3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Internationalisation of higher education at the University of the Witwatersrand : a phenomenographic study of students' perspectives.(2010-03-01T10:02:55Z) Ojo, Emmanuel OluseunThis piece is an empirical study of how students experience and conceptualise internationalisation of higher education at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), South Africa. The central question of this empirical study is, how do students experience and conceptualise internationalisation of higher education at Wits? The conceptual framework presents Wits within three domains, which are the Official, Pedagogical and Social, as the context within which the university operates. Using a qualitative methodology – phenomenography – that aims to explore the qualitatively different ways in which a group of people experience a specific phenomenon, in this case internationalisation of higher education, four main constructs about internationalisation have emerged from students’ accounts: (I) internationalisation as Wits is striving to be a top global university; (II) internationalisation as the presence of international students; (III) internationalisation as an issue of mutual respect and acceptance, and (IV) internationalisation as enhancing the students’ learning experience. The argument is that, though students converge on these conceptions, their differences regarding the emphasis and significance points to a scenario of unbalanced institutional mediation, with strong mediation within the logic of dominant pedagogical practice in the university, constrained by forms of weak mediation in the social domain.Item Factors influencing teachers'choice and use of tasks for formative assessment of mathematics in grades 2-6(2006-10-25T13:15:54Z) Wilson Thompson, BronwenAbstract This study explores teachers’ understanding about ways in which assessment supports learning and teaching within the context of grappling with the new curriculum. It argues that formative assessment, supports a socialconstructivist view of learning and teaching. It suggests that formative assessment functions in a fundamentally different way to summative assessment, and could assist teachers in moving towards a more conceptual approach to learning and teaching. Teachers’ views are explored in focus groups in which teachers discuss their choice and use of either traditional or alternative assessment tasks, in their mathematics lessons. The findings suggest, however, that teachers’ ability to use assessment in this way is influenced by their own views of mathematics learning, their current views of assessment, the amount of support provided in the assessment materials, and the practices of the school. Key words Formative assessment Social constructivist Focus groups Phenomenography Primary school Mathematics Assessment Investigations