Teacher Perceptions of Moodle and Throughput in a Blended Learning Programme for In-Service Secondary School Mathematics Teachers

The purpose of this article is to analyse teachers’ perceptions of using the modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment (Moodle) platform as a learning management system in a small-scale blended learning (b-learning) Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE) programme for in-service secondary school mathematics teachers in South Africa. It describes how the Moodle platform was used in combination with on-campus and later off-campus contact sessions for a widely dispersed population of 76 in-service mathematics teachers over a four-year period. Qualitative data was gathered by means of a questionnaire with open-ended items, while quantitative data was gathered from the centre's archives. The main findings were that Moodle enabled in-service teachers to experience social, cognitive and teaching presences, through synchronous and asynchronous discussions with peers and facilitators, and a teaching presence by submitting their inquiries and assignments online for facilitators to provide them with answers and feedback. The main obstacles to the integration of Moodle were limited availability of technology, slow speed, and unaffordable cost when available. With increased broadband connectivity Moodle holds the prospect for diversifying b-learning experiences that can support teachers’ professional learning outcomes and throughput for distributed populations of practising mathematics teachers, in particular.     

Promotion of academic staff

Research studies conducted in the USA, Britain, Australia and New Zealand which examine academic staff's attitude to the promotion procedures in their institutions have all found dissatisfaction with existing promotion practices. In particular academics are reported to be dissatisfied with the undervaluing of teaching excellence in promotion decisions.This paper discusses studies of job satisfaction and staff motivation as background to an interview study at an Australian university. Data concerning promotion issues from interviews with 104 academic staff members are presented and discussed.Interviewed staff at that university see their institution as actively encouraging research through rewards and incentives. But they perceive the university as paying only lip-service to teaching by requiring documentation of teaching performance without rewarding good performance adequately. Many also perceive the university as interested more in publications than in scholarship and some adjust their activities accordingly.     

Government Workers Adding Societal Value: The Ohio Workforce Development Program

ABSTRACT This case study illustrates the application of Mega—adding measurable value for all stakeholders including society—as the central and ultimate focus for needs assessment. In this case, two needs assessment studies were conducted within a five‐year period (1999–2003) with the State of Ohio's Workforce Development (WD) program. An initial needs assessment based on Mega outcomes—high quality of life for Ohio taxpayers and public employees though the services they provide—was conducted in 1999, identifying shared strategic goals to focus management‐labor partnership initiatives. A Mega‐centered data collection matrix was used as the basis for discussions with stakeholders in order to determine the key areas of Ohio's Workforce Development to be included in the study. In 2003, a follow‐up needs assessment based on the same data collection matrix was designed to determine the improvements made since that time, the areas with the most critical performance gaps, demographic changes, and future trends affecting Workforce Development beneficiaries and stakeholders.     

Teacher learning and policy intention: selected findings from an evaluation of a large‐scale programme of professional development in the Republic of Ireland

The study reported on in this paper is set in the context of a national programme of professional development for primary teachers in the Republic of Ireland which has been in operation since 1999 and finished in 2008. The paper explores the acquisition and interpretation by teachers of the elements of the reform. The authors consider the extent to which the professional development experiences facilitated change in teachers’ knowledge and if the teachers interpreted this in the way expected by policy‐makers. The theoretical basis to the study draws on previous research that conceptualises teacher learning/knowledge acquisition and the change process as being dependant on an interwoven mix of factors, including teacher, school and policy‐level contexts and characteristics. To a large degree the findings of this study do not deviate wildly from this prior work, which suggests that policy‐makers and planners of CPD programmes, despite their best intentions, still need to be cognisant of such factors.     

Skiing, Cheese Fondue and Swiss Watches: Analogical Discourse in Vocational Training Interactions

When trainers or teachers in the field of initial vocational education explain abstract notions, refer to technical objects or emphasize the specificities of technical skills, they often call forth concepts and practices different from those that are directly salient in the training situations in which they engage. The aim of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the empirical realities associated with such phenomena by promoting a discursive and interactional approach of what we propose to term “analogical discourse”. Considering that analogies are performed and shared trough language and speech, we propose that concepts and methodological tools borrowed from the field of linguistics can be profitably applied to the analysis of analogical discourse. Not only can they reveal the dynamic and collective nature of analogies as they are performed, disseminated and sometimes negotiated amongst participants, but they can also help reflect about the complexities of vocational learning as it takes place in specific material, practical and socio-cultural environments. From that standpoint, the paper proposes to see analogies not only as related to conceptual development and cognitive dimensions of learning, but as a substantial contribution to the social, cultural and relational dimensions of it.     

Inter‐professional work and expertise: New roles at the boundaries of schools

The findings discussed here are based on five case studies and a small survey (n = 46) of how secondary schools are responding to demands that they collaborate with other services to intervene to prevent the social exclusion of children and young people. The case studies revealed a new space of action opening up around schools where practices were being shaped by ‘welfare managers’ who were employed by schools and were undertaking responsive work with vulnerable children and young people and the other services who were also supporting them. At the same time heads of year and/or heads of school and form tutors were increasingly focusing on children's achievement in school. The changes in roles and responsibilities were encouraged by workforce remodelling and changes in criteria for teachers’ salaries. However, focusing primarily on the work undertaken by the welfare managers, the article draws on cultural‐historical activity theory analyses of relational agency and distributed expertise to question whether welfare managers can undertake the work required in the new space of action without attention to the development of their core expertise.     

Measuring basic needs satisfaction: Evaluating previous research and conducting new psychometric evaluations of the Basic Needs Satisfaction in General Scale

Self-Determination Theory specifies the existence of three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The current set of studies (a) provides a narrative review of past research on the Basic Needs Satisfaction in General Scale, (b) examines its dimensionality which has been assumed but not empirically studied, and (c) gathers external validity evidence. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the existence of a one- and a three-factor solution; neither model fit the data. After patterns of misfit were examined across three independent samples, a reduced, 16-item three-factor model with a negative-worded method effect was championed. External validity evidence, collected by examining the differential relationships between the three needs and measures of well-being and worry, supported the distinctiveness of the three needs. Although the results are promising, future research is needed to examine the generalizability of the psychometric properties of the modified scale.