Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Post-compulsory education'
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Matheson, David J. "Post-compulsory education in Suisse romande." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 1992. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3591/.
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This thesis sets out to describe and discuss, to analyse and criticise post-compulsory education in the francophone part of Switzerland, or Suisse romande. A further object is to see whether this part of the oldest confederation in the world might have lessons on the educational front to offer the European Community or indeed whether there might be practices in the EC whose adaptation to Suisse romande's situation and circumstances might be beneficial. The remaining object is to propose a series of models for educational structures - autonomous, synthetic and pluralist - and to determine which model fits which part of Suisse romande's post-compulsory education. After describing the rationale behind the work, the thesis moves on to set out the historical, geographical, economic and cultural background to the area in question in order to provide a context for the main body of the discussion. This reduces the need for tangential digressions to explain particular aspects of education in Suisse romande. The main text covers post-compulsory school (with a description of the end of compulsory school), vocational training, adult education and higher education with a concluding chapter devoted to drawing together some of the threads spun in the course of the thesis. The writer found that Suisse romande in particular and Switzerland in general have much experience which the EC might do well to examine. There is, for example, the creation of national certificates in vocational training which, although of equal value throughout the country, bear the clear stamp of their Canton of origin. Autonomous structures have been brought together, in the case of schools, by negotiation between Cantonal authorities (with the encouragement of Federal government).
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Lenton, Pamela. "An economic evaluation of post-compulsory education." Thesis, Lancaster University, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.418860.
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Graham, Suzanne. "Foreign language learning processes in post-compulsory education." Thesis, University of Bath, 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.261182.
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Pennington, Barrie Tinsley. "Post-compulsory education : an alternative discourse? 1750-2001." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.250401.
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Biggart, Andrew John. "Social change, post-compulsory education and the youth labour market." Thesis, University of Ulster, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.428401.
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Wootton, Sally Anne. "An inductive inquiry into managing tutorial provision in post-compulsory education." Thesis, Sheffield Hallam University, 2007. http://shura.shu.ac.uk/20569/.
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This research explores aspects affecting the management of tutorial provision in post-compulsory education. The inquiry has been designed to inductively explore tutorial provision using grounded theory methodology. The research participants were either students or tutors in post-compulsory education, as they were in a position to contribute their personal experiences and perceptions in relation to the research phenomena. Three aspects of tutorial provision were explored during this study. Firstly, the nature and purpose of tutorial provision was explored to ascertain the participants' perceptions of tutorial needs and expectations. The rationale for this was to address the low profile tutorial provision suffers at national and institutional levels across the sector, and because the confusing range of definitions imply a need for the objectives of tutorial provision to be more clearly articulated. Secondly, the personal tutoring role was explored in order to understand what students' and tutors' perceived the key aspects of the role to be, and to understand the value placed upon it by the students, the tutors and the institution. The rationale behind this aspect was to address the lack of confidence and commitment many tutors demonstrate when undertaking the role, due in part, to arbitrary recruitment and insufficient personal tutor training. Finally, a third aspect emerged during the inductive inquiry, which led to the exploration of feelings and emotions at play within the tutoring relationship. From this research, three contributions to knowledge have emerged. Firstly, a 'Heuristic Framework for Tutorial Provision' contributes to clarifying the nature and purpose of tutorial provision, whilst acknowledging its complexity and the need for flexible and differentiated provision. Secondly, an 'Archetype of the Personal Tutoring Role' acknowledges the various 'Functions' tutors believe they are undertaking as personal tutors, the attitudes that underpin their view of the personal tutoring role, and a description of tutors' skills, knowledge and personality the participants deem necessary to develop a successful tutoring relationship. Finally, a Theoretical Model of Tutoring Styles' has been developed, based on the inquiry's emergent themes in relation to the tutoring relationship. The model is presented as a tool to enable tutors to understand the impact of their tutoring practice by exploring their ideology of teaching and style of interaction.
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Church, Dearbhaile Brona. "New directions : a novel approach to educating for capability in post-compulsory humanities education." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.576648.
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Is it possible to educate for capability as a goal, not a by-product, of education? This thesis addresses this research question by presenting a model to support the implementation of a person-centred approach to teaching and learning in post-compulsory humanities education. This is based on a new methodological framework employed within the Project module in the Philosophical Studies programme at Newcastle University. Here, learners apply a project-based, context-driven approach to develop an understanding of conceptual themes set out in lectures within the context of a personal interest (the Project). The model puts the learner at the centre of the process and develops students' knowledge and understanding of course content alongside the development of individual competences; that is, a capacity for learning. The model is based on my own experience of the methodology as a learner and tutor, as well as practical research and delivery. It draws on Problem-Based Learning theory to offer a vocabulary to support dialogue between students and tutors to enhance the learning experience. The model of Project Practices seeks to bridge the gap between the personal and private with the academic and theoretical, by supporting a dual approach to learning. It may be used to enhance the delivery of the context-driven methodology and its effectiveness in supporting skills development alongside knowledge acquisition by acting as a planning and dialogue tool. It may also offer the potential to apply the object-based context driven project methodology in other educational contexts or levels where appropriate. Placed within the context of the growing literature on this subject, this thesis offers one alternative to traditional approaches to teaching and learning which is grounded in and responds to the increasingly complex nature of life and work in the twenty-first century. This model responds to the research objective by integrating a person-centred approach to teaching and learning alongside traditional delivery methods in order to educate for capability. It offers an original model to support person-centred learning alongside traditional delivery methods within Higher Education.
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Napper, Nick Louis. "An investigation into the impact of visual aids in post-compulsory education." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/16561.
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This study seeks insight into the use of visual aids in contemporary post-compulsory teaching. The importance of the study is linked to the large number of students who enter Higher Education; many of whom regularly receive lectures supported by visual displays which comprise textual summaries of a lecturerâs speech. This thesis comprises a two-part study and employs a mixed methods approach. The first part inquires into teachersâ and lecturersâ practice with regard to their visual aids, and the second compares the effectiveness of text, images and imagery displayed in support of a lecture. The investigation into lecturersâ practice found many post-compulsory teachers and lecturers had received no training in the design and use of visual aids during their initial teacher training. It is suggested this privation may underpin a de facto choice of projected text as a visual aid, the use of which is not clearly supported by contemporary models of memory and mental processing. In a comparison of visual modalities, an increase in learner engagement was recorded for the display of carefully designed images, and also for directed imagery. No positive impact was recorded for text summaries of 50-64 words displayed concurrently with speech, although recall was improved when text was restricted to five words or fewer. The conclusion is drawn that the display of this modality without temporal pauses may offer limited educational advantage to students, and a method of planned apportionment of speech and text is proposed in which contemporary theories of memory and processing are taken into account. These observations have significant implications for a lecture environment in which such text summaries are often relied upon for visual support. The findings of the thesis are combined to propose a principle of Visual Working Memory Utilisation (VWMU), upon which future research into visual aid design and use in post compulsory education might be based.
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Edwards, Angela. "Barriers to learning groups in the post-compulsory in-service teacher education classroom." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.518524.
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Dyke, Martin. "Reflective learning and reflexive modernity as theory practice and research in post-compulsory education." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2001. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2732/.
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To what extent does reflective learning in education meet the needs of learners in a reflexive modern society? The thesis constructs a late-modern case for reflective learning in post-compulsory education. It is argued that reflective learning connects with a key concept in contemporary social theory - that of reflexivity. The arguments are developed through the following key questions. • To what extent does reflective learning in post compulsory education correspond with the needs of learners in late-modernity? • What are the key characteristics of late-modernity? • Can the application of reflective learning by practitioners improve student learning in post-compulsory education? • What are the conclusions for teaching and learning in post-compulsory education that flow from this analysis of social theory and educational practice? Enlightenment and contemporary modernity is explored through a review of literature on social theory and philosophy. The second part of the thesis is concerned with praxis the testing of theory in action. Case studies in action research are used to examine how teachers seek to promote reflective learning in their practice. This exploration of theory and practice is then used to present the overall conclusions and make recommendations for future action. In many ways this thesis revisits the territory and thinking of John Dewey, It seeks to connect educational praxis to the wider social context, but from a late-modern perspective.
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Joughin, Gordon Rowland, and n/a. "Oral Assessment From the Learner's Perspective: The Experience of Oral Assessment in Post-Compulsory Education." Griffith University. School of Vocational, Technology and Arts Education, 2003. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20031125.091403.
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This thesis examines the experience of oral assessment in post-compulsory education from the student's perspective. A considerable literature has developed over the past three decades describing and analysing how students experience various aspects of learning, including various forms of assessment. Until recently, none of this literature has addressed how students experience oral assessment, and recent studies that have done so are limited in their scope and methodology - it would be true to say that very little is known about oral assessment from the student's perspective. The starting point for the consideration of oral assessment is the existing literature on oral assessment, nearly all of which has been written from the teacher's perspective. A survey of this literature identified six dimensions of oral assessment - primary content types; interaction; authenticity; structure; examiners; and orality. It is suggested that these dimensions can lead to a clearer understanding of the nature of oral assessment, a clearer differentiation of the various forms within this type of assessment, a better capacity to describe and analyse these forms, and a better understanding of how the various dimensions of oral assessment may interact with other elements of teaching and learning. Students' experiences of oral assessment were then explored through interviews with fifteen students in a post-compulsory certificate in theology. The interviews and the analysis of the interview transcripts were strongly informed by the phenomenographic methods and conceptual framework developed by Marton and others for describing variations in how phenomena are experienced. Six aspects of students' experience of oral assessment were identified - the indirect object of learning; the direct object of learning; interaction; audience; affective responses; and comparisons with written assignments - and variations in how these aspects could be experienced are described. Relationships between these aspects suggested three contrasting conceptions of oral assessment. The conception of oral assessment as 'presentation' represents an approach to oral assessment that focuses on reproducing the ideas of others in a one-way presentation. This conception is associated with a limited sense of audience, a failure to perceive interaction as significant, and an absence of anxiety. In this case, oral assessment is seen as either similar to written assignments, or as being a more limited form of assessment than assignments. The conception of oral assessment as 'understanding' is associated with students actively seeking to develop their understanding of the subject, making the ideas they encounter their own, being challenged to understand these ideas because of the questioning involved in the assessment process, and seeing oral assessment as having some advantages over written assessment. The conception of oral assessment as 'a position to be argued' is associated with a seeing theology in terms of developing one's own point of view, having a strong sense of audience, seeing interaction with that audience as both challenging and demanding understanding, and experiencing a heightened self-awareness. In this case, oral assessment is seen as a significantly richer and more personally engaging form of assessment than written assignments. The study of oral assessment from the student's perspective extends the dimensions of oral assessment described earlier and challenges our understanding of these dimensions. The study has significant implications for teachers using oral assessment and for students who are being assessed orally, including the challenge of helping students develop more complex conceptions of oral assessment. The study also provides the basis for further research into specific aspect of oral assessment and its application in different contexts.
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Joughin, Gordon Rowland. "Oral Assessment From the Learner's Perspective: The Experience of Oral Assessment in Post-Compulsory Education." Thesis, Griffith University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366532.
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This thesis examines the experience of oral assessment in post-compulsory education from the student's perspective. A considerable literature has developed over the past three decades describing and analysing how students experience various aspects of learning, including various forms of assessment. Until recently, none of this literature has addressed how students experience oral assessment, and recent studies that have done so are limited in their scope and methodology - it would be true to say that very little is known about oral assessment from the student's perspective. The starting point for the consideration of oral assessment is the existing literature on oral assessment, nearly all of which has been written from the teacher's perspective. A survey of this literature identified six dimensions of oral assessment - primary content types; interaction; authenticity; structure; examiners; and orality. It is suggested that these dimensions can lead to a clearer understanding of the nature of oral assessment, a clearer differentiation of the various forms within this type of assessment, a better capacity to describe and analyse these forms, and a better understanding of how the various dimensions of oral assessment may interact with other elements of teaching and learning. Students' experiences of oral assessment were then explored through interviews with fifteen students in a post-compulsory certificate in theology. The interviews and the analysis of the interview transcripts were strongly informed by the phenomenographic methods and conceptual framework developed by Marton and others for describing variations in how phenomena are experienced. Six aspects of students' experience of oral assessment were identified - the indirect object of learning; the direct object of learning; interaction; audience; affective responses; and comparisons with written assignments - and variations in how these aspects could be experienced are described. Relationships between these aspects suggested three contrasting conceptions of oral assessment. The conception of oral assessment as 'presentation' represents an approach to oral assessment that focuses on reproducing the ideas of others in a one-way presentation. This conception is associated with a limited sense of audience, a failure to perceive interaction as significant, and an absence of anxiety. In this case, oral assessment is seen as either similar to written assignments, or as being a more limited form of assessment than assignments. The conception of oral assessment as 'understanding' is associated with students actively seeking to develop their understanding of the subject, making the ideas they encounter their own, being challenged to understand these ideas because of the questioning involved in the assessment process, and seeing oral assessment as having some advantages over written assessment. The conception of oral assessment as 'a position to be argued' is associated with a seeing theology in terms of developing one's own point of view, having a strong sense of audience, seeing interaction with that audience as both challenging and demanding understanding, and experiencing a heightened self-awareness. In this case, oral assessment is seen as a significantly richer and more personally engaging form of assessment than written assignments. The study of oral assessment from the student's perspective extends the dimensions of oral assessment described earlier and challenges our understanding of these dimensions. The study has significant implications for teachers using oral assessment and for students who are being assessed orally, including the challenge of helping students develop more complex conceptions of oral assessment. The study also provides the basis for further research into specific aspect of oral assessment and its application in different contexts.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Vocational, Technology and Arts Education
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Bauer, Christine, and Christine Strauß. "Educating artists in management: an analysis of art education programmes in DACH region." Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2015.1045217.
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Labour force in the art sector is characterised by high qualification, but low income for those people who perform the core contribution in art, i.e. the artists. As artists are typically self-dependent in managing their business, they should have managerial skills besides those skills necessary to perform their artistic core activities. If the lack of managerial skills is a reason why artists fail to make a living from their talent, then this chain of cause and effect could be ruptured by adequate educational opportunities. This paper analyses the curricula of a wide range of institutions offering art education programmes and identifies their managerial learning content. In doing so, we focused on German-speaking countries, the so-called DACH region (i.e. Germany, Austria and Switzerland, whereas D, A and CH are country codes). We identified and analysed 159 course syllabi of 81 art universities, schools and academies. The results of our study indicate a lack of managerial learning contents: a vast majority of institutions follow a rather traditional approach to art education, focusing solely on artistic competences. We suggest the implementation of managerial learning contents to better prepare art students for successful careers in the arts.
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Stewart, Donald J. "Rural students-urban schools: Rural students' experiences of computing in their urban post-compulsory education." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2002. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/36676/1/36676_Digitised%20Thesis.pdf.
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This research focuses on the origins and nature of one cohort of students' computing experience as they progressed from their isolated rural junior setting to senior schooling in urban locations. The study investigated the influence of parents, teachers, peers and the wider rural community on their development as students in general. The data collection concentrated especially on how their rural upbringing influenced their educational outcomes, but serendipitously revealed the considerable effects of the religious beliefs held by many in their community. This further enhanced the capacity of the thesis to identify strategies needed to address the dilemmas that these students experienced.
The study followed those members of a single cohort of students as they ended their compulsory education in a rural school and proceeded to post-compulsory, senior secondary, education in 'their nearest regional city. Some students entered the state schooling system while others opted for a senior education embedded within the religious boundaries of their Christian upbringing. The researcher maintained contact with these students socially, and also by meeting them weekly as they returned to their home town from their forays into the city.
The research employed a phenomenographical approach in which regular meetings with the cohort were audio taped and later transcribed using a computer voice recognition package. The transcripts were then returned to the participants for validation and correction. These corrected transcripts were then analysed to reveal students' conceptions of their lived experiences of computing as part of their senior schooling, and these conceptions were then placed within an outcome space which illustrates the inter-relationships between them.
The thesis reveals a complex relationship between rural families, how they live, how they interact with each other and how they perceive outsiders from the city. and illuminates the many quandaries they face in both their daily lives and their educational experiences. including communication problems between rural feeder schools and their urban counterparts; depth of curricula; and the impact that religious affiliations have on rural families. It concludes with a range of recommendations regarding the strategies that could be employed to help other teachers/educators who are placed in similar rural situations to understand the physical/developmental and cultural/spiritual inequalities that isolated rural families encounter.
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Hooker, Barbara Ann. "The life stories of teachers in post compulsory education : a narrative exploration of teacher identity." Thesis, University of Wolverhampton, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2436/611696.
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This thesis centres on a narrative inquiry of the life stories of teachers in Post Compulsory Education with the aim of exploring how the ‘self’ is constructed within discursive environments. The study adopts a dialogical approach to narrative identity formation as an ongoing process of becoming within the life course. Grounded in social construction theory (Gergen 2009), the study acknowledges that identity is fluid and determined by context; self-creation is therefore both a collective and individual endeavour situated within the social and cultural context. The research design centres on an in-depth study of four teachers in the exploration of the meanings constructed from autobiographical memories; in addition, the study explores how narrative meanings are mediated within the organisational and political context of being a teacher. The study adopts a psychosocial perspective (McAdams 2006) to life stories and the analysis of narrative construction is conducted through the lens of dialogical self theory with the aim of exploring the multivoiced nature of the self based on a diversity of self-positions (Hermans 2001). Narrative identities are therefore viewed as relational, individuals position themselves within the stories they tell in relation to a particular audience; individuals are also positioned by the social and cultural environment in which they are embedded. The study contributes to current knowledge in relation to the crucial role emotions play in the dialogical construction of the self; findings indicate that early emotionally charged autobiographical memories play a significant role in defining individuals’ moral educational values within their teaching role. Emotions were also central to placing individuals in a field of tension in reconciling their personal values within the current organisational and political environment that imposes constraints on teachers’ professional practice. The study concludes that in order to sustain the moral purpose of teachers’ professional practice, there is a need for the dialogical renewal of the self through transformative discourse.
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Hill, Marianne C. M. "A study into the participation and engagement of young people with physics in post-compulsory education." Thesis, University of Sunderland, 2012. http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/3288/.
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This report, submitted in conjunction with the portfolio, presents an investigation into the participation and engagement of young people with physics in post-compulsory education. This study explores the reasons why we must encourage more young people to study physics, as it is a challenging yet rewarding discipline that can lead to a wide variety of employment opportunities. The study also considers how we can encourage more young people to study physics, including factors inside and outside of the classroom. The portfolio consists of ten separate reports, each addressing a different aspect of the study. The study is of a mixed methods design, employing a range of qualitative and quantitative data, as well as two action research projects. As a professional doctorate study, it is based largely upon my professional practice as a teacher and manager at a large college of further education. Whilst the college is based in the north east of England, my findings are not confined to this geographical region, but extend across the UK. The study shows that after considerable interventions and initiatives, the number of GCSE candidates in physics has increased over the past ten years, with the gender balance being almost equal. Within post-compulsory education, the situation is very different, as the number of young people who study physics at A level and university is far less than we need to fill the ‘skills gap’ in the UK. The gender issue becomes far more prominent at each stage of the educational ladder. It was found that whilst the teacher can have a profound influence upon students’ enjoyment of a subject, external factors such as parents, educational establishment, role models and the media can all influence the decisions made by young people in post-compulsory education. These factors are investigated within this study. One of the main findings was that physics, as an academic subject, is thriving in the independent sector and prestigious universities, and is arguably becoming an ‘elite’ subject. The report concludes with a series of recommendations for teachers, educational establishments and external organisations, which are aimed at increasing the numbers of young people who progress to study physics in post-compulsory education. Some of the suggestions include increasing the number of specialist physics teachers (particularly female physics teachers) and improving the inter-personal skills of physics teachers. The report also suggests that due to the current status of teachers in further education, it is difficult to attract and retain good physics teachers when there are many other financially rewarding careers available for physics graduates.
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Ogunleye, James. "An investigation of curriculum arrangements conducive to fostering creativity in post-compulsory education and training institutions." Thesis, University of Greenwich, 2002. http://gala.gre.ac.uk/8751/.
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This study aims to investigate curriculum arrangements conducive to fostering creativity in post-16 (further) education institutions and classrooms, to analyse factors promoting or impeding creativity, curriculum content and processes, and also to offer/develop models of good practice for encouraging creativity in a further education context. The study addresses among others the following questions. What are students' perceptions of their creative attributes? What are students' perceptions of their classroom behaviours and practices? What are students' perceptions of teachers' classroom behaviours and practices? What are leaders', managers', teachers' and students' perceptions of creativity? To what extent are colleges' institutional variables, curriculum arrangements and teaching approaches driven or not driven by the leaders', managers' and teachers' conceptions of creativity? What factors impede or promote creativity in a further education context? 10 further education colleges in four of the seven regions of the (former) Further Education Funding Council in England took part in the study. The study adopts an appropriate mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods. 800 students from the four qualification areas of academic, applied vocational, occupational and Access to HE returned a survey-questionnaire, which explored their creative attributes, their classroom behaviours and practices, as well as their perceptions of their teachers' classroom behaviours and practices. Complementary research methods include classroom observations, designed to cross-check or corroborate certain information in the student questionnaire; semi-structured interviews with leaders, managers, teachers and students, explored their conceptions of creativity, constraints to creativity, and the extent to which college institutional variables, curriculum arrangements and teaching approaches were driven or not driven by the leaders', managers' and teachers' conceptions of creativity. To achieve a comparative perspective, two case study institutions - one community college and one high school in the USA - were presented to portray good practice in creativity facilitating curriculum arrangements and delivery. The results showed highly significant differences in students' self-perceived creative attributes. The students' creative attributes and their self-perceived classroom behaviours and practices are found to be significantly related, but the relationship is complex – there is little evidence that students express their creativity in classroom discourse. The study also revealed that teachers in further education currently spend a disproportionate amount of lesson time on subject matter and less on creativity-supporting activities such as motivation, questions, thinking, practical examples and reference to real-world contexts. Leaders, managers, teachers and students in the study showed familiarity with the word creativity and related concepts and their characterisation of creativity as a product, a process, a personality and as a condition of the environment were consistent with the literature themes on creativity; but college institutional variables were found not to be driven by the interviewees' (excluding the students) conceptions of creativity. Several external and internal constraints to creativity were identified. The implications of these findings in terms of post-16 education policy, curriculum arrangements and teaching practices (teacher pedagogy) were highlighted and, in conclusion, a model for fostering student creativity in post-16 (further) education context was developed.
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Craig, Mark Gerard, and res cand@acu edu au. "An Examination of Student Meaning-Making in the Post-Compulsory Subject of Study of Religion." Australian Catholic University.School of Religious Education, 2006. http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/digitaltheses/public/adt-acuvp111.25102006.
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Current research and anecdotal evidence has suggested that students enrolled in the QSA (Queensland Studies Authority) subject for Year 11 and Year 12, Study of Religion, as outlined in the Senior Syllabus for Study of Religion, are experiencing difficulties in meaning-making. This may be due to particular methodologies being employed to teach the subject to secondary students (Barnes, 2001; Flood, 1999; Kay, 1997). The purpose of this research was to explore the connection between student difficulty in meaning making in Study of Religion and the employment of phenomenological methodologies as a pedagogical tool for teaching Study of Religion. It was anticipated that this study would illuminate the nature of the relationship between these two variables and provide a framework for the consideration of possible changes to current methodologies being employed in the Study of Religion classroom. The researcher adopted a case-study approach and further utilized the research methods of a survey questionnaire and a focus group to collect data. A cross-sectional survey at a Catholic co-educational College was completed. Forty-five students from a Study of Religion cohort totalling ninety were surveyed at this College. This was followed up by a focus group discussion involving five of the original forty-five students surveyed. The participants furnished a range of valuable insights in regard to the connection between student difficulty in meaning-making and the employment of largely phenomenological methodologies in teaching Study of Religion. Data analysis revealed that students enrolled in Study of Religion in Year 12 are struggling to construct meaning when phenomenological methodologies are predominantly employed. This is arguably a result of phenomenological methodologies having their provenance within a modernist paradigm. Consequently, methodologies that once assisted students to make meaning effectively in a modern context are unable to continue to do so in a post-modern context. This may be due to paradigmatic shifts in Education, Philosophy and Religious Studies.
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Darlington, Eleanor. "Changes in mathematical culture for post-compulsory mathematics students : the roles of questions and approaches to learning." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:3567a593-4dfd-4185-968c-9df72345d512.
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Since there are insufficient mathematicians to meet economic and educational demands and many well-qualified, successful mathematics students exhibit signs of disaffection, the student experience of undergraduate mathematics is high on the political agenda. Many undergraduates struggle with the school-university transition, which has been associated with students’ prior experiences of mathematics which, at A-level, are regularly criticised for being too easy and too different to undergraduate mathematics. Furthermore, the University of Oxford administers a Mathematics Admissions Test (OxMAT) as a means of identifying those best prepared beyond the limited demands of A-level. Consequently, a study was conducted into the mathematical enculturation of Oxford undergraduates, specifically in terms of examination questions and students’ approaches to learning. Analysis of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) (Tait et al., 1998) revealed the majority of students to adopt strategic approaches to learning (ATLs) in all four year-groups, though the descriptions given by students in interviews of the nature of their ATL highlighted some shortcomings of the ASSIST as the motivation for memorisation appeared to be an important factor. The MATH taxonomy (Smith et al., 1996), revealed that most A-level questions require routine use of procedures, whereas the OxMAT tested a variety of skills from applying familiar mathematics in new situations to justifying and interpreting information to form proofs. This is more in-line with the requirements of undergraduate assessment, although the MATH taxonomy and student interviews revealed that these still allowed for rote memorisation and strategic methods. Thus, the changing nature of mathematics and questions posed to students at the secondary-tertiary interface appears to affect students’ ATLs, though this is not reflected by the ASSIST data.
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Haskins, Jan. "Experiences drawn upon by students in post-compulsory education as they explore environmental subject matter through photography." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.487732.
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The purpose of this thesis is to consider if and how students in post-compulsory education draw upon their compulsory science education in a particular context whilst thinking about human interactions with their environments. This has been conducted through a case study investigating experiences drawn upon by students as they explore environmental subject matter with potential links to sustainable development and content addressed in National Curriculum science.
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White, Patrick. "Choices and trajectories : decision-making in compulsory and the transition to post-sixteen education, training and work." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.427837.
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Coble-Neal, Fiona. "Post-compulsory curriculum reform and teachers' work : a critical policy ethnography in a Western Australian state secondary school /." Murdoch University Digital Theses Program, 2008. http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/browse/view/adt-MU20091117.130012.
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Joned, Amran. "The application of e-learning materials to teaching and learning in post-compulsory education in the west midlands." Thesis, Birmingham City University, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.505980.
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The impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on the quality of teaching and learning in schools has been the subject of many studies in recent years. Although these objective studies have reported on the classroom effectiveness of ICT use, there have been limited studies of the underpinning pedagogy. In contrast, the use of ICT in post-compulsory education, particularly further education (FE) colleges has not been researched to a significant extent, either in terms of its effectiveness or the underpinning pedagogy. FE is a diverse, underresearched sector in the UK and is heavily influenced by economic changes, new technologies, competing interest groups and by government policies, institutions, professionals, tutors and learners. The complexity and diversity of this sector present a serious challenge to fully embed e-learning skills and practices in FE colleges. When the research project was about to start, there had not been a study focusing on e-learning materials in the past. This is an important area which requires investigation because if we understand the pedagogy of e-learning materials and how they can be used effectively, then this will improve learning and provide information to help design better materials. The aim of this research is to investigate the application of e-learning materials to teaching and learning in post-compulsory education in the West Midlands. The research seeks to explore the implications for the pedagogy of e-learning materials and wishes to determine whether the application of ICT and e-learning materials to teaching and learning has been fully implemented by the selected FE colleges. Methodological triangulation is used for the research, a combination of survey in the form of semi-structured interviews and case studies, which used questionnaires and semi-structured non-participant observations. The main findings of the research are: the e-learning materials were mainly used as support and supplementary to the traditional teaching and learning methods; the prevalence of e-learning materials used depended largely on the courses and the individual tutors; the most commonly used modes of delivery of e-learning materials were application software, VLE, CDROMs, Intranet, Internet and videos; the e-learning materials were considered to be effective learning tools, enhance learning and help learners with different learning styles. Despite many positive results in most areas of investigation, the researcher finds that the application of ICT and elearning materials to teaching and learning (with a special reference to e-learning skills and practices) has not been fully taken up by tutors and learners in FE colleges.
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Souto-Otero, Manuel. "Public policy and human capital : differentials in access to post-compulsory education and training in advanced industrialized countries." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2007. http://opus.bath.ac.uk/15861/.
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Husband, Gary. "The impact of teacher training on continuing professional development needs for teaching and learning in post compulsory education." Thesis, Bangor University, 2015. https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/the-impact-of-teacher-training-on-continuing-professional-development-needs-for-teaching-and-learning-in-post-compulsory-education(e785f36f-4e8a-4773-a8cc-ea2784c751cd).html.
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This thesis presents the findings of a research project that investigated the impact of teacher training for lecturers in post-compulsory education on engagement with continuing professional development (CPD). The majority of colleges and universities operating in the UK now ensure that all teaching staff are given access to training in skills for learning and teaching. This training can take many different forms and this research explores the potential differences in outcome and influence on engagement with CPD and lifelong learning of graduates from these programmes. For the study, nineteen lecturers from two different further education (FE) colleges (one large multi-campus college in Scotland and another in Wales) took part in semi-structured interviews and provided accounts of their professional background, training and qualifications prior to initial lecturer training, and their route into teaching in FE. Respondents talked about their experiences in lecturer training and ongoing engagement with CPD and further learning post-training. The findings indicate that respondents feel insufficient emphasis is placed on vocational skills training, meeting special educational needs and classroom management techniques. Lecturers agree that CPD in learning and teaching is very important but the research data show lack of meaningful engagement with the training options currently available. A disconnection between training and working life is becoming apparent as teacher education course providers face difficulties in meeting the pedagogic requirements of the FE sector in times of reduced funding and lack of remitted time for training. The thesis concludes with discussions focussing on the potential benefits for colleges of increasing the practical and vocational focus and content of teacher training for lecturers, whilst acknowledging the importance of recognising novice practitioner status. The requirement for access to high-quality, valid and targeted CPD is highlighted, with lecturers acknowledging the importance of training and expressing the desire to engage with relevant courses in learning and teaching.
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Ellison-Bourne, Catherine Norah Antonia. "Levelling the playing field and learning outside the box : a study of supported learning in post-compulsory education." Thesis, University of Reading, 2016. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.739379.
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The research reported here is a study of learning support in a further education college in the South of England. It arose, firstly, from the researcher’s personal experience as a learning support tutor at the college and as someone with disabilities, who has an extensive experience as a student and tutor in the education system, including herself receiving learning support. It also arose from the broader context of widening participation in post-compulsory education, as well as the important role the further education sector plays in that process and the extent to which it has included many students with disabilities and other disadvantages, which may lead to the need for support. Key questions addressed are the experience of learning support and positive and negative evaluations of that experience in one FE college from the perspectives of supported students, support tutors, and mainstream tutors. Issues of equity and fairness and the idea of a ‘level playing field’ were addressed both through the literature and in the data from the participants. The applicability and value of the ‘post-social’ model of disability was also considered. A wide range of literature has been considered including different arguments about effective approaches to provision, different models of equity and fairness, literature dealing with the social and post-social models and empirical studies of support provision in FE and HE. Data was gathered in one college by means of interviews and questionnaires completed by supported students, support tutors and mainstream tutors. There was also a small scale survey of provision in other colleges to set the context for the detailed study. In general, all three groups were positive about support at the college although many concerns and criticisms also emerged. A general consensus was found in favour of all students having some form of support and has gained ground from the idea of support only being available for assessed/screened learners. The data comparison yielded a fruitful debate concerning the nature and limits of support and how to level the playing field. Mainstream and support tutors and supported students were all concerned about supported learners becoming too dependent. Mainstream and support tutors were concerned about the dividing line between supported and non-supported students and mainstream tutors expressed concerns over coursework and examination concessions being loaded in favour of supported learners. The supported students found coursework support helpful in empowering them with the appropriate skills to enable them to become independent learners and they praised their support tutors and support provision, but were critical of the examination service for failing to make reasonable adjustments for examination concessions. Support tutors raised concerns over testing and targets at the expense of differentiation and individual learning needs. Whilst the remedial/medical model has been replaced by the social/environmental model within learning support provision and practice, there has been a further paradigmatic shift in that, whilst the social/environmental model is still useful for pointing out barriers and how practice may be improved, it has been superseded within support practice by the post-social/individual model which looks at the complexity of individuals’ learning needs and empowers them to provide for their needs in a manner most appropriate for them. Keywords: adjustments, concessions, differentiation, disability, empowerment, equality, fairness, further education, higher education, inclusion, independent learning, learning support, specific learning needs, special educational needs, study skills support, widening participation.
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Farringdon, Fiona. "Developing a post compulsory evidence-based alcohol education curriculum that is relevant to students and acceptable to teachers." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2000. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1394.
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The aim of this study was to develop a post compulsory, alcohol education curriculum that would be perceived as relevant by students and acceptable to teachers. The study had its conceptual basis in harm minimisation that has considerable justification in terms of what school-based alcohol education can realistically achieve. A harm minimisation approach is supported by parental attitudes, teachers, young people and government policy. To ensure the curriculum was developed in the Western Australian education context it has been linked to the Western Australian Curriculum Framework and adheres to the principles that underpin the framework. Furthermore, this study draws on the features from evaluated health, alcohol and other drug education programs that have the potential to produce some behaviour change. Accordingly, a major focus of the study was to involve young people in the development of the curriculum. To ensure that the curriculum was sensitive to the concerns of the students it sought to influence, twelve focus groups were conducted with year twelve Western Australian students. These focus groups provided invaluable information about young people's alcohol use experiences, alcohol-related harms that are of particular concern to young people, harm reduction strategies used by young people and educational approaches likely to be effective with young people. These insights were incorporated into the development of the curriculum, ensuring it has a basis in situations experienced by young people. Particular attention was also paid to the needs of teachers, involving current health education teachers and health professionals in the development of the content and teaching strategies In addition, teachers who pilot tested the curriculum were trained prior to implementation of the curriculum, The training, based on interactive modelling of activities, was designed to equip teachers with the knowledge, skills and confidence to teach the curriculum as written, and to document any variation so that fidelity of implementation could be assessed. The curriculum was piloted in three Perth high schools in fourth term of 1999. A triangulation of measures was adopted to assess the curriculum including teacher and student assessment and an evaluation workshop. The process evaluation data from both students and teachers indicated that the curriculum was faithfully implemented and consequently evaluated as relevant by the students who participated in the pilot and acceptable by the teachers who taught it. The apparent success of the curriculum in terms of relevance to students and acceptability to teachers appears to be due to the collaborative process used to develop the curriculum. This process may be replicated, adapted, or added to, by other researchers and educators wishing to develop health education curriculum materials that will be viewed as relevant by students and acceptable by teachers while incorporating an evidence-based approach.
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Holloway, David George. "Practitioner research and professional development : their contribution to an understanding of curriculum and organisational change in the post-compulsory education sector." Thesis, University of Portsmouth, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.369427.
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Matthews, Lynnette. "To teach or not to teach? : being a newly qualified teacher in the post-compulsory sector during 2000-2004." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2013. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/13691/.
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This was a mixed-method study investigating factors which might affect newly-qualified teachers’ continued motivation to teach in the post-compulsory sector during the period 2000-2004. It aimed to identify the nature of demotivators and to measure the extent and impact of these on intentions to remain in teaching. Research would suggest that nation states’ changes to the management of education to address the challenges of globalisation have caused tension between teachers’ motivation to teach and outside interference to control the process of teaching. Consequently, retaining teachers in both the compulsory and post-compulsory sectors is a significant concern, not only in the UK but internationally. However, despite being described as ‘pivotal’ to government objectives of social justice and economic success, the post-compulsory sector has tended to be under-researched. Although studies have explored the impact of New Public Management and Incorporation on the working conditions for experienced teachers and investigated trainees’ perceptions of the sector, there appeared to be a gap in the research focussing on newly-qualified teachers (NQTs) during this time. It is hoped that this research will contribute to this body of literature. This was an exploratory study followed by a confirmatory enquiry and was conducted in two phases. A qualitative approach was adopted for the first phase to re-interrogate data collected for a MA in Research Methods. Data collected from NQTs using focus groups and reflective essays written as part of the assessment for their initial teacher training course, was re-interrogated to identify the nature of demotivators in the sector. The subsequent findings informed the second phase and the design of a survey instrument to investigate the prevalence of these demotivators and the impact of these on intentions to continue teaching with a much larger sample of NQTs. Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory (1959) and Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (1975, 1985, 1992, 2000) formed the theoretical framework for this investigation. Ten higher education institutions from the East Midlands, Yorkshire, South-West and South-East of England, who had delivered training provision to meet the standards of the Further Education National Training Organisation since their introduction (FENTO, 1999), assisted in this project by forwarding the instrument to 2,235 NQTs. The survey was self-administered and 308 completed questionnaires were returned (13.8% return rate). Research would suggest that the first three to four years after training will determine whether teachers stay in the profession; it is hoped that the findings will highlight factors responsible for the fragility of a long-term teaching career in this sector.
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Dewan, Indra Angeli. "An investigation into concepts of personhood and equity, with specific reference to mixed race women in post-compulsory education." Thesis, University of Greenwich, 2004. http://gala.gre.ac.uk/6147/.
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Despite the prevalence of mixed race people in Britain and in Further Education, the study of mixed race identity remains an under-researched area, and little or no research appears to have been done on mixed race identity in relation to the Further Education sector. By bringing mixed race to the forefront of discussion, this PhD thesis endeavours to open up a space for interrogating some much vaunted concepts of personhood and equity evident in the theoretical literature on identity and in education policy. The thesis explores how normative theories and discourses underlying political and cultural constructions of personhood and equity are represented in a selection of recent UK post compulsory education policy texts, and uses the case of -10 mixed-race women studying in Further Education colleges in Inner London to identify similarities and discrepancies between theory, policy and experience. The empirical investigation involves policy analysis and semi-structured interviews with mixed race women. Discourse analysis and content analysis are the main methods used to analyse the data. The theories and discourses of personhood and equity identified in the literature and the policy documents are compared with the discourses articulated by the respondents on their constructions of self, their experiences of education, and on their opinions on government/education policy discourses. The thesis seeks to contribute to ongoing debates around identity and equality, and to provide some insights which may be helpful in moving us beyond the universalist/relativist impasse towards a concept of personhood in which identifies may be recognised simultaneously as 'fixed' and as 'fluid'. It also hopes to provide a useful source for sociologists and education policy makers in working towards more equitable policy in the field of education.
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Larson, Adam Howard. "Becoming technicians in the 'hydrocarbon state' : transitions into post-compulsory vocational education and training in the State of Qatar." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2017. https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/becoming-technicians-in-the-hydrocarbon-state-transitions-into-postcompulsory-vocational-education-and-training-in-the-state-of-qatar(dcd55298-d3c6-4b8a-9610-878544da1638).html.
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This thesis explores the transitions of young people from different national, social and cultural groups into post-compulsory vocational education and training (VET) and technical careers in the State of Qatar. It aims to understand young people’s perceptions of post-compulsory VET and technical careers, the factors that enable or constrain their participation in engineering and skilled trades programmes, and their strategies for navigating education and employment. The thesis employs a qualitative research design and in-depth interview methodology to investigate the subjective transition experiences of 15 young people from diverse national, social and cultural backgrounds participating in engineering and skilled trades programmes at three post-compulsory institutions in Qatar. The data were analysed according to a thematic framework based on a priori codes, which resulted in several inductive themes. The findings indicate that although young people are positive about post-compulsory VET and technical careers, higher education (HE) remains the normative pathway for college-bound students. However, a growing number of young people participate in VET to circumvent barriers to HE and enter the thriving technical labour market. They use economic, social and cultural capital to navigate these barriers, which include Qatar’s segmented labour market, academic requirements, institutional habitus, social networks and social positioning. Differently situated young people reflexively fashion their transition biographies to celebrate successes and rationalise failures in Qatar’s dynamic post-compulsory education system and technical labour market.
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Corner, Trevor E. "Changes in structure and access to post-compulsory education in European Community countries : with special reference to Scotland and Denmark." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.265599.
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Burton, Steven. "In-service initial teacher training in post-compulsory education : a phenomenographical investigation into the influence of initial training on professional practice." Thesis, University of Huddersfield, 2016. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/30194/.
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This thesis investigates the perceptions of former Initial Teacher Training (ITT) trainees in the post-compulsory sector, in an attempt to identify how their ITT influenced their practice as teachers within the sector. It analyses the perceptions of former trainees, gleaned through 21 semi-structured interviews and 35 completed questionnaires; together with semi-structured interviews of 5 managers of teaching staff from the sector, who employ university-led ITT for the development of their staff. The research employed a phenomenographical approach, in that it considered the perspectives and interpretations of the respondents to be wholly paramount. The study has found that initial teacher training in the post-compulsory sector produces teachers who experience perceptions of enhancement in three key ways. The first is that they are more connected with the sector, connected with their institutions and connected with the realities of teaching following their teacher education. The second is that they have a greater sense of self, together with a greater sense of professionalism, and carry more practical and pedagogical skills into the workplace following their teacher education. The third relates to their commitment to continuing professional development, and their ability to identify opportunities and necessities for their own development. The contribution to knowledge involves the creation of a middle range theory of the influence of initial teacher training on professional practice, developed from the three factors alluded to above, and postulated in the form of a model of conceptions demonstrating the influence of post-compulsory teacher training on its trainees. Additionally, it also makes recommendations to policy makers in ITT, including that the current emphasis on subject specialist teaching is reconsidered and clarified; and that the current government’s removal of compulsory completion of ITT for teachers in the sector is dissonant with the concepts of professionalism existing in both academic literature, and the perceptions of the participants in this study.
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Webster, Susan. "Professional pathways for teacher educators in further education practice : a framework to support professional learning." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/13073.
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This project evaluates a proposed framework designed to support professional learning for teacher educators, focusing on Post Compulsory Education & Training, and particularly practices in Further Education. The intention of the framework is to enhance practice and promote professional recognition for people who support others in becoming or developing as teachers: teacher educators. The project proposal is that this can be achieved through engagement with processes of professional learning (Timperley, 2011) in the form of professional pathways, defined here as professional and individual learning journeys supported by principles and research-based recommendations within a recognised framework of underpinning factors. The theoretical framework for the project is interpretative, based on transformative learning (Cranton, 1994, 2002; ; Mezirow, 1997) with a constructivist epistemology and reflexive ontology (Door, 2014). It builds on previous research (Exley & Ovenden-Hope, 2013) using new data to develop initial ideas through a methodology of creative praxis, representing practices and approaches where reflexive, innovative thinking and impact on the world are equally important. The intention is to arrive at a robust, flexible and well-considered framework designed to support the professional formation and development of prospective, new or experienced teacher educators practicing in the Further Education sector.
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Blair, Erik Alexander. "How do those completing initial teacher training in the post-compulsory education and training sector consider 'theory' in relation to their practice?" Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2011. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/1477/.
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This research examines theory in relation to educational practice analysing how one specific group of practitioners consider the construct ‘theory’ in relation to their practice. The participants were drawn from those completing Initial Teacher Training in the post-compulsory education and training sector. The participants were all members of the same cohort; had been asked to consider a range of theories as part of their studies, and had been asked to reflect on ‘theory’ in relation to their practice in one of their examined assignments. I was drawn to study this area when, as the participants’ teacher, I found myself questioning the unexamined regard that the curriculum held ‘theory’ in. The data was collected through individual interviews, focus group discussions and the examination of written assignments. All the data was gathered at the end of the participants’ studies in order to gain a ‘snapshot’ of their perspectives at that particular moment. The data suggests that participants were inclined to consider that theory starts from practice and can be adapted by practitioners and it was found that the participants built their own personal pedagogical perspective through consideration of their subject, context and experience.
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Dungan, John. "Post-compulsory education and training reform in Australia: An analysis of how the policy agenda has been constructed and shaped in recent years." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 1999. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/36586/1/36586_Digitised%20Thesis.pdf.
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Post-compulsory education and training arrangements in Australia have been subjected to continuing change over the last decade. Major reforms have included the introduction of a range of vocational education and training (VET) initiatives in post-compulsory schooling, an almost continual revamping of apprenticeships and traineeships, and various reforms to recognition of training arrangements within the mainstream VET sector. These reforms have involved various stakeholders across the schooling and VET sectors, government, industry and community groups to differing degrees. This study examines how the major policy reforms within post-compulsory education and training in Australia over the past decade have been assembled and shaped. A case study selected as representative of the policy reforms, the convergence of general and vocational education in the post-compulsory school curriculum, is examined in detail, with the major implications extrapolated for the broader set of policy reforms within post-compulsory education and training. Major findings include the essentially complex, ambiguous and conflicting nature of the policy reforms themselves, the predominant role of the governing policy elites in shaping and influencing the reforms, the incremental nature by which the policy reforms have been constructed, and the complex set of Commonwealth-State Government arrangements and interfaces which have influenced the reforms. Implications for policy-makers in post-compulsory education and training are considered.
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Wilson, Pauline Margaret. "Changing track : young people's perspectives and experiences within initial post-compulsory education and training with particular reference to their familial contexts." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.428267.
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Burgard, Claudia [Verfasser], Thomas K. [Gutachter] Bauer, and Christoph M. [Gutachter] Schmidt. "Post-compulsory education in Germany : empirical analyses of higher education policies and further training / Claudia Burgard ; Gutachter: Thomas K. Bauer, Christoph M. Schmidt ; Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaft." Bochum : Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 2013. http://d-nb.info/1204256772/34.
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Lowe, Geoffrey Masterton. "A study into year 8 student motivation to continue class music in Perth, Western Australia." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2008. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1820.
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Post compulsory music education courses in Western Australia have undergone major curriculum reform. Reform has included a shift from a prescriptive curriculum based upon the Western canon to a more embracing practical and creative one, due for full implementation in 2009. As the numbers of students undertaking elective post compulsory music in Western Australia has been traditionally low, education authorities anticipate that more students will elect to undertake the new course. However, given previous research into motivational issues associated with the transition to secondary school, low post compulsory enrolment numbers may be reflective of retention issues arising from lower secondary class music, as much as the previous post compulsory course structure. Large numbers of students opt to discontinue music studies beyond their first year in secondary school.
This study examined the motivation of students to elect.to continue class music studies beyond their first year in secondary school (Year 8). Following an extensive review of the current literature on achievement motivation in education, the study employed Expectancy-value theory as its theoretical basis for examining the values and competence beliefs of 276, Year 8 students across eight secondary schools in Perth, Western Australia. The study included the development of an instrument to examine student values and beliefs towards class music activities at the commencement and conclusion of Year 8. In addition, for triangulation, the study employed focus groups to examine issues arising from findings associated with the instrument.
The study found that while Year 8 student values declined over the course of Year 8, their beliefs remained relatively stable. These findings implied that in many instances, students increasingly devalued the activities they undertook in class music over the course of the year, regardless of their competence beliefs. This in tum impacted upon their subsequent enrolment choices into elective music courses from Year 9. Therefore, declining valuing of class music in lower secondary school may be the major determinant of enrolment numbers in post compulsory class music, as values have been demonstrated in previous research to be accurate predictors of subsequent emohnent decisions.
The implications of this study suggest that curriculum reform may not necessarily succeed in increasing participation rates in post compulsory music education courses in Western Australia until motivational issues associated with the teaching of class music in lower school are addressed.
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Fisher, Graham D. "The potential and limitations of post-compulsory education in the Overseas Territories of the United Kingdom : with particular reference to the Cayman Islands and Montserrat." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.411090.
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IRACI, CAPUCCINELLO ROSSELLA. "Analisi delle determinanti dell'abbandono scolastico: Il caso del settore della Further Education in Inghilterra." Doctoral thesis, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10280/1111.
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Questo lavoro analizza le determinanti dell’abbandono scolastico nel settore della Further Education in Inghilterra. In particolare, il primo capitolo descrive i modelli teorici per l’analisi dell’abbandono scolastico e fornisce una revisione della letteratura sulle principali determinanti dell’abbandono scolastico. Il secondo capitolo si concentra sugli effetti della dimensione delle scuole e delle aree di insegnamento sulla probabilita’ di abbandono parziale e totale. Introduce il concetto di abbandono parziale, dimostrando che gli studenti che hanno abbandonato lo studio di alcune ma non tutte le materie a cui si erano iscritti reagiscono a cambiamenti nella dimensione delle scuole e delle aree di insegnamento in maniera simile agli studenti che abbandonano completamente gli studi. Il terzo capitolo analizza l’effetto causale dell’iscrizione a istituzioni di Further Education che sono state recentemente fuse sulla probabilita’ di non completare gli studi. Utilizziamo la tecnica del propensity score matching e controlliamo la qualita’ del matching e la sensibilita’ delle stime al fallimento dell’assunzione di unconfoundedness. I nostri risultati dimostrano che iscriversi ad una scuola oggetto di fusione riduce la probabilita’ di abbandonale gli studi.This work analyses the determinants of dropout behavior in the Further Education sector in England. More specifically, the first chapter describe the theoretical framework for the analysis of student withdrawal and provides a review of the literature on the main determinants of dropout behavior. The second chapter focuses on the effect of college and programme area size on the probability of dropping out both partially and completely. It introduces the concept of partial dropout showing that students that dropped out of some modules but not all the ones they were enrolled on react to changes in college and programme area size similarly to the ones that dropped out completely. The third chapter analyses the causal effect of enrolling in a recently merged Further Education college on the probability of dropping out. We employ the propensity score matching approach and check the quality of our matching and the sensitivity of the estimates to the failure of the unconfoundedness assumption. Our findings show that enrolling in a merged college reduces the probability of dropping out.
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IRACI, CAPUCCINELLO ROSSELLA. "Analisi delle determinanti dell'abbandono scolastico: Il caso del settore della Further Education in Inghilterra." Doctoral thesis, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10280/1111.
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Questo lavoro analizza le determinanti dell’abbandono scolastico nel settore della Further Education in Inghilterra. In particolare, il primo capitolo descrive i modelli teorici per l’analisi dell’abbandono scolastico e fornisce una revisione della letteratura sulle principali determinanti dell’abbandono scolastico. Il secondo capitolo si concentra sugli effetti della dimensione delle scuole e delle aree di insegnamento sulla probabilita’ di abbandono parziale e totale. Introduce il concetto di abbandono parziale, dimostrando che gli studenti che hanno abbandonato lo studio di alcune ma non tutte le materie a cui si erano iscritti reagiscono a cambiamenti nella dimensione delle scuole e delle aree di insegnamento in maniera simile agli studenti che abbandonano completamente gli studi. Il terzo capitolo analizza l’effetto causale dell’iscrizione a istituzioni di Further Education che sono state recentemente fuse sulla probabilita’ di non completare gli studi. Utilizziamo la tecnica del propensity score matching e controlliamo la qualita’ del matching e la sensibilita’ delle stime al fallimento dell’assunzione di unconfoundedness. I nostri risultati dimostrano che iscriversi ad una scuola oggetto di fusione riduce la probabilita’ di abbandonale gli studi.This work analyses the determinants of dropout behavior in the Further Education sector in England. More specifically, the first chapter describe the theoretical framework for the analysis of student withdrawal and provides a review of the literature on the main determinants of dropout behavior. The second chapter focuses on the effect of college and programme area size on the probability of dropping out both partially and completely. It introduces the concept of partial dropout showing that students that dropped out of some modules but not all the ones they were enrolled on react to changes in college and programme area size similarly to the ones that dropped out completely. The third chapter analyses the causal effect of enrolling in a recently merged Further Education college on the probability of dropping out. We employ the propensity score matching approach and check the quality of our matching and the sensitivity of the estimates to the failure of the unconfoundedness assumption. Our findings show that enrolling in a merged college reduces the probability of dropping out.
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Franklin, Charlotte. ""It's a different set of rules isn't it?" Experiences of the post~16 transition from compulsory education for individuals with high functioning autism, including Asperger's Syndrome, and their parents." Thesis, University of Essex, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.601456.
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The post- 16 transition can be very challenging for young people with High Functioning Autism including Asperger's Syndrome (HFAlAS) and can also take a toll on their parents. However, little formal evidence of the psychological impact of this transition exists. This research explores the experiences of post-16 transition from compulsory education for those with HFAlAS and their parents. These voices are crucial in developing an understanding of the issues that arise during th is time. Seven participants were selected using purposive sampling, of which four were parents and three were young people with HFAlAS. The young people were aged between 17-18 years old and for each young person at least one of their parents was interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with all participants ind ividually. These were recorded and transcribed. This enabled participants to share the aspects of their experiences that were most important to them. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyse the interview t ranscripts to produce a deep level of understanding of the transition experiences. Two participant groups were used to add breadth and richness to the data. Three overarching themes were identified from the interviews as follows: Managing in the Wider World, Knowing How to Support the Young Person and Making Sense of the Transition Process. Connections were made between these themes, re levant psychological theories and recent research . This study aimed to high light the challenges and support experienced by parents and young people with HFAlAS during this transition.
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Young, Lisa. "Suburbia : a postmodern artistic investigation and an examination of how postmodern approaches can be effectively adopted in the context of the new Western Australian post-compulsory visual arts course of study." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2005. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/629.
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In 2007, Western Australia art educators will be required to teach a new post-compulsory visual arts curriculum. This course written in a postmodern context, will need a paradigm shift in approach. As a visual arts educator and a visual artist working in a contemporary context what are valid and effective methods of creatively investigating the postmodern world? How can postmodern themes be taught and strategies employed effectively and with integrity in a visual arts curriculum? What are effective and valid approaches to teaching visual arts in the context of the post-complusory Visual Arts Course of Study?
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Ledman, Kristina. "Historia för yrkesprogrammen : Innehåll och betydelse i policy och praktik." Doctoral thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för idé- och samhällsstudier, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-99842.
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This thesis offers critical perspectives on a history syllabus for vocational education and training (VET) tracks in Swedish upper secondary schools and adds to our knowledge and understanding of the educative function of history education for the individual and for society. The overall aim of this thesis is to critically investigate discourses that are voiced in different fields about the construction and reproduction of the history curriculum in VET tracks. A general question addressed is how vertical (critical and theoretical) and horizontal knowledge is articulated by the discourses in terms of the meaning of history in a VET context. The following four research questions were the focus of the four different studies in this thesis: How were non-vocational subjects discussed on a policy level during the post-war period, and what meanings were ascribed to history education? What aspects of history as a field of knowledge are recontextualised into a pedagogic discourse for the VET curriculum? How do teachers perceive the history syllabus? What do the students express concerning the history syllabus and history education? The results of these studies are reported in separate papers, and the aggregated results are analysed in this thesis. The data consisted of government bills and committee reports, material from the National Agency of Education archives, and interview data gathered through interviews with 5 teachers and 46 students. The major theoretical inspiration comes from Basil Bernstein whose theories of classification and framing, pedagogic discourse, pedagogic code, and vertical and horizontal discourses are used in the analysis. With the aid of these concepts, the content and meaning of history education for VET are connected to macro levels of education, and the way in which education reproduces social order when certain forms of knowledge are distributed to different groups in society is discussed. Three major conclusions are drawn. First, history as a pedagogic discourse comes forward as versatile and contradictory when the results from the studies are aggregated. There is, however, a shared understanding that the meaning of history in VET is to educate the students to become democratic and active citizens. Secondly, the investigated discourses ascribe history education with the potential to distribute critical and powerful knowledge. The students see a value for history education in their future as citizens and for giving them access the public conversation of society. A final conclusion is that the pedagogic code, embedded in the history curriculum, can be interpreted in two different ways. The emphasis on competencies and the focus on the last two hundred years can be interpreted as (A) an expression of a wish for immediate utility and thus an instrumental view of education or (B) the recontextualisation of scientific theories, concepts, and practices into a pedagogic discourse as a means to give students access to disciplinary (powerful) knowledge.
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Del, Monte Pablo. "[Of degrees and villas : writing and reading 'testimonios' of high school graduates from a shanty town in Buenos Aires in their attempts to access and succeed in post-compulsory education studies.] This is not a thesis." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2015. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10021842/.
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This work is a collection of chapters that revolve around the issues of representing and interpreting the educational experiences of students who live in a disadvantaged neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, in their attempts to succeed in post-compulsory education (higher and further Education). The work presents the story of a student from this population in the form of a testimonio, a methodological discussion on the nature and uses of testimonio in the light of Foucauldian genealogy principles, a proposal for the ethical exercise of reading and writing the testimonios produced, and three exercises of interpretation which address and problematize assumptions that operate in the understanding of villas and their inhabitants. The methodological discussion draws on principles of ethnography and Foucauldian genealogy to consider the use and nature of stories for the purposes of doing research. It presents and discusses the Latin American testimonio as a form of account that intends to represent the voice of subaltern groups with the aim of contributing to social change. The ethical discussion will look closely at the ways in which the researcher becomes a subject while doing research, both in his/her relationship with the object of study and in the relationship with his/herself. In this sense, it will look at the violence involved in the production of knowledge that is exerted in relation to an ‘object’ of study. Finally, this work includes three exercises of interpretation aimed at re-thinking villas through ‘using and troubling’ conceptual tools in the reading of the testimonios co-constructed in this research. The idea of villas as neighbourhoods abandoned by the State, separated from the city and outside the norm is re-thought. The interpretations produced in this set of chapters will look at the complexity of the position of the students producing testimonios in their condition as inhabitants of villas.
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Valls, Casas Ona. "Attitudes, choices and inequalities in the transition from compulsory to post-compulsory school." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/671711.
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Des de diferents disciplines, corrents i tradicions s’ha posat el focus en l’estudi de les actituds i l’engagement de l’alumnat a l’escola, sent de particular interès des de la sociologia de l’educació per comprendre els processos escolars, les desigualtats educatives i les trajectòries de l’alumnat.
La present tesi doctoral realitzada en forma de compendi de publicacions aplica un enfocament interseccional amb dades longitudinals per analitzar les actituds i l’engagement de l’alumnat al final de l’Educació Secundària Obligatòria (10è grau). L’objectiu principal és analitzar la relació entre l’engagement escolar de l’alumnat al final de l’Educació Secundària Obligatòria, i les trajectòries educatives post obligatòries que segueixen. Per a això es realitza una revisió la literatura prèvia i a partir dels dades de l’International Study of City Youth (ISCY) es presenta una classificació de les actituds de l’alumnat enfront de l’escola i una proposta més amplia de l’engagement de alumnat a on s’incorpora un element de comparació internacional. A partir d’aquí s’aprofundeix en els factors individuals, antecedents socials i familiars, el context institucional i les pràctiques educatives per comprendre millor el fenomen. Finalment s’analitzen la influència i els canvis en l’engagement i el rendiment acadèmic en la transició de l’educació obligatòria a la post obligatòria. D’aquesta manera, es proporciona una visió dinàmica que no es centra exclusivament en l’abandonament escolar.
La tesis incorpora diferents tipus d’anàlisi que permeten aprofundir en els diversos aspectes de l’engagement de l’alumnat. D’una banda, s’aplica una anàlisi SEM de modelització de variables latents per validar l’instrument de mesura de l’engagement. D’altra banda, es realitza una anàlisi multinivell per aprofundir en l’efecte del centre escolar sobre l’engagement de l’alumant. També s’aplica una anàlisi cross-lagged per analitzar l’engagement conductual i el rendiment acadèmic des d’una perspectiva longitudinal. Finalment, s’analitzen entrevistes semiestructurades realitzades a joves que van participar a l’estudi panel del projecte ISCY. A partir d’aquestes entrevistes s’aprofundeix en alguns dels resultats quantitatius aplicant mètodes mixtes.
Pel que fa als resultats, les anàlisis mostren que la resistència o les actituds anti-escolars no són exclusives de la classe treballadora, i que els estudiants i les dones d’origen immigrant tenen un major engagement escolar i tenen en major mesura actituds d’adhesió escolar. Malgrat això, les característiques socioeconòmiques i familiars i el rendiment escolar de l’alumnat són més importants que les actituds i l’engagement escolar a l’hora d’explicar els itineraris educatius postobligatoris. D’aquesta manera, les desigualtats socials exerceixen el paper més important a l’hora d’explicar la transició a estudis postobligatoris.
Tot i així, el context escolar apareix com un element important i que ha de ser considerat a l’hora d’entendre i treballar l’engagement escolar de l’alumnat. Elements com la participació en activitats no curriculars i el tipus d’escola tenen pes a l’hora d’explicar l’engagement de l’alumnat. Els estudiants de les escoles que no segreguen per grups de nivell i que tenen una alta participació en activitats no curriculars dins de l’escola tenen un major engagement conductual, menor absentisme i menys comportaments disruptius a l’escola. Finalment, els resultats mostren que l’engagement i el rendiment acadèmic tenen efectes diferenciats segons el tipus d’estudis postobligatoris -acadèmics o professionals-.
En conclusió, la tesi doctoral contribueix amb un major coneixement específic per aprofundir en el debat sobre la importància de l’engagement de l’alumnat a l’escola i com aquest afecta el rendiment acadèmic i a les trajectòries educatives. Els resultats d’aquesta investigació permeten reflexionar i millorar els mecanismes de prevenció de l’abandonament escolar i d’acompanyament als joves.Desde distintas disciplinas, corrientes y tradiciones se ha puesto el foco en el estudio de las actitudes y el engagement del alumnado hacia la escuela, siendo de particular interés desde la sociología de la educación para comprender los procesos escolares, las desigualdades educativas y las trayectorias del alumnado. La presente tesis doctoral realizada en forma de compendio de publicaciones aplica un enfoque interseccional con datos longitudinales para analizar las actitudes y el engagement del alumnado al final de la educación secundaria obligatoria. El objetivo principal es analizar la relación entre el engagement escolar del alumnado al final de la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (10º grado) y las trayectorias educativas postobligatorias que siguen. Para ello se realiza una revisión de la literatura previa y a partir de los datos del International Study of City Youth (ISCY) se presenta una clasificación de las actitudes frente a la escuela y una propuesta más amplia del engagement del alumnado donde se incorpora un elemento de comparación internacional. A partir de aquí se profundiza en los factores individuales, antecedentes sociales y familiares, el contexto institucional y las prácticas educativas para comprender mejor el fenómeno. Finalmente, se analizan la influencia y los cambios del engagement y el rendimiento académico en la transición de la educación obligatoria a la post-obligatoria. Proporcionando una visión dinámica que no se centra exclusivamente en el abandono escolar. La disertación incorpora distintos tipos de análisis que permiten profundizar en los diferentes aspectos del engagement del alumnado. Por un lado, se aplica un análisis SEM de modelización de variables latentes para validar el instrumento de engagement. Por otro lado, se realiza un análisis multinivel con el que se profundiza en el efecto del centro escolar sobre el engagement. También se aplica un análisis cross-lagged para analizar el engagement conductual desde una perspectiva longitudinal. Finalmente se analizan entrevistas semiestructuradas realizadas a jóvenes que participaron en el estudio panel del proyecto ISCY. A partir de estas entrevistas se profundiza en algunos de los resultados cuantitativos aplicando métodos mixtos. Respecto a los resultados, los análisis muestran que la resistencia o las actitudes anti-escuela no son exclusivas de la clase trabajadora, y que los estudiantes y las mujeres de origen inmigrante tienen un engagement escolar y desarrollan en mayor medida actitudes de adhesión escolar. A pesar de esto, las variables sociodemográficas y el rendimiento escolar son más importantes que las actitudes y el engagement escolar a la hora de explicar los itinerarios educativos. De este modo, las desigualdades sociales desempeñan el papel más importante a la hora de explicar la transición a estudios postobligatorios. A pesar de esto, el contexto escolar aparece como un elemento importante y que debe ser considerado a la hora de entender y trabajar el engagement del alumnado. Elementos como la participación en actividades no curriculares y el tipo de escuela tienen peso a la hora de explicar el engagement del alumnado. El alumnado en escuelas que no segregan por grupos de nivel y que tienen una alta participación en actividades no curriculares tienen un mayor engagement conductual, menor absentismo y menos comportamientos disruptivos en la escuela. Finalmente, los resultados muestran que el engagement y el rendimiento académico tienen efectos diferenciados dependiendo del tipo de estudios postobligatorios -académicos o profesionales-. En conclusión, la tesis doctoral contribuye con un mayor conocimiento específico para profundizar en el debate sobre la importancia del engagement del alumnado en la escuela y cómo éste afecta al rendimiento académico y a las trayectorias educativas. Los resultados de esta investigación permiten reflexionar y mejorar los mecanismos de prevención del abandono escolar y de acompañamiento a los jóvenes.
From different disciplines, currents and traditions, the focus has been on the study of the attitudes and engagement of the students towards school. It has been a subject of particular interest from the sociology of education to understand school processes, educational inequalities and students' trajectories. This doctoral thesis presented as compendium of publications applies an intersectional approach with longitudinal data to analyse the attitudes and engagement of students at the end of compulsory secondary education. The main objective is to analyse the relationship between student engagement at the end of Compulsory Secondary Education (10th grade) and educational pathways followed by students. For this purpose, a review of the previous literature is carried out and, based on the data from the International Study of City Youth (ISCY), a classification of attitudes towards school is presented. As well as a broader proposal of student engagement instrument which incorporates an element of international comparison is presented. From this point onwards, individual factors, social and family background, institutional context and educational practices are examined in greater depth in order to better understand the phenomenon. Finally, the influence and changes of engagement and academic performance in the transition from compulsory to post-compulsory education are analysed; providing a dynamic vision that does not focus exclusively on school drop-out. The dissertation incorporates different types of analysis that allow for an in-depth study of the different aspects of attitudes and students engagement. First, a SEM analysis of modelling of latent variables is applied to validate the measurement instrument of engagement. Second, a multilevel analysis is carried out to analyse the school effect on student's engagement. Third, a cross-lagged analysis is applied to analyse behavioural engagement and school performance from a longitudinal perspective. Last, semi-structured interviews people who participated in the ISCY panel are analysed using mixed methods in order to go deeper into some quantitative results. Regarding the results, the analyses show that resistance or anti-school attitudes are not exclusive to the working-class students, and that migrant students and women are more engaged and have a greater attitude of adhesion towards school. Despite this, socioeconomic and family background and school performance are more important than attitudes and school engagement in explaining educational pathways. Thus, social inequalities play the most important role in explaining the transition to post-compulsory education. Despite this, the school context appears to be an important element that must be considered when it comes to understanding students' engagement. Elements such as the participation in non-curricular activities and the type of school have a weight in explaining student engagement. Students in schools that do not divide students into ability groups and have high participation in non-curricular activities within the school have higher behavioural engagement, lower absenteeism and less disruptive behaviour in the school. Finally, the results show that engagement and academic performance have differentiated effects depending on the post-compulsory educational track - academic or professional. In conclusion, the doctoral thesis contributes with greater specific knowledge to deepen the debate on the importance of student engagement in school and how this affects academic performance and educational trajectories. The results of this research make it possible to reflect on and improve the mechanisms for preventing school dropouts and for accompanying young people.
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Programa de Doctorat en Sociologia
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Angelico, Teresa 1956. "Can research influence policy decisions? : a project evaluation of a study of the role of the Catholic Church in higher education." Monash University, Dept. of Anthropology and Sociology, 1999. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/7955.
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Sutherland, Andrew T. "Principles for designing an effective, post-compulsory music curriculum suitable for Western Australia." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2012. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/542.
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A new post-compulsory Music course known as the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) Music course was recently introduced into Year 11 and 12 in Western Australian (WA) schools. Following a convoluted process of creation, its implementation into classrooms has been problematic. Given criticism levelled at its process of creation and implementation, the researcher questions whether the WACE Music course embodies effective, recognised principles to support the effective teaching and learning of music. This study investigates the principles which should form the basis of an effective, post-compulsory music curriculum, suitable for WA. It involved a literature review which sought to produce a set of principles for teaching and learning frameworks based upon international best practice in music education, and applicable in the unique geographical, historical and multicultural WA context. In addition, the study employed a researcher–designed survey instrument to examine whether Western Australian music teachers perceived these principles to be evident in their practical experiences of the new WACE music course. With the subsequent publishing of a draft Australian National Arts Curriculum, it is an appropriate time to review the principles which should underpin an effective Music curriculum for senior secondary students in the WA context because, without a clear set of guiding principles that are understood by curriculum writers, there is a possibility that following courses could be fundamentally flawed and not serve the best interests of students.
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Svärdh, Joakim. "Measuring long-term effects of a school improvement initiative." Licentiate thesis, KTH, Lärande, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-133998.
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There is a growing demand for studies applying quantitative methods to large-scale data sets for the purpose of evaluating the effects of educational reforms (UVK, 2010). In this thesis the statistical method, Propensity Score Analysis (PSA), is presented and explored in the evaluating context of an extensive educational initiative within science and technology education; the Science and Technology for All-program (NTA). The research question put forward reads; under what conditions are PSA-analyses a useful method when measuring the effects from a school improvement initiative in S & T? The study considers the use of PSA when looking for long-term effects that could be measured, what to take into consideration to be able to measure this, and how this could be done. The baseline references (outcome variables) used in order to measure/evaluate the long-term effects from the studied program is students’ achievements in the national test (score and grades) and their grades in year 9. Some findings revealed regarding the object of study (long-term effects from using NTA) are also presented. The PSA method is found to be a useful tool that makes it possible to create artificial control groups when experimental studies are impossible or inappropriate; which is often the case in school education research. The method opens up for making use of the rich source of registry data gathered by authorities. PSA proves reliable and relatively insensitive to the effects of covariates and heterogeneous effecter if the number of samples is large enough. The use of PSA (or other statistical methods) also makes it possible to measure outcomes several years after treatment. There are issues of concern when using PSA. One is the obvious demand for organized collection of measurement data. Another issue of concern is the choice of outcome variables. In this study the chosen outcome variables (pupils’ score and grading in national tests and grades in year 9) open up for discussions regarding aspects that might not be reflected/measured in national tests and/or teachers’ grading. Findings regarding the long-term effects from using NTA) show significantly positive effects in physics on test scores (average increase 16.5%) and test grades, but not in biology and chemistry. In this study no significant effects are found for course grades. PSA approach has proved to be a reliable method. There is however a limitation in terms of the method's ability to capture more subtle aspects of learning. A combination of quantitative and qualitative approach when studying long-term effects from educational intervention is therefore suggested.QC 20131120