In Trinidad and Tobago, the demand for sixth form places to pursue A-level studies continues to o... more In Trinidad and Tobago, the demand for sixth form places to pursue A-level studies continues to outstrip the supply. Typically, school administrators have used performance at the CXC examinations as the main criterion for selection of students to pursue A-level work in a given subject. This paper explores the validity of this practice with respect to the study of chemistry, by presenting the results of a tracer study which determined the relationship between student performance on CXC chemistry during the period 1989-1992 and the corresponding performance of these students on A-level chemistry two years later, 1991-1994. Data were obtained from a sample of 1485 students drawn from the population of public secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago. The analysis reveals a moderate and statistically significant correlation coefficient of 0.49 between the overall CXC chemistry grade and overall GCE A-level chemistry grade. Higher correlation coefficients were obtained for girls in the sa...
Well, the so-called “Carnival Season” is upon us again and, true to form, so are the annual contr... more Well, the so-called “Carnival Season” is upon us again and, true to form, so are the annual controversies. The earliest to emerge for 2003 are those associated with the calypsoes that were composed by Impulse in the genre of double entendre. The particular string of words in the chorus of “Cashier” sung by Crazy, and the emphasis on the Creole pronunciation facilitate the double meaning. I have not yet heard “Confirmed,” so I am uncertain about the device employed to facilitate the second meaning. However, these compositions have spawned many comments from priest and public alike.
School of Education 2004 The ideas and opinions expressed in this work are those of the authors a... more School of Education 2004 The ideas and opinions expressed in this work are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the School of Education.
Part 2 of this paper reports on a group of five science teachers' metaphors, their responses ... more Part 2 of this paper reports on a group of five science teachers' metaphors, their responses to the concepts presented on the Diploma in Education (Dip. Ed.) programme, and the changes in their selected methophors at the end of the programme. The analysis reveals that all the teachers' metaphors accommodated the contemporary ideas, such as student-centredness, lesson planning, and the reflective habit, to which they were exposed. There were no changes in the teachers' selection of metaphor at the end of the programme.
This paper presents a description of a teacher education programme evaluation that was initiated,... more This paper presents a description of a teacher education programme evaluation that was initiated, planned, and executed in an attempt to enhance the quality of the programme's content, delivery, and impact. The evaluation comprised reports on the perspectives of major stakeholders on whether the Diploma in Education (Dip.Ed.) programme (2004-2009) had met their expectations, and on the benefits and limitations of the programme and its impact on teachers' practice. Subsequent to the preliminary inquiry into those stakeholders' perpectives, a more probing approach was applied to the perspectives of Heads of Department, School of Education (SOE) staff and Ministry of Education officials. The evaluation was guided by Guskey's (2002) theoretical and conceptual model of evaluating the impact of continuing professional development (CPD) on teachers' practice, and by the fourth generation evaluation model of Guba and Lincoln (1989). The sample for each phase was either s...
In Trinidad and Tobago, the demand for sixth form places to pursue A-level studies continues to o... more In Trinidad and Tobago, the demand for sixth form places to pursue A-level studies continues to outstrip the supply. Typically, school administrators have used performance at the CXC examinations as the main criterion for selection of students to pursue A-level work in a given subject. This paper explores the validity of this practice with respect to the study of chemistry, by presenting the results of a tracer study which determined the relationship between student performance on CXC chemistry during the period 1989-1992 and the corresponding performance of these students on A-level chemistry two years later, 1991-1994. Data were obtained from a sample of 1485 students drawn from the population of public secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago. The analysis reveals a moderate and statistically significant correlation coefficient of 0.49 between the overall CXC chemistry grade and overall GCE A-level chemistry grade. Higher correlation coefficients were obtained for girls in the sa...
Well, the so-called “Carnival Season” is upon us again and, true to form, so are the annual contr... more Well, the so-called “Carnival Season” is upon us again and, true to form, so are the annual controversies. The earliest to emerge for 2003 are those associated with the calypsoes that were composed by Impulse in the genre of double entendre. The particular string of words in the chorus of “Cashier” sung by Crazy, and the emphasis on the Creole pronunciation facilitate the double meaning. I have not yet heard “Confirmed,” so I am uncertain about the device employed to facilitate the second meaning. However, these compositions have spawned many comments from priest and public alike.
School of Education 2004 The ideas and opinions expressed in this work are those of the authors a... more School of Education 2004 The ideas and opinions expressed in this work are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the School of Education.
Part 2 of this paper reports on a group of five science teachers' metaphors, their responses ... more Part 2 of this paper reports on a group of five science teachers' metaphors, their responses to the concepts presented on the Diploma in Education (Dip. Ed.) programme, and the changes in their selected methophors at the end of the programme. The analysis reveals that all the teachers' metaphors accommodated the contemporary ideas, such as student-centredness, lesson planning, and the reflective habit, to which they were exposed. There were no changes in the teachers' selection of metaphor at the end of the programme.
This paper presents a description of a teacher education programme evaluation that was initiated,... more This paper presents a description of a teacher education programme evaluation that was initiated, planned, and executed in an attempt to enhance the quality of the programme's content, delivery, and impact. The evaluation comprised reports on the perspectives of major stakeholders on whether the Diploma in Education (Dip.Ed.) programme (2004-2009) had met their expectations, and on the benefits and limitations of the programme and its impact on teachers' practice. Subsequent to the preliminary inquiry into those stakeholders' perpectives, a more probing approach was applied to the perspectives of Heads of Department, School of Education (SOE) staff and Ministry of Education officials. The evaluation was guided by Guskey's (2002) theoretical and conceptual model of evaluating the impact of continuing professional development (CPD) on teachers' practice, and by the fourth generation evaluation model of Guba and Lincoln (1989). The sample for each phase was either s...
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Papers by Susan Herbert