Thesis & Dissertations - ތީސީސް އަދި ޑެޒަޓޭޝަން
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Item The development and evaluation of a computer-assisted instructional strategy designed to change student misconceptions about chemical equilibrium(Department of Science Education, Edith Cowan University, 1990-12-14) Hameed, Hassan; ޙަސަން ޙަމީދުThe main aims of this thesis are twofold. First, to identify and describe misconceptions about chemical equilibrium held by Year-12 chemistry students in the Maldives. Second, to investigate the effects of using a computer-assisted instructional strategy in changing those misconceptions. A misconception identification test and an interview schedule developed by Garnett & Hackling ( 1984) were used to diagnose student misconceptions about chemical equilibrium. The remediation aspect of the study used a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) package. The package was designed in accordance with a model of conceptual change proposed by Posner, Strike, Hewson & Gertzog ( 1982) . The CAI package consists of eleven modules. The conceptual change strategies, as implemented in the package, mainly used simulations to create cognitive conflict to assist accommodation. The results of the study indicate that misconceptions about chemical equilibrium are common among Year 12 chemistry students in the Maldives. In addition, these misconceptions were found to be similar to those reported by Hackling and Garnett (1985) which identified misconceptions among Western Australian students. Results also indicate that the remediation aspect of the study, which used the CAI package, produced significant and lasting conceptual changes in students holding the misconceptions.Item School Improvement: The route taken by an urban primary school in the Republic of Maldives.(Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand, 2007-12-01) Didi, Ahmed AliThe primary and secondary schools in the Maldives serve over one third of the total population. Having achieved universalization of primary education, one of the challenges of the education system now is to improve the quality of primary education. Studies done in the past, to explore quality in primary education, have been quantitative in nature, telling only part of the story when it comes to describing improvement efforts. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore in detail how a primary school in an urban setting of the Maldives deals with school improvement efforts. A qualitative case study, informed by the interpretivist research paradigm, was used to explore this issue. One of the primary schools in Male' was purposefully selected for this study and 48 participants took part, of whom thirteen were students. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, participant observations, document reviews and administering of questionnaires. The findings of this study suggest that there were three major dimensions or three interrelated, key concepts that together undergirded the improvement efforts in the school. They are change, leadership and culture. In action-oriented terms, these dimensions or concepts translated into managing change, attending to specific leader actions and influencing the school's culture, respectively, reflecting six themes of school improvement. They are: a focus on change, a focus on students, a teaching learning focus, investing in staff, strong leadership by the head and school culture. In addition to these, it was noted that these themes emerged as having significance to the school's improvement efforts against the backdrop of many stakeholder influences and contextual factors. In essence, the findings of this study portray the micro-level realities of the working of a school that is consciously and continuously striving for improving educational practice. In conclusion to the study, research implications and areas for further research have been identified that would inform educational policy and practice in the Republic of Maldives.