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Esta dissertação reporta uma investigação realizada com o objectivo de se compreender a persistente dificuldade de integração sentida no patamar transnacional de um projeto educacional europeu Comenius, de parceria entre escolas. A Grounded Theory foi a metodologia selecionada para orientar a recolha e análise de dados. Os dados empíricos primários foram extraídos de entrevistas abertas, não estruturadas, realizadas aos professores europeus envolvidos nas atividades do projeto. Identificou-se, como principal fator obstrutivo da unidade operacional a esse nível no projeto, a existência de significativas barreiras à comunicação entre os diferentes parceiros europeus, latentes, pouco compreensíveis, mas extraordinariamente operativas. Implicações do estudo e sugestões para esforços subsequentes visando evitar ou, pelo menos, contornar o mesmo tipo de problema, ou problemas similares, estão incluídas

Nowadays, many university students (in Macau) are required to attend computer literacy courses to develop their basic skill levels and knowledge as part of their literacy foundation requirements. To be effective, such courses, which are very staff intensive and require access to expensive equipment and software, necessitate high levels of individual teaching. Evidence gathered at two study sites during this research, strongly suggests that many students may not be benefiting sufficiently from their computer literacy courses. Teachers frequently complain about the weak IT skills of many course graduates. This research proposes an innovative model for designing and delivering computer literacy courses based on constructivist principles, using peer-tutoring and blended learning to increase cost effectiveness and to improve student outcomes. Central to the model being proposed is the training and deployment of former course graduates as peer instructors and assessors. Constructivist principles provide a conceptual framework to ensure that the curriculum content, teaching strategies, learning styles and assessment procedures are properly aligned and fully understood by both the instructors and students to achieve high quality learning outcomes. An action research approach was used during the pilot and trail phases of the research to monitor the implementation of the model and evaluate its effectiveness using mixed methods. The planned two–phase action evaluation used a questionnaire to investigate the effectiveness of knowledge and skill transfer to students, and tutors’ learning progress; in-depth semi-structured interviews were used to survey, interpret and evaluate students’ and tutors’ perceptions of the new teaching and learning approach. Most respondents had a Confucian Heritage Cultural Background. For the first time, the research provides new insights into ways in which Confucian Heritage Cultural factors, interact with constructive principles in developing peer-tutoring methods in a university setting inMacau, and more widely

This thesis reports a mixed methods empirical research which included a university-wide survey and action research in form of a quasi-experiment in collaborative blended learning (CBL) with Macau undergraduate students. The intervention embodied the principles of social constructivism and investigated the putative benefits and challenges of CBL. The purpose of the study was to identify how to promote effective CBL in undergraduate students and to increase effective learning, motivation, autonomy, empowerment, and communication. It found that only small improvements to students’ CBL took place over time, and found that the students needed specific instruction, practice and development in how to collaborate, both with and without online learning. Despite being in a world-leading, enriched digital environment, the students were new to collaboration and online learning. Students discovered and appreciated the benefits and challenges to collaboration and CBL largely by doing it. The thesis shows that CBL does not release teachers from their instructional and pedagogical roles; rather they place teachers at the heart of effective practice and improvements. The study underpins the need for explicit training of students in CBL. It identifies several strategies and tools which can be useful to promote effective genuine CBL

This doctoral dissertation focuses on teacher education in the context of experienced tertiary English language teachers in mainland China. It investigates the changes in teachers’ beliefs and attitudes, and in their classroom practice, that result from an external inservice education and training (INSET) course. It follows up subsequent change in teachers’ classroom practice, and in their beliefs and attitudes, in their teaching contexts one year after the INSET course. This dissertation presents a review of the literature in the field of second language teacher education, shifts in research paradigms in the field, and the characterisation of inservice teacher professional development. The nature of teachers’ beliefs and attitudes, and of teachers’ classroom practice, are synthesised from the literature, and are related to research on stages of innovations. Models of change (from beliefs and attitudes to classroom practice, as well as alternative pathways) are discussed, and a conceptualisation of the processes of teacher change in the context of innovations for experienced inservice teachers is proposed. The research presents a case study of one group of teachers attending an INSET course, and uses qualitative data collection, analysis and interpretation. Findings are discussed which provide insight and guidance for INSET provision in the context of experienced teachers, and which add to the research in the field of teacher education in the context of China. The findings suggest that in the complexity of INSET among individual teachers any one model of the process of teacher change may not be applicable, but rather that multiple possible models of change exist for each teacher—in beliefs and attitudes, and in classroom practice—and for each innovation. It is likely that each individual teacher experiences different change models for different innovations during the same INSET course. The significance and implications of the findings are discussed in relation to INSET provision, teacher change, and theories of teacher education and development, as well as the limits of the study, and future research areas suggested

This study focuses on curriculum development for competency-based training of advanced practice nursing and smoking cessation in Macao. The aims of this thesis are: (a) to link the core competencies of Advanced Practice Nursing (APN) to curriculum development; (b) to make recommendations for improved specialist nurse training to address current problems of nursing; and (c) to gather data to indicate the scope and the severity of the issues related to nurse training in Macao. The thesis presents a comprehensive literature review of theoretical frameworks of competency-based nursing curricula, curriculum development and design, quality assurance, best practice in competency based models of nursing education, theories of change and innovation, needs analysis and stakeholder satisfaction. The thesis develops and implements a needs analysis and situational analysis of nursing education in Macao, using a „mixed methods‟ approach that integrates quantitative and qualitative data to identify the needs for, and perception of, core competencies in Community Health APNs by the health professionals and clients of the community. This includes an empirical survey of stakeholders, semi-structured interviews with professionals in the field of nursing and nurse training, structured questionnaires from clients, observational data on training and implementation of competency-based curricula, and evaluation of a piece of curriculum implementation of an APN training program on smoking cessation. Through action research cycles, the thesis synthesizes a range of literature and empirical data, and, from these, gains feedback for improvement and refinement of the new curriculum to be implemented. As well as conducting client satisfaction surveys of the primary health care provision and services in Macau and how these could be improved, the thesis provides the framework for a competency-based curriculum for nursing education in Macau. The thesis argues that, in order to keep abreast with current developments in nurse training and practice worldwide, it is essential for APN education and training to adopt a competency-based approach and for curricula to be framed in terms of competencies and outcomes. It indicates that these are currently under-developed in Macao, and that there is an urgent need for them to be addressed, in terms of general, core and specific competencies (e.g. smoking cessation). The thesis argues that, for such developments to iii happen, fundamental changes will be required to curricula and to APN nursing practice, as, even though there may be changes to curricula, the opportunity to put general and specific competencies into practice by APNs is currently severely restricted because of a range of constraints in Macao. The thesis argues that there is an urgent need for APNs to receive competency-based training and practice for smoking cessation, and the opportunity to put this training into practice. It indicates that even short workshops and training programs can be effective. The thesis argues that current obstacles to such practice can be identified, but that overcoming them presents serious challenges to the current system, and will require action on many fronts, including revisions to local legislation, nurse credentialing, facilitation by senior managers of the health service, and an increase in the supply of nurses. The thesis indicates that there is a strong and united will for changes to be made to bring about competency-based training, curricula and practice in Macao, but that there are many practical barriers to be overcome in order to bring about these changes

This study explores girls’ attitudes and selfassessment of abilities towards mathematics and science and its effects on career preferences. Results from Pi

Classroom management is a critical area in the curriculum of teacher education programs. Student teachers’ conceptions of the role of the teacher as a class leader are frequently backed by their intuition and experience as students and socio-cultural context rather than evidence-based. This paper examines the conceptions of classroom management held by a multicultural group of forty-four student teachers attending a teacher education program at a higher education institute in Macao. The study aims at understanding the patterns of variation expressed by student teachers regarding the purpose and relevance of the object of learning. It compares a) the patterns of variation in students’ views of classroom management, and b) the students’ learning progress based on the pre-and post-test. The phenomenographic approach was adopted as the conceptual framework. Participants handwritten transcripts from student teachers at the first and last sessions of the course are the primary type of data collection. The findings show that changes in student teachers’ understanding of the conceptions of classroom management occurred during the course. The initial preferences for disciplinary approaches to classroom leadership have given way to conceptions of promoting the integration of classroom management into learning. The participants expressed increasing adherence to classroom management systems targeting and providing behavioural and academic supports and interventions to children and adolescents with and without special needs.