Education Commons^™

Western Alumni, Class Of 2005 - Spring 2006 Survey Findings, Gary (Gary Russell) Mckinney, Sara Jones, Richard Bulcroft, Linda D. (Linda Darlene) Clark

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Western’s first Alumni Survey was conducted in 1988; it’s development and administration was in response to the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HEC Board) requirement to survey graduates every biennially. Western was done so diligently and reliably since. Twenty years on, as academic concerns have changed, so has the survey; however, the original “fourteen common items” proscribed by the HEC Board have remained. Similarly, the administration of the survey adapted: from a paper-and-pencil only mail-out form to the current on-line and telephone method. Yet regardless of the type of administration, satisfactory response rates have been attained. The current report includes data …

A Pakistani Teacher Educator’S Self-Study Of Teaching Self-Study Research, Ayesha Bashiruddin

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper describes a teacher educator’s self-study of work with her M.Ed. students at a private international university in Pakistan. This systematic inquiry highlights changes and improvements in teaching drawn from experiences of practice based on autobiographies. Analysis shows that improvement in teaching came from the author’s learning through self-study. Analysis also reveals implications for teacher educators and teacher education in general.

The Quality Movement Discourse In The Higher Education Sector: A General Review, Aidan Kenny

Articles

This paper – the first of a series of three – describes some of the macro milestones in the evolution of the Quality Movement in the industrial environment. The emphasis then shifts to reviewing the discourse relating to quality in the higher education sector in the UK. Attention is given to Quality Assessment, Quality Assurance and Quality Enhancement models. The interface or tension lines between quality as a controlling mechanism or as a tool for development are outlined. Predominant concerns and issues as expressed by academics are clustered into macro questions, the answers to which will require further longitudinal research.

Academic Characteristics Among First-Generation And Non-First-Generation College Students, Catrina G. Murphy, Terence Hicks

Faculty Working Papers from the School of Education

The present study involved a sample (n = 203) of college students and investigated the differences in academic expectations of first-generation and non-first-generation undergraduates who attended a doctoral-granting public four-year historically Black university on the eastern shore of Maryland. There were 133 first-generation and 70 non-first-generation students. This study focused on the expressed needs of first-generation and non-first-generation college students to determine whether differences exist in academic expectations. In addition, this study sought to lead to an increase in the understanding of the academic expectations shared by first-year first-generation and non-first-generation college students. This study used an ex post facto …

Carrying On Traditions, Sharing Knowledge: Communities In Midwestern Families And College Classrooms, Sue Kuykendall

Sabbaticals

Since both of my grandmothers were teachers in one-room schools and both my mother and my father attended one-room schools through the eighth grade, I grew up listening to stories about what it was like to teach and to go to school in these rural educational settings. I think it was these stories, along with the knowledge that I would be carrying on a family tradition, that largely motivated me to choose teaching as my profession. And I've always felt that in some way I was doing that--continuing the work that my grandmothers did and continuing the tradition of small-community …

Teaching Quality In Self-Study Research, Ayesha Bashiruddin

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

This paper discusses how the Master of Education (MEd) students at AKU-IED are empowered to understand and monitor quality in self study research. The paper is based on the experience of teaching self study research over a period of three years. During this period, students in the Teacher Learning course in the MEd programme were asked to explore their journey of becoming teachers and teacher educators using self study research. As an end product the students were asked to write an autobiography. During these processes of self-exploration and the writing process, they were asked to follow guidelines identified by Bullough …

Teachers Professional Development For Quality Education, Nadeem Kirmani, Muhammad Zahid, Rehana Naz

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

Quality is at the heart of education and teachers play crucial role to provide quality education. This belief encourages us to state that the quality in education depends on teachers’ role, which set scenario for the students. Every teacher has his / her own impact on his / her students. But what is it that enables the teachers to have the greatest impact? In this context there are several professional development programmes offered for the teachers in different parts of the world to build capacity of teachers so they can better serve the needs of the growing population. This paper …

Researching Education And Society In Central Asia, Sarfaroz Niyozov, Duishon Shamatov

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Change Agents’ Orientations To Change, Mir Afzal Tajik

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

This study explores five field education officers’ (FEOs) understanding of their dual roles as educational reformers and community developers in the rural, mountainous district of Chitral, Pakistan. In particular, it examines their specific actions and methods (strategies) and their underlying assumptions and core values (orientations) of change. These FEOs work as change agents in schools and in the local communities where schools have been established by the Aga Khan Education Service, Pakistan (AKES,P). The study’s findings derive from empirical data collected through qualitative research methods, such as semi-structured interviews (individual and focus-group), non-participant observations, post-observation discussions, informal conversations and analysis …

Beginning Teachers’ Professional Socialization In Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan: The Challenges And Coping Strategies, Duishon Alievich Shamatov

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

This qualitative study examines and develops an in-depth understanding of two beginning teachers’ professional socializations in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. The study is a historical and descriptive account that provides insights into the impact of socio-political upheaval on the lives of two beginning teachers. The study focuses on the challenges the teachers faced in their initial stages of work and on how they addressed these. The teachers’ professional socialization stories are described in three realms: classroom, school and community. The study examines in greater detail the professional and relational challenges that the two beginning teachers faced while interacting with their pupils, administrators, …

Action Research: A Viable Alternative For In-Service Teacher Professional Development, Bernadette L. Dean

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

In this paper, the author argues for the professional development of teachers to be based upon systematic action research undertaken as a collegial activity within the culture of the school. Three case studies of action research, one each from South Asia, East Africa and Central Asia, in which Professional Development Teachers (PDTs) (MEd graduates of AKU-IED) worked with teachers to improve teaching and learning in the classroom, are presented to illustrate the possibilities and challenges of using action research for teacher professional development. The author further argues that while action research for teacher professional development addresses the challenges of other …

Learning And Modes To Ascertain Learning: Perception, Purpose And Practice, Unaeza Alvi

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Challenges To Education In Tajikistan: The Need For Research-Based Solutions, Sarfaroz Niyozov, Stephen Bahry

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

Education in Tajikistan today is acknowledged by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Tajikistan and by international agencies as facing many challenges. Infrastructure and materials need replacement or repair; curriculum needs to be adapted to changing conditions; professional development for teachers is required, while means to retain experienced teachers and attract new ones need to be found. At the same time, children's' meaningful access to education has been threatened by various factors that reduce their attendance and participation in education, keeping some youth out of school altogether. This chapter argues that research in education in Tajikistan and the …

The Teaching Of Research In A Teacher Education Programme, Iffat Farah, Nelofer Halai

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Researching Quality In Early Irish Education, Noirin Hayes

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Aboriginal Students And The Western Australian Literacy And Numeracy Assessment, Sean Gorman

Research outputs pre 2011

Since the introduction of standardised testing in Western Australia with the Western Australian Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (WALNA) it has become quite evident that Indigenous students' performance is well below that of non-Indigenous students.

As WALNA is now very much a part of the pedagogical landscape steps must be taken to ensure that those students who are not reaching the benchmark scores or the MSE requirements do progress...

International Perspectives On Citizenship, Education And Religious Diversity, Sarfaroz Niyozov

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.