Impact evaluation of educational development programmes

Although most educational development professionals value the importance of monitoring their programme's impact, systematic evaluation is not common, and often relies on inference measures such as extent of participation and satisfaction. This paper discusses approaches to programme impact evaluation in terms of six possible points of focus: (1) participants' perceptions/satisfaction; (2) participants' beliefs about teaching and learning; (3) participants' teaching performance; (4) students' perceptions of staff's teaching performance; (5) students' learning; and (6) effects on the culture of the institution. Whatever focus is selected it is important to address the following questions: (1) What is the intended impact? (2) Why evaluate? (3) When to evaluate? (4) Who evaluates? (5) How to evaluate? (6) Is the actual impact the same as the intended impact and is the actual impact desirable? (7) Who should receive the results of the evaluation? (8) What will happen as a consequence? Based on these two sets of questions, a 6 x 8 matrix is proposed to guide the evaluation of educational development initiatives. It is argued that the approach to impact evaluation needs to be aligned with the focus of the desired change as well as the intervention strategies used to bring about such change.     

Standing out and fitting in: a report on a support group for individuals with Asperger syndrome using a personal account

In this article, Andrea MacLeod, lecturer in autism studies at the University of Birmingham, and Paula Johnston, a woman with Asperger syndrome who now focuses on writing and speaking about her condition, consider the function of specialist group interventions for individuals with Asperger syndrome. These authors report on one model - a discussion and support group aimed primarily at young adults. The self-report of a former participant, a woman with Asperger syndrome, is used as a case study to illustrate issues and processes. Her report suggests that peer support and peer learning should be recognised as significant goals of such interventions and that interventions should be planned to respond to the needs that follow diagnosis. The authors suggest that clinical and educational services need to work together to ensure that children and young people have immediate access to such support models, which should be viewed as preventative therapies. This article provides evidence that first-hand accounts can offer new insights into how such interventions are experienced by those involved. Andrea MacLeod and Paula Johnston argue that future research in this area should seek to employ participatory methodologies.     

NEW POLITICS? THE MABO DEBATE AND PUBLIC OPINION NATIVE TITLE IN AUSTRALIA

The Australian High Court's decision on the Mabo case, allowingnative title to Aboriginal Australians, became the major politicalissue during the second half of 1993. The Labor party's championingof this issue is suggestive of a fundamental change in Australianpolitics as predicted by ‘new politics’ theoristssuch as Ronald Inglehart. This paper examines the formationof opinions on the Mabo with particular reference to new politics.Several theoretical approaches to the formation of attitudesto political issues are examined. These comprise the new politics,political partisanship, nonattitudes, rational choice, asttitudinalpredispositions, and group socialization approaches. Littlesupport was found for the standard postmaterialist/materialistcleavage, although aspects of the new politics thesis were supportedas were aspects of the other approaches. In the light of thesefindings we outline a model of public opinion incorporatingelements of each approach.     

What Is the Impact of Computer Literacy on the Academic Performance of D-learning Students？

Due to the globalization and the spread of the Internet, distance learning （D-learning） has gained extraordinary impulse in recent years by classes broadcasted by Websites and assignments fulfilled by students in their own computers. D-learning facilitates the access to education to those people who are working or have low buying power due to its reduced cost and time convenience. Although D-learning has existed in the world for over 150 years, only in the last decades, it has become the focus of academic studies and researches in a systematic way. In this context, the objective of this research is to evaluate the impact of computer literacy on the academic performance of the D-learning students of Faculdade lnterativa COC--EAD （COC--D-learning Interactive College）, P61o Lafaiete （Lafaiete Branch）, Ribeirao Preto. The research consisted of a questionnaire with 21 qualitative dichotomous questions, concerning the level of knowledge and mastery of information techdologies, besides the gender and academic performance （weighted average and marks of the last module）. The data were tabulated, being considered two main variables： （a） academic performance, represented by the marks of the last module; and （b） computer literacy, represented by the sum of the questions concerning this matter. The data were analyzed statistically, and the correlation between the two variables considered was analyzed by Pearson＇s Correlation Test. The interviews of the 54 interviewees （24 males （44.45%） and 30 females （55.55%）） taking the business administration course were analyzed. The correlation coefficient r = 0.303 indicates that there is a meaningful correlation between the students＇ academic performance （marks） and their computer literacy, that is, the greater the computer literacy, the better the marks obtained by these students in the D-learning course. D-learning has computing as its main tool, theretbre, the students with less computer literacy find barriers in D-learning, which o ref     

Outcomes of synergetic peer assessment: first-year experience

Active participation in learning activities and reviewing assessment activity can facilitate learners engaged in these processes. This case study reports student experiences of the process of peer assessment with teacher guidance in a group project for a first-year nursing course with 153 students. Twenty groups of students were assigned roles in exploring one of the two scenarios: one involved analysing diabetes mellitus and the other considered colorectal carcinoma, in each case covering provision of acute nursing care in hospitals and preparing health promotion strategies in a community. Each group also provided comments to the group that worked on the other scenario, based on prearranged assessment criteria. After receiving comments from their peer group, each group was then allowed to revise their drafts prior to final submission. The teacher’s input would be offered, if the peer feedback was inaccurate or insufficient. A survey was conducted to explore the learning experiences, and three semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted to triangulate findings with the survey. The first-year students expressed the need for both peer feedback and the lecturer’s direct guidance.     

Peer learning: an analysis of secondary school teachers’ reflection groups on teaching practice / El aprendizaje entre iguales: análisis de los grupos de reflexión sobre la práctica docente para profesores de educación secundaria

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse the discourse of beginning teachers and mentors in Secondary Education throughout their participation in reflection groups on teaching practice, as part of a program designed to palliate the reality shock and encourage reflection on the practice, thus promoting the construction of professional knowledge.

The data collected consist of speech recordings from five pairs (beginning-mentor) who participated in five reflection groups during a school year. This interpretative and longitudinal study draws on a qualitative analysis (Atlas.ti) of the discussion topics and types of sentences produced by the participants. The most frequent discussion topics were the thematic areas considered to be the most problematic for beginners (pair adjustment; attention to the diversity; student assessment; assessment by the program; fatigue and stress; classroom management; teacher identity; status and school culture). Mentors tended to produce more metacognitive statements while beginning teachers tended to use more conceptual statements. The results show that taking part in a discussion group on teaching practice was not enough to promote a really thoughtful (most sophisticated) elaborative pattern for beginner teachers.     

Understanding channel choice in users' reporting behavior: Evidence from a smart mobility case

Public service producers are heavily investing in the development and implementation of more efficient new digital channels to engage users in citizen sourcing efforts, such as the reporting of public service-related issues. Nevertheless, user-reporters have continued to favor earlier implemented channels including traditional (e.g., phone, office) and e-government channels (e.g., web, email) over new digital channels such as m-government channels (e.g., mobile applications). Drawing on channel choice literature and theories, this study aims at explaining users' reporting behavior by examining the role of users' personal factors, including digital divide determinants, users' service experience, and channel satisfaction. We use a combination of survey and log data on actual reporting behavior among smart bike-sharing users to explain users' channel choice. Using a multinomial logistic regression, we found that the digital divide predicts user-reporters' channel choice. Moreover, user-reporters with a longer service membership favor traditional and e-government channels, over the newly implemented m-government channels. Finally, user-reporters' satisfaction with the mobile application is negatively associated with the user-reporters' choice of traditional and e-government channels. Our results expand and update the empirical evidence on channel choice at the user level, and provide insights for public service producers who aim at enhancing public service delivery through digital users' engagement.