somerville, Debbie Chachra, Jonathan Chambers, Ellen Cooney, Kristen Dorsey, John Geddes, Gill Pratt, Kathryn Rivard, Ann Schaffner, Lynn Stein, Jonathan Stolk, Stephen Westwood, Yevgeniya Zastavker

Jonathan Stolk

Over the last two years Olin College has been defining and implementing a provisional system to develop and assess student competency levels. The system particularly emphasizes the importance of creating a community of practice that includes not only faculty but also staff and students. In this paper we provide an overview of the design process, and comment on the results of our first year of implementing the system.

Using The Developmental Assessment Of Young Children (Dayc), Mary Muhlenhaupt

Mary Muhlenhaupt

This module is designed for those who use the Developmental Assessment of Young Children (DAYC) as part of early intervention. To complete the activities in this module, you will need a copy of the five DAYC subtests, the Profile/Examiner Summary Sheet, and the DAYC Examiner’s Manual. Learning Objectives Following review of this module and completion of recommended activities, participants will be able to: · discuss the use of the DAYC in the Philadelphia Early Intervention system. · identify the components of the DAYC. · calculate a child’s chronological age in order to establish the start point for administering the DAYC. …

Work In Progress - A Provisional Competency Assessment System, Mark Somerville, Debbie Chachra, Jonathan Chambers, Ellen Cooney, Kristen Dorsey, John Geddes, Gill Pratt, Kathryn Rivard, Ann Schaffner, Lynn Stein, Jonathan Stolk, Stephen Westwood, Yevgeniya Zastavker

Lynn Andrea Stein

Over the last two years Olin College has been defining and implementing a provisional system to develop and assess student competency levels. The system particularly emphasizes the importance of creating a community of practice that includes not only faculty but also staff and students. In this paper we provide an overview of the design process, and comment on the results of our first year of implementing the system.

Work In Progress - A Provisional Competency Assessment System, Mark Somerville, Debbie Chachra, Jonathan Chambers, Ellen Cooney, Kristen Dorsey, John Geddes, Gill Pratt, Kathryn Rivard, Ann Schaffner, Lynn Stein, Jonathan Stolk, Stephen Westwood, Yevgeniya Zastavker

John B. Geddes

Over the last two years Olin College has been defining and implementing a provisional system to develop and assess student competency levels. The system particularly emphasizes the importance of creating a community of practice that includes not only faculty but also staff and students. In this paper we provide an overview of the design process, and comment on the results of our first year of implementing the system.

Work In Progress - Using Video And Self-Reflection To Enhance Undergraduate Teams, Nick Tatar, Debbie Chachra, Yevgeniya Zastavker, Jonathan Stolk

Debbie Chachra

Engineers today must be able to communicate and collaborate in teams. They also must be comfortable making adjustments within the team to maintain flow and progress toward project goals. With these goals in mind, students in a first-semester engineering seminar course were asked to videotape a team meeting in their design course and to write a self-reflection paper after viewing their video. After analyzing the video, students were asked to provide clear suggestions in their self-reflection paper for improving their own and their team's performance. Our preliminary analysis showed that video-supported reflections: 1) may be more effective than memory for …

Work In Progress - A Provisional Competency Assessment System, Mark Somerville, Debbie Chachra, Jonathan Chambers, Ellen Cooney, Kristen Dorsey, John Geddes, Gill Pratt, Kathryn Rivard, Ann Schaffner, Lynn Stein, Jonathan Stolk, Stephen Westwood, Yevgeniya Zastavker

Debbie Chachra

Over the last two years Olin College has been defining and implementing a provisional system to develop and assess student competency levels. The system particularly emphasizes the importance of creating a community of practice that includes not only faculty but also staff and students. In this paper we provide an overview of the design process, and comment on the results of our first year of implementing the system.

Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of The Students And Teachers Achieving Reading Success Program For First Graders, Whitney Ann Phillips

Theses and Dissertations

Most students progress in learning when school is in session. However, during the summer months formal education often ends, and many of the gains students make during the academic year are lost over the summer break. The Alpine School District developed the Students and Teachers Achieving Reading Success (STARS) program, an extensive summer reading program for struggling readers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the STARS program on reading ability for students exiting the first grade, as measured by the Developmental Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2). Results from a mixed-method ANOVA indicated that STARS students performed …

English Language Teaching Using The Whole Student Philosophy, Tahira Y. Muhammad

MA TESOL Collection

Education in Kuwait is centered on rote learning methodology. Historically, the Kuwait educational system was created to mimic the Egyptian rote learning systems that date back to Pharaonic times. Furthermore, Kuwaiti educators are convinced that rote learning is the optimal form of education. In this paper, I will attempt to prove that this method is unsuccessful, and that educators, within their classroom and lesson planning, should adapt their teaching strategies to the adoption of the whole language philosophy.

The major limitation of this research is that the observer is also participant. However, the fact that the observer is fully trained …

Teds-M Plenary Panel At Icme-12, Ray Peck

Ray Peck

Focusing on mathematics learning at school level, mathematics teachers have the strongest influence on student learning because they are directly working with students. Teachers are regarded as key persons of educational change. For example, a meta-analysis on student learning (Hattie, 2003) found that teachers' impact on students' learning is high: Identified factors that contribute to major sources of variation in student performance include the students (50%) and teachers (30%) as the most important factors, whereas home, schools, principals, peer effects (altogether 20%) play a less important role.

Walking Box Ranch Custodianship Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending July 10, 2012, Margaret N. Rees

Walking Box Ranch

• UNLV provides stewardship of Walking Box Ranch (WBR) by providing a caretaker who oversees the property, facilitating use of the property by researchers and educators, developing a use and research policy for the property, and coordinating these activities with BLM and in accordance with TNC restrictions.
• UNLV currently addresses security issues for the property through the presence of the caretaker and two Metro Officers who reside on the property in two recreational vehicles.
• UNLV continues to work with BLM and Condit, supplying content for interpretation at the future Walking Box Ranch museum.
• BLM visited the ranch on July 5 to …

Walking Box Ranch Planning And Design Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending July 10, 2012, Margaret N. Rees

Walking Box Ranch

• BLM informed UNLV that after investigating a concession contract as the appropriate BLM document for the future operating partner, they have concluded that an operating agreement is the preferred document and they are proceeding to complete such an agreement as soon as possible.
• Following a visit to the ranch with BLM, UNLV has completed temporary repairs to ranch house windows, which should mitigate deterioration of the ranch house from water
• UNLV participated in a one-half day meeting with BLM to review Condit’s Extended Content Package #1. As a result of the lack of progress by Condit, UNLV was requested to …

Communication Patterns Among Members Of Engineering Global Virtual Teams, Holt Zaugg

Theses and Dissertations

Global virtual (GV) teams provide an opportunity for engineering students to participate in meaningful, cross-cultural learning projects without additional costs of time and money associated with study abroad programs. However, students must learn how to communicate effectively with international team members. Instruction to help students learn which virtual communication technologies to use and how to use them is needed. Training must include cross-cultural training that facilitates team communications and interactions with people from different cultural backgrounds. This study focused on how 10 specialized lessons, Principles of Global Virtual Teams (PGVT), facilitated the communications and interactions of students participating on GV …

Improving Core Mathematical Skills In Motor Apprentice Education In Ireland, Peter Kenny

Conference Papers

In order to enter into an apprenticeship in Ireland a qualification in mathematics is not essential. Throughout their apprenticeship many motor trade apprentices find that many past mathematical weakness resurface. In addition to this the level and standard of mathematics increases as apprentices progress through their training.

A maths diagnostic test has been developed and sat by a selection of Motor Mechanic apprentices attending off the job training at the Technological University Dublin during the 2011 to 2012 academic year.

The results of this test indicate that many students experience difficulty with mathematically related subjects. The test was then repeated …

How Well Do Young People Deal With Contradictory And Unreliable Information On Line? What The Pisa Digital Reading Assessment Tells Us, Tom Lumley, Juliette Mendelovits

Juliette Mendelovits

There is sometimes an assumption that young people, as ‘digital natives’, are able to use online information effectively, including selecting and negotiating digital texts that are not only relevant for what they need, but also are likely to provide reliable information. This paper examines the question of how well young people are in fact able to recognise whether information is likely to be trustworthy. While some small-scale work has been done in this area, this paper draws on data from the first large-scale international assessment of online reading, the Digital Reading Assessment (DRA) that was part of the Organisation for …

Factors That May Have Predictive Effects On The American College Test, Beth Stewart

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if any predictive effects exist between lunch status, grade point average, Arkansas state mandated accountability exams, and academic achievement measured by the ACT. Although literature supported the predictive effects of grade point average and lunch status on ACT, there was inadequate data to determine which predictor played a more significant role.

A quantitative, regression strategy was used to analyze students’ academic achievement in four southwest Arkansas schools, all belonging to the same educational cooperative. All students in these districts who had taken the ACT during the school years of 2006-2010 and took …

The Relationship Between Multiplication Fact Speed-Recall And Fluency And Higher Level Mathematics Learning With Eighth Grade Middle School Students, Steven James Curry

Dissertations

This quantitative study investigated relationships between higher level mathematics learning and multiplication fact fluency, multiplication fact speed-recall, and reading grade equivalency of eighth grade students in Algebra I and Pre-Algebra. Higher level mathematics learning was indicated by an average score of 80% or higher on first and second semester mathematics assessments and proficient or advanced descriptor on the mathematics Missouri Assessment Program tests. Timed multiplication fact quizzes were administered to eighth grade students. Speed-recall scores were measured by the number of accurate answers in a 45-second time frame. Fluency was obtained by a student score of 35 accurate answers in …

Grand Tactical Assessment Of Effectiveness, Andrew Vorder Bruegge

College of Visual and Performing Arts Faculty Publications

Implementation of a systematic process for reviewing all programmatic assessment instruments in an academic department.

The Professional Development Practices Of Two Reading First Coaches, Charlotte A. Mundy, Dorene D. Ross, Melinda M. Leko

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

To establish job-embedded, ongoing professional development recent policies and initiatives required that districts appoint school-based coaches. The Reading First Initiative, for example, created an immediate need for coaches without a clear definition of coaches’ responsibilities. Therefore, the purpose of this case study was to investigate how two Reading First coaches interpreted and enacted their professional development responsibilities. Cross-case analyses identified similarities and differences in coaches’ enactments. Findings revealed that while each coach engaged in similar professional development responsibilities (e.g. modeling, observing, and classroom walkthroughs) their approach to these responsibilities differed — collaborative versus expert driven. These differences in approaches indicate …

Grand Tactical Assessment Of Effectiveness, Andrew Vorder Bruegge

Andrew Vorder Bruegge, Ph.D.

Implementation of a systematic process for reviewing all programmatic assessment instruments in an academic department.